The old stomping grounds

We are at the Elks Lodge in San Jose, California (map). We've stayed here many times before; long-time readers know that we lived in San Jose before we hit the road full-time back in 2004.

We come back to this area fairly regularly; historically, all our primary doctors are here, and we try to set up our annual visits when we are in town. We also own rental property here -- the downtown condo we used to call home when we lived here. And, of course, we each have a lifetime of friends and business associates in the area, and we like to visit and catch up whenever we can. We also have four "nieces and nephews" here -- children of close friends who call us aunt and uncle -- and we see them whenever we are in town.

We had a pleasant drive up from Monterey Friday, after availing ourselves of the dump station at the Monterey Elks Lodge (there is none here in San Jose). Since arriving here in San Jose, the weather has been perfect, or even a tad hot -- it's in the 90's today and we have two air conditioners on -- we're taking advantage to get some al fresco dining in before it drops back down into the 60's in a few days.

We have a pretty full schedule while we are here, and we paid for a full 14 nights. In addition to doctor appointments and family and friend visits, we have some condo business to attend to, and there are some meetings involving our restaurant in Phoenix (long story -- all the owners are here in San Jose). We'll also be meeting with our financial planner, who is likely wrung out from meeting with all her clients since the great meltdown.

I don't expect to post much while we are here in town, although we've both been tweeting occasionally. We will be back on the road around May 1st, when we will head north along the coast. We're leaving ourselves a couple of weeks to get to Sumner, stopping for some visits with old friends along the way.

Photo by kalyan3