_27 November ‘07 Tuesday

Last night was a “first”…  We “camped” at a Wal-Mart.  Yep, after all this time on the road, visiting all those different campsites from resorts to dry desert and ocean beach fronts, we finally drove into a Wal-Mart and camped the whole night long.  Not that it’s such a big thing but we were just never in the right place or the right time.  After a long drive from Kettleman to San Bernardino on some typical California freeways (which are some of the worst roads we have ever encountered), and not having found a campground close by, we pulled into the first Wal-Mart we saw as we came into San Bernardino.  To our surprise it wasn’t one of the “Super Stores” so we weren’t able to do any grocery shopping.  First thing this morning we awoke with a lot of “big rigs” moving around and finding their way back to the freeways.  We continued on Highway 215 to 10 until we got to our next campsite at Desert Hot Springs about 1:30.  Tomorrow we will again have a long drive of about 20 miles to Indian Waters RV Resort in Indio.  We are going to be there for 2 weeks.  This is the longest stop since leaving Fall City a little over a month ago and I’m looking forward to it.  This will give us a little time to do some fixing, cleaning, and a little more time for reading a good book. 

_25 November ‘07 Sunday

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family.  Unfortunately Friday morning came too fast and we had to say “Good-bye” and take our new “toad” and head south.  We drove our “Turkey Day – Birthday Girl (Granddaughter Amy) to the airport on our way out of town and boogied… 

_The weather the whole time was cool and sunny and our drive back turned out to be the same.  We made it as far as Grants Pass and found a motel for the night before heading out again by 9 in the morning.  Just after noon on Saturday we were moving back into the coach and getting ready to move out again on Sunday morning.  Our LP Gas tank was getting a little low so we filled it before leaving the campground and headed south for I-5 and our next destination Indio.  The holiday traffic was a little heavy, especially the closer we got to LA.  Tonight we stopped at a little campground in Kettleman City and will get a late morning start to Bakersfield and beyond tomorrow.  The drive from Stockton to here on I-5 was nothing but tiring and absolutely nothing to write home about.  Soooo…

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23 November ‘07

Saturday

Boy, a lot can happen in a week…  Louise and I woke up last Sunday morning and decided to “surprise” our daughters for Thanksgiving.  This was going to be the first time that all 3 of our daughters were going to be able to get together for Thanksgiving in years and we wanted to be a part of it too.  Sooo, off we went.  It took a little time and effort to get the coach put into “storage” but once it was done we saw nothing but the roadway disappearing out our back window.  884 miles later and we were pulling into Woodinville (Seattle area) and getting ourselves all ready to “eat turkey”.  Now some of you may remember that we have been giving some thought about picking up a new “toad”, and now that we have a few days without a schedule to keep we decided to go looking in earnest.  We did find a couple that really fit our needs…looks in good shape in and out…priced reasonably…not too heavy to be pulled…and had all the camping needs for us when and if we were to take a side trip in it.  Well before we signed on the bottom line we went to talk with “the expert” in towing.  I had heard about this thing called “a drive line drop” but really didn’t know a great deal about it. “ Yep, they work, no I don’t recommend it”…  A little more discussion and I was convinced that this wasn’t going to work for us.  Well now back to step one.  We really wanted a campervan but now we would have to go with our second choice.  It wasn’t that we were unhappy with our 4X4 Chev Tracker, it’s just that we wanted a little more room.  An SUV that had always come up in conversation between us was the Suzuki Grand Vitara 4X4 so we went to see what we could find and besides, we knew that this would tow 4 down without any modifications.  Hell, in town for two days and we’ve bought ourselves a new “toad”… 

_Now all we have to put our minds to is having a great few days and a Thanksgiving dinner with our family…Happy Thanksgiving !!!

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17 November ‘07

Saturday

After enjoying our time in Vallejo and San Francisco we turned northeast and headed to a new campground about 15 miles from Lodi.  But first, let me tell you about a side trip that I made…I drove over to Benicia and met with the people from Advanced Elements.  Just over a year ago Louise and I purchased our Advanced Elements “Convertible” kayak.  We have had so many incredible side trips with it, and have introduced our kayak to so many people that have turned around and purchased one for themselves, that we decided to try to become a dealer.  I spoke with their National Sales manager and laid out my business plan.  The whole thing came together for both of us, so as of now, I am a dealer for Advanced Elements Kayaks….”If there is anyone out there who would want to buy the best kayak they can get their hands on”,  I would look forward to helping you find one of the best times of your life in owning a kayak… 

