Letter 11 May 10,2008 to

Letter 11: Tahoe to San Francisco
From the Traveling Harrington’s.

Saturday May 10, we ventured to Emerald Bay and spent hours looking at the beautiful views. In 1928 a very rich eccentric lady bought the land around Emerald Bay and built a Viking castle, furnished it with copies of museum pieces that she was not able to buy, so she had them copied. She also built a tea house on top of the largest bay island, so she could take her guests to tea. From our viewpoints we could see Eagle Falls and the steamboat Belle. The Belle carries 400 people.




Safeway has a very nice store just 2 blocks from our campground and we enjoyed shopping there. We realized how much we miss the Safeway stores in Texas. The afternoon was spent washing hair and cleaning house.

Sunday, May 11, Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day all you mothers! We drove to Carson City and took their driving tour of the old houses and buildings including the First United Methodist Church. It was built in 1865. We arrived a few minutes early for services and nosed around to see the old chur
ch and met a few members. Their pastor and assistant pastor are husband and wife and have traveled all over the world. They shared the service. Since this was Pentecost the service focused on that glorious day. Leaving the sanctuary The Reverend Dixie was so wowed by my Methodist sweatshirt that she had someone take a picture so the craft ladies could make some for their big craft sale. We enjoyed comparing activities of the 2 churches.
We toured the old Carson City Mint Museum. It covered everything from mining the gold and silver to processing it into coins. They even had the basement set up as a replicated mine.
Back to the driving tour the city has a CD called “talking houses”. We played it as we drove around town. It is very cleverly done and HWI should copy the idea. There was a $5 deposit, but we told the lady we would keep it to take home with us.
From Carson City we drove to Virginia City and it doesn’t look a thing like the “Bonanza” TV series country. Absolutely no Ponderosas anywhere close. We did see old mines from Gold Hill to Virginia City. It looked like every piece of land had been moved. Virginia City reminded us of Jerome with lots of tourist traps. We saw a Roswell skull (thought of Bobby’s belief in extra terrestrials), saloons with suicide table and gambling places.

One even had a silver lady. Her dress and accessories totaled 3125 silver dollars. It’s a good thing she is behind glass. They had even utilized a small alley for an Alley Mall. (Another good idea for Waxahachie) There were about a dozen local characters dressed to please the tourists today. One was manning the panning for gold display. We were also enamored by 2 churches on the side of the hill below the main street. The one on the left is Episcopal, the other Catholic.
We went over a pass from Silver City to Reno, then from Reno to North Lake Tahoe via yet another pass. We started the day by going over a pass from South Lake Tahoe to Carson City. Whew, 3 passes in one day. When we came back to Lake Tahoe we drove the eastern side and the rocky shores were being splashed by the white caps and the mountain shown behind it. Beautiful!
Mother’s Day supper was at Chevy’s California Mexican. It was very good, but not as good as home.
Monday was moving day. We anticipated a long day, so we were up early. We actually drove over 200 miles. That’s a lot of miles for us. At Yuba City we stopped at a fruit stand and discovered a new berry. They had turnovers, tarts and pies made with them. They are olallieberries. We bought a turnover. It was quite good. Not as many seeds as dewberries. We arrived at Lake Solana Recreation Park and found a very nice shady spot. They have visiting pets from the farm next door and the Peacocks had to check us out. This is their mating season and they cried all day. They sound like a big cat mewing.
Tuesday, May 13, we ventured off to Napa visiting Copia, their big wine center and picked up maps and directions. Then we hit the scenic road to see wineries. We visited 3 and tasted at 2. We were disappointed in the whole area. Crowded and expensive. There are over 50 wineries in the small valley and lots of traffic, even though it is May and not a big tourist month. One winery host bragged Napa Valley is second only to Disneyland as a California tourist attraction with small roads and heavy traffic. Glad we weren’t here in the summer.

Wednesday May 14 was an exciting trip into San Francisco. It took more than 2 hours from the campground to the parking lot in SF. We walked back to Pier 33 from our parking lot near fisherman’s wharf and took the ferry to Alcatraz.

This is now a National Park and they are encouraging all the flora (butterfly bush) and fauna (gulls) to come back. Many of the guard families lived in Apartments on the island. We could clearly see SF and the Golden Gate Bridge from the employee entrance. It surprised us how close the island is to mainland. The tour includes a recorded voice system to play as you walk through the cell block. It has all the background noises common to the prison. We saw the intake room, cells and even the cells for the birdman (who actually had no birds at Alcatraz, was a sociopath and we have since hear originally from Waxahachie!) and the actual cell where Clint Eastwood escaped and the shaft he took to the roof. We walked into a cell for a photo op of us. As we left through the bookstore, an ex-prisoner was signing his book about life in Alcatraz.

