My A to Z of California: T is for... Tahoe City, Trader Joe's, Target and more

Again, for everyone who didn’t follow my blog so far, I’m working on a list “My A to Z of California”. I actually write the posts from Z to A so it will be in the right order from top to bottom once finished. My list includes towns, cities, sights or other special places, things, events etc. This is my 6th post (I skipped the X) and I’m planning on finishing “My A to Z of California” by the end of the summer.

Tomales Bay…

is a long narrow inlet of the Pacific Ocean in Northern California. It is approximately 25 km (15 miles) long and nearly 1 mile wide, effectively separating the Point Reyes Peninsula from the mainland of Marin County.

Oh, I love Marin so much. If I knew I’d stay in California and I could pick a place to live and not have to think about schools, jobs and commuting, I’d move up there in a second. Beautiful scenery and not far from the city, it comes close to perfection.

Tahoe City

is located on the Westshore of Lake Tahoe, which is another one of my favorite places in California. There is something to do all year round. You can hike, cycle, ski, snowshoe, swim, go fishing or just have coffee or great food followed by a stroll through town enjoying the spectacular views.

Almost the same applies to…

Truckee

It is a small railroad town, located along Highway 80 and East of the Truckee River, the only outlet of Lake Tahoe. In the charming downtown you can find a lot of unique shops and experience the “gritty past and vibrant present of” Truckee. I just read a bit about Truckee on Wikipedia and I love this story about the town’s name: “The town’s original name was Coburn Station, commemorating a saloon keeper. It was renamed Truckee after a Paiute chief, whose assumed Paiute name was Tru-ki-zo. He was the father of Chief Winnemucca and grandfather of Sarah Winnemucca. The first Europeans who came to cross the Sierra Nevada encountered his tribe. The friendly Chief rode toward them yelling, “Tro-kay!”, which is Paiute for “Everything is all right”. The unaware travelers assumed he was yelling his name.”

Trader Joe’s

is my absolute favorite grocery store and not only because it is owned by one of the Aldi brothers. It has almost everything that’s on my weekly shopping list and I love their variety of good cheese, hummus and other delicious spreads. The “Five Spice Asian Chicken Salad” is one of my favorite ready-to-eat salads.

Since I go to the same Trader Joe’s every Monday, I know almost everyone who works there. The employees have always a smile on their face, help you find stuff and are super nice to the kids, too. There is a tiger stuffed animal hidden in the store and when the kids find it, they can get a lollipop from the store manager desk. They appreciate when I help them bagging my stuff, a habit which I still could not put aside.

Furthermore has Trader Joe’s a pretty good selection of affordable wines*. “Edna Valley” is my weeknight Chardonnay and cost $ 8.99 at TJ’s while it costs $ 10.99 at Safeway. When I started this blog I wrote a long blogpost in German about my Food Shopping.

* Californians tend to be “wine snobs” and lots of people don’t seem to have a problem to spend $ 20 to $ 30 for a bottle of liquid grapes.

Target

Everything I can not get at Trader Joe’s I will probably get at Target. The locals also like to call it “Tar-jet”. Target is the second-largest discount store retailer and the eigth-largest employer in the United States.

You can basically buy anything at Target. There are coffee and tortillas on one aisle and printer paper or windshield wipers on the next one. You can get clothes, fresh tomatoes, wine, a new rug and shaving cream all in one shopping trip. Usually you’ll end up buying at least ~~three~~ five to ten items that weren’t on your list. They always offer everything you might need for the current season, often way in advance. As soon as the Christmas stuff is on sale, the store will turn pink for Valentine’s Day. When I actually buy stuff for my kids school Valentines, Target already mixed in the Easter supplies. It’s crazy. Sometimes I appreciate this fact though. These events seem to sneak up on me and the good Lindt Easter bunnies might have been already sold out!

Triathlons

This is something I started doing here in California and I’m definitely hooked. I did nine triathlons so far, one Olympic distance, the others all sprint distances. It forces you to maintain a great and well-balanced workout routine and the post-race high (and drinks) are just awesome. You should give it a try, even though there’s a chance of swimming with the sharks, but at least you’re not alone in the water!?