Tourists in San Francisco and San Jose, CA

What a fun and busy area!  Thanks to my second cousin once removed (yes, I know what that means now) Dawn Newman and her parner Joe, Bob and I had a great time on a guided tour of San Francisco Saturday and San Jose on Friday.  Of course we got to see the Golden Gate Bridge and the down town wharf area but we also walked through China Town.  We had a quiche lunch in a small lunch cafe, toured the Cable Car Museum, rode one of the famous cable cars up and down the famous San Francisco hills and went through the farmer's market where you can buy some great olive oil for $174/gal.

Bob, Joe, Dawn

We drove by Golden Gate Park and stopped at the beach.  To swim there requires a wet suit so the beach was not very busy!  We saw many more hats and scarves than swim suits.  The air temp was mid 60s but windy by the beach so swim suits were not the order of the day.   It was a great temp for running around the city, however.

San Jose is bigger than we thought and has a great upscale restaurant/shopping area where we were treated to a very good dinner sitting outside watching the people and their dogs walk by.  An interesting twist to the meal: there is something call a wine "flight" sold: 3 servings of different wines - 2 oz. each.  But since they come in a regular wine glass, it looks as though the party has really begun when two or three people order the "flights".  You get a card to grade the wines in your "flight".  I have no idea what that is all about but I suppose that it is a tag along of the wine tasting that brings so many people to the area.  The "flight" was $13.00 for a total of 6 oz - the traditional "pour" - or serving of wine.  An interesting twist to ordering wine with dinner.

Just a note about the trip to San Jose - the GPS was a life saver!  We had to go on 5 different freeways and that Garmin told us exactly where to turn all athe way there and back.  I can't imagine we would ever have made it without that technology!  Also, we enjoyed seeing the windmills - maybe windmill farms? We saw these in TX as well and while I don't know much about them, I hope they are working because they add something very interesting to the landscape.  Trouble is, getting a photo is difficult as I see them as we're driving by at 65-70 mph.  

We had a great time and got back to the book store business in time to search for a number of orders so they can be ready to ship on Monday.  We fly out on Wednesday so have to wrap the fun up Tuesday.  I can find my card reader right now so I have few photos to put up here tonight - I'll add to them when I find it.

San Jose

Golden Gate Bridge in Background

A wine "Flight" is 6 oz per 3 glasses, remember?

Windmills topping the hill. Very impressive.

Shenandoah Valley and Yosemite, CA

Bob and I are enjoying the wine country and Yosemite in Northern California.  We're having a lot of fun shopping in all of the antique shops and used book stores - mercy, wine and books - how good does it get? 


The day trip to Yosemite was overwhelming.  We needed to stay for the week to see anything but at least we've been inside the park! 

We're in the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains and many of the roads have hair-pin curves.  Many houses are set up on the top at a very high "hill" and I just don't see how the owners can use the driveway daily - it looks more like the road the mules use to go to the floor of the Grand Canyon!




The wineries all have different personalities.  One has a Tuscany feel, one has a country "y'all come have a picnic" feel and others barely look inviting at all (we didn't even get out of the car).  I think there is probably a good lesson in there somewhere for book dealers all running small businesses - how inviting does our  business look? They may have had very good wine at good prices but we didn't go in to find out. 

The winery below  (3rd down) showing tables is a shaded place to enjoy the views allows you to bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the bottle of wine you buy right there - that is the comfortable, welcoming place I actually purchased a bottle of wine.

The weather is a bit hot for our liking (OK, we admit it - hot doesn't even begin to describe the 102+ temps here for the last few days) but by 8 or 9, we're cool again.  Take a look at a couple of photos of the area.

We infrequently have cell phone service where we are staying but we do have computer access, so email is the only way we have been contacting people.  No CNN, FOX or other 24 hr news  and as far was we're concerned , all is well with the world!  We sleep very good at night.  Maybe no news helps.  Madlyn

Motel rates

Have you even negotiated the price you pay for a night in a motel?
I thought rates were rates - who knew that you could negotiate? We didn't start out to negotiate last night, we asked the price, were told a rate and just said, no, think we'll just keep traveling awhile longer and began to leave.  The clerk said to wait a minute - maybe he could find a discount - and asked my husband what was in our budget.  Well, my husband told him $35.00 less than what we had been quoted - but added that we had AAA and AARP. The clerk quoted another rate, Bob said, no, sorry .... and the clerk said OK - I'll just put you in as the "manager's special"!

