May 6, 2012

How many of you got to see the super moon last night? Believe it or not we did. The weather cleared up enough for us to get some pretty good pictures of it even. See photos at; http://picasaweb.google.com/dmcowens since we don’t have a professional camera they aren’t the best but you get the idea.

Someday the snow in the Cascade Mountains will thaw and people can actually drive through the passes again. The larger highways are clear but the secondary ones are still covered. Last night the news caster said the ski season has been extended by three weeks this year. They showed pictures of people skiing wearing sombreros. Now that is something else again.

April 15, 2012
It’s about time I gave everybody an update. I guess I just got so carried away with seeing and doing things I forgot. So here goes all the way back to beginning of the end!!

On Friday April 6th. Bob helped his brother-in-law Kim build a fence at Almost Home Doggy Day Care. The Doggy Day Care business is booming in Forestville. They had 47 dogs on Friday and if that isn’t enough to tell you the people in that area have some money I don’t know what does. After the fence is finished they will have one yard for small dogs, one for medium size and one for large dogs.

Bob and Kim worked all day on the fence and I didn’t do anything except keep Sherrie and some of the dogs company. Mac had a good time playing with the big dogs and one in particular, a Borzoy/Greyhound mix that is bigger than he is. It is an absolutely gorgeous dog and is as gentle as Mac.

After the fence was done except for the gate we decided to go on back to the motor home and just relax for the evening. Sherrie and Kim were amazed at how fast Bob works. They were surprised that he put all the board up in one day. Now all Kim has to do is finish the gate and they will be set for a lot more dogs.

April 7th we pulled out of the fairgrounds about 9:40. The morning started out just fine but went to hell in a hand basked in a hurry. We missed the turn onto highway 29 in Calistoga and wound up losing at least 30 miles of the 50 that we were supposed to save. By following the GPS we wound up on highway 175 that is supposed to cross the coastal mountain range to I-5. About 10 miles inland we came to a sign that read “if your vehicle plus trailer does not fit between these lines DO NOT proceed”. You guessed it we sure as hell didn’t fit! The motor home alone would not fit between the lines. They had cut out a portion of land next to the road so Bob started his turn and wound up blocking the whole road. We had to disconnect the car before completing the turn around.

While we were turning around a man in a puck-up truck stopped and told us not to even try to make it across this way because we would get stuck. They really should have something out on the main highway that tells you not to come this way with long vehicles. Bob says he can mark it in the GPS so that it will not try to take us that way again.

We finally arrived at Durango RV Resort in Red Bluff about 4:10 at least 2 hours later than we would have if we had not missed our turn. Oh Well!!

Sunday morning April 8th. Happy Easter to all! By the time we stopped for fuel and connected the car we were on the freeway by 10:10. The cheapest fuel was close to the resort so that is where we bought it.

There is a lot more water in Lake Shasta then when we went south in December. As we got closer to Mount Shasta we saw there is also a lot more snow too. It is absolutely beautiful!! See photos at; http://picasaweb.google.com/dmcowens

We arrived at 7 Feathers about 3:30 and are we glad. Just as we were having lunch the wind picked up and was blowing pretty hard, I was going to offer to drive for a bit and I told Bob I’m sorry it’s totally up to you, I don’t like to drive in strong winds. It hurts my shoulder too much.

The campground at 7 Feathers is so beautiful and the prices are really good, especially if you belong to their club and have either Good Sam, FMCA, Auto Club or are an AARP member. You are able to use 2 of the discounts and get 20% off, that makes it only $34.00 per night. They have a beautiful indoor pool and spa to relax in too.

April 9th. After a nice dinner and an evening in the spa we are on our way about 10:30. It’s a good thing we are very seldom in a hurry! Every time we go into the casino I wish I had my camera with me because there is the most beautiful sculpture of a huge bronze eagle with a salmon in its talons out in front. Someday I will remember it, I hope!

We arrived at the Elk’s Lodge in Salem, OR about 1:45. There were plenty of spaces available so we took one of our favorites. What a great place to stay for a couple of days. The spaces are nice and large with plenty of room for Mac to be on his tether. The cost is a great big $17.00 per night for full hook-ups!

April 10th. As planned we paid a visit to Costco where we stocked up on all the dry goods we need. Oregon has no sales tax so it’s a good place to buy just about everything. We also bought me a new sewing machine and Bob some new jeans at Wal-Mart. Now all we have to do is relax and enjoy the rest of the day, I don’t even have to cook!! We got everybody’s favorite, a rotisserie chicken from Costco.

