Thursday – Gilroy/San Jose area…. and Friday/Saturday – Solvang area

 

Thursday morning we got an early start and headed first to Gilroy and found the Black Bear Diner for breakfast and then drove north to San Jose.  We were headed to Winchester House.  We had been there before but wanted to go again with Rick and Janie.  It is one of the most unusual houses I have ever seen. Sarah Winchester was the widow of William Wirth Winchester, second President of Winchester Repeating Arms, maker of “The Gun That Won the West”.  After losing her only child to a rare disease only a month after birth, and also after losing her husband at an early age to tuberculosis, she was told by a Boston medium that she must move west where she must continuously build a home for herself and the spirits of people who had fallen victim to Winchester rifles.  It is thought she needed to continuously build to appease these spirits.  We took the Mansion Tour and Garden Tour, both of which were interesting. The tour is pricey ($30.00 per senior ticket) but worth it.  Next time we will take the Behind the Scenes Tour to see the basement, stables and other things not seen on the mansion tour. 

Next stop was Stanford University in Palo Alto.  It had been many years since we had been on this campus and I remember it being a grand place.  Although the grounds were dried up a bit, it was still worth the drive.  We headed back home to walk the dogs and then decided to head to Solis Winery to stock up.  We like their Vino Roseo di Sangiovese and bought Ed a bottle as well. We also got a Cabernet for our neighbor. On the way there, Janie decided to buy a new phone so we drove to Monterrey, where her niece works.  After that we found a small Mexican Restaurant, Papa Chano’s, which turned out just ok.  We drove back home and took the dogs for another long walk.  Poor babies…. 

 

Friday morning we left about 8:30am for the 210 mile drive to Solvang.  We are at the Flying Flags RV Resort in Buellton.  This is the most expensive park on our route ($70. per night) and we are here for two nights.  But this is also one of the nicer parks in all of our travels.  They have tons of activities and the place is practically full for the summer season.   We are in a nice 70’ pull next to the grassy tent area and the weather is perfect.  After walking the dogs and meeting some neighbors, we left for dinner.  We always have enjoyed A J Spurs, a local steakhouse.  We had the second best meal (next to Scoma’s) of ribeye which we split. We did another round of puppy walking and then went in for the night

 

Saturday morning we walked down the street to Ellen’s Pancake House.  They are somewhat famous for their Belgian pancakes, which are similar to German pancakes but none of us tried themL. Everything else was good though.  (note for next time – good gravy!).  We walked back and got the dogs out and hung around the park for a while.  Then we took off for Solvang.  We parked and walked the streets (!). I had to have my fix of Ebelskivers! 

These are Danish usually round type pancakes.  I like mine topped with raspberry jelly and powdered sugar.  I bought some and shared them and everyone liked them.  We bought some souvenirs and then headed up to the local market to pick up some things for dinner.  We got back to the park and rested a while then broke out the cheese and crackers and wine and had a light lunch.  Dinner later would be a chicken, cheese and pasta casserole from Lydia’s kitchen.  It was perfect for the last night of our trip.  We took the dogs out for another walk and then went in to relax and watch tv.

 

Sunday morning we were up early but didn’t have a specific time to leave.  So we completed our chores and I took Bailey out for one last walk and then we watched a bit of tv before unhooking and getting on the road.  The trip was uneventful and we got home about 1:30.  It took some time to unload the rig and go through the mail.  Yuck!... Didn’t miss that!  

 

Totals for the trip  >>>>>    26 days…1,168 miles…6 campgrounds ($794.00)…. Other than leaving the parking brake on in the car - no issues…… No issues with the campgrounds either. We didn’t know that the Vallejo area was pretty much crime ridden with gang ties, but we really didn’t have any issues nor did we ever feel uncomfortable while there.  I fueled up the rv at home and only once more at Sparks, NV (@$3.85 gal.) so fuel and fuel prices were not a problem.           We enjoyed the group at Acton and at June Lake as well as traveling with our friends Rick & Janie on the rest of the trip.  We saw and did many things – some we had enjoyed before – others we did for the first time.  Highlights for me were: fishing the Sierras (of course!), taking Bailey swimming!,   

Devil’s Postpile, tour of Winchester Mystery House again, walking around the San Francisco wharf area, eating at Scoma’s, riding the cable cars, showing Bailey off wherever we went!, going out to eat at new places, and being with our friends. Lydia enjoyed the quilt stores, Schat’s Bakery, shopping in SF, Ghirardelli’s, Winchester House, and going to see ‘Jersey Boys’.

