Returning to Petaluma

Leaving Pismo Beach, we drove to Petaluma where we stayed 5 nights at the Elks Lodge RV parking. We enjoyed a dinner out with family; son Norm, daughter in  law Wendy, and 10 year old granddaughter,
Christina, at Dempsey's Brew Pub, one of our favorite local places.

From Petaluma, we headed to Rocklin (near Sacramento) to spend time with Howard's daughter Stephanie, and son in law Gary.  They just moved into a beautiful new house.  We miss our cushy parking privileges at their old place in Loomis, but it's great to see them being able to buy their own place.

It's also Stephanie's 60th birthday party on April 18th, and Gary has a big BBQ planned with lots of friends and work associates invited and it is a surprise.  She thought that just one other couple was joining us and was
quite surprised as the door bell continued to ring and more people arrived.  While there we stayed at the nearby Loomis RV Park.  The park was old with several permanent residents and also quite expensive.  It was very convenient to Steph and Gary's place but we're going to have to find another location the next time we visit. Maybe one of the Elks Lodges in nearby towns.

We returned to Petaluma on April 24th and have been here ever since, once again staying at the Elks Lodge.  This is such a convenient location for sightseeing in the Bay Area. San Francisco is 30 miles south, Bodego Bay and the beach towns to our west, and the beautiful Napa Valley Wine country to our east.   Tomorrow is Mother's Day and we will drive the car down to Half Moon Bay to be with daughter Terri and her family.  They're fixing brunch at their house.  Fun times!

Around Petaluma....

On to Pismo Beach

March 25 to April 10th:

With motorhome repairs complete we headed for Pismo Beach.  The North Beach State Park was closed for repairs so we stayed at the Elks Lodge in Oceano. We had several days before the Half Moon Bay family were to arrive giving us ample opportunity to visit our friend Edna who lives in nearby Nipomo.

Terri, Clint, Liliana, and Damien arrived on the 4th of April for 4 days.  As luck would have it the condo they rented was right across the street from the Elk's Lodge.  We visited every beach in the area so Terri could look for glass for her necklace creations.  She does really nice work.

The following photos were taken at the Avila Beach pools and hot springs:

Around Pismo Beach

Blog block!

We had stayed so long in Petaluma that we needed a getaway.  Howard took out the map book and zeroed in on Tonopah, NV. I said why in the world would we want to go to the middle of nowhere and his reply, "I just like the name"!  Being the good sport that I am and knowing that October is a great month for traveling, I was ready for an adventure.  Doing a little internet research was not overly promising.  Seems Tonopah is an old mining town approximately half way between Las Vegas and Reno.

We stayed the first night at the very popular overnight travel destination, the Orange Grove RV Park. The following day we headed east on Highway 58 up the grade toward Tehachapi.  On the way up we noticed that the transmission was jerky when shifting down to a lower gear.  We didn't lose power, but it was disconcerting enough for us to look for a place to park and make a few phone calls.  We found a Passport America park in nearby Mojave.  It just happened to be October 14th, my birthday,  and we celebrated at Foxie's diner at the little local airport.  I enjoyed a Club sandwich with a glass of Merlot.

After calling Allison, our transmission people, for a recommendation, we called Valley Power Systems in nearby Bakersfield for an appointment.  We arrived at 8 am on the appointed day and proceeded to wait 2 hours without seeing a service representative, so we reconnected the car and drove to Sacramento.  The transmission did fine the entire way.

We parked in Loomis at daughter Stephanie's house where we have grand parking facilities with full hookups.  We are going to be sorry to leave this place when they move into the new house they have purchased.  We stayed for 2 weeks, babysitting Riley the grand-lab while they visited Gary's relatives in Colorado.

We are now back in Petaluma at the Elk's lodge.  The transmission was perfect on the drive from Sacramento so guess we will put that issue on hold for awhile and see how it goes.  We will be in and around the Bay Area until mid-December when we head to the desert.  Wishing all a Happy Holiday season.

Petaluma, back to home territory~~

For several months of the year we hang out in Petaluma in Northern California, about 30 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The Elks Lodge in Petaluma has become "Ground Zero" for us for several years.  We're near family, medical facilities, and beautiful places to sight-see.

