Pacific Coast – Page 2 – The Sandcastle

Day 10 Pacific Coast

Our batteries were at 73% this morning so I get to have microwaved turkey bacon for breakfast. I’ve been surprised to learn I like it better that way than cooked in a skillet.

We are not level in this campsite; I am very conscious of the fact that I am on the downhill side of the table. Please, don’t spill anything.

Along this stretch of road there are stiles over the fences between the parking and the beach I wonder what else is on the beach side of the fences? Or is it what’s on this side?

CalTran trucks have small blades on the front of them. If this was Minnesota the blades would be bigger and they would be snowplows. Dave wondered if these are for clearing landslides?

Another sign that we are not in Minnesota is road construction in December. In Minnesota the roads are frozen by now if not buried under snow or ice.

A sign in a pullout said, “No overnight parking or camping. $200 fine.” Ouch! That’s some expensive boondocking!

The road is wet from waves washing over it. They missed us, though. Our RV needs washing but I don’t think we want it done by saltwater waves.

We saw a tour bus pulled into a view area so we stopped to see what they were all looking at. Here’s what we saw:

We also saw two Views. (The back one is ours.)

We saw the Hearst Castle sitting up on a hill but we drove right by the turn to it. We aren’t even tempted by massive houses any more. We LIKE small.

A nearby sign said the road was maintained by “Hearst Castle Employees.” I wonder if that’s a condition of employment? I can hear the interview, “You will also be required to walk along the highway picking up things people didn’t want to keep in their own cars.”

Another sign said, “No overnight parking or camping for the next mile.” Does that mean it’s OK to do so beyond that?

We went to McDonald’s for lunch. They were playing Christmas Carols As we left they were playing “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” In high school I learned the Spanish version of that song. In trying to remember it I found myself remembering my teacher telling us we must not translate things too literally I plead guilty to having done that in the past. Take the Terminator’s “Hasta la vista, Baby.” If I have this correct, that literally means, “See the view, Baby.” Hmmm. If I think about where many people go to see good views I think about lookouts. So maybe he’s really saying, “Look out, Baby. I’ll be back.”

The road sign indicating a golf course ahead had a picture of a golfer in full swing. I suppose he has to be in full swing. If he was putting, it might just be a miniature golf course.

Under the sign pointing the way to the County Sheriff Department was another sign saying, “Animal Shelter.” Do you suppose that refers to the jail?

I was kidding! How was I supposed to know the next thing I would see would be high fencing with guard posts along it?!

In Oceano, California, there’s a dinner train that goes nowhere. It’s a diner is made up of several parked dining cars.

In Lompoc, California, we saw a sky that, if we’d seen it in Minnesota, it would be raining now.

I wonder what it would be like to live on “A” street. “B” street would be easier to handle. I can hear the conversation. “What street do you live on?” “A Street.” “Yes, but which street?” You could get a whole Who’s on First routine going if you lived on “A” street.

I saw a bicyclist scratching his back just above his bike shorts. What do you want to bet he’s sunburned there?

I know we have two things on our Home Depot shopping list. What’s the other one?

I pulled a winter scarf from my bag to cover my hands. Because they are hot not cold. I am trying to keep them from getting any more sunburned. I could apply sun screen but I don’t like the feel of the sunscreen I have so I’ll try this awhile.

“End Highway 1”–for real this time, I think. It’s now 34 miles to Santa Barbara on Highway 101.

We stopped at a rest area to get the wiggles out. Apparently I can sit still just so long, then I start adjusting my position every few seconds. I’m glad Dave decided to stop. Obviously, I needed to stretch.

We are now seeing oil rigs off shore. I wonder if they sit just beyond the three mile limit so as to not be regulated by California laws?

We pulled into site 16 at Refugio State Beach. $20 to boondock on the ocean here.

We were using our generator to recharge our batteries when the generator stopped. We don’t know why. The fault code says, “Engine stopped without command by controller.” Really helpful, that. It is, of course, Friday night. Now what?

