Magnificent Mount Shasta

The last time we left the West, it was partially because we were tiring of all the jaw-dropping scenery. Mt Shasta is a prime example of why we were so anxious to return after a two-year absence. Unlike many really tall mountains that are merely the highest of a group of peaks, it stands alone, four or five thousand feet higher than its neighbors. Another attraction of the area is Shasta Dam and lake. The dam is the second tallest (Hoover) and the second biggest (Grand Coulee) in the country.

Our mouths are gaping, but we're ready for more .

An Easy Day at Rockaway Beach

Two days of walking up and down the hills of San Francisco is quite enough, thank you. So on our last day in the Bay area, in the midst of a heatwave (over 100 away from the beaches,) we took a drive down toward Half Moon Bay. Unfortunately on this hot Saturday, half the population of the valley had the same idea. Change of plans - why not just part way to the small coastal community of Rockaway Beach. Good choice, as it turns out - super fresh seafood lunch and a stroll along the 55 degree water. And we're ready to head north tomorrow.

An All-Day Tour

Today we splurge on an organized tour (as opposed to our own disorganized ones.) A really good idea for a relaxed look at all the many sites to see in this historic, picturesque city. But wait. Dave makes the big boo boo of this spring/summer season - forgetting to put the rechargeable battery back in the camera. And after making sure that it was fully charged, too! Geez, what a maroon! Twice before in four years - at Mesa Verde NP when I forgot to upload the previous day's photos (had room for only a dozen new shots) and again at Hoover Dam when I forgot the camera altogether. (Even a new higher capacity camera with AA power wouldn't have helped there.)

So with disposable in-hand, we at least recorded the second half of the day. We enjoyed seeing the downtown districts and the Transamerica Building, Coit Tower, Chinatown, Lombard Street (again,) Fisherman's Wharf, the Palace of Fine Arts, and the Golden Gate. Not much left to see in SF.

Ups and Downs in San Francisco

Our first morning here, we went into the city via BART, getting off the train in the middle of downtown. What an amazing transit system BART is. We are easily impressed since we have never ridden a heavy rail transit system like the NY subway or the DC Metrorail or the L in Chicago or the T in Boston. (Did I cover them all?) Can't see how it gets up to speed so quickly - moving about 1000 people from zero to sixty before the last car has cleared the station.


Cable car rides, hikes up and down Lombard St, the famous "crookedest street in the world, Hyde Street Pier, Ghirardelli Square, the streetcars and the Ferry Building, a lunch w/margarita in the Cannery (site of Del Monte's beginnings) and dinner at Ciappino's near Fisherman's Wharf. A full and tiring day finished off with the hundreds of thousands of commuters on the BART.

San Francisco Here We Come

We have arrived at San Francisco RV Park in Pacifica, CA. Great location, right on a bluff overlooking the Pacific a few miles from the city, but tiny sites on a virtual parking lot (with pool and spa.) The drive up from Hollister was special for an old geek like me (I think we were called "nerds") - right down the middle of Silicon Valley. City names like San Jose and Santa Clara and Cupertino and Mountain View and Palo Alto, home to the PC revolution and the dotcom boom with corporations like Google and Yahoo and Intel and Cisco and HP - almost everyone but Microsoft started here.

A Trip to Monterey

Our RV travels take us all over the country, but most of the time we plan our route to take advantage of our membership parks where we can stay for free (or nearly free - we do have dues which work out to about $50/month.) Sometimes, we end up having to pay (as much as $60/night) so that we can be within a reasonable driving distance to a single-visit attraction like the Hearst Castle, or really close to a multiple-visit destination like our daughter, Shannon's home or to San Francisco.

San Benito, a Thousand Trails preserve (and therefore one of our freebies) is an hour away from the Monterey Bay and Peninsula area, not a drive we'd want to make a half-dozen times, but it is close enough to make a few trips to see the sights in the area. This time we took in Cannery Row, a section of the bay made famous by a John Steinbeck novel (his home and a museum dedicated to his works is in nearby Salinas.) It has been converted into a typical "tourist trap" collection of shops and eateries - even someone with a fertile imagination (yours truly not included) would have a devil of a time seeing what it was really like during its heyday. So what the heck, we acted like the tourists we are, went into a bunch of shops, and ate a really delish meal at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. We also toured Fishermans' Wharf (more shops and restaurants,) but the jewel of our day was the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the second largest in the world (after the new Georgia Aquarium) and one of the best in the country. Its location right on the bay allows it to use the actual bay waters in some of its displays. It also has the world's largest single-paned window in the Outer Bay display. Even though its a little pricey, don't miss taking it in if you are closeby.

