The Refrigerator Issues

I wanted to post  an update about  this.  It took about a month at Paul Evert's RV to get our fridge fixed. We were not in a hurry as we would just put our  Casita back in storage so it took time. After the repair Paul Evert's told us the damage from installing the battery backwards was $450. Ouch! John too the receipt to Interstate Battery and talked to the manager. He asked what would make John happy. He said $450. (I'm not sure I would have had the nerve to say that!). The manager opened the till  and gave him $450. WOW! We will certainly frequent Interstate Battery in the future and highly recommend them. It was a  mistake, but they made it right and we really appreciate it. That said, we  will not  hold our tongue next time things don't seem just right!!!

Heading Home

We got an early start because we wanted to get home, unload everything, and get the Casita to Paul Evert's RV before they stop accepting units to the service area at 5p. The fridge issues have not been resolved and in addition the freezer door came off in my hand a few days ago. Using duct tape it is held in place ... my laptop also stopped working! Despite the challenges we have had a nice time. We are thankful to be home safe and sound.

-Humor-

Our Last Day

We had a very enjoyable last full day. We drove up the coast just a little ways to see the amazing Elephant Seals. Such incredible creatures. The ones we saw were females and youngsters, weighing approximately 1500 lbs! They seemed huge! I can't imagine how large the males would look at 5000 lbs. I would like to come back when the males are here and for the birthing. We stopped at several locations along our drive. We weren't looking for them but surprisingly saw the much talked about Zebras still left from the Hearst private zoo. We had some decent Mexican food for lunch and came back to pack up some things. Thankfully things have pretty much dried out from the rain. We walked on the beach near our camp in the evening.

Elephant Seals

Lunch Time

Zebras! 

Tony

Sunset

San Simeon SB - Hearst's Castle

Today we will have our visit at Hearst's Castle. We took a short walk this morning and then headed up toward the castle. We are glad it is a cool day so Tony can wait in the car safely. We took him into the Visitor Center with us first because we were early. We also had a small snack there before the tour. When tour time came Tony was safely tucked away in the Jeep. It is a steep and crooked ride up the  hill to where the tour begins. The trip up is narrated and very interesting. We took our "cottages and kitchen tour" and enjoyed it. It is a beautiful place, quite opulent for my tastes. It was quite a place in its time, actually it still is. Hearst was an interesting man with a nature to serve just himself it would seem. The structures here are lovely but one has to wonder what other good he could have done with just a small portion of his wealth. I am glad I saw the place but I have no desire to go back. I over heard others saying how one visit is just not enough, it was for us. We got Tony from the Jeep and then watched the movie about the building of the castle and more information about Hearst himself. Oh brother, the few people there sure made over Tony, John loves that! Our trip back to camp was lovely because we stopped along the way to watch the sun go down. A lovely day with beautiful weather. 