Arriving back at the wharf, we walked to Scoma’s restaurant and had a wonderful dinner. Fred had broiled Alaskan Halibut (very, very good) and Olivia enjoyed a crab tower. The base was avocado, then crabmeat, then salsa, served with sourdough toast. The best part was their Roumalaud sauce. It was the best ever. We would go back there in a heart beat, if we didn’t have to drive in the traffic! We highly recommend this restaurant.
As we walked down the street, we encountered several sidewalk attractions, mimes, musicians and the “bush man”. Fred really enjoyed watching people being surprised by the bush man. Others gathered at distances, even across the street to watch. We also watched a street vendor cracking crabs. Olivia wanted to ride the cable car, but time was running out. At Angie’s request we bought some Boudin sourdough bread and for her we managed to find Lombard Street and took it down the crooked hill. Sightseers took our picture. Too bad we didn’t get one with our camera. Fred couldn’t believe people would actually find that interesting.
Getting out of SF was more difficult and time consuming than getting in. We followed the signs to the bay bridge and they led us all over downtown SF. Going in we were able to exit right at Embarcadero, which ran along the wharf area. This part of California is having a heat wave and we did not sleep well. The wind was blowing, but not into the trailer. We decided to take the next day off.
Thursday May 15. We turned on the AC. This a first time for us to use the trailer AC. It is suppose to be 104 today! This is to be a day of rest and get ready to move tomorrow. Uh-oh, the camp host drove by and told us the Suburban had a flat! We walked down to see and sure enough it was VERY FLAT. A wonderful ranger came along and offered to change if for us. It took all of us to figure out how to disconnect the spare and work this jack. It was so nice to have help. We drove into town and had the tire fixed. A screw had worked its way all the way through the tire. We visited a fruit stand and bought walnuts, tomatoes, strawberries and cherries. We have enjoyed the California strawberries VERY much. These Winter’s strawberries are the best strawberries yet. “Yum yum” says Fred!!!!!!
Mariani has a huge nut processing plant here. We visited the office to ask questions. We had wanted to visit Blue Diamond, but bypassed Sacramento where it is located. Mariani is the largest independent nut processor in California. Tiny Winters (population about 3,000) is their headquarters. They process 60 thousand tons of walnuts and 30 thousand tons of almonds annually. We started to buy some almonds, but decided to order on-line (marianinut.com) and have them shipped.

Letter 10

Letter 10: Kings Canyon to
From the Traveling Harrington’s.

May 1, Thursday, what a beautiful day in the neighborhood, clear skies and a down hill run to gas. The gas tank says less than ¼ full. Be sure to get gas before entering this park – none for sale within the park! The down hill 25 mile drive wasn’t scary, just constant down hill. Constant pressure of gearing down and braking. We made it fine - both the hill and the gas. We bought our first larfge bill of groceries, fixed Olivia’s glasses and struck out for Yosemite. We entered the valley through the tunnel entrance and WOW what a picture, a view of Bridal Veil Falls met us at the end of the tunnel. Then further on the road Horse Tail falls on the left and Bridal Veil on the right. When we arrived in the valley about 6:30 they advertised “no spots left”. The reservation places were closed, but a sign said one camp ground had space available. But when we got there it was full. Out of desperation we talked to a camp host and they told us of a cancellation, checked it with that host and we had a home for the night backing up to the river. First spot. Our neighbors had a campfire and we visited with them for a short time before retiring.

