This particular store has always intrigued me because of the unusual selection of merchandise. You can certainly find all different kinds of camouflage clothing, even a few in pink and leopard print and Gortex, rain gear, work boots, and a wide selection of knives, but did you know that they have camping and backpacking equipment? I love camping so the first thing I spotted in the camping aisle was the marsh-mellow roasting sticks! I had never noticed that they have so many different styles of sleeping bags and tents before.  They also carry dehydrated backpacking food—everything from lasagna to scrambled eggs. And I found some old-fashioned Long Johns. You know the kind that you wore when you were a kid, not the fancy synthetic ones that you normally see today—but  the real ones . That’s what I like—old school camping gear.

 The manager pointed out that his ski wear area was always busy at this time of year and that they have the biggest selection of hats in all of Mountain View. They offer the hats year round, instead of just during the winter. And I like that they sell rain barrels. There’s one on display on the sidewalk in the front of the store. That seems appropriate considering our weather right now.

 The military items that the Mountain View Surplus Store carries are all official and used by our military. Military personnel come into the store to add to what they have already been issued. Often they get orders for deployment on short notice and they might need something faster than they could get it from Moffett Field. The original store in the 1950s sold surplus military items from WWII, but today the store carries both current and vintage items for many different military branches. They purchase their merchandise from the same manufacturers that the military buys from.

 I’ll admit it… the first purchase I ever made at this store was many years ago. I bought an old green Ammo Box to use as a lunch box. I was tired of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich getting smashed in the employee refrigerator at my job and a small Ammo box was the perfect solution. I have fond memories of that old lunchbox and I’m happy that this store is still in Mountain View.

One of my favorite bike stores is The Off Ramp on the El Camino Real. They’re a bay area bike store that has been around since the 70s. They have everything you ever wanted, including tons of those groovy-retro looking bikes with baskets and streamers. I bought black leather streamers for my bike from them. They even put the streamers on for me so I could ride home in style. Just a block away from that store is Performance Bicycle. And there’s also a great selection of bikes and bike-related-stuff at REI. REI let me race around in the parking lot behind their store on a few test rides before I made my final purchase.

 It’s easiest to ride your bikes on the Stevens Creek Trail or on any streets that have a Bike Lane. Our city is very bike friendly. Here’s a link to the official Bike Map for the city. Bicyclists should know what streets have bike lanes and the volume of traffic that travels on those streets. The map shows you the recommended streets, the streets that have Bike Lanes and it also gives you a list of safety tips for bike riders. And the city website has a link called Stevens Creek Trail Etiquette. It’s probably a good idea to familiarize yourself (and your family) with the proper rules to riding on our trails. We all want to be on our best behavior out there since the trail isn’t very wide in some places.

Even though it’s raining today, the warm spring weather will be here in no time at all and you’ll want to have your bike ready for action. Now is the perfect time to replace worn tires, try on a new helmet and shop for some squishy gel-filled gloves so your hands don’t get tired. We’re lucky to live in a climate where we can actually enjoy the outdoors year round. So get your bike spiffed-up and I’ll see you on the trail.

 For more information about biking in our city, please visit: Bicycling in Mountain View.

 I first became familiar with Green Mountain View when I saw them at the Mountain View Art & Wine Festival last year. They were the official Green Team for the festival. That particular festival was the cleanest festival in years. Green Mountain View collected and sorted all of the recyclable items and the trash and put everything into the proper containers for Recology (formerly Foothill Disposal) to take away. Although the festival wasn’t any “greener” than any of the past festivals, it was much cleaner. This next Art & Wine Festival on Sept 11 and 12 promises to be just as clean, and also greener. This will be the first time that the festival will be composting. That’s right! The food vendors will be required to use compostable food containers instead of the usual Styrofoam and plastic. This is a monumental project that Green Mountain View and the Chamber of Commerce will be doing for the community.

 Green Mountain View doesn’t normally work collecting recycling and trash at community events; they just did it for the Art & Wine festival so that the community would become familiar with the organization. Talk about community recognition! Now that we all know who they are and they’ll be the first group that we think of when we have questions about keeping our community green and more sustainable.

