Really BIG Trees

Today we are off to Henry Cowell Redwoods state park near Felton, California. Just a short drive from Monterey, and we arrived to an almost empty parking lot. We had planned to take the train through the redwoods, but it was an hour an half before the next one, so we walked into the park. There was a walking trail of a mile, and we decided, heck, we could do that.

So off we went, the trial was very nice, and the trees…wow.

It was so beautiful and quite as there was almost no one there.

Can’t even see the tops.

Presenting…..

Oh yes, the nana picture, thanks Anthony.

After all that we decided that we could do with out the short pricey train ride. Did not think they could improve on what we already saw.

From there we went into Santa Cruz to a Mexican restaurant, The Acapulco, that we had been told about, with the help of our GPS we found it and it was well worth the hassle. I had the best taco salad I think I’ve ever had.

Unfortunately Chuck and I wear down pretty fast, so after picking up a movie we headed back to the RV. The next morning Chuck and Anthony we off for a round of golf. Being as Anthony is a left hand player none of our clubs would work for him, but they did have rentals available. Chuck was surprised at how well he played, yes, he did have some opps, a lot more were good or great shots.

They came home with only one picture, the camera battery conked out real fast. Glad they got the one. After a quick nap by the golfers we headed off to Fishermen's Wharf. We walked around and tasted samples of clam chowder that the restaurants we using to entice you in with. We decided on one and went in, the guys opted for fish and chips, and I had chowder in a bread bowl. No Mom, that is water, he was hamming it up big time. Just one more day, and we have no plans, what to do…what to do??? We’ll see.

Fun With Grandson

Anthony’s last season game went into the books with a W, although it was trying to be a squeaker, they pulled it out.  We decided he would spend the night with us so we would have an easier route to start.  Got on the road about 9 and traffic was good, little heavy in Sacramento, but Chuck manages just fine, with me white-knuckling it. 

Wine on the vine, and lots of the rolling coastal hills.

No sooner had we remarked that it looked like we would get there at our estimated time, than traffic came to a stand still.  Slowly we moved forward, but only to be directed to a country “lane”.  Had we know what we were to be traveling on we would have waited it out.  Very hilly, quite narrow, lots of overhanging trees and absolutely no way to turn around.  We were lucky to have only lost the twirley thingy top on the bathroom vent.  Once we found out the reason for the detour, a woman had stopped to help some one and been killed, loosing a vent, no big deal.  And we got smell some roses along the way.

We are staying at the Marine base language school camp ground, at Monterey.  There are about 30 FHU sites, behind the golf course, an we are lucky our location does not tend to have errant balls flying into it.  (But as I’m writing this Chuck and Anthony are out playing, so it could happen.) Not the best military campgrounds, but location can’t be beat.  We have come to this area for years and we had a favorite restaurant, The Fishwife, so once we were set up we headed there.  Either our taste buds have changed or the food was just so-so, but we will not be going back again. 

The next day we were off to the aquarium, and it was all we remembered and more.  Weather is on the cool side with the fog bank never burning off.

Will only post a few pictures as there are so many.

 

Anthony’s favorite in the touch ponds, the sea cucumber, I thought so too.

  Although these were unusual too.     

The “good sport”, only his nana could talk him into posing for this picture. 

Jelly's

Some of the really unusual.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seahorses, the males get pregnant.

Then we were off for a short drive up the coast and over to Salinas to an RV supplier to replace the part we had lost.

The end of day 1.

Life is Good, RV Life is Better

This Is the California I Remember

Yes, the weather is finally getting to be the way I remember spring/summer in California. Basically we would have eight month or so of sunshine, followed by 3 to 4 months of fog, rain, generally not so nice, but we always could say at least we didn’t have to shovel it. This year it has been slow to get here, but do believe that it is here now. Happy, happy.

We have been busy connecting with friends, enjoying the last few ball games with our grandson. Chuck has been getting in quite a bit of golf, which makes him a happy guy. Time is flying by, before we know it, it will be over. We are leaving here Thursday for Monterey. Our grandson is going with us, he is finally out of school, and in the lull before all-star practice starts. Still not sure when that will be, so we are going and will deal with it. Either we have a nice get-away or it is cut short and his parents will come and retrieve him. But what ever we have 4 days, and we will take it.

