Leavenworth, WA

Today was my birthday and I got to pick our destination.  I chose Leavenworth, a quaint Bavarian village located in an alpine setting along Washington's Highway 2.   In 1962, after the Great North Railroad relocated from Leavenworth to Wenatchee, the town's economy became sluggish.  After visiting the Danish-themed town of Solvang in California, a committee suggested that Leavenworth could be remade into a Bavarian village.  The idea caught on, and today Leavenworth is a year-round thriving tourist village.  Arrive early, because it's hard to park!

The snow-capped mountains add to the charm of Leavenworth

We didn't buy any souvenirs, but Dave and I had a good time window shopping and taking pictures.  After brunch at Cafe Verona, we walked all around the town and then walked downhill to the path along the Wenatchee River.  Suddenly we were away from the mobs of tourists and enjoying the beauty of nature, along with the company of a few other nature-lovers. 

From the path along the Wenatchee River

After spending a few hours in the Leavenworth area, we drove back to our motorhome.  We are parked at the Chelan County Expo Center in Cashmere, a few miles east of Leavenworth and a few miles west of Wenatchee.  One other motorhome came into this park yesterday, and our two rigs have the place to ourselves.  Sunday afternoon we will return to Wenatchee Confluence State Park for a few more days. 

Since we ate brunch in Leavenworth, we decided to eat dinner in Cashmere.  It's my birthday, you know, so I can't cook today!  We stumbled onto a non-fancy, but oh so tasty barbecue place called Country Boy's.  Yummy, yummy food--we highly recommend it if you're in the area and like southern-style BBQ.

Oink, oink--you'll get a lot to eat at Country Boy's

We rounded out the day by watching a DVD of The King's Speech.  It was a great movie, and I can see why it won so many awards.  Now my birthday is almost over and I can relax until next year, when I face the big 6-0 birthday!

Thanks for indulging me today, Dave!

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!

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. 

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!

Sunset at Pismo Beach, CA

Friday night Dave and I walked to town to have dinner at Brad's with our friends Debbie and Bill.  We saw the most amazing sunset and I had to keep stopping to take pictures of this wonder of God's creation.

Sunset as we left Pismo Coast Village RV Park

Crossing the bridge on our way to the beach 

Walking on the beach path

The sky kept changing

 The end of the pier at sunset

We reached our destination right on time at 6 pm,  just as the sunset views were gone.

I usually edit my photos  using the Picasa program, but this time I posted them just as they were from the camera.  I'm so glad that we took the time to enjoy this sunset!

Friends and Mansions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday our friends, Debbie and Bill, drove up here from Downey, California.  The drive took them five hours, but once they got out of the LA area, the drive up the coast was beautiful.  We ate dinner at a nice Italian restuarant in Arroyo Grande called Gina's.  We had intended to go to a steakhouse in Nipomo that Debbie remembered from years ago, Jocko's, and it was, in fact, still there.  It looked like a bit of a dive, but it must be a very popular dive because there was an hour wait to be seated.  We didn't wait and ended up at Gina's, which was a fine choice.  Debbie and Bill are visiting the elephant seals today and we'll all meet for dinner tonight at Brad's in Pismo Beach.

Every day, Dave and I like to take at least one walk or bike ride.  Today's excursion was a walk that I discovered a couple of weeks ago.  A sign points to a "coastal trail" which is reached after driving through a residential area.  We snagged one of the five or so parking spots for the trail, and off we went.  This is a paved path along a coastline bluff.  There's a scenic coastal view along the paved trail. 

This handicap-accessible, dog-friendly trail is open to the public and runs along in front of some multi-million dollar mansions.  We, the public, get to enjoy the view for free.  These houses were quite impressive.

My favorite, a mediterranean-style villa

If you think I'm exaggerating about the multi-million dollar view, the lots in this gated community are selling for 2.25 million dollars for a little over an acre of hilly, ocean view property.  Each house probably cost at least a few million dollars to build. 

2.25 million dollar lot for sale.  How many do you want?

After the walk we ate our lunch at a park at Shell Beach and then came back to the RV to relax for a while.