April 2022 Check-In's

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A Week In London, England
March 28, 2022 - April 4, 2022

CLICK HERE for photos and reports.

Dinner At McGrath's Fish House
Vancouver, Washington
Tuesday, April 5, 2022

An Excellent Offering Of Bar Selections


I decided to go for the special: Wild Salmon Florentine


The regular menu


We brought our own wine and paid the $8 corkage fee.
2018 Austin Hope Cabernet Sauvignon. It was very good.


Left: They brought me the wrong dish. This doesn't look like Wild Salmon Florentine
Right: This is better. This looks more like Wild Salmon Florentive


Barbar's fish selection

Dinner At Namaste Fine Indian Cuisine
8303 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland, Oregon
Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Tuesday-Sunday 11AM-9PM
Monday Closed
Lunch Buffet $13 - Dinner Buffet $16

Finally found a local Indian buffet that rivals the best of Silicon Valley in the amount of selections! Buffet is served all day from when it opens until when it closes. The only difference is a price change at 3pm from the $13 Lunch Buffet to the $16 Dinner Buffet, and maybe they add a few more items for dinner. The food was very flavor full, though not as spiced as our favorite Abhiruchi in Vancouver and Swagat in Portland. However, both of those restaurants have stopped offering any buffet and now offer Thali instead. Thali is where they give you several little cups of different Indian selections, like a mini-buffet, but where you don't get to pick the selections or the quantity of each. Because of Covid, I think many restaurants have gotten paranoid and no longer want to offer a buffet where customers serve themselves.

Dinner At The 99 Saloon & Grill
7600 Hwy 99, Hazel Dell, Vancouver, Washington
Thursday, April 7, 2022

Dinner At Margarita Factory
8902 NE 5th Ave, Vancouver, Washington
Saturday, April 9, 2022

Cyrus Nabipoor Quintet At
The 1905, Portland, Oregon
Sunday, April 10, 2022, 7PM & 8:30PM

The band said this was the first public performance of this song but I don't remember the name of it.
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Snowing At Our Vancouver Home
Monday, April 11, 2022, 7:12 AM

Main Event High End Sports Grill
800 Main St, Vancouver, WA 98660
Monday, April 11, 2022

Elijah Craig Bourbon Tasting
By The Vancouver Bourbon/Whiskey Aficionados Nextdoor Group
At The Infirmary, 1708 Washington St, Vancouver, WA 98660
Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Karaoke at The Brickhouse
109 W 15th St, Vancouver, WA 98660
Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Our Vancouver Neighbor Flying
The Gadsden Flag
Tuesday, April 13, 2022

I guess I moved into the "right" neighborhood in Vancouver. This morning I saw that a neighbor behind me is flying the Gadsden Flag as you can see above. This is a historic symbol of the American Revolution showing a timber rattlesnake with 13 rattles representing the 13 colonies and the words "Don't Tread On Me". It has been used as a libertarian symbol, an anti-establishment symbol, and a major symbol of the Tea Party and Trump supporters. It has come to be a symbol of fighting back against the extreme overreach by the far left (who are now unfortunately running our country) to control our lives. Wikipedia also classifies it as a symbol of "the far right", but don't believe that. It is why Wikipedia is not a valid source of information regarding anything political (and one reason why I will never donate any money to support Wikipedia). Far left editorial contributors to Wikipedia consider anything that isn't far-left or socialist to be "far right".

Thali Lunch at
Abhiruchi Indian Cuisine South & North
233 NE Chkalov Dr, Vancouver, WA 98684
Tuesday, April 13, 2022

Most Indian restaurants discontinued their buffet lunches during Covid to avoid the risk of strangers touching or breathing on food from common dishes. But now the problem is more the wholesale cost of food. The manager at Abhiruchi said they would go back to having a buffet lunch if and when wholesale food prices come down. In the meantime they are offering Thali meals where you can select one main dish and they serve it along with rice, naan, some side vegetables, and dessert. This is still our favorite restaurant when it comes to the flavor and spice level of the food, but the buffet did provide a lot more selection than the Thali lunch.

Wine Tasting at Maryhill Winery
Vancouver Waterfront, Washington
Tuesday, April 13, 2022

Our New Vancouver Living Room Furniture
From NW Rugs & Furniture Delivered On
Wednesday, April 14, 2022

The sectional looks and works great, but they delivered the wrong separate chair. We ordered a specific chair with a cloth pattern. Instead, they delivered a chair that matches the rest of our sectional. We reported the problem to the furniture store and they said to hold onto the chair that was delivered until they can replace it with the chair we ordered. The matching chair actually looks pretty good and we'll have to decide if we just want to stick with the chair that was delivered.

Tannat Wine Tasting
At Niche Wine Bar
Wednesday, April 14, 2022

We love the ambiance of this wine bar. They are moving to a new and larger location in Downtown Vancouver in July but expect to retail their existing ambiance.

Fenix Rising Blues Band at
The Blue Diamond, Portland, Oregon
Thursday, April 14, 2022

A great new expanded menu at The Blue Diamond!



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Wine Tasting at Brian Carter Cellars
at the Vancouver Waterfront, Washington
Friday, April 15, 2022

In the right hand photo above you can see a train lead by a BNSF locomotive.
At the end of the street are the BNSF tracks that can be seen from the Vancouver Waterfront.
The Portland section of the Amtrak Empire Builder runs on these tracks every day.

The above 3 wines are the ones that we liked the most so purchased a bottle of each. Both of the wine tasting that we have gone to at the Vancouver Waterfront have a policy that the wine tasting is free if you purchase a bottle of wine. Not a bad deal when a wine tasting costs $25 and a bottle of wine can be purchased for as little as $30. Though, as you can see above, we often purchase bottles of wine costing well above $30. We've only tried 2 of the 6 wine tasting rooms at the Vancouver Waterfront and 2 of the wine tasting rooms in Downtown Vancouver. We still have a lot more to try!