Well we did it, put in the deposit for Jojoba Hills SKP park out side of Temecula. When I talked to them they said the wait time was only about a week, which I thought must be a mistake, but they said no. So we will see, don’t plan on going there till after Tennessee. The bad part is it overlooks the park that we fell in love with last year, the really pricey, private one, where the lots did not seem to sell all that fast. But you can't go wrong with a bunch of Escapees, so sure this will work fine for now.

MIDDLE AGE TEXTING CODES:
ATD-at the doctor. BFF-best friend fell. BTW-bring the wheelchair. BYOT-bring your own teeth. FWIW-forgot where I was. GGPBL-gotta go, pacemaker battery low. GHA-got heartburn again. IMHO-is my hearing aid on? LMDO-laughing my dentures out. OMMR-on my massage recliner. ROFLACGU-rolling on floor laughing and can't get up, TTYL -talk to you louder!

Life is Good, RV Life is Even Better.

Happy Birthday, Anthony

What a great treat that we got to spend the day with him celebrating his 12th birthday.  His choice of what he wanted to do was to spend time at the Sky Zone.  Huge place that has 3 areas of trampolines, what fun, made me wish that I was a kid.  Wouldn’t work now, once I hit the mat it would be the end of story, no way could I get up from it.  But the kids got one heck of a work out, and loved every minute. 

   

Foam Pit

   

Basketball

Dodge Ball

After that we went to see the Pirates of the Caribbean in 3D.  It was okay, have seen them all and the first was the best to me, could be cause it was new….. ya think?

We have been busy spending time with our son, DIL and grandson with his ball games.  They are over now, but he did make all-stars, so we will try and get a fast trip in before practice for that starts.  Had thought maybe going to Yosemite as this year, because of the massive snow pack melt, the water falls are awesome.  But think that for a 12 year old that would not rank too high on his bucket list.  So Monterey and the Redwoods that a are near by, seems a better choice.  Also the aquarium there is amazing.  And the cherry on this sundae, I’ll get my ocean fix! 

Chuck has played some golf and got to see a lot of his buddies, he also went to his Lions meeting.  And yesterday I drug him to play bridge, but we won’t be doing that again.  Sad to see how that group has dwindled, bridge is a dying game, so many people had passed.  When my friend and I started playing 25 years ago they referred to us as the kids in the group, sad to say but there aren’t really any kids in the group now.

Last night some of our golfing friends had a cook out and we got to spend the evening talking about the good “ole days”.  Great time, and even though I had a camera in my purse and two in the truck, not one picture did I get. 

Time has been flying by, seems we are busy every day.  Staying on the base is not the ideal situation because of the distance to town, but the campground has been rated the 3rd best of the military.  And tend to agree, great facilities.  And the price is right.  Weather here has been pretty good, although it has been cool for California, and we have gotten rain about 4 times in the past two weeks, once again very unusual for this time of year.

Till the next time.

Life is Good.

Eat and Drink What You Like

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans. 
5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Thursday night was our grandsons ball game and we were excited to see him play.  His team was a winner, and he got some hits, and had a hand in getting a run down out when the runner tried to steal third. Just three more games before the season is over, then there will be all-stars if he makes the team.  He loves baseball, but not like his dad did. 

He lived it, dreamed it, even would be playing in his sleep.  There was many a time he would be sound asleep, hollering “I got it, I got it”, or “the plays at home”.

We met some of our good friends for dinner before the game, and that almost didn’t take place.  We had talked earlier in the day and decided on Mexican food.  There are 2 great places here and we were meeting at one, but talked about the other.  Yep you know what is coming, we were waiting at one they were at the other.  Tried calling, but no answer on their cell phones, but we got the number for the other restaurant and sure enough, there was a couple waiting there.  So finally got together, by then I had had a second margarita so not sure how the food was, but  our time together was great. 

Today we spent around the RV, gave it a good wash and just had as down day.  Even cooked dinner, well, I did a great job warming it up,  cabbage  rolls, veggies, ect.  Got them at Costco and they were so good.  As usual there was too much, so it will making its appearance again in review.  My word for left-overs.

