Putting Down Roots

Friday, February 19, our second full day in Aptos, was pretty laid back. We settled into the house and started doing some foundation work for the vacation, discovering some tips to make the long stay more pleasant. The day was cloudy and chilly, alien to our Southern California sensibilities. We took our time over breakfast, raising our spirits by talking with Peter over steaming hot coffee. We discussed things we might like to do in the next couple of days and then went grocery shopping.



TIP #1: In this land of chain stores, if you have a favorite grocery store, see if there's one convenient to your new location. We found a Trader Joe's a couple of miles away and headed straight there. The arrangement of the shelves was different, but we found our favorite items like pita crackers and Just Chicken and brought them back to make the house just a little homier. Be aware that some big chains have affiliates in other parts of the country. For instance, I was able to use my Vons grocery card at the Safeway.



We cruised around the Capitola Mall for a while. It's a somewhat confusing conglomeration of shopping complexes separated by parking lots and city streets (some even busy enough to have traffic lights). There's just about every kind of store you can imagine there, but it may take time to find it. Phil and Peter had decided to take a chance and play a game of golf despite the threatening storm clouds, so we pulled into a Big 5 Sporting Goods store for Peter to buy some spikes for his golf shoes. The manager was impressed by Peter's East Coast driver's license. "We don't see many of those around here."



TIP #2: Don't be shy about letting people know you're from out of town. Many people tell you about places to eat and things to do, not only in the vicinity but sometimes even places they've enjoyed in your hometown too.



After unpacking the groceries, we had a lunch of sandwiches and nice hot soup and P & P headed off to the golf course. I stayed home and tried to bond with Dixie, our canine companion for the next too weeks. She is very homesick for her owner, but we hope she will settle in soon. We went for a little walk and met a doggie friend of hers, which picked up her spirits for a while.



TIP #3: Find some excuse to walk around the neighborhood and say hello to a neighbor or two. Explain that you're house-sitting, pet-sitting or whatever so they won't be concerned that a stranger is lurking in the neighborhood. Again, you can pick up a lot of advice on places to go, places to avoid and even pet care advice.



I photographed the contents of all the kitchen cabinets and drawers and put post its up to remind me of the main things that were inside as I described in a previous post. I emptied the shelf of one cabinet and put our food there so it was easy to find those things in a hurry. The refrigerator has also been rearranged for my convenience. We also have a lot of packaged items on the kitchen counter since it's wide enough to store things and still have plenty of work space.

TIP #4: As soon as possible, take some time to get to know the kitchen. It saves a lot of time (and money) to know where the coffee is and how much is left as well as to take stock of items that you take for granted which are missing in this new place. Start a shopping list of things you need or brainstorm ways to improvise. We rigged up a towel to serve as a dish drain and I bought a stopper for the kitchen sink after using a large pot to do the dishes proved to be too much of a hassle.