Memories

As we prepare for this road trip it has occurred to me some of the joy is absent from the preparation. It didn't take me long to figure out - it was my Mom's excitement for us that is missing. Every time we planned any sort of trip she would get out her maps and atlas and track where we would be going. She would read about things nearby and give suggestions for what we could see. She had wanderlust, which is funny since she passed away just miles from where she was born and lived most of her life. She certainly enjoyed road trips in their trailer but they mostly went "north" into Canada, including an Alaskan Highway trip. She did travels more after my Dad died and ventured out of the country multiple times with close friends or family. She was always eager for some adventure even into her 90's. The reason I started blogs for our trips was because of my Mom. With a blog she could "follow" our adventures every day, which she really looked forward to! 

I miss you Mom...

Beds & Storage

Today we finished the final prep for the beds. We got the new mattresses some time back but decided against ordering the custom sheets. I decided to just sew and adjust the mattress pads and sheets we already had to make them fit. So, all this is done and we went out to the trailer and made the beds. It all worked out fine. We just need to adjust the storage area at the foot of our beds and we will be all set. We also did a trial run putting our old Thule cargo box on top of the Jeep. It worked out fine and we tried putting the things we wanted in it and everything fit. Normally we don't use the carrier but with this longer trip we do need it to take our luggage that we will need on the cruise as well as a few other comforts. It would just be too much clutter in the Jeep to carry it inside.

Our Thule looks similar to this:

Further Prep

Today I am working on our calendar. Mostly for things revolving around our stop at LHC and the cruise out of Port Everglades. It feels good to get some things in place, but also a bit daunting to realize how little I have in place as far as reservations for this trip! Of course, there are a  lot of people who don't really make reservations when traveling, they are  more  "free spirited" and it works out well for them too! 

Preparing to Launch!

There are a few things to be done before we leave. We both need to get on this list so we can be ready to head out. Launch date is January 2 - if all goes as planned. Looking forward to this pace of travel even though we greatly enjoyed Israel and Egypt, we love using our Casita and the comfort of and convenience of calling it home on the road.

Little House Customs

I procrastinated a bit about this appointment because when John wasn't feeling well we thought maybe we wouldn't go. Anyway, for now we are planning that we ARE going. I emailed Larry G. at LHC (Little House Customs) in Quitman, TX to set up a time for our work to be done. It's a good thing I did because they only have a few days left in January!!! This is a popular place serving Casita owners with all sorts of routine service, upgrades, and modifications. We are planning to be there on January 9, to complete our list of desires! Now, to finalize that list!   

Florida Keys - Reservations

We got pretty worried when people on the FB Casita Owners site told us we are out of luck for finding camping availability in the Florida Keys already! I was shocked but immediately started to research Florida State Parks. For sure, they were right - all booked up!!!  In Florida, state residents get first shot at state park campsites, fair enough. Anyway, I popped off an email to a place in Key West and they also replied they had nothing available. They were nice enough to suggest a few places I contacted immediately. We were happy to get a response and we now have a reservation!!! Our spot for a week in the Keys will be Knights Key RV Resort and Marina! It is a somewhat "central" location along the Keys so we hope it will be a good home base. We will be in space 21 - no it is not beach front. There are Mangroves there in the water, no beach. We are blessed to even get a place so we are not complaining! We might try to find another place to go afterwards, but for now we are just happy to have this!

PS: We also got 5 nights in Key West at t he KOA! 

I guess we're good to go!!!

Southern Mattress Arrived!

Our Southern Mattresses were delivered today! These are custom made by Southern Mattress that many Casita owners have made to order for their units. It was really quite quick in manufacturing and the contact Linda was so nice to work with. We ordered these with such excitement - anticipating a couple of long road trips we planned to take. We hope we can still make these trips due to John's health. Time will tell. Meanwhile, we will be putting them in the trailer and getting things ready in case we do have the opportunity to travel.

Heading Home

It's time for the rest of us to head home. We decided to use the dump station at Morro Bay SP before leaving so we wouldn't need to do that chore in the heat of the valley. Our drive home was uneventful, the best kind. We happen to meet up with Julie and the DeLa Pena's at Carl's Jr. in Kettleman City on the way. It's always good to come home but we will sure miss the weather on the coast. Good-Bye Morro Bay!

Monday @ Morro Strand

Today we all went to lunch at Schooner's. Everyone enjoyed it. We all did a bit of house cleaning and resting since we have to head home tomorrow. We enjoyed our last campfire and some glow stick fun!

Soren At Schooner's

That was a Cayookie!

What Can I Say!

Yes, it is Iron Man Sam!

