Month: December 2016

Pismo SB

Sunday morning is a great day to shower in super hot water when it is 44F. The shower house is very modern, 50’ from our site, so it is a pleasure! $1 gets you two tokens; each token gets you three minutes of water.

We had a second snafu trying to find a church online; we headed for St Francis of Assisi for 9:30 Mass, but that one was locked up with no one around. St. Patrick’s was in nearby Arroyo Grande, but the next Mass was at 10:30. That gave us time to find a car wash; the truck looks like  a road warrior. I’ve washed it twice recently but highway driving in the rain quickly mitigates that. So, maybe this wash will last awhile!

St. Pat’s had a visiting priest; afterward, the person I asked about him did not know him either. He was a big, avuncular man who had a great sense of humor. He was advising the youngsters there to be good. He told the story of his nephew receiving an email from Santa Claus reminding him to be good or else he might get a box of batteries with a note saying, “Toys not included!” He punctuated the service with good natured humor and a sermon centered on remembering that the light of the Creator was inside each of us whether we recognize it or not. In times of trouble, this light is always there to guide us.

That afternoon, we ventured into the city of Pismo Beach to Scotty’s Sports Bar to watch Gonzaga vs Tennessee. My team is 10-0 for the first time ever having vanquished the likes of San Diego State, Arizona, Washington, Florida, and Iowa State. Luckily, there was on TV no-one was watching and I coerced the barkeep to switch to ESPN2. The refs really did their best to rally the home team, closing the lead from 18 points to 4 with 5 minutes left. Four Zags had 4 fouls making them a bit tight. In the end, the Bulldogs won by 10, moving them to a #7 ranking in the USA. Go Zags!

Later, we went for a bike ride to explore another camping loop in this campground. On a hunch, I pedaled past an “authorized vehicles only” sign to the where some of the rangers live, machinery and vehicles are stored. That area had a gate opening onto Hwy 1 and just across the road was the gate for the county campground to which we will move after Christmas. Our site was picked to be way back away from the rest of the crowd. Hopefully, we’ll get some sleep New Year’s Eve by being back there. I’ll let you know! The camp is long and thin with sites on the west backing up to Hwy 1 and on the east to a railroad track. There is a small boulevard between the two. The road isn’t that heavily travelled and at night not much at all. But, the Amtrak roars up and down SF to LA. We can hear that here; I am sure we’ll hear it there!

Pismo State Beach, 69 mile jump

A car hauler pulled in next to us before 5AM; its exhaust was noticeable as it idled for quite some time. That was a good incentive to get going. The frost on the windshield was 1/8” thick; the temp was 32F.

In Paso Robles we found a McDonalds for a breakfast sandwich and hot decaf. Concerned about tread wear on the back two tires of the trailer, we had time to kill and made some inquiries into tire shops and trailer repair garages. We were referred by a tire guy to a trailer guy. Thinking it would make sense to fix the cause of the poor wear we drove to the trailer garage. I thought his voice mail greeting said, “Open at 9 on Saturdays”. When he hadn’t showed up by 9:15, I called again; he said, “…most Saturdays”. The question is: if these tires lasted 10,000 miles and will cost $200 to replace, is it necessary to buy and install a new axle as well? We found the axles run about $200, but what about install? Guess we’ll find out next week.

We couldn’t check into the campground this early, so we decided to check out the San Luis Obispo (SLO) historic downtown. I have a fondness for the old missions, usually the flora in their courtyards are 250 year old specimens of outrageous proportions. And, they often have small museums showing the tools and machinery of the late 1700s. That appeared to be a good way to spend the morning and it was! There was a baptism of two babies in progress when we stepped into the church, so we sat in the back and listened as the priest concluded the rites. Both Penny and I felt the interior space to be warm and inviting; it was no frills, probably not much different than originally. But, it felt safe and secure. The courtyard garden did have a few old specimens, but not like I’d seen elsewhere. Their museum was quite interesting, however.

Leaving the mission, we saw the SLO Art Gallery and toured that as well. It was free! The art was interesting, all local talent. There were three presenting artists and a craft room where others demonstrated their talents. That was a fun hour of browsing!

From there to our destination was less than ten miles. We found a “Whole Foods” market just off of our route, then found Pismo State Beach (PSB) campground. It is nestled in a eucalyptus grove buffered from the sea breezes by two sand dunes. We were pleased with our site, no view of the water, but the wind break is a plus. We walked over the dunes to have a look at the beach. Wow! It is about 100 yards to the water from the dunes and it goes for miles in both directions. Cars, SUVs, campers, dune buggies, cop cars, bikers, and pedestrians were going to and fro. It’s a regular thoroughfare! And, the scenery was eye popping!