TTYL,

Linda

Day 9 Pacific Coast

RV etiquette says you don’t knock on someone’s door when all the curtains are closed. I was a bad girl this morning. I got Shadowtracks out of bed. Shadowtracks is the screen name of one of our Escapees classmates—one we hadn’t met in person yet. He was camped at Francis Beach campground at Half Moon Bay when we pulled in there yesterday. But, he wasn’t home then. Now we were getting ready to leave the campground and he wasn’t up yet. So, I knocked on his door at 10:15 a.m. He said he’s glad I did by I’m not sure he meant it. Anyway we visited for a few minutes before we hit the road. He has friends in the area and he was with them last night but after we talked about the storm that’s coming he thinks maybe he’ll leave sooner than he had planned. He needs to get to Phoenix next week and that means a trip through the mountains which he’d rather not do with snow on the ground.

As we were driving south we saw a sand dune that had blown all the way over the shoulder of the road to the white line marking our lane. Moments later we saw a sign saying, “ Drifting Sand.” Duh!

Hmm. Maybe that’s what we should have called ourselves—The Drifting Sands.

I saw a bicyclist with a surfboard strapped to his back. He was stopped by the side of the road. I’m not sure he could actually ride the bike that way. It made me think of something our nephews would have tried to do.

The sign said, “U pick kiwi fruit,” to which I replied, “No, thank you.” I don’t like kiwi.

In Santa Cruz the 7-11 store was PINK.

The Lions Club Christmas tree lot was at the Elks Club. I wonder why?

We stopped in Monterey for lunch. Denny’s has a new once-a-year treat: pancake puppies. They look like donut holes and are coated with cinnamon and sugar. I didn’t use the syrup they served with them for dipping. They were just right without that. They made me think if the mini-donuts we used to get at the Minnesota State Fair. I ate two with my lunch and saved the rest for later.

We missed our way back to the highway and ended up on another of those steep, curvy roads. We wound up doing a U turn at the edge of a cliff. We may have to start using our GPS more often.

While still on that steep, curvy road I saw a real estate sign said, “Lot with water.” I didn’t see any creek so maybe that meant it had a well. That would make it even more expensive than land is around here anyway.

In Carmel, we stopped for gas. The first two stations we came to didn’t have diesel. Fortunately, the third one did. So now we are set for the long drive between the coast and the Santa Lucia Mountains where there aren’t a lot of towns.

Still in Carmel, I had the urge to tell a driver that the world would not come to an end if she stopped talking on her phone. I suspect she thinks it would.

As we travel I often get songs going through my head and some of them make me think of things I would not ordinarily think. For instance, take the song “Standing on the Corner.” Do you suppose there really was a girl in a flat bed Ford? Winslow, Arizona, is a small town; if there was such a girl, did that song ruin her reputation?

We planned to spend the night in Lucia, California. It turned out to be a roadhouse with one cabin. We were by it before we realized that was the entire town.

So, now we need a a place to camp and there is nothing. There are pullouts beside the road where we could park but we don’t know if it is legal to do so. We’ve seen other RVs parked by the side of the road but they could just be taking a break, not camping. But the sun will be setting soon and we need to be parked somewhere before it does. I sure don’t want to be guessing what condition some pullout is in when we can’t see it since they vary widely in their suitability for camping.

Then, suddenly, there’s a National Forest Campground! It’s built on the side of a hill so we needed all our leveling blocks but we are safely, and legally, parked for the night. The standard rate here is $22 a night but my Access America Card gets us a rate of $11. This boondocking on the Pacific Coast can be expensive.

But the sunsets are beautiful.

TTYL,

Linda

Day 8 Pacific Coast

Our battery was at 72% charge this morning. We are learning what we can and can’t do but—is not using the computers a good or bad thing? I’m way behind on posting my blogs. I wonder how many people even noticed?

Our neighbors turned on their generator about 8:30 a.m.–way before the 10 a.m. allowed time. We resisted the temptation to join them.

