We’re all moved in. Almost everything’s put away. It’s starting to feel cozy.

First impression: Manteca is Hayward. I see the same people, the same downtown, the same good side of town and bad side of town.

Except Manteca is 40 degrees hotter than Hayward in the summer. And Manteca is stupid cheap–rent, food, gas–everything is cheaper here.

Surprisingly, I feel quite comfortable here. It kinda feels like home (Hayward). Moms and Pops still live and do business here. The town has character. I can hang. I like it here.

I’m really liking our new apartment. It was looking awfully small with all our boxes in here on moving day. But now that almost everything is put away it’s looking much better.

I keep saying to myself, “I’m only 90 miles away from Yosemite.”

I think it means beef fat in Spanish. And that’s where we’re moving to. Manteca. The city of beef fat!

It’s been a year in Vacaville. It’s been nice. I didn’t really get a good feel for it. It was too much like suburbia to me. Caught in the middle between Sacramento and the Bayarrhea. So much for Leisure Town and the Road To Fun. It’s time to move on.

So we’re moving to Manteca, and I’m excited. 90 miles from Yosemite works pretty well for me. We’ll be much closer to fly fishing and granite rocks and pine trees.

So far I like what I see. It seems to be more of an outdoorsman’s community than Vacaville. The Bass Pro Shop in Manteca is comparable to Cabela’s in Reno. I love both places.

Our new apartment is close to downtown Manteca. I’ll scout it out, I always do. I’ll find the ‘spots’.

Two more weeks. Good bye Vacaville. I hardly knew ye.