Back Home to the Rain

Sunny skies are temporarily a thing of the past.  After reluctantly leaving Pismo Coast Village RV Park on Wednesday morning, we stopped for the night at Kit Fox RV Park, a Passport America park in Patterson, CA.  On Thursday we had a short drive to Sacramento, where we stayed at our usual place, Cal Expo RV Park.  We enjoyed a dinner at Outback in Roseville with our sister-in-law, Pam, and two of her four daughters.  Both Patterson and Sacramento treated us to sunshine.

We passed through downtown Sacramento on our way back to I-5 North.

Friday morning we left Sacramento and headed to our destination of Yreka, way up near the northern border of California.  Yreka had sunshine waiting for us, but the overnight temperature was a cold 30 degrees.

Heading north.

Mount Shasta

We had only planned to go part of the way home on Saturday, but the weather was nice, and after stopping for gas at Seven Feathers in Canyonville, OR and eating an early lunch at the rest area there, we reached our intended destination of Rice Hill RV Park by 1 pm.  We decided to drive further, and as the good weather continued to hold throughout the afternoon, we pushed on to home, arriving in Vancouver, WA at 4:15.

Today, Sunday, was spent regrouping and unloading some things from our motorhome, doing laundry, getting groceries, etc.  Tomorrow Dave is having lunch with a couple of his football friends, and on Tuesday I am meeting up with a couple of my friends.  Also tomorrow we will have a chance to see our two granddaughters!

We had a marvelous winter trip down south and were gone for a total of 98 days.  Now it’s back to rainy weather, but no problem, the rain usually disappears by the 4th of July! 

Guess Who Came to Visit?

Merikay and Craig, that’s who!  They are anxiously awaiting the close of the house sale and then they will be hitting the road as full-time RVers.  They escaped Camp Driveway for a few days and visited us in Pismo Beach.  We hadn’t met them, but now we’re in-person friends as well as blog friends.  You can read about their present and future adventures by clicking here.

Their rig was parked near ours, so going back and forth was very convenient.

This couple are quite the hikers.  They put in a total of around twelve miles during the first two days they were here.  Dave and I didn’t join them for those hikes because a three mile hike is more than enough for us! 

Today was a more relaxing day.  This morning, Merikay and Craig joined me on Dave’s and my usual walk to town (Pismo Beach) and and the beach.  After a brief stop on the pier to watch the surfers, we were home again after 1.5 hours. 

Yup, this is the obligatory picture from the pier.

This afternoon, Merikay and I went for a short drive to Shell Beach, Avila Beach, and Port San Luis.  On the way home, we stopped at the Apple Farm Produce Stand.  It’s a fun place, but we both thought that the prices were high.  We also visited the Oceano produce stand, a not-so-fancy, but more reasonably priced produce.

After the drive, Merikay and I went for a swim.  The sun was still out and the (outdoor) pool was heated to a comfortable 84 degrees.   Since we kept our heads out of the water and did water aerobics instead of swimming laps, we didn’t have to stop talking while we were at the pool!

Merikay and Craig return to Camp Driveway tomorrow for a couple more weeks, then they will (hopefully!) be off on their new adventure.

The news from back home is that our daughter-in-law, Kiersten, was suddenly admitted to the hospital on Sunday, and on Monday (her birthday!), she had an unexpected operation to remove her gallbladder.  She’s home from the hospital now and doing well, but with two small girls (1 and almost 3), the no-lifting restriction has been stressful for her.  With the help of church friends and other friends, she and Tim are managing.  That unexpected incident was a scare for all of us, but especially Tim and Kiersten.

 

Anya’s 1st Birthday

We were able to celebrate our younger granddaughter, Anya’s, birthday vicariously through pictures. 

Her cake was decorated with chocolate sunflower seeds.  I think she enjoyed it!

Kiersten and Anya

We miss Anya and Sophie but we will see them in a few short weeks!

Catching Up

Our younger granddaughter, Anya, celebrated her 1st birthday on Saturday.  A week earlier, Sophie, her almost 3-year-old sister, had fun playing in the snow.  Anya didn’t look too sure about it.

Anya is on the inside looking out.

We missed all the excitement but we will catch up with them when we return home next month.

We had a quiet Valentine’s Day, but celebrated the day before with spectacular weather and a drive to nearby Port San Luis for lunch on the patio at Fat Cat’s Café.

Port San Luis is one of the few places near Pismo Beach where we can see boats in the water.

Thursday was also the day that Dave was finally able to rent a Segway.  We weren’t allowed to share the Segway, so I tried it first to see if I wanted to rent one, too.  I decided that I didn’t since I had trouble balancing on it.  That freed me to take pictures of Dave.

Getting instructions from Kenny at Wheel Fun Rentals in Pismo Beach.

Dave is a quick learner, so he was soon riding on the beach.  These rental Segways have big tires that are made for riding on the beach.

After taking a few pictures of Dave, I went for a walk on the beach.  The sun felt good and there was no wind, which is unusual at the beach.

The Pismo Creek lagoon next to Pismo Coast Village RV Resort was scenic and calm.

Dave enjoyed learning to ride the Segway and I enjoyed my walk on the beach.  After Dave returned the Segway, we headed for Port San Luis.

Another day we went for a 3.5 mile hike at nearby Johnson Ranch.  This hike was fun but a stretch for us and we were both tired with various body parts sore when we returned.  The trail is also used by mountain bikers and we were amazed when the bikers whizzed through the steep and rocky sections of the trail.  No, thanks!