Friday morning, Fred went to the reservation office bright and early to stand in line for cancellations. We wanted to stay 3 more nights and fortunately they had one for us. We had to move. This reservation system for ALL National Parks allows you to make reservations 5 months in advance by camp site number. We are finding that many locals come here every year and spend a week or two. Needless to say for travelers like us that don’t know in advance where they will be and don’t want deadlines, it makes it hard to get in. So campers, if you have any idea where you will be, make those reservations early. If you want tips on getting a place, ask. In Yosemite we recommend spot #507. It is long enough and wide enough for us, the Suburban, and the slide out, without hitting trees or camp site boundary tire bumpers. Our new spot is a perfect Jo Adkins spot, where two rivers meet and a view of Yellowstone Falls. Angie, they have concrete bumpers around each camp spots. They were not a problem to park between, but the nearby trees do cause problems at some spots. Olivia drove over to the showers to wash her hair and use electricity to dry it. On the way she took pictures of the Pacific Dogwoods in bloom. One picture has dogwoods and apple blossoms or red bud blooming below Yellowstone falls. Fred has had some aches and pains and we went to the clinic here in the valley. They were very thorough and found nothing wrong. They were amused that Fred used prunes the day before to relieve one of his problems. Fred weighed in at 182 ….about 10-15 pounds lighter than departure date! This is a good thing!!!! It was nice to have such a good clinic right here. They are open 24 hrs a day and even have a dental dept.

Saturday, Fred arose to no stomach pain – the prunes worked! We took the free shuttle bus to the Yosemite Village and visited all the little shops, such as Wilderness, Hikers, bears, deli, village store and the Ansel Adams gallery, museum, watched a 30 minute movie named “Spirit of Yosemite”, and the Yosemite cemetery. After lunch at the grill, we hopped the bus to the Yosemite Falls and walked to the base where we could see all 3 falls, that make it the tallest falls. Back to the campground we met our new neighbors and shared their campfire. They had 2 little girl scouts and they cooked our marshmallows for s’mores. We have also met a full time motorcyclist from Fort Myers, Florida. He is in construction and because of a low activity, he is on the road like we are, camping in a 1 person tent, has all the neat equipment for cooking and is happy as a lark. We have seen all kinds of camping equipment, quite a few VW vans and the likes, lots of CampAmerica motor homes, tents, a few big motor homes, even though the legal limit here is 24’ there are many spots that would hold our 30’ trailer.

Sunday morning we left the trailer and walked to the shuttle stop and rode it close to the chapel, then walked to the Yosemite Community Church. We had not realized it has a congregation and this Sunday was their annual marriage renewal ceremony. This is a popular marriage site and most of the congregation had married here and come back each year. We were pleased to join them to renew our vows also. At the Village Store we bought bacon and milk and headed back to the trailer to fix pancakes. On the way it started sprinkling and then a little rain. We took a nap before making pancakes for supper.

The last night in Yosemite, our camp site was between a family from Holland and a young couple from France. The number of Europeans touring the USA is a surprise. USA interest among foreigners is very high, especially from European and Asian countries. The strong Euro (vs the American dollar) and school break time in Europe have combined to bring a tremendous number of over-seas visitors to the US west. Fred has really enjoyed talking world problems with the man from Holland. He finds the Dutch (I have met and visited with several others) very educated and worldly. For a country of 16 million, they have quite an impact on the world. Currently, many Dutch are emigrating to old East Germany and Poland because of the perceived opportunities there. When told of the trouble communicating with the French couple, he offered to translate. His English was near perfect, now I learn he speaks French also!

The couple from Normandy, France was very cute. They were about 30. They were obviously very frugal with their travel funds. They were in a small van with some conversions. It had an awning and a refrigerator, but little else. We invited them to join us in our trailer for a visit. They spoke very little English, but were eager to learn new words and tried very hard to communicate with us. We visited for about 2 hours. It was a pleasure to meet and visit with them. They had just arrived in the USA and started their 3 week tour. Their goal was to cook most of their meals in order to save money. They would eat out only on special occasions. We exchanged e-mail and street addresses. They invited us to stay with them in Normandy any time. Later, I wondered if we did them a service by teaching them some English words with a Texas accent!!!!

Monday we moved into Sonora CA. and parked at the Fairgrounds. There are many Fairgrounds in California that have RV parking with hookups. One other trailer was there – a Dutch family. The Dutch are everywhere!!! They were very interested in US politics. They want a Democrat president. I never understood why, but I think it has to do with economic policies affecting their country and them personally. The next one (and I will see other Dutchmen) I see, I will ask. It was a hoot to talk with them. We thought we would have internet service, but have problems connecting. This is very frustrating for Olivia. Fred isn’t affected!

