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!  :)

August in the Gold Country

It's HOT, baby!

Seriously, we just finished our annual camping trip with a group of friends we've had since High School. Last year on this trip, we drove home in our truck and 5th Wheel combo and decided that we were going to get a motorhome. Traveling with the kids in the truck across the state of California was just too cozy for all of us. And, that, my friends, was the beginning of our journey into FMC land.

As usual, the FMC performed quite well for us -- with a couple of heat-related concerns. We added to the lovely look and feel of our FMC on this trip. Doesn't every vehicle look better with some bikes attached. Form may follow function but sometimes design takes a backseat to practicality and we were tired of traveling with bikes in the aisle! Greg doesn't mind too much. Before too long, we'll have a Tow Vehicle back there and the bikes can go on the back of that!

This trip went up to Lake Tulloch -- a small reservoir in the Gold Country. It's near Yosemite, near Sonora, near Highway 49 . . . but not too near much of anything. It's on the Stanislaus River and the lake itself is lovely. There is a real resort feel to the lake -- lots of vacation homes but there is still lots of land available too. I really loved the setting. We stayed at the Lake Tulloch Campground. It has a lot to offer but it also misses in many, many areas. It generally has a feeling that it isn't well cared for which is too bad. Seriously, some irrigation and some regular cleaning of the sites would go a long way toward making it a much nicer place to stay. Still, it had a general store with a snack bar and regular bar. The guys would go down to buy ice and spend an hour -- drinking beer! I couldn't blame them. I snuck down for a few milkshakes, myself. The best thing was the lake -- the water was very comfortable to swim in and there was tons of birds around. The best sightings were the many Osprey on the lake -- love those birds!

We actually squeezed a vintage trailer and another tent into the site next to us before we were done -- Crowded but it worked!

This area is very hot in the summer -- it was around 102 - 105 every day. We had sites without hookups and our generator isn't working so that made things a bit rough in the camping area. The FMC holds on to heat very well and we had a hard time sleeping at night as it took hours to cool down to comfortable temperatures. So, we'll be investing in some of those Fan-tastic Vents {click} to move the air around and help us to move hot air out and cooler air in so we can sleep at night. We also need to check into getting our auto air fixed as driving up and back was pretty uncomfortable in the 95-100 degree heat.

For recreation, this area had a lot to offer. We went river rafting on the Stanislaus River near Knights Ferry on Friday. This was an easy rafting trip -- Class 1 the whole way. They have one Class 2 rapids section but the water was low enough that it wasn't at all risky. The river water is COLD so you can easily cool off when you are too hot from paddling. It is beautiful and we say lots of deer, river otters, ospreys, kingfishers, vultures, and herons. Really nice trip.

On Saturday, we rented patio boats or party boats at the marina right at the campground. We tooled around on them all day. It was so much fun. We'd explore and then park them and swim and then explore some more. There are lots of houses along the lakeshore so it was very fun to look at them -- especially since Greg is an architect. He loves that sort of thing. We even tooled up the river a ways -- the water was cold in the river but really, really nice in the lake.

So, all in all, a good trip. I don't know if I'd go back to that campground again but if I did, I'd make sure that I got the "Cabana" sites which are right along the water. Being able to step right out into the water would have gone a long way towards making the trip a lot more comfortable. Plus, it is cooler near the water as the breeze crosses the water.

End of an era

We said goodbye to an old friend today. We sold and delivered our 5th Wheel trailer. Greg and I bought this while we were in graduate school -- full of plans for a long life of camping in it. We did camp a lot -- if not as much as we planned to do. We took a 3 week Honeymoon in the Southwest in it. We went to family reunions in it. We went to dog shows with bunches of Labradors. We hosted family who needed temporary accommodations in it. We did annual camping trips with friends and occasional camping trips just as a family. It has served us well.

We will miss it.

Selling it was difficult. Everyone who came to see it wanted something newer or bigger or both. Our 5th Wheel was functional -- not luxurious. We intended it for CAMPING not luxury living. We needed to find a buyer who would appreciate that side of it. And we did. The people who bought it have been camping for years in a 1976 5th wheel trailer that is much smaller than ours. It was on its last legs -- held together with bailing wire and duct tape by the look of it. To them, our 5th wheel is spacious and functional. They will use it and love it and that makes me very happy. Hurray!

Spring Break 2007 - Trip to Disneyland

We are home from a fantastic trip! Here's the report:

Day 1: Scotts Valley, CA to Pismo State Beach

We started on our trip from Greg's cousin's house where the family had gathered for Easter. After an egg hunt and lunch, we headed off. We had a smooth drive down to Pismo State Beach. California is so beautiful this time of year! We arrived at Pismo just past dinner time and had a brief debate about whether or not to stop for Ribs but decided that burgers on the grill would be just as good (or almost as good). When we got to Pismo, the rangers had called it quits for the day and we were listed as being in the non-hookup area. No biggie except we'd PAID for hookups. We were annoyed but figured that since the campground was full, we didn't want to get woken up at 11pm to sort it all out if someone else rolled in really late with a reservation for hookups. So, we went to the non-hookup area. It was lovely -- lots of grass, birds everywhere, pretty trees. There were a lot of people with off-road vehicles which is to be expected at Pismo -- because of the beach management there. Before we ate, we decided to walk out on the beach and enjoy the sunset. It was spectacular although the kids did not last long in the "stay clean and dry" area. Still it was worth it -- even though we missed the actual sunset due to wet, cold children.