Father's Day - Morro Strand SB

It is a beautiful day here on the coast. Sunny and nice once the little bit of fog lifted. We saw some whales spouting today just off the coastline. No big breaches but we did see the backs of one or two. Jeff and Spencer caught a few more fish. Steven and Saira went home as did Vira and family, so it is pretty quiet here now. We had fish tacos for dinner as Deb and Sam faithfully feed us another delicious meal! Jeff's supervising the cooking of his fresh-caught fish!

A Busy Day @ Morro Strand

Saturday: Jeff, Frank, and Spencer went fishing and got more perch. Since it was sunny today everyone went down to the beach to watch them fish. They did get several perch again. I believe we are having fish tacos tomorrow night. Today was our big shrimp boil and crab feed. My friends C&T were spending the day at the coast so they came by to say "Hi" and stayed for the feast. Julianne and Steven finally got their chance to toss the football around! We also got 3 dozen oysters that ended up being quite a delicious addition. Steven shucked some to eat raw on the half shell, then in the evening he roasted or grilled them over our campfire. Butter, lime, tapatio, and perhaps other things were added, I'm not sure. Everyone enjoyed them and the 3 dozen are gone!

Spencer Fishing

Shrimp Boil

Football Toss

Oysters

Morro Strand

Friday: This morning it was foggy and seemed to remain so most of the day. Seems like the day was gone before it started! Deb and I ran a few quick errands in San Luis Obispo. It is a lovely little town, I would like to stroll around there for the day sometime. Jeff and Miranda arrived, then Steven and Saira, and lastly Sam's sister and more of their family members arrived. Jeff did some fishing and got a few perch. We had delicious Hobo Packs for dinner and a roaring fire afterwards. Before we knew it the day was over!

Morro Bay SP & Morro Strand SB

Wednesday: We took a nice look around the city of Morro Bay today but otherwise relaxed the rest relaxed the rest of the day. We did check out the various campsites and there are some really nice ones, very spacious, that would hold a couple of tents. 

Thursday: Time to pack up. We never did figure out how many quarters equal how much time but the showers here in the campground are nice enough and the water is hot. We didn't do a big cleaning/packing job because we are simply moving 12 miles north, up the coast, to Morro Strand. Since check out is 12p and check in is 2p our site at Morro Strand was still occupied. 

We know there is a decent place to park the trailer behind Duckie's in Cayucos so we headed up there for lunch. We tried a new (to us) place "Schooner's" and it was definitely delicious! The ocean views were limited but still very nice. By the time we got back our site was open and we got all set up. Deb, Sam, Spencer, Soren, and Julie arrived shortly thereafter. They have considerable more setup to do than we do, 1) It's a tent trailer. 2) There are 5 people with all their own things. 3) They bring grills and all sorts of nice things camping.

Today is Sam's BD. We had the plan to take them to Giovanni's for a BD dinner for him but since we found Schooner's the decision was made to go there. The kids stayed back in camp and we indulgently went and had a very nice dinner somewhat overlooking the ocean waves against the pier.   

This is the Cayookie --- Amazing!!!

I had just one bite and slipped into a food coma!

Morro Bay SP For The Day

Today we decided to stay around camp. We relaxed and had our coffee enjoying the refreshing morning air. It is sunny and nice. We talked about some upcoming travel we have planned and cleaned up files syncing with each other on our phones. (What did we do before Smart Phones?) I'm so thankful for my husband John in my life. He is one of my best friends. He is even pretty good at communication for a little while, when he begins to glaze over I know we are done chatting. He does his best, he is a man, which is why we women need women friends! Lunch was a filet, fresh squash, and tomatoes. I try to fix a filet when we camp, it's a nice treat and I have refined doing this in a frying pan and it comes out quite delicious. I tried crumbled bleu cheese on top today. I will add it sooner next time because it didn't melt. It was the desired taste however!  My photo is rather dark but trust me, it was not burnt!

During one of our walks we checked out the schedule for the Morro Bay Trolley. I didn't even know they had one! It is a nice little option, especially for people with motor homes or less mobile camping rigs. There are 3 routes and it looks like you could go basically anywhere in Morro Bay for a $3. day pass. Otherwise, a 1-way trip on any route is $1. I think Julie and the grandsons might like to try it out.  

Morro Bay SP - Pismo Beach

Today we took the 20 mile drive south to Pismo Beach. I know it is a touristy place but I love Pismo Beach. We got a parking place right on the main street when a young couple was leaving. They even gave us their parking slip, which had 2+ hours left of free time, how nice of them! We ate a nice lunch at Splash. John had fish and chips, which was okay but my bread bowl clam chowder with seafood topping was amazing! We shared - leaving the French fries and the most of the bread behind. The top of that buttery, toasted round was my reason for the bread bowl as apposed to a regular bowl.  

After that we walked around the boardwalk and just a little ways on the pier. I was surprised to see there is a Cool Cats Café here in Pismo! It looks a lot like the one in Maui we frequent but not as open air. They have been here 3.5 years so you know how long it has been since we walked downtown! We have several other stops we want to make so we were on our way before our parking time ran out.

