The 'luxury' of motel rooms and restaurants got old very quickly. Although the last review was originally scheduled for Saturday, the owners were very accommodating and we did Clearwater, BC (review # 92) a day early. When we wrapped it up about 1:30 Friday afternoon, we decided to point the car south and head 'home'; albeit it's still not 'home, home'.
We were treated to herds of big horn sheep at the beginning of our trek along the Canadian Rockies and then again as we left the area. It's amazing to us that these wild creatures show no fear of humans - or vehicles.
We also took time to stop at a huge glacier and Roger got some awesome pictures. The weather cooperated this year and it is one of the most scenic drives we've ever taken.
Last year the 8% downgrades coming south made me extremely nervous, but I blamed it on towing a 38 foot fifth wheel behind us. However, those same grades are no better in a rental car. They are just plain scary! So glad that portion of the route is behind us.
Turned the rental car in this morning, saving a couple days on the cost. Spent some time then pricing the dishwasher I picked out, buying supplies, and getting prescriptions refilled. Have decided to buy it at Sears, and the sales guy was generous enough to tell us that it was going on sale tomorrow, so it would be worth waiting one more day. So we'll venture out again tomorrow and make our big purchase. We get some strange looks when we tell them we want to pick it up in Oklahoma! But as is always a danger when shopping for one thing . . . I found a washer & dryer that I fell in love with! Maybe next year. Roger still has a TV to buy when we get home.
This afternoon we've spent getting re-acquainted with our recliners. Pulled some left-overs out of the freezer and popped them in the crock pot. It's a good day.
What a delightful surprise for these two dog lovers! But first, to get from there to here.
The day had been a bit stressful; dealing with the unknown always is. Had a good exit review with the folks at the Burlington, WA KOA – then it was time to pack up for our time across the border. With the blessings of our boss, we had made arrangements to leave the yellow rig stored at this KOA, and rented a car for our trek to Canada.
Over the years we have had so many major hassles with the border crossings – the yellow rig just is not well received at the Canadian border. The major issue seems to be the Canadians concern that we are ‘stealing’ work from Canadian citizens. Last year they requested documents that do not seem to exit (per the KOA legal experts), so it was decided that this season we would simply go in as KOA employees on holiday. In reality, that is just what we are . . . for after dragging that 38 foot of trailer around since mid-March, a few motel rooms with unlimited hot water for showers is in indeed a ‘vacation’! Add the luxury of getting to eat out for a few days; and we call that a pure holiday. True, five reviews to do in the process, but we will also get to see lots of beautiful country as we drive between the parks. Picking up the car went without a hitch and we were soon headed north. We breezed through the border with only a bit of a ‘language’ issue. The border guard couldn’t understand Roger’s Oklahoma ‘english’ and he couldn’t understand her Canadian 'twang’.
Having planned for delays, and having none, put us in Canada about 3 hours prior to our reserved ferry sailing of 7:00 p.m. Drove around a bit until we found the “abc Country Restaurant” and it seemed a pretty safe choice for an early supper. Got a bit of a shock when we ordered ‘unsweetened ice tea’ only to be told they had none . . . only sweet tea! (Thought I was in Virginia again!)
I was so shocked I looked at the waiter and said, “You are kidding, right?” He assured me he was not. He then stated the only ‘unsweetened’ tea they had was ‘regular’ tea, and it was definitely not iced. Although both Roger & I have taken ourselves off carbonated diet drinks, we opted for a known and ordered a couple of Diet Cokes.
Roger’s meal of fish & chips . . . and mine of a bacon cheddar steak burger – complete with a side of wonderful homemade onion rings hit the spot. Frankly, our bodies haven’t ingested that much ‘grease’ in months. . . not since our last Del Rancho sandwich, anyway!
We lingered as long as we thought we could, then decided to head on to the ferry to Vancouver Island, arriving about 5:30. Thinking we still had another 90 minutes to kill, we delighted to find that there was a possibility of room on the 6:00 p.m. sailing, so our wait was short and sweet. Even lucked out and got one of the newer ships and our car ended up parked right by the elevator.