Sonora is a very interesting little (population about 4,000) town. Like Waxahachie it has one main street running north and south. Unlike Waxahachie, this is the ONLY way to get through the town. All side street end at the mountain or just stop. Maybe the history of the town will give some clues about the design. I asked questions. There is wealth in Sonora. First came gold, then timber. Both brought great wealth to the area. Gold was first discovered in California at Sutter Creek only about 30 miles north of Sonora. Then other discoveries were made (including Sonora) extending the area perhaps another 100 miles further south. The locals tell me now every time they dig a hole in Sonora they find an abandoned mine tunnel. Maybe their early streets avoided mine shafts! In reality, the mountains restricted the town’s growth from east to west and forced the growth in a north and south direction. Traffic on their main street (Washington Street – also California Highway 49) is at congestion levels all day.

Gold is still mined in the area, but tourism drives their local economy. There are many stately old homes and quaint old buildings in the business district.

Tuesday we took the trailer to a repair place to fix several small things and while waiting for it, toured the little gold town of Columbine. They have restored the whole little city (it is a state park) to be like it was during the gold rush. Many school children were there watching the blacksmith and panning for gold.

May 7, Wednesday is Blaire and Fred’s birthdays. Happy Birthday Blaire!
We spent the day at the library working on line. We have not had service or cell service since we went to Kings Canyon. That is one of the reasons we had trouble with Letter 9 and the pictures. This letter won’t have as many pictures. We have found out we can only send 240 emails a day and when we send one letter to 84 people, then only 3 mass mailings will go out. So expect letters and pictures to come on 2 or 3 days. Please be patient.

After several hours at the library we said, this is enough and headed out to see the sights. Next week, at Angeles Camp, on the 17th is the annual Calaveras County Frog Jump immortalized by Mark Twain. They are preparing by hanging out clothes on the line across the streets. (How about having gingerbread men & women flags in Waxahachie?) We also saw several frogs in town. The town of Murphys was next and they have about 25 wineries, so we visited two –n Twisted Oak and Ironstone. Both had excellent wines and we bought a few bottles. Ironstone is an older winery and still family owned. They have a museum along with their winery and own the largest single piece of gold mined in North America since the 1850’s. We were so proud to hold the huge nugget. It is priceless. After that exciting event we went back to the trailer and celebrated Fred’s birthday by cooking steaks, new potatoes and asparagus with new peas in the pod.

May 8 we arose very early and started out by 7:15 because we knew we had 180 miles of little roads to get to Lake Tahoe. Words can not express all the country we are seeing. Mountains, ocean, snow, pastures, flowers: iris, Indian paint brush, daisy, roses, sun flowers, and yes bluebonnets. Today the road was narrow, twisting, turning, up and down, trees meeting over the road and beautiful. We actually made it to Tahoe in record time for us, 7 hours. About 10 miles south of Tahoe we crossed a pass and as we started down, the road went around a mountain and there was snow capped mountains and the lake in the valley. Arriving in South Lake Tahoe we found the city owned “campground by the lake” and it is. We are camped about 100 yards from the green, then blue water with snow capped peaks behind it. The weather is clear and very comfortable temperature.

Letter 9

Letter 9: Monterey to Kings Canyon
From the Traveling Harrington’s.

Thursday we drove to the Chevrolet dealer in Salinas to have the Suburban oil changed and tires and brakes checked. Since it was about 4:00 when we came back to camp we decided to visit the wharf and read all the menus until Fred decided which would be the best for the price. It was very good. Olivia sure is enjoying the crab meat. Fred has had a crick in his neck for a few days and he wants it to quit hurting.

I think Fred has fallen in love with this area. The water is so clear and the color so pretty. Because of Fred’s neck crick, we are taking a day off from sight seeing. There are some ELKS camped nearby and we have made friends.
It seems that all ELK clubs have home RV spaces and a visiting ELK can stay for $15 a night.
They sure can drink! It is noon and they are already sipping brandy. They are from Modesta - Gallo is headquartered there. Plus all the ELK clubs are drinking places. This is a camping group of ELKS. Most have huge motor homes. According to other ELKS, one ELK paid almost 2.5 million for is motor home. They have given us some tips on places to stay and where to find the Almaden winery and RV repair places. They have been very friendly and inclusive…we have enjoyed them very much.

We are in a county park and have a beautiful site. We thought we would have to move this morning, but the Elks had a lot of cancellations so they said, “Stay”! We did! It didn't take any encouragement to stay put. They are leaving now for the day to go to town for a visit with the local Elks and then shop and eat out. They have invited us to their campfire tonight. Wonder what they will be drinking then?
We did do a little sight seeing in the afternoon. We drove to Carmel valley, sampled wine at a winery, and drove to the Carmel by the Sea beach. A volunteer took our picture of us on the beach with Pebble Beach Golf Course in the back ground for our local newspaper – The Waxahachie Daily Light. We found the “Monterey Fish House” and had crab cakes and bouillabaisse. Fred was totally exhausted from that much driving.

