May 15th – we left Indio and headed south on state road 86S which goes along the western shore of the Salton Sea.  We didn’t get close enough to get a good look this time but the Salton Sea is about 35 miles long – North to South – and about 15 miles wide at it’s widest point.  According to the stuff we found on the net it is having a pollution problem.  The sea has no outlet so water flows in from the surrounding mountains and evaporation is the only way out.  What that means is that all of the contents of the water – contaminates that is – are left behind in the lake.  Since most of the contaminates are from agricultural fertilizer the pollution encourages algae growth and it causes fish and other creatures to die because the algae consumes all of the oxygen in the water.  In October we plan to go North on highway 111 along the Eastern side of the sea where we can get closer to the water and see some of this for ourselves.

Everything ran great – the air temperature got as high as 94degrees and the engine got as hot as 205 degrees without any perceptible fan noise – and gas got back to $3.69 per gallon as opposed to the $4.29 high that we paid several times while in California.

Now we plan to spend some time catching up on lots of chores and friendships.  We may take a short trip – a week or so – up to the Show Low area since Carol’s brother Scott has now moved up there.  Spending a little time with Scott and getting out of the heat this summer are good reasons to go there and Scott has space in his yard for our coach.

I am planning to add a “between trips” post category soon.  This will give me a place to track miscellaneous activities and maybe keep you reading.  See you soon.

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May 14th – we have visited California at least once every year of the 6 years we have lived in Arizona.  The destinations are Salinas for business and friends, San Jose for son Brian and his family and the Sacramento area for son Mark and his family.  We have tried several routes there and back, especially since we bought the GMC motorhome.  With the cost of gas the way it is we spend about 60 cents per mile for gas and the round trip to the farthest point and back is more than 2000 miles.  If we add detours it goes up from there.  We want to make the best use of our fuel dollars and see some things we haven’t seen before and spend some time at some of our favorite places from the past.  This year is no exception.

Our Pismo Beach, Avila Beach, and Morro Bay stop is one of our favorites.  We have some good friends in the San Diego area and would love to visit them on the same trip but getting to the other side of Los Angeles from up North is prohibitive.  Also, we get to be in a hurry to get home by this time in the trip – especially since we have lots to do there and it is having some of the best weather of the year.

Our compromise is to head travel some new roads.  Today we left Pismo Beach and headed South on US101 to the Ventura area and then headed East on California route 118 through Simi Valley – our first time on that road and we liked it.  Not a lot to see but lack of traffic problems is always good – lack of RV problems is also good and Barbie is really behaving.  The cruise control works great (except for some drop-outs on hills to be investigated) and the starter still amazes me.  State route 118 connects to I-210 which, except for Pasadena, skirts most of the traffic around LA.

We got to the Spotlight 29 Casino in Indio before 4pm with no problems.  We stayed here in January with the other folks going to the FMCA rally just down the street.  They don’t mind us being here and it is busy enough to feel safe with a dedicated RV lot – dry camping of course and we now have our own WiFi connection.  Life is good.

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May 13 – we made an omelet and some ham for b’fast this morning.  Drove up the coast a little to Avila Beach – a nice little town that is a lot more laid back than Pismo Beach.  We have spent time there with my sister Diane and her husband Davin at the Avila Beach Resort, a timeshare that we traded into.  The town has grown a little in the years since then and it is still nice.  When we stayed at the resort we ate a couple of dinners at the restaurant at the end of the pier called Olde Port Inn – we loved it but it has been more than 5 years so we don’t know if it is still the same.

At Avila Beach there were a bunch of ’32 Ford hotrods – probably a local club’s cruise I would guess it is something like a GMC rally.  I will be looking for cruise nights and car shows in the Tucson area to take our coach to – time to get into sell mode and get some new owners hooked on these things.

After our large and late breakfast we figured we’d have a late lunch and no dinner.  When we finally got hungry again in the late afternoon we headed out to see what we could find.  There are some reviews of the Pismo Beach Fish and Chips place just down the street from our camp site so we gave it a try.  Best fish and chips I’ve had since I was a little kid.  Funny thing is that the place was founded by a Dutch woman back in 1959 and the place I remember as a kid was in a building that was modeled on a Dutch windmill – maybe there is something about being Dutch and making good fish and chips?

