Lodi: Better marketing

When I started the coffeeshop around 2004, the local Chamber of Commerce wanted me to sign up for membership.  It was quite expensive for my shoestring budget so I declined.  I couldn't really see any benefits to my shop.  Lodi's downtown has struggled for many years.  Many, if not most people, do their shopping in Madison, thirty minutes away.

Back then, the Chamber marketed Lodi as a peaceful valley with full service banking and a grassy airstrip. 

The Ice Age Trail Alliance installed new signs this week just off of Main Street.  While the Appalachian Trail is blazed with white stripes, the Ice Age Trail is blazed with yellow stripes.

Much better. Makes me proud to live in the Lodi Valley.  It sure isn't the grassy airstrip or full service banking.  

In other matters, Julia tested positive for Covid and is nearly recovered after experiencing mild symptoms.  I have tested negative twice, and keeping my fingers crossed.  The Scamp in the driveway makes an excellent place to hide from viruses.

New Mexico: Canyon National Recreation Trail

 From February 2022

We left South Valley after breakfast and coffee, headed for Las Cruces. We planned to stop at Bosque del Apache Wilderness and maybe have lunch in Truth or Consequences.  

At Bosque, the loop road offered a chance to drive through for a fee and see the wilderness area.  We just wanted to stretch our legs so we parked at the trailhead for the Canyon National Recreation Trail.  There is a small parking area off Hwy 1--a couple of miles south of the Bosque del Apache Visitors Center.  

The 2.5 mile trail was quite beautiful and a good introduction for us to a more desert-like terrain, compared to the Sandia Mountains.

The loop trail rises above the flat terrain for long-distance views from the top.

Just what we needed to take the edge off the drive and get some exercise. In going back through my photos and information at Alltrails, I just noticed that dogs may not be allowed on this trail.  Oops.  We didn't encounter any "no pets" signs, people, dogs or wildlife, so no harm, no foul.

 

In Truth or Consequences, quite a few restaurants were closed that Monday. We walked the main drag without really getting any feel for the town, except for the unusual name.   We ended up at the Grapevine Bistro, which seemed to cater to mixture of tourists and locals.  I had a Hatch Green Chile cheeseburger.  Not the best, not the worst. Service was good, and the place was clean.  On to Las Cruces!

New Mexico: Last Day in Albuquerque

On February 6th, we decided to walk along the river, starting with the Chris Chavez Trail which ran into the Rio Bravo Trail.  Then we continued on foot to Old Town.  The weather was warming up and the snow was pretty much gone by the end of the day.  We ate lunch at the Church Street Cafe. 

 

 

On the next day, we were on the road to Las Cruces.

New Mexico: Sandia Foothills Open Space

On February 5th, we were off to hike in the Sandia Foothills Open Space via Trail #365.  

The skies were so blue, and there was just a bit of snow--in the beginning. As we climbed in elevation, the snow became heavier.  We didn't bring our snowshoes or spikes on this trip, so we didn't hike as far as we planned. Julia has a crappy knee; getting down is the issue.

But we hiked high enough for a view.

 

Rock Carvings and Lunch

I was up early on February 4th, making coffee and toasting a couple of Hatch Chile bagels.

Julia was sleeping in, and Callie, who is not allowed in the bedroom at home, was taking full advantage of the vacation situation.

After breakfast, we headed to the Petroglyph National Monument.  One advantage to unseasonably cold weather was the lack of crowds; we had the trails to ourselves at the Volcanoes Day Use Area.

There were a scattering of folks on the man loop trail near the Visitors' Center, but not many.  

 

Dozens of petroglyphs were visible along the trail.  Our phone cameras didn't do them justice.

 

After hiking we stopped for lunch at Lava Rock Brewing Company.  I had a lava burger, which was an open-faced cheeseburger smothered with red chile with an egg and fried onion ring on top.  I was so hungry that I honestly don't recall the beer.

 

New Mexico: From Adobe Casita to Pole Barn

 From February 3, 2022

The thing about Airbnb is you never know quite what the experience is going to be.  We were delightfully surprised by our upgraded adobe casita  in Pojoaque.  But sometimes there are surprises in the other direction.

Our rental in the South Valley area of  Albuquerque was a DIY converted pole barn.   The bedroom was partitioned off from the rest of the barn.  A gas blower noisily blew hot air into the bedroom.  The result was that the bedroom was too hot, and the rest of the living space was too cold. The owner told us that the extreme cold weather was quite unusual, and we should have been there last week for the better weather.  A propane truck was arriving that day to make sure we had fuel for the furnace.  She was worried about running out.  

The main space was the rest of the pole barn.  It was huge but also cold.  A small space heater sent a small amount of heat to collect up in the rafters.  It did have a nice kitchen, where we had breakfast and most of our lunches.