Saturday, we declined the ELK’s campfire invitation. Fred was hurting too much so we hit the sack early, as usual. This morning we were invited to have omelets in a bag with the ELKs. This was a new experience for us. Every couple brought something to add to breakfast. There were the makings for omelets, eggs, ham, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, etc. Fruit, toasted English muffins, honey, & tator tots. Also, blenders were going for strawberry or vanilla gin fizzes and bloody Marys. Everyone furnished their own plates, cups and silverware, napkins.

The process was for each person to take a Ziplock freezer quart bag and put the ingredients for their omelet into it and write their name on the outside with a sharpie. Then there was a huge pot on a butane burner with boiling water. We dropped our bags into the pot and let it cook at least 10 minutes or until we thought it was done to our liking. Actually it was quite good. This would be a neat thing to do for youth groups, camping, sunrise service. It made me think of the Hartgraves’s Tex-Mex Breakfast on Christmas Eve morning.

One of the couples furnished lunch for the christening of their new rig – the 2 million dollars plus motor home. We toured the interior and it was beautiful. Instead of hitting one bottle of champagne on the rig, they all hit the bottles of champagne. Sandwiches, chips, almonds (the owners have an almond farm), cookies and cupcakes were provided.
After a nap and game playing, the group cooked on a grill. We ate our leftovers then enjoyed a campfire with them. They served port in little sippy glasses and chocolate. What a day!


Sunday we were glad to go to church at the Pacific Grove 1st UMC. It is a beautiful church in the woods, with Spanish moss on the trees. The right side of the sanctuary is sliding glass doors opening onto their garden of azaleas and orchids. The alter backdrop was a stain glass window of butterflies. Pacific Grove is the monarch butterfly capitol of California. They winter in this area. Too bad we were too late to see them. Please show Brenda this picture, she needs to come here to this wonderful area. After church the congregation gathers for coffee and goodies in their garden patio. The purple flower in the front of this picture is lavender. One of the members took our picture. They will be having a Mother Daughter Tea Party and one of the members offered her vintage hats to wear to the Tea. This Sunday was a big day for this area with the Big Sur marathon. The pastor had created the whole service around running and Saint Paul’s travels.

After church we drove to San Jose hunting for Almaden vineyard, with no luck, but found a private Iris garden open for viewing. We enjoyed seeing many blooms. 4 pictures.

Monday was moving day and it was also a long day. We moved inland to King’s Canyon and Sequia National Parks. In the San Jouquin valley we played guessing games as to what was growing. We identified squash, grapes, strawberries, grapes, artichokes, lettuce, lots of unknowns, and grapes. As we left the valley going east out of Fresno we saw Almonds, grapes, pistascios, grapes, citrus trees, and more grapes. When we approached the mountains we were about 20 miles away from the NP’s and the elevation was 1000. Our campground elevation is 6490 feet. All but a mile or two was on the side of the mountain. Fred figures constant 4% + grade. We pulled it fine. This climb was a big surprise to us both. Now I wish we could express in words what we see as we look outside the windows in this campground. Big beautiful trees all around us, washed by such a wonderful blue sky. It is so quiet. We haven’t seen a sequoia yet. We met our neighbors and they warned us about black bears. Each campground has a metal locking bear box. They told us to put all our food in the box! It was after 7 when we set up camp. After we chose our spot, a nice wide one, parked and put the car in a little parking lot with 3 spaces, we sat down to drink in the peace and beauty. Then slowly we realized we had taken 2 camping spots for the trailer and another camping spot for the car. Thankfully the campground is not crowded. There were lots of empty spots when we drove in. We had our choice. When we registered, Fred told the ranger we were in spot number 103, 105 and one 109! She just laughed! She said they didn’t expect a crowd and she would list us as spot number 103, but it wasn’t a problem. What a relief – a benevolent government employee!

