Wow, the forecast today is calling for 107 degrees. \u00a0That’s just flat kooky. \u00a0And don’t give me the “dry heat” qualifier either, that’s just hot. \u00a0Bone-melting, gasping, stay inside all day, HOT. \u00a0I guess it could be worse. \u00a0I don’t know how exactly, but I’m sure it could be. \u00a0(I could be mowing lawns? \u00a0Striping parking lots? \u00a0Digging a ditch? \u00a0All kinds of ways, now that I think about it.) \u00a0Anyway, the weather over the weekend was quite a bit nicer than today, and we got some good use out of it. \u00a0Maybe not so much Friday, but we had a little fun that day too. \u00a0I had to work a bit later than expected, so we ended up just heading to the weekly wine tasting at the good ol’ grocery store. \u00a0If nothing else, the sheer lameness of going to the grocery store for entertainment on a Friday night amuses me. \u00a0And, it’s sorta fun too. \u00a0They have a decent band, usually throw out some good pizza, and you get to taste a few new wines; \u00a0Good stuff! \u00a0We hung out there for an hour or so, then picked up a few groceries and went home to cook up a tasty shrimp pasta.<\/p>\n
Saturday started off a bit slow. \u00a0We spent a decent amount of time out looking for new patio furniture. \u00a0Wow, that was a shock, or disappointment, or something along those lines. \u00a0I had a few numbers floating around in my head for a budget, and I don’t think they covered the umbrella stand on most sets we found. \u00a0Good grief, when did outdoor furniture start costing more than good living room furniture? \u00a0I might well just be sitting in my Cabela’s folding chairs on the back porch, ’cause I ain’t paying that much. \u00a0After that waste of an afternoon, we headed “up the hill” to Placerville, to attend the 14th annual Bell Tower Brewfest<\/a>. \u00a0We’d heard good things about it from a few people, and indeed it was a fine event. \u00a0It was a bit different than the usual setup, in that the different distributors were located inside several shops along the town’s main street. \u00a0It was pretty cool; \u00a0You could check out the shops and sample some good local brews at the same time. \u00a0It was also in the evening, so it was considerably cooler than the recent one we attended in Folsom. \u00a0Good event, I’m sure we’ll return next year.<\/p>\n Sunday was moderately productive. \u00a0We again headed up the hill, even further to Tahoe this time. \u00a0It’s really not a bad drive, and has the added benefit of dropping 10-15 degrees in temp. \u00a0We timed our trip for a lunch stop, and had our spot all picked out, but when we got there we found it was inside a day-use area and they wanted $8 to park. \u00a0For lunch? \u00a0No thanks. \u00a0We headed over to the south side, which we’re a bit more familiar with anyway, and ended up at a place called Steamers<\/a>. \u00a0In something of a rarity, it worked out well for us, it was a solid lunch. \u00a0Their menu was just what we were in the mood for (sandwiches) and it was remarkably inexpensive too. \u00a0Donette got a turkey melt, which was great, and I let the waitress talk me into the taco special. \u00a0The tacos were…. “different.” \u00a0Like several other dishes around here, if you can get past the fact that they call it a “taco,” they were really pretty good. \u00a0The corn tortillas were coated in parmesan cheese and lightly fried… \u00a0weird. \u00a0Yet tasty. \u00a0Hmmm. \u00a0They also had about three heads of iceberg lettuce shredded up on them, which I’m not particularly fond of, but the spicy shredded chicken under that made up for it. \u00a0After lunch we headed to our favorite fine art gallery to pick up the painting we’d purchased several weeks ago. \u00a0Our first piece of “fine art,” how exciting. \u00a0I was<\/em> a little excited, honestly, I’m rather fond of it. \u00a0In an added bonus, the artist was there doing a show, so we got to meet him. \u00a0I’ll admit he wasn’t exactly what I expected. \u00a0(Just like the tacos.) \u00a0Let’s see, 1) goes by one name<\/a>, and 2) artist; just those two qualifiers pretty much scream “WEIRDO” to me. \u00a0On the contrary, he was really an interesting guy, quite personable. \u00a0If I was the least bit personable myself I’m sure we would have had a great conversation. \u00a0We hung out there for quite a while, mingling with all our new art collector friends, then headed back home and went to a friend’s house for dinner. \u00a0All-in-all, a fine weekend.<\/p>\n\n\t\t