The kids playing in the waves

Day 2: Pismo State Beach to Simi Valley, CA

I woke up and took a walk while everyone was still asleep. Saw some fabulous birds and enjoyed the morning. I was pretty disappointed by the state of the campground. Lots of trash everywhere. Kids were harassing the local geese. Just an unkempt air about it. On the other hand, they had a lovely native plant garden that someone had obviously spent a lot of time on. The ranger came around to make sure we were checked in and I told her about the confusion. She said we should have just gone to the hookup sites. "Well, we didn't want to cause a problem," I said. "Sorry," said she. Sigh.

We headed off around 10am. The drive down to Santa Barbara is lovely. Especially coming through the mountains and then seeing the Pacific splayed out below you with sun shimmering on the waves. Wow! We had lunch in Santa Barbara which was something of a joke. We could not find a fast food restaurant that we could park at. Finally Greg just dropped me off and circled the block -- of course, I was done ordering and waiting out front before he could get back again. We hit the highway again and found a lovely little seaside park where we had our lunch. The view was stellar and there was a place for the kids and Greg to play tag on the grass. We even had an SOB pull in after us! I couldn't believe it. This BEAUTIFUL spot with temperatures a perfect 75 degrees and they didn't even get out of the vehicle or even open the windows.

We continued on our way. Greg's aunt and uncle live in Simi Valley. We got to see the whole family -- aunt & uncle, cousins, and their kids. Really special. We actually left their at around 10:00 pm to drive over to Anaheim. We figured it would be better to do the cross-LA trip with no traffic and it was. Although arriving at midnight was a bit late! :)

Gage catching some ZZZ's on the way to Simi Valley

Day 3: Simi Valley, CA to Anaheim, CA

We pulled in around 12pm. The Anaheim RV Resort gets full marks from us. They knew we were coming in late and gave us SUCH a convenient site -- right on the road. No complaints from us. We backed right in . . . well, not RIGHT in. The FMC died on us as we were backing in. We both had visions of being stuck and having to wake someone up to help us but luckily it started up after 2-3 tries. Whew!

We pulled in, moved the kids up to their bunks from our bed, and crashed.

As you might imagine, we had an early morning. The kids had a blast in Disneyland. We met my sister and her husband there. We were there from about 9:30am until 10:30pm. Exhausting. But so much fun!

The kids got to meet Mickey!


Day 4: Dinner Guests!

Another day in Disneyland. We saw and did so much. The kids had a blast. We left early -- in order to meet Ron and Louise Herbert for dinner. They met us at our campsite and we had such a good time with them. I am afraid that exhaustion was setting in and I didn't even think about getting the camera out and taking pictures. We had some good wine, munchies, and a pretty good dinner. The kids crashed with movies after a little bit of running around wildly. I hope that we were good hosts -- to be honest if they said we stopped talking at one point and fell asleep during dinner, I wouldn't be a bit surprised. Two full days on one's feet is a trifle mind-numbing! They are wonderful though we had such great conversations. If you get the chance to meet them, you definitely should do. They are good people!

Since I didn't take a picture of our guests, here is a shot from Felton last November.


Day 5: California Adventure

More theme park -- can you believe it? My feet couldn't believe it either. I don't know how we survived this one, I'll tell you. CA Adventure is the newest addition to the Disneyland Resort. We didn't know what to expect but we had fun -- and to be honest, given the state of exhaustion that the 4 of us were in by this point, the fact that we enjoyed it says a lot about how much fun it must be. We even got the kids --- Gage too! -- to do the Tower of Terror. Wow! That is a ride!

We left early again -- around 6pm and even the kids weren't complaining. We got back to the FMC, futzed around, and crashed. Exhaustion again.

Day 6: Anaheim, CA to Refugio State Beach

We took two days to drive home again. The drive to Santa Barbara was lovely again. I drove a big chunk of it. I found the FMC to be nice to drive despite the strong winds and lots of traffic. Greg's new mirrors (which I'm sure he'll tell us all about soon) are wonderful! We arrived at Refugio and, again, were not happy with our camping experience there. We were assigned the best site on the worst row -- backed right up to the train tracks and 101. There were plenty of other sites available else where in the campground that would have been quieter. There was a LOT of trash everywhere. We were right next to several group areas. Thankfully, everything was better than we feared it would be. The group campers didn't party all night loudly and did finally turn off their generators (although not until at least an hour past the quiet time). The trains weren't too bad -- the worst was the 6am freight train -- long and loud! I did see lots of birds and that was nice. Still, we didn't mind that we were only staying one night. The kids had a blast on the beach again though.

They love playing in the waves!


Day 7: Refugio State Beach to home

We had a leisurely morning at Refugio and headed off for home. The drive was nice again although we were driving into a storm. Lots of wind and some rain. The FMC did great, of course. We love it more each time we use it. The kids played in the back and read and Greg and I got to talk. We used to enjoy camping in our 5th wheel but I have to say the time spent driving is SO much better in the FMC. There are, of course, things we want to change about the FMC -- projects will never end -- but we are so glad we made this purchase. Driving down the road in it is a fantastic feeling.

(This is from when I was driving!
We used the zoom on the camera -- I wasn't tailgating that close!)

Oh yea, The FMC got a new decoration, too! A Disney antenna ball -- Ruth and Greg put it up there. Gage was challenged though -- he had to climb up on top the next day! :)

Our next trip is to Big Sur in May! We both have some projects to report on before then!

We're going to Disneyland!

Here is our trip map:

This is our children's first trip to Disneyland. At ages 8.5 and 7, they are just about the perfect ages to have a memorably wonderful trip. We are all very excited! We are also going to see some of our LA area family and friends. Ron and Louise are going to come have dinner with us on Wednesday night. We are going to have such a fun trip! More later!