California trip log, June 18

Another sunny day in California, and I actually slept late--at least for me. Maureen and I had breakfast at about 9:00, consisting of a smoothie of 2% milk, plain yogurt, strawberries, bananas, and wheat germ. With it came English muffins with strawberry / rhubarb conserve (made by Maureen and scrumptious) and two cups of Ethiopian decaf coffee that was smooth, but still authoritative. Afterwards, Maureen and I drove to several different places to gather food and drink for our upcoming trip to Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. If it had depended on me, I would have taken care of it all in one place, but Maureen knew her food and was out for nothing but the best. The first place we visited was Dittmer's German Meat Market, where we bought smoked turkey meat for sandwiches, Knackwurst, German salami, red cabbage, and marzipan. our second venue was Esther's German Bakery, where we bought Knusperstangen or "Crunchy Sticks." Our third store was Sprouts, where we purchased watermelon, avocados, and yogurts. And finally, there was the Milk Pail, a European-style market, where we bought currant juice, mangos, raspberries, Havarti cheese with dill, and Sabra hummus. If we don't feast at Lake Tahoe, we have ourselves to blame. We returned home to put all the groceries up, and Maureen and I left for Shoreline Park on San Francisco Bay, where the wind was fairly strong and the windsurfers were having a field day. Both of us had an Asian salad there and walked around for a while before returning to Maureen's condo to begin sifting through her books, CDs, and DVDs in order to sell some to Half Price and load all the rest in sturdy boxes for transport to her next condo. We did that for about 2 hours before calling it quits for a quick dinner of Knackwurst and red cabbage, and then made our way to the nearby town of Fremont to sell Maureen's books at Half Price. She was able to walk away with $10.50 in her pocket--good enough for at least a decent lunch. Good show. I have packed for tomorrow's foray to Sacramento and on to Lake Tahoe, and Maureen is preparing and stashing all the food for the next few days we will be gone. Another adventure surfaces! SV