San Juan Bautista and the Rib Cookoff

Saturday we took a short drive to the mission town of San Juan Bautista. The mission here (ca. 1770's) is one of the 21 missions established by the Spaniards in California. It's nice, but the real reason we made the trip is the annual SJB Great American Rib Cookoff. (You can only do so much of that historical culture without doing some current-day culture too.) BBQ, beer, and music, with a few sidewalk vendors thrown in for good measure - what a fun thing to do on a weekend.

The trip took us thru the San Benito Wine Trail past five or six wineries. There are vineyards everywhere here. This time we didn't stop, but stay tuned for further developments.

Searching for the California Condor

Well, here we are in central California, the principal range of the California condor. There are two groups of them, one that soars over the Big Sur section of the coast, due west of our current locale, and the other patroling the Pinnacles Nat'l Monument, a few miles south of us. Yesterday we drove down for a glimpse of these huge birds, beautiful in flight, and nightmare ugly up close. But, alas, as you can tell by the choice of photo for the day, we struck out. They are supposed to be easier to spot on one of the 8-10 mile hikes - like that's ever gonna happen. We will try one of the two-milers next week. Maybe we'll get lucky - ya just never know...

The Pinnacles are unusual for one other reason. The primary mountainous formation (pinnacle) is the western half of a volcano which formed 15 million year ago on the San Andreas fault. The fact that this half of the peak (still on the fault line) is 190 miles north of the eastern half has been used to prove the rate of movement along the plate boundaries. There. Now you've had the Geo I lesson for the day, sorry about that. Our RV park is also in the fault zone - we felt a couple of jolts the other night - and yes it was a quake!

Thousand Trails Park - San Benito

Just sitting here sipping margaritas in the middle of thousands of acres of vinyards - but it's all nectar of the Gods isn't it? We're in an RV park called San Benito just south of Hollister in central California. Got here last Thursday, and as is our habit on longish stays, kicking back (relaxing is a very high priority in our lives,) getting familiar with the local area and mapping out our sight-seeing strategy. While we're here we plan to see Monterey (especially the aquarium and Cannery Row,) Pebble Beach and the 17 Mile Drive, Carmel, and the north end of the highway that travels along Big Sur. We'll see how much of it we get done.

Morro Bay State Park

We arrived at Morro Bay State Park along the central California coast on Monday June 1 for a three night stay. Very pretty here with hundred foot eucalyptus trees and huge spreading spruce - such a contrast from our last location in the remote hills inland from Santa Barbara. The marina across the road is packed with mostly older sailboats and trawlers. Can't help checking them out with a critical eye anytime we see some. Morning fog - they call it the "marine layer" - slowly disappears into bright cool afternoons.

Hearst Castle

Today we drove up to see the Hearst Castle at San Simeon, a monstrously extravagent estate built in the 1920's, 30's, and 40's by William Randolph Hearst (of yellow journalism fame) as a retreat for himself and his a-list guests. Its sits on a hilltop a few miles off the road (you really have to know where to look to spot it from Hwy 1,) reachable only by tour bus for a mere $24 ticket. The main house reminded us of the mansions we saw seven years ago in Newport, RI. Seen one show off home, you 've seen 'em all. (Although this one wins the prize.)

Big Sur (Southern Edition)

After our tour of the Castle, we drove further north on the spectacular Pacific Coast Hwy route along Big Sur, going from beachside, with stops to see the seals and sea elephants lazing on the gray sand, to the cliffs a thousand feet above the surfline - the whole awesome scene such a contrast to the Florida Atlantic, although US1 through the Keys sure has its own incredible views.

Saddle Up

It's not like we have TOTALLY left our boating life behind (although we likely have). We still have a few accoutrements of our former watery life, but if nothing else has convinced us, a three week stay at a dude ranch will. We arrived here at Rancho Oso through the back way, so to speak. In the weeks before our scheduled visit, a wildfire raged in the beautiful town of Santa Barbara and the mountains behind it. The Rancho Oso preserve is nestled on the other side of ridgeline from the major fire lines - helicopter drops of fire retardant were visible by campers in the park. When the danger was past, we made the trip from Ventura Beach the long way round, avoiding the fire-fighting areas that the normal approach through Santa Barbara would expose us to.

