Maxie and Stretch

What do Alaska, snowbirding, women RVers,  mini-dachshunds, and mysteries have in common?  Answer:  Fiction books by Alaskan author, Sue Henry.  I just finished reading #4 in the Maxie McNabb Series of books about 60-something RVer Maxie and her faithful dog, Stretch. This book features Maxie at home in Homer, Alaska, forgoing her snowbird travels this year.  As always, the books are a quick, cozy read, with Maxie landing in the middle of a mystery to solve.  The first three books in the series are The Serpents Trail, The Tooth of Time, and The Refuge.  The books don't have to be read in order, but they are more enjoyable that way.

Sue Henry has also written 13 books in her Jessie Arnold series, featuring Alaskan woman dog-sledder, Jessie Arnold.  I enjoy reading that series, too, even though it doesn't contain anything about RVs.  In the books, Jessie lives near Wasilla, Alaska, the town now known to the whole world as being the hometown of Sarah Palin.

I had two options for reading this book.  A paperback version was waiting for me at my local library, and a library electronic version was loaded onto my Nook e-reader.  I started reading the paperback and soon switched to reading on the Nook because the print was bigger and I didn't have to try and hold the paperback book open.  Not all the books I want to read are available from the library, e-book collection, so unless I want to buy each book (I don't!), I will continue getting the physical books from our local library.

At home here in Vancouver, Washington, Dave and I woke up to almost three inches of snow this morning.  The low temperature the next two nights is predicted to get down to 18 degrees.  Dave shoveled our driveway and a path out back to our shop, and the snow is already starting to melt. 

Back yard

Front yard

We had to make a trip into Portland this afternoon to pick up our motorhome.  The refrigerator was being repaired, we thought, but evidently not, since the repair place couldn't get Norcold to agree to replace the expensive cooling unit without the motorhome being inside at 70 degrees for 24 hours.  Not going to happen in Portland in the winter.  Arggh! 

It's been snowing very heavily for the last two hours, and with the cold temperature predicted for tonight, it won't be pretty in the morning.  Well, it might be pretty, but it won't be good driving conditions.  I think we'll stay home!

New Followers

Welcome to the following new blog followers.  Thanks for tuning in!  Click on each name to read their blogs.

Kate and Terry--Travels in Cholula Red

Erik's RV Blog

Sprocket (couldn't find a blog)

BlessOurVoyage--Tales of the McMillans' Travels

Cruzin2some

Jeff and Sheryl Bright

99% of my blog readers are fellow RVers, many of whom live full-time in their RVs or are preparing to live full-time in their RVs.  A few are part-timers like we are.  We all seem to like to follow each others' travels, and from there we become friends, even though many of us have never met each other.  It's a treat when we get to meet fellow blog followers and we always seem to have much to talk about. 

For those of you who read my blog and are not an RVer, I thank you and appreciate you, too.  Keep on reading, please!

Dave and I arrived home about 12:30 this afternoon.  We had good weather the whole trip, other than a little bit of fog when we first started out.  After we unloaded the motorhome, Dave had to winterize it because it's supposed to be cold (mid-20s) here later this week.  We have an appointment to have the motorhome's Norcold refrigerator fixed, although it behaved itself on the way home after Dave unplugged the temperature sensor, so maybe that's the only thing wrong with it. 

I forgot to mention in my blog yesterday that while we were in Corning, CA, I visited the Olive Pit.  Dave doesn't like olives so he didn't go on this field trip with me.  I enjoyed their olive tasting bar, and bought a jar of almond-stuffed olives.  Those and the mushroom olives were my favorites.  I'm not a hot, spicy person, that is, my taste buds aren't, so the most daring olive I tried was the garlic olive.  Notice that I didn't buy that one.  It's a fun store with a small cafe.  There is plenty of RV parking in back of the store, so don't be shy about stopping there when you are traveling on I-5.

There was also an olive oil place near the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, CA, but we didn't stop there, so I can't tell you anything about it.    We saw the sign for it, though.  Does that count?  Also, one of the friendly Longaberger basket people recommended it, so it must be good!

Weekend Activities as We Travel Home

Tonight we are less than 200 miles from home, spending the night at Rice Hill RV Park in the bustling metropolis (not) of Oakland, Oregon.  This is a Camp Club USA park, Camping World's  1/2 price club, so we paid a whopping $16 for full hookups, satellite, and free wifi.  We thought that this close to home we for sure would pick up our local channels, but no such luck.  The park offers cable TV, though, so we didn't have to miss episode one of the new season of Amazing Race, Unfinished Business, featuring eleven teams who all raced before but didn't win.

Saturday night we stayed in Corning, CA at Rolling Hills Casino and met up with blogging friends, Russ and Donna K.  We enjoyed our visit with them very much and continued the visit during dinner at the casino buffet.  All too soon we had to say goodbye to our new friends and wish them well as they continue their travels to southern California to pick up their brand new Lazy Daze motorhome. 