 Some of the projects that they’re currently working on are the “Drive Less Challenge” where residents are encouraged to log their trips that are not “single gas-driven trips.” Our community will be competing against Menlo Park, Palo Alto, and Burlingame. So get ready to walk, ride your bike, carpool with your neighbors or take the train. The challenge is the first 2 weeks after Earth Day. Visit the Drive Less Challenge page for more details. If the community gets used to using alternative methods of transportation maybe we can do it everyday and not just during a challenge. I’m thoroughly prepared to participate in this battle and kick some serious peninsula butt on those other cities.

 GMV also helps local schools become greener by encouraging Green Teams in each school. The teams include students and parents. Another project is for Water Reclamation. GMV helps residents with water-wise tips and organizes workshops on the subject. And they also are involved in educating our community about bring their own bags instead of opting to use the plastic bags at grocery stores.

 GMV has only been around for about 1 year and in that short period of time they have introduced themselves to the community and gained a great deal of credibility. They’re always looking for residents who would be interested in joining them with any of their ongoing projects.  If you have a passion for the environment and want to get involved in this organization, or if you’re just curious and want to know more, please visit the Green Mountain View website.

It seems like a nice idea to have a list of annual events that happen in our city. It would come in handy when we plan our vacations and when visitors stop by for a few days. Please feel free to let me know about any other public events that happen every year that I might have missed. Send me a link to the website and I’ll add it to this list, or leave the information in the comments area.

Mountain View Art & Wine Festival (the really big festival)

Summer Concert Series

Thursday Night Live on Castro

Downtown Spring Parade

Holiday Tree Lighting Celebration

Mountain View’s A La Carte & Art

Annual City-Wide Garage Sale

Mountain View Reads Together

Silicon Valley Soap Box Derby

 I met with Amberlin Wu this week because I had heard that she was our local chicken-expert. Although she denies being an expert, she certainly seemed to know all about urban chickens. Amberlin purchases fertile eggs and has them shipped to her home in Mountain View where she lovingly incubates them for 21 days until they hatch. Then she spends weeks socializing the birds. I’ve never seen such friendly chickens in my whole life and I grew-up on a ranch. These birds came right up to me in her backyard. They’re definitely considered pets. They have names and some of them come when they hear their name called.

 You’ll need a predator-proof coop for your bird and the chicken will need to be put inside the coop each evening at sundown. Amberlin lets her hens wander around her backyard during the day. She keeps the baby chicks inside most of the time until they are 4-6 weeks old and ready to be adopted. This Friday Amberlin has about 15-20 eggs that are scheduled to hatch so baby chicks will be available in the near future. 

 Her hens were very quiet and I doubt that her neighbors even know that they exist. And the yard was clean and didn’t smell like chickens at all. The chickens improve the quality of the soil, keep the bugs down, and require very little care. They don’t try to get out of the yard or get-away from the property. These particular birds are very socialized and want to be with you. Marmalade, the reddish chicken in the photo, has been known to try to sneak in the house when the backdoor is open a crack… clever little chicken.

 Here’s a link to Amberlin’s blog, HomeSchooledChickens, and on her blog she tells where to purchase chicks (other than from her), the names of local feed stores and other chicken related websites.

 Chickens would be a great school project. Some local schools hatch the eggs but then don’t keep the baby chickens after they have hatched. Maybe having a small coop at school would be a nice way for a group of children to work together and learn about raising animals, getting organic eggs, fertilizing a garden and the responsibility of being a pet owner. Owning an urban chicken is a wonderful way to get the freshest eggs in the world and Mountain View is one of the Bay Area cities that makes it possible.

 The other half of the seniors were working on making Valentines Day collages in another room. I took a few photos of them while they worked on their creations and some of them were quite flattered that I was snapping their photos. I watched as they shared colored felt pens, glue sticks and magazines. Off to the side of the art-room was a small group of women who were making brownies with one of the staff members. Everyone had the chance to decide whether they wanted to bake, listen to a lecture or do the craft project.

