Gas Out of Wack in Westley

Stopped in Westley (Highway 5) for a bite to eat. Gas at the Chevron there was $2.49. Ouch.

Philly Cheesesteak

Still searching for that great tasting Philly Cheesteak. Have tried so many out here in California and in Oregon, etc., and can not find a single one that can compare to ones I had back East.

The skinny sandwiches you get from the Philly Cheesteak Shop can not come close to comparing with the 'real ones'. l do get the largest ones they have there, but.... There are places all over the Bay area, etc., that sell cheesteak, but they are not even 1/4 as delicious as those back East. I have tasted quite a number at festivals and fairs and some of them aren't really too bad.

Here's a link which describes many of the Philly Cheesteak shops around the country.

http://www.bestcheesesteaks.com/

I've been to Amato's in San Jose and theirs are pretty decent, but not the greatest!! Quite a while back (1980's) there was a place located at the World Famous Farmer's Market in Los Angeles that served up the 2nd best Philly Cheesteak I've ever had. Each time we went to LA we always picked up some. However, it shut down. Too bad. I'd drive 380 miles for a cheesteak as good as that one!!!!

Oregon County Fairs

Each year in mid-July we pack up our motor home and head up to Oregon to sell at several county fairs. This year we are scheduled to participate in:

July 18-20 Oceanfest, Winchester Bay
July 22-26 Coos County Fair, Myrtle Point
July 30-3 Dechutes County Fair, Redmond
Aug 5-9 Douglas County Fair, Roseburg

Oregon is just such a nice place to visit and there are fairs virtually every week from May-September.

VENDORS: Many resources available that provide listings for these shows. http://www.craftmasternews.com/ is the best publication around. You also check Oregon County Fair listings on several websites which provide links and info for each event.

http://www.oregonfairs.org/dates.htm

Lovely shell necklaces

Please visit our website http://www.dandlcreations.com/ to see the lovely selection of shell necklaces that we make. Great prices. Any size from 13-25 inches. Priced from $4.95. You can't beat that!!!

VENDORS - check our reviews of festivals

During the past several years, we have done well over 100 events in California, Oregon and Arizona. I am providing reviews of these events on our website:

http://www.dandlcreations.com/reviews_2007.htm

Get the scoop on the shows, promoters, etc. and hear how the event was.

Gas prices up another $.02 this PM

On my way to the Post Office, I passed by my 'not so favorite' Chevron station and the price for Unleaded Regular was $4.25. Fifteen minutes later, I drove past on my return trip.... it went up to $4.27. Damm!!! Goes up faster than you can bat an eye!!

Eating on the Road

Gjiovanni's Fish Market, Morro Bay, CA
Whenever we are on the Central Coast, we always stop by Giovanni's and pick up some Fish & Chips, which are really great. Actually, pretty much everything there is good. Large seafood menu to choose from...oysters, clams, shrimp, halibut (my favorite) and a lot more!!! Located at 101 Front Street along the waterfront in Morro Bay. I've been coming here for over twenty years. You can sit outside and eat in the patio area with excellent views of Morro Rock and the wharf area.

The Boston Sports Nut

Being from New England, I have closely followed the Boston sports teams throughout my life. They are my life and blood. Yes...I am a Red Sox diehard and grew up in a Red Sox family in Western Mass. Have followed them through thick and thin. I will be providing updates and information on my teams every Wednesday.

CELTICS EEK IT OUT!!!! Lead Eastern Finals 3 games to 2. Once holding a 17 point lead, they hung on for dear life as the Pistons fought their way back. The C's kept their starters in for almost the entire game and seems like they were pretty tired....missing shots, etc. Ray Allen came through big time, scoring a playoff high 29 points. Center Kendrick Perkins picked a great time to have his best game of the year, 18 points and 16 rebounds. Rondo dished out 13 assists. The Big Ticket popped in 33.

BASEBALL NEWS: The Red Sox fell to 1 1/2 games behind the Rays as they continue to struggle on the road. Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield only allowed one run to the Mariners, but Eric Bedard was slightly better, giving up just two hits to the Sox beating them 1-0. The Sox are just not hitting (again). On Tuesday, they fell to the Mariners and our only runs came on Manny's 499th career home run. Dice-K will undergo an MRI with a tired arm and I think that he will go on the DL. Masterson, who has had two sensational starts with the big club, would probably be called up from the Pawsox for a start or two.

Be sure to browse through my blog; The Boston Sports Nut which has daily updates on Red Sox and Celtics along with some fictional tales I have written. You'll enjoy it.