Castle On The Hill

A Cottage

The Fire Truck

Sunset

Leaving Morro Strand

Today we are moving to San Simeon State Beach. It poured down rain last night so we have a sizable puddle to contend with when packing up. Before packing up we went over to Morro Bay Campground and took showers. They were pretty pitiful showers as the water never did get very hot but it was a shower. I would have preferred the Casita shower to that. We headed out about 11am and made a few stops along the way. We took a nice walk on the beach by Cayucos Pier. There was a City Water worker there and he said there was a grand opening for the pier two weeks ago. I don’t know if that is true or not and we have no Internet tonight to check that tidbit of information. We had lunch in Cayucos at Duckie’s Chowder House. I had the Shrimp tacos and they were delicious. John chose fish and chips. He said the fish and chips at Giovanni’s is better. We were going to walk the pier after lunch but decided we should get to our destination and get set up before the rain hits, if possible. We planned to buy gas in Cayucos but we forgot, we are really low and that makes me nervous. Anyway, we made it to Cambria and got gas for $3.69 per gallon. Since the price changes so often I don’t know if that is a good price or outrageous! We passed the Hwy 46 turn and it was just a little further north to San Simeon State Beach. Thankfully the dump station is functioning here and we emptied and refilled with fresh water so we are set for now. Unfortunately, it rained pretty hard the whole time we did that but it slacked off while we set up camp. We are in site #107 for this stay. There aren’t many people in the park tonight. There are over 100 sites here, very nice sites, some are tent only. We are unsure of the walking distance to the beach. I started out for the beach but there were signs saying No Dogs and Tony didn’t have his vest on we we turned back. After we were completely set up we realized we do not get very good phone service in our campsite. Up at the Ranger Kiosk where we came in there was good reception. It might have been prudent to pick a site up on the knoll up there but the sites didn’t look appealing at the time. oh well. We decided to drive up to Hearst Castle Visitor Center just to see how far it was. It is not far at all. We drove around the area and then finally did see the castle way up on the mountain. We used a few turn out Vista Points to watch the water and watch for something interesting, no luck this time. We did see some vultures finishing off a carcass near the campground though! We have had showers off and on since then. We came back and made a nice hot drink, played cards, watched a video, read, and fell asleep. Tomorrow we will have our visit there!

Our Puddle

Cayucos Pier

Tiny Birds

Duckie’s Chowder House

Vultures

Hearst Castle in the Distance

Morro Strand - Day 5

The kids packed up and left today. I was sorry to see them leave but it is a good thing they did because it started raining not too long after they left. It would have been challenging for them to put down the tent trailer when it is wet. Jeff went fishing in the morning and caught three nice perch. He was happy about that! The other day he caught a few mackerel as well. Sam took Spencer, Soren, and Julianne up to Cayucos in the morning as they wanted to walk around and buy themselves something to eat. A few hours later he went and got them, they finished packing up, and off  they went toward home. Steven and Saira went into Cayucos for lunch as well then straight home. We were happy to hear they were all home safe and sounds. We thought about going out to dinner but with the downpour it just didn’t seem that appealing! We heated up some chili in the microwave. Around 7:30p someone came knocking on our door. They were either drunk or mentally ill. The young man wanted a blanket but we told him to just move along. I called the Ranger kiosk but there was no answer so I called 911. They said they were already looking for this man and asked the description and direction he went. Thankfully, John could give both. A police car and a ranger went though the campground and I assume they found the guy. Thankfully, that was the end of any excitement we would see.

Jeff’s Catch

DLPs – Off They Go

S&S Head Up To Cayucos

Morro Strand Day 4

It is sunny and nice today – thought we might blow away last night! Jeff was fishing with Frank and most of the kids so Saira and I took a walk to the beach to find them but they were too far down the coast so we just came back. Deb fixed us a delicious meal of Toad in the Hole, and I think Vira’s son Robbie cooked thick, crispy bacon. We ate a bit later in the morning so I really enjoyed that. After that meal and cleanup (which we don’t participate in!) we went into Morro Bay to Giovanni's to pick out our crabs. Deb and Vira will return later and pick them up, all cleaned and cracked. In the camp next door where Vira and family are they are preparing for the “Shrimp Boil” we will have this evening. I picked up two dozen oysters, 12 garlic butter and 12 sriracha lime. Jeff, Steven, and Saira missed out on our other trips there so they really enjoyed them. I planned to share with everyone in our party but that didn’t happen…oh well. Jeff went fishing several times. Julie and the boys went to the tide pools and also along the beach in the water. Steven, Saira, John, Julie, and Miranda played Frisbee and tossed the football around as well. It’s a busy group with something always going on. By late afternoon they were back at it again preparing the food for tonight’s dinner. The boys moved our three tables together so we really have a banquet situation going on! Debra lit tiki torches too! What a feast we had. After that it was a relaxing evening around the campfire. I’m sorry they have to head home tomorrow but I am thankful for the time together.