Russ and Donna K

Around noon on Saturday, on our way to Corning, Dave and stopped by the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, California, located near I-80.  The factory offers free tours, but we were there to buy some "Belly Flops", candy that wasn't quite perfect enough to make it into the regular bags.  Nothing wrong with the taste, though!

The Jelly Belly factory tour is fascinating and well worth the time, and includes free samples.  We did the tour several years ago, so skipped it this time.  This weekend was "Longaberger Basket" weekend, and featured a special tent for the basket cases, I mean, people.  I'm not sure what the connection is between the beans and the baskets, but the basket people seemed very enthusiastic.

Our fun-filled weekend also included a visit to Monterey Friday night to see our 22-year-old niece, Laura, and her boyfriend, Will.  She cooked us a scrumptious dinner of lasagna, garlic bread, and homemade red velvet cake, awesomely decorated.  Thank you, Laura and Will!  We stayed overnight at the Monterey Fairgrounds, which was the cheapest place to stay in that area at $36 per night.  We had full hookups and wifi, but a very unlevel narrow site.

Laura's red velvet masterpiece

Mount Shasta from I-5 heading north

Monday we plan to arrive back at our home in Vancouver, WA, after being gone since January 10. 

Last day at Pismo Coast Village :(

As Dave mentioned in his blog, I did some last minute shopping this afternoon, stocking up for the trip home.  I also discovered the Pismo Beach Prime Outlets.  As usual with outlet stores, I didn't see too many bargains.  Unlike most outlet stores, these stores were not crowded and I could park right in front of the stores.  I didn't care about all the clothing stores, but I did have to explore Oshkosh B'Gosh and Gymboree.  I skipped Carter's, but I'll check that one out next time we're here.  What self-respecting grandma-to-be could resist those childrens' shops?  I found a few things on sale, too.  Our granddaughter is going to be well-dressed, at least for her first few months!

I discovered a new grocery store, Scolari's, located near the outlet mall along Highway 101.  It was a bit high-priced, but all the grocery stores seem to have higher prices than my favorite store at home, Winco.  No Super Walmarts are located on the California Central Coast, just regular Walmarts.  This area also has Vons, which seems to be like a Safeway, in any case they carried Select brands and my Safeway card worked there, Albertson's, and Ralphs-Pretty-Good-Grocery.  I didn't visit Ralphs this trip. 

I finally saw a red-headed woodpecker at Los Alamos Park (oops, make that an acorn woodpecker--thanks, Judy)

As Dave also mentioned, it's a blustery day here today.  I'm somewhat relieved that it's not 75 and sunny because it will make it easier to leave tomorrow morning. 

Morro Rock in the distance as seen from our drive along See Canyon

Dave and I talked to the PCV office manager this morning just to make sure we knew how many of our 45 days we had used and how many prime/non prime days we have left.  The nice thing is each prime days can be traded for two non-prime days.  We have 18 prime days left which can be traded for 36 non-prime days, that is if we don't need to use up any of our prime days.  Weekends in February are prime time, so we used up six of them while we were here.  Because we live fairly far away, and gas prices have rocketed here in California, we may not be able to use up the rest of our days this year.  Unfortunately, the days won't carry over to next year. 

The following pictures are scenes from our walk around Avila Beach yesterday.  We had lunch at Old Port Inn, which is located on one of Avila Beach's three piers.

Good-bye, Pismo Beach, and the surround area.  We'll be back, God willing!

Pickleball--Sweet Sport with Sour Name

Marilyn and Alan, who write a blog called Bless Our Voyage, left me a comment asking about pickleball.  It's one of my favorite sports, so I never get tired of telling people about it.

Pickleball is a racquet sport which combines elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis. The sport is played on a court with the same dimensions as a doubles badminton court. The net is lower than most other racquet sports allowing for faster play. The game is played with a hard paddle and a wiffle ball, making the technique required for pickleball different than other sports.

 

Pickleball originated in Olympia, WA, around 1965.  A portion of Congressman Pritchard's tennis court was removed for I-5 at the US-101 interchange. Pickleball was created for use in the smaller court.  The sport was named after the Pritchards' dog, Pickles. 

Our family first came across pickleball at a Yogi Bear Campground in Cheney, WA, about fifteen years ago.  The park had a pickleball court.  We checked out the equipment from the office, and our family of four had a great time playing the game.

Here are a couple of short videos that tell about this fast-growing sport.

http://www.king5.com/sports/Pickle-ball-Americas_fastest-growing-sport-106784313.html 

and another one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2KNhIgOkXM&feature=player_embedded

Hey, you have to love any game that uses a wiffleball, right?

