Sunday, April 3, 2011
Tony and Curious George
ACE Train #2
I now have a couple weeks on the train, and generally the commute is very nice. It is definately very peaceful. I sleep most of the way to work. I like to wake up in Freemont, and then I can see the sun coming up over Drawbridge as I go through the Bay, just before Alviso.
I like to look for wildlife on trip. Of course they ar emost abundant going through the bay. Ltely there have been numerous ducks and geese, along with th normal sea birds. One day I saw a group of three bunnies chasing eachother along one of te banks of the bay dikes. I have also seen egrets and other sea birds.
Going through Niles Canyon I have seen wild turkeys, at least I assume there were wild. They were big black Toms. One had his back feathers spead like he tradigtional Thanksgiving picture.
I have had one bad experience with the train. A week ago Thursday there was a slide in Niles Canyon, My first warning was being met at the train station by a bus instead of a train. This first bus was to take us to Great America Sation. By the time I got there, the seats were all taken. One passenger had his luggage on a seat, taking two spaces, but didn't feel nclined to move it. I ended up standing for about 40 minutes with my bag slung over my shoulder. It was pretty hard, and my back ached for some days. One of the ACE staff apologized, saying they couldn't get another bus. It was still hard.
At Great America we were met by several charter buses. We were all able to get a seat and the bus was headed to Manteca in traffic. The driver heard 680 had an accident and was backed up. He decided to try Niles Canyon, where the slide was, but this was doomed to failure. He eventually took the bus to the 580, where traffic was failry light and took yus home that way. We got to Manteca at 8:30, onl y an hour late. Even then, driving home there was a train in the road and I turned around and went a long way around.
Next day I drove because thre were no trains running. From this experience I have decided to continue with the 20-pass tickets rather than buying a monthly pass. I think there will always be a few days a month I stay home, or just want to drive instead of taking the train. A 20-pass ticket should last two weeks, and I am still on my first and it has been three weeks.
I like to look for wildlife on trip. Of course they ar emost abundant going through the bay. Ltely there have been numerous ducks and geese, along with th normal sea birds. One day I saw a group of three bunnies chasing eachother along one of te banks of the bay dikes. I have also seen egrets and other sea birds.
Going through Niles Canyon I have seen wild turkeys, at least I assume there were wild. They were big black Toms. One had his back feathers spead like he tradigtional Thanksgiving picture.
I have had one bad experience with the train. A week ago Thursday there was a slide in Niles Canyon, My first warning was being met at the train station by a bus instead of a train. This first bus was to take us to Great America Sation. By the time I got there, the seats were all taken. One passenger had his luggage on a seat, taking two spaces, but didn't feel nclined to move it. I ended up standing for about 40 minutes with my bag slung over my shoulder. It was pretty hard, and my back ached for some days. One of the ACE staff apologized, saying they couldn't get another bus. It was still hard.
At Great America we were met by several charter buses. We were all able to get a seat and the bus was headed to Manteca in traffic. The driver heard 680 had an accident and was backed up. He decided to try Niles Canyon, where the slide was, but this was doomed to failure. He eventually took the bus to the 580, where traffic was failry light and took yus home that way. We got to Manteca at 8:30, onl y an hour late. Even then, driving home there was a train in the road and I turned around and went a long way around.
Next day I drove because thre were no trains running. From this experience I have decided to continue with the 20-pass tickets rather than buying a monthly pass. I think there will always be a few days a month I stay home, or just want to drive instead of taking the train. A 20-pass ticket should last two weeks, and I am still on my first and it has been three weeks.
At the Movies: **^ Yogi Bear
I took Tony to see Yogi bear. It is fun to sit by him and her him laugh. He laughed most for the "Roadrunner" cartoon which they showed before the movie. He tloved seeing the coyote's failures, and get smashed by rocks and trains and such things.
Yogi Bear was fun as well. It pit the ranger and Yogi Bear and Boo Boo against the mayor and the logging company. After Yogi ruins everything with his water skiing accident which accidentally sets fire to the fireworks display, he saves the day in the end. The frog-mouthed turtle was a best friend of Tony, and Tony was rooting for him to be OK. However, other than the antics of Yogi and Boo Boo, this movie was fairly predictable in its good guy environmentalist, bad guy logger theme.
Yogi Bear was fun as well. It pit the ranger and Yogi Bear and Boo Boo against the mayor and the logging company. After Yogi ruins everything with his water skiing accident which accidentally sets fire to the fireworks display, he saves the day in the end. The frog-mouthed turtle was a best friend of Tony, and Tony was rooting for him to be OK. However, other than the antics of Yogi and Boo Boo, this movie was fairly predictable in its good guy environmentalist, bad guy logger theme.
Life in Manteca 2
This is a continuation of the previous blog, but is was too tired to finish it last night.
A positive quality of our new life is the park being only a bock away. The park has a playground structure with slides, a set of swings, and a half court basketball hoop. It also has a big field which is used for community soccer practices. We haven't tried our hand at soccer yet, but Caleb and I tok a turn at the basketball hoop, with me winning a game of "22."
