What's The Hurry?!

Thursday morning, I had to literally peel my dead tired body off my nice warm, comfortable bed and get ready for my not so nice commute to work. Actually, I don't mind the commute, it isn't that far compared to other people I know who have a longer commute than I do. Anyway, today I decided to take Ol'Gray (Nissan Versa) out and leave Little Red (Mini Cooper) behind for the Queen (Wife) to use for the day. Little Red (Mini Cooper) did good this past week. We reported to Jury Duty on Monday and unfortunately, I wasn't selected to serve. To be honest, I really wanted to serve on this particular trial. According to the Judge this case would be wrapped up by this Friday or next Tuesday at the latest. The courthouse is only a 12-15 minute drive from my house, I wouldn't have to report in until 9 am and instead of only an hour for lunch, it would be an hour and half. Ah well, there is always next year. Basically all I did on Monday was sit in a court room witnessing the process of Juror Selection. Very interesting on how the Defense and Prosecutor go about trying to select the best jury to fit their requirements. Do they really want a non-biased, open minded juror? Just a question that ran through my old skull.

Anyway, back to this morning, Thursday August 30th, 2018, I am strapped into Ol'Gray's (Nissan Versa) driver seat, logged into Waze for traffic conditions and tuned into the local radio station 94.5 KMYT. I am addicted to this radio station to get me through my morning commute. All they do is play music, and every once in a while Dwight Arnold will talk about some interesting topic and gives daily updates on the Dodgers. This radio station isn't like the other radio stations that have too much talk and try to be "zany" or "crazy." I swear all of the other morning radio programs sound the same. They sound like they use the same jokes or pull the same pranks. Anyway, I just like listening to music in the mornings; whether, it is the local radio station, Google Music or Amazon Music. I use to subscribe to Pandora but, for me I find Google Music and Amazon Music to work the best. Others love Pandora or Spotify and they are good apps, I just don't care to use them. No other reason than I just don't care.

Anyway, I am cruising along the I-15 and as usual as soon as I pull up to the Winchester exit on the South side, the traffic slows down to a steady crawl. I don't think anything of it because, this  is typical for any day of the week. In all honesty, this typical on weekends depending upon the time of day. Seven days a week there is a traffic jam on the I-15 between Murrieta and Rainbow. Usually, once you get past the Hwy 79 Exit, the speed of traffic starts to pick up a little. Well, this morning once I just past Hwy 76 and closer to the Hwy 398 Exit, traffic came to a dead stop. According to Waze their is an accident a little more than a mile from where I was "parked." I might as well have been in park, it was slow moving all the way through and as I am crawling past the accident I did a quick glance to see a motorcycle and maybe two cars were involved. Didn't look good to me, not that any accident looks good. I just hope everyone involved came out okay. So, this leads to my current post or better yet, rant. I am just as guilty as the next person when I say, we need to be more careful while driving. It seems, to me anyway, there have been more massive accidents on the I-15 between Temecula and Escondido. I understand we all are in a hurry to get to work or home or wherever. We have to remember (including myself) that there are other drivers sharing the road with me who have places to go. We need to slow down a little and not cut people off. I don't care if a person behind me decides to get into the lane next to me, speeds up to pass and get in front of me as long as they turn on their blinkers indicating what their plans are. What drives me crazy is if they don't turn on their signals informing me that they are moving into my lane. Give me time to gently tap Little Red's (Mini Cooper)  or Ol'Gray's (Nissan Versa) brakes or take my foot off of the gas pedal so, I can leave enough room for you to get in. I don't care if someone feels like they are in hurry and need to get in front of me. I don't want to slam on my brakes and pray I don't rear end you. I remember in my crazy youth I used to drive like an idiot and at times I will catch myself reverting to those bad habits and remind myself to be a smarter driver. Drive safe people. I don't want to see you and your vehicle stopped on the road due to any type of accident, minor or major. It isn't good for your health and it isn't good for your pocket book or wallet.

It was just over two months ago when we had that major accident involving a Semi that shut down the I-15 for 10 hours. My Google Maps guided me through some side streets, that were very cool until, I reached an old dirt, extremely rough road that had me come up behind the Pala Casino. The road was so rough with bumps, it literally shook Ol'Gray (Nissan Versa) so hard it caused the dash board to vibrate and felt like Ol'Gray (Nissan Versa) was being torpedoed by photon torpedoes, sorry another Star Trek reference. I thought she was going to start falling apart on me. I even slowed her down to 5 mph and still shook the crap out of her. But, being the Road Warrior she is, Ol'Gray (Nissan Versa) made it through. Click here if you want to see the details on the accident. And then, just a couple of weeks ago or so, we had another one involving a truck filled with concrete debris, junk and wheel barrels. I have a friend who witnessed the accident and claims he had seen one of the wheel barrows fly thru the air, over the guard rail and down the drop. As I drove past I did a couple of firemen standing by the guard railing looking down so, it must have happened. I found the following link with more information, feel free check it out, Fallbrook Sig Alert.

Stay Safe People and Smoke'em if you got'em.

