MrAndrewBradley

In preparation for Camp Bradley on Labor Day Weekend we have been busy getting everything at my parents' house ready. They finished putting in hardwood stairs, while I decided to take on a new project ... after cleaning the railing on their balcony I figured out a way to make it water proof ... backerboard and a special kind of paint . To start the morning off we had waffles, while after work we dined well ... Papa Murphy's deLite and BBQ pizzas . We also headed up to the Bradley Lodge , enjoyed some fantastic cookies from Grocery Outlet and did some real work ... found the septic tank pump out area (under about 2 feet of dirt) and shampooed the carpets. Unfortunately we only stayed for a day because of smoke from the Rim Fire near Yosemite . On our way home we stopped at the Lodi Casino for a yummy dinner , I chose Chinse, while my mom enjoyed steak sandwich. Finally there was some work to do at my house (Fort Bradley) as well. I purchased a new cordless hedge trimm

A few weeks ago a friend of mine mentioned on Facebook that the Paul Martin's Happy Hour menu included a $12 item. Normally that would be a lot, but when it includes a gourmet hamburger (I picked bacon, there are other options), fries and a beer, it's a good deal ... and was way better than my last hamburger . After feeling slightly guilty for eating that much and not running, I headed to the gym for a quick workout to at least burn off a few of the calories. Last night was another highlight, I met my parents and a former co-worker at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour , which opened last week in Sacramento , for a dinner, which solely consisted of ice cream. The wait for our party of four was about 30 minutes, not bad considering it just opened last week and the fact that it is so popular and the service was truly amazing. The new staff had lots of fun, knew the menu and delivered an excellent customer experience (and entertainment) throughout our visit. My Triple Chocola

After the success of the first official BBQ at Fort Bradley this summer, I decided to have a second BBQ and it was another success. The chicken, bread and ice cream were the same, but I added a salad, complete to toasted almonds (yes, I cut and toasted them). The second BBQ did involve a supply run to Costco , where I got healthy foods ... chicken, carrots, lettuce ... and expensive things, like a new set of knives . All of the extra cookies will be eaten at Camp Bradley this Labor Day . On Saturday, I met my parents in Rancho Cordova and we headed to the west shore of Lake Tahoe to visit with a group from their church that was camping at Sugar Pine Point State Park . From the campsite we were able to walk to Lake Tahoe, check out the freezing cold water and see the Ehrman Mansion , defintely will be worth a return trip to go through and see what the inside looks like, the outside and the views were very impressive. On the way back we decided to use a Groupon that my mom had

Since getting back from Texas I have had the need to cook a lot for myself (8+ days of eating out in a row will do that I guess) and hang out with friends, while also making sure to celebrate some uniquely American "holidays." I started off by cooking a few tilapia filets, which made for excellent fish tacos (an artichoke I cooked was also delicious), then while at Bayside over the weekend I had tacos from Zocalo ... all tacos were excellent. I met a friend at the Loomis Basin Brewing Company for a beer and dinner ( El Matador , a food truck, catered). The burrito, nachos and beer were all excellent, it was my first time to the brewery (most of Loomis was there) and my first time trying food from El Matador. I will be back for sure. There were also two holidays ... National Ice Cream Sandwich Day , spurred a visit to SaveMart for Skinny Cow's Cookies 'n Cream ice cream sandwiches , while National Root Beer Float Day meant a visit to A&W Resturant . Bot