Here are today’s photos:

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May 12th – We slept in a little and then had a healthy breakfast of European style whole milk yogurt from Trader Joe’s and a couple of eggs and a slice of toasted Beckman’s sour dough bread that we got at the farmers’ market in San Jose on Sunday morning.  That yogurt is really good – my son Brian introduced me to it.  As soon as we could justify being hungry again we took a walk on the beach and then walked the half-mile or so to the Old West Cinnamon Buns store where, because of me, we each ordered our own as opposed to what we did last time – we split one.  I also ordered the full boat of nuts, raisins and cream cheese frosting.  I recall the roll being warm and soft last time but this time it was cold and harder than it should have been.  It was not very busy so I am guessing the best time to come would be when it is busy.  Last time – our first time – was on Memorial Day weekend last year and it was very busy – and much better.  Still much better than Cinebon.  Their coffee is good too.

Next on our list is a ride on the beach in the Tracker sometimes know as “Sandy”.  Since our coach is named “Barbie” after the Barbie-mobile of Barbie-doll fame, Carol decided that the Tracker needed a name too.  Pretty much our first trip towing the Tracker last year brought us to Pismo Beach too and we took it out onto the sand.  The resulting abundance of sand in all cracks and crevices caused Carol to pick the name “Sandy”.  This year the ride was not as entertaining but much more peaceful.  There was so much traffic on the beach last year that traffic cops were needed – this year… not so much – see the photos below.

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May 11th – we left San Lorenzo County Park in King City at about 10am and drove a comfortable 55mph down US101 to Pismo Beach where we checked into the Pismo Coast Village RV park right on the beach.  A short walk gets us onto the beach about 1/2 mile from where cars can enter.  We wanted to stay at a city or county park but the state park at Morro Bay is now $50 per night and this really nice private park – nice but crowded – is $42 and it is full hookups and in a great location.

Speaking of location – we are within walking distance to the Old West Cinnamon Rolls bakery.  They are really good.  I once had a Cinnabon cinnamon roll in the Charlston, SC airport and didn’t even eat it all – not good.  Old West Cinnamon Rolls are in a different league in my opinion.  We will be walking there for ‘breakfast’ tomorrow – we are on vacation so we can cheat on our normally very strict diet ;-).

As soon as we hooked up and checked in we went looking for some coffee and some lunch.  There was a coupon for a free Peet’s coffee on the Pismo map they gave us so we decided to take advantage of it.  We had a very strange Panini sandwich at a local coffee place and wished we had gone straight to Morro Bay instead.

As soon as we finished our sandwich we headed out in the Tracker for Morro Bay.  We took Los Osos Valley Road from US101 to Morro Bay and drove through the state park there – that was the $50 per night park – just to look.  Once we got to the town we parked and ate the obligatory stale cookie and walked to our favorite shop – The Garden Gallery – a very nice shop that sells everything – ceramic pots, succulent plant arrangements, unusual fountains, etc.  and the prices are not bad but can get quite high for some items.

We had been thinking of having dinner in Morro Bay since some GMC friends had recommended it but decided to skip it for today and maybe go back tomorrow.  That panini from lunch was still hanging around.  Instead, we headed for Trader Joe’s and got some prepared – but very good – food and we’ll make our own dinner.

Here are the photos from today.  We approached Morro Bay from the south and the view of the rock through the trees is from the state park just south of the town.  The rock was formed by volcanic activity and is about 576 feet tall. The next photo of the rock is approaching it from the east.  The next is behind the rock looking back at the power plant and, finally, the power plant.  The smoke stacks on the power plant are 450 feet tall. It currently is almost completely idle for some reason.  The fuel is gas but, from the size of the smokestacks, I’d bet that it was coal at one time. 

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May 10th – our plan for today is to go boating with our friend Ted.  His boat is a 1963 Chris Craft 17 foot Custom Ski Boat that he has owned for about 40 years.  Ted arrived about 20 minutes early for our scheduled 9am departure time – Carol expected that, I guess I never noticed.  We took a leisurely 45 minute drive to Lake San Antonio – a part of the Salinas Valley water supply – a beautiful drive through the oak studded hills of the Central Coast.  The boat ride itself was very nice.  The boat is powered by a 283 cubic inch V-8 and was designed for skiing so it has plenty of power.  Ted never went too fast and frequently slowed to idle for slow cruising so we could talk and look at the scenery.

On the way back to King City we stopped at the County Park Visitor Center and museum where some years ago Ted was the proud contributor of a very large arrow head that he found on the shore of the lake.  It is displayed in a case at the museum.  Our second stop was at the San Antonio Mission which is located in what is now Fort Hunter-Liggett right near the fabulous ‘hunting lodge’ built by William Randolf Hearst.  A group of high end classic cars was touring the area and we snapped a few pictures of the ones we could.  These cars are valued up to $1million and more – according to one member of the group a couple of people flew in on private jets and helicopters to meet their cars and friends for the ride.