April 11th. We pulled out of the Elk’s about 9:50 headed for home. We had light rain to start off with but the further north we went the harder it rained. Traffic through Portland was no picnic either. It was a relief to get through there.

We stopped at Safeway in Kelso to get fuel because in general it is quite a bit cheaper there than anywhere else close by. While Bob fueled the motor home I went into the store and got our favorite sandwich, California Dreamin, for lunch. We stopped about 45 minutes later at the rest area to eat. We arrived home about 1:30. It is always nice to get back. Once we start the journey home we want to be home now without all the in between, even if it is nice.

Now you have it. We are here for about 6 weeks before we head out for the FMCA Area Rally in Coos Bay, OR. We look forward to seeing our friends from the Northwest.

April 5, 2012

The last two days have been sunny but cool. Yesterday we drove up the freeway to the largest Salvation Army compound (store) in the country. It is several acres with several buildings and shade covers full of stuff!!! A couple of years ago we went there with Bob’s sister and found some things. She goes there to buy toys and things for her doggy day care center. This year we didn’t find a thing we wanted to buy.

As we were getting ready to leave Bob made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. He offered to buy me lunner at In-N-Out burger. It is probably the last chance we will get to have one before we go home. I thought it was a pretty good idea, that way I don’t have to cook dinner.

Today after breakfast we drove up to Calistoga to visit Old Faithful of CA. We drove out highway 12 out to highway 128 instead of taking the freeway out. The drive is much more interesting and pretty. Old Faithful erupts approximately every 3 minutes and is just as pretty as the one in Wyoming. There are supposedly 4 old faithful geysers in the U. S. We have now seen two of them. The geyser is situated in the middle of what was once a volcano that was supposed to have been about the size of Mount St. Helens.

From the geyser we drove into the town of Calistoga it is known for the hot spring spas. It seems like every third or fourth business is a spa of some sort. There is even a massage, spa in one of the old Pullman cars that is on the side track at the Calistoga Depot. It is a pretty little town and quite quaint but there is nothing cheap or reasonable in town. The only thing we bought was lunch at Miguel’s Cacina. At least the food was good, we would go back there again sometime even if it cost us over $20.00 for two bowls of soup and a quesadilla. We had tortilla soup that had large chunks of chicken floating in a nice chicken broth with lots of fresh vegetable and pieces of tortilla floating in it as well. The quesadilla was made of fresh tortillas and meat with fresh guacamole and sour cream on the side. Nothing is made until it is ordered, so it takes a few minutes to get your food. Who minds when it tastes good?!!

From Calistoga we drove on north on highway 128 to the town of Geyserville. We have driven by there many times on the freeway but have never been into town until today. It is one of those towns where if you blink you’ll miss it. I think it probably thrives on wine tasting rooms. It is quaint!

I offered to drive back to the motor home since Bob had driven all morning. He was only too eager to let me drive through Santa Rosa. I told him “that’s rather sweet of you”. I made it just fine except for a truck on the freeway kicked up a rock and it hit the windshield. Bob and I both jumped like we’d been shot at. It is amazing it didn’t crack it hit so hard!!

Now to just relax and enjoy the rest of the evening. See photos of yesterday & today at; http://picasaweb.google.com/dmcowens

April 3, 2012

This morning Kim and Sherrie came over to meet us for breakfast. They know this really good restaurant where the owner is a former chef. They arrived about 10:30 and we all rode over together. They are right, the food is very good, we would go there again some time.

Yesterday while we were just sitting around doing not much of anything some very large trailers came in that were pulled by huge tractor type trucks. One of these is the largest 5th wheel I’ve ever seen. It is 51 ft. long with 7 slides. It seems there is a carnival or circus in town and the bunkhouse trailers are for the performers or roustabouts. And the huge 5th wheel is for the owner of this menagerie .

This afternoon we decided to take a drive out highway 12 and do a little wine tasting. The drive is spectacular and we really enjoyed ourselves. Bob had looked in a booklet his sister brought us and picked out the area.

The first winery we stopped at was Chateau St. Jean. It was absolutely beautiful but the wines we tasted were not that good and the prices were quite high. Besides that they charged a $15.00 tasting fee. We did not buy any wine there. The next one we went to was Kenwood Winery the home of Jack London wines. Their wines were very good so we wound up buying 2 bottles. Jack London lived in the area for many years and had a farm in Sonoma County not far from the winery. Some for the grapes are grown on that farm.

After the 2 wineries we drove to Glen Ellen for chocolate tasting at Wine Country Chocolates. Needless to say the chocolates were delicious and we bought a 12 piece box for $23.00. I know, I know, it should be good at that price! It was almost as good as the chocolates Bob brought back to me from Switzerland one year for Valentine’s Day.