Breakfast

Our Banquet Table

Fresh Crab and Shrimp Boil

Morro Strand Day 3

Today everyone else arrived. We certainly fill out 3 campsites with a total of 19 people! We took the kids to Giovanni’s for lunch and had some delicious oysters for a appetizer! They were so fresh and delicious. This afternoon Deb & Sam made “Hobo Packs” in the afternoon for our dinner tonight. they put them on the grill for some length of time. They were quite delicious and a healthy meal besides. We were pretty noisy around the campfire but no one complained. It was a fun evening. The wind blew pretty hard most of the day and increased around bedtime but slacked off in the night so it wasn’t really cold.

Garlic Butter Oysters

Making Hobo Packs

Cooking Hobo Packs

Eating Hobo Packs-Yum!

Morro Strand Day 2

We are looking forward to some of the kids arriving today. We drove into town and bought more fuses, still no luck in getting the fridge to run but now the heater and hot water heater are working! (yay!) We took a nice walk on the beach in the early afternoon. There wasn’t another soul around so Tony could run free for awhile. It was quite windy but not cold. There were so many Sand Dollars on the beach I couldn’t believe it! I picked up a whole baggy full and I will put them in a jar in my “beach” themed bathroom upstairs. The Deb, Sam, Julie, Spencer, and Soren arrived around 3p. The 3 kids headed quickly to the beach with Tony. Deb and Sam set up and when the kids got back they set up their tents. Now that they have another tent they don’t want to be in the tent trailer with Deb and Sam. Spencer and Soren have a fancy set up – “Glamping” for sure! The 4 of us went to Giovanni’s for dinner, it was delicious! It was also very reasonably priced! There is only outdoor seating but that was fine with us. They have live crabs and even lobsters! They will cook and clean them for the same price per pound ($14.99). Yes, quite expensive. While they are simple to clean but it takes a lot of water and that is not conducive to the camping conditions. We headed back to camp, the kids roasted hotdogs on the small fire we made. We were all tired and tried to stay up awhile. When we went to bed I was sure it must be around 10p and it was only 8:30p! John and I read for a few hours. We are looking forward to the rest of the group arriving tomorrow. 

Our Camp #23 (with S&S Tent Up)

My Sand Dollars

Tony Loves The Beach

To The Coast…

Sounds simple doesn’t it? It’s really good we cannot foresee the future or some days we might not get out of bed! We had a series of unfortunate events today but we are fine and nothing is life changing. We went and picked up our trailer from storage to do the last of the packing and head out, hopefully by 11am. When we got there to hook up the battery was dead again. John just gave it a partial charge yesterday, but before that it had totally drained (not a good thing for a trailer battery).

We went directly to Interstate Battery in Clovis and they checked it. They said it tested well but needed a full charge, which would take several hours even on their quick charge. We decided to go home and put the rest of our things in the trailer and then go back, buy a NEW battery, leave the other to be charged, and be on our way. That is exactly what we did.

However, when we checked the fridge after the battery installation it would not turn on. John tried a few things but then we headed to Paul Evert’s RV to see what they could tell us. After checking multiple things they think it is this “panel” behind the fridge. No, they don’t have a replacement. The soonest they could do that would be tomorrow afternoon. We thought about our options and decided we would use the fridge as an “ice box” and be on our way. By now it is 2:15p and we will need to make good time to be over to Morro Strand before dark to set up. We stopped for ice to put in the fridge and we were on our way.

We did make it just fine, an uneventful trip, which we are thankful for. Now after setting up we discovered the 12 volt outlets are not functioning… nor is the water heater OR the heater (sigh). These things we can live without, though it is not as comfortable as we are used to. We resigned ourselves to this with a note to call Paul Evert’s RV tomorrow and verify that this mystery “panel” is really the source of these additional problems. If not, then we really don’t know what the issues are!