Ode To Mini Coopers

Original Little Red

This isn't really an Ode, just my rambling on and on about Mini Coopers and other cars I have come across in my lifetime up to this point. My Original Little Red was a 2010 Mini Cooper. It came with a 4 cylinder engine. Unlike, my current Little Red (Mini Cooper), it didn’t have all the bells and whistles. The 2010 was as plain as you could possibly get in that Generation model, it considered the 2nd Generation under the BMW banner.  It is hard to believe that the Newer Little Red (Mini Cooper) comes with a 3 cylinder twin turbo engine and I would've thought she would be slow off the line and have issues with straining to go up a steep hill but, no. She will take off like a scared rabbit. The 2015 Little Red (Mini Cooper) isn't the fastest car but, she isn't the slowest either. Just fast enough for me to get out of trouble if I ever need to. That is something my Dad used to say. The engine type in Little Red is the BMW 1.5 liter B38. If my information is incorrect, please let me know. I am happy to be given the correct information if I happen to be wrong. I strongly believe that you do learn something new every day.

Anyway, I found a couple of few interesting articles regarding the engine.

Wards Auto Article, click here.

Auto News article, click here.

Anyway, I have to admit with the 2010 Mini, it took me some time to figure out how to use the various controls of the heating-A/C, the windows and the radio-cd player. I am probably one of the few that LOVED the huge, round speedometer that was dead center of the dashboard and didn't really seem to serve a purpose as opposed to letting my Co-Pilot, the Queen (Wife) the ability to see if I was speeding or not. Every time, she would see it go over the speed limit, she would nudge me and yell, "Aren't you driving too fast?!"

Mini of Irvine

The 2010 Mini was a leased vehicle and I had to keep it under 30k miles even though I lived in South Riverside County and commuted to the Lake Forest area of the OC. What I would do is drop down the rear seats and cram my bike into the 2nd Gen Little Red (Mini Cooper), drive to the train station in Corona which is about 33 miles from my home, and park her in the train station garage. Yank out my bike and take it on board the train with me and ride from Corona to the Irvine Station. It was actually kind of nice riding the train. Simply store the bike in the back, plop my butt on of the seats and take a bit of a nap or read a book depending on my mood. When I arrived at the Irvine station, I would scramble off the train, jump on my bike and ride for about 3 miles, maybe a little more to work in Lake Forest. I loved the bike ride early in the morning and I ended up losing a lot of weight. On rainy days, there was a bus I would ride to get to work. After work, I did it all in reverse to get home. It all worked out because, when it came time to turn over the lease, the Original Little Red (Mini Cooper) still had less than 30k miles. It was around 28k miles. I was thinking about purchasing her at the time of turning the lease over; however, the Irvine Mini Dealership was asking too much money for it. I loved the car but, not that much.

2002 Chevy Impala

Right after I turned in the 2010 Mini Cooper, I found a 2012 Nissan Versa (Ol'Gray) for sale, (this was the year of 2014), with only 9k miles and for only $11k, I couldn't pass up on that deal. I was in the market for a Versa or a Honda Fit. I don't know why but, I like the look of the Versa and the Fit. They are Geeky Sexy to me.  I didn't think of getting another Mini because, at the time I wanted something with a little more room and still get great gas mileage. Yeah, lame excuse. I should have gotten another Cooper. Whatever... But, Ol'Gray is turning out to be great little car. She has over 130k miles and still runs like a charm. Unlike, my old 2002 Chevy Impala that started giving me problems a month or two after owning it. What I loved about the Impala was how roomy it was inside the cabin and trunk area. At the time we had two babies and I could fit two bulky car seats in the back seats and a large double stroller in the truck and still have room for playpen and other baby things that were needed when on a road trip to somewhere. The Impala served its purpose. What did I name it? That is one car, I never gave an official name, just Impala. Yeah, pretty boring. I called it the Tardis every once in a while because it was blue but, that nickname never stuck. For those of you who are saying, Tardis? What kind of name is that? Click here to learn more. The Impala did get good gas mileage for a V6. The day it died, I was a bit relieved. I spent too much money on repairing the thing. I should have gotten rid of it a long time ago. Compared to the Versa, the Impala wasn't a very reliable car.

Enough about the Impala and Ol'Gray, more about Mini's. Throughout my travels or just by running around town, I am always on the lookout for Mini Coopers and at the Marconi Automotive Museum  the had a 1961 Morris Mini Minor. This little car's top speed was 73 mph and can do the 0.25 mile in about 24 seconds. I love this little car, I just had to take some pictures. If you have never been to the Marconi, I highly recommend checking out this auto museum, there are cars everywhere it seems. Our company had its 50th Year Anniversary Party there back in May. I definitely want to go back there again. I spent several hours and I feel like I didn't get to see every car on display. But then again, I didn't spend too much time going from car to another to gawk and drool. I was also mingling, dancing and eating since it was a company party. Not only did I love seeing this little Mini, I also enjoyed the DeLorean as well. Yeah, I lived through the '80's so, I have an appreciation for the DeLoreans. As a matter of fact back in the day when I was in high school, a neighbor of ours had one. I don't think he ever took it out for a drive, it was stored in his garage and I was fortunate enough to at least look at it up close. I've heard the Delorean may make a comeback a while ago and there is a website, Delorean.com, I haven't been paying too much of attention to what the status is or of the details but, I hope they do make a comeback.  Another Auto Museum I recommend is the Petersen Auto Museum.  I attend a cigar dinner at the Petersen Auto Museum many years ago.