From Glen Ellen we drove on in to Sonoma which is a beautiful town on highway 12. We probably spent an hour or so wandering around town taking beautiful pictures. The whole drive was spectacular and I can see where people would enjoy living in the area. There are two albums from today’s pictures, be sure to look at both of them. See photos at; http://picasaweb.google.com/dmcowens

Thank God we had some leftovers that we could have for dinner. By now I am happy just to eat a little and relax the rest of the evening.

April 1, 2012

As per usual I have several days to update so here goes!

March 28, 2012
After a lot of rain last night this morning dawned partly cloudy, a lot of beautiful blue sky with sun showing through. After breakfast and being lazy for a while we decided to go to the Tech Museum here in San Jose. Just a short drive on the freeway got us there in a matter of minutes. Finding a place to park was a different story all together! The parking lot was full so we wound up parking at a meter on the street. It has a two hour limit for $2.00. After about an hour and a half Bob went back out and put another $1.50 in the meter so we would have enough time to finish the museum.

The museum is very interesting and I can where a person could spend the whole day wandering through and playing with all the hands on displays. We played with a bunch of them and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Dawn even did the jet pack simulator and reached the target in record time. The the volunteer overseeing it said “you look like you’ve done this before”. To which Dawn replied “I was lucky enough to get to go to Space camp a couple of times”.

After such a nice pleasant day a pleasant dinner would definitely be in order. We went to St. Stephens Green, the pub that we had gone to when we last visited Dawn. We enjoyed it so much then we knew it would be good again. Bob and Dawn had Guiness Pie and I had fish and chips. The Guiness pie was better by far. Hopefully I can remember that the next time we are here.

After dinner we went to Fry’s Electronics to look for a new printer. The one we have just stopped printing color We did not buy one there, as far as we could tell there were no bargains to be had on printers. And besides the closest Fry’s to our house is over 90 miles away, in case we would have to take it back for some reason.

Back to the motor home to rest and relax the rest of the evening. Thank GOD!! I’m Tired!!

March 31, 2012

We pulled out of the San Jose Elk’s parking lot about 11:15 headed toward Santa Rosa, after going out for breakfast and taking Dawn home.

Somewhere just north of Novato we saw a nice flock of wild turkeys. The one male was quite large and trying to seduce one of the hens. What a nice Thanksgiving dinner he would make. If you like wild turkey that is, and I certainly do not!

Arrived at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa about 1:50. We’ve stayed here many times and usually use our Passport America discount for some of the days. This time they informed Bob P A is only good for one night and if you use it you can’t get any other discount on the rest of the nights. We thought it better to just use the Good Sam discount of 10% for the whole week than to get one day at 50% off. Oh Well it is only LIFE!! Just suck it up and move on.

While we were getting set up I happened to look out and see a young lady get out of a truck in full dress for a horse show. It made me wonder where and when.

We went to meet Bob’s sister, Sherrie, at 5:30. She owns a doggy day care near by and she wanted Mac to come over and get used to the dogs she was going to have at her house this weekend. Mac is normally a very laied back puppy and not much upsets him. Of course he just went in the back and played for a while with the big puppies.

April 1, 2012

This morning I wanted to find out more about the horse show so Bob looked it up on line. It turns out it is just across the street at the fairgrounds and is free to the public. It is supposedly an Arab horse show. When we got over to the arena where it was to be taking place it was mostly just kids getting lessons. There was one man out there for a short while that was nice to watch, he at least knew what he was doing. Arab horses are probably one of the most beautiful horses in the world as far as I’m concerned.

Later in the afternoon Bob’s sister called and we went out to her house for a few hours. We took 2 nice bottles of wine for dinner and wound up bringing them back with us. Sherrie told Bob they didn’t know the difference from good wine and ok wine so don’t waste it on them. We did have some nice salad, coconut shrimp and a baked potato for dinner with cheese cake for dessert. By the time I eat the salad she prepares, which is always wonderful, I’m not very hungry. I only had a little bit so I could enjoy the rest of the meal.

Now we are back in the motor home and relaxing again!

March 25, 2012

Second post for the day: after breakfast Dawn called to say she was feeling better and thinks she is not contagious now. Bob told her he would give her an hour before we would go get her, that way she can get a shower and get around.

On the way to Dawn’s we drove through Willow Glen. What a neat little area of San Jose!! There are some really neat older homes that I’m sure were quite nice back in the day. Some are well kept and some are not. But that is true of most neighborhoods. Bob said when he used to live here it was a seperate little entity and was just as nice then as it is now just not as large.

