Look Mom..new glasses

Day 16, Sunday January 24
6 weeks after cataract surgery on both eyes, I finally received my new glasses in the mail at my brother-in-law's house.  I had my final exam the day we left home, so had them send my new glasses to me in California.  Today we went to an optical store to have them fitted.  What an improvement!!  Even though the replacement lenses in my eyes made quite a bit of correction, I still needed glasses and I can now see distances to drive and reading is much clearer (getting old is the pits).  Ran some other errands like Camping World and Walmart and stopped at Arrowood Golf Course for some time on the driving range.  Got back in time to watch the Arizona/Carolina game.  Leaving Monday, so started tidying up.


Day 17, Monday January 25
Left Guajome about 9:30.  For the most part, it was a relatively easy drive east on I-8 until we headed over a couple 4,000+ft mountain passes.  We hit really gusty winds (est. a good 30+mph) at our left front for miles.  The winds continued all the way down the east side of the mountains into the Sonoran Desert...thus the wind turbines.

A long stretch of I-8 hugs the Mexico border, so we saw lots and lots of border patrol and we followed the border fences for quite a few miles.  We passed through one border checkpoint where all cars must stop, but they just flagged us through.  Guess we didn't fit the profile :~).

Just before stopping for the night, we went through Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area.  The Imperial San Dunes are the largest sand dunes open to off-highway vehicle use in the United States.  The Algodones Sand Dune system covers 1,000 square miles, making it one of the largest dune complexes in North America.  The dunes begin 10 miles southeast of the southern edge of the Salton Sea and stretch all the way into Mexico, over 40 miles away. Quite a few movies have been filmed here, including Star Wars, The Return of the Jedi.



We knew we were probably going to give dry camping (without hookups) a try in Yuma and we had scouted out a couple casinos that allow RV parking for free.  We saw lots of RVs parked in the desert and briefly considered parking on BLM land, but thought better of it with the sand blowing so hard.  Figured we'd be sandblasted by morning.  Decided to stop at the first casino to check it out because it had easy on/off access from the freeway.  The place was packed at 3:00 in the afternoon!!  Guess lots of seniors spend their days in the casinos.  Some of these folks looked like they were there to stay for a while.  The wind was howling, so we parked with the wind to our backside and decided to spend the night (along with 100 of our closest friends...and we were parked close together).  Quechan Casino is on the California/Arizona border in Winterhaven.  It's a nice new casino and though they have no smoking ban and no non-smoking section, it was surprisingly clean air.  We each spent $5.00 and played for quite a while and quit when we were $2.16 ahead.  We're such gamblers!  Back at camp, we visited with some of our neighbors.  We'd followed another Phaeton into the parking lot and come to find out, they too were from Redmond (Ames Lake).  They dry camp quite often, so gave us some pointers.  It was an early evening.

Day 18, Tuesday January 26
Got up early and headed to the casino for our $4.99 ham and egg breakfast.  That's one thing about a casino you can't beat...their food prices.  Left Quechan at 9:30.  Another windy day of driving across southern Arizona.  Lots of cactus and miles of solar panels on this drive.  The solar panels belong to the Solana Generating Station, a solar power plant near Gila Bend.  When it was commissioned in 2013, it was the largest parabolic trough plant in the world and the first US solar plant with molten salt thermal energy storage.

http://www.powermag.com/solana-generating-station-maricopa-county-arizona/



We stopped for a quick lunch break at the Sonoran Desert National Monument and then on into Casa Grande when we picked up I-10 south to Tucson.  We arrived at our RV Resort (yeah, an RV Resort), Rincon West at about 2:30.  It's a large 55+ park with about 1100 sites being a mix of RV and park models (mostly park models).  Like most RV Resorts, it has all kinds of amenities like exercise facilities, pool, court games, propane delivery, gift shop and beauty salon.  Much like Trilogy, there are a gazillion different clubs and organized activities to participate in (or not).  We're in a section with primarily RVs.  It's hard these days to find an RV Resort/Park that is strictly RVs and no park models.  There is a bike/hiking trail right behind the park, so we hope to get out the dirty old bikes one day.  The first thing we did after getting hooked up, was get the car to a car wash.  What a deal!!! $4.00 for a drive through (and then we saw one for $3.00).  Guess everyone's car gets dirty here in the desert.