We stopped at Pismo Coastal Village and they allowed us to drive through and check the accommodations. It is really not the type of place we choose to stay but it is getting so difficult to get into the State Campgrounds without a reservation at least 6 months in advance, it's an option. We drove through Pismo North Beach SP and circled sites on the map we liked best. We thought we would go check the improvements made to Pismo Oceano SP only to find it is still completely blocked off with a cyclone fence and more. Obviously the renovations will be extensive. It will be interesting to see what it looks like when finished. Our next stop was Avila Valley Barn. They had roasted corn today, though we were full from lunch and didn't try it. It looked delicious and people eating it raved! We each got a beautiful apricot but it looked better than it tasted. We are spoiled with out local produce at home. Onward to the Port of San Luis. This is a working port and I wanted to see if they had crab - they did. It is $8.95 live, $9.95 cooked. We may go back. They are a nice size running about 2 pounds each.  Heading back to camp about 5p. Surprising amount of traffic on Hwy 1. Time to relax with cards, reading, and a snack before bed.

Off To Morro Bay

We left home about noon for Morro Bay. It could have been earlier but we had a pretty nice show in the sky last night about 1:30a so we watched that for awhile. The thunder was louder than I think I have ever heard and the lightening went so far across the sky you couldn't see both sides! It was amazing, then it poured down rain. We aren't sure how long that lasted because we finally went back to bed once the thunder and lightening moved on and we closed the skylight!

We had an uneventful trip over. We stopped and got a snack out of the trailer around 1:30p at Kettleman City. There was a ton of traffic going east but not much going our direction. Temps were up to 85* on our way but once we hit the coast the gauge in the Jeep said 65* though my phone app showed 68* - regardless, it was fantastic! Clear skies with just a hint of the fog that we will see in the morning. The ocean was very calm as well.

We checked into Morro Beach State Park and I have to say the staff here is very nice and attentive. As we sat in our vehicle they actively met our needs, they even came out of the booth to write down our license plate. No one has done that in years! Typically you are told to park to the side and come back for a form to fill out. It was a nice touch. We have not stayed in this particular park before. You cannot walk to the beach from here but apparently there is a shuttle into town. I will find out details of that tomorrow, not that we will use it. There is a marina and a museum nearby. We'll check that out one of the days we are here. Not being right on the beach doesn't stop the popularity of the place, since it is full on a Sunday night! Of course, school is out in most places so families are vacationing. After setting up we relaxed, played cards, ate a dinner of leftovers from home, walked Tony, and read before heading to bed. This is the life! We are very spoiled!!! 

The Central Coast

We are really looking forward to getting over to the coast and out of this heat. It doesn't take long to grow weary of these triple digits and long for your day of departure. Maybe we will even have a little fog and feel a bit chilly!

Sunday/Monday/Tuesday

Sunday: After everyone left but Deb, Sam, and us it was pretty quiet. I was craving a burger because those were so good last night. We went up to the Food Court, that was a mistake. There were a ton of people and total disorganization with orders and service, to say nothing of finding a place to park. We got the burgers and such to our great disappointment. Oh well, live and learn. The day was fun anyway. We came back and played Yahtzee until almost midnight. Deb was the big winner this time with THREE Yahtzee's in one game!!!

Monday: Today Deb and Sam took off too. After packing up they had a bowl of chili with us and headed down the hill. It is really warm today without a cloud in sight!

We spent the rest of the day playing cards, doing a little house keeping, and enjoying the quiet of the campground since it is almost empty now. Our generator completely stopped working. It was running rough before, it obviously needs a good tuneup! 

Tuesday: Headed home after packing up. It was so hot in  the valley it nearly did us in cleaning up and  storing the Casita. We just can't deal with the heat too well anymore. Sure glad we got away for a few days but we need to find an alternative for the summer months here in the valley. 

Saturday

Steven and Saira arrived this morning. They got all set up and then we all had a delicious breakfast that Deb and Sam made (pancakes, tortillas, eggs, bacon, sausage, chorizo, fruit, potatoes). We all sort of lounged around and rested after that because we were so full! During the afternoon we played cards, darts, gathered wood, chopped wood, etc. In no time at all it was time for another delicious meal of burgers. We spent a long and enjoyable evening around the campfire before turning in for the evening.

Friday

We woke to lovely sunshine today. There are a few clouds here and there but I don't think it will rain. It was nice enjoying our coffee in the sunshine and playing some cards.  Frank, Vira, Kara, and Blake arrived mid morning. We decided to secure an extra site so no one would have to park in the overflow parking area, since that area is quite far from us. Deb fixed us a nice chicken salad for lunch then we all relaxed. We took some nice walks then Jeff arrived with Julie, Soren, and Spencer. After they were all set up we had Hobo Packs for dinner. 

