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 17th 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!
No comments:
Post a Comment