Just look at that blue sky!!!  Not warm (mid 60s), but lots of sun:

Before the car wash

Day 19, Wednesday January 27

After a lazy morning, it was errands and shopping.  Chores done, we came home, got cleaned up and went north to Saddlebrook to meet Jim and Kathy Parks and John and Jamie Calhoun for drinks and dinner.  The Parks and Calhouns used to live at Trilogy, just down the street from us, so we were anxious to see their new homes and get caught up.  Jim and Kathy live in a beautiful home that has a gorgeous patio that faces the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains (dang..got so busy visiting I forgot to take a picture).  The 6 of us went to dinner at Saddlebrook's Clubhouse and had a wonderful dinner and more catching up.  It was a really fun evening and great company.  Miss these folks.  Planning to go to John and Jamie's house on Saturday.  (Oh yah...meant to take a picture of the 6 of us, but forgot to do that too....geez, I must be getting old).

Crystal Cove State Park to Oceanside

Day 12, Wednesday January 20
Dave biked down to the historic district on the beach in the morning.  The Crystal Cove Historic District is part of Crystal Cove State Park and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  It occupies 12.3 acres right on the beach. The reason for being listed on the National Register is not only because of its significance but also because the 46 cottages located there were built in the 1920s and 1930s.  The cottages are examples of Southern California coastal development in the early 20th century and were preserved by the Crystal Cove Alliance.  Since the restoration, the cottages have been open to the public for overnight stays.  This area has been a popular location by the film industry.  On this site is a very small, quaint beachy restaurant called the Beachcomber.  We met Dave's 2 brothers there for lunch.  The sun was out and we sat on the covered outdoor patio.  Pretty darned nice!

Beachcomber Cafe

Day 13, Thursday January 21
Today was a sightseeing day.  We drove up to Manhattan Beach for lunch, then worked our way back south through the major beach towns:  Hermosa, Redondo, Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Long Beach, Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and home.  Met Dave's brothers and their wives at Wind & Sea restaurant at Dana Point for Happy Hour(s).  Fun evening and beautiful sunset.

Day 14, Friday January 22
Moving day.  Left Crystal Cove State Park and drove south about an hour to Guajome (pron: Gwayhomee) County Park in Oceanside.  Its's a small park with about 33 sites surrounded by hiking trails and small lakes.  The only thing we don't like about the park is that it allows wood fires, so we are noticing some smoke.  Closing all the windows and doors.  Today is also laundry day (uck).

Day 15, Saturday January 23
Spent part of the day visiting Dave's mom in Lake Elsinor.  We're closer now, so it didn't take as long to drive there.  Came back to Oceanside early enough to meet with Dave's brothers and their wives for a late lunch at a fun waterfront Mex restaurant called Rockin' Baja.  Ate way too much so came back to camp and went for a long nature walk to settle our stomachs.  So full, don't think we'll eat again until breakfast :~)

Buellon to Cristal Cove State Park (Newport Beach)

Day 10, Monday 1/18
Wow!  The awful drive thru LA was well worth the final destination at Crystal Cove State Park (between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach).  We were thankful that Monday was a holiday (not to say that there wasn't plenty of traffic).  It didn't take us as long to get here as we'd thought, so we had time to kill before our 3:00 checkin.  We got off the freeway at Seal Beach and drove down PCH (Pacific Coast Hwy) to Huntington Beach.  We found a huge parkinglot south of town and thought we'd stop for an hour or two and walk along the beach to kill time.  Turned out to be a little more complicated than we thought.  Because we didn't want to stay for the full day, the only way we could pay for our parking was to set up an online account and pay our hourly parking by credit card.  Then, we needed multiple parking spaces to accommodate our RV and tow car (which was a no/no but we did it anyway because the parkinglot was near empty and no one was checking).  We went for a walk along the bike/jogging trail for about an hour and then continued south to the state park.  We got there a little after 2:00 and they told us we couldn't have our site until 3:00 (even though there wasn't anyone in it and it was ready)  We were asked to disconnect the car and go back outside the entrance until 3:00 (silly government rules???).  We took our time disconnecting and before we moved anywhere, they told us to wait another 15 minutes and then we could go to our site.  We're sitting on a bluff above Hwy 1 with unobstructed views of the ocean.  We'll be be here til Thursday.  The weather is supposed to be in the mid to upper 60s, but could see some rain Tuesday (boo).  Wednesday on should be better, with Thursday getting close to 70 (yeah).  We're not going very far on Friday...Oceanside.