There as a time a few months back, I needed new visors for the Ol'Gray (Nissan Versa) but, purchasing them online or thru a local dealer they are expensive. So, I took a trip to LKQ Pick Your Part, the local junkyard.  I love walking around in junkyards, whether I need parts or not. I had my two youngest kids with me looking for a sun visor. We kept finding Nissan Sentra's and Altima's but, not one Versa and then I found few Mini Coopers that were wrecked and picked through for parts by other people. I just had to take some pictures of the cars. If you haven't figured it out by now, I am obsessed with the Mini Cooper, no matter the year or model. After I snapped a few pictures, we were back on our quest to find a Nissan Versa with sun visors still available. I noticed most cars we looked over especially on the Nissan's, the visors were missing. But, before I could give up hope, we did finally stumble upon a Versa with the driver and passenger visors attached. I immediately surgically removed them from the wrecked Versa and paid for them. Mission accomplished.

Mini Cop Car

A few weeks ago or so, I ran into a little Mini in Escondido painted up like a little cop car. Very Cool! I am just guessing and I am probably incorrect in my estimation but, I believe it is a Mark V or VI. If you know exactly which one it is please let me know, I am very curious. I wish I could have located the owner to find out more about the car. I am still fascinated by the vehicle.  I remember a half dozen years ago or so, I attended the Murrieta Father's Day Car Show and spotted an older, I forget which year, Red Mini. By the body shape and interior it wasn't created under the BMW banner and again I forget which year it was made. I could have sworn I took a picture or two of the little car but, I can't locate the photos. Every year I go back to Murrieta Car Show and the Murrieta Hot Rod Run in October but, I haven't run into that car ever since that day long ago. Sucks. I remember the owner was a young college kid and he claims he always wanted to get a Mini, he found his back East somewhere, I don't recall where, he purchased it and had it hauled to California on a trailer. He couldn't stop talking about how much he really enjoys his little Mini.

Nature's Fireworks

The night I hand wrote this into my notebook was on Thursday 8-16-18 and adding it to my blog now. Enjoy....

Punch Rare Corojo

I went outside to my backyard to enjoy a a stogie and a glass or two of wine. The wine is a bottle of Bel Vino Vintners Select Prima Zinfandel Desert Wine, chilled which goes great with cigars. It tastes more like a port. And, the cigar is a Punch Rare Corojo. After I clipped my cigar and started to pour my wine, I noticed flashes of light in the distance in the East. I don't know how long it has been occurring but I noticed it at about 8:20 PM or so. It is 8:34 PM now since I started handwriting this in my notebook to add this entry into this blog later. The light was so awe inspiring that I felt a need to record it. It is natures version of fireworks. Just beautiful. It looks cloudy in the dark distance but, to me it doesn't look like your typical storm clouds. Over my head the the sky is clear and I can see the constellations and to the East of me I can see a very bright almost yellowish star or planet. I can see the crescent moon with one of the planets shining next to it off to the West of me.

Lightning Show 

The only thing is I don't hear any thunder. I am not a meteorologist by any stretch of the imagination but, correct me if I am wrong shouldn't I be hearing thunder? I had to do a Google search and according to nssl.noaa.gov website, NSSC National Severe Storms Laboratory it isn't possible to have lightning without thunder. It is possible to not hear the thunder due to the storm being too far away and yet, still be able to see the lightning. I feel I should be able to hear it because, the lightning seems so close to where I  live.

I do see chain lighting from time to time but, mostly it has been just a quick flash lighting up the entire distance night sky. It is now 8:56 PM and it is still putting on a decent light show. sometimes quick little bursts and then a large flash. It seems to be moving East as time goes by. Out of curiosity I started to time it between flashes and I am averaging about 4 seconds between bursts. I am know I am writing a lot about this lightning show but weather especially storms fascinate me. I have always had a fascination with t storm and tornadoes. I fear tornadoes though. On a side note I don't really fear earthquakes as much as I do tornadoes. I would rather go thru an earthquake than a tornado any day if I had the choice.

I should have went to school to be a meteorologist but my problem is school. I used to hate sitting in a classroom all day. I used to look out the classroom window and gaze out onto the horizon wondering what is happening on the other side of the world. Time is 9:03 PM  still flashing you can tell it is moving on time between flashes is about 15 seconds. This is highly unscientific. The temp here is about 72 degrees and the humidity is 77 percent. It doesn't feel that warm to me, I can feel a nice cool breeze that is probably why it feels cooler. This is the perfect temp to be outside at night in a t shirt and shorts. Not too hot and not cold. Well the time is now 9:17 PM and I have seen any flashes of late. I noticed the last flash occurred at about 9:14 PM. That sucks because I was really enjoying the show. Oh, I tried filming the light show on my phone's camera but, it didn't seem to work very well.

Until next time... Smoke'em if you got'em.

A Car Shopping We Shall Go!

White Knight 2010 Mazda 3 

Our 2nd Oldest Daughter's old Mazda 3 has driven its last mile. It all happened this past Saturday, when the White Knight (2010 Mazda 3) finally decided to not go into reverse. Its about time it finally decided to quit running properly because, I really wanted her to get a new car. The White Knight had seen better days with 200K miles on it. Oh, yes I do name cars. I blame my Uncle Earl for that because, I can remember he purchased a beautiful beat up 1958 Ford Panel Truck and he took the time to paint on the doors and on the front of the hood of the truck "Mule." My Dad then bought from my Uncle Earl and left the painted name on the old truck and thus, it was always referred to as the Mule. I can remember every time my Uncle would get another truck, he would name them all Mule II, Mule III and I believe he got up to Mule IV. I could be wrong.

