Sharing a Camp site with Robinson Crusoe

We spent a lovely week at Pismo Beach RV Resort and met up with friends whom we had as neighbors in Monterey. We watched the Super Bowl in our RV but so did everyone else so company was not far away; however, we missed our usual venue at Eileen’s. What an entertaining Game this year?  Plenty of action and of course the ads were fantastic...

We went to the Street/Farmers Market in San Luis Obispo on Thursday night and bought our dinner from a street stall; there was quite a good choice, ribs, steak, chicken, kebab’s, corn etc. Tables and chairs were provided and we ended up sharing a table with a lady originally from New Zealand (she talked just like “Dame Edna”); a couple from Minnesota (he put on his “Fargo” accent) for us and we all had a giggle.  As we strolled along the streets we saw a corner shop selling ladies underwear called “Fanny Wrappers” which greatly confused Tom. Poor innocent! What a great name for a ladies shop.

There was a legalize Marijuana march and I was trying to imagine such a march on a Sunday morning at the Los Gatos Farmers Market!  I tried to be discreet and take a few photos. I never know if it is OK to do that or not.  They all looked pretty normal CA people.

Sitting in the RV I can see Robinson Crusoe through my window. His is wearing a blue swim suit, has a tattoo on his back, long grey hair and a long grey beard and his skin is as brown as a berry. These days he drives a white van and has a dog called “Friday”.  And, he resides on the beach in Refugio.

We found Refugio State Beach by mistake, we had intended stopping at Gaviota State Beach, but we came around an acute corner of 101 and there it was; “Rambling Rover” can’t do quick turns yet!  U turns are out of the question so we must drive on.  Next signpost was for Refugio State Beach so off we drive and find a real gem of a State Park. A gem, strictly in terms of its location (right at a spectacular beach – that’s it - no hook-ups (electricity, water, sewer), no Wi-Fi, TV, cell phone reception not good, so you are pretty much on your own. The Park did have toilet and shower blocks.

Luckily, before leaving Pismo Beach we had filled our water tank and had the batteries fully charged. Saturday when we were leaving we discovered that we had run our batteries dry and needed to move to recharge the batteries.  

The story of Refugio - it was given as a land grant in the 17^th century to a Spaniard, let’s call him Miguel who farmed the land.  When he died his son Sergio decided smuggling was much more lucrative. At that time Californians (Spaniards) could only purchase their goods from Spanish traders.  They were few and not reliable so he started to trade with all the well stocked ships that passed his way and hid the loot on his property. The Government in Monterey (then the Capital of California) heard about this illegal trading and sent down a posse but Sergio got wind of the raid and moved all his loot into the surrounding hills. When the Monterey guys got there they found neither man nor loot so they burned his house. Needless to say the name is much longer in Spanish - Refugio de Smugglers.

We are now at Ventura Beach and still enjoying all the chocolate that was lavished on us over Christmas which means that I’m taking a rain check from Tom for my usual Valentine’s Day chocolate. 

We wish all you lovers out there a fun Valentines Day!

Looking for Yogi!

I convinced Tom to drive down Big Sur on Highway One and what a roller coaster that was.  We hit four sets of road works that would have been bad in a car but horrific for Tom driving the RV.  Of course I was perched up on the high passenger seat on the cliff edge, enjoying the view right down the side at the beautiful azure water on the rocks way below.  I had checked the escape exits - I was going to run back to the bedroom and open the emergency window and swim!  To what? Those rocks that I could see were being beaten by the surf a half a mile down below.  Poor Tom only saw his own white knuckles.  But for me it was beautiful!

We stayed two nights at Pfeiffer State Park which was about 2 miles up a canyon on a road that was full of potholes so we bumped, bumped, bumped all the way.  A state trooper comes along to see are we OK?   I just end up wondering where did he leave YOGI as he was all decked out in his uniform, but no Bear. We were without Wi-Fi and TV and the phones didn’t work too well.  We missed not being part of the “real “world.