Day 11, Tuesday January 19
Tuesday was a visiting with family day.  We went to Lake Elsinor to visit Dave's mother.  His brother and sister-in-law came out too, so we got a good visit with some of the family.  We drove over a road they call the Ortega Highway.  It connects San Juan Capistrano and Lake Elsinor.  It's a narrow, switchback, 2-lane road that the locals drive very fast and pass where there is no passing permitted!!  It's the major route for commuters who live on the east side of the mountain and work on the west.  It's never our favorite route, but the quickest way to get to Lake Elsinor from where we are.  We made it over and back in one piece (hurray).

Day 7 in Buellton was spent doing a few chores like laundry and organizing.  In the afternoon, Dave went golfing at the River Course at Alisal in Solvang.  I spent the afternoon relaxing, reading, and enjoying the sun.  Thursday evening we had dinner at Firestone Walker Brewing Company in Buellton.  Pretty darn good beer!

Day 8 was spent visiting with my sister Carol and her partner Steve.  We drove through Solvang on the way to Los Olivos.  Los Olivos is a cute little town where some of the movie "Sideways" was filmed.  It's streets of old houses and storefronts are filled with wine tasting shops, galleries, restaurants and gift shops.  We had lunch on the patio at the Los Olivos Grocery where they were BBQing Tri-Tip.  We had Tri-Tip sandwiches that were so large, we could easily have split one and still had plenty.  After lunch we dashed across the street to Saarloos & Sons Wine Tasting Room where they pair their wines with miniature cupcakes that come in a flight of 6 or 12 housed in egg cartons (pretty darned cute).  The flight of mini cupcakes is specifically paired to go with the wine tastings for each day.  It's quite a novel concept and a fun experience.  We wandered some shops and then stopped at Zinke Winery.  They had an outdoor patio with live music, a few yard games like Bocce Ball and also a patio room with a large screen TV with football....now how can you go wrong with a place like that?  On our way home, we stopped at one of the many missions in California:  Old Mission Santa Ines in Solvang.  Santa Ines Mission is the 19th of 21 California missions established by the Franciscan Fathers.  These missions were established to teach the native population the Spanish Culture, Christianity and a trade.  After visiting the mission, we walked into town and tried our first Solvang famous Danish Aebleskivers.  These are a cross between a pancake and a doughnut covered in raspberry sauce and powdered sugar.  That was dinner!!!

Day 9, we headed to Lompoc, near Vandenberg AFB to see the SpaceX launch a rocket out over the Pacific (us and thousands of our closest friends).  SpaceX's launch was an attempt to carry a satellite into low orbit and then land a rocket upright on a platform in the Pacific Ocean (we since learned the satellite was successfully deployed, but the rocket exploded after toppling over upon landing).  Unfortunately for us, it was too foggy to see the liftoff, but we certainly heard it and felt it.
http://www.spacex.com/webcast/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAqirNbwEc0/

Did a little sightseeing and then to Carol and Steve's for football and BBQ.  Fun day. 

Leaving tomorrow for Newport Beach area.