Gas prices went higher today

Tell me something new!!!! Drove by my Chevron station and unleaded regular was going for $4.25. Up $.12. I thought that the price of crude oil dropped yesterday by something like $5.00 per. No reason for a 12 cent spike. So, I did a little research on what is occurring and this is what I found:

Oil prices rebound from early losses -- settling above $131 a barrel -- as supply concerns trump a growing sense that record-high costs have cut demand for gas. Morgan Stanley said Brent oil from the North Sea could easily reach $150 per barrel. Oil had drifted to as low as $125.96 early in the session on the belief high oil / gasoline / diesel prices will reduce demand, globally. But that sentiment proved to be 'famous last words' after Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) co-head of global economics Richard Brenner said oil supply constraints remain a concern, juxtaposed against still-strong global demand, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday. That was more than enough to send traders into buy-mode in the current market, oil reversed and surged higher to close at $130.97, up $2.12 per barrel.

DandL CREATIONS

Please visit our website: www.dandlcreations.com for great buys on shell and semi-precious necklaces, wrap-around skirts, shoulder sling bags, etc. Secure on-line ordering.

We shall be selling at the following festivals this next month:

May 31-Jun 1 Apricot Fiesta, Patterson, CA
Jun 7-8 Hercules Cultural Festival, Hercules, CA
June 14-15 Arts & Crafts Fair, American Legion Parking Lot, Cambria, CA
June 28-29 14th Annual Fil-Am Festival, Serramonte Mall, Daly City, CA
July 4-6 Fourth of July Celebration, Mt. Shasta, CA

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!!!!

Losing Patience with Motel 6

We sell at a lot of festivals and Arts & Crafts Shws and when in cities away from home, we have to choose the most inexpensive place to stay, which usually is Motel 6. It's a way of cutting expenses.

A lot of motels nowadays use those small plastic cards that you insert into your door and it opens up (sometimes). I have found out that in several locations if you spend multiple days there, they deprogram the cards at noontime. You are a bit surprised when you try to go to your room in the afternoon and you can't get in because of this and must make a trip to the office.

I stayed at the Motel 6 in Lake Tahoe this past weekend. We checked in on Thursday. On Friday I walked over to my room in the rain and cold and was unable to use the key card because they had deprogrammed it. So I had to go to the office. On Saturday, I got back to the motel in cold and rain once again...and it didn't work. So, I had to get the cards reprogrammed. They told me that I 'must have had my cards stored next to some credit cards which demagnetized the key cards.' I knew that I had them in a safe place, but just agreed with them.

On Sunday morning, I put the cards in my coat pocket to make sure and when I came back to the motel in the afternoon...ONCE AGAIN THEY HAD BEEN DEPROGRAMMED. Well...I'm about ready to do some deprogramming myself and am beginning to think twice about future visits to Motel 6's.

Update on Gas Prices

Gas Prices continue to go up and up and up. I guess that it's most expensive here in California. I made sure that I had enough gas before getting up to Lake Tahoe last Thursday. They are paying $4.39 per gallon. When we returned to Hayward, the price for uneaded regular chevron was $4.13.

Tough weather in Tahoe

May 23-26 Lake Tahoe, CA Craft show at jct of Hwys 89 and 50

Originally, we were pretty excited to be doing a 4-day craft show over Memorial Day weekend in Lake Tahoe, but I never could have imagined how severe the weather could be in late May. Anything goes, I must say!! However, this weekend turned out to be one of the biggest nightmares we have experienced since we have been selling our things at festivals, etc. The weather had been great up there, but weather reports showed that it would be cold and rainy.

It was snowing when we arrived. Didn't last too long though and we were able to set up our canopy, etc. in the parking lot. We were pretty tired and it was cold, windy and now drizzling, so we just closed up and headed for the motel. When we woke up in the morning, we were surprised to see a couple inches of snow on the ground. We drove over to the craft show and opened one side and continued to set up our merchandise. When it stopped raining around 10:00, we opened for business. Around 12:00, it became colder, more clouds came rolling in and it began drizzling. We had enough, so we closed up and left

On Saturday morning, it drizzled just a little and then subsided for the remainder of the day. However it was still cold and there were few people walking around. Sales were somewhat slow for everybody. A number of vendors had told me that they did really good here, but when he weather is as bad as this.....that's a different story. Around 3:30 we had one of the vendors at the Rib Cook Off at Horizon drop to purchase one of our popularshoulder bags. One of our customers had told her where she could buy one. She said that the vendors closed early because it was raining quite hard. Wow. Not even a drop of rain for us, just down the road.

My wife was becoming sick from the cold and rain. When things slowed down and by 4:30, it was pretty much a ghost town. After sitting around in the canopy covered in blankets all day, we anxiously closed up at 5:00, since it was now getting even colder. Temps were in the low-40's and that was quite cold for us, especially after having to endure 104+ degree temperatures the weekend before in Oakdale. On Sunday, I had to run 'the store' by myself because I left Lucy at the Motel all day. When I saw the dark clouds coming over the mountains and the weather becoming colder around 4:45, I knew that it was time to close up. After I got into my van and pulling away, the skies let loose with a torrential rain. Nice to get back to that motel room and turn the heater on full blast. Since my wife was still sick on Monday, we packed up around 10:30 and left.