A very smooth sailing of about an hour and a half – and we were even treated to a pod of Orca whales frolicking alongside our ship, right outside our window.
Life is good, but then it got better! Drove off the ferry at Swartz Bay and headed south towards Victoria, looking for a likely motel for the night. Spotted a Super 8 that looked promising, but they only had one room left . . . and it was a smoking room. We declined and headed across the street to the Quality Inn, built in the English Tudor style.
When Roger came back to the car with the room key, he smiled and said, “There is a Basset Hound behind the registration desk.” He then handed me the key card and it said “Waddling Dog Inn”. Sure enough, the little sweetie was still on duty when I stopped to say hello. It made our day!
The interior of the inn is just as charming as the outside, and one gets the feeling that you’ve landed right in the middle of an old English hunt club. Pictures of Bassets, Basset figurines, even iron work Bassets on the exterior window sills, and best of all, a real live Basset!
We 'officially' met "John" the next morning. . . and learned he is actually "John the fourth", with a personality all his own. His owner tells us that he definitely appreciates the finer points of 'napping' - which is probably why we are such fans of the Basset Hound. They truly fit our chosen life style.
A very quiet 4th of July for us . . . rest was the order of the weekend.
Spent Friday morning finishing up the review here at the Ellensburg, WA KOA - then drove the 40 miles south to Yakima to do some shopping, errands and the ever present laundry! Wanted to get it all done on Friday, so we could truly have two whole days OFF!
Our Independance Day treat was chicken & noodles - Roger's favorite. I know that seems a bit strange, but we so seldom sit still long enough to put a chicken in the pot! Made enough that I fear we will be tired of them before they are gone. At home there is always lots of very willing family to help us eat them!
Did some shopping for a dishwasher - lots of looking - then decided to come back and do some research on-line. As always, I start out wanting the 'latest & greatest' - and usually most expensive, then talk myself into mid-range and sensible. Am giving serious consideration to a 'Bosch' - which has been rated #1 for the last three years.
I had been complaining loud and long about disliking my present dishwasher - the one that came with the house. So Randy & Shelly kindly took it off my hands earlier this summer, when theirs quit. Knowing I would have to purchase one when we returned home, the necessity of it became a bit more urgent when we learned that our house was the scheduled site for a couple of wedding showers in late August. After doing our research, it looks like we will indeed need to purchase it before we get to Oklahoma - to allow time for it to be shipped - even when purchasing it from Sears or Lowe's. Roger's thinking that if we go ahead and get it bought - just maybe the boys will find a way to get it installed before we get home! LOL
This week we head into our least favorite part of this Western region. Not because of the KOAs - or the owners - but because of the difficulty we have moving around in this area. We head to Seattle/Tacoma today - and should encounter the first of the world-renowned TRAFFIC! Then we head north for three visits, before heading on into Canada. The campgrounds are 400+ miles apart up there. Lots of beautiful scenery, but the Canadian Rockies make the US mountains look pretty tame. Then when we finish with the mountains, we have to face the ferry rides to and from the Victoria KOA on the island. Once we get back on US soil, it will be one more ferry ride over to the Port Angeles KOA - and then it should be smooth sailing south for the rest of the season. The only drawback then will be the heat!
But, at least, we are on the downhill run now. With luck, we should finish up mid August. We'll now be leaving the rig in Las Vegas, which will make it much easier to arrange for end-of-the season service on the truck & fifth wheel, as well as making it easier to catch a flight home.
Our new target date for home is now the third week in August. The wedding shower is scheduled for August 22nd and would at least like to get home and battle the dust bunnies before anyone else has too!
Eighty-three parks complete . . . which means only 30 MOL left to do! Not so bad if you say it REAL fast!
Yes, when I typed this, we were stranded!50 miles from Kooskia, Idaho in one direction and 100 miles short of Missoula, Montana in the other.