Another change we’ve made is only turning on the hot water heating when we are planning to use hot water rather than keeping it hot all the time. When Dave’s parents lived in Baltimore they did that. There was a switch at the top of their basement stairs. I like to take my showers in the morning. The idea of going downstairs to turn on the switch then waiting for the water to heat did not appeal to me. But here, the switch is on the way to the bathroom and by the time I brush my teeth, wash using water in the bucket, and turn on the water to rinse it is hot. So, I think I can do this. As long as I remember to turn on the switch on my way to the bathroom.

I put on a short sleeve shirt this morning. It’s been awhile since I did that. But we are headed south and we get so much sunshine through the windshield I think it will be OK. Besides, my favorite long sleeve shirts are all in the dirty clothes.

At overlooks where camping is not allowed they have signs with tents with the circle and slash indicating tents not allowed. Apparently, that’s no longer enough. Now they have added motorhome-circle-slash signs. Us Americans will do whatever we are not told not to do—and some of those things, too.

We crossed from Sonoma County to Marin County and immediately the road deteriorated. I wonder if that’s to discourage us tourist from going there?

We saw lots of some type of marine animal swimming north in the water between Highway 1 and Point Reyes. Since we could only see their noses and the v shape of the water, we don’t know if they were seals or sea lions or what. Just that they were large.

We followed some bikes for awhile. There was one tandem and two single bicycles. Going down hills they traveled faster than we do so we stayed back and watched until we came to a very long uphill. Then we passed them. In the next town we stopped for gas and they passed us. We never caught up to them again.

The gas station had a sign saying, “25 cents ain’t bad, to make your bladder gladder,” Under that it said there was a key available to current customers. The woman who came out while we were there looked glad.

We ate another roadside lunch today. Homemade sandwiches taste really good when you are hungry and there are no restaurants around.

There was a dip in the pavement so deep our hitch drug the ground. This was on the highway!

Going down a long grade there was a bicyclist catching up to us so we pulled over so he could pass. I wonder how many drivers do that? The signs say, “Share the Road,” and we’ve ridden bicycles enough ourselves to know some of the hazards of doing so. I sure wouldn’t want to ride in these hills!

We arrived in San Francisco about 2 p.m. and followed a Marin AirPorter bus most of the way through town. He helped us know when we should change lanes. It only took us a half hour to get through town. It helped that, after we’d lost the bus, when we needed to move right four lanes to go from Highway 101 back to Highway 1, people slowed down to let us move over. Nice drivers here.

In Pacifica, California, the weather was nice enough for us to open our windows!

We bought propane in Moss Bay, California. Running the generator to help recharge our batteries in the morning takes a fair amount of fuel.

We camped in site 22 at Francis Beach campground at Half Moon Bay State Beach. We paid $25 to boondock on the ocean here but our site was so good, I couldn’t see the bubble in the level because it was perfectly centered.

Our batteries were only 98% charged on arrival. Apparently, we didn’t find the right balance of generator-solar-alternator today. I don’t know how we are supposed to know how much solar-alternator we are going to get in a day, though. Oh, well, 98% will certainly get us through the night.

TTYL,

Linda

Day 7 Pacific Coast

This morning our battery was down to a 50% charge. We are not supposed to let it get below that. We need to move further south so our furnace fan does not run so much if we want to be able to use other electrical items while boondocking. In the meantime, we turned on our generator to start recharging the batteries. The solar panels and alternator will add to it during the day so we will, hopefully, be fully charged again by the time we park tonight.

Dave says there is a winter storm coming that will bring snow as low as 2000 feet. Snow has become a bad word. We don’t want anymore of that stuff. South. Must keep moving south.

We drove by Westport Beach RV Park. It is a Good Sam Park right on the beach. We might want to stay there some time.

I saw a sign of a true optimist today. It was one of those deer crossing signs overlaid with the red circle and slash that means “not allowed.” Does the owner of that lawn think the deer are going to read and obey his sign?