The Mule Ford Truck

Yesterday, during work I received a text message from the Queen (Wife) instructing me to send her a copy of the auto insurance id cards so, our Daughter #2 could have a copy to get her brand new 2018 Nissan Altima SR in the color of Gunmetal. The SR is the sportier edition of the Altima line. The SR comes with a 4 Cylinder - 2.5 liter engine that produces 152 horsepower and will get about 37 mpg. I feel that is kind of high in mileage but, I could be wrong. I was so excited for our 2nd Daughter, I immediately sent the id cards to the Queen (Wife) and asked when does our 2nd Oldest plan on picking up the car, I wanted to tag along. I found out right away that the car is in Cerritos and she is picking it up tonight after work. I didn't waste any time to get home, it took me about an hour and five minutes, thankfully traffic wasn't too bad like it normally is.

2018 Nissan Altima SR

The drive out to Cerritos was a long drive but, we had the Grandkids with us and they always make me laugh and we drove past the area that was hit by the Holy Fire. Thankfully, it is mostly contained now. When we arrived at the Cerritos Nissan Dealeship, right away I noticed what was parked right outside of the Dealership Showroom, an elegant and pretty gray Alfa Romeo Giula. WOW! I just had to stop to gawk and snap some pictures. All the Sales Reps must have thought I was crazy but, I don't care. I am used to people thinking I am off the walls. One thing, I didn't notice was the price or the year. I wish I would have though, just for shits and giggles. I was fascinated by the car. It had to be a trade in? Correct me if I am wrong but, I didn't think Nissan owns the Alfa Romeo brand, I was under the impression it is owned by Fiat. It seems I can never keep track of who owns what any more. Anyway, at times I forget Fiat owns Chrysler and Tata owns Jaguar. I watched a video on YouTube a while ago talking about how big Tata is and I found that company very fascinating. If you get a chance, check it out. Very cool.

Nissan 370Z

When I was done admiring the Alfa Romeo, I walked into the Dealership showroom so, our 2nd Oldest could get started on the paperwork part of purchasing the car. While she was doing that I took the Grandkids to go look at the cars on display in the showroom. I started to drool over the 370Z Roadsters on displayed in their showroom. There was a beautiful black, NISMO edition and a couple of other black 370Z's; however, my personal favorite was the shiny, bright red 370Z. I just had to snap some pics of it. I can't explain it but, ever since I owned the first Little Red (2010 Mini Cooper), I really like red sporty cars. I used to like black or blue but, not any more. I must be hitting my Mid-Life Crisis or something. My little 2 year old Granddaughter loved looking at the cars as well, she wanted me to hold her so, I could help her look inside and she would say, "WOW! Cool!" "

A funny story about our little 2 year old Granddaughter, I sat down next to our 2nd Oldest Daughter for a bit while she was doing the paperwork, there were another group of older kids with their parents who are running around the showroom and screaming. Our little 2 year old yells out, "KIDS! STOP! SHUSH!" she is too funny sometimes. Well all of the time.

Nissan GTR

I also enjoyed looking over the GTR that was on displayed but, a white car just doesn't look as cool as a sports car that is painted a nice black, blue or red. I never really appreciated cars that are painted white; however, there are some exceptions to that rule of mine. I do know someone who owns a classic white Corvette and that car is immaculate. Oh, by the way, at the Cerritos Nissan Dealership I discovered they have the COOLEST thing EVER! They have the exact same coffee machine that is in the Best Western in Milpitas that we stayed at during our Mini Adventure to San Francisco. Naturally, I just had to have a cup of the vanilla latte extra, extra strong. My Wife warned me it was already around 9:30 PM and it will keep me up the rest of the night. I didn't care, I craved this latte. Back to my 2nd Oldest, after the paperwork was completed and we transferred the car seats over from the Big Bertha (Our 2010 Chevy Suburban) to the new Altima, we were on our way back home. Our 4 year old Grandson loves the new Altima, he kept telling me about their new car and it is really fast. We left the Dealership by around 10:30 pm or so, I don't know the exact time as I was having fun with the Grandkids playing in the Kids Room on the tablets that are stationed there. Pretty cool entertainment to keep us preoccupied while the 2nd Oldest Daughter was finishing up the paperwork..

I just had to post a picture of Big Bertha (2010 Chevy Suburban.

Big Bertha Chevy Suburban

Until next time, Smoke'em if you got'em

What the Blazes?!

Car Fire On I-15

Yesterday evening, while Little Red (Mini Cooper) and I are cruising up the I-15 North heading home from work, I could see in the distance a plume of light gray smoke drifting off into the East and the bright red brake lights of the vehicles up a head. My first thought is, not another wild fire! I am getting weary of these wildfires. Too many people have already suffered enough from fires. And lets not forget about the firefighters who risked their lives working on containing the fires. As I approached the spot where the smoke appeared to be coming from, I could see the flashing lights of the fire truck and I noticed it was a car fire causing the smoke, that now turned into a thick black smoke. As I am driving past, I could see the firefighters had it handled and will have extinguished right away. I truly hope and pray the driver and any passengers in the car were able to get out unscathed. Having your car burst into flames has to be terrifying.

