We have been anchored for awhile~~~

Family time

The time between blog posts seems to be directly related to the amount of travel we do.  So when we're in home territory, as we have been here in Petaluma at the Elk's Lodge for the last few weeks, my blogging takes a hiatus. While here we enjoy lots of time just lazing around, visiting family and local friends, soccer and softball games, birthdays and endless barbecues. We checked a few items off of our MH list of "to dos".

A very dry lake bed

There are hikes around nearby Shollenberger Lake amounting to just 3 miles round trip from our site here at the Elk's.  The temps have been in the  high 80s, with an intermittent shower or cool spell. 

We got caught up on medical stuff, doctors' visits and the like.  I have been living  with a reasonably uncomfortable case of  shingles for the last month, despite having had the vaccine a couple of years ago; a nasty blotchy rash that turned into blisters, that turned into scabs and hurt like the dickens.  Obviously, the vaccine is not 100%!

I also have a date coming up sometime in November to have cataract eye surgery.  I am actually looking forward to this as it will correct my far vision and astigmatism with corrective lenses.  Howard says this has been quite a year for me, health-wise.  Well, the year is almost over and I'm feeling blessed that we're still able to travel and that I'm doing really well in spite of past conditions!

A very tall and steep sand dune

Siltcoos Lake near Florence, OR

We had a great albeit slow trip down the Oregon Coast.  There was a lot of traffic on the twisty two-lane highway.  We stopped for two nights at Darling's Marina & RV Park near Florence, OR, one of our half priced Passport America parks, beautifully situated on the banks of the lovely Siltcoos Lake with easy access to those monumental sand dunes Oregon is famous for!

 

Exploring Moonstone Beach

 Next stop was Trinidad CA on the Humboldt  County coast, a small seaside village and one of  the oldest and smallest incorporated cities in  CA. with just 360 population.  All of Humboldt  County and especially Trinidad offers plenty of  opportunities to explore the majestic beauty of  the area from a number of easily accessible  hiking trails to nearby giant redwoods, 3 state  parks and a couple of county parks. We stayed  at Clam Beach County Park, for their 3 day max  at $13 per night, giving us time to explore  Moonstone Beach and enjoy lunch at the  Trinidad Marina - calamari for moi!  

 

And since we have nothing on our calendar until an ophthalmology appointment on October 28th, we have decided to take an impromptu road trip~~the best kind.  Our destination is St. George, UT where we are hoping to get into one of the first-come, first-serve sites in Snow Canyon State Park.  Snow Canyon is a red rock and hiking haven.  If this doesn't work out we'll try some places around Zion NP.  We plan to leave tomorrow, Tuesday September 29th.