For now we are set up and we walked up to pay for our stay. Some months back I called to verify that they were NOT taking reservations November 1st and it was first come, first serve. I can’t remember who I contacted but it was either the park itself or Reserve America, the source for making reservations in the CA State Park system. I was assured that was the case and this was one reason we came on Wednesday to be sure we could secure sites for ourselves, Deb & Sam, along with others who are coming. So now we want to pay through our stay and we cannot do that. The camp host says we can have the site for tonight but we will need to check with the Ranger staff that comes in after 9am tomorrow morning to see if we can have the same site for tomorrow, and then check again each day after that. I tried to explain about my phone call some time ago but the camp host knew nothing about that. He didn’t even have an envelope for me to pay for tonight until he fished around and found one. Clearly he has not been trained very well. He said that he didn’t think Reserve America has anything to do with the reservations here and that Reserve America doesn’t know what it is doing. That has not been my experience but at this point I took the envelope and decided I would turn on my hotspot and check for myself. Sure enough, on the Morro Strand site it says as of October 15, 2015, reservations are accepted year round for this campground. How nice it would have been to know this before now! Anyway, checking online it appears that the site we have is not booked for the days we planned to stay. I booked Friday-Monday and tomorrow we will pay for tonight and tomorrow night. I let Deb know they needed to make a reservation and to let me know what site they want and I can secure it for tomorrow. So far I haven’t heard back from them and the sites are still available online. Complicated…

We are here safe and sound and thankful for that. It is quite comfortable in the trailer and I doubt we would even use the heater, even if it did work. One must look at the bright side in these situations!  No photos for today – who had time for that?!? Tomorrow in the daylight I will take a photo or two of our camp and the view. Morro Rock is quite prominent just south of us. 

San Simeon SP

Today I made our reservation. We will spend 3 nights there after going to Morro Strand SP with the kids. I looked on another site to see photos of most of the camp sites. I carefully chose the one I liked the most (#26) only to complete the reservation and have it tell me I will be randomly assigned a site when I arrive. We’ll see how that goes! It’s no surprise that they have a warning that the showers and flush toilets are closed. There will be vault toilets to replace the flush type. Thankfully we won’t have to worry about that in our trailer. The dump station is still open so one can get water there if necessary. We carry our own plus extra of course. I am looking forward to seeing Hearst Castle, which I have never been to.

CA State Park Camping

One has to make reservations via Reserve America for most camping in California. It is a great site, but you have to know where you want to go. It is not the greatest for research of campgrounds, locations, and more detailed information. I much prefer California Parks and Recreation for research for CA camping. You can’t make reservations from there (you must use Reserve America) but it is much nicer for gleaning information. You can download and print campground maps and brochures, along with a plethora of other information. I like that, planning is a big part of the fun to me!

Next Stop Trip - Morro Strand SB

Deb & Sam invited us to go to Morro Strand State Beach with them for a weekend the first part of November. Steven & Saira, Jeff, and Julianne are going as well. I’m not sure if Jeff has Miranda that weekend or not. Several of Sam’s family members are going, which will be nice because we have not seen them in a while. It will be a “walk up” situation so we will go earlier in the week and hope to secure a campsite for Deb & Sam as well just in case it is filling up. It should be a fun trip! We are thinking about adding a visit to Hearst’s Castle afterwards. Believe it or not we have never been there!!!  

Morro Strand SB

Hearst Castle

Going Home

We woke up to a bit of rain this morning but nothing that stopped us from breaking camp and getting home. It sprinkled off and on and even “rained” for a short time but the trip home was uneventful. We stopped at Casa da Fruta. I really like that place! We bought a few things, including a delicious sandwich. They have a wine and deli store and the sandwiches were really tasty. After that and walking Tony around we hit the road again. Our first stop back in Clovis was the wand type car wash as the Casita is covered with road dirt and grime. What a mess, but eventually we got it all off. It was all about the work when we got home. Laundry was immediately started, floors scrubbed, bathroom disinfected and wiped down, now things are spotless! All cleaned out and paper good restocked. Back to the storage lot and this time we used their dump station. It was really quite nice having a hose for the toilet and a bathroom right there to wash up. John always wears gloves and we use hand sanitizer afterwards but having soap and water to clean up in is a nice perk. All clean inside and out and back in storage before they lock the front gate at 7p. We are pooped! We ever so grateful for a safe journey and the privilege to enjoy another trip together.