The park has 50 or 60 horses corralled, a "western" town complete with storefronts and Conestoga - no, the pictures are not of our "new" RV or tiny cabins for guests. But they do highlight the down home flavor of the park. It's remote - no Verizon phone or or aircard service (eeek!) We have to drive up to "Verizon Point" to make calls and pick up messages.

It may sound like we're complaining, but we aren't. We made new friends and visited new places. That's what it's all about. No wait - maybe we are complaining.

A Little Bit of Denmark

Another cool reason for staying at Rancho Oso is the proximity of some small towns, vineyards, and tourist attractions. Like the pea soup capital of the world in Buellton, or the paparazzi capital of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch, which is only a few miles up a mountain road from Los Olivos, or a pretty, fun, town like Solvang. This is a town settled in the 1800's by a group of Scandinavian immigrants. It has all the charm of a small Danish town, and an enjoyable way to spend a few hours, and, of course, eat a great lunch.

Santa Barbara with Shannon and Bill

Santa Barbara, as well as it's smaller neighbor Montecito, has a reputation for being the place where affluent Angelinos move to escape the mundane lifestyle and stress of LA county - well deserved. State Street is one of those shopping districts (like Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills) that drips money, money, money. But we could enjoy it, because (again) we had Bill and Shannon showing the way. Jump on a trolley to take you down to Sterne's Wharf or step into a little Italian restaurant off the street for a terrific lunch. They seem to have a "key to the city" since they know so many of the in-crowd. Our dinner was at the Palace, one of the ultimate inside destinations - great finish to a perfect day. Super way to end our visit.

Shannon at Last

One of the highlights of our RVing lifestyle is the ability to visit each of our children in their far-flung home cities. Last October, we had a great time seeing our youngest son Trace during a one-week stay in Ft Lauderdale. Then in November, we got to spend time with our eldest child David Jr., his pretty wife Yvonne, and their super son, David III (we call him D3) - even got to see him play in one of his middle school basketball games - during a week at a preserve near his home in San Antonio. Now it's our turn to see our daughter, Shannon after nearly a year-and-a-half drought.

After a do-nothing week at one of our preserves in the mountains north of LA we finally arrived at a very nice park (one of those pricey, out-of-network resorts) across the highway from the beautiful blue Pacific in Ventura Beach for our much-anticipated visit. Shannon and our super-host and friend Bill Boro treated us to the sights, sounds, and tastes of their home and stomping grounds in Oxnard and Ventura Beach.

The last day of the visit was Mother's Day (another one of those miracles of careful planning) so we enjoyed a wonderful M D champagne brunch - check out the photo of my beautiful girls - followed by a fun day at the shops and bars at Ventura Beach Marina.

A Visit to a Gourd Farm???

A fulltime RV lifestyle includes lots of sightseeing (if you're lucky) with a liberal helping of hikes and climbs in the "outback", and lots of kicking back and serious relaxing (if you're lucky,) but having some hobbies helps keep the mind sharp and the eyes focused. Jan has been doing beautiful Swedish weaving projects, and I've been trying to get going on some artwork. Last winter, we looked into some woodburning and woodcrafting activities. Surfing the web, Jan discovered beautiful examples of intricate patterns scribed on the surface of dried gourds. Well, where can we lay our hands on some of these gourds? As it turns out, not in the Texas valley. The best source is a gourd farm in Southern California, from where they can be sent directly to you for a king's ransom in shipping costs.

All this preamble gets us to the point of this blog post. Here we are in Southern California at one of our "free" parks near the town of Temecula, and only a few miles from THE GOURD FARM. Can we plan things, or what?? A short drive through the avocado groves (thousands of hillside acres) and we were at the source - table after table of cleaned and natural gourds in all shapes and sizes. We picked a dozen or more, plus some patterns, inks and paints, and how-to books. We're all ready get creative.

A Return to San Diego

Well, its April 15th and we're finally back in California - in the Greater San Diego area to be exact - after a two year absence. It is definitely one of our favorite states to spend time in, and San Diego is a great place to resume. When we were here in early '07, shivering in 18 degree overnight temps, we focused mainly on their wonderful zoo, making two full-day visits, as well as the Old Town section and Balboa Park.

This time - here for a week - we thought we do the bay area. We took in Coronado Island, and did a Bay Cruise finished off with a terrific waterside meal at the Fish Market Restaurant. And check out this statue of "The Kiss" next to the USS Midway Museum.