The forecast called for sunshine the next 10 days, highs in the mid to upper 60s, lows in the 40s. There are hiking and biking trails here. A large lagoon having all kinds of waterfowl is just 100’ from our site. I have already snapped a photo of a red tailed hawk in flight directly above me. We have reservations here through the 26th, then we move to a county park a block away for 7 more days. That gets us into the New Year. We are thankful to have found this place and to be able to stay put through the holidays.

Walmart parking lot, 111 mile jump

Showers were the first order of business; at 6AM at 54F with wind gusts that rocked the Ship all night, I walked to the shower in minimal dress, flip flops, shorts, sweat shirt, towel, wash cloth, soap and shampoo. AKA, commando! The less clothing to get wet the better; there is often no heat in the shower other than the hot water. That’s why I go early. I want to be sure to get the water that has been percolating all night. The walk to and fro is an exhilarating wake me up! Try it sometime! Penny is a convert; normally, she over dresses for fear of getting cold. But she gets the commando thing for shower houses; it’s the Nordic sauna, then jump in the snowbank kind of experience. Seriously, try it!

Christmas is coming! I need to do something for my Mom. I call her every Sunday to tell her the details of our adventures. She is virtually homebound now. My sister gets her out of the house once in awhile, but she is always apologizing for having nothing new to talk about. I try to help her live vicariously through us with my stories. But, you know a picture is worth a 1,000 words. So, I copied three dozen pictures from my library to a thumb drive; the next time we see a Walgreens, CVS, or Walmart. I’ll be ready.

It was only about 100 miles to the next destination, so we didn’t have to leave too early; we could make use of the park electricity to run the computer. The rain subsided as we left HMB for points unknown, probably Salinas, Ca., a name you’ve probably seen on produce bags. It’s a fertile agricultural area growing grapes, strawberries, Brussel spouts, to name a few.

It rained intermittently on the road, but the headwind was fierce. The truck seemed like we had taken on a load of cement. I would have preferred a tail wind, but feel lucky it wasn’t a cross wind! We arrived there about 2PM and headed straight to the post office to send a few packages off. After which, we pulled into a Walmart parking lot and found a spot along the perimeter right in front of a sign that said, “NO overnight, truck, trailer, or RV parking”. We garnered some courage counting three other RVs out in the open. Twice before, we have done this with no issues, but there were no signs in those instances.

The least we could do was patronize them while we were squatting on their property. Feeling somewhat hypocritical based on my feelings on their business model, I remembered I had no high ground from which to preach. I thought of our expenditures as a quid pro quo, and rationalized my behavior.

Whatever, I hit the picture kiosk with my thumb drive, printed them, and picked out a few Christmas cards. Penny was shopping for foodstuff; we got everything except a photo album. The gal in the photo department said to get one at Ross, in the same cluster of stores on this parking lot.

I was tickled to have a project to take my mind off of my deep guilt for being such a desperado. And, how much cheaper a campsite would seem compared to a parking ticket. After a couple of hours, I had the album filled and annotated, the cards personalized, all addressed and stamped. Then I started to really worry, but all I needed was another rationalization! The sign says “overnight”! Is that dusk to dawn? Or, 9-5? I figured if we left really early, we could argue it wasn’t really overnight. Another camper pulled in right behind me! Ah, strength in numbers!

Half Moon Bay SB

Reservations work filled our morning, but we were successful in getting accommodations into the new year except two nights this week when we will be passing Big Sur and some national campgrounds that are first come, first serve. We are trusting in providence that those will work out. There are nice retail camps available as Plan B, but we need to slow down the amount of money going to camp sites. State parks are averaging $50/night; a primitive national will probably be $11/night. Two nights saves $78! California is expensive; even the county parks are about the same as the state. We hope to find ACE parks in Arizona because of all the dams. They are usually outstanding, notwithstanding the last one in which we stayed. The previous Army Corps camps had flat concrete slabs with water and electric at the sites   for $11 for seniors. That’s how we saved money last year.

Needing to break the tension of reservation work, we walked the beach, which seemed to relieve Penny. But I needed more; I jumped on my bike for a 9 mile ride. That did the trick!

Penny was sketching when I arrived; I warmed leftover spaghetti for a late lunch. Penny continued her work; I posted FB pictures of the bridge. Then I pan fried the snapper and Penny made beets with the greens. What an awesome meal! We even had Haagen Dazs ice cream bars for dessert.