Pleasanton to Buellton

Day 6 began with quite a jolt.  We woke up at 1:30 to unexpected heavy winds and rain.  It was blowing so hard it was rocking the coach.  Dave thought it was an earthquake (after all, we are in California).  When we got up in the morning, everything was flooded and muddy.  The rain squalls continued throughout the morning, but we found a hole in the clouds and walked over to the fairgrounds to wander the RV Show.  Not planning on purchasing anything, but it's always fun to go drool.  Came back in the rain, dried out and headed into downtown Pleasanton.  Walked from one end to the other on Main Street.  Not as many cute shops as we imagined, but Main Street certainly has lots of banks, classic old buildings and many very nice, expensive restaurants.  We bypassed the expensive restaurants and went to Main Street Brewery.  Dave tried their War Pig Amber Rye and I had the Train Wreck IPA....good beer, food and a very friendly bartender.  Home to watch Caddyshack...again (do you know howww mannny times we've watched Caddyshack?).

 

Day 7 was a travel day.  We left Pleasanton at 9:00.  Traffic was relatively light even though it was still rush hour.  Except for a few stretches of rough highway, it was a pretty uneventful drive to Buellton.  We'd originally planned to stop in Pismo Beach, but the RV parks we wanted were all full (so much for spontaneity).  Dave didn't think we needed reservations during off season, but it turns out it's peak season in California.  We got to Flying Flags RV park in Buellton at 2:30.  We're in the new section, so the trees aren't as mature as the original part of the park, but still very nice.  Planning to visit Buellton, Los Olivos and Solvang.  There are lots of wineries in this area, so will definitely do some of that too.

Corning, CA to Pleasanton, CA

Day 4 was a mostly beautiful sunny drive through agricultural country..lots of vineyards, rice paddies, orchards and nature preserves.  Passed many areas of rice paddies that were completely covered in snow geese.  Quite an awesome site.  Once in Vacaville on I-80, we were immediately back in civilization...heavy traffic, shopping malls, and industrial parks.  Turned south on Hwy 680 and followed a wildlife preserve for a few miles before running into major heavy industrial..I mean like refineries.  It reminded us of something you'd see in Pennsylvania or New Jersey.  We weren't expecting anything quite this gross looking, as we were crossing a huge canal that connects two large bays and then becomes a large estuary and wildlife preserve.  The heavy industry was pretty centralized in Benicia and Martinez and once we got further down Hwy 680, the sights became more light commercial and residential.  The worst of the trip was the road condition down Hwy 680.  The concrete highway was so rough, we thought for sure we'd dislodged every cabinet, nut and bolt in the whole coach.  Our GPS routed us to the Alameda County Fairgrounds RV Park via downtown Pleasanton (not the most direct route, we discovered later), but we did get a chance to see downtown Pleasanton.  It's really a cute, old, quaint downtown that looks like it has lots of good pubs, restaurants and shops.  We might have missed this without the indirect routing.  We're planning to go back downtown and spend some time.  The Alameda County Fairgrounds RV Park is not very fancy, small, and quite crowded.  The attraction here is location, location, location.  We're just a few blocks from the Bart Station if we decide to go to San Francisco.  There are also lots of wineries and sightseeing in this area.  After we got the car washed, we went out to Wente Vineyards and The Course at Wente Vineyards Golf Course.  Wente has an amphitheater that hosts great concerts like those at Ste. Michelle (only a smaller venue of 1500 people).  We had dinner at the golf course and talked about coming back sometime to play golf (need more practice before we do that).  Drove back to our RV site through more vineyards.  Cassey was waiting for us on the dash (think she missed us).

Day 5 was golf.  Played Callippe Preserve Golf Course in Pleasanton.  The sun was out when we teed off, but the clouds and wind moved in as the afternoon progressed:  low 50s.  It's a very challenging course with Happy Valley Creek meandering throughout the fairways.  Most of the course is in a valley and is surrounded by huge oak trees.  It was our first major round of the season, so we were both rusty and exhausted by the end.  Wish we had a hot tub in our RV!  Came home to Cassey sitting in the front window waiting for us.  She's adjusting well to "glamping".  She just doesn't like the driving part yet.

