Ranch Milk Mexican Grill & Craft Beer House, Watsonville, CA

I don't know how I feel about this place, but here's some viewpoints.

Positives:
- For starters, at about 5:30PM on a Sunday, it was not busy at all. I got in just before the dinner rush and I was eating shortly after. They definitely had a good to-go crowd come in too. It was getting busy once I was eating.
- The food and drinks are cheap. No matter how you slice it, the Mexican offerings are all reasonably priced (in comparison to all options in the region) and the beers are very modestly priced too.
- The food and drinks are very good quality and value. I liked everything I put in my mouth and felt it was worth the prices I paid, if not more.
- They have a good number of local and not-so-local beers on tap. Gotta be something for everyone, right? They had all the beers scrolling on a LCD screen, with prices and IBUs. I believe it was two full screens with about 24-30 beers in all.
- They have a patio. Even in Northern CA, sitting outside can be a boon to your night.
- They have ice cream! I mean, if that doesn't seal it.

Not so Positives:
- A restaurant with lots of art, stuffed animal heads, etc on the walls can be perfectly kitsch really easily (like the Wooden Nickel already posted here). The same kind of stuff, not done as well, looks like a hot mess and clutter at best. This place is the latter, IMO. They have stuff all over the walls (lights, posters, artwork, merchadise for sale, etc.), but without much sense to it all. I thought it was just someone trying to use free brewery give-a-ways or literally trying to hide holes or wires in the walls. Even the name seems like they tried to cram everything in it... why not mention the gas pumps too?
- Oddly laid out. Perhaps this is the vibe they're going for, but there's an old "market" and gas station in front of the restaurant as you walk in. I get this is part of their history, but again, it simply feels cluttered for no reason.
- Weird bar. The bar itself is about 5-feet wide, which is ok, but when the bartender can't place a drink in front of you, it might be too wide. There are also two levels to the bar, it steps down slightly nearest the patrons. How about one solid bar top, in a normal width? While you're upgrading the bar area, I'd also love a foot rest down by my feet in front of the bar too.
- The rest of the decor is just as uninspiring. I think some of the old things can be cleaned, updated or upgraded to make this place really good. I don't think it would take much.

Having said all of the above, I'd still go back for it's lowkey vibe, cheap prices and solid service. They all seemed like nice people working there.

Time for a move? Watsonville, CA

Well, it's that time of year, the first year-long apartment lease is up. The classic tune "Should I stay or should I go now?" runs through the head and then some basic math calculations are done. "Survey says?!" I go.

But, I've found an interesting option through a coworker at the office. I can move into a quaint "ranch-hand's quarters" on the owner's working ranch. He and his wife have a number of buildings on the property (main house, large workshop/garage, small workshop w/ mother-in-law suite, livestock barn, and the small building I will take over).

They also have a small vineyard, agave plants, a prize-winning goat herd, and dogs solely there to protect said goat herd, a breed known as Akbash (see image below). They can and will attack any predator that comes in to sniff around the goats. I'm told the owners have seen all manner of predators on their ranch, including coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions. The Akbash will not bat an eye to protect the herd.

It's also on top of a local mountain, called Mt. Madonna. It's on the Pacific ocean side of this mountain, with access to the mountain's nature out my door (camping, hiking, etc.). Almost all of the trees on this mountain are redwoods as well.

Some of the vineyard:

Vines produce pint grapes. The owner does not handle the wine-making portion, but "farms" it out to another that in return for his land/grapes, gives him back bottles of wine. Kind of like a fancy Bartertown situation, savvy.

The real reason for this move is the unbelievably high prices for real estate and homes in CA. It affects not only single family homes, but also the rental prices of everything in a ~100 mile range of San Francisco. In the small town my office is in, prices have gone up even within the year I moved here. My current apartment building proposed a 6% increase on my monthly rent, which I was simply not willing to accept. This change to a small studio will save me over half the amount of rent money I was spending on a one-bedroom. It makes much more financial sense, and could also open up many other possibilities on the west side of this small mountain range, all on the Pacific ocean side. It's a much shorter drive from "home" to Monterey, Moss Landing, and the small beach towns up Highway 1, like Soquel, Aptos, and Capitola.

Here goes nuttin'.