Tony likes the playground structure and the swings. He had a bad experience at the park yesterday however. I wasn't there as he was with siblings and their friends. Seems Tony found a good stick to play with. I guess an older kid said he had just set the stick down and reclaimed it. Miranda brought Tony home crying. The good thing is, Tony's tears usually don't last very long.
I wanted to continue with the restaurant review. Mostly Manteca has franchised restaurants, but there are some which are unique to Manteca. Sheri and I tried La Costa, which was recommended to us, but a sign said cash only. We didn't have enough having given the cash to the kids to go bowling. While driving around for cash we discovered Las Palmas and ate there instead.
Caleb and I visited the **^ Dairy Queen yesterday. Dairy Queen is an American staple which seems to be going away. We had the special, two double cheese burgers for $3.33. This is more than the double cheese burger at McDonald's. However it really felt like a double cheeseburger, while at McDonald's it feels like a regular cheeseburger with two patties. However, my biggest reason for visiting Dairy Queen is the butterscotch dipped cones. We were informed this Dairy Queen only has chocolate dipped cones. What a disappointment. Caleb had a small undipped cone. I had a medium dipped cone. The cones were very large. I would hate to see the large. It must be hard to carry.
Sheri and I visited ** Taqueria Nayarit while we were this way doing business for buying the house. It advertised itself as having the best taco in town. The food was rather tasty, but I give them low marks for the environs. It seems they were trying to maintain a bar in half of the establishment, and it was hard to keep Tony out of that area. Also paring was very difficult as it is shared with a hotel. Sheri did enjoy their food, better than Las Palmas. For my part I preferred Las Palmas. I think we are still looking for a favorite Mexican restaurant.
Another lost American restaurant is A&W. In Lathrop and Tracy there are **** KFC, A&W combinations. What a fantastic idea. I love A&W root beer. I mix it half and half regular and diet for my diabetes. We visited the store in Tracy so Tony could get some fries the other day. I went in thinking I wanted chicken, but had a burger instead. It was very nice. Funny thing is the cashier thought she recognized me, and when she saw my name on the ATM card asked if I knew Vern Wardle, saying I looked like him. I took that as a complement. Vern is a third cousin we know from the Stevens Creek Ward. We count them as good friends. She knows Vern from work, not from when he lived in Tracy. He is in upper management at KFC Harmons. He enjoyed ouselves, and I took it upon myself to refill everyone's cup when they wanted more root beer. My only complaint about A&W is their prices are a bit more than other fast-food restaurants.
A positive quality of our new life is the park being only a bock away. The park has a playground structure with slides, a set of swings, and a half court basketball hoop. It also has a big field which is used for community soccer practices. We haven't tried our hand at soccer yet, but Caleb and I tok a turn at the basketball hoop, with me winning a game of "22."
Tony likes the playground structure and the swings. He had a bad experience at the park yesterday however. I wasn't there as he was with siblings and their friends. Seems Tony found a good stick to play with. I guess an older kid said he had just set the stick down and reclaimed it. Miranda brought Tony home crying. The good thing is, Tony's tears usually don't last very long.
I wanted to continue with the restaurant review. Mostly Manteca has franchised restaurants, but there are some which are unique to Manteca. Sheri and I tried La Costa, which was recommended to us, but a sign said cash only. We didn't have enough having given the cash to the kids to go bowling. While driving around for cash we discovered Las Palmas and ate there instead.
Caleb and I visited the **^ Dairy Queen yesterday. Dairy Queen is an American staple which seems to be going away. We had the special, two double cheese burgers for $3.33. This is more than the double cheese burger at McDonald's. However it really felt like a double cheeseburger, while at McDonald's it feels like a regular cheeseburger with two patties. However, my biggest reason for visiting Dairy Queen is the butterscotch dipped cones. We were informed this Dairy Queen only has chocolate dipped cones. What a disappointment. Caleb had a small undipped cone. I had a medium dipped cone. The cones were very large. I would hate to see the large. It must be hard to carry.
Sheri and I visited ** Taqueria Nayarit while we were this way doing business for buying the house. It advertised itself as having the best taco in town. The food was rather tasty, but I give them low marks for the environs. It seems they were trying to maintain a bar in half of the establishment, and it was hard to keep Tony out of that area. Also paring was very difficult as it is shared with a hotel. Sheri did enjoy their food, better than Las Palmas. For my part I preferred Las Palmas. I think we are still looking for a favorite Mexican restaurant.
Another lost American restaurant is A&W. In Lathrop and Tracy there are **** KFC, A&W combinations. What a fantastic idea. I love A&W root beer. I mix it half and half regular and diet for my diabetes. We visited the store in Tracy so Tony could get some fries the other day. I went in thinking I wanted chicken, but had a burger instead. It was very nice. Funny thing is the cashier thought she recognized me, and when she saw my name on the ATM card asked if I knew Vern Wardle, saying I looked like him. I took that as a complement. Vern is a third cousin we know from the Stevens Creek Ward. We count them as good friends. She knows Vern from work, not from when he lived in Tracy. He is in upper management at KFC Harmons. He enjoyed ouselves, and I took it upon myself to refill everyone's cup when they wanted more root beer. My only complaint about A&W is their prices are a bit more than other fast-food restaurants.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Life in Manteca 1
We have now been in Manteca three weeks, and I personally am finding the life her very relaxing. We of course are still finding our way around.