 

We will now get back to life as we know it – paying bills, cleaning house, and seeing the kids again.  Next year, who knows………   

Monday thru Wednesday – SF area and Gilroy area

 

Monday we decided to head back in to San Francisco.  We still wanted to ride the cable car, go to Chinatown, and eat at Scoma’s. Rick and Janie drove and this time they took their FastTrack so we sailed over the bridge and got into the city very easily – until we got downtown!  But we made our way to the Hyde St. Station (near Ghirardelli Sq.) and found a very convenient handicapped parking spot and paid ($15. per person) for a day pass which allowed us to get off and on whenever we wanted. We saw Lombardi St. and made our way to Chinatown, where we jumped off and, after asking several locals, headed for the Fortune Cookie Factory, where we watched them use these really old machines to make round shapes which then were handed loaded with the fortunes and formed into the cookie.  Of course we bought some as well as almond cookies before climbing back up the steep St. to re-board the cable car.  We rode it to Powell where we had to get off and get back in a (long) line to head back.  That done, we went over to Scoma’s for lunch.  This place is our favorite stop for a nice (but rather expensive) meal.  They didn’t disappoint!  All of us had the lunch special catch of the day which was scallops in a saffron sauce.  The BEST! Rick insisted on treating us as an anniversary gift.  Thank you Sir!  We bought some more sweatshirts and t-shirts on the way back to the car and headed home. The dogs were glad to see us (and get out to go pee!).  We skipped dinner and snacked and then watched some taped shows before going to bed. 

 

It’s Tuesday and our last day here…..  We are done with SF so we headed out to breakfast and then back to Sepay Groves, the Olive Oil store.  For breakfast, we chose Huckleberry’s in Fairfield.  This is a place similar to Orange County Mining Co. in appearance but less pricey.  The breakfast was really good and a place we will come back to again.  Then we drove over to have the girls get some more EVOO and asked more questions about the health benefits.  That done, we headed back home but on the way, since it was still early, we decided to pick up the dogs and head up to Sonoma to check out that area. The drive was easy enough and we had the air on but I guess that wasn’t enough to help Bailey.  She got carsick a few times.  But Sonoma has a town square with a park so we were able to get her out for a walk which helped on the way home.  Once we got back, Lydia and Janie went to the laundry to wash the unlucky jackets from the car, and then went off to the store to buy a few things they needed for our steak dinners tonight.  Tomorrow we have a short 102 mile trip down to San Juan Bautista (Gilroy area). 

 

Wednesday we slept in and then got the rig ready for travel.  We left about 10:00am and made the trip down to San Juan Bautista and the Betabel RV Park. We got stuck for about 20 minutes behind street sweepers on I-680 but otherwise had no issues.  We got set up in camp and rested for a bit.  Janie’s niece lives in Salinas and they came down to visit for a while.  We decided earlier that we wanted to go to the Giant Artichoke in Castroville for dinner.  We had been there before and remembered we liked it.  Jeremy and Stacy came with us.  The meal was ok.  The artichoke soup was terrific!  After the meal we drove back through McAlpine Lake RV Park on the way home.  We had stayed there before but Janie didn’t remember it. Once w e returned we settled in and watched TV before going to bed early.  Tomorrow we are going up to San Jose to tour the city and go to the Winchester Mystery House.

Thursday thru Sunday – Vallejo/San Francisco area

 

Thursday morning we ate breakfast in and then headed east and visited Jelly Belly.  We all took the factory tour which turned out a little disappointing as most of the line was closed down (we think for maintenance).  But what we saw was cool.  After that, we decided to visit the Olive Oil Tasting room just around the block.  We tried several kinds and bought two bottles each.  This is for daily use as we plan to take tablespoons to help control cholesterol and triglycerides.  After a quick meal, we then went over to Budweiser and took that tour.  All three of these places are within a ½ mile radius. Once we got back to camp we walked the dogs and then rested a bit.  Lydia was in charge of dinner tonight and fixed a casserole. Yummy!  Tomorrow we go in to SF

 

Friday morning we left about 8:45am.  We are 25 miles from downtown SF.  We figured we would hit traffic pretty much any time we left but wow, was it tough getting to the wharf!  Once parked, we walked the shops along the wharf and bought some souvenirs.  We stopped at Fisherman’s Grotto and had the upstairs dining room all to ourselves. 

 

 

Once we were finished the place had a lot more folks.  Note – if you park at the lot with the big famous Fisherman’s Wharf sign,  

you can have your ticket validated by many of the local shops close by, saving a ton on the fee (it only cost us ($3.00). Last stop while we were here was Boudin’s for sourdough bread. Janie was given a sample of 4 small bread shaped turtles to share later.