After we picked Dawn up she said she had not had breakfast so we decided to go out for lunch. Since we had passed several neat looking restaurants in Willow Glen we decided to go to one of them. We went to John’s of Willow Glen, a small American/Greek Restaurant. Boy was it GOOD!! Dawn had Pro-Ino (a Greek breakfast) that included Greek yogurt, fresh fruit and a phylo dough pastry filled with custard that she said was pure heaven. Bob had a gyro sandwich with a salad & potato salad instead of fries. I had a souflaki sandwich with lemon soup and potato salad instead of fries. We would definitely go back there again!

The restaurant was nicely decorated with a nice frieze on one wall and mirrors on the other wall that makes it look bigger than it actually is. Some of the people were quite quaint as well. There were a couple of ladies that had dyed streaks of multiple colors in their hair and they were well into their 50’s. Dawn says she would like to live in this area because of people feeling free to be themselves.

Since there is no dump at this lodge we are trying our best to not fill up our holding tanks. At least they have nice showers for the ladies. Bob says the men’s are not as nice. I hope the next time we come through the Santa Clara Elks will have room for us. Besides no dump the camp host here is a real piece of work. Just remember if you are traveling through this area San Jose Elk’s Lodge is not the best!! For one nihgt or two you can survive!

March 25, 2012
It’s about time I did an update since it’s has now been a couple of days. So, let’s go back to the beginning!!

March 23, 2012

This morning we had a leisurely breakfast and just relaxed for a while. Bob looked at the booklet of wineries the campground gave us and picked out 4 wineries for us to visit today.

The first winery on Bob’s list is our favorite, Tobin James. Yes, of course, we bought a few bottles of wine there. We were able to get some wine that only members of the wine club can buy at half price. You don’t want to know what we spent on wine there today.

The next winery was closed so we went to Silver Horse Winery that had some very good wines and yes we bought wine there too. This winery is situated on a hill at least 10 miles off the freeway and the driveway is at least a quarter of a mile long. The view is spectacular and the wine maker’s home is gorgeous. The winery is named for an Andalusian horse. There is a picture of the horse in the tasting room, and it is beautiful!

After Silver Horse we headed toward Justin Winery about 25 miles away, but it was recommended by our friends Al & Sandy, who think their wine is the best. It is located about 15 miles kind of sort of west of Paso Robles on Chimney Rock Road, which is an extension of the street that Bubba’s is located on. Yes, they have some good wines too and we bought 3 more bottles, because they were very good and we got a good deal on them. See photos at; http://picasaweb.google.com/dmcowens

March 24, 2012

We pulled out of Wine Country RV about 10:50 headed toward Santa Clara. Shortly after we got on 101 N the small fueling station just north of town was open again. We got diesel for $4.33 per gallon, the cheapest we’d seen in days. According to what they told Bob they reopened about a year ago after being closed for a couple of years. That is the place we used to buy our fuel when we were going north on the 101.

The further north we drove the cooler and cloudier it got. By the time we arrived at the Elk’s Lodge in Santa Clara it was spitting rain. The camp host came out to the street to talk to us before we could get the car disconnected. He advised us that we would not be able to stay there because they had had a fire a couple of weeks ago in the underground wiring and they only had electricity for 4 rigs. We could only stay one night, needless to say we had to turn south and come back to the San Jose lodge.

By the time we got back to San Jose the rain was coming down fairly hard. It looks like we will be staying in for dinner this evening. And besides Dawn is not feeling well, she says she has a stomach bug and will not be coming over to spread the bug around.

March 25, 2012

Mac does not like rain at all!! The dog would not go out in the rain to go potty before we went to bed last night. When we got up this morning at least it was not raining so I put on my robe and took him for a short pee walk. Since he had not gone for about 15 hours he made up for lost time. Poor thing, I don’t know how he does it, I would have had a big problem by that time. He must have a stainless steel bladder is all I’ve got to say.

We are hoping Dawn feels better today and can come over and spend some time with us. She says she may be able to go back to work around April 1. I’m sure she will happy to be back to earning some money. She certainly seems to be determined to ride her bike back and forth to work even after this accident. I told her if she does that instead of following the rules of the road for cars, when I want to make a left turn I would cross the street I was turning left on and then cross with the light. That way she would never have to get in a left turn lane to make that turn, which is what got her hit in the first place.

March 21, 2010

I did it!! I did it!! This morning I dumped the tanks and attached the car. We pulled out of camp about 9:45 headed west again and arrived at Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield about 2:35. Traffic was fairly light all the way.