We stopped at a local restaurant in King City for a burger before returning to Barbie for the night.  Tomorrow we are off to Pismo Beach and Morro Bay.  See you then – meanwhile here are some photos from today:  don’t forget to put your mouse pointer on the photo below and click on the ‘full screen’ square that appears at the bottom right of the photo.

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This post will be longer than usual because I didn’t do any work since just before we got to King City on April 25th.

The GMCWS Rally

The rally in King City, CA was my first as president of the GMCWS Motorhome Club so I had lots of learning to do while performing my Presidential duties.  I had a blast and everyone was very complimentary.  The reason that I haven’t posted again since we arrived is that I was too busy and having too much fun.  The people are all so nice and they share a love of the GMC so they must be fun to be around.

For photos from the rally see this link.

Mark’s Family in Sacramento Area

Immediately after the rally was over on Monday morning Carol and I had to make a beeline to the Sacramento area because our grandson, Alex, had a Tee-ball game that evening.  We only get to see our grandchildren once or twice per year and every minute is important.  Getting a chance to be present for an important event in a grandchild’s life is precious because they are few and far between.

We spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights there and had a great time.  The most notable thing is that my cat allergy was apparently gone.  My son’s mother-in-law Linda had given him a treatment – herbal, homeopathic, or whatever – for allergies and he said that it made his pretty severe allergy to grass – as in lawn mowing – go away.  I have (or had?) a very severe allergy to cats and the allergy causes itching and asthma.  If I stay in a house with normal house cats (there is one exception) for more than a couple of hours I end up wheezing and it is difficult to breathe.  The effects last for a couple of days.  I took the remedy as instructed for almost a month before our visit and had no perceptible reaction even after being in the house for several hours each day and spending the last evening sitting on the over-stuffed sofa (usually verboten) in the middle of the carpeted living room (cat dander central) with 3 cats sitting on the floor in front of me and I had no symptoms.  This is a miracle — really.

Other than the cat thing there were several well planned and cooked meals.  Mark and Kristin are a great team.  They work together to run their really large and successful dog boarding and training business – The Local Bark – and are raising 3 beautiful, well-behaved and extremely smart (of course) children.  We didn’t visit their business this year but know that is doing well and growing really fast.  It is really impressive how they handle their hectic lives so well.

Here are some photos from our visit with Mark’s family:

A “Quick” Visit to Applied GMC in Fremont

We left Mark’s on Thursday morning after Mark and the kids left for grandma’s, school and work for Brooke, Katie and Alex, and Mark respectively.  We were on our way to Brian’s house and planned to make a quick stop at Applied GMC to return whichever cruise control module was appropriate – the old broken one or the new unneeded replacement.  It was the old broken one because the new one works better than the old one ever did.  Thanks JimK at Applied GMC.

The visit was supposed to be quick but our started failed again.  The symptom has been occurring and getting worse for a year – turn the key to start and no sound at all and the lights on the dash go out.  After lots of work and suggestions of rewiring the starter circuit it turns out that although I thought I had eliminated the “Park/Neutral Safety Switch” as a cause for the problem with a simple jumper I had actually jumpered some other switch – I don’t yet know which one – and the problem persisted.  It was the problem and the coach starts very well now.

Alonso, one of JimK’s mechanics at Applied GMC, found the problem and jumpered it in time for us to make it to Brian’s house and dinner.

Brian and his family in San Jose

We arrived at Brian’s house in San Jose and had a really nice dinner and a visit with him and his family.  We had a nice visit with the family – our daughter-in-law Chris and grandsons Brandon and Kyle.  We had planned to stay 3 nights but hated to leave on Mothers’ Day so we decided to stay an extra night.  It felt relaxed probably partly because, unlike normal yearly visits I was not recovering from the cat allergy results.  We spent Friday just visiting with Chris and Brian and having lunch at a neighborhood Mexican restaurant.  Friday night Brian and I watched the Sharks game while Carol, Chris and the boys played games. We had some good pizza for dinner.