We then went down the road to Ghirardelli’s to get some chocolates.  Lydia also wanted to visit Loved to Death, which is featured on Oddities SF on TV.  The shop was a lot different than she thought it would be. We then headed home (took about 55 minutes). We rested for a while and then Lydia and Janie went to pick up tortillas for steak burritos. I got a call that my car was done so Rick took me to pick it up.  At dinner we planned our day tomorrow.  We are heading out early for Napa Valley. We are taking the dogs with us as we can take turns going in to the tasting rooms.  We found out that V Sattui Winery allows dogs both in the winery and in their lawn garden.  After dinner we found where Jersey Boys was playing and went to the show.  I had seen that the ratings weren’t all that high but we all enjoyed it very much.

 

 

Saturday morning we left early and headed out to a local diner in old town Vallejo called the Good Day Café. It turned out it was on a downtown street that happened to be shut down for a farmer’s market.  No problem! We found a close by parking space and walked to it. The food was very good.  After a walk through the market, we headed back home to pick up the dogs for our day trip.  We headed up to Napa, Yountville, Oakdale, St Helena and on up to Calistoga.  On the way up, we decided to stop at V Sattui, which happens to be our favorite winery, and walked the dogs, then found a table in the shady lawn area, and had wine, cheese, crackers and grapes for lunch. After making our way up and down the valley, we headed home and rested for a while.  None of us had decided on dinner so we came up with Chinese.  Via the web, I found a local place, back in old Vallejo, called the China Wok.  They had a 5 out of 5 rating. Boy, was that a good meal and a good choice.  Then we headed back to the rig and planned our day for tomorrow.

 

Sunday morning….. Happy anniversary to us!  (46 years!).  We thought we’d head back to the city for the day.  But being Sunday, we knew the tourists would be out in force.  So we slept late, did some chores around the rig, watched a couple of movies, and then headed west on I-80 just for a ride.  I stopped just short of the bridge and headed toward Berkeley and then to Oakland.  We just drove around a bit and then started back toward home.  On the way we found a residential road that wound it’s way up into the hills behind UC Berkeley.  Very steep and windy roads!  But we made it ok and got a great view of the Bay and then worked our way back toward home.  We stopped and bought stuff for spaghetti which Lydia made and was tasty!  Tomorrow we will head back to the city for SF2.    

Monday thru Wednesday – Reno/Sparks

Monday morning Lydia and Janie went back to Walmart to get mani/pedis.   Afterward we took off to tour Truckee CA.  The drive was nice although we got stuck at the agricultural check going back in to California.  They wanted to look at a guy’s U-Haul trailer and couldn't get it latched again.  Took several minutes and a lot of frustration.  Come on guys, we’re touring here!  We made it to Truckee and drove around a bit and finally went to their local hardware store.  It was a store that has everything!  I bought an inspection mirror to use when I check water in my batteries.  Then we stopped at Cabela’s (Bass Pro Shops rival chain store) on the way back.  That took some time as this was a big store.  We found the fudge section and sampled and brought some home. Rick is hooked on fishing and bought a new reel.  On the way back we found Windy Moon Quilts in Reno.  Lydia was happy when she found some material she was looking for for her newest project.  Once we returned, I took Bailey back to the river for a walk and turns out, a swim.  Janie fixed dinner for us tonight and we settled in to rest and watch tv and catch up on mail and this blog.

Tuesday morning saw us take off early to follow Rick to drop off his coach for an inverter install.  More on that later.  We went to breakfast and headed off to Carson City to explore that area.  We really didn't do too much except cruise by the capitol bldg. and historic downtown.  We did find a Beall’s next door to Sportsman’s Warehouse. Perfect for all of us! On the way back to Sparks Rick called and his rig was ready.  Turns out his inverter WAS covered by his extended warranty so he only needed to pay $200. instead of $2200!  We have that same company so we are happy it went so well! We also stopped at Summit Racing so Rick could get an extension for his tailpipe (which he lost on the way up to June Lake).  We came back to camp so we could walk the dog and spend some time with her.   Then we headed out to Treasures, Trinkets and Trash, just down from our park.  This place was interesting.  Something for everyone.  We only bought a few items and headed to another Windy Moon Quilts and then made a quick stop at the store for bread before heading back home.  We added the tailpipe extension while the girls fixed dinner. I prepped the rig for our departure tomorrow.  We are headed 192 miles to Vallejo. 