As I started to pick up speed getting past the bit of a traffic jam, I start to wonder what causes a car fire. I have been fortunate to never have a car go up in flames and I probably should have. I have driven beat up old clunkers and a newer Chevy Impala that always seem to have electronic issues. Back in 2004 the Impala was only 2 years old and seriously that car always seem to have problems with its electronics. Ever since, I owned and got rid of the Impala I swore to never buy a Chevy again. Anyway, that is another story for a later day. Anyway, I did a bit of research um... actually, I just Googled "what causes a car fire" and I found some interesting information on various ways a car can start on fire. It can be anything that causes a car to become BBQ such as design flaws, electrical issues and overheating just to name a few. I found an interesting article posted at a website named, Car Fire Experts. I never knew there as a website by such a name until today. Very cool. If you are interested in reading more about it click here to reach their What Causes Car Fires To Start article. Also, check out their Seven Simple Steps To Prevent A Car Fire. I bookmarked this site for future reference. Very helpful. I hope the creator of the site doesn't mind me linking out to his articles.

Keep in mind, I am just as guilty of not doing preliminary checks on my vehicles that should be done before heading out on my journey. If you are like me and drive 60+ miles 5 days a week back forth between work and home, that is a lot of wear and a tear on a car, even if it is a new car. For example, I remember when I was in the US Army, every morning after PT, we would head over to the Motor-pool and do our periodic maintenance checks. Especially, if we were planning on taking the vehicle out on a mission or training exercise. We always had to make sure the tires or track were in good shape, check the fluid levels and etc... It didn't take us long to go over everything. What I am trying to say is maybe, we should be doing a quick check on our cars before heading out. Do a quick glance over the engine to ensure all hoses are in good shape, no loose wiring, fluid levels are at the correct level and tire treads are in good shape. Maybe not every day but, then again if you have a long commute between work and home, just a few minutes of looking over the car isn't a bad thing. I just want us all to be safe and not end up on the side of the road with a broken down car, I know how frustrating it can be. And, don't forget dangerous.

Stay safe people and in the meantime Smoke'em if you got'em.

Oh by the way, I found a few other articles that I linked out to that I find very informative. Again, I hope the authors don't mind me linking out to their articles, I find them very useful.

Car Maintenance Checklist

Prevent a Car Fire

Home, Home On The Range

Ol' Gray

I don't recall what time we arrived home last night, all I remember doing is falling onto my bed, passing out and then, waking up at around 7:30 AM to make coffee. After eating a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats and washing it down with some ordinary coffee, boy do I miss that Best Western's Vanilla Latte extra strong, I decided that today's mission is clean up Little Red (Mini Cooper) and make her look shiny and new again. Little Red (Mini Cooper) was a Road Warrior this past weekend. I had her going non-stop with the drive since Saturday without any major issues. Well, it felt like it was non-stop driving, especially on the way home Monday night. About good 8 hours or so of drive time.. After scrubbing the outside and inside of Little Red (Mini Cooper), I walked into the house to take a quick shower and the Queen (Wife) asked if I wanted to take a drive to the wineries. Of course I do! It is a perfect day for the wineries. I have the day off from work and what better way to use my day off?

Wilson Creek Lounge

Today and for the rest of the week, I decided to give Little Red (Mini Cooper) a rest. She going to stay in the stable (garage) for the rest of the week. Today we drove Ol' Gray (2011 Nissan Versa) out to Wilson Creek's winery in Temecula. I LOVE this winery. It is huge and on weekends it is crazy busy but, I love the layout of the place and the wine is delicious. My favorite is the Almond Champagne, especially with a good cigar. I believe Wilson Creek is my personal favorite because, it was the very first winery the Queen (Wife) and I tried after we first moved out to the Temecula area. I remember the Server  who  introduced us to the Almond Champagne served in a  chocolate shot glass during our first visit. They still serve it today and if you haven't tried one, you must stop whatever it is you are doing and head on over to Wilson's Creek to order one. Now they call it Almond Sparkling Wine, I am pretty sure it is the same stuff but, I could be wrong.  Also, on our very first visit to Wilson's many, many years ago they had a Pinot Noir titled "PeeNoMore" (I don't recall how they used to spell it, close enough). A clever play on words. I don't think they produce it any longer but, it was very good. Wilson Creek has really expanded their winery, it used to be just a single, one story building. Now, it is this awesome, massive complex. They just opened up an upstairs lounge for Members Only, so being a hot day, the Queen and I decided to take advantage of the lounge's AC. I had a glass of their Riesling, the type of wine I like to enjoy on a hot summer day. Anyway, the lounge is gorgeous. As we are sitting in the nice lounge chairs I am looking over the wine list and noticed one particular wine by the name of The Spaniard. Sounds delicious and I ordered a tasting. Pretty good, The Spaniard. Oh, by the by... Wilson's also sells cigars and yes, you are allowed to smoke on the premises. In some restricted areas but, you are able to enjoy an actual cigar with a glass of wine, just like it should be able to do. I recommend their Decadencia Cigars. Pricey but, they are good.

