Family fun and heading to the desert....Happy Holidays

We've had a whirlwind of family fun; birthdays, Thanksgiving, and our family holiday celebration since we won't be there Christmas, complete with prime rib and all the trimmings.  And the entire family showed up, every single grandchild and their parents!

After a final trip to Half Moon Bay we took off last Wednesday trying to stay ahead of the storm that was threatening Northern CA.  Our first night was at the popular Orange Grove RV park in Bakersfield.

We continued on Thursday up and over the mountain to Tehacapi.  The transmission performed perfectly. None of the jerky shifting we had experienced before. Though headed to Anza Borrego, we decided to stop in La Quinta at Lake Cahuilla County Park for a week to take care of some business.  We made 3 trips to Best Buy, first to get a computer glitch repaired - it took the Geeks less than 5 minutes to fix and no charge thank you! Next visit was to replace my old Kindle which died a few days before. Got home and discovered it only spoke Portuguese. So back we go to get that straightened out.  For now everything seems to be working properly.

Had a great visit from friends Tom and Carolyn who are staying in Desert Hot Springs for the winter season.  They promised to come down to Anza Borrego for a jeep ride.

We'll have a final trip to Costco to stock up on some staples before we head down to the desert where we plan to spend Christmas.

Reflections at Lake Cahuilla

The temps have been in the high 60s to mid 70s with one very bad day of sand blasting wind.

We send our best wishes to everyone for a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Snowbirding

Yes, it's that time of year; time to migrate south from the biting cold of the Bay Area.  We have spent the most marvelous of times while here, and are now completing the circle of family visits.  In Loomis at Stevi and Gary's we had a large family gathering and a scrumptious prime rib dinner. Photographer friend, Laura, kindly snapped a few shots of our group.  We were missing a few grandkids with school and work obligations in the way.

We stopped in Half Moon Bay on our way south for a few days with those littlest grandkids....then continued on to the Anza Borrego Desert, our Christmas/New Years destination for so many years.

But things are so different now.  The State Park has taken a large chunk of potential parking sites and posted them as follows:

So now foot travel only, no RV parking.  All the beautiful rock formations and fire pits have been dismantled and destroyed.  Our beautiful site from last year is a mess.  There is still a large area for RV parking west of the State Park property and that's where we are now. Nothing very exciting, unfortunately!

Plus the winds are truly howling, gusts up to 50 MPH.  Putting out our luminarios was not going to happen due to the awful sandblasting we received.  So here's a pic from last year just to see how cool they are.

And we did add a little Christmas cheer with a few decorations inside.

And the sunsets are still spectacular....

We are happy to have Nan and John Talley parked nearby so you can bet we'll enjoy some stimulating happy hours!

With the wind so bad and not being able to enjoy being outside it's hard to say just how long we'll stay.  I must admit we're both in kind of a "bah, humbug" mood and feeling very unsettled.  Maybe after coming here for at least 15 years is losing it's appeal.  Diesel fuel is cheap so we might just decide to hit the road and head east, with a lot of stops along the way.

So today is Christmas and we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  May this coming year bless us all with good health and safe travels.

Lynda & Howard

No cataract surgery~~~

Once again we're back in our "home" territory of Petaluma, CA staying at the Elk's Lodge.  Our little month-long vacation, stretching to almost 2000 miles, has us refreshed and ready to settle in for a bit.

On my agenda was an ophthalmology appointment on the 28th for exam and consultation prior to scheduling cataract surgery.  My ophthalmologist, Dr. Alvarado, surprised me by saying the results would not be all that good due to an irregular astigmatism which could not be fixed with the special lens. Plus going ahead with the surgery to improve far vision would still require me to wear glasses plus I would lose my nearsightedness.  I so enjoy not having to wear glasses to read. So, all things considered it would not be worth the time and money at this time and I can change my mind at any time.  Right now my vision is not hindered much by the cataracts.  I don't have the light halos or cloudy vision, and I don't mind wearing my glasses for far vision.

We've started the polishing job on the motorhome which endured a lot of road dirt and grime on our recent getaway. Howard does the top portion with a ladder, and I do the bottom which involves a lot of squatting exercises!  This is one job we do as the spirit moves us!

Our family has decided to celebrate Thanksgiving/Christmas on December 5th weekend at Stephanie and Gary's place in Loomis, east of Sacramento, where we have beautiful free parking on their 3 acres! No plans yet on where we'll be for Christmas.  Maybe the desert!

