Pinnacles National Monument (a three day post)

Pinnacles Trip

Friday:

Getting The Big White Thing out of the driveway and turned around went very well.  Perhaps we are beginning to communicate.  Having the stump removed helped a lot too!

We were mystified by a loud noise that we thought was coming from the refrigerator, but were relieved to discover it was coming from the radio via the speaker just above the refrigerator!

I drove about 50 miles, including some curvy, hilly, two-lane highway.  I got the hang of frequently checking the bottom of the convex mirrors to see the white lines on the road.  It felt like I was driving half in the oncoming lane, but I really wasn’t!

We got all set up and were just getting ready to eat when the power failed.  It was dark by then.  We went over and asked another camper if they had power.  Three guys came to consult on our problem and it was decided the power post had gone bad. One of the guys told us the same had happened last year.

They helped us move to the next spot over.  In the dark.

After they left, Craig had to re-level and put the slides back out.  Just as we were finishing, we notice another class A pulling in and we wondered if we were in their space.  We weren’t.  We helped them find their spot and guided them into it with our flashlight, passing the helpfulness on.

Our Brie, fruit and wine was a bit late, but ever so wonderful! If you’re in Trader Joe country, try their French Brie.

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Saturday:

When I opened the front screen, I was greeted by the sight of a flock of turkeys!  Driving in we saw a coyote and later a bunny hopped past the side window. Of course there were seveal deer that wandered thru the campground as well.

After breakfast we went on a five-hour, eight-mile hike.  Craig has reminded me of my goal to hike in National Parks.  A National Monument is good too.

The weather has held.  Cool, but not really cold.  No rain.

We were ready for bed before eight o’clock. Craig made tea early, and we were tucked in by nine.

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Sunday:

It rained very hard during the night. We learned the propane furnace does a very good job of warming the coach.  The alternative electric heat pump is very loud and not as effective.  There are lots of words about closing some of the vents to make the heating more effective.

 The morning was dry.  We decided to wait until later in the day to take a walk, so I went to a Ranger talk about condors and Craig found the 49er game on the radio.

By 11:00 it started raining again, and we watched the other campers packing up and pulling out. We sat at the table, I writing this, and Craig listening to the game.

I saw a condor flying high above the peak, circling as it caught a thermal draft.  Thanks to the ranger, I knew it was a condor and not a vulture because of the way it glided in flight.

Being in the almost empty campground, in the rain, playing with iMovie felt odd.  We planned on going home Monday morning, and didn’t want to drive and park in the rain.

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Monday:

Pack up and departure went very smoothly.  The only fuss was by the Toms of the turkey flock.  When we started the engine, all four of them fanned their big tails and rounded up the hens!

The 92 mile return trip was a good drive.  Getting The Big White Thing back into her place was much easier than the last time.  The gloves and headphones helped, although Craig said he couldn’t hear me half of the time.  But at least we didn’t get angry with each other this time.

Unfortunately there are a couple of large scratches from a tree branch on the back of the Alfa.  The only damage we have done to her has been on home ground!

Craig went to work in the afternoon while packed all of our stuff back down to the house.  I also vacuumed and washed the Alfa's floor, and gave everything else a quick dust and polish.  My goal is to keep her as nice as when we bought her.