Deb and Sam Arrived

It was pretty cold last night because our heater clicked on a couple of times. However, there has been no further rain. We had a nice walk around the campground this morning. There are sure a lot of fat gray squirrels up here this year. Deb and Sam arrived around noon but they had a problem with the LPG hose to their refrigerator or something and Sam went back toward the valley to get the needed part. I believe he went to Reedley to get what he needed, but I'm not sure now. Meanwhile Deb, John, and I were going to go to the little restaurant for lunch. When we got there we discovered it is not open. Either they are remodeling it, or it is never reopening, I'm  not sure. We ate at the Food Court, which was ok but nothing to write home about for sure! 

There is a lot of wood down and we collected a lot for our campfires (which is appropriate in these campsites) picking and choosing the best pieces! Sam rolled down a nice one for a big fire!

After playing cards we took a drive and showed Deb and Sam the Princess Campground as they have not camped there. Looks like it will be full for the upcoming weekend. We drove on to Hume Lake where Deb had fond memories. We had a snack we called dinner and an ice cream then headed back. We did see deer again and a lot of lovely wild flowers. It was Yahtzee this evening and then on to bed. 

Kings Canyon - Sequoia

It's time to head out again! Well, it is really past time ... We planned to go last  week but I am still trying to shake this virus that came to visit. Since we waited out my coughing we decided to just go up today. This is the day Sunset Campground at Grant's Grove opens for the season. The kids will join us for the long weekend and this is their preferred campground. There has been having rain up there this week, which means there is probably no snow on the ground. Anyway, we are looking forward to getting out of the valley as the temperatures are supposed to be going up, no big surprise. By the time we pick up the trailer from storage and finish the prep, we left around noon. 

Our drive up was uneventful. Lovely wildflowers adorned the sides of the road but there was really no place to pull over and take photos of them. There are a lot of dead pine trees, it is sad to see. The ranger at the entrance station said it is due to both the drought and insects. Because of the drought the trees don’t have enough sap to ward off the insects. He said there are 20 million dead trees. I believe it but I wonder who counted them? It is 42 degrees and it began to rain just as we were finished setting up. It let up a little bit and we took a drive and saw wild life, lots of deer. We drove through other campgrounds and there are some people braving the weather. You can see how close the fires got to the campsites last summer when driving through Crystal Springs Campground. The parking lot is torn up by the Visitor Center, so we skipped that, the gift shop, and the restaurant for now. We popped in the General Store to take a look, it is pretty much unchanged still having the various supplies a camper might forget at home. The newest addition is a food court just east of the General Store. Prices looked fair and the sort of stationary “food truck” looking buildings looked were clean with some seating provided outside only. Back to the trailer and we will have dinner, play cards, and go to bed with our Kindles in hand!

Millerton Lake

We are just home from Millerton Lake. It was a quick Family Camping Trip with a 3 night stay. It was enjoyable despite the strong winds the first 2 days. By day 3 it heated up quite a bit so it was good we were heading home by then.  There were 9 of us (minus Julie and Miranda) and a variety of people visited Frank & Vira over the course of the weekend. The lake was not as high as I thought it might be but much better than the pond it was last year at this time. Good times, good food, and maybe a new favorite for some...S'mores made with a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup!

Morro Strand Planned

Deb came over and we planned a Family Camping Trip for June at Morro Strand State Beach. They now take reservations so of course it is filling up fast. I tried looking at Pismo North Beach around 6 weeks ago and it is already full for the summer. I think they should leave some as first come - first served but then they don't ask my opinion. Anyway, we have the reservation for June 16-21. John and I will probably do something else after that but with the limited availability on the coast in the summer, who knows. 

In addition, Deb made some tentative plans for other Family Camping Trips. Hopefully, we can go to each of these planned trips. 

A New Reality

My Mom passed away on Feb. 8, 2016. We laid her to rest on the 20th. We had already shelved our NOLA trip because of her health. Right now I just don't have the desire or the wherewithal to plan a trip. We'll see what the future brings. 

Thinking Ahead

After some thought we have decide AK is not for us this year. Sharon's Mom is a fragile situation and we would not want to be out of contact or have to drive a few days to secure a flight home if there was an urgent situation. That said, we think we will try to do NOLA and the Florida Keys in March-April. Still a lot of planning involved but Sharon can probably fly home fairly easily if need be. 

We also want to stop in TX and get a few upgrades done at Little House Customs along the way. (special valves we have heard about and a double step)

We want to spend time in NOLA for a few reasons: 1) Genealogy research for both my French family and paternal line. Then there  is the WWII Museum that wants to  accept some artifacts from Mom's WWII service. Yes, those could be mailed but it would be such an honor to present these things in person. The Florida Keys - always wanted to go there. The drive should be interesting! Lot's of planning ahead!