Wednesday - The trip to Tradewinds RV Park was fun!  I started out going to fuel up at a local Valero station (I have a Valero card).  I squeezed in and had to go up on a slight curb to fit in the tight space.  I was only able to fill about 7/8’s but that was ok.  Rick got in to one of the larger islands and had no problems.  We headed west on highway 80 and climbed up to Donner Lake and then on to Donner Pass.  Then it was downhill almost all the way to Auburn (over 40 miles!).  We got into the park in Vallejo about 12:30 and when I went to unhook the car I found I forgot to release the emergency brake!  I still had brakes so everything was fine except that the emergency brake didn't feel right.  I did take it to a local Honda dealer.  They said that the emergency brake is a separate unit from the rear disc brakes and they phoned later to say that they found normal wear on the rear brakes but they recommended replacement at this time. The emergency brake system still needed to be looked at and they would do that tomorrow.  Once back in camp, Rick drove us to Napoli Pizzeria in Vallejo, just across from Mare Island.  We split a giant pizza and waddled out of there stuffed. Tomorrow we head east to Jelly Belly, Budweiser, and Olive Oil Tasting. 

Thursday thru Sunday………

 

Thursday we rented a pontoon boat and fished June Lake.  The winds always seem to pick up as soon as we hit the lake and today was no exception.  We hit the east end beach and got a couple of fish in the boat.  It was hard to keep the anchors in place so we moved to the west end reed area.  There we all started hooking up and got 15 fish between us.  I guess I was distracted by a hit on my line when I was tying my stringer to the rail and only put one slip knot in.  Later I heard a metal noise and then saw my stringer swimming away with four fish! Oh well, the stringer was only $5.00 and I caught back up quickly.  Thursday meal was another meal from the other team - this one was sloppy joes, baked beans, cole slaw, and banana pudding, all of which were really good.  Later, Paul decided to take a flyer off a ladder while working on his awning.  Paramedics were called and he was transported to the ER in Mammoth as a precaution from the fall and for stitches in his hand and super glue for a cut above his eye. Scary but everything was ok. 

 

Friday Ed had planned on going out in his boat on Gull Lake while Terry and Rick took off to Lundy.  Turns out Ed decided to go with us but we had left before he got out to the car!  So he went to the Gull Lake launch dock on the other side of the lake and quickly got a limit.  Meanwhile, Terry and Rick were getting fish but the wind was almost unbearable.  But we braved the conditions and I got a limit and we were out of there by 9:30.  Friday night was the fish fry.  I had recently bought a fish cooker from Bass Pro Shops just for this trip. Everyone brought a dish to share plus each brought fish for me to cook and we had WAY too many!  It took some time to get them all done (they were all defrosted so we had to cook them) so the cooks ate later.  But everything was great.  Bunch of good cooks in this group!

 

On Saturday we didn’t do too much.  Paul and Pauline went back to Mammoth to have his bandage checked and changed. Ed and Mark went out in the boat and I took Bailey down to the lake to swim.  I had met a local girl who had a five year old golden who loves to retrieve balls and toys thrown in the water.  Bailey had been there before but would only go out to walking distance.  But Chase showed her it was cool to swim so she took off and did it too!  She is definitely a water dog! Lydia has pictures on her phone which we will download later.  Later, we got Ed’s boat back to the rig, Mark and Donna took off for home today.  Later Betty said she wasn’t feeling well, and had trouble breathing so Ed took her down to Mammoth ER to have her looked at.  She had a bit of fluid in her lungs so they kept her overnight.  The rest of us either ate in or went to the Sierra Inn for dinner.  Ed came back later and all of us finished cleaning up in preparation for leaving tomorrow.

 

Sunday morning Paul headed out first, headed for home. Rick and Janie and us left next, headed for Reno/Sparks.  Bill and Treasa took off later, headed north, then east. They’ll be out until October or so.  Ed called down to check and Betty would be released later in the day so he left to park there and wait.  They had to change their plans and get her out of the altitude so they headed home.  We made the drive with no problems and are now checked in to River’s Edge RV Park in Sparks, NV.  The park is right on the Truckee River and is nice.  The spaces are all on blacktop and we have to run the dogs outside the park to do their business but that’s not a problem.  We are here until Wednesday.  We took a drive to check out Safari RV place where Rick will take his rig in on Tuesday for work. That done, we headed to Walmart to stock up.  After getting things put away I found the Great Basin Brewing Company online so we headed there for dinner.  It was very good and a place we will go back to.  We returned to the rig and took the dogs out for a walk along the river.  We then returned to the rig and settled in for the night. 

