BIG SUR – ARRIVED
Our trip from Wyoming has sure been an adventure… some good…. Some not so much…..
We spent a week in Orem visiting mom and had a wonderful time again with her. I only wish we could drag her along on our adventures so we could share all we see and do with her. We will miss her this winter.
While in Orem we noticed one of the trailer tires was flat…took it to the tire shop… no way to fix it… so one new tire for the trailer. Just a small expense we hadn’t planned on but no big deal…
After leaving Orem we drove to Elko where we spent the night and got to see James and went to dinner with him…. Good to see you, James and to see you looking so great.
Then on to Reno where we spent a week with Mart at his really nice new house. No way to live in the trailer while there as we had to just park it in the street. So we moved in with Mart and lived in a real house for the first time in years! When we drove up to his house he informed us we had a flat tire on the trailer… different tire…same story… another new tire for the trailer… oh, well, we are free-loading from relatives so we can afford it!
Also, took the trailer in for what we thought would be warranty work on the furnace… wrong… we were informed that it was dirty , a condition not covered by warranty, but for $119 per hour they would clean it.. Ha!! Not that dumb or unable to clean it ourselves … but we still had to pay for the time they had in, plus another $60 for a switch they installed (switch cost $6.00) … can’t afford much more, so we took it back to Mart’s house. Buff took the furnace apart when we got it back …. It had a very dead mouse stuck in it…removed mouse…furnace now works great.
Had a wonderful visit with Mart, very low key… watched western movies every night, went out to eat a few times and just spent quality time with him. Got to see Denise for an evening between work and studying for her Masters Degree… really enjoyed the time even if it was short.
Next stop was Folsom where we spent a week with Rob… again, we were able to free-load as he had arranged for us to stay in the parking lot at the senior apartment complex where he works. It was better than some RV Parks where we spend $35 a night. Large lot, with grass and trees for us to enjoy next to the trailer. The weather was a bit on the hot side when we got there… time to use the generator so we can have A/C…. wrong ….. Generator blew up…. This free-loading is getting mighty expensive!!!!
In spite of all that we had a great visit with Rob, we got to spend a lot of time with him and enjoyed every minute. The people that live at the complex were so excited to have “company” and would come and visit us while Rob was busy. Invited us to come to breakfast and dinner in the dining room as their guests… some really great people live there and we were truly blessed to meet them and get to visit with them.
We even got to go to the monthly Birthday Party and see an Elvis impersonator… what a fun evening – cake, ice cream, Elvis… what more could you ask for a night out???? we look forward to our visit next spring on our way to our summer home and hopefully will see the new friends we made there.
Last Sunday we drove to our summer 2012 campground….
It is so awesome… we are really looking forward to next summer…. Check out the pictures of our host site. Rob plans on going up with us when we set-up and setting up his “Weekend” retreat camp in our space! It is about a 2 hour drive for both the Reno/Carson City and Sacramento visitors… so we expect to see many of you next summer.
Boy… do we have some wonderful kids and they actually miss us when we leave instead of breathing a sigh of relief that we are gone .. Life is good.
Tuesday we left Folsom and headed to Big Sur…. Right before we got to Vacaville the bumper fell off the trailer… another adventure where Buff gets to make major repairs alongside the freeway… however, this time there was no DOT guys to help us and give us a good laugh or two like when this happened on our way to Monument Valley! Just another adventure for the nomad gypsies…..
Last night we stayed at Sea Cliff State Park….
Right on the beach .. Listened to the sound of the surf all night… check out the pictures and feel sorry for us….. Denise – if there had been a tsunami we would have been toast!
Today we had an uneventful (thank God) trip to Big Sur… we took Highway 1 and saw some of the most amazing scenery… too beautiful for words .. Not having spent much time around the ocean I was overwhelmed by the vistas and can see why Buff wanted to spend the winter here…. Mom – if there had been an earthquake we would have slid off into the ocean!
The park is a true garden of Eden… the trees and plants are so incredible. This is a true forest primeval
– we are surrounded by redwoods, sycamore, cypress, ferns, and Yikes – poison oak. Our site is perfect – the Big Sur River runs right through our back yard and as long as there are no floods we are thrilled to have it there. Looks like we are settled in for a lovely winter. More pictures to look at.
The universe has a real sense of the ridiculous humor – from Death Valley last winter to this – there just couldn’t be two more diverse places to spend a winter.
On our next trip to Carmel we will be able to stop and take lots of pictures to share… we do not start work until the 8th so we will be doing some exploring tomorrow and start the pictures for the next blog… so stay tuned for some totally awesome landscape scenes…
Ranger Aaron Gray stopped by to welcome us and we found out that in January we get to help with the whale watch…. Bingo… one more thing to mark off the old bucket list!! I just can’t believe how blessed we are and what an amazing life we have.
FYI: Any visitors we have can stay here for free and don’t need to make reservations… there is a site next to ours for anyone coming to see us with a trailer, it has water and electric.. no kidding!! We do need some advance notice so the rangers can make the arrangements.
No camper, no problem, you can set up a tent or crash on our living room floor (we are planning on buying an air mattress that will fit between the sofas)….. So there is no reason not to plan your winter vacation at Big Sur!!!!! It is about a four hour drive from Sacramento when not towing a monster trailer at 55 mph.
We found that taking I-80 past Vacaville and then Hwy 680 South through Martinez you don’t encounter any toll booths. At San Jose you pick up Hwy 17 to Santa Cruz, and just before you get to Santa Cruz you get on Hwy 1 and go through Monterey and Carmel. Hwy 17 is a winding mountain road but worth it for the scenery. Hwy 1 is a bit spooky in places but the views are unbelievable.
Like our other campgrounds we do not get cell or internet here at our site so we will be checking voice mail and email every couple of days by driving to a site down the road. We might get a Verizon throw away to keep here as the other hosts have one and get reception on it. So, as always…. Leave a message and we will get back at ya asap.
For any emergency you can call the Pfeiffer Ranger Station office at 831-667-0528 and they will contact us, we are in Host Site “A”…. Mom…be sure to write down that number and give it to Lorraine, Debbie and Sandy.
It’s been a long and exciting day… time to decompress and get ready for bed….. Love to all of you……
The most fortunate gypsies……
I am so jealous of you both having so much fun. Wished I was with you. Love to you both and my sweet Sierra. Wished I knew you were in Folsom. Could have came to visit.