as promised...pics of a grand nature

Pismo Beach to San Francisco

Pismo Beach to Santa Cruz

Toured Hearst Castle and added four hours to our travel day.

San Simeon to Santa Cruz a day to remember:

-very windy, hilly road

-no fuel on route (sweating bullets)

-found fuel (low fuel light on, quite awhile; had to back around to get in and back around to get out)

-Santa Cruz RV park not at address advertised (in the dark)

-alternate RV park full and too small to turn around (very tight -in the dark)

-finally proper directions to original RV park ( an expensive parking lot no amenities, set up in the dark, raining hard)

-drive around and around, we are tired, hungry where to eat?

-happy ending -found Santa Cruz diner with a good environment and meal.

Near San Simeon on coast

Hearst Castle-Impresive

Jack and Robin walking on gold!!

Santa Cruz to Rohnert Park

Drove thru San Jose and Oakland and past San Francisco with lots of traffic but not to bad.

Toured Napa Valley wine country, toured Beringer Winery and had lunch in Calistoga

Wine country Napa Valley

cloudy and rainy but a good tour

Stone bridge over Napa river (1913)

Drove into San Francisco and did the touristy things, had lunch at Fisherman's Wharf

Golden Gate Bridge

Trolley Car ride through San Fran

Pismo Beach

Mission Bay park in San Diego

Relaxing in the Hallway

We were planning on driving along the coast from San Diego to Pismo Beach but our Tom Tom (GPS) took us on highway 405 right through Los Angeles...

By the time we figured it out we were driving in west Holly wood and passing Wiltshire boulevard etc. A whole bunch of traffic!

Next we took a neat detour over the Santa Ynez mountain (highway 154) and ended up driving through some beautiful area... very mountainous and horsey country. Made it to Pismo Beach and stayed for one nite.

bye for now

Heading westerly

Flowers on the hillside in San Diego

Old town San Diego

Sand dunes for miles and miles

Yuma weather was fantastic! 82 degrees . Went to our first casino on this trip and contributed to the economy. Drove around Yuma and visited different resorts- checked out what's available for the retired set.

Yuma is on the border with California. so we are into our next state. In California autos pulling trailers have to drive 55 miles and hour while the rest drive 65.

On to San Diego. Neat landscape (hilly and huge rounded rocks) through the desert hills (looks like Sahara) and then out to the coastal green. Flowers are blooming on the hillsides and the grass is very green. Looks very californiaish. While in San Diego we stayed in Mission Hills Rv Park right near the water. Very beautiful area. Visited Old town which they consider the birthplace of California and did a "Diner drivein and dives lunch at the Blue Water fish market. Tried fish tacos with tuna, large shrimp, red snapper and swordfish. The fish soup was the best.

We were planning to leave San Diego on Friday March 11 and drive to the Santa Barbara area along the coast, however we changed our plans and stayed an extra day in San Diego due to the tsunami warnings. They evacuated the Rv park (along with other coastal communities) that we were planning to stay at. There was only minor damage and wave swell but best to be safe. We went down to the beach in San Diego but couldn't see very much as the day was foggy. This is definitely a surfer paradise.

The outskirts of Phoenix

Firstly... Internet access has been sporadic at best. soo my poor excuse for the lack of blogging.

We spent a month (28 days to be exact) in one spot! Surprise is an up and coming community near Sun city west and other small Sun retirement cities on the outskirts of Phoenix. We hung out with friends (thanks Bev and Lorne) and soaked up what retired life might be like in an Arizona "active adult" community. Some highlights of our "holiday" in Phoenix include:

• NHL hockey - Watched Vancouver, Chicago, Washington and Columbus play the Coyotes. We learned to yip like true coyote fans.

• Golf- enjoyed an 18 hole round of golf.

• Grand Canyon - WOW! a definite must see. Neat drive through Prescott and back through Flagstaff.

• John Michael Montgomery concert and visit to a cowboy museum in Wickenburg.

• Lined up for brunch at the Over Easy, a Diners, Drivein and Dives place . Best thing was sausage wrapped in waffle batter and deep fried served with a side of maple syrup and hot sauce mixed together.

Other Impressions: Phoenix and surrounding area seem busy.. Lots of traffic, Lots of new buildings. lots of shopping, lots of older folks (at least where we were. ) Visited a sad fallen down eco-architectual experimental place called arcicento (sp) The weather ranged from cold (freezing) to nice and warm. Hung out at the pool a couple of times. A definite break from our "travelling" routine.

Pictures to follow.

Mesa

We've been enjoying an age 55 plus resort in Mesa Arizona near Apache Junction. The weather has been great. The resort has way too many activities available to mention them all. When they say "active" adults they mean it. Anything a person might enjoy is available from photography to May Jung. I wanted to try the Yoga but never got up in time. Some of the activities we have enjoyed include walking, swimming, ball games, luncheons on the patio and hanging out with the seniors.

Our next stop is another resort on the other side of Phoenix in Surprise. We are going to stay put for the whole month of February... Hmm taking a holiday from our vacation.

Bye for now

Silver City and Gila national park

Our trip to Siilver city included a visit to the Gila cave dwellings. A special spiritual place that archeologists believe was used for special ceremonies circa 1270. The drive up to the caves was interesting in its own way... very winding, narrow and a few times I felt the need for spiritual intervention. The mountain was 7900 ft. high. up...up...up! down...down..down.

Pinos Altos- Old mining town museum

Saloon and restaurant (circa 1880), live local talent and very good meals- a fun place.

Walk into Cliff dwellings- yes that's snow

Cave dwellings in canyon off the Gila River

Dwellings constructed 1270 A.D.

Majestic!!