Highway 12 – one of the most beautiful stretches of road we have ever traveled! Lots of twists and turns as it follows the Lochsa River, which is almost continuously white water.
BUT, it is also a very deserted stretch of highway. We departed the McCall, Idaho KOA right on schedule, knowing we had a long travel day, with 265 miles of state highway ahead.Although the state highways are always the prettier route, they are never a quick one.
Not too long after our turn on to Highway 12 at Kooskia, Idaho, we ran in to road construction.After following the pilot car through the maze, we were stopped at the end and told we had a flat tire on the trailer.Going so slow through the road construction, we just weren’t aware of it.Thankfully there was an area where we could pull over and Roger changed out the tire.
Thinking all was well, we headed out again.Only on the road about 30 minutes, when Roger pulled over to let the cars behind us pass, only to see smoke boiling out of the axle where he had just changed tire.Much to our chagrin, we discovered that tire #2 was also ruined!On more detailed inspection, Roger found that a spring & shackle had broken and was evidently the cause of the ruined tires.This stretch of winding road was obviously just the last ‘straw’ for the suspension of the trailer.
What does one do when you are 50 slow miles from ‘civilization’ in one direction and 100 slow miles in the other direction?Since we had just passed a ranger station/info center about ½ mile back, we unhooked from the trailer and drove back there . . . only to find that it was a ‘historical’ site!Yes, we found a ranger . . . with no phone – or electricity!He directed us back about a mile to an emergency call box.Found that and the voice on the other end took Roger’s AAA information and assured us they would dispatch assistance.
Ninety minutes later a very nice patrolman pulled up, checked to make sure we were ok, visited with Roger a bit, ‘assessed’ our situation, and indicated he would call for a tow vehicle large enough to get our rig off the highway.
Two hours later, a tow truck arrived, far too small to be of any use in hauling the trailer.The trailer couldn’t be ‘towed’ as the rear wheels wouldn’t turn anyway!But the guys couldn’t have been nicer and worked over two more hours trying to ‘fix’ the trailer where we could at least pull in to the “Wilderness Gateway” national park campground for the night.Finally, about 9:30 – just before dark – we limped in to this beautiful – but ‘wilderness’ campground, on three tires.They had even tried putting the truck spare tire on, but it wouldn’t work.For those of you who aren’t campers, ‘wilderness’is just that – no electricity, no water, no sewer hookups!Now I know some folks think that ‘wilderness’ camping is their idea of ‘fun’ – and it can be if you are prepared for it!But we were not.
Not good news when we are traveling with a chest freezer full of food.Hadn’t bothered to buy ice that morning, thinking we would just grab it when we arrived in Missoula.Guess we wouldn’t qualify for any ‘Boy Scout’ awards, for we were definitely not prepared for this!
To make matters worse (if that was possible!) Roger missed the turn into the ‘loop’ where our site was, and ended up having to back the rig back a hill about a quarter of a mile.That was just about the last straw for this girl, and a melt-down was brewing.
A few days later. . .
I'm happy to report that the next day, about 1:30 in the afternoon, a young man with a portable welder pulled up and proceeded to spend the next two hours working on our trailer, welding it back together. About 4:00 p.m. we closed up the trailer and tentatively tried out 'wings'. When nothing snapped, crackled or popped, we headed on north, making it in to Missoula about 6:30 that evening. Boy, were we glad to get back to civilization! Thankfully our freezer was nearly full and the food made it through two days of no electricity with flying colors.
Since we had no way to communicate, we had sent a message with the tow truck driver to call our boss at the Home Office and alert him to our predicament, and ask him to call the Missoula KOA and tell them of our delay. Well, talk about the child's game of "gossip"! By the time we got to Missoula that evening, the story was that the 'axle had come out from under the trailer and we were in an accident . . .' Far from the truth, but that's how easily things get twisted. Me thinks that the tow guy was trying to tell our boss what 'could' have happened, instead of what actually happened . . . or maybe it just lost something in the translation!
