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………