Goodbye Pismo

I know it's only a seagull, but I love how very white they are!

Today was a much more relaxed day. Carol, Craig and I took a leasurely walk through part of Pismo Beach and out onto the pier. Dave didn't feel well and stayed back.

We enjoyed watching the surfers catch the waves:

Later in the day Carol and I went for a nice drive around town, and then to the pool for a late afternoon soak.  We shared a nice afternoon of "girl" talk.  Meeting other bloggers in person is a very special part of this whole life style.  Carol and I agree that reading each other's blogs will be even better in the future because we have met. 

Carol and Merikay at the entrance of the Pismo Coast Village RV park.

I noted when sunset was, and just before it did Craig