Saturday we shopped a little, ate a little and visited a little.  A quiet relaxing day.  Played a little wiffle ball baseball with Brian and the boys on the front lawn and then had a delicious meatloaf dinner.  Sunday was Mother’s Day and Chris’s Mom and Dad and sisters and brothers-in-law visited.  Chris’s Mom and Dad are very generous and Mom loves to cook and prepare lots of good food for every event.  We ate lots of good stuff.  We finished the night off by watching the Sharks again – they lost both playoff games, Friday and Sunday, and playing board and card games with the family.

Here are some photos from our visit with Brian’s family:

Monday – back to Salinas and King City

On Monday we gassed up – and gasped up at the nearly $200 fill-up at $4.26 or so per gallon.  We made a stop in Salinas to visit Artistic HangUps, our long-time business now owned by Carla, a former employee.  The coach was acting up a little – seemed to be starving for gas once in a while – so we stopped at Elmer’s Auto Parts in Salinas and bought a new fuel filter.  Haven’t installed it yet – will wait until I can tell if it fixes something.  I am suspecting that getting down to about 4 or 5 gallons left in the reserve tank caused some junk to get stirred up and clog the filter.

We are scheduled to do a little boating on Lake San Antonio tomorrow with our friend Ted and his 1963 Chris Craft speed boat.

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Twice a year we head for a Western States GMC Rally.  This time, it’s being held in King City, California.  We arrived at San Lorenzo Park early Monday afternoon, and fell in love with  the Park the minute we passed through the guard station.  The path to the campground is lined with trees of every kind –  from Eucalyptus to oak and pine – and every site is nestled in the trees.  I love the variety of trees here and I remember how much that impressed me when I first came to California in 1973.  Never thought I’d be sitting among them 38 years later,  listening to the sound of their various seeds and leaves gently raining down on the tin roof of our GMC.

King City is only about 40 miles south of Salinas where we lived and worked for 17 years before we moved to Arizona in 2005.  Although we traveled to King City on many occasions during that time, and even visited this park once or twice, we never realized what an excellent campground they had to offer.  It is so spacious and quiet.  The sunlight is filtered through the trees and the mild breeze is refreshing.  Temperatures in the 80’s don’t hurt either.

Everywhere you look, there are wild flowers and green hills dotted with dark green trees.   It’s easy to see why Steinbeck was inspired by this little pocket of heaven.  Thanks to Joanne and Phil Hernandez for finding a perfect venue for the rally.

p.s.  No wonder this area is renowned for it’s produce.   We got some local strawberries from Red Blossom Farms in Salinas and they are unbelievably fresh, sweet and delicious!

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We are in James Dean country

We had a restful sleep in the WalMart parking lot.  The foil insulation over the windows really made a difference shutting out the light – why didn’t we think of that before?  The trip was a short one – only about 3 hours and no significant issues.  The cruise control is still not working and we made a pit stop at a rest area on highway 101 and the starter wouldn’t function again.  I have been assuming that the problem was a grounding one but now I am thinking the starter itself may be the culprit.  Gene Fisher will be bringing a newly rebuilt starter to the rally and I think I may put it in and try it.

The San Lorenzo Regional Park – the site of our GMCWS rally – is a beautiful place.  We had been here before years ago when we lived in the area but never to the camp ground.  It is probably the nicest campground we have ever been in.  Here is a slide show of the park and some early arrivals.

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We got up pretty early and got going at 8:00.  We really took it easy and didn’t get to Bakersfield WalMart until 4:00.  That was 3 hours longer than the computer (MS Streets & Trips) said it was.  That was because we took it really easy.  First reason was I kept trying things on the cruise control.

Vixen 21 - pretty rare - only about 360 made

Second reason is because we spent some time talking to some folks we met at Kramer Junction.  When we were pulling into the Pilot gas station at the intersection of highways 58 and 395 we saw this strange looking motorhome.  Carol was busy taking this picture and the driver was waving at us.  He turned into the gas station so he could take photos of his coach and ours together.  This thing is pretty small – about the height of an SUV, 21 feet long.  The top tilts up when parked to give you head room.  The killer is that it gets 28 mpg!!  Turns out that the BMW turbo diesel pusher is pretty underpowered and he seemed to be having a hard time getting over Tehachapi pass after we parted company.

Vixen 21 at the gas station

Green hills - Spring in Northern California

The last few times we have been back to California we came too late and missed the green hills.  In the late Spring the hills turn to gold and are, we think, very pretty but it sure is nice to see them green once in a while.  When the rains come to the area in the Fall or Winter, the hills turn green and stay that way as long as the rain keeps coming – about April or May – and then turn brown/gold.

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