 During the warmer weather the participants get to go outside and work in the garden. There are raised beds outside in a fenced courtyard. A “Horticultural Therapist” comes in several times a week and helps everyone plant and maintain herbs and flowers. That would be really important if you had a relative who enjoyed gardening their entire life and now it wasn’t safe for them to go out into the backyard.

 I peeked inside the kitchen and saw that the chef was making artichoke turkey sausage and pasta to go with the brownies. It looked like a fabulous lunch. Both the kitchen and the entire facility were spotless and smelled fresh and clean.

 I thoroughly enjoyed my tour and the opportunity to photograph a few of the seniors who were participating in different activities. This particular branch of Avenidas is an adult daycare that offers nursing, physical therapy, speech therapy, and medication administration. The staff consists of social workers, nurses, and therapists. And, as with most non-profit organizations, volunteers play a very important role. The seniors that are enrolled all have physician’s orders so that the staff knows whether or not they have any special needs and how to care for them each day.

Lenny Park, the Director, explained to me that Avenidas allows families to stay together. By offering the caregiver a break from the stressful routine of taking care of a frail relative during the day, they are still able to have a job of take care of other responsibilities and know that their relative is being cared for in a professional and loving environment. It is as much for the person enrolled as it is for the person that they live with. This place is really special and I’m happy to get to spread the word. Please go to the Avenidas Rose Kleiner Senior Day Health Center website if you have questions or want a tour. You’ll be very impressed.

• Artistic Florist
• Floratique Flowers
• See’s Candies has a store in Los Altos and Sunnyvale. Why are they not in Mountain View? I don’t know, but I’ll be sure to check into that!
• The Mountain View Farmer’s Market is every Sunday morning in the train station parking lot on Evelyn. There are several outstanding floral vendors and an orchid seller.
• East West Bookstore has a beautiful selection of jewelry and gifts.
• Book Buyers has every imaginable author known to man. I checked.
• Allure Salon is the best place to get a new-do and all the necessary accoutrements.
• Embody Wellness Spa has some pretty amazing Valentine’s Day special packages.
• Lotus Seeds Therapy for massage, yoga and meditation.
• Summer Winds Nursery has bareroot roses and fruit trees right now.
• Artisan Wine Depot has the classic flowered bottle of Perrier-Jouet Fleur de Champagne from France, of course.
• We all know that Mountain View is famous for its plethora of restaurants. Don’t let the price determine how good you think the food will be. Some of the least expensive places around here have a line out the door.
• Mini of Mountain View The ultimate gift: a Mini Cooper. I just put this last one on the list incase my husband looks at this to see what I might want for Valentine’s Day.

So what are your plans for this Sunday? Do you have reservations someplace special or will you be whipping up some beef bourguignon for your sweetie?  Please share!

The reason I was so excited about this particular lunch truck was because I had heard about a few Korean taco trucks in Los Angeles area that have a huge following. They post their location on Twitter and Facebook and customers get in line even before the truck arrives. It’s a big deal! The food is amazing—it’s cheap—and it’s trendy—and the people love it. And now we have it in Mountain View!

 The most popular item on the menu (at least for the last two days) was kalbi (beef short ribs) in the form of a taco or burrito. That doesn’t mean it’s Mexican food; it just uses tortillas to hold the Korean food inside. Think of it as a hybrid of Korean and Mexican food. Thomas told me that he uses a bit of kimchee flavors on the lettuce for the tacos and burritos. He’s really focused about the quality of his food and only uses the highest quality ingredients.

 His truck will be parked at Chase Bank for lunch (11:30-2:00) and in the evening hours (7:00-10:00) he will be across the street from Dana Street Coffee. There’s an auto repair business, GTS Auto Center, which has given him permission to park in their lot. This is really very gracious of Chase Bank and GTS Auto Repair to allow Thomas to park his truck in their lots. Big business helping little business is always a good thing and we’ll all know where to go when we want to open a checking account or get our oil changed.

