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

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.

Pismo Beach getaway...

We spent two glorious weeks at the North Beach campground of Pismo Beach State Park.  What did we do?  Absolutely nothing but stroll the beach, walk into town, visit with our local friend, Edna. Read, shop, nap, and eat....some serious down time, and it felt wonderful!

We stopped in Half Moon Bay on our way back to Petaluma and spent two wonderful days with our family and youngest grands, Liliana and Damien.  Terri fixed her excellent prime rib roast and baked a lemon cake using the delicious Meyer lemons from the tree in their backyard.  Again, eating was high on the list.

A special visitor...Liliana

We have a cruise to Alaska planned for July (23-30) and we both really need to drop several pounds before we go since we know we'll be eating non-stop for 7 days aboard ship, Norwegian Cruise Lines. This will be our first "proper" cruise.  Our only other experience was aboard a tall sailing ship (2011) where we departed from Barbados, transited the Panama Canal, and disembarked in Costa Rica. Three weeks of wonderful food, drink, and shore tours. But first, we need to do some major shopping for appropriate cruise wear (whatever that is!).

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.

Happy New Year 2015

This seems like an appropriate time to reflect on another great year of travel.  7,087 miles to be exact. And once again it begins in the same exact location as last year, our happy place here in the Anza Borrego Desert.  This coming year marks the beginning of 20 years of full-time RVing.  What lies ahead, where will we go, how much longer can we do this??? So much to ponder!

Each link represents a month.  It was hard to pick just one photo out of so many beautiful places, so you'll have to click to see more!

January 2014: Anza Borrego Desert

Sunset at Fonts Point

February 2014: Anza Borrego, Lake Cahuilla, Kofa NWR, & Ajo

Kofa NWR, a new favorite boondocking site

March 2014: Tucson, Yuma, & Algodones

We love our hikes at Tucson Mt. Park

April 2014: Pismo Beach to Petaluma

Beach combing in Pismo

May 2014: Brannon Island, Bodega Bay, Petaluma

We have a nice site at Doran Beach in Bodega Bay

June 2014: Calistoga, Sacramento, San Francisco, Petaluma

Calistoga, CA for our 20th anniversary

July 2014: Half Moon Bay, Loomis, Petaluma, Humboldt County, Oregon Coast

Cape Blanco, OR

August 2014: Port Townsend, Vancouver, Anacortes

Taking the Sea Bus to Vancouver

September 2014: North Cascades, Charbonneau COE, Joseph, OR., Painted Hills

Our site at Charbonneau COE Park on the Snake River

 October 2014: Granada, Nicaragua

View of the old colonial city of Granada from the bell tower of Iglesia de la Merced

November 2014: Petaluma, Family time, Farmers markets

Our family at Thanksgiving

December 2014: Half Moon Bay to Anza Borrego

Half Moon Bay State Beach