Easter with Friends in Yuma, AZ

Here we are at the Mexican border again, this time in Yuma, AZ. We came here via a one-week stop at one of our all-time favorite places in Cottonwood, AZ, just a few miles south of the beautiful red rock country of Sedona. We spent the winter of 2007-2008 here, and can't seem to get enough of it. Yuma also gives us another shot at a Mexican border crossing at Algodones for meds and tequila.

We are having Easter dinner with more great friends met thru our boating life, Len and Connie Martin, late of Brunswick, GA. A couple of years ago, Len took a job as manager of the Lower Colorado River Region of the Bureau of Reclamation (what a mouthful) which controls the quality and distribution of area water to all users - a really important job for a boat bum. It is really a complicated activity. Len and Connie also took us on a drive along the local section of fencing and other devices to prevent illegal border crossing. We had seen portions of the fence down along the Rio Grande in the Texas Valley, but this section stretches continuously from the Pacific Ocean to ... Driving right next to it here (just a few feet away) gives us a whole new appreciation for why they decided to do things like build it a few hundred yards on our side of the border (don't think anyone is really going to throw a ladder up against it,) but as Len points out, they make a bunch of dumb decisions too.

Connie prepared a wonderful standing rib roast and all the fixings for our dinner. It was the highlight of our four-day visit here. Can't wait to come back. Old boating friends are the best.

With Great Friends in Lake Havasu, AZ

After a two-day drive from Albuquerque, we have arrived at Prospector RV Park in Lake Havasu, AZ for a four-day stay. The trip was supposed to include a couple of days in northeastern Arizona to visit a remote, beautiful Nat'l Monument called Canyon de Chelly (pronounced dah-shay, www.nps.gov/cach) but our mid-March timing has bitten us again - heavy snow in the high country. So another plan bites the dust. But we will pass this way again.

Larry and Philly Coon are super good friends from our boating days. We never miss an opportunity to stop here for a visit if we're anywhere close. This time we took in the traveling Vietnam Memorial which luckily happened to be in town and an end-of-season luau at the RV park where they are members. With summer temps commonly above 110, most activities off the lake shut down for the five really hot months. Larry and Philly themselves close up their house and go work at a marina on beautiful Lake Powell.

Old Town Albuquerque

After four driving days, with a couple of one-day layovers (we don't want to overdo it, you know,) we have arrived in the Albuquerque suburb of Tijeiras. This route followed mostly along the Rio Grande river, although we ended up skipping a visit to Big Bend NP this time (it is totally booked up for spring break. Best laid plans, and all...) It was 870 miles just getting out of the Lone Star state, and another few hundred in New Mexico to get here. We are also at an elevation of 6100 feet after nine months around sea level, and are REALLY huffing and puffing, just walking around. We are going up to Sandia Crest, but since that's another 4000 feet up, we thought we'd give our lungs a break and go in to Old Town. Albuquerque is one of our favorite places to visit (we haven't caught the Balloon Festival here yet, but we definitely will some day. Our friends tell us it's a blast.) and this historic section of the city is a highlight - a 300 year-old cathedral, plaza, shops, galleries, and restaurants, including the Church Street Cafe, our fave. And, would you believe, we're still on the Rio Grande river?

Sandia Crest

On our previous trips thru Albuqueque, we somehow missed the tram ride to the top of Sandia Crest. We've driven up a few times, but never did the tram thing. It was a great ride to the top, and of course, never wanting to miss an opportunity to play in the snow...no, wait...that's "never wanting to miss a trip to the bar" we made sure we sampled the effect of martinis at 10,600 feet. Woohoo! (We did play in the snow too.) After the trip down, we ate at a wonderful Mexican grill in the tram station. We can highly recommend the whole combination. It was fun, fun, fun.

2009 - The Mexican Border to British Columbia ...and We're OFF

We are starting 2009 in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. We have spent three months with friends Bill and Josie Roberts in the Snow to Sun RV Park in Weslaco. This area is a favorite winter retreat from the cold north for many Canadians and other American snowbirds, many (and we do mean MANY) from as far away as Newfoundland (the best partyers of all.) We have made scores of new friendships and (massively) helped the local Mexican economy at the many shops and cantinas in the border town of Nuevo Progreso. We've been perfecting our margarita recipe (yumm) and line dancing skills, beachcombing and kite-flying on South Padre Island, and basically enjoying the local culture, flora, and fauna along this million-strong population corridor at the Mexican border. Progreso is small enough and "turista" enough to be immune (so far) to the drug wars that are threatening other border cities as we get ready to say "goodbye" and depart the area on March 15. We are heading West with our ultimate destination being British Columbia sometime in late summer.