Coming into Fort Bragg we saw a sign saying, “Train Depot 1 Mile.” It turned out to be Skunk Trains. We are guessing those are tourist trains but the name makes me wonder about the owner and marketing people.

I saw a place that sells satellite antennas and chain saws. Apparently, if you buy the first you will need the second to get a signal.

In Gualala, California, we ate lunch at the Bones Roadhouse which specializes in BBQ, Brews, and Blues. Motorcycles encouraged. Lots of cool memorabilia hanging on the walls and from the ceiling. Great music. Good food. They offered corn bread as one of the sides so I got mine to go. Yum!

“Ranch for sale; 971 acres; beach, ocean, timber.” Anyone want to guess the price? Me either

“Road Narrows.” Why do they never tell us when it widens?

So, we are driving down the road, pointed at the ocean, and there is water on both sides of us. Now what?! The road did an amazing U turn and dipped way down.

There are cattle guards across the highway here. We are on open range land. So it shouldn’t have been surprising to see a cow standing right at the edge of the pavement munching away but seeing the one using the edge of the road marker as a scratching post startled me.

Coming around a curve, I suddenly found myself looking DOWN at a multi-level switchback. I think I’ll cry now.

Awhile later we met a larger motorhome going the other way. The brand on it was “Brave.” I thought, “Or stupid.” Like me? After all, I agreed to take this road without checking our what that might mean.

We camped at Wrights Beach campground in Sonoma Coast State Park. This time the campsite was $35 for boondocking on a perfectly level site, in the sand, right on the beach. Check out these views.

Instead of having a drop box for the camping fee, though, this one said to pay the park host. No one was home there. Either time Dave tried this evening. Nor when he tried the next morning. So we got that view for free.

When we stopped for the night our batteries were 100% charged. Generators are only allowed to be run between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. So we turned on our generator to do our computer stuff and to run the pump for Dave’s shower and washing dishes. Then we turned it off for quiet time.

It really is quiet time, too. We have no cell phone or EVDO signals here so we can’t do any internet things. So we played cribbage. Then I read while Dave went for a walk on the beach and played games on his iPhone. These are the types of things we used to do when we went camping. Well, not the iPhone part.

TTYL,

Linda

Day 6 Pacific Coast

This morning there was an electrical discharge inside our RV caused in part by our new solar system. Mostly it was caused by Dave’s failure to communicate. He forgets that I can’t read his mind to understand why he makes some of the decisions he does so when he announced his decision I felt like either: a) he thinks I’m too stupid to understand his reasoning, or b) my input is irrelevant. Neither made me happy. So I blew up. The solar system is fine. And after making him explain his thinking to me, so am I. We will, eventually, learn our limits.

In Eureka, California, we stopped to get fuel and groceries. One of the gas stations was named “Patriot Gas.” That made me NOT want to go there. I don’t like to see businesses exploit patriotism.

The road in this area begins and ends freeway time after time. I kind of wish they’d make up their minds but it does help keep us alert.

We planned to eat lunch in Garberville but the town is so small there was no place to park our RV. We traveled some very narrow streets making a good faith effort to no avail.

We played leap frog with the mail carrier. He/she drives fast between sets of mailboxes.

We turned onto Highway 1 and were immediately greeted by signs saying, “Winding Road Next 22 Miles” and “Next Services 26 Miles.” So we pulled off to the side of the road and ate lunch. It’s best if I not do these roads on an empty stomach.

This road makes me think of those “Zoom, zoom” type ads. You know, the ones where they demonstrate how well their vehicle hugs the road. I am so glad Dave is not a zoom, zoom driver. Of course, he doesn’t want me to get sick any more than I want to be sick.

We camped at Westport-Union Landing State Beach, paying $10 for the privilege of boondocking. The view is worth it.

Dave spent the time between pulling into camp and sunset turning electrical things on and off to learn how many amps each thing draws. Well, how else are we supposed to learn what we can and can’t do while boondocking?

TTYL,

Linda