Fazeli's Winery

After our drinks at Wilson's, we headed over to another one of our favorite wineries, Fazeli's. I am trying to remember, was it two or three years ago we discovered Fazeli's? It was in November, the Queen (Wife) and I went out to do some wine tasting celebrating our Wedding Anniversary a year or two back. As we drove along we spotted a huge sign that simply stated, "WINE, BEER AND FOOD! TURN HERE!" We just had to stop and check it out. As soon as we pulled up into Fazeli's parking lot we fell in love with the place. The building is amazing, with two stair cases on each side of the front of the building and on the ground floor are huge doors. It looks like a castle. We walked up into the room where the wine tasting is located and right away we were greeted by the friendliest staff. I highly recommend their wine, my personal favorite is their Phel Phel, which isn't currently available today. Very sad. I think I love the Phel Phel so much because of its description, "Red cherry fruit with subtle hints black pepper, cigar and spice. Medium bodied with soft but ample tannins." That's right... The word cigar had me hooked. I also love their Riesling. Naturally, being a hot day that is what I ordered. For lunch we had the Artisan Plate. The Artisan Plate comes with different cheeses and meats but, what I like about is the tomato jam, it is so sweetly delicious and I can't get enough of the Persian pickles. I had their Cheeseburger Sliders before, just not today and I do recommend them as well. I haven't tried the other foods listed on their menu yet. I will one day though. After draining our glasses and picking clean the plate of food, we headed home. Spent the rest of the day cleaning the clothes we used during our Mini Adventure the past few days. Unfortunately, I have to go to work on Wednesday but, the good news is, I only work 3 days this week and it will be the weekend again and a busy weekend it will be. Chores need to be done during the day on Saturday and then, Saturday Evening we are planning on attending a Baby Shower for my friend at work and I am looking forward to the Sunday BBQ with Family at Mile Square Park. Until next time, Smoke'em if you got'em.

Day 3 San Francisco Adventure

Lincoln Blvd

Monday August 6th, I don't recall at what time I fell asleep last night, the only thing I can remember is hearing my alarm go off at 5:45 am. I jumped out of bed to get ready and head over to the hotel's delicious breakfast buffet and wash it all down their amazingly delicious vanilla latte at full strength. I don't know why but for some reason I have lost track of the days. All day today and yesterday I had to keep reminding myself which day of the week it is. I feel like we have done and seen so many different things the past few days. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, I am enjoying our Mini Adventure. Today's mission is to see as much as we can of San Francisco in one day. We decided that we are heading back home tonight after our San Francisco tour. Our first stop was to see the Golden Gate Bridge.

Anyway, we left the Best Western at around 9 am or so, we weren't in any kind of hurry because, we kept checking the traffic reports to see when it wouldn't be too busy. We were right, by the time we left the traffic wasn't so bad. Just a bit of a jam before paying the toll to get onto the bridge, but once you got past that, it was smooth sailing until we got into the city. The slowness isn't caused so much by the traffic as it is more of the stop lights but, again, it wasn't that bad. Not as bad as trying to get from OC to Corona using the 91. The 91 is always seems to be nothing more than just one long parking lot. Even, the I-15 North or South, depending on the time of day can be frustrating. Especially when heading North I-115 on a Friday evening at 5 pm. Sorry, I got sidetracked for a while there.

Foggy Golden Gate

Lets see, where was I? Oh yes... We were on our way to the Golden Gate Bridge. We parked Little Red at the Battery East parking lot off of Lincoln Blvd, I mentioned the street name because, I was really fascinated by the little houses along Lincoln. They just looked so cool. I won't want to live here but, I was just in awe of the whole atmosphere. So, we paid for our parking spot and trekked up the walking path to the Visitor Center/Gift Shop. The Visitor Center/Gift Shop, I don't think that is its actual name but, that is what I call it... Anyway, this place was pretty cool because, not only was there merchandise but, it had information on the how the bridge was build and etc... Very cool. I really enjoyed that. After doing some browsing around the Visitor Center/Gift Shop, we decided to walk on the bridge and we walked up to or just past Fort Point, I wanted to get some good pics but, this morning it was too foggy. We were not able to see the bridge at all. We did hear the fog horn(s) go off though. I really wanted to keep walking to cross the bridge but, the Family weren't having it. Oh, beware of bicyclists. They rule the walkway on the bridge, they will run you down without warning.

After spending some time at the bridge, we took off in Little Red and arrived at Fisherman's Wharf at around Noon or so. Just in time for lunch, we were craving some clam chowder. We discovered this cool little place called Tarantino's Restaurant. I recommend their calm chowder in a bread bowl. I swear just about every eatery or restaurant here has the calm chowder in a bread bowl. After our tummies were full, we browsed through a few gift shops and took some pretty cool pictures of the area. Before heading out onto our next stop, we treated the Kids to some ice cream from Norman's Ice Cream & Freezes , the one right next to Jack's Bar . While Kids enjoyed their ice cream the Queen (Wife) and I went into Jack's for a beer. I am writing this blog entry hours after the fact and for some reason I can't recall the names of the beers we had. I wish I could remember because, they were good. All along the back wall of the bar was many different taps of beer. It was awesome! I love Jack's and I want to go back. If you looked up at the ceiling it is lined with many of the draft handles of different beers and the place was filled with Studebaker memorabilia and pictures. Way cool! Once the beer glasses were dried out and the ice creams were consumed we went to check out the Ghirardelli Square. I love Ghirardelli Square. There was a guy playing a violin and he was amazing. But, the coolest thing is every time I walked into the Ghirardelli store I was offered free samples of their chocolate. I love chocolate.