Sunday thru Wednesday……

Sorry this is all in one big note but internet is really slow here…..

The week has been a lot of fun.  There are 6 rigs in camp here at June Lake RV Park.  Everyone arrived with no problems and got set up in their spaces.  The weather is great. We are supposed to get some changes in the next few days but right now it’s perfect!  Lydia and I along with Ed and Betty had planned to provide dinner for the rest of the rigs coming in on Sunday.  Lydia fixed jambalaya and it was tasty! Terry and Ed put Ed’s portaboat together and got it in the water at Gull Lake.  Later they would take it out and catch three fish.  We are planning a fish fry on Friday and these will go into the freezer for that. 

Monday found the guys heading off in different directions.  Most of us went to Lundy Lake while Ed and Mark hit Gull.  The day turned out productive as Lundy produced 14 fish and Gull 10.  We chose Tiger Bar as the restaurant of choice and had a nice meal.  We went back to camp and made a fire and sat out for a while and made plans for tomorrow.

Tuesday the guys went to Grant Lake.  Now this was a real road trip!  Paul and Bill drove the off road trail to get us around to the back side of the lake.  Fishing was real slow with only Ed and Paul catching a couple. Tonight was a planned meal from one of the teams.  We had assigned 3 couples on a team to make one meal each on Tuesday and Thursday. Tonight we had tacos and all the fixins which were yummy!  One glitch today – Rick and Janie discovered that their refrigerator was giving a low dc warning so they called a mobile tech to check it out.  He set up a visit but wasn't able to get out today.

Wednesday was a day off for most of the fisherman.  We planned a trip to go to Mammoth Mountain and maybe up to Devil’s Postpile. We waited for Rick’s guy to show up and a call told us he wouldn't make it today either. So we were free and headed out to explore the area.  Bill and Treasa drove by themselves and we gave Rick and Janie the two dollar tour of Mammoth and the surrounding area.  Then we headed to Devil’s Postpile. We had never been here before as the roads were always closed.  We got in this time and drove to the trailhead.  Terry and Rick walked all the way in and Lydia and Janie waited on the trail. It was interesting to see the unusual rock formation. Afterward, we all got back in camp.  Ed had fished Gull and got a limit. 

The first leg of our trip is complete

The first leg of our trip was the club campout which we left this morning.  It was a fun outing but it started out on a wrong note.  First I found I left the charging cord for the laptop at home but asked one of our friends to go get it and bring it when they came up.  Problem solved.  Second problem was discovered the next morning when I found I had not packed any underwear. That problem got solved with a trip to Kohl's and a hundred dollars later I was set.   Ok, I think we were good.... no wait, when I left this morning I set down my coffee tumbler and found that it doesn't tumble very well.  Nice hot coffee went down the defroster vent.  We ran it on the way and it seems ok.  We are now at June Lake RV Resort for eight days.  Tonight we ate in (Lydia's choice even though it is her birthday).  Ed and Betty joined us and it was a nice evening.  Tomorrow the other four rigs will arrive.  Lydia and Betty will have jambalaya waiting for them for dinner....Ed and I will get his boat and motor together and put into Gull Lake. 

Our 2014 Trip Starts Tomorrow!

We leave tomorrow morning (6/4) for a month long trip in our motorhome.  Yaaaayyy!   First stop is Acton, where we will be with our Square Dance Club, the Camping Squares.  Then on Saturday morning (6/7) we head up to June Lake for 8 days of fishing and relaxing.  On Sunday (6/15) we leave for Reno/Sparks, traveling with our friends Rick and Janie. We will be there three nights and then head west to Vallejo, which will be our base for a week as we tour around SF, Napa, Jelly Belly, etc. We leave there on 6/25 to start heading home.  We have stops planned in San Juan Bautista/Gilroy and in Buelton/Solvang before getting home on 6/29.

So stay tuned for updates as this trip gets going......

Meet Bailey!

Well, it's been several months since we lost our beloved Chimay.  Although she is irreplacable, I felt it was time to fill that void that she left in our lives.  Sooooo, say hello to our new puppy, Bailey!

She was born on January 13th and is now 4 months old.  We've had her since 8 weeks and she has come a long way since.  She is already potty trained (ok, a few mishaps but mostly now knows to go outside) and has learned a few tricks.  Now that she has all of her puppy shots (and pretty much safe from Parvo), I'm now able to take her out to the park and similar places where other dogs are. She walks well on a leash already but I'm working with her to heel and not pull us around.  It will be a long two years before she gets out of the puppy-chews-everything-in-sight stage but she's worth it!  Watch for more pics as she grows.......