But with that 'adventure' behind us, we decided to do two reviews in one day so we wouldn't have to reschedule several parks. Had a beautiful morning at Missoula, but by the time we arrived at Deer Lodge (about 90 miles east), a cold front had come through and we did the walk-about that evening in cold, wet weather. By Saturday morning, the temps were in the low 40's and headed lower.
Our next stop was a bit south in Dillon. Woke up Sunday, June 7th, - our 40th wedding anniversary! Opened the door to find it was SNOWING! Made for a memorable anniversary anyways! But for us, right now, it was just another day. We'll take time to celebrate this fall with our cruise to Mexico.
So here it is June and we'll spend most of this month in Montana. Had scheduled two nights in Butte, as our boss was scheduled to meet up with us there for three visits. Got word at the last minute that his plans had changed, so we actually had a bit of down time to catch our breath. At the suggestion of the new owners there, we did their exit review at Muzz & Stan's Freeway Bar - over their infamous Whop Chop sandwich! Its a fried pork chop that literally is so tender it melts in your mouth! Made for a nice break.
As I write this tonight, we are at the Bozeman KOA - one of our favorites. They have a beautiful pool and splash park complex here and it always makes me wish the grandkids were here to enjoy it. This is also the place where Roger always finds his huckleberry ice cream - and I noticed he slipped a couple of pints in the freezer this evening.
We'll land in Billings early next week and plan to take the trailer in to the dealership for a check up. It will be nice to sit still for about 3 days and hopefully catch up with some old friends. But we won't let any moss grow, for we'll be back on the road again as soon as the trailer has a clean bill of health.
I always have to go back and read my last post to know where to start! Always makes me feel a bit guilty, though, when I realize how long it has been since I updated my blog.
We did avoid the warm inland temperatures while on the coast of Oregon . . . a bit too cool for my comfort. After our time on the coast, we headed back inland a bit where we had a nice weekend stay at the Corvalis, OR KOA (just south of Salem), catching up on routine household chores, as well as doing their review. Had a really nice visit with Mike & Priscilla Greig (owners). The KOA was built on the family farm that has been in the family for many generations. Seems that when Priscilla's great-grandmother was being courted by the young fellow that would become her great-grandfather . . . her dad required that the young man become a land-owner before he would consent to the marriage! So he bought this piece of land and built a home . . . and as they say, "the rest is history"! Mike & Priscilla still live in the home that her grandparents built after the original home burnt down in the early 1900's.
Onward and upward, stopping at Salem and then heading west to Pendleton. Our drive that day paralleled the Columbia River . . . and it was beautiful in spite of the intermittent rain showers. Although the temps were still very cool, we were not prepared to hear of 9" of snow in the mountains to the east of Pendleton when we stopped for gas before heading to the KOA. I was beginning to regret scheduling an extra day in the area, but it turns out it was for the best, because there was no way we could have made it 'over the mountains & through the woods' with the fresh snowfall. Guess I need to pay a bit more attention to the geography of the areas we are driving through! This Oklahoma gal didn't dream we would still be dodging snow in late April! All I saw was 'interstate' on the map, and thought "No problem!" Thankfully the sun popped out the next day and we had smooth sailing doiwn to Mountain Home, Idaho.
A pleasant one night stop there, loosing an hour as we crossed into Mountain Time. Had rain all the way into Brigham City and we were beginning to wonder just how we were going to accomplish this walk-about. I am always a bit nervous about doing a walk-about in the rain, after my disastrous slip & fall a couple of years ago (which resulted in a broken shoulder). The Lord must have heard my petitions, as the rain all but stopped shortly after we arrived at the park and got our home set up once again.
We completed the walk about and I was sitting at the computer working on the report, when Roger spied this beautiful rainbow out the window. This park sits at the base of Mt. Willard, and is one of the rare spots where you can see the snow covered mountains to the east and the Great Salt Lake to the west. Roger was a good sport (even though he had already taken his shoes off!) and grabbed the camera to get a shot of the rainbow. It's a bit blurry, for it was beginning to rain again. One must grab those moments when they happen, for in just a few minutes, it was only a memory.
