Sigh.
I'm a bit sad that this wonderful month has ended, and determined to take the next on with a good positive attitude. That's a big step for me. I'm naturally a "Negative Nelly."
So here is a short recap of our last four days...
We had abandoned our plan to drive down to Quartzsite because of the weather. After making it to Santa Barbara for the weekend, we decided to turn back south and go to Alfateers so they could take a look at and hopefully fix a leak we had discovered.
We were glad we weren't driving.
We spent two nights there. When I looked at these four Alfas parked together it made me think of a herd of beasties huddled together for protection from the wind. We were all quite cozy with the big building at our backs.
We hope the new caulking will fix the leak. They showed Craig how to do an even better job on rinsing the black tank, so now the sensor is reading more accurately, and although they couldn't fix the front-door whistle completely, it is less annoying and I know a few places that are not causing the problem.
Oh, and the new Koni shocks we had installed before Christmas, seem to have broken in and are giving us a much nicer ride.
We left Fontana Wednesday just after noon and had an easy drive thru the LA area. It was a rare day because we didn't have any really bad traffic. It can take hours to get thru there!
We stopped at the El Captain CA State Beach. Arriving just in time for a nice sunset walk along the water.
The RV site was near the beach, and although it had no hook-ups it was easy to get to from the highway. Maybe too easy! The biggest draw back was the traffic noise. I'm not really bothered by it, but I know some people are, so I thought I'd mention it.
Thursday we drove up to Morro Bay and were settled into our site before noon. We choose a full hook up over the State Park because we knew our next stop was at home and we didn't want to have to stop to empty the tanks before parking the Alfa.
I wore my pedometer for this walk. By the time we got back to the rig it was reading 7.85 miles! The beaches are such beautiful places and so easy to walk on if you stay on the wet sand near the water.
This was the first time I have seen a starfish in the sand. I picked him up and verified he was alive. I have seen them on the pier pilings. We also saw otters, and of course lots of birds.
I have many thoughts about this trip that I may write about soon.
For now all I can say is: we enjoyed it.
We never did have 50 MPH winds here. It is so nice and warm. 72* here today and 71* yesterday. We were disappointed with the "Big Tent" shopping. My guess that it was 75% vegi-matic types of sales, or face creams, or hair straighteners. We were mistaken when we thought this was going to be mostly RV related equipment etc.
ReplyDeleteOops, let me add that we will do Q again and again. Why? Because of the super RV people that we have met. THAT is the essence of our Q.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a successful trip. Sounds like you are ready to get back on the road though. We would have no doubt gotten to meet had you made it to Q. There is an Alfa gathering right behind the area we are camped!
ReplyDeleteYou have an incentive to be more positive about finishing up the house. More traveling....soon... Looking forward to reading your thoughts about the trip.
ReplyDeleteLiving on the Oregon and Washington coast for years, I have seen Star Fish on the rocks and in aquairums, but this was a first for me seeing this one on the sand. Thank you for sharing it with us.
ReplyDeleteHaha, like the herd of Beasties, too funny. where is the leak? I hate leaks...what is that? A chipmunk or squirrel? that was one healthy looking starfish. thanks for sharing your adventures :-)
ReplyDeleteI am glad you had a good trip. Maybe this will give you the energy to complete your house. I know it was sad to end it though. One day soon you and us will be full timing it.
ReplyDeleteMorro Bay is a beautiful place! You got some great beach photos, Merikay. Donna and I were just talking today about how we have come to appreciate the fact that life is a journey, and it's as good as we make it. Take things in stride and everything becomes a new adventure. You're doing exactly that, congratulations to you both. Life is good.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry your wonderful trip has ended, but I guess it's now time to get the house completed so that you can get on the road.
ReplyDeleteSo what is the secret to doing a better job cleaning out the black tank. I'd love to know.
I hope that beautiful starfish survived until the tide came back in.
TexCyn, that's a squirrel in the picture. There were many of them in a pile of rocks by Morro Bay. Not a special marine variety just gray squirrels. A lady came by and fed the squirrels and then the seagulls.
ReplyDeleteK&A, I didn't learn any great secret about the black tank, just:
1) A hose through the window and down the toilet drain may be more effective than the auto-fill feature that's built into our Alfa,
2) Letting the hose run for a while, with the black-tank outlet open, is a good thing to do at the end of a washout session. Gets the last little bits out.
So happy your trip was so wonderful. It is hard to come home.
ReplyDeleteThey also sell a plastic pipe with little holes that act like jets to add to your hose and it really cleans the black tank. They have several kinds.
Just love those beach pictures and I spotted that tail behind the bird, how funny.
We're almost as sorry as you are that yur trip is over. It was great following along.
ReplyDeleteOne of these days I'm gonna have the pleasure of camping by the beach. Thanks for the great pictures!
ReplyDeleteHey, I used to live in Fontana! We called it "Fontucky," though. Great shots, love the starfish!
ReplyDeleteKris