OK, now back to our drive to the Sacramento Delta Area and our new campground.  After leaving I-80 at Fairfield we headed across the “Delta” area on one of the roughest and narrowest 2 lane roads we could find.  This delta area was nothing but flat rich farm fields that are laced with rivers and ponds, all held in place with dikes.  On top of some of the dikes were the roads that we were to travel in finding our new campsite.  It was a little un-nerving to drive down a steep drive from the dike road and leave the river waters, about 3 feet below the road surface on one side, to find our new “home” about 20 feet below on the other side…I sure hope the dike holds while we are there…  This campground, which is called “The Lighthouse RV Resort”, was really quite nice and run by some great people.  This was also a site that was chosen for shooting a movie.  The crew was staying in some of the cabins and some others brought in their RV’s during the shot.  The name of the movie hasn’t been “written in stone” yet, but they think it will be “In The Eyes Of The Beholder”…lots of blood and guts so they tell us. 

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15 November ‘07

Thursday

We were at the Vallejo ferry parking lot an hour before our 10am departure to San Francisco.  This also gives us time for picking up our day passes and have a much needed cup of coffee before hitting “The City By The Bay”.  The ride across the bay from Vallejo takes just over an hour and at this time of the morning we were fortunate not to have a full ferry.  Louise and I sat at one of those long bench seats with a long table between them, which has room enough for at least 6 to sit comfortably.  We did have a young lady join us.  I’ve found while traveling, that I enjoy listening for accents and trying to determine where their home land might have been or is today.  Well Petula was from Ireland and for the hour that we were crossing the bay, I’m afraid that we dominated her “quiet time”.  We thoroughly enjoyed having met her and exchanging stories and remembrances of Ireland.

_Fact is we met and talked with other tourists that were visiting from places like Turkey, Great Britain, Greece, Italy and Denmark…we really enjoyed talking with everyone and again, it reminds us just how small the world is.  San Francisco is known for their cable car systems, dining/bars, shopping, the financial district with the Transamerica Pyramid, and entertainment (we enjoyed the “street entertainers”).  I’m sure there are many more things that the Bay City is known for but that’s what we were in town for today.

_We rode every route the cable cars took and we jumped off often to visit places like China Town,

__Fisherman’s Wharf,the Maritime Historical Park, Lombard Street (the crookedest street in the world), and a couple of beautiful cathedrals.  We also saw while riding the ferry, the Golden Gate Bridge,

_the Bay Street Bridge, Alcatraz, an island Bed and Breakfast, and a lot more…it was a full day of sightseeing this great city, and thank God we had perfect weather for it. 

_11 November ‘07 Sunday

After yesterday being a very wet stay at home day and today being our last full day here, we headed for the car.  From the day we arrived here, we had been reading about the Rosso & Bianco Winery.  This winery is owned by Francis Ford Coppola and has quite a lot of the movie awards he has received over the years.  I counted 6 Golden Oscars and at least a dozen golden plates and plaques.  Along with the Oscars and plates were pictures of Francis and many of the famous stars that worked with him over the years.  His winery, Rosso & Bianco, produces the same wines that were produced by his grandfather as the “family” wines.  These were made in the basement of his New York home in the early to mid 1900’s.  They weren’t fancy wines (I thought they were darn good…), but everyday wines, wines that were on the dinner table each night.  We went there for lunch and a little sampling.  In one of the many pieces of literature that we’ve been reading, we read about the restaurant at Rosso & Bianco.  Now needing (well maybe not “needing”) lunch this afternoon, we decided that this was the perfect spot.

_It was a warm sunny afternoon and the patio overlooking the vineyards couldn’t have been a better location.  Let me tell you, it was the perfect spot and a wonderful lunch to boot.  The restaurant, surrounded by the multicolored vines of the winery, is located inside an architectural marvel known as Rosso & Bianco.  You might say we really enjoyed our day….

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November 10, ‘07

Saturday

Our campground is 4 miles north of Cloverdale, and right beside the Russian River.  Some great tasting wines come from all over this area of California, and I’m sure the water from the Russian River has something to do with it.  We had no more than checked in to this campground and we were underway to visit the Chamber of Commerce.  We met with this lady at the Chamber that had the personality of a slug…it was pretty bad, but we did get enough information out of her to get a good start on the area.  So over the next 4 days we were out “cruising” for towns of the area, wineries, lakes, rivers, and more of the Pacific Ocean.   It doesn’t make any difference what state or country you are in there are towns and villages that are worth taking the time to visit, and then there are those that you just pass through.  In visiting Healdsburg we found ourselves out of the car and going from one store front to the next…it was a great little “burg” (Healdsburg).  The Chamber of Commerce here was 100% more enjoyable and informative than our last experience.  This would be a great choice for our next home if we were looking…AND WE’RE NOT !!!            We’ve been graced with great weather since we’ve been here so we’ve been looking for a good place to do some kayaking. 