After getting set up we went to the closest 0.99 Cents Only Store which is about 7 miles away. We bought our milk, English muffins, bagels, salad fixings and cream cheese there. You can’t beat the price!!!

March 22, 2012

We pulled out of camp about 10:55 this morning still headed west and arrived at Wine Country RV Park about 1:40. It took us almost an hour to meander across Bakersfield on Hwy 58 to I-5.

About half way between I-5 and Paso Robles on Hwy 46 we saw Jack’s Ranch Cafe out in the middle of nowhere with lots of cars in the parking lot. We figured it must have awfully good food to have so cars in the middle of the day. About that time I mentioned that I had not gotten anything out of the freezer for dinner tonight. Bob said “since we haven’t had lunch I thought we could go to Bubba’s Big Bad B-B-Q and get something”. I told him “just twist my arm ever so slightly and I will be happy to go”!!

After we got set up about 2:30 we went to Bubba’s for lunner. Of course we had pulled pork sandwiches and onion rings!! What else would you have? The food is just as good as we remembered it.

On the way back to the campground we noticed a sign for a winery we didn’t remember called Le Vigne so we decided to drive over and check it out. It isn’t new at all, it’s the Sylvester Winery just with a name change. They have 3 wines for complimentary wine tasting or 5 wines in the premium wines for $5.00. After we told him we had brought 26 people to the winery about 3 years ago he gave us tastes of about 10 different wines. We wound up buying 2 bottles of the ones we liked best.

Dinner tonight will be nothing more than a bowl of soup for us. Who needs more than that after lunner at Bubba’s?

March 20, 2012

Finally Tecopa Hot Springs!!

Yesterday morning we pulled out of Terrible’s Lakeside R V Park headed toward Tecopa Hot Springs, CA, about 10:45, a day late and a couple of dollars shorter. It was absolutely beautiful , the tallest mountain peaks were covered in snow. The sun was shining brightly down in the valley. We haven’t seen a sight like that since we moved from So Ca.

Arrived Petersen’s Tacopa Palms about 11:50. For $25.00 pernight you get full hook-ups with 30-amp electric. Not too shabby. Across the road is Delight’s R V Resort that doesn’t look a whole lot different then Petersen’s for $39.00 per night. We opted to save the $14.00 per night.

After getting set up and having a good old bologna sandwich for lunch we went for a ride. The tiny burg of Tecopa doesn’t have much going for it. There are several run-down houses and a few ok ones. There are no services, store or anything like that. There is a very small grade school however.

The inhabitants of the campground get together at 4:00 for happy hour. Since we didn’t have any munchies we just took a glass of wine and joined the group on the patio at the club house. Everybody is very friendly so we carried on some good conversations. There is one little lady from Germany who now lives in Canada that is really quite cute. I knew I would like her as soon as she opened her mouth and I heard her accent.

After dinner, about 8:00, we decided to take advantage of the hot mineral baths. Boy did that feel nice, the water is about 103° to 104°, WONDERFUL!!!

After breakfast this moring and after Bob took Mac for a walk we decided to take the loop drive again but this time taking our cameras. There are some spectacular views on that drive.

After the loop we meandered on up to Shoshone, CA a very tiny town close to the edge of Death Valley. There is not much there either, just a post office, bar &grill, museum, a few houses and a service station where gas is already over $5.00 per gallon. See photos at; http://picasaweb.google.com/dmcowens

Back to the motor home where we plan to relax and enjoy doing not much of any thing and go back to the hot mineral baths again this evening.

March 18, 2012
This morning we were supposed to leave for Tecopa, CA where they have hot mineral pools, but since it is windy and quite cool we decided to stay here in Pahrump another day. We thought it would be too cool to be in our bathing suits walking to hot pools with the wind blowing like it is now.

We met Dick and Sandi at the restaurant for breakfast. The food was good and plentiul as usual. One of our friends from the club had told me the biscuits and gravy were good here so I ordered a half order this morning. It sure is a good thing too. A half order consisted of 2 large biscuits with more gravy than can be believed. I ate just about half of it and brought the rest of it back to the motor home. Yes, it really was very good for biscuits and gravy in a restaurant.

Yesterday and into the night we had lots of rain and wind, the temperature dropped dramatically. This morning we awoke to a dusting of snow on the mountains that ring Pahrump. It is beautiful but cold! When we leave here tomorrow we are going to start meandering home. You do understand it will take a few weeks for us to make the trip since we plan to stop several places along the way. Oh well that is what retirement is all about! Going, Doing & Seeing!!