Guadalupe state park

Nice buck

Lonely campers

Nice formations

Light at the end of the tunnel

...From Big Bend we went to a smaller state park. At Big Bend we camped in a parking lot with water, power and sewer at Guadalupe Mountain it was similar... the best camp sites are for generators or tenting. The weather was sunny but cold. We turtled it by bringing in the bed slide for warmth. We didn't have cell or internet here. This was our camping out time. Had some mule deer in our back yard and a short hike up the trail saw a nice 4 point buck.

The drive along the highway from Seminole park to El paso is flat, dusty, and very vacant. Miles and miles of highway with a vehicle once every ten - 15 minutes and border inspection stops along the route... the loneliest and less populated area that we have been in since entering the states.

Jack visited the Carlsbad caverns from here.

Carlsbad caverns are huge, different levels and rooms. I took the workout route and rode the elevator down the 750 feet, toured and then 'walked up' the natural entrance trail, it's a bit of a hike!

Big Bend National Park

Big Bend is a huge beautiful desert park. The weather was great while we were here, except or the last day when the wind blew ferociously.

We drove, and then walked to some very neat, natural hot springs and soaked by the River.

Drove up a large mountain and had a geat lunch at the park restaurant. The change in the landscape was dramatic and beautiful

What do singing Mexicans, copper wired beaded ornaments and painted walking sticks have in common? They are all part of visiting the Rio grande river at the Bouqullios canyon. This is one of the places where the border between USA and Mexico is the river.

The canyon is beautiful. The river at this point is more like a large creek. There is a small Mexican village across the river. The Mexicans put out there wares on the path to the canyon, with a small plastic bottle for money if you want to buy anything, and a sign that indicates that the money is for a school. We were told that the people come over in the night to pick up the money. However the day we visited The Mexicans were on the US side of the border and were aggressive with wanting us to buy. We both felt slightly uncomfortable. The border patrol is everywhere down here as the border is easy to cross.

Big Bend is a great place to visit.

more seminole pictures

welcome to the gods

cave from inside looking out

pictograph on cave wall

sunset from our front door

Seminole canyon

Panther cave

Seninole canyon lookout

looking towards the south

orange cactus

the hiker?

Seminole canyon state park

What an amazing place. We are at the junction of the Seminole canyon and the Rio grande. You can practically hear the cowboys yipping the doggies along.. and at the edge of the canyon (100 foot drop) over looking the river, I'm sure we saw where Butch Cassidy and Sundance kid jumped into the water. Mexico is just across the Rio. There are caves with pictographs and early cave art.. A famous cave is called the Panther cave. We walked a 6 miles round trip in the desert and saw some truly great things. Yodelled in the canyon, and it yodelled back just as it supposed to. Saw a rabbit as it crossed our path, lots of birds (including buzzards) , deer tracks, desert fauna, and a noticeable lack of humans. ( which Jack said he really enjoyed)

Took a guided tour into 'Fate Bell Rockshelter' pictographs within reach (no touch though) paintings dated back 4200 years

We're in a state park so big spacey sites with cactus and brush around. Purr cat was out scouting around along with our neighbour campers with their bird watcher binoculars --maybe not a good scenerio. Jack's been signing the "Deep in the Heart of Texas" song as the view outside our window is amazing.

Camera battery needs charging so will add pictures soon.

bye for now

ahhh Texas

"Don't Mess with Texas," this is Texas's "please don't litter" sign.

We are in San Antonio now. Home of the Alamo, the San Antonio Rose and a beautiful river walk area. The river walk has stores, restaurants and small boats that you can take to cruise down the walk. It is very pretty, with covered bridges and roads over top of the riverwalk. Reminded me of the way Venice looks in the tourist magazines.

The infamous Alamo; of Davy Crockett, James bowie and "remember the Alamo" fame. Remember? The Alamo consists of a very beautiful stone church with artifacts from the 1836 stand/battle/massacre. Along with some resurrected stone walls. It was neat seeing this famous spot.

Speaking of Crockett...We ate a late lunch in Shilos Delicatessen (tasty German food) and there was an elderly man using a walker wearing a racoon hat, complete with a tail. I thought Jack should get one.. a hat not a walker. But he declined.

Speaking of Jack.. had his first hot birthday... hot as in weather, complete with presents, chocolate cake and of course a Mexican Dinner. A first for a lot of things. Happy Birthday Jack.

Meow!

Nathan heard me meow this morning and reminded me that I have not blogged in a while. He thought I was meowing because I heard his voice on the skypeyyy thingy… Really I was meowing because I had been up for at least 5 minutes and I had not been fed yet. But don’t tell Nathan that.

Hmmph, so while I have the time, as it is only a mere 30 degrees F. here this am, (wherever here is. we moved again. I don’t understand why we didn’t stay in the warm yard. 77 plus was perfect for me to sleep away the day… of course with ac as needed) … however I digress: I will not be going outside in this cold. So I can blog.

Although it is true that I:

• make this journey bearable by demanding my particular wants when I want them ( hence the meowing this morning)
• tolerate the foreign food and not my usual canned Canadian delights
• found a use for the back of the couch... a viewing spot for when my house is stopped. (Saw a red jay yesterday and was only prevented reaching my prey by the window. Hmmph sigh).
• trained both robin and jack to attend my every need. Jack was a bit tough, but I’ve worked him around, using the suckky kitty look.. works every time.
• stand still while the leash is put on. I can get out of it anytime I really want to, so… I can be generous and let them believe that it is working. Hmmph
• have decided to go along with the expedition and allow them to plan and execute the perfect holiday for moi!

I will never, and I mean never poop outside again!

pik a tures

a friend of the fisherman

the fisherman

Christmas in the south... in a fifth wheeler... with all the trimmings.