Life is Good

Donner Summit

We laid over in Reno an extra day as a late snow storm was making its way through the Sierras.  The kids left Sunday during the tail  end of it, and took them 8 hours to drive the 125 miles.  Come Monday we had a short window of opportunity to make it over the summit, and we left about 9 AM, the sun was out, no wind, and dry roads. What a beautiful drive, with all the snow looking so pristine, wow.

Really late in the year for a storm of this size to come through.  The few ski resorts that are still open were very happy, along with the stores getting rid of the winter supply of tire chains, know because our son had to buy a set.  Two inches of snow is enough for them to require chains in California. 

California is known as the land of fruit and nuts, (and don’t think it is cause what grows on trees) but it sure is nice to see the price of bing cherries this time of year.  Makes up for it  with the price of gas.  Although gas isn’t too much higher than what we have been paying on the way out here.

Needless to say we bought more than enough cherries.  We made our way to Beale AFB, which is about 12 miles from our sons house, cause the park we usually stay at was full.  The park on base is great, one of the best, but just so far from everything and everybody.  Oh well, six of one, half dozen of another. . 

We went to the school to pick up our grandson, and as he was expecting one of his parents cars it took a few minutes for him to realize who these people were that were waving and hollering at him.  He was so surprised, and embarrassed that he didn’t recognize us right away, it was so great to see him again.  Sunday is his birthday so we are planning a special day.  He also had requested, before we got here, that he wanted to go camping, so after school is out, June 5th, we will have to take care of that too.

During our first night here though, a raccoon got into the main electrical system and chewed half the base into a blackout.  Come morning they told us that it would be at least all day without power so we headed for town.  Got back about 8 last night and still no power, although it did come back on about an hour later. Finally got on the computer, awful how attached we get to these darn things. 

Life is Good.

Stuck in Reno

We are hoping to see Reno in the rear view mirror tomorrow, but have to wait and see if Donner Pass is open to high profile vehicles.  Kids left today, but we decided we would give it a day or two to calm down some.  Wind is really bad, and there is even snow falling……..where did spring go?  It was great meeting the kids here, but now wish that we had just gone the rest of the way into California.  Reno is not a place that we like to spend time in anymore.  It has gotten dirty and run down, and everything comes with a high price.  Besides can’t wait to surprise our grandson who still has no idea we are coming.  So excited.

Friday night we did go to see the Bill Engvall show, and it was very good.  He is one of the Redneck Comedy guys, Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the cable guy, and there is a third, but can’t remember his name.  Anyway the show was so funny, you laughed from start to finish, and not a foul word in the entire performance.  So refreshing.  Did a little gambling, and just been hanging out.  Hopefully the weather is better tomorrow and we are out of here.  No matter, Life is Good.

Winnemucca Is the Place to Be

Rather long drive today, 370 miles, which for us is not something that we do very often.  However driving through Nevada does not leave you too many places to stop.  And as luck would have it we had a tire develop  a fast leak, thank heavens for Pressure Pro.  It was a beeping as soon as the tire began loosing air, so we were able to pull off safely And with the tire intact, and no damage to the 5th wheel.  However road service was to be at least 2 hours, but in a little over an hour we were back on the road. And we had a nice lunch, Chuck got a fast 40 winks, all is well that ends well. 

Today as we were zipping along at 60+ miles an hour, couldn’t help but think of the pioneers, in their wagon trains. 

                               What they endured crossing this vast country I can’t even imagine.  

    

Art on the salt flats.

Bonneville salt flats under water.

                              

Salt being extracted from  the water.

Tomorrow  our destination is Reno, where we are meeting our son and DIL.  They are there for the week end on a bowling end-of-the-season league party.  Will be great to see them again, but our grandson is not coming as he has ball games.  And he does not know that we are here so it will be a big surprise when we do see him, just can’t wait to give him a big hug.  He is our only grandson that we lived close to so we spent a lot of time with him in his early years.  Missed him a lot, sure will be great to spend time with him again.