 

New Brighton State Beach Day 2

We had a pretty exciting night last night, even if we didn’t know it! John has been eating instant oatmeal packets for breakfast (those who know me, know I only have coffee). Anyway, we are just about out of those so he opted for his favorite Honey Nut Cheerios instead and to save the rest of the oatmeal for tomorrow morning. He went to the Jeep to get the Cheerios and realized he left the windows open last night. Whoops! We had visitors! Little raccoon paws prints now adorn our vehicle, the seats, and who knows where else! They were certainly busy. It appears they greatly enjoyed his Honey Nut Cheerios along with a packet of dog food kibble we keep in the glove box. Crafty little varmints! Thankfully they didn’t decide to “do” anything else and the Jeep smells just fine inside. I’m also pleasantly surprised they didn’t scratch the paint on the outside getting in and out. Tony was livid sniffing at their aftermath! After putting everything back in the glove box and general straightening up, it was eggs for breakfast! Thankfully, we had no trouble getting this campsite again today. We spent a relaxing “last day” here. We didn’t see the sun and from the weather reports it looks safe to head home tomorrow! No more triple digit temperatures in site for the Central Valley.

Paw Prints

No More Honey Nut Cheerios!

Camping Meal Review: I try to keep a few nonperishable meals in the trailer in case of delay or refrigerator failure. We tried this one today, just to use it up as the “use before” date was approaching. The flavor was decent but since it included “beef” one would wonder “where’s the beef”? I think I will try other options before using this again. One could have canned chicken or tuna and Hamburger Helper. It would have been better and more protein as well.

New Brighten Beach State Campground

We left our pitiful little site in Half Moon Bay today about 9:30a. We decided we would try to get into New Brighton, if they were full we would try Sunset Beach, and finally we would just head home if we couldn’t secure something in either of those places. It was a lovely and uneventful drive down Hwy 1. There are so many lovely beaches. I wonder why it is not developed? Mostly what you see is farm land. Oh my, all the pumpkins in fields everywhere! We got to New Brighton about 11a. Apparently the rule is you can leave your name and license plate number, return at 2p,  if anything is available your name will be called in order and you will get a spot if there is availability. Surprisingly, they were able to accommodate the approximately 12 families waiting for a spot with a few spots to spare! As it is so often with the Eash Factor, we could barely get in the site #69 that we first chose. It was so slanted John had to put up most of our blocks to even come close to leveling the trailer. It looked dangerous to me and we tried a different approach, which was barely tolerable. About that time the camp host came by and told us this campsite was really not conducive to a trailer (no kidding!) so as nice as the rest of the site was, he called and got us set up for another site #111. So now we gather the few things we had out and head to campsite #111. It was an “okay” site but for sure we will need to leave tomorrow as it is booked for tomorrow night. If we want to move again to site #2 we have a chance of getting it for two nights. Are you kidding? Of course we have not unhitched and all it has taken is time… so off to #2. A mere 1.5 hours after checking in we are safe and secure in a site. That’s the way it goes sometimes! After the set up we decided to go into town for a hamburger. The camp host suggested Betty’s Burgers and we were not disappointed. John loved their garlic fries. Back to camp after stopping at several overlooks in Capitola and a walk on the beach again. As we drove in the campsite we saw 3 deer by the Visitor Center. It was a nice day but we are tired now.