Caleb and I went home teaching, visiting two of three families before it became too late. It gave us a change to pick the families we visit for information about the area. Turns out both families are long time residents of the area. From an inactive brother we got a lesson on the early history of the branch in Manteca. Seems when his family moved into the area some 50 years ago the branch was meeting in a rented upstairs office space. It has changed considerable since then as their is a stake with two large buildings and four wards. The stake celebrated its 30 year anniversary just after we moved here, but I missed getting any notice so missed the event.
***^ Bass Pro Shop is a world to itself. I don't know if I will buy anything there soon, but I would like to get a canoe, someday. Their display of fish is incredible. There is a large tank with a water fall. In the ank are big fresh water fish, catfish, bass trout, etc. There are also numerable stuffed animals through the store. Tony enjoyed feeling the fur. It's fun having such a store close by, and I will probably visit frequently.
**^ J.C. Penny is a store I have also visited frequently, looking at home items. I have looked at bar stools and rus, but still haven't felt moved to buy anything there.
***** Home Goods is a different story however. There is a Home Goods in Stockton, and also one in Mountain View. Sheri and I visited the store in Stockton. It is impossible to go there without finding some home decor item. I got a decorative ball, some pictures and Sheri got some bathroom jars and a decorative goose. We also got a couple light houses for the family room.
There is a movie theater **** Markeplace Stadium 10 in town that only charges $3. I took Tony to "Yogi Bear." Sheri and I went to "Unknown." It is clean, and they have good snacks; unlike other discount theaters where I have been. Tony had candy and Sheri popcorn.
We have visited numerous restaurants in town. *** Las Palmas for our Friday date (but we went on Thursday as I had off for Cesar Chavez Day. This was a traditional Mexican restaurant. Their Salsa for the chips and salsa was probably the best I have ever tasted. The ambience had somehting to be desired. Much of the floor had been taken up and the concrete left bare. Charity didn't care for her fajitas. My tamal and enchilada were nice. Their Spanish rice was good, as were the beans.
There are three **** McDonalds in town. These of course are consistent in their food with the franchise throughout the state. A couple things should be noted about McDonalds in Manteca. On West Yosemite is a McDonalds with a very large play place. It has a couple different climbing areas and it has computer games. It also has air hockey but this was not working. The McDonalds on East Yosemite (Yosemite and Union) has a very large lobby. It is a great place to sit and talk as they stay open late, at least on Fridays.
Caleb and I went home teaching, visiting two of three families before it became too late. It gave us a change to pick the families we visit for information about the area. Turns out both families are long time residents of the area. From an inactive brother we got a lesson on the early history of the branch in Manteca. Seems when his family moved into the area some 50 years ago the branch was meeting in a rented upstairs office space. It has changed considerable since then as their is a stake with two large buildings and four wards. The stake celebrated its 30 year anniversary just after we moved here, but I missed getting any notice so missed the event.
***^ Bass Pro Shop is a world to itself. I don't know if I will buy anything there soon, but I would like to get a canoe, someday. Their display of fish is incredible. There is a large tank with a water fall. In the ank are big fresh water fish, catfish, bass trout, etc. There are also numerable stuffed animals through the store. Tony enjoyed feeling the fur. It's fun having such a store close by, and I will probably visit frequently.
**^ J.C. Penny is a store I have also visited frequently, looking at home items. I have looked at bar stools and rus, but still haven't felt moved to buy anything there.
***** Home Goods is a different story however. There is a Home Goods in Stockton, and also one in Mountain View. Sheri and I visited the store in Stockton. It is impossible to go there without finding some home decor item. I got a decorative ball, some pictures and Sheri got some bathroom jars and a decorative goose. We also got a couple light houses for the family room.
There is a movie theater **** Markeplace Stadium 10 in town that only charges $3. I took Tony to "Yogi Bear." Sheri and I went to "Unknown." It is clean, and they have good snacks; unlike other discount theaters where I have been. Tony had candy and Sheri popcorn.
We have visited numerous restaurants in town. *** Las Palmas for our Friday date (but we went on Thursday as I had off for Cesar Chavez Day. This was a traditional Mexican restaurant. Their Salsa for the chips and salsa was probably the best I have ever tasted. The ambience had somehting to be desired. Much of the floor had been taken up and the concrete left bare. Charity didn't care for her fajitas. My tamal and enchilada were nice. Their Spanish rice was good, as were the beans.
There are three **** McDonalds in town. These of course are consistent in their food with the franchise throughout the state. A couple things should be noted about McDonalds in Manteca. On West Yosemite is a McDonalds with a very large play place. It has a couple different climbing areas and it has computer games. It also has air hockey but this was not working. The McDonalds on East Yosemite (Yosemite and Union) has a very large lobby. It is a great place to sit and talk as they stay open late, at least on Fridays.
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