The next day found us traveling west again, along the southern edge of the Great Salt Lake. One of my favorite views along this route, is the Morton Salt plant with the mountains of salt waiting to be processed. This is a very desolate 120 mile drive to West Wendover, NV. Another 'quirky' sight, is the miles of flat sand after you pass the lake. For miles and miles it is nothing but salty, sand flats. Motorists often stop - to break the monotony - and write their names in the sand. Why is it that we humans are never satisfied to leave something 'blank'!?! Of course, one has to ignore all the "No Trespassing" signs to do that . . . and it is obvious that many do!
More rain & gusty high winds upon arriving at the KOA. But the next morning, we were greeted with sunshine and the first warm weather we've had since Crescent City, CA. We headed out with our jackets to do the walk-about, but shed them within the first 5 minutes! It felt glorious to soak up the sunshine! Struggled during our stay with my internet connection; kept getting bumped off every few minutes and I was becoming very frustrated. When we went in the next morning to do the exit review, the office was also complaining about having trouble with their WiFi. As we were leaving the store, Roger spied the headlines of the local newspaper: "Military GPS Testing Foils Local Internet". Seems the base/testing grounds just across the border in Utah were training the troops for upcoming duty in Afghanistan. We learned that a lot of essential desert training takes place in this area, for the terrain is very similar to Afghanistan.
I've always said I didn't have any desire to travel overseas, for this great United States has a bit of it all. Another 120 mile drive north, to the Ely, NV KOA. Their 'claim to fame' is being a 398 mile round trip to the nearest Wal Mart! The 'official' greeter here is Scooter, the cutest little Yorkshire Terrier we've ever come across! Sporting his very own yellow KOA kerchief, he hops on the golf cart with "Dad" to lead us to our site, which gave us a beautiful mountain view.
Since this park is 'in the middle of nowhere', owner Chuck Christensen stocks a huge inventory of RV parts. Roger always has to spend time 'inspecting' this area of the store to see if he can find anything he can't live without! :>)
As usual, Roger scheduled our exit review for 9:00 a.m. the next morning. When we arrived at the store, Patty said, "Oh, you're early!" Roger looked at his watch thinking . . . ok, maybe a minute or two. Then glanced at their clock to realize it was only 8:00 a.m. their time! We had completely forgotten that we had crossed back in to Pacific Time when we crossed back in to Nevada!
In our defense, it does get a bit confusing. Although we had been in West Wendover the night before, that town stays on Mountain Time, as it literally straddles the Utah/Nevada border. So it never dawned on us that Ely was a different time zone! As always, we all compromised a bit and made it work.
Finished with Ely, we headed back east, 190 mile trek over more mountains and much desert, to arrive at the Fillmore, Utah KOA - and back to Mountain Time! This one always feels a bit like home, for they have the same style log building that we built at the Oklahoma City KOA. Then it was south 50 miles to Beaver for a night, before landing in Cedar City for the weekend.
Ran in to old friends here, as Jack & Beverly Baker are here helping this park get up and running for the season. The Bakers owned the Moab, UT KOA back in the mid-90's when we had the OKC KOA. In fact, Russ & Randy took a couple months in the spring of '97, to come out and build kabins for the Bakers. Jack & Beverly really hit it off with the boys, and Russ & Randy still talk about what a great time they had 'off roading' with Jack! (I'm also happy to say those kabins are still at the Moab KOA and looking great!)
Mother's Day Weekend is considered a 'holiday' at KOAs nation-wide, as it is our big spring kick-off weekend charity fundraiser that we call "Come Camp & Care With Us Weekend". Campers stay Friday night (paid) and get Saturday night free. Lots of fund-raising activities are held to help support special camps for kids with cancer across the US. So, after a lunch break with the Bakers, we got the walk-about portion of our review done, and will take Saturday & Sunday 'off'!
Got to get the truck serviced, a hair cut for me, a Wal Mart run today . . . and then to kick back & relax.