Tuesday, what a glorious day Olivia had today….. Fred survived. We started out by visiting the Grant Grove, Robert E. Lee Sequoia and the Grant tree which is the 3rd largest tree in the world, 40’ in diameter. We also walked through a fallen tree that was used in the 1800’s as a bar, office and stable. Well, maybe not all at once. Then we drove to King’s Canyon. Canada is going to have to go a long way to beat this. The view as we came around the road to the junction view was breath taking. The canyon to the right is the upper end of Kings Canyon. The river runs through all the way and every time we saw it there was white water - level 10 rapids! On the way we crossed 10 mile creek and the one in Duncanville has nothing on this one. Grizzley Falls was not high on our stopping list until we passed the parking lot and spray hit the car. It was right there and so pretty. There are signs everywhere saying it is prohibited to canoe or raft the river and we can see why. Olivia trusts Fred’s driving all the time, but certainly on roads like this. Fred says just let me see the white line or center line to the right, which ever is further from the drop-off. Is it legal to drive 5 MPH on a California highway? Well maybe he drives a little faster. The King’s gate is carved from marble. At canyon view we saw the end of the canyon and at a point named “road’s end” we could look up to the Grand Sentinel and North Dome. Everyone, this is certainly one of God’s many creations and it needs to be at the top of your list to visit. Make a special trip if necessary. God has made many beautiful places and a lot of it is in the USA. So, get up out of your easy chair, work chair, or your comfort zone and see them. This is a place where you walk around with your head up and your mouth open. This drive is better than Cimeron Canyon, Big Thompson Canyon and the train ride out of Durango. Stokers we thought of you. Muddie, I can’t believe you and Cecil didn’t find this.

Tuesday, we covered the south side of Sequoia and Fred thought it was gorgeous. A beautiful forest with snow under the trees. We were above the clouds so we didn’t see the distant views, only the close-ups. Cruise America does a good job publicizing America in foreign countries. They have rent-a-motor homes and there are surely a lot of them on the roads around us. We have been told to watch out for them because they like to take their half out of the middle. We saw 6 in the parking lot for the General Sherman tree x2. It is the largest tree in the world. Fred enjoyed getting as close as he could to the snow banks. We have met a neat couple of search & rescue volunteers from the Los Angeles area. She is a CPA, so they took a break after April 15th for some R & R. There are only 2 campers on the end of the loop. We can only see one other camp form our spot(s).The other trailer is across the street from us. We have enjoyed sharing campfires the last two afternoons. They have a new trailer and are enjoying the upgrade from a tent trailer. We built a campfire and shared with them. The coals were so inviting we put potatoes in to bake and an onion. We had those for supper along with Pam Stoker’s Chicken & Dumplings, YUM! Thank you Pam. Olivia introduced our neighbors to “womp warmers” – a serving of coals under your camp chair for warmth. It works! They were amazed! In this park, the low temperature was about 30 degrees. We set our thermostat about 63 degrees and sleep very well. We have tried warmer settings, but it isn’t as comfortable for us.

For all non campers, we offer the following. At this location, there are NO campsite utilities. No water, electricity or sewer services are available. Most call it “dry camping”. We use our propane for heating (ducted furnace) and cooking – cook top and oven. Our twelve volt batteries supply the power for lights and operate the fan for the heater. We bring in fresh water in our sealed water tank and carry out our “used” water in sealed tanks under the trailer, which we dump at the next available location.

Letter 8

Letter 8: Santa Barbara to
From the Traveling Harrington’s.


Sunday morning we left Lake Cachuma on the Ynez River and visited the

1st UMC in Santa Maria. It was a larger church than any other we have visited to date. The service was very nice, the congregation reminded us of ours in age and dress but the young preacher wore jeans and a sweater. He delivered a good sermon. Fred was late ….he shaved in the trailer in the church lot! We came in a few minutes after the service started, so didn’t get to visit like we have at other churches. Since the church was within two miles of a Home Depot and Wal-Mart we just had to stop and shop.


Then we drove down the Santa Maria valley covered with fields


of Grapes



grapes,





more grapes, strawberries, squash and cabbage and others we couldn’t identify. We parked in San Simeon State Park after a long day battling with the wind.

We don’t know who will buy all of this wine. Drink more wine!!! California needs your help! It seems a new vineyard is planted each day of the week! The hills are alive with grapes. This isn’t one of California’s most noted wine areas. It is emerging. Most wineries don’t yet have the production volume for wide distribution. Most of the wines are sold and consumed locally. The quality is very good. This area will someday be recognized as a significant region of California wine production.


We drove through scenic Morro Rock Bay

and stopped for the night at San Simeon State Park and watched the quails.We saw beach after beach after beach and theywere beautiful.
We are discovering California has many “old-time” filling stations (built in fifties and sixties) without the food marts (they still have service bays along with an office) that our have back home. Fred misses the cappuccino. It is a good thing we brought some mix from home.