Sunday we ate in Nepenthe’s where we had been a long time. We hiked to 3 waterfalls - Pfeiffer Falls in the Park, McVey Falls a very pretty waterfall which falls 70 feet to the beach and Salmon Creek Falls which was by far the best, a big surprise.  To see these falls one needs to get out of one’s car and walk about three-quarters of a mile, as the view from the road does not give you any idea of how spectacular the Falls are, or the quantity of water that pours over the rocks.  A great thundering waterfall!

San Simeon was our next stop where we saw the whole story of the procreation of the Elephant Seal.  Two long beaches of barking, belching seals.  The male’s weighs 5000 lbs. the female 1500lbs.  I called one of the seals Napoleon because he was very busy looking for his Josephine, but his advances were being constantly refused. I thought he would crush all those baby seals while he followed his lusts desire.

Now we are at Pismo beach.  We are right on the beach which is long and pretty, the sea is cold but we have a heated pool on site.  It feels like half of the population of the little town of Pismo are RVer’s as this is one of the snowbirds favorite destinations.  

  

On the road again...

So here we are, “back on the road again”!

Since our last Blog posting we had a lovely Christmas Day with our Bay Area family members, again, much thanks to Stella and Tony for putting on a great meal and an evening of fun and entertainment…sadly Melissa was not able to join us as she was recovering from a hysterectomy on the 22^nd.

Christmas night we spent at The Red Roof Inn near the San Francisco Airport, where we parked the car until January 17^th for a great all-in price – we highly recommend this facility.

On the 26^th we flew from SFO to Birmingham, UK via Paris; it was wonderful to see our Son-in Law Karl and granddaughter Hannah waiting with big smiles for us in the arrivals area. From then on we were in a veritable beehive of activity. We celebrated Karl’s Mums 70^th with the extended family; sang in the New Year at a village friends home; visited Muriel and Gerry for a couple of days (how wonderful it was to see them and enjoy their company); lots of lovely walking around the canals and by-ways; a family visit to Leicester to see The King & I, with a follow up shopping visit; Tom’s sister Veronica visited with Rick and their son Liam, and then it was time for us to leave. Jennifer and Hannah drove us to a hotel at Birmingham Airport – our flight was at 6.30 AM to Paris and on to SFO.

On January 18^th we reunited with RamblingRover at Leale’s RV in San Jose where she had been for servicing and other much needed up-grades while we were away. We cannot speak highly enough of Leale’s, all the work was perfection in itself. Definitely, the go to place in the Bay Area for RV servicing and repairs.

Once more we imposed on our great friends the Barth’s and stayed with them for a week before starting off once again on our US odyssey.

While in Los Gatos Adele kept busy with her Newcomers friends while I was discovering through X-Rays and Ultrasounds that I have arthritis in my spine and hips – old rugby injuries!

Old Rugby players never die…they just limp away!!

Thursday found us in Monterey, CA where we had a lovely bike ride along the coast from the RV Park to Pacific Grove and back.

Then on Friday we went to Point Lobos where we hiked 6 miles and saw a “raft” (the technical term for four or more) of Otters, Sea Lions and more excitingly Grey Whales – we saw quite a number, very close to shore; and not just spouts, but also breaching and tails. Spectacular!

From Monterey we will traverse Big Sur…watch for the Big Sur Blog.

Christmas Blog

From Lakeport we traveled to Santa Rosa and once again, what a nice surprise? The camp site was close enough to the center of town to be able to walk (about a mile).  We knew from the forecast that we would have a dry day and a wet day there and that the afternoon we arrived would be fine also. The weather has been a big part of this trip as it probably will be throughout the 2 years. Whether too hot or too cold we are cozy in our little home as we have both heating and air conditioning.

We walked into Santa Rosa and along the way found the Luther Burbank gardens; very interesting – Burbank was an early pioneer of grafting and grafted literally thousands of trees, flowers and shrubs much to envy of his fellow horticulturists of the time. There was a bed of “naked ladies” Lilies, from miniature to giant in size, lots of roses named for the Queen of England, film stars, perfumes and places. His wedding photo was on display - he was 67 and his wife looked about 19 years old. He died 5 years after the marriage and she must have been a widow for 50 years or so as she only died around 1997. During her life Mrs. Burbank gifted the house, outbuildings and gardens to the city of Santa Rosa. The Burbank gardens forms part of a lovely chain of parks right beside the downtown area.