Here's wishing a Happy Mother's Day to all my favorite moms out there! Have a GREAT day!
As we made our way north through California, with one night in Medford, OR, the highlight of our trip - to date - was our drive from Medford, down Highway 199, back into the California coastal redwoods. Mid-day Saturday, as we turned on to Highway 101, at Crescent City enroute to Eureka, we begin to notice the clouds hovering over the bay. Our drive took us up and at just the right point, Roger pulled off in a rest area so we could take a break and get some pictures. Have flown above the clouds many times, but don't remember driving above them! You could hear the surf crashing onto the rocks below, but you could not see them. As I stood there for a few minutes, just enjoying the view, the clouds begin to shift and we could begin to make out the foamy surf below. An awesome moment in time. One night in Eureka and then we headed back north to Crescent City. Made a couple of stops at little redwood shops in the town of Orick - but didn't find just what we were looking for.
Monday - after doing the walk-about at the park, we again 'shucked the yellow shirts' and paid a visit to the Battery Point lighthouse. One can only walk over - or 'up' actually - during low tide. We had no idea when that would be, but we were lucky enough to hit it. One has to walk down to the ocean bottom and then back up to the lighthouse. Not sure I was up to that, Roger made the walk up to the light so he could get some pics. I wandered around on the beach and picked up a small piece of redwood driftwood to add to my 'lighthouse' bathroom back home. In reading about this lighthouse, I discovered that the reason the light was placed on the 'house' was so that the light keeper could tend to the light without getting out in the elements. It is also called a 'Cape Cod' style, which is not common out here on the West Coast.
Then it was on to make a stop at the local WalMart, one of the few along Highway 101. That should hold us until we stop for next weekend for a couple of nights in Corvalis, OR. Have to admit to having a bit of sticker shock when we found that a gallon of 2% milk was $4.88! Ouch!
Roger is getting hungry for some of his favorite Pecan Sandie dessert. Found everything but the pudding, so that will have to wait another week. Took pity on him though and mixed up a batch of his favorite chocolate chip cookies. That 'infamous' Neiman Marcus cookie recipe has quickly become a family favorite. I brought just enough ingredients to make a batch a month while we are on the road! The trick is that the oatmeal has to be blended into a powder, and I didn't bring my food processor! It also has a mix of walnuts & pecans, which gives it a different twist.
Tuesday found us trekking on north back into Oregon. Temperatures are predicted to be a bit warm inland, but our next week will be spent along the coast. Yesterday (Thursday), driving from North Bend to Waldport, we made a stop at the Sea Lion Caves. When we were here in June last year there was no parking available. Traveling early in the season has its advantages . . .but also disadvantages! This is supposed to the be world's largest sea cave where thousands of these sea lions call home. Wouldn't you know, the one day we were passing that way, was the day they would have the elevator closed for maintenance! Just our luck! On the good side, though, we did get a discounted price for the privilege of walking down to the half way point to see the critters on the rock ledge. And, we got a great shot of Hecata Head light while we were at it! HOWEVER, when one walks down, one must also walk up! Thirty-seven steps and a very long winding trail down, makes for (what seems like) 137 steps and a near vertical climb back up! :>) Even the young ones among us were commenting on the trek back up!
Boy, were we feeling it, and we still have a campground to 'walk-about' when we get to our destination. We did it, but I know we both slept pretty sound last night. All that exercise and fresh ocean air, does make for some 'tired puppies'!
Today should be another pretty drive as we head north again to Lincoln City, before we head inland on Saturday. Looking forward to another Sunday off, for it is time once again to catch up on my least favorite job of doing laundry.
Friday was a very long day . . . making our way across California from Visalia to Santa Margarita. No wrong turns this time.
We passed the spot where James Dean met his demise - a 'claim to fame' that everyone still talks about.