Capitola

Deer At New Brighton

Leaving Wright’s Beach

Today we had a nice adventure as we drove down Hwy 1 from Bodega Bay. We hoped to stay near the Point Reyes Lighthouse over night and continue up Hwy 1 tomorrow. However, since we made not plans, the vagabonds we are, there were no sites to even camp near the lighthouse. I decided I didn’t want to go up inside it bad enough to drive 35 miles each way to do so. We continued down Hwy 1. What fantastic views, even if it is a bit of “white knuckle” drive. Tomales Bay, Bolinas Lagoon, then Stinson Beach… All lovely, but on we went. Finally we were almost to where Hwy 1 joins Hwy 101! We joined there just a few miles before the Golden Gate Bridge. We thought about trying to stay at Marin Headlands then we read no pets were allowed and one needed a reservation far in advance, nix that idea too! However, we did have some fantastic views of the city. Unfortunately there was no place to park until we found this one area and we were able to get this nice photo shown below. On we went through San Francisco, I was surprised how little traffic there was. We opted to head to Half Moon Bay tonight in hopes that the State Campground might have some availability. No such luck but we were fortunate to find a spot available at Half Moon Bay RV and Campground. It is not much and expensive, but a place stop, eat our dinner and head south tomorrow.

Along Hwy 1

Bolinas Lagoon

Stinson Beach

The Casita and The Golden Gate

Crossing the Golden Gate

Wright’s Beach Day 7

Today when we went to take our shower at Bodega Dunes we saw a fox! It was much too fast to get a photo as it disappeared into the bushes and trees on the hillside. It had a somewhat fluffy reddish tail, so I guess it was a red fox. The fox we saw earlier this year up at the Veterans Home in Yountville looked like a gray fox to me. However, when I tried to figure that out with information online, it said there are very few gray foxes left in CA. There was even an article stating the excitement of finding a family of them after so many years of not being seen anywhere. Anyway, a fox, gray or red…we saw one today! The sun didn’t make an appearance until afternoon today and then it was only momentary. It has been colder both last night and today. Maybe we’ll use the heater tonight. We had our nice steak lunch today at camp. After that we played cards and then went in search of the internet! We go my hotspot turned on and sat on a bluff checking email, a quick look at Facebook, and posted the blog for the last 6 days. We looked around Bodega Bay a little bit, bought some more clam chowder, and headed back to camp. We couldn’t even see the sunset due to the dense fog. In fact, we couldn’t even see the water! It wasn’t all that cold until the sun went down. I imagine we will break camp in drippy fog tomorrow morning!

Lunch

No “Sun” in our Sunset Tonight

Wright’s Beach Day 6

We woke up to fog this morning, no sun at all. However, it is not cold. Because of the fog John ate breakfast inside. It is nice we have that option with the little table we can set up simply between the beds. It’s great for playing cards when it is windy too! It was a relaxing day but I must admit I am missing contact to the outside world. It didn’t seem prudent to pick today to go into town since it is Saturday and there are a lot more people on the beach as well. The morning walk was still pretty nice and secluded. It is abandoned enough that Tony can enjoy some quality time off his leash, he loves it. The rock Janice and I saw with all the mussels on it was now surround by water. John and I have both finished 3 books so far!

Wright’s Beach Day 5

This morning’s treat was dolphins! I could hardly believe my eyes! I guess I didn’t think there are dolphins in this cold water. John and Tony had left for the beach already while I did a little “housework” so I did my best to run down to the beach so they could see them as well. We did see them several times, what a treat, even if my photos are not so great! We spent the remainder of the day relaxing, fixing our meals, reading, playing cards, plus waiting and watching for more dolphins! There must be a lot of fish in the water here as the birds were at it again tonight. Quite a show. Sadly we have realized how out of shape we are - the approximate 4 miles we walked on Wednesday made our calves sore!!! We need to get back to the gym!

Dolphins

Another Evening Feeding Frenzy