Today is the DAY!

We're heading south to the desert.  It will take us 2 days and, with luck, the Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield will be our layover for the night.  With even more luck, the trees will be laden with ripe oranges for the picking as in past years.  We are about 2 weeks earlier than usual this year leaving the Bay Area and family, but our 6 weeks were crammed with good times and oh so much food.  I think all the rain, wind, cold and a leaky slide, which makes for damp, smelly tight quarters with the slide in, has contributed to our early departure.

Today's drive-by shootings: 

Leaving Half Moon Bay, south on Highway One

Highway 101 near Paso Robles

The hills are green from all the rain

On Highway 46 heading East, I spy a face...

A brief summary of the last couple of weeks:

We were treated to a grand evening at Else and Kim's motorhome where Kim, in spite of the inclement weather, barbecued the best boneless leg of lamb alongside sweet potatoes.  I fixed a mixed greens salad with persimmon, walnut, and Gorgonzola which, I must admit, was also pretty tasty. We later devoured Kim's Fudge....with any luck this link will work which means I might now know how to embed a word document, and you can enjoy this healthy treat as well!

We had so much rain that the streets, especially those near the Petaluma River and its feeder creeks, were flooded and closed.  We donned our foul weather gear, we actually had some stashed away, and went out with just the cell phone as a camera to see what was going on.  Plus we were getting cabin fever!

This is the parking lot leading to Shollenberger Lake which was dry as a bone just a few weeks ago!

The downtown Petaluma waterfront

The Petaluma Marina at the Sheraton Hotel

We laced up our shoes and joined our 8 year old granddaughter, Christina, and her Sonoma County Girls on the Run 5K.  Well, Howard ran and Wendy and I walked.  There were many hundreds of participants of all age groups with family and friends representing the Sonoma County Club chapter.

Christina, #227, with her club above, and with a friend and grandpa, below

We stressed over the drive to Half Moon Bay but the weather gods smiled on us and we had a glorious, easy drive through San Francisco and along the coast to Half Moon Bay...

Very little traffic on the GG Bridge

Parked along the Great Highway in SF

Getting a shot of Seal Rocks which, on close-up, appears to be populated with pelicans!

Arriving at Devil's Slide near Half Moon Bay, we pull over for a quick shot...

We had our usual free parking in front of Terri and Clint's house for our 4-day stay.  Terri fixed a perfect, almost 18 lb. bone-in prime rib, for an early pre-Christmas family get-together.  The Petaluma family drove down, and Dave and Krissi (Dave is Terri's ex, and yes, they are best friends) joined us as well.  We were filled with Christmas cheer....

Damien helps me set up a tree shot...haha!

Terri's humongous perfectly medium rare prime rib roast... 

There's always one family clown!

For our grand finale, Terri, Liliana, and I went to the San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker performance at the War Memorial Opera House.  I managed last minute dress-circle seats for yesterday, Monday's 2 pm showing.  The day was cold and rainy, not good for doing much walking around the city, always beautiful at Christmas time.  This was Liliana's first ride on BART and my first in many years, and involved a lot of running through train stations, up and down steep escalators, many not functioning, stepping over homeless people driven inside for shelter from the weather, then hailing taxis to the restaurant for lunch and theater, and back to the train station.

The performance was magical, truly spectacular, and the 3 of us were mesmerized and on the edge of our seats with excitement.  I had taken Terri probably 30 years ago, so this threesome was special indeed! Liliana, at only 5 years old, was a trooper, and an adorable princess in her pretty dress.  This poor quality photo quickly snapped from an aging smart phone does not do justice.

Now, back to today:

Drilling rigs along Highwayt 46, East

Miles of dormant almond trees.....

We've arrived at our half-way point...

And the pickins' are good....

I wonder where we'll be tomorrow at this time?

On becoming 'cultured' & celebrations galore~~

Weeks have passed in a flash!  Where has the time gone?  It seems we just got back from Nicaragua and already planning our winter migration.  We have celebrated non-stop; get-togethers with friends, birthdays, Thanksgiving, with more to come.  I fear we will roll out of here exceeding our weight limit!  The good news is we are learning about the benefits of fermented foods and getting 'cultured' in the process...