Obviously the San Joaquin Valley is where most of our produce is grown and I think we've about seen a bit of everything! Miles and miles of fields - but then occasionally you come up on fields of oil rigs. They look like a bunch of 'bugs' sitting around, ready to pounce! In Oklahoma we are used to seeing them 'scattered around', sitting in the middle of a residential development or along the highway. But here they are all grouped together. The first we spotted in the Lost Hills area along Highway 46, then another as we drove north on Saturday on Highway 101.
Our trek of 176 miles on Friday took us almost to the coast, turning south at Paso Robles to Santa Margarita. Beautiful country here, and the park is literally right in the mountains. I always feel we need a 4-wheeler to navigate this park. It's big on kabins and tent sites. However, the bathhouses are such a trek - straight up - that I put on my 'secretary' hat and let Roger do the actual inspection of these bath houses. My joints have already started complaining about this damp ocean air, and stairs are just not something they want to do!
Wildlife abounds here and I could have sat and watched the ground squirrels all day long. The only site that 'fits' our big trailer is right on top of one of the lower moutains, and one feels like you are sitting on top of the world. The manager here tells us that it's not unusual to see a hawk swoop down to grab a ground squirrel, only to have a mountain lion leap and grab the hawk! Of course, one has to be further back in the property . . . not anyplace our yellow truck can go (although I think Roger would try!) Hands down, this park is the least developed of our 115, and it has a very faithful following.
Saturday found us heading north to the Santa Cruz area. Since we had not approached it from the south before, we decided to let our GPS, "Sylvia", lead the way. She did a fine job till we were almost there. For some reason, she directed us past the exit that said "Santa Cruz" and sent us two miles further north, only to have us basically make a big U-turn to get back to Highway 183. Go figure. Took us through a couple miles of busy commercial development; I commented that maybe she thought we needed to stop for a hamburger or something, since it was lunch time!
Then, ignoring the directions in the KOA Directory that stated to "exit at San Andreas Road and go 3.5 miles west", Roger blindly followed her through another very populated residential area that was definitely not designed for 38 foot fifth wheels! A VW bug would have been much more suited to those streets! When will we (more specifically Roger!) ever learn!
GPS gadgets are great . . . sometimes . . . but they need some way to program them that you are towing a behemoth!
Oh, I almost forgot . . . romaine lettuce and artichokes! As we traveled up Highway 101, we passed fields and fields of romaine lettuce! Quite a sight! What was even more picturesque was the fields that were bustling with farm hands harvesting it. (Oh, how their backs must ache!) Then we hit Castroville, which proudly advertises themselves as the "Artichoke Capitol of the World"! There was the Artichoke Restaurant, where you could get 'deep fried artichokes" (those folks must have come from Oklahoma!). Then there was the Artichoke Motel . . . wonder if all the rooms have artichoke themed decor?
We began seeing the road side produce markets and I didn't get excited about that until we hit the fields of strawberries! Right in the middle of harvest for those lucious berries, with plants so heavy with fruit that you could see the red as we drove by. Made Roger promise to make a stop on Sunday as we are out and about with only the truck. Think we'll buy a 'flat' and I'll work them up and put them in the freezer! Yum!
We are always treated like royalty here at the Santa Cruz/Monterey Bay KOA. It's owned by KOA, and the manager, Sally Phillips (no relation), is one of our favorites. We know her from our time in the North East when she managed the Niagara Falls property. She & her staff greet us like long lost family and furnish us with a golf cart to do the review. This very large park is a bustling city in its own right, with so much fun stuff for kids. The 'newest' thing to come along is the mechanical bull ride! Know our grandkids would love this place!
Had a nice visit with an international guest as we did our 'ride around'. He was asking for 'travel guide' advice about what to see and do in California. Roger kept saying that he could go just about 'anywhere' in that small CruiseAmerica motorhome they were traveling in. Finally the guy grinned and said, "It may seem small to you. . . but it's HUGE to me!" :>)
Up early again today - but must get busy and finish up some reports. Have a day trip to the Moss Landing KOA this afternoon, which should be a breeze as it is a KOA Express. Roger wants to be back in time to watch the OU girls play at 4:00. After all, we have our priorities!