Once our bellies were filled up with food, beer and ice cream, we slid back into Little Red to check

out the Crooked Street of San Francisco. The real name of the street is Lombard Street. Very COOL! At first I thought, why not just walk down the street to really experience it but, about halfway down the street I thought, it would be best to take Little Red down the street. I mean isn't this the type of streets the Mini Coopers were built for? I relayed the idea to the Queen (Wife) who volunteered to wait at about the half way point to film Little Red coming down Crooked Street. It was very slow moving through the street due to the fact there are a bunch of tourists who are also driving down the street, as well as pedestrians who are attempting to cross the street at the top of Crooked Street. Cruising down the street, I start to wonder who lives in the homes along this street and if they are used to the chaos of tourists that come to gawk and take photos of their local landmark.

Our next and final stop was to see the Painted Ladies. I love the Victorian architecture and the color of paint that were used on these houses. So, we parked Little Red right across the street of the "Ladies" and sat on the grassy lawn of Alamo Square park. I always thought one of these houses were used in the old TV show, Full House but, after researching it kind of sorta were. The opening sequence for most of the seasons of Full House ended with the family picnicking in Alamo Square Park, with the Painted Ladies in the background. According to what I discovered on Google, the "Tanner" house was the one located on Broderick Street in San Francisco. Now, I wish we would have driven by that house. Anyway, after admiring the scenery surrounding the Painted Ladies, we jumped back into Little Red, set the navigator to guide us back to our home address. It informed us, it will take us approximately 8 hours. I didn't care, I was determined to get us home before Tuesday morning.

Leaving San Francisco wasn't too bad, the traffic was jammed up until we got onto the bridge and didn't run into another traffic jam until a few miles out of the city, I can't remember exactly where. Then again, it was smooth sailing until we decided to put more fuel into Little Red, fill up our bellies and use the restroom at a Carl JR's that was just off Hwy 5. Again, I don't recall exactly where we stopped but, I do recall we were just a few miles North of Pleasanton. Leaving this area, traffic again was smooth sailing for another 175 miles South or so, near Kettleman there was another traffic jam. This time the right lane was closed due to a fire. We could see the fire blazing in the distance to the West; however, right up against the Hwy 5, even in the dark you could tell the ground was black from being burnt, very small sparks or fires were still blazing and smokey. You could see the think smoke drifting from the burnt ground coming from the West and engulfing Little Red. It was slow moving for what seemed like an eternity but, we made it through in one piece. The Kids loved the excitement.

By the time we got to the Grapevine, I was too tired to drive any longer. We stopped at a local gas station to fuel up Little Red, take a quick restroom break and the Queen (Wife) to get a cup of coffee. She was going to drive the last remaining 158 miles to our homestead. I passed out in the passenger side of Little Red until we got to the Corona area. We could see the Holy Fire from the I-15 to the West of us. We weren't affected by any flames or smoke and the rest of way home was uneventful. We arrived home around 2 am and all I remember doing is falling down into my bed to pass out.

Until next time... Smoke'em if you got'em. Cigars not wildfires. Stay Safe!

Day Two Road Trip To San Francisco

Little Red & Winchester Mansion

Sunday, August 5th at around 7:00 AM, the Queen (Wife) wakes all of us up from our deep sleep. The Best Western we stayed at provided us with a free breakfast. More like a breakfast brunch that consisted of ham, eggs, bacon, waffles, French toast and a beautiful coffee machine that had many, many different types of coffees available to choose from. I became addicted to the vanilla latte, very delicious.Today's mission is to take a tour of the Winchester Mansion and afterwards check out the Cannery Row in Monterey.

The Winchester Mansion is amazing and no, I didn’t run into any ghosts, spirits or ghouls. Just had a

Winchester Mansion 

very informative tour of the beautiful, crazily designed mansion. I say crazy because, there are doors and stairs to nowhere but, that is what gives the place its charm and makes it so interesting. In my opinion if it was done without the doors and stairs to nowhere, it would still be an amazing mansion. It is difficult for me to put into words, it is a place you must see for yourself. I wish I could remember our Tour Guides name but, she was Awesome! I could tell right away that she really enjoys her job. She was very knowledgeable and friendly. She also recommends that we come back for the Candlelight Tour during Halloween. My Family really want to do the Candlelight Tour. My favorite rooms are of course the kitchen, I wish my kitchen was that big, and the Grand Ballroom. The ballroom isn’t big but, our Tour Guide informed us it was named the Grand Ballroom due to the amount of money Mrs Winchester spent on it. It truly is Grand. I was able to stand in the center of the room by myself for a few minutes as the rest of the group we were with took off to the next room down some twisting hallways. It felt like they were really pushing us to see the movie, Winchester. From what our Tour Guide told us, they filmed three days in the mansion and the rest in Australia. I never knew there was a Winchester movie, it must have been an awful movie but, since parts were filmed in the mansion, I must see this movie. I don’t have a problem with watching an awful movie from time to time.