So, in a nice - enough national chain with a small, warm pool, close to Cracker Barrel for dinner, we got a $35.00 discount - and points toward our next stay with that chain. 

Tonight we asked what the rate was and was quoted $20.00 more than what was actually posted on the sign outside.  Honestly, what's up with that?  We got the room for the rate posted but the people coming in behind us just left when he told them the higher price.

All these little battles adds stress - takes energy people need for life's wars! 

Pawn Brokers

I think is is on the history channel that we 
have a show called something like "Pawn Brokers from Las Vegas". There 
are 3 generations working together appraising and buying items brought 
into their pawn shop. The main character/manager, Rick, likes books.  We 
didn't get to the shop while we were recently in Las Vegas but the 
following week an ad appeared that two of the guys would be in our local 
Port Charlotte Pawn Shop.

My husband and I decided to go meet them and take a couple of books I've 
had for 2 or 3 years to see what Rick's response would be.  I selected 
two books "U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Showing the Progress of the 
Work Ending with June, 1895 Parts 1 & 2" and the same but 1897.  They 
have multiple fold out maps and are gov. publications.

Rick passed on them because 1. they came from a public library (it shows 
that a way too many were published) and 2. the maps are not in color - 
no one buys those.  He said the only books worth buying are signed 
literary classics.

He referred me to the local pawn shop owner nearby (who evidently got 
the left overs from the Stars).  He passed on the books also, said even 
if anyone ever bought them, it would be for $5 or $10.00 each.

We all know that funny things happen when you move books around:  I just 
sold two of the 4 I have for $125.00 each.

I hope the Stars return soon - I have a couple more books that have been 
hanging around for awhile!

Home at Last

Last night at 8:30 we arrived home after a 3 and 1/2 week absence.  I don't know how people travel all of the time - it isn't for me.  Travel (to me) is tiring and disorienting.  I certainly can't focus on a job while traveling or stay involved in community activities or projects.  I just can't imagine how parents who travel are able to stay involved in their childrens' lives.  My hats off to those who do it well.

After we left our duties at the book store in St. Augustine, we stopped in the Tampa area to celebrate Jalen's 1st birthday.  This year just flew by!  He is a very happy and healthy little boy - and cute, I must say.  I'm putting up a couple of photos - you can see he can toss a basket ball already.

It seems that he enjoys getting "older" as tossing those balls is about as much fun as he has had yet!  He did not like that silly birthday hat and he was not excited about having birthday cake frosting on his hands - he put his hands out for his Dad to wipe them off.  

Well, it is great that he had family present to celebrate his 1st birthday and that they have been around to watch him grow this far.  I still love those Jalen hugs and kisses!

St. Augustine, FL

Well, Friends. I'm back at my first love - working in a used book store! By helping out at Wolf's Head Books I'm able to do the parts of the business I love - sell and buy but don't have to do the parts I don't love - worry about the rent, the orders, the employees, the insurance, the d.b. %, etc. Pure book selling - or reading if there is no selling :).


The weather is beautiful, there is a festival in town, I'm living across the street from the Atlantic and about as happy as I can be away from my own bed.  Right now I'm very happy that I offered to volunteer to help a friend.

We miss you, Harvey Wolf.
 

Used Book Stores in Texas

I've driven/ridden over 2000 miles in the past 2 weeks and have visited antique malls, used book stores and library resale areas in numerous towns.  It would seem to me that Texas is a hard state to find reasonably priced books in v.g. condition.  Either the books weren't of any interest to me, they were very expensive or in very poor condition. Or all 3!

In one town (not in TX) a bookstore I went into was so small and so crowded that I literally could barely move sideways down the aisle (walk would indicate forward momentum).  There were 2 L shape areas nestled so close together that I though the clerk was kidding when he said any FL history would be inside the area!  And I'm not THAT big a person (petite people would have had a problem).  Anyways, there were books everywhere in this tiny shop.  When the guy said he had been there since 1986 - and I almost asked if he had sold anything yet!

It is just truly a fun experience to see how so many shops are arranged, what kind of stock they have and get the feel of the place.  And I don't understand shops where the new "customer" isn't acknowledged or welcomed when s/he enters the store.  A simple "hi" or "welcome" would be nice and many dealers don't offer it - I wonder why.

San Antonio Alamo

Alamo Cactus

Texas Wild Flowers including famous Blue Bonnet