Monday was castle day.

We drove to Hearst Castle headquarters where we boarded our bus




for the trip up the hairpin curves to the sumptuous castle built by William Randolph Hearst during the depression. The castle is now owned by the state. At one time his father owned 50 miles of the coast line and 300,000 acres. Their ranch in Mexico was bigger. We were not allowed to take flash pictures inside so all our pictures are outside.

Neptune Pool
Formal entrance
Main Entrance

Guest cottage


Main Castle

The whole tour (including a movie about Hearst and the construction of the castle) was very enjoyable. Next, we drove down the coast into the charming town of Cambria (paid $4.19 gal for gas) and



Moonstone Beach. Both are quaint (like Cabot cove in Murder She Wrote) little villages with lots of little individually owned motels and cottages that we never heard about. There was no billboard or highway advertising for these little inns. If you need a room on this road look for this area. We ate supper at the Sea Chest on Moonstone Beach - recommended by Rod & Rebecca. If they hadn’t told us about it, we would have driven right by. Others knew about it because there was a line at 5:15 waiting for them to open at 5:30. Fred ate sword fish and Olivia scampi. It was delicious!

We have driven over 4500 miles.

Tuesday, Fred had white knuckles all during the 110 miles we drove from San Simeon to Monterrey. Not really a dangerous drive, but one filled with steep cliffs elevated above the coastline.

It was up one mountain and then down the other side along a two lane road following the “ins and outs” of the mountain terrain high above the Pacific. Then before you could finish with one mountain, there was another.




Over and over! Olivia strained her neck looking at the views. Fred watched the white line at the side of the road.


At the first pull out we saw seals sunning on the beach,

then more seals

Most were lazy.

Some were contesting for turf. They are huge!


Fred guessed we saw over 1000 on that beach. Then the road and the coast grew closer and higher. Lots of twists and turns, ins and outs. We left the campground about 8:45 and arrived in Monterrey about 2ish. Comments coming from Fred, “No I don’t want to stop, I want to finish this!”, and on the right turns with rocks sticking out from the wall, “I’m afraid the trailer will scrape on the rocks” and “The best way to see this coast is from a cruise ship!”



At one stop another couple pointed out whales and the pictures Olivia took shows one blowing. We challenge you to spot it.


Arriving in Monterrey, we drove to the chosen campground and


found a 16% grade roadway leading in. The campground is built on top of the hill and the spots are crazy! All the good ones were reserved for Fri and Sat by a large group, so we know we will have to move


from our “good” spot by the weekend. We thought about Patti when we had Olivia’s left over scampi (from the Sea Chest) made into a salad using the left over broccoli, carrots, zucchini, tartar sauce, onions and served over avocado half. Quite a treat, both nights.

Wednesday we arranged for camping through the weekend. We will have to move spots on Friday because a huge party of Elks are coming in.


We like the spot we are in, but it is reserved. We left the campground to scout out the area. We drove to Monterey bay,



Cannery Row (now a tourist attraction – shops and restaurants)


Then we hugged the bay and saw Harbor seals with new pups.





and a scenic drive past the birthing area for some Harbor Seals. Several had pups already. This drive led to

“17 mile drive” with is a toll of $9.50. It was well worth the price. This road took us all around the Monterey peninsula and in to Carmel. There were many stops including


Bird Rock with about 2-300 Sea lions around the bottom of a huge rock about 300 feet off shore. The sea lions were squawking loudly over position. Fred asked who is winning the argument, since they were constantly barking. A woman next to him said, “I believe the females are.” There is a 10,000 deep Monterey Sea Canyon just off shore.
This area has 4 golf courses, but we turned down the inviting links because we left our clubs at home! HA! All along the road mixed in between the greens with beautiful houses. Fred enjoyed the views including

“Surfing” we couldn't believe it with the temperature so low.

“The Lone Cypress” , logo for Pebble Beach Golf Course

“Ghost trees” and

the view of Monterey Bay,

“Pebble Beach lodge and golf course.”

Fred wanted more seafood so we asked in a convenience store where the locals eat? A police officer heard the conversation and escorted (Fred was disappointed he didn’t use flashing lights) us to the next town in his squad car. The café was “Turtle Bay Fish Wives”. It was nice of him to lead us even out of his city! The food was good and increased Fred’s desire for more seafood.