We stayed there for four nights.  Thankfully, however, we had lots to explore, so the rental was mainly for sleeping. 

As soon as we got unpacked, we headed off for a walk along the Bosque Trail towards downtown.

Resilient Sandhill Cranes

 

After our long walk, we were ready for sustenance and stopped in for a stout at Rio Bravo Brewing Company's outdoor covered space. 

New Mexico: Santa Fe

 

From February 2022

Julia and I have been to Santa Fe before, but it was many years ago.

Normally, the drive from Pojoaque to Santa Fe is only about 20 minutes, but the roads were snow covered/slushy on the morning of our visit.  There didn't seem to be very much snow removal equipment working.  We took our time and eventually ended up parking close to the plaza.  Callie was with us, so there was no museum touring or anything of that nature  Santa Fe simply caught us unprepared  Quite a few places were closed. There was hardly anyone out on the streets.

 We managed to take a few pictures on the morning of February 3rd.

Santa Fe River

The river was interesting to me because this would be called a creek in Wisconsin.  Later in the week, we would learn that a river out here doesn't need any water flowing to be called a river. 

On the way back, we stopped to walk a paved trail running from the main drag in Pojoaque to the reservation school.  Conditions were wintry.

On the next day, we had reservations waiting for us at an airbnb outside Albuquerque. 

Some Rent is Better than No Rent

 

The Mills Block building on Lodi's Main Street was built in 1895 and has a storied past.  This photo is from today, and you can see that it's currently for rent again.  The vacant left side  is where I operated my coffeeshop.  The roaster was in the back.  A Mexican restaurant is currently on the right side.  When I was there, it was a Chinese restaurant and later a bar. 

The building has historically had trouble keeping tenants. That worked in my favor to negotiate and write a one-sided long term lease with escalating but still cheap rent, including all utilities.  I made the argument that some rent was better than none.  Once I was established, I could afford to pay a little more.   

The coffeeshop stuck around for about 12 years--seven years after I sold it.  When the lease expired, new owners wrote a new lease with much higher rent payments.  Subsequent tenants have struggled.  Some rent is better than no rent, especially in a small town where vacant buildings languish.   

I went out for breakfast with a friend who told me that the building is for sale again.  One of the potential new owners has restoration plans. I hope it works out. I have fond memories of the space.

I was always an early riser, but it was here that I arrived at at 5:15 a.m. every morning for five years.  I officially turned on the open sign at 6 a.m.  On warm summer days, I would leave the front and back doors open and turn the commercial kitchen fans on high to bring in the cool fresh air.

Often guys would start trickling in around 5:45 a.m. to sit at what they called "the smart table."    The smart table was actually a cluster of tables near the cash register and consisted of mostly middle-aged to older  guys and a few women.   They would buy bottomless cups for $2 and solve problems, globally and locally, for the rest of us. 

Summer Solstice: Music and Beer

 The nearby city of Madison, Wisconsin celebrated the summer solstice with #makemusicmadison on a very hot day yesterday.  

Callie and I got our five mile walk in very early, but we still couldn't beat the sun coming up at 4:50 a.m.  Later, when the temperatures rose to the 90's in the afternoon, I forced myself to leave the air conditioning and drove  to Madison to see what music and beer I could find.

My first stop was at Sugar River Distillery.  Since this was a working weekday, most of the celebrants of the solstice were in the above age 60 category, as was the band.  No matter.  Everyone was having a good time. 

They played some bluegrass, old folk (pun intended), and even jazz.  One of the band members died from Covid last year.  They apologized for any missed vocal notes, as the band has not practiced regularly together.  It all sounded pretty good to me, while I sipped my non-alcoholic spicy ginger beer that was brewed locally.

At 4 p.m., I made my second stop, which was around the corner from Sugar River:  Giant Jones Brewing Company.  I've been meaning to try their taproom for a couple of years.  They are newcomers to the Madison brewing scene and one of the only woman-owned breweries in Wisconsin.  Giant Jones specializes in big beers.

The band was still setting up, and the taproom was just opening.  That didn't stop me from ordering their double stout, Black is Beautiful.  The alcohol content was a little higher than I like at 7.7%, but the heavy malt levels did a nice job of balancing that out.  A perfect beer to sip slowly and enjoy over an hour or more.

New Mexico: The Family Casita

From February 2022

When we woke the next morning after our long drive to New Mexico, the snow was already beginning to melt.  In the daylight, the grounds of our Airbnb were much more interesting than I expected. The casitas were originally built for a llama farm, which is no longer in operation.  Our host spent time as a little girl in the family casita. 

 

There was a loop trail around the property.

Inside the family casita, the living room was toasty from the fire and very comfortable.

Notice the big step into the kitchen behind Julia. 