Getting cultured with kefir:

Kim & Else, truly a lovely couple

We got together with Kim and Else for a kefir making class. Kim went through the step-by-step process, starting with a tablespoon of kefir grains (which actually look like curds). These grains are the starter culture, much like the concept of sourdough, and are placed in a quart glass jar filled about 3/4 full of milk.  The jar is covered and left to sit out on the counter-top for approximately 24 hours for the fermentation process to do its thing.  The time frame is faster (or slower) depending on the surrounding temperature.  The kefir is ready when the grains raft on top and clear bubbles form along the bottom.  Now it's time to strain, return those super-powerful grains to a cup of milk for storage, or start another jar. Kim strains his kefir into a blender to smooth it up a bit and pours into the glass jar and refrigerates.

Our own brew

The essentials

We returned home with our very own jar brewing, and have continued to make kefir on a daily basis. We also purchased Donna Schwenk's book, Cultured Food for Life, which is loaded with how tos and many excellent recipes.  I have felt noticeable improvement in the two weeks we have been consuming, and that's saying a lot with all that's going on around here!

Liliana's 5th birthday celebration:

 Kids are a kick to photograph, even in bad indoor lighting, and here are a few from our day:

Blowing out candles with help from a friend...

Lil brother Damien wants some of that cake action!

How cute is this face?!

Daughter Terri planned a great party at Cameron's Inn & Pub in Half Moon Bay. Lots of good food, like pizza and nachos, even healthy stuff like veggies and fruit, was served.  Well... and cake and cupcakes, of course. They have a great facility with plenty of grassy play area that nicely accommodated the "jumpy thing", and the pinata bash, as well as an in-door shelter in case it rained. But the sun came out for a beautiful day and the party was well-attended by kids, parents, and family alike.

Kicking off the pinata bash!

Liliana greets her guests...shoes off please!

This mud puddle gets a lot of action!

Curly, blondy just hanging out!

Watermelon for this one!

Christina gives the tether-ball a whirl

Next up~Thanksgiving:

Our group photo!

Probably my favorite holiday of the year, not only because of all the good food with family and friends, but more importantly, focusing on how much we have to be thankful for.  Truly thankful!  Norm and Wendy hosted the grand gathering and for once in I forget how long, all 5 of my grandkids were in attendance; Daniel home from San Diego State, and Noelle from UC Santa Cruz.  The Half Moon Bay family drove up for the day (that's a lot of driving), Wendy's mom Chris, and Dave & Krissi were there.  We so missed our Loomis family whose work schedules are so restrictive.  Gary works for the Post Office, enough said!

These are Sonoma Willy birds, properly brined and smoking!

Willys resting!

We had so much food but I refrained from photo shots.  All the favorites were present; mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, dressing, rolls, green beans...some traditional, some with a new twist.  There were pies of every flavor and the very best, Chris' bread pudding with caramel sauce.  And some very good wines!

A bad lighting shot of all the grands & Annie with her new bone!

And the lovely granddaughters...

The "day after" hike:

Black Friday was not about to find us shopping at the mall or online for that matter.  Instead we hauled our over-stuffed bodies out for a proper two hour hike at Helen Putnam Park.  This Sonoma County Regional park is a great combination of several connecting trails, all providing beautiful scenery and a little something for all levels and ability.  The coastal hills floated in and out of the fog, the sun occasionally peaked out from behind puffy clouds, and folks and families and friends enjoyed a glorious day.

The 1st hill is a bit steep!

We're huffing & puffing about now...

Surrounding farmland & coastal hills...

Families out for a stroll on a beautiful day!

Into a tunnel of Oaks...

Where we meet up with the dog lady!

And get to the neighborhood at the trailhead on the other side, before heading back...

Along a different trail with a new perspective...

Lovely layers with a touch of blue...

And some miscellany:

We had some much-needed rain and discovered a nasty leak in our slide.  Why don't we do proper sealing and caulking during the dry summer months?  So when we pass through Yuma next year, we'll be getting that repaired as it entails removing an awning.  In the meantime, on sunny days you will find Howard on the roof with his tube of silicone!

And of course there were more celebrations and get-togethers!  Norm's birthday, 2 days after Thanksgiving, called for local Dungeness crab, salad, and sourdough!  Janis, our good friend and park host had a bunch of us over for the absolute best, homemade egg nog last night.  

I declared this day as one of modest eating, relaxing, and catching up on photos and journal. But we have more to look forward to before departing on the 15th.  Cheers (burp)!