An abandoned Foster's Freeze covered with graffiti.

Sacramento’s Oldest Ice Cream Shop, Portland’s Neon Signs and More From Our I-5 Road Trip

October 22, 2026, 1 Comment

Our trip up to Portland and back was filled with stops to charge our car and take photos, I also had a couple of days in Portland to roam my old stomping grounds and take photos of things I never did while I lived there. Thrifty Klean Center. 1661 S. El Dorado Street, Stockton, California.…

Marquee for the 99W, a red, green, and white sign advertises the films playing, The Sandlot and Spider-Man.

Returning To My Favorite Place In Oregon, the Beloved 99W Drive In Theatre

October 15, 2026, Leave a Comment on Returning To My Favorite Place In Oregon, the Beloved 99W Drive In Theatre

Longtime readers will remember I loved going to the 99W Drive-In just outside of Portland in the small town of Newberg when I lived in Oregon. Unlike California, where drive-ins operate year round, the 99W is subject to the weather whims of Oregon, and operates typically late spring through early fall. Thankfully Pat’s sister’s wedding…

On the left is our TV with various jack o'lanterns on top, to the left is a built in bookcase with various decorations on it.

It’s Time For Halloween!

October 5, 2026, 1 Comment

We interrupt the road trip posts to bring you a look at the home all decorated for Halloween! To be perfectly honest, this year was the hardest yet. While I love Halloween, it is impossible to separate the holiday from death, and I am still reeling from the loss of my mom. I also left…

Angled view of Johnie's Coffee Shop, a blue and stripe butterfly roof hangs low, with red letters reading "Johnie's Coffee Shop and Restaurant"

Step Inside the Googie Masterpiece Johnie’s Coffee Shop Thanks to Artist Gary Baseman

May 21, 2026, 2 Comments

Every time I would visit the Petersen Automotive Museum or the Academy Museum I would gaze longingly at Johnie’s Coffee Shop. The red, white, and blue Googie masterpiece has sat empty since 2000, and I longed to step inside. Well, I finally got that chance, thanks to artist Gary Baseman. Baseman was born in LA…

A retro style TV features the cartoon Fallout Boy, giving the thumbs up, next to the TV stands a life size statue of Fallout Boy, in his iconic blue suit with yellow trim. He gives a salute.

Finding out all about Fallout at the Atomic Museum

February 12, 2026, Leave a Comment on Finding out all about Fallout at the Atomic Museum

Recently my friend Cristal and I took a little girls trip to Las Vegas specifically to go to the Atomic Museum because we are both fans of Fallout, and the museum just debuted an exhibit about the video game and show. This was my third visit to the museum, which still ranks among one of…

Vintage Valentine’s Day Cards Vol. 5

February 10, 2026, Leave a Comment on Vintage Valentine’s Day Cards Vol. 5

Valentine’s Day is this weekend! Can you believe it?? So what better time to share yet another portion of my vintage Valentine’s Day card collection? The one with the two blonde kids on the phone is so weird in that it uses the incorrect form of “your” but in doing so it seems to also…

View of our built in bookcase next to our fireplace.

Send a Little Love

January 28, 2026, Leave a Comment on Send a Little Love

I caught a cold near the end of 2025, and as a result we skipped celebrating and decorating for the New Year, and after taking down Christmas and a nice deep cleaning, we went straight into Valentine’s Day. I honestly started shopping for Valentine’s Day decor back in October, and found a few items online,…

Myself, wearing a blue western wear shirt, cream cowboy hat with blue stars, leaning against a barrel bar.

A Return to the Kern County Museum: Home to Country Legends and More

January 21, 2026, Leave a Comment on A Return to the Kern County Museum: Home to Country Legends and More

Back in 2021 Patrick and I made our first visit to the Kern County Museum, an outstanding museum with over 50 buildings across 16 acres in Bakersfield. Our visit was amid COVID restrictions, and meant that few of the buildings were open, and between then and now, it has opened a Bakersfield Sound exhibit and…

A 74 foot long lunch counter stretches into the distance with mint and white barstools. A large colorful mural of Black people seated at a lunch counter hangs above.

Revisiting America’s Last Woolworth’s Luncheonette

January 14, 2026, 4 Comments

While many may blow by the small town of Bakersfield en route to Los Angeles, it is well worth the stop for a variety of reasons, but perhaps its star attraction is that it is home to the last operating Woolworth’s lunch counter. Woolworth’s first opened in Bakersfield in 1911, but by the 1930s they…

A family rides a red streetcar with a deer at the helm, across the top it reads "Merry Christmas" and across the middle of the car it reads "From the FIVE of Us!"

Vintage Christmas Cards Vol. 5

December 11, 2025, 2 Comments

In my Christmas decor post from this year, I noted that I had added more to my vintage Christmas cards collection. And as has been tradition (with a few exceptions) I’m bringing you another installment in sharing a sampling from my vintage Christmas card collection, including newly added ones! A special shout out to NeatoKeen…

Atomic Redhead

1950s

Sacramento’s Oldest Ice Cream Shop, Portland’s Neon Signs and More From Our I-5 Road Trip

Returning To My Favorite Place In Oregon, the Beloved 99W Drive In Theatre

It’s Time For Halloween!

Step Inside the Googie Masterpiece Johnie’s Coffee Shop Thanks to Artist Gary Baseman

Finding out all about Fallout at the Atomic Museum

Vintage Valentine’s Day Cards Vol. 5

Send a Little Love

A Return to the Kern County Museum: Home to Country Legends and More

Revisiting America’s Last Woolworth’s Luncheonette

Vintage Christmas Cards Vol. 5