Fog and the Bay

After our Tour, we hopped into Little Red to cruise onto our next adventure, The Cannery Row in Monterrey. As we are cruising along Hwy 1, and I started to have flashbacks of Fort Ord, that was an Army base many decades ago. I used to be stationed there and I longed to see it. I longed to see if my old barracks were still standing. I took the Queen (Wife) to my old haunts during the time I was stationed at Fort Ord about, 8 years ago or so, and my old barracks were still standing. Anyway, as we are heading down Hwy 1, I noticed Little Red needed fuel and the Kids needed snacks to tie us over until we arrived at Cannery Row to have our dinner. I am not kidding, the temperature outside was around 56 degrees F. While filling Little Red with fuel and the Queen (Wife) picking up snacks for the Kids, I took a picture of the fog. The picture didn't turn out as cool as it looked in real life. Anyway, with Little Red and the Kids fueled up, we continued with our journey until about mile from the gas station that we were at, Little Red’s alarms went off informing me there is an issue with the tires. At first, I thought I had a flat tire. Good news they are run flats, bad news they are run flats. Meaning I have no spare tire and I will need to find a tire place which something I really didn’t want to do during our Mini Vacation. The Queen (Wife) noticed the warning was for all 4 tires and they are showing that the tire pressure is low. Just need to find a place to add some air. I am thinking that since we went from one extreme temperature to another, maybe that caused the tires to lose some air. I could be wrong but, like I said in my previous post, I did check all systems before leaving for the weekend and Little Red was in good health.

While adding air to all four tires, I spotted a Walmart across the parking lot of the gas station we

Fort Ord

stopped in. I thought to myself while freezing my butt off, I will find a cheap sweatshirt there I can purchase. I don’t need anything fancy, just something to keep me warm. My Son and I went on the hunt throughout the entire store and found three sweatshirts but, the problem is they were all 3XL. There is no way I was going to purchase a sweatshirt three times my size so, I passed. I will have to look elsewhere. I was very disappointed with this Walmart. Later, we arrived to where I believe my barracks used to be and is now replaced with a Smash Burger. There are still quite a few old, run down barracks still standing and I wonder how much longer before they are torn down and replaced with something else. I am very interested in what is being done with this area. I love what they have done so far. I stopped in the Target not far from the Smash Burger and did find a sweatshirt that fit and for only $20. After doing some driving around and taking pics of the old Fort Ord we left for Monterey.

Cannery Row Monterrey

We arrived at Cannery Row by 4 pm, and immediately walked into the El Torrito near the Cannery Row. I don’t recall but, I believe this El Torrito had a different name back in the late 80’s. I do remember going to there when I was stationed at Fort Ord because, my Army Buddies and I love going there for the view. The building sits on a “cliff” that overlooks the ocean and there are rock formations that the seals and otters like to hang out at. I wanted my Family to experience a dinner at this restaurant. To get a window seat the wait was an hour so, while waiting for our table we walked up and down Cannery Row. I really wanted my Family to see the old Carousel that was inside the Edgewater Packing Company but, I couldn’t locate it and when I did a Google search it sounded like it was no longer around. We headed back to El Torrito to eat dinner and the Queen and I also enjoyed a Cadillac Margaritas.

After dinner was consumed, the time was about 6 pm and we were now determined to check out the

Little Red Mini Coopers

Santa Cruz Boardwalk. The Boardwalk is another place we used to frequent when I was in the Army that I wanted to show my Family. By the time we arrived at the Boardwalk, finding a parking space was very frustrating. I was getting so frustrated that I decided to head back to our hotel in Milpitas. I gave up but, no sooner did I give up the Queen yells, “There! Parking!” Lo and behold a “legal” place to park right across the street from the Boardwalk was available and it was right behind another Little Red Mini Cooper that happened to be the same Generation (3rd) as mine. I just had to take a pic of the 2 Little Reds. One thing I hate about going to most beaches is trying to find a place to park. It is like looking for the Lost Arc or the Holy Grail.  Anyway, I jokingly told my Kids, “We learned a valuable lesson today. When things seem impossible and you get frustrated, just give up and good things will become available to you.”  They just laughed said, “Wow Dad!”

Caveman of Santa Cruz

I was surprised to see they still have the Caveman mannequin on one of the Sky Glider carts. My Kids wanted to ride it while the Queen and I walked along the Boardwalk. We were amazed at how there are people swimming in the ocean because, to us Southern Californians we are freezing when the temps are down to the 50-60’s. I am so used to the Desert temps that I now freeze when it is at 70 degrees and I am from Wisconsin. After the Kids did The Vault Laser Maze, my Son and I were fascinated with the Fright Walk. The “haunted paintings” out front looked really cool, so I thought this attraction’s special effects had to be amazing. Well, it wasn’t what I was hoping it would be. I wanted to see better effects.  By the time we were done with the Fright Walk, we were exhausted. It was a long day of driving and walking. We decided to go back to the hotel in Milpitas to get a good night’s sleep. The traffic back to the hotel was horrendous, it took us an hour or so to get back to the hotel. Instead falling asleep when we arrived at our room, I was wide a wake and got caught up into a Western movie on HBO, starring Ethan Hawke and John Travolta. I never heard of this film and I enjoyed it. Kind of reminded me of the old Spaghetti Westerns. To me it didn’t have the gritty feel of the old Clint Eastwood Westerns but, still pretty good. If you have seen the movie, let me know what you thought of it. Until next entry… Smoke ‘em if you got ’em.