_Lake Sonoma  was suggested to us many times over and for good reasons.'  The drive to the best kayaking area took us on a VERY narrow, WINDING and TWISTING, ride up and over some very high hills and ending at the edge of Lake Sonoma.  The lake was made by damming and in doing so, it left a ton of inlets to go into and explore.  We only covered one of the many legs of in our 2 hour paddle, but for the first time out in months, that was definitely enough.  We also took the time to visit another casino…The River Rock Casino.  High on the hill above Healdsburg we found a casino that busses people in from as far away as San Francisco.  For the second time in as many visits to a casino, I came out money ahead.  This time I left the machines with $100…notice I said “I” ???  Let’s just say Louise had a great time.   Yesterday we took the Tracker and headed out for the day.  Our route took us along the banks of the Russian River, winding through miles of wineries and vineyards, small villages, and cattle country before coming out at Bodega Bay and a place to have a picnic lunch. 

_We’ve also had a chance to shop at Costco and Trader Joes in Santa Rosa, and I’ve taken time to put a coat of polish on the coach when we get back in the early evenings. 

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3 November ‘07

Saturday

Yesterday we drove Hwy 101 from Eureka to Ukiah.  Not having a prior thought of what campground we would be staying at in Ukiah, we pulled off the highway about 20 miles north of Ukiah, in Willits.  I noticed this RV Campground sign coming up on the left side of the road and told Lou that “this one looks good”.  It did look good until I hit the first pot hole that just about turned the coach over, and then once inside the gate, we quickly noticed that we really didn’t want to camp there…it was terrible !!!  We even had people coming out of their “campers” checking us out  It was quite obvious that they were taking bets that we were trying to find the quickest way out, and they were right.  The roads inside of the campground were sooo bad with pot holes that Louise had to go back in the coach and try to hold everything in place while I was trying to get back on the highway.  I think we have learned a lesson…”look before you leap”.  We continued our drive down to Ukiah and our quest for a campground.  We saw a couple of signs and chose the one at the Ukiah Fairgrounds.  After all, we had a pretty good campground at the fairgrounds in Eureka and this one looked even better.  Fortunately it is good.  This morning we awoke to a beautiful day and decided to make the most of it.  We grabbed the map, a tour book, and headed out.  Yesterday we didn’t have a look at Ukiah so this morning was it.  It didn’t give us anything that said we must stop, so we continued on.  At the end of town we found a road sign that told us that we could reach Hwy 1 and we decided that this would be a good ride for the day.  The ride took us through the Coast Mountains with some of the curviest we have been on.  Thank goodness we weren’t driving the coach.   About 10am we pulled into Boonville.  It is never surprising to find places like Boonville…very quaint and welcoming.  It is located about half way through the redwood forest areas on our way to Hwy 1 and the Pacific Ocean.  Well as you know, I am one that loves to stop at coffee houses and especially those that are tied to bakeries…  Now we found a good one here in Boonville.  Not only were the coffee and bakery goods “really good”, the service was outstanding…nice gals.  They also recommended that we continue out the road to Mendocino…”it is one of those perfect little towns on the coast that you’ve got to visit”.  We knew that we were in “wine country” but had no idea that we would come across Roederer Estate Winery.  The Roederer Sparkling Wine is one of our favorites, and we were excited to find them.  Of course they were offering a “tasting”….  Now that we had found the Roederer Estate Winery, we could have said that the “day is complete”, but no we’ve got to find Mendocino.  Mendocino is one of those picture perfect California coast towns that you’ve just got to visit.  We’re glad we did.  Now we had one more town along the coast that we wanted to see today…Fort Bragg.  We thought that we would find the remains of the original fort, but we found out that it had disappeared years ago.  We did find something unusual in Fort Bragg…

_a tour of old “rail or track cars” were arriving in town just as we were.  I’m not sure that they are called “rail or track cars”, but it is those little cars that used to ride on the railroad tracks and check to make sure that the rails were still in good shape.  Anyway, there were 25 little cars that rode the rail from Willits, over the mountains and into Fort Bragg.  There are a number of “rail car” clubs in the country and they get together to travel the rails all over.  They will be riding the rails in Alaska for 7 days this next spring…it sounds like a blast !!!  I want one…  I did meet this couple that had one for sale. 

_They want $4,000 for it and tell me it is in perfect condition…it looks just like the orange one above.