Notorious Duran Duran Tribute Band
at Billy Blues, Vancouver, Washington
Friday, April 15, 2022, 9pm to 12:30am

Wine Tasting At
Emanar Cellars, Battle Ground, WA
With Live Music By LuAnna Gratzer
Saturday, April 16, 2022

Above Right Photo: The Wines We Purchased At Emanar Wine Cellar.

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Above: The Wines We Purchased At Emanar Cellars

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Wine Tasting And Live Music
At Salud! Wine Bar & Italian Restaurant
Camus, Washington
Saturday, April 16, 2022

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Live Music At Cliff's Tavern
About 4 Minutes From Our Home
In Vancouver, Washington
Saturday, April 16, 2022

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Easter Dinner At Shelli's Home
About A 10 Minute Drive From Our Home
In Vancouver, Washington
Sunday, April 17, 2022

Photos Of The Food And Wine, But Forgot To Take People Pictures!

Kevin Selfe Blues Jam
At The Blue Diamond, Portland, Oregon
Every Sunday, 5 pm to 8 pm
Sunday, April 17, 2022

A Saxophone Played In The Last Song Of The Evening.

This is a very popular event. The Blue Diamond was full except for the one table we sat at when we arrived for the last 40 minutes at 7:20 PM. The bartender saw I had arrived and prepared our 2 Buffalo Trace bourbons without me even asking and brought them to our table.

Ron Steen Jazz Jam
At Clyde's Prime Rib, Portland, Oregon
Every Sunday, 8 pm to 10:30 pm
Sunday, April 17, 2022

Perfect timing. The Blues Jam at The Blue Diamong ends at 8 PM and the Jazz Jam begins at 8 PM at Clyde's Prime Rib just 2 miles down the same street from The Blue Diamond. Both are on Sandy Boulevard in Portland, Oregon. However, the lounge at Clyde's Prime Rib was pretty full when we arrived. We got the last parking spot on the street as the restaurant parking lot was already full, and we got the last table in the lounge which was to the side of the band.

Saxophone and Two Trombones. Later A Song With Three Trombones.
And Later Still, 2 Sax and 2 Trombones.
Mel Brown Stepped Up To Play The Drums. I didn't even know he had been sitting at the table next to us.






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Map Of Wineries, Vineyards & Wine Bars
Near, Vancouver, Washington

Indian Buffet Dinner At
Namaste, Lloyd Center, Portland, Oregon
Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Ever Flowing Water Fountains
In Portland, Oregon
Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Fresh water runs continuously down the Columbia River to the ocean. There is more fresh water flowing through Portland than they know what to do with. As a result, there are public water fountains throughout the city without even any handles to turn them on or off like the one shown above.

Alice Cooper at
The Portland5, Oregon
Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Buckcherry Opening Band

Alice Cooper

Concert Closing Song: "Schools Out"

Alice Cooper Loses His Head

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The Drive From Our Home In
Vancouver, Washington, To
Williams, California
Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Lunch At Red Lobster
By The Tesla Superchargers
Medford, Oregon

Dinner At Granzella's
By The Tesla Superchargers
Williams, California

Kitchen & Bar Open Until 9 PM

Wine Tasting In
Napa Valley, California
Thursday, April 21, 2022

Silverado, Vineyards
Owned By The Disney Family

Trinchero
With A Tesla High Power Wall Connector (HPWC)

Trinitas

Charging The Tesla Near
Downtown Napa
Thursday, April 21, 2022

Mike Phillips at Blue Note Napa
Thursday, April 21, 2022

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At Our Friend, Ron's Apartment
In Fremont, California
Friday, April 22, 2022

Dinner At Veg N Chat Vegetarian Indian Restaurant in Fremont

Driving Our 2015 Tesla Model S P85DL
From Santa Clara To Anaheim Hills, California
Saturday, April 23, 2022

Dinner With Live Music By The Ragdoll Band
At Silky Sullivans, Fountain Valley, California
Saturday, April 23, 2022

Song List Of The Ragdoll Band
Click Each Below Photo For A Clearer Image

Citizen O'Kane Classic Rock Band
At Fling Cocktail Lounge, Santa Ana, California
Saturday, April 23, 2022

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Trouble With Our Solar Power
System In Anaheim, California
Tuesday, April 26, 2022

We've been having problems with our SunPower Solar Power System for the last few weeks. It has been generating only about 20% to 30% of normally what it generates each month. The problem appears to be with the Power Inverter. The reading on it alternates between "START up" and "STATE 212". Sometimes the red error light turns green and it generates a little bit of power. SunPower walked us through a reset of the Inverter, but it didn't help. We are waiting for them to send a service technician to our house.

Amtrak Police In Fullerton, California
Tuesday, April 26, 2022

I don't think I've ever seen an Amtrak Police Car at the Fullerton Station before.

Mike Hamilton Playing At
Knolls Eat/Drink in Laguna Niguel
Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Mike Plays Here Every Wednesday


We did the $25 corkage fee on the wine we brought

Citizen O'Kane Classic Rock Band
At Fling Cocktail Lounge, Santa Ana, California
Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Dinner at Cara Mia Italian Restaurant
Rancho Cucamonga, California
Linda Lopez, Barbara & Stephen
Thursday, April 28, 2022

We did the corkage fee on the wine we brought

An Early Dinner With Scott Kesler
At Duke's Bar & Grill, Riverside, California
Friday, April 29, 2022

BBQ at Jason & Rumei's New Buena Park Home
Saturday, April 30, 2022

Around the table clockwise: Barbara, Linda, Sherica, Brian & Stephen.

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