An artsy rendering of our Petaluma Elks Lodge parking

If you are a member of an Elks organization like we are, the lodge in Petaluma offers the best RV parking available in the San Francisco Bay Area. There are 18 sites on asphalt with full-hookups for $25 per night, many suitable for larger RVs, with grassy dog runs and overflow parking.  Their system now offers reservations making it convenient for planning ahead.  

Enjoying the grassy, manicured back yard.  There are tables and chairs for afternoon happy hours The doggies love it too!

This is an opportunity to enjoy the delights of a beautiful old historic city packed full of great restaurants, regional parks and hiking trails, all within an easy drive to San Francisco to the south, Pacific beaches, and the famous Napa valley wine country.

Ahh...The Golden Gate Bridge...we have about 30 miles to go north to Petaluma.

Going down...to the Pt. Reyes Lighthouse

Vineyards offset by coastal hills and clouds at Green String Farm

The Petaluma Visitor Center used to be the old train depot in 1914...

Historic downtown Petaluma

Shollenberger Park has miles of trails and is an easy walk from the Elks.

There is a 2 1/2 mile loop trail around the lake, part of which lies adjacent to the Petaluma River which is navigable and runs in to the San Francisco Bay.

A hike at Helen Putnam Park involves a lot of hill climbing.

Layers of coastal fog and farm land lie to our west as we hike the trails of Helen Putnam.

Another side of Helen Putnam Park, groves of old oak abound.

The Napa Valley for some wine tasting....

Here we're enjoying a beverage and some fine food at Dempsey's Brew Pub with a river view of course.

Another day and the sun performs perfectly with shadows and colors.

The pedestrian bridge across the river takes us to Main Street and all the fun stores.

Tuesday's eastside Farmers Market.  There is also a Wednesday evening market in town and Saturday morning at Walnut Park.

And this lovely bouquet is for you!  Thanks for coming...

21 Years of full-time RVing

Yep, this year marks our 21st anniversary of living and traveling full-time in a motorhome.  We've had two, a 91 Dolphin MH and the Country Coach we have now, purchased in 2001. Those first few years we did a lot of driving, trying to cram as many locations as possible in a period of a few days.  It was nothing for us to drive cross-country a couple of times a year.

In 1995 we had two grandchildren born, Daniel in Sun Valley, Idaho and Noelle in Redwood City, CA.  We were there for both!  Oh the joys of being mobile!

One of our bucket list locations was Zion National Park. The photo below was take on a walk along the Virgin river toward the Narrows. We stayed in the national park campgound, enjoyed summer days, barbecued dinners, and lots of walks.  We always put our awning up before we go in for the evening....accept for one night.  The day was balmy, no wind.  Not good as it turns out!

About 1 a.m. in the early morning hours we had a loud knock on our door.  It was the park ranger saying we had to evacuate immediately.  There had been a landslide and the Virgin River was rapidly reaching flood level.  We had a mess outside to put away, especially the awning put. We filed in with a bunch of other campers and followed the ranger up to higher ground.  The next day we found out the hotel was isolated by the slide and patrons were stranded.  Supplies were rapidly running out.

  Our cozy campsite at Zion before all hell broke loose.  Notice all the stuff that had to be put away at 1 a.m. when the ranger told us we had to evacuate,

What follows in a series of old photos taken from road trips we visited in the first few years. The pics should provide a lot of laughs.

At Arches National Park

At Capitol Reef, we think.  

At Bryce Canyon National Park

At Mount Rushmore

At Devil's Tower

Crater Lake

Campeche, MX

Admiring the electric in Campeche, MX

Howard climbs to the top of the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itsa

I however, did not make it to the top.  Too steep and scary!

Sunset cruise at Acapulco, MX

Rafting the Salmon River in Idaho with Bill and Carol

At Glacier National Park

Tunnels at Custer State Park, in South Dakota

Mount Rushmore

Hot springs by the Rio Grande, Big Bend NP

Hiking at Big Bend

The marina in Victoria,  British Columbia

Native dances in downtown Vancouver, BC

Liard River Hot Springs BC, on the road to Alaska

The London Bridge at Lake Havasu, Arizona

This is enough for now!  I will continue to work toward the present in future issues.  Many thanks to daughter, Terri, who spent a lot of time going through boxes of old photos and scanning them.

Our current location is the Elks Lodge in Port Townsend, very nice for $20 per night. We will be allowed to leave the motorhome here when we go on our cruise to Alaska on July 23rd.