 

Well, we've survived days 1 & 2 & 3
Day 1 began with us departing home at 1pm for Woodland, OR.  We needed to stop at Dave & LJ's for a part for our captain's chair, so decided we'd spend the night at Columbia River RV Park in Woodland.  Our cat, Cassey is not a car rider, much less an RV rider, so she didn't take well to the first couple hours of the trip.  There was lots of hyperventilating and howling going on, even though she wasn't confined to her carrier.  She settled down some when she decided she'd sit on Dave's lap or on the front dash.  A lot of her discomfort was that she was cold.  The more sunshine or direct heat vent she got, the better.  Once we parked for the night and turned on the house furnace, she settled right down.  Columbia RV Park is very nice, right on the Columbia River.  We got a pull-through site that faced the river, so spent our dinner hour in the front seats watching the river (though most of it was in the dark).  It rained on and off throughout the night, the train came by frequently (a couple miles away, but still noticeably noisy), and Cassey was restless, so not much sleep for either of us.

Day 2 started with some rain, but by the time we left, it was just cloudy.  Headed south on I-5 toward Seven Feathers RV Park in Canyonville, OR.  Cassey finally agreed that riding in her carrier with all the doors open, between the front seats was not such a bad idea.  Not much noise or activity from her today.  Hopefully each day gets better for her.  It was nice easy driving on a Saturday.  Not much traffic, spots of sunshine and only about a 5 hour journey.  The hillsides are all nice a green for this time of year with pockets of low fog in the valleys.  Checked into the campsite a little after 2pm.  Quite a nice spot.  We were escorted to our site that is a paved pull-through with lots of grass and trees (for those not RVers, concrete pads, grass and trees are a big deal!).  When we stopped at the entrance to register, Dave and I both got out of the RV.  When we pulled into our site, we couldn't locate Cassey anywhere.  We called, looked in every nook and crawl space we could see in and no calling made her announce her wereabouts.  Though she isn't particularly interested in the front door, we got worried that somehow when we got out she escaped unnoticed.  Dave started back to the registration desk while I continued with the flashlight to see if I could find her.  I was down on my hands and knees with the flashlight under the bed, when I heard some noise up front.  Somehow, she'd gotten behind and under our one sofa.  It sits pretty close to the wall, so when she finally decided to exit, she didn't have enough room to get a jump up back to the top of the sofa.  I pulled her out and immediately (in tears by then) called Dave to tell him she'd finally surfaced.  Now we know her hiding place and have put something behind the sofa that she can jump on to get herself out.  Geez..some people's kids!!  Dave and I went over to the casino for a short time.  Gambled some and broke even, so went in and had dinner before more damage was done.  The pass looks like it will be clear enough for us to continue down I-5 tomorrow.  Hope there's no surprises.


 my new best friend...the portable heater..heaven!!!

Day 3 was our most eventful so far.  We talked to a lot of folks in the campground and they all said wait til after 9:30 to leave for the pass.  The road report says clear and dry....and we were off at about 9:30.  Now that Cassey has found the carpeted spot under the sofa, she's perfectly happy to ride there (at least we know where she hides now).  The skies were clear and bright blue today with patches of fog and an occasional cloud cover.  The drive over the pass was pretty uneventful and a relief for Dave as he's been anguishing over this part of the drive for months.  Roads were clear and dry, heavy truck traffic, but we just went slow anyway so it didn't matter.  Oh yah..forgot to tell you our toilet flush valve broke this morning.  We stopped at more rest areas than usual today and wondering how we're going to fix it.  Dave took part of the toilet apart to see if he could determine what we might need to fix it.  Of course, it's not that easy.  Decided to stop at Camping World in Redding and see if we could find help to fix it or get it fixed.  The service department was closed on Sunday, but the store manager helped us.  The repair kits were special order and would take 1-2 weeks.  Guess what?  We are the proud owners of a brand new toilet!!!  We did save $80 by installing it ourselves and outside of the tight quarters it wasn't too hard to do (Dave refused to put out the slides so we were maneuvering 2 toilets down this tiny narrow hall, trying to avoid hitting woodwork or counter tops).  Needless to say, there were a few words exchanged while attempting this project, but we survived it.  We pulled into Rolling Hills RV park at about 5pm.  All pull-through sites and only $28.  Celebrating a stressful day with wine!!!