A Rainy Valentine's Day at the Beach

Happy Valentine's Day!  Dave and I went out for lunch at Fin's at the beach.  The restaurant's decor was cute with tiki unbrellas and a Polynesian theme.  We ate inside instead of on the patio because it's RAINING here today.  Yes, this is only the second day that is has rained since we have been here.  Reluctantly, we will leave Pismo Beach on Friday morning to head towards home.

Today's  blog pictures were taken at Montana del Oro State Beach on February 5.  The park is located six miles south of Morro Bay.

After an enjoyable lunch out in honor of Valentine's Day, we drove to San Luis Obispo to get some maps of the California central coast area at AAA.  This trip may be almost over, but we are planning on coming back as snowbirds next winter. 

Sunday was a beautiful day and Dave and I found a tennis court where we tried to play pickle ball.  Unfortunately, after just a couple of volleys with the paddle, the carpal tunnel in my right hand protested.  We cut short our great pickle ball plans.  Boo hoo.  :(  I am a big fan of pickle ball would be sad if I can't play it again.  At least we know where the tennis courts are now--six at the high school and four more at a sports complex, as well as a couple along Highway 1.  This area doesn't seem to have dedicated pickle ball courts like we found in St. George, Utah last spring. 

I'm adjusting well to using my Nook Color.  I have finished several of the library books that I loaded onto it.  I've also learned to use the web features of the Nook, which work as long as I have wifi. 

We heard from our younger son, Jonathan, today and he is doing well in his eight-week field assignment and is half done with it already.  I can't say on my blog where he is or what he's doing, so if you are interested, email me.  Elder son, Tim, and wife Kiersten are doing great, also, and are looking forward to the last six weeks or so of pregnancy. 

Hungry?

This is not the usual type of motorhome parked here at Pismo Coast Village RV Park.  Does this mean that his stay here is a total write-off?  Where do we sign up?

Since the Jelly Belly motorhome made me hungry, it's a good thing that Dave and I went for a ten mile bicycle ride Friday afternoon.  We rode from Pismo Coast Village to Oceano.  We visited the small airport there and then road through Oceano State Beach Campground.  It's a great campground with two sections, one with partial hookups and one with no hookups.  The park was quite full.  I enjoyed taking some pictures of some of the geese in the park. 

The geese were hungry, but no, they weren't eating Jelly Bellies.

Is there more food in the street than in the grass?

This white beauty was evidently not hungry and was posing nicely.

Exploring

Dave was quick with his blog yesterday and wrote about our exploring trip to Los Alamos and Los Olivos.  After visiting those towns, we ended up driving a few more miles and having lunch in Solvang. 

Los Alamos, CA was a very small, tired-looking town.  It's current claim-to-fame seemed to be several antique shops.  We were impressed with the county park, there, though, and since the town was flat, we think it would  be a good place to go for a bicycle ride.

Los Alamos County Park

The old Union Hotel in Los Alamos.

A Victorian Bed and Breakfast that looked like it was closed since all the window shades were down.

These two palm trees were located behind the Los Alamos post office.  Notice that most of my photos taken in this town contained pictures of power lines.  No underground utilities here!

Los Olivos was a pretty town which contained many winery-related shops. 

A picturesque scene in Los Olivos.

Also in Los Olivos was this huge Episcopal Church.  It was built in the 1990s, and the pipe organ was donated by the Pea Soup Andersen family after the deaths of the father, mother, and 21-year-old daughter in a plane crash.

Interior of St. Marks in the Valley Episcopal Church.

We saw WWI memorials in all three towns.  in Los Alamos and Los Olivos the memorials and flags were placed in the middle of a street, and in Solvang the memorial was in Hans Christian Andersen Park.

Hans Christian Andersen bust in Solvang.

Los Alamos, CA

Los Olivos, CA

Solvang, CA

Dave and I ate lunch at The Mustard Seed Restaurant in Solvang.

We enjoyed our day of exploration and wandering!

Turkeys and Other Friends

As Dave posted yesterday, we made a day trip to Lopez Lake, a reservoir in Arroyo Grande.  This park charged us $9 for day use which was rather steep and, as you might expect, the park was almost empty.  The summer is their high season for camping, fishing, and the water slide.

The park was very quiet except for the sounds of the ducks and birds.

We were surprised to see a flock of turkeys in the park.

Near the turkeys, we also saw a group of deer.

The park contained many camping sites and a nice lakeview playground for children.

I always like to look at the trees.

Lopez Lake has a small marina.

I am continuing to learn how to work my new e-reader, the Nook Color.  It also has a web browser, Pandora for music, and a few games, and a spot for pictures, all for no monthly fee.  The main reason that I chose to buy a Nook is so that I can download library books for free.  We've figured that part out, with a little help from a post on the technical forum. 

This afternoon we bought our first e-book, the One Year Bible.  Dave had to call technical support for help, but we finally got it downloaded.  I hope future purchases will work a little more easily.