Father's Day

Neither of my kids were around today during waking hours, but both made their presence known.  Allie left for San Francisco early this morning, but woke me up before leaving at 4 a.m. to wish me a Father's Day.  Justin called at 5:15 a.m., hoping to beat Allie to be first.  

Justin sent this memory pic today

 

From this week's visit

I enjoyed both of their presents.  Justin gave me two four packs of Dollar Shave Club razors that he found on sale for 80% off or $1.25 each.  Good shopping, Justin. I'm glad some of my frugal habits stuck to you.

Allie gave me a souvenir that she brought back from Scotland:  a glass for Scotch with a mini-bottle of Chivas Regal.  Thanks, Allie.

 

Justin's Struggles and a Meh Brewpub

We don't get too many "great weather" weekends in Wisconsin but this weekend is one of them.  As soon as Allie finished up work yesterday afternoon, we took off for a road trip to see Justin in Whitewater.

I tell you this next story just to give an idea of Justin's struggles.  When we picked  Justin up at his summer dorm room, he was angry.  Earlier that day, he called me with the good news that he was going to get to live in suite-style dorm housing this fall (individual rooms with a shared living room, kitchen, bath), along with three roommates who invited him to be the fourth roommate.  The university sent Justin an email confirming the the change from his single room where he feels isolated. 

Just before we arrived, Justin got an email from one of the roommates stating that they didn't want Justin anymore because Justin was in a power wheelchair and that caregivers would be in the suite to assist Justin in his daily living activities.   They wanted to know why Justin hadn't told them about the caregivers.  Justin replied that he hadn't been asked and didn't know that it made any difference.  They said it did and best of luck.

In truth, you don't want Justin to have roommates with that kind of mindset.  On the other hand, it's clearly discrimination based upon Justin's disability.  Requiring them to be Justin's roommate as a remedy is not going to work out for anyone.  But it sucks.  And it's not uncommon for disabled people to suffer that type of close-mindedness and social ostracism.  Justin said that this is the fourth time that the roommate situation has fallen apart in his efforts to live in the university's suite housing. 

Obviously, it wasn't going to fix anything, but one thing that cheers Justin up is food.  Off we went to Second Salem Brewing Company.  We've been there twice before when the food was pretty good, and the beer was decent.  Unfortunately, the food and beer this time left something to be desired.  Lot of restaurants are struggling with staffing during Covid.  Our table server was  good.   The food highlight was probably the fried cheese curds, which are tough to screw up.

I ordered the Black Mass Stout.  Most of the beers here have names related to witchcraft, which was supposedly a thing in Whitewater's historic past.  My beer could have used a better spell.  It was thin and grainy tasting.  My fried fish was limp and greasy.  All I can say is that something had gone wrong with the coleslaw, which I couldn't eat.  And the tap water.  It just wasn't right.  Allie described the water as "thick".  I thought it had a chemical aftertaste.  Maybe the witches got to the water. 

We still managed to have a good time.

Road to New Mexico: Long Driving Day

 From February 2022

The plan was to take three days to get to New Mexico from Cameron, Missouri.  After all, we weren't in any hurry, and our first Airbnb reservations weren't until February 3rd.  

We hit the road at 6 a.m. on February 1st, hoping to avoid rush hour around Kansas City.  That strategy worked pretty well. Traffic was heavy, but no slow-downs.  Listening to the morning news on the car radio, the weather forecast did not sound good.  A winter storm was approaching and was going to hit the Great Plains that evening.  Spending the next couple of days slogging through wintry conditions in Kansas, the Oklahoma panhandle, and Texas just didn't sound fun.

Early in the day, we started considering other options.  Julia first tried to see if we could get into our Airbnb in Albuquerque early.  No go.  Then she tried Santa Fe.  There was a possibility at a small, adobe casita, but it required a two day minimum and was just a studio. Could we make it to Santa Fe before the storm hit?   Julia booked it.  

I settled into driving, listening to an audio book that Julia downloaded.

During the early afternoon, we heard back from the owner of the Airbnb.   There was a problem getting our small casita ready, due to staffing and the winter storm coming.  Would we mind an upgrade at no extra charge to the larger family adobe casita, which had a fireplace and access to a hot tub?   Yeah, that would work.

We pulled into Trader Joe's in Santa Fe after dark and picked up groceries for a few days.  Our Airbnb was actually a few miles north of Pojoaque, and it was starting to snow.  The gravel driveway going steeply up from the main road was snow covered but still easily passable with the Subaru's AWD. 

It had been a really long day.  But two days after leaving Wisconsin, we were in New Mexico already, relaxing and enjoying ourselves.  Firewood was stacked in the covered porch.   A bottle of wine was opened. Sleep wasn't far away.