We walked then to Peet’s Coffee for our daily dose of caffeine, I drink a Cafe Latte with lots and lots of foam, which I love.  Sometimes the locals talk to us as they find our accents intriguing. Not surprisingly most claim some Irish blood flowing through their veins; one woman reckoned she was 1/33 Irish she was fun – I told her that she was the United Nations all in one person.

The following day it rained so we visited The Charles M. Schulz Museum to learn all about Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Peanuts, Linus et al – we spent nearly 4 hours there – it’s a must visit! Charles M. Schulz (“Sparky” to his friends) lived and worked for 50 years in Santa  Rosa. One could draw a picture and they would put it on file and then you could come back 50 years later and they would have it in the archives. I didn’t draw do a drawing – going back in 50 years being the problem!! 

Our next stop was Los Gatos in Maky’s driveway for 3 nights.  I hit town just as the parties were starting.  I went on the hike to San Francisco; we had lunch in the Palace Hotel. I will not say how much I ate but it was three courses and was delicious. That night I went to the annual Tennis Party in Loretta’s and now have a lovely small cushion for my RV.  Thank you ladies, I could see you wanted to steal it but had decided it was the only suitable present for the RV.  I will think of you as I sit on it!!

At the tennis Party I discovered there was a British Party the next night in Debbie’s house (I am 1/8 British).  Both of us enjoyed meeting so many friends and discovered that quite a few people are following us through the Blog.  The food was wonderful and plenty of it.  The turkey was moist the Pudding huge and the trifle boozy (Barry what did you put in it?).

The reason we hit Los Gatos so early was three fold ,  my friend Rina was visiting from  Israel so I knew Debbie would come up from San Diego for a week end so we ended up coming back to Los Gatos a little early to see Rina, Eileen (Eileen was not going to miss out on the fun and she flew in from Maine),  Debbie, Maky, Judy, the Variot’s, Gaffney’s, Goswamy’s, Gianni’s; and of course we “bumped into” lots of other friends and neighbors also. And, boy did we have fun.  I think I can finally play Mah Gong thank you, Kerry.  I had a Bridge party, Bunko party, and lots friends around.

Eileen left for Maine on the 16^th, we had dinner with Rina and Ami that night and they left for Israel on the 17^th.

We parked the RV in Morgan Hill for the week and it was a 40 minute ride to town and the parties. At the moment we are house sitting for Eileen and Carl as our RV is in for a major service, lots of big and little jobs need doing. I will not be moving out of Los Gatos again until Sunday. 

My “Flip” just died on me and I am sending it back to the distributors and hopefully they will send new a new one.  They were very nice on the phone and I like the size of the flip.  We will see what happens.

We saw family at the weekend; our baby is now 30 years old.  I am OLD (Ed. Adele might be, but I’m definitely NOT).  Our two San Jose grandsons are now 2 years and 4 years old and two of the best boys in the world!!  

Christmas Day will be a family celebration, thanks to Stella and Tony and then on Sunday, St. Stephen’s Day, Boxing Day – whatever you want to call it we fly to England to spend three weeks with the three best grand children in the British Isles.

To all of our Followers and Friends we wish a Merry Christmas & a Happy, Peaceful and Prosperous New Year.

We expect to be back on the road at the end of January.

Photo's as promised some time ago

Promised you photos and here they are. (You see the real reason I could not put photos on was I had forgotten my connecter) now that I am near Los Gatos I can get things out of storage.

Taken at Munson Falls near Tillamook, it is as tall as the Niagara Falls but not so much water!  It was way up a back road with lots of pot holes.  It was so green in the forest.  The spray makes a micro climate and the moss was thick on the trees.

Tom at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Washington. We also visited a site they wintered at in Oregon.  We now think we are experts on the Lewis & Clark trip. Any Questions?

