Replacing our Awning & A Crazy Week with Friends & Family

Coloma, CA
Ponderosa Resort 

Once back in Coloma for the week we had a big job to do.  Replacing the awning.  We've had the material for a couple of weeks but we wanted to wait until our friends, John & Tina joined us so that Steve could get some help.  They camped next to us. (thanks for the pic Tina).

We knew after 8 years that our original awning was getting dry and brittle and would need to be replaced.  We had a big wind a couple of months ago and it ripped in the upper left corner where it attaches to the side of the trailer.

Our friends Mike and Rose came over so Mike could help out as well. First, remove the old awning.

Straps were attached and the bottom roller bar comes off after the rivets are removed.

Next the new awning material gets put through the upper grove and screwed in place at the ends.

Mike and John feeding the material through the bottom on the roller.

New rivets put in.

And here it is!  It took them a couple of hours.  Thank you both John & Mike for helping!  I'm glad all I had to do was take some pictures.  It might be hard to tell in the pictures, but the new awning is a fade to gray style.  I do like the white strip against the trailer as it lets light into the bedroom window.

Finishing touches.  We're very happy with it!

San Jose, CA

Moochdocking

A week later we drove 3 hours to San Jose to babysit Jaxon and visit friends and family.  We started with a visit to Debbie and Rooty since we were staying at their families home/yard.

We had a great dinner at Brew City.  The food was amazing!  Debbie had a Filet Mignon Wrap and I had a Strawberry Arugula Salad.  The Wings were delish too.  They all loved their beer samples.

We watched Jax for the day and had a great time.  He loves building things with Papa.

Nonna loves her giggly Meatball.  Especially his kisses.

Park Time!

Fun for the little ones and the big ones!

Later in the week Debbie and I went on a hike leaving from the cute town of Los Gatos up to Lexington Reservoir.  This was my first hike since Covid and while I was a little winded, I did great.  Even with the elevation gain.

The Two Debbies.  We've known each other since 2nd grade!

Los Gatos Creek running along the first 1/2 of the trail.

Lexington Reservoir where we had a great lunch that we brought with us.

It sure felt good to get back on a trail.  That evening the four of us were looking forward to dinner at the Cats before watching a band that a friend of ours plays in.

The Cats is an iconic spot.  From their website:

Established in 1896, and originally a stop on the old stage line, The Cats Roadhouse served as a weigh station for horse-drawn lumber wagons on their way to San Jose, as well as a rowdy social club for local residents. At the time the road was first paved, around 1920, the Cats was one of the area’s most notorious speakeasies and bordellos. During the 40′s and 50′s The Cats building housed a realty office, gun shop and sporting goods store. The restaurant and tavern were re-established in 1967 and it is one of the last remaining Roadhouses in the United States. Today the legacy continues as a destination and place to be for generations to come. 

Rumors of two ghosts, one female upstairs and one male downstairs are still talked about today,

we hear they are friendly and keep an eye on the place for us.

It's probably been 35+ years since we've been to the Cats.  It has been closed for a while and just now reopened.  Unfortunately, they had staff problem and closed last minute just before we arrived.  So off we went to Historic Downtown Los Gatos and had a great dinner at Loma Brewing Co.

Then it was off to Downtown San Jose where an old friend of ours was playing in a band.  Until recently, I hadn't seen Derek since I was maybe 10?  He gave me guitar lessons!

The next evening we finally got to meet our 2nd son, Shane's, girlfriends parents.  It's only been 3 years!  Covid kind of messed that up and we were gone much of last year.  Love your parents Lindsay! They are wonderful people and we were very glad to have finally met them!

On our last morning I wanted to take Steve to Jack Holder's Restaurant that Debbie had introduced me to.  Oh my, do they make the best Green Chili Verde & Eggs!

The Flintstone House visible from Hwy 280.

Our final day was supposed to be a visit to my uncle (I haven't seen since Covid started) but he wasn't feeling well so we decided to go visit my grandparents/great grandparents graves.  Steve hadn't been to them before and was surprised to see how fancy a mausoleum can be.  Back in the day, Italians put a lot of money into where they ended up.  And it wasn't below ground.  A small fortune was spent on these fancy granite tomb resting places.  I didn't take any pictures of the ornate decorations.

My great grandparents.  My Nonna was the one that came to Italy in 1906.

My grandparents.

My grandparents on my Dad's side.  My Mom is uber organized.  She has already added her and my Dad's info on the headstone so all we will have to take care of is their death dates.

And to end on a sweeter note, one last picture of Jaxon waving goodbye until we see him next week!

It was such a crazy week and the next one will be more of the same!