Life Is Good

Salt Lake City

Easy travel day, little rain when we first got on the road around 9 AM, but once that passed. super travel day. Chuck decided to leave Springs one day sooner than we had originally planned due to weather moving in. And this morning I had to congratulate him on his fore sight. That hurt, to have to tell him he was right……..once again. Darn.

Wow, RV parks are sure starting to hold their sites at a premium. Last night we paid 35 and tonight 39, both with a Good Sam discount. Tomorrow have us going into a Passport America, 17.50. That will be in Winnemucca. Thank goodness for audio books, traveling through these desolate states. Not too much to take your mind off of mile after mile. Listening to one now that has 12 discs so should take us all the way in.

Decided to eat in tonight, stopped at the store picked up a few things and will save more than a few dollars. Well, not exactly. bought gas, which was 4.10 a gallon, better than yesterday at 4.21.

Life is Good.

Moving On

We left Colorado Springs this morning, heading for California. Decided that we would take a different route and by pass Denver. This was 24 heading west out of Springs. Two lane road, and hilly and winding, but beautiful drive.

Mapped it out and it read that the highest elevation was just over 9000 feet, but when we were at the top, signs were saying well over 1100. So much for map-quest. And yes that is a lot snow, but as you can see the sky was ever so blue. We did see a huge herd of elk and another of antelope. There were also quite a few deer along with a huge big horn sheep. And NO, I do not have one picture to show, there was no stopping as we just plain flew past them. Bummer.

Once we got to I-70, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way into Grand Junction.

The roll is just too big for her little hand, but she figured it out just fine!

Think these two could wrap “Po” around their fingers pretty fast?

Roinn had his last track meet while we were there. Even in kindergarten they were running the 400. It was so inspiring as the kids were coming down the home stretch everyone would start cheering, and the coaches were there to run in with the last few. Very nice.

Tomorrow we are planning to make Salt Lake, not even 300 miles, so should be no problem, as long as we have no problems.

Life is Good.

We Have A Plan

Yes indeedy, we have a plan. While in the RGV we had planned to take our time getting to Springs, seeing some of the sights along the way, over a period of six weeks or so. Then we would have been here till the 1st of July and we would have headed toward Salt Lake and then made our way up to Idaho and Yellowstone. But that fell apart when I decided that my tumor problem should be taken care of here, although it turned out thankfully to be nothing, it did do in our plans. So we have decided that we would just make a run to California and see our son and his family. We did not get to spend too much time with him when we were there last year as he started work on a power plant and was working 12 hour days, 7 days a week, so it left little time for visiting. Feels good to have a plan.

Our time here in Springs has flown by, the weather has changed so many times, we could have been here for months. The last few days have been wonderful though. Spring has defiantly sprung. We did get to meet up with Jesse and Ginger, RV-ing in the Kram-a-lot-Inn for dinner the other night. Tried our favorite Chinese place, and we had not eaten there since last year, so little worried that it might not be what it used to be, but it was wonderful. Ever in Springs, The Coal Mine Dragon, well worth the trip. It was good to see these “youngsters” again. They are work camping not too far from here, till October.

Finally broke down and got a Kindle, although have not used it yet, it is being charged as I write. I’ve gotten a few new toys here, a bullet mixer, tiny camera, oh yes, then I stumbled onto Penezys Spices. Which caused me to take another trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond (darn) for the magnetic spice containers.

Since I had no metal in the kitchen I attached two cookie sheets to the end of the cupboard and they make a great storage area for the spices, plus they are very visible. Notice that the labels are extra large print, lol.

Roinn and Kylee. He is a wonderful big brother, where as she is a total princess. Pink is her color, wonderful kids, but they are growing up way too fast.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Mothers Day.

Life is Good.

OH MY!!!

I finally figured it out.. As I was conditioning my hair in the shower this morning, I took time to read my shampoo bottle.  I am in shock!  The shampoo I use in the shower that runs down my entire body says "for extra volume and body"!

Seriously, why have I not noticed this before?  Tomorrow I am going to start using "Dawn" dish soap! It says right on the bottle, "dissolves fat that is otherwise difficult to remove".  
It pays to read the warning labels my friends!