Weekend Visit

Paul and Karen, our friends from Salem, Oregon, are "RV ing" their way through northern and southern California over the next several weeks. That's the advantage of being retired, you don't have to stick to a strict timetable.

We met them at the Cal Expo RV park and drove to the Buggy Whip restaurant for dinner. The Buggy Whip has been a mainstay in Sacramento for over fifty years. I remember having a meal at the Buggy Whip from as far back as 1968. I must have been all of five or six years old at the time - yeah, right.

Afterwards, we went home and watched a movie on our eighty inch projection screen. We had stopped off at the Nugget Bakery prior to going home and purchased a tasty dessert. During our movie intermission, we ate the Nugget chocolate cake with some vanilla ice cream. Yummy!

We had a nice evening together and enjoyed catching up on things that had transpired over the last several months. We hadn't seen them since our visit to Portland during the summer. Hopefully, we can get together again, in the not too distant future.

2009 Detroit Auto Show

The yearly Northern International Auto Show in Detroit is a significant event for car enthusiast, as we get our first real look at all the cars we've only seen in those blurry spy photos that the auto magazines love to show as teasers for the coming year. There will be many interesting cars for 2010 and for some manufacturers the models may determine whether the company will still be around to debut their products at next year's show.

Ford, one of those companies with some financial challenges ahead, may be on to something with the redesign of their venerable Taurus models. As an owner of the original Taurus, I still have an interest in the brand and particularly in Ford's effort to stir up some curiosity about a car that has been poorly managed over the last decade or so. The 2010 Taurus has new exterior lines and a vastly improved interior. If you are interested in knowing more about the car, you will find the below You Tube link useful in forming your own opinion about Ford's attempt to make the 2010 Taurus a sedan worthy of the original. From what I've seen, so far, I like the styling and particularly the upgraded interior with all of it's high tech gadgets. What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fuZjPoAD0c

Red Hawk Casino

We have a new place to gamble in the Sacramento area. The Red Hawk Casino competes nicely with the offerings in Lake Tahoe and Reno; plus it has the advantage of being much closer to Sacramento. Nancy and I visited the Red Hawk Casino this week. The casino reminded me of an upscale casino in Reno. The parking garage is very convenient and the casino is located just a short distance from Highway 50. This makes for easy entry and exit, especially during the mid-week off peak hours (you know, when the retired folks like to visit).

We had a tasty and very reasonably priced meal at the Red Hawk's Waterfall Buffet. The prime rib was excellent and there are just too many entrees, side dishes and desserts to mention - all delicious! The casino has entertainment at the Stage Bar. We didn't stay to see the show during this visit, but we plan to return soon to check out the entertainment. The band, Steele Breeze, a favorite of ours and a mainstay at the Nugget Casino in Sparks, Nevada, will be there next week. We may have to check it out!

Gambling casinos in the Sacramento area keep moving up a notch as the region adds new and improved facilities. The offshoot is that Reno and Lake Tahoe are becoming less and less a premiere destination for gaming and name entertainment. Now, we have all of that right here in our local area. It's all good!

Happy New Year!

We welcomed in the New Year at our favorite Japanese restaurant (Osaka Sushi Bar). I've lost track as to the number of years that we have gathered at Osaka's for our New Year celebration, but I know that it is in the teens, at least. Nancy was still nursing a cold, so she was not at this year's gathering and a couple of others also had to miss the get-together.

I have a collection of pictures from previous New Year's celebrations and as you would expect, all of us look slightly older and the younger attendees are no longer "Kids". The "Kids" have either graduated from college, or they are attending college, and they now hold down full or part time jobs. There are several retirees in the group, with more to come - perhaps even this year.

As always, we had a great time visiting with one another and enjoying a delicious Japanese meal. Thanks Les, for making the annual arrangements. It was great fun!!

You can see the pictures of our New Year's celebration to the right and at the bottom of the blog page.