California adventures!

I was all excited to go adventuring this weekend. Last week was beautiful, sunny, cool days everyday, even warmed up to 70. But Saturday morning I woke up to fog and colder, damper temperatures. So I went to the scrapbook store here in town instead. It was nice, but not as cool as my favorite stores Scrappersaurus and ScrapbookBarn. There was lots of scrapbook stuff there thats for sure. But, for me its more than just the stuff. Its about the people. I'm spoiled by my friends at my favorite stores. They make scrapbooking more about community than about stuff (though they don't hesitate to sell me stuff, lol).

In the evening, the weather cleared nicely and I decided to go ride up the coast and watch the sunset. I got my sweats on because it was chilly and windy. Grabbed my camera and headed north. Right into the fog again! It was rolling back in just in time for sunset. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. It's a challenge for me to go on these adventures by myself. This is really the first travel assignment I've had where I'm really out on my own. I have friends here in CA, and I will get to see each of them once, but for the most part I am on my own. So if I want to do something I have to do it by myself.

One of the hardest things for me to do by myself, is to eat out. I have friends that love eating out alone. My dad eats out alone several nights a week. But for all of these people, they frequent the same places, people know them, they can have conversations with the waitstaff, etc. But I'm new here. I've been researching places to go and I have a good list. But I really have to challenge myself to actually go sit in a restaurant by myself. People I know have suggested bringing a book. And thats fine I guess if I'm going to Dennys. But to go to a fine dining establishment and pull out a book, not something I feel ok about doing.

Saturday as I was headed into the fog, I decided to check out a place that was on the beach for dinner and sunset. I figured I'd rather be inside than in the fog. Plus I wanted to fine someplace with good food here. So I had dinner at the Moonstone Grill at Moonstone Beach. It was a medium sized place, with a nice crowd and awesome views of the beach and of the sunset. The menu was nice with several surf and turf selections. I had the Lobster Bisque which was tasty and I had a Florentine Sole rolled and stuffed with crabmeat which was very good. I passed on desert as there were no sugar free selections. It was a nice meal and I had a nice waitress. And I got to watch the sun drop down into the Pacific.

I spent Sunday cooking for this week. I made tuna salad, pork chops on my George Foreman Grill, chicken with balsamic goat cheese, and I have a meat loaf in the oven as I am typing. I also made Spinach and Artichoke dip for a vegee, its a great way to get spinach into my diet! I will heat up a can of green beans later in the week for another vegee. I also bring bell peppers and celery with salad dressing for vegees at work.

Tonight we are having a cookout here where I live. There are 4 of us, all travelers. The other 3 are nurses that work a few blocks from here. I'm the odd man out, an OT that works down in Fortuna. I was elected to bring watermelon, which was easy, and I was thankful to be elected to bring such an easy thing. Maybe next time I will make hamburgers or something if I have some more notice.

I know I need to upload some of my pictures here from my cross country trip and from my adventures so far here. One day I will, one day . . .

In closing I want to let my friend Dee know I am thinking about her and praying for her :)