A Mini-Rally in Buellton, CA

Three FMC's descended on Flying Flags RV Park in Buellton, CA.  The Millers, Whedons, and Hendricks all brought their motorcoaches.  We arrived on Friday night.  The weather was great until Saturday night when we felt the first drops of rain.  It blew and rained all Saturday night.  We were safe and snug in our cozy FMCs.  We went to dinner Saturday night at Pea Soup Anderson's.  I had the Pea Soup and it was very good.  Sunday, we all headed off to nearby Solvang for a little shopping and lunch.  But the most important part of the weekend was talking about our coaches, investigating each other's coaches, and sharing stories.

Summer Trip -- Sequoia/Madera

We leave Sunday for a trip to Sequoia and then a small lake near Madera, CA.  We are picking up Ruth on the way -- she's been with my parents in the Eastern Sierra.  The Sequoia leg is just us and we're meeting a group of friends in Madera.  Should be a fun but HOT trip.  Expected temps in the low 90's.  Gotta pack the fans!

708 at Albion

Albion River Campground is a lovely spot.  It's a fishing camp and that is the focus but we are not fishermen (or divers) and we had a delightful time hunting up beach glass, playing on the beach, and just relaxing.  Although, that said, we did enjoy the haul of the folks we were camping with who are divers and brought us some amazing abalone!  YUM!  We took a boat ride up the river and saw tons of kayakers and canoers up there too.  They have all kinds of sites from full hookups to roughing it tent sites.  They only take cash, FYI.

Next Trip -- North to Albion River

708 is heading north this weekend to Albion River Campground along the Mendocino Coast.  It's a family trip and we have divers in our family.  They'll be brining back abalone for us all to enjoy!  Hurrah!  More later!

#708 is heading for Morro Bay!

It's going to be a fun weekend trip.  Greg and the kids will head down on Friday around noon (Bad teacher-mom, pulling the kids out of school!) with his mom, sister, and one nephew.  I'll head down after school -- possibly with my other nephew along for the ride.  We're meeting good friends -- well, family, really, in all the ways that count. It should be a relaxing, joyful weekend!  We'll head home on Sunday!

Trip Report - Boulder Creek to San Diego and back again

Itinerary:
Saturday, March 22 - Boulder Creek, CA to Simi Valley, CA. Dinner with Greg's aunt and uncle.
Sunday, March 23 - Simi Valley, CA to San Diego, CA. Arrive at Campland by the Bay.
Monday, March 24 - Legoland in Carlsbad, CA.
Tuesday, March 25 - Seaworld in San Diego, CA.
Wednesday, March 26 - San Diego Zoo in San Diego, CA.  Dinner with Ron and Louise in San Clemente!
Thursday, March 27 - Driving tour of San Diego including Midway Aircraft Carrier tour in San Diego, CA.
Friday, March 28 - San Diego, CA to Santa Clarita, CA, via San Diego Wild Animal Park in Escondido, CA. Camped in Camping World parking lot!
Saturday, March 29 - Santa Clarita to Boulder Creek, CA. Slept in our own beds again!

Somehow, we started this trip off on the right foot. I didn't stay up until 2am packing nor did we get a 2 hour later start than we'd planned on. I was in bed by midnight and we left on time. This amazing feat was partially because on our way down to LA, we had to stop in Gilroy where Eric and Toni live with their FMC. Stephen was also their with his FMC. A mini rally. Thanks again for the pictures, Stephen!We were so grateful for Eric's help on this trip. 708 was getting a little warm as we pulled into Gilroy and Eric saw the problem right away -- broken fan belt. So, Greg got a quick and timely lesson on fan belts. We also got the air conditioner charged up and were on our way!

See what I mean about it being a timely lesson? Yes, this is us down in Southern California under an overpass on the 101 just outside of Oceanside, CA. But, because we'd gotten the part we needed and we'd gotten the advice we needed, this near disaster was a quick repair and we were on our way again. Hurrah!

Campland on the Bay was a pretty good campground. We got a "standard" site -- hookups but not much else. We will definitely stay there in the future but we'd upgrade our site next time. The highlight of our trip was having dinner with Ron and Louise at their home in San Clemente, CA. They wined and dined us. They let the kids swim in their huge spa. They told us wonderful stories and just made us feel at home. Oooooo, and Louise sent us home with leftovers *and* her homemade preserves! What could be better? They are such wonderful, wonderful people! Thank you again!!!

On our way out of town, we stopped at the San Diego Wild Animal Park -- one nice thing about going to a big park like that in your motorhome is that you generally get premium parking at a discounted price. We had paid for premium parking all week so this was appreciated. Coming out to the motorhome was a nice way to end the visit!

As you can see, we had a great time on this trip! No, this isn't our dog, Ruby.  This is one of the Budweiser Clydesdale horses.  SeaWorld is owned by Anheiser-Busch and they have a display of the horses there.  Such amazingly beautiful creatures!  This one was very patient with the photo taking opportunities.

708 hit 58,000 miles on the trip! She performed beautifully! The minor stuff with the fan belts was no problem whatsoever really. Eric even met us in Santa Barbara on the way home to check the AC for us -- yay, no leaks! Eric, thanks for all your help!

A little FMC modern art! A Study in Orange.
(A follow-up to last year's drive home picture)

Happy Spring Break!

We're on the road again! Off to San Diego this time.

Here is our route:

We'll leave home early Saturday morning.   Our first stop is in Simi Valley where we'll visit with Greg's aunt, uncle, and cousins.  We will probably spend the night in a Walmart parking lot.  I know -- pretty high class!

Then, we're off to San Diego.  We'll stop and visit with Ron and Louise -- we hope -- on our way down.  Although, it will be Easter Sunday so who knows if that will work out!

In San Diego, we'll be visiting Legoland, SeaWorld, and the San Diego Zoo.  We are all so excited!

Here is what the weather is expected to be while we are there . . .

Perfect weather -- not too hot; not too cool.  More details will be forthcoming!  Questions remain . . . will we get my Suzuki ready to be towed in time?  Will we get the AC recharged before we go?  Will we get the last bunk fixed so that both children have a place to sleep?  Will the Easter Bunny find us in Simi Valley?  All these fascinating questions remain to be answered!

Planning for 2008

We're planning out our camping year.  We'll get there. We have a couple on our list already -- a trip to Mendocino, a trip down to San Simeon. We know we're heading for San Diego for Spring Break. We also know we want to take a long trip this summer -- maybe up north . . . maybe the southwest. Lots of plans. Lots of work to do before we can hit the road.

My goal this year is to do a better job blogging about our trips and the changes we've made to the FMC.  Feel free to nag!  :)