 Welcome to Mountain View “Bulkalbi Korean BBQ Truck” and thanks for sharing your parking lots, Chase Bank and GTS Auto Repair.

 I read on the Saint Francis website that the school was founded in 1955 by the Brothers of Holy Cross and then I noticed that Wikipedia says that in the Bible the bay leaf is “often an emblem of prosperity and fame.” Did the Brothers have any idea how famous the tree and the school would someday become? After all, the school has an excellent reputation and is the considered most prestigious school in Mountain View. If you want to take a look at their famous tree, the campus is open and you can go during evenings or weekends. It’s well worth your time.

 According to the Mountain View Trees website, the circumference of the tree at Saint Francis is 394 inches. Mountain View Trees is a wonderful organization of volunteers that came together to plant trees in any areas of our city that might need help, educate the public about caring for trees on their property and increase tree appreciation in our city. I like that part about increasing tree appreciation. I’ve seen them at the Farmers Market passing out pamphlets (printed on recycled paper presumably) and answering questions about trees. They have a few upcoming events planned for the spring that might be fun for the whole family:

•  Feb 20- Plant Flowering Cherry Trees at “3-Corner Island”
• Mar 13-Arbor Day Celebration in Pioneer Park
• Look at their website to see 4 ”tree walks” that you can go on

 Go to the Mountain View Trees website for all the details on those events and to see what kinds of tree-related things they’ve been doing in our community.

Do you know how our city defines what a “Heritage Tree” is? A Heritage tree is any tree that has a trunk circumference of forty-eight inches (48″) or more measured at fifty-four inches (54″) above natural grade.  Three species: oak, sequoia redwood and cedar are all considered “Heritage” if they have a circumference of twelve inches (12″) measured at fifty-four inches (54″) above natural grade. These trees are all protected by the city and can’t be removed with out approval. We wouldn’t be a beautiful as we are without all of our trees and we want to keep it that way, right? Here’s a link to the city website incase you have any questions about Heritage tree removal on your property.

 And be sure to notice how much beauty trees add to Mountain View the next time you drive under the tree canopy on Loreto Street, or pass by the forest-like pockets of open space along Shoreline Blvd, or any of the many tree lined median divides on the major streets around our city. Mountain View loves trees.

Go ahead and give a tree a hug this week.

 Dittmer’s is an old-fashioned butcher shop, meat market, and German delicatessen with a wide selection of items to go along with your meat purchases. They make many different styles of smoked meats like ham, bacon, smoked pork chops, duck and leg of lamb. The fresh meats selection includes a full selection of USDA Choice and Prime Midwestern beef, pork, veal, California lamb. They even have specialty meats like venison, elk, and buffalo.

I’ve been shopping at Dittmer’s for many years and their staff is very knowledgeable. If something in the meat case looks particularly good, but unfamiliar to me, I’ll buy it even if I don’t know how to cook it. Between their staff and Google, I’m bound to figure out what to do with it. Sometimes I’ll even hear customers asking other customers how to cook items and what they serve as a side dish. I love that friendly sense-of-community and the fact that bacon brought us all together.

One time I asked the people in line next to me where they lived because they seemed like they were really stocking up on sausages. They told me that they had driven from Santa Rosa just to shop at Dittmer’s. They had an ice chest that they were filling with meat. I felt so happy that Dittmer’s was right here in my own neighborhood and that I could go anytime I had the sudden urge for some freshly made pepperoni or peppered bacon.

Be sure to take a look at the items on the shelves that face the meat counter. You’ll find Kartoffel and Semel Knödels (potato or bread dumplings) with cooking directions in English. And be sure to buy German mustard to go with your German food, or you will be persuaded to do so if the person behind the counter notices your mistake. Trust me, I have been corrected before. “What are you doing with this French mustard? Put this back and get the mustard in the jar shaped like a little German beer mug!” the owner told me. He was right. It’s the only mustard I purchase now.

Dittmer’s is just another reason to love Mountain View.