Our park was very busy over the long weekend, and today we are watching many of them leave.  The park changes on weekends when all the families arrive, and quiets down again during the week—just the way we like it!

Meeting New Friends, Rain, and Oso Flaco Lake

Dave and I have been avidly watching the winter Olympics, and blog posting has taken a back seat.  To give me an excuse for vegetating in front of the TV set, I began crocheting an afghan.  We’ll see how much I get done between now and the end of the Olympic games.!

While our home area of Vancouver, WA, endured   snow and freezing rain last weekend, here in Pismo Beach, CA, we had rain on Super Bowl Sunday, and then again on Thursday and Saturday, and a bit of rain yesterday.  California is still in drought conditions, but hopefully this rainfall will help a bit to build the snowpack in the mountains.

Last Monday, we enjoyed a visit from new friends, Joe and Betty Graffis from Milwaukie, Oregon.  I’ve been reading Betty’s blog and when Betty mentioned that they would be traveling along the coastal route on their way to Desert Hot Springs, I suggested that maybe we could meet up with them.

Joe and Betty Graffis on a windy afternoon at the Pismo Beach Pier

Betty agreed, and we had a wonderful visit with both of them after they got into town.  They were just here for one night, but we had enough time to get to know each other a bit and to agree to future visits when we are all back home again. 

Enjoying a late lunch with Betty and Joe at Cool Cat Café in Pismo Beach

Betty and Joe are a very interesting couple.  He actively participates in horseshoe tournaments, plays pickleball, and when at home, enjoys using the computer to do flight simulation.  Betty is a whiz on the computer and the internet, including social media, and as she puts it, “likes electronic gadgets”. 

This fine couple found each other late in life.  They are almost still newlyweds and will celebrate their 10th anniversary in June.  

Betty meets up with an old friend at the Pismo Pier.

Joe took this picture of Dave and me during our walk with them at Pismo Pier.

A week or so before meeting Joe and Betty, Dave and I went for annual walk at Oso Flaco Lake in Guadalupe.  A boardwalk goes over the lake and usually we can see several types of birds.

As the walk progresses, the trail heads on to an overlook of the ocean.  I never get tired of seeing the dunes along the way.

As we retraced our steps back across the lake, this is what we saw:

There is no more rain in the ten-day forecast.  The high temperatures are predicted to be in the high-60s and low-70s, with lows in the mid-40s to low-50s.  Life is grand!

Sunset at Pismo Beach

Walk Along the Beach in Cambria, CA

Cambria is a town located about 45 miles north of Pismo Beach on Highway 1.   The town only has about 7000 residents, but they have a wonderful system of trails.  Our favorite trail is the boardwalk trail that runs next to Moonstone Beach Drive along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. 

We parked at Cambria’s San Simeon State Park at the south end of the boardwalk.  There’s another parking/picnic area at the north end of the boardwalk.  It’s about a 40 minute walk from one end of the boardwalk to the other.

It was sunny day when left Pismo Beach, but when we got to Cambria, the coast was foggy.

With the ocean on the west side of the boardwalk and houses and inns on the right side, it’s an interesting walk.  I’m so glad that there’s a public boardwalk in front of all those houses, which are actually located across the street from the coastline.

These guys were having fun chasing the waves.

This one of my favorite trees along the path.

This year we didn’t head further on north to see the elephant seals.  But we saw a few seals on the rocks.  They blend into the rocks so well that we had to look twice.  They weren’t barking like seals usually do, or maybe the surf was so loud that we didn’t hear them.

The fog began moving out as we walked.

Sunshine!

We ate lunch at Cambria’s Moonstone Beach Bar and Grill and as we ate, we watched the fog and clouds come and go.

Day Trip to Goleta, CA

Last Thursday our motorhome was being washed, so we went for a drive in the car.  We headed south on Highway 101.  We usually go to Solvang or Lompoc and/or the mission outside Lompoc on these trips south.  But today we decided to drive the 89 miles to Goleta, about fifteen miles northwest of Santa Barbara. 

We stopped at a couple of state parks along our way south.  Dave bought the California off-season senior state park pass again this year, so we can park for free at all the state parks and beaches.  The price of the pass went up from $10 to $20 last year, but to us, it’s still worth the price.

The first park we checked out was Gaviota State Park.  This park had a modest no-hookup camping area with a train trestle running right over it.  The pier was interesting, though, in that it had an above-ground boat launch.

The views from either side of the pier weren’t bad.

Oil platforms were visible in the distance, as were the Channel Islands.

Our next stop was Refugio State Beach.  This park had two camping areas, again with no-hookups.  This park was right on the beach and even mid-week, there were people camping here.

I liked these palm trees.

After our stop at Refugio, we drove on to Goleta.  Our destination was Howe House.  We knew that the house itself was only open on weekends, but I read that the grounds were open.

Howe House

We walked along the somewhat paved path and came to a protected pond.

The old Goleta Depot and Museum were also located at this spot.  The museum wasn’t open until the afternoon, and we decided to head for town (and lunch) instead of waiting for the depot to open.

We ate lunch at Hollister Brewing Company.  We ate outside on the patio and were glad that our table had an umbrella because it was warm that day.

We enjoyed our day trip and when we got back to the motorhome, it was washed, waxed, and gleaming brightly in the sun!

Flowers along the path at Howe House.