A “blowhole “on the promenade in the middle of a seaside town called Depoe Bay just south of Lincoln City, OR.  What fun watching the waves come in and wondering would this be the one that would” blow”.

Tom at the main door of Tokeland Hotel, Tokeland, WA that was built in 1865 and is still in its original state. Walls are not plum, door frames crooked, the rooms are furnished as it was in 1865, Iron bed with patchwork counterpanes, wash stands with pitchers in the wash bowls and chamber pots with lids stored underneath.  

We had a wonderful dinner there of Cranberry Pot Roast it was delicious. 

Konocti Mountain at Lakeport

We had hooked up the car the night before our departure from Fortuna. It takes us two hours from bed to road and we are not early risers so having the car hitched is a good start. 

Next day we set off in the rain and it was relentless. Wipers on all the time; swish/swish...these are big wipers. We had booked ahead to an RV camp in Leggett but we decided to keep going to our next scheduled stop Lakeport on the shores of Clearlake which is dominated by Konocti Mountain.

Konocti is a sacred mountain to the Native Americans, who have been living in the area for over 12,000 years; it is a dormant volcanic mountain on the south side of Clear Lake.  Needless to say there are houses built right up the side of it with fantastic views.

Clear Lake which has been there for millions of years is 100 miles around. Lakeport is the county seat and it is a pretty little town with a very good museum in the old Court House of the history of the Pomo people, their culture, weaving and basket making. One exhibit that fascinated was a reed boat – very similar to those from ancient Egypt. In the lobby of the museum we met a genuine Pomo, Thomas I told him I thought John Wayne had killed them all and after a good laugh we had a great chat with him. Once again we stayed beside a Casino, this time literally on a strip of land belonging to the Pomo tribe. Let me put it this way they do not have houses with great views.

We drove down to Calistoga and saw "Old Faithful" shooting into to the air and a few minor steam pools along the side of the road.  Calistoga which is in the wine country has mud baths and hot geysers. We had left the fishing area of California and entered into the wine country. Most places before Calistoga relied on the fisherman for business.

On Sunday we had a wonderful traditional Holiday Victorian Afternoon Tea at the Lakeport English Inn which is run by Karan Mackey a former Mayor of Lakeport and Supervisor of Lake County. I also purchased some gifts from their beautifully Holiday store.

I am having some challenges downloading videos and photos and will work on resolving these issues during the Holidays as I have some great shots to show.

CA at last

We crossed into CA on November 28th.  Any other State it really makes no difference but CA likes to let you know you are entering this vast and different place called after a mythological island in Spanish folklore.

Police in uniform officially greet you at the border and make sure you are carrying no fresh fruit and vegetables into CA.  This of course meant I had a night of making a gallon of soup in lots of small pots.  Then the fresh fruit had to be chopped into little pieces and I ended up with 4 bowls of fresh fruit salad.  Fresh Fruit Salad!!! That’s a salad, right?  The soup is now finished but the fruit salad is still with us one more bowl to go!!

As Tom was unhooking the car at our next stop, Fortuna, he was already chatting up a lady at the campsite, Joei. So I asked her in to have a cup of tea and 8 hours later she goes home. Joei Carlton Hossack as it turns out is an Author and has written many books (of course I bought one called Everyone’s Dream, Everyone’s Nightmare which is about her own RV adventures with her late husband). She was on her way to San Diego to see her sister but had an oil leak which meant that she could not leave until Monday and this was Sunday.  We invited her to visit Ferndale with us and we enjoyed her company as much as she enjoyed ours.  She is very entertaining and has lots of stories to tell as she had travelled extensively in Europe and the USA.  She is not impressed with our plan of travelling in our RV to 48 states over 2 years; as she had lived on the road for 11 years before she settled in Canada.

Ferndale is a Victorian town with a beautiful Main Street that is crowned by a gorgeous Hotel at the end of the street. It’s a real jewel in the middle of farming country.

Fortuna is your all American town.  We went to the movies to see the latest Harry Potter movie.  Once again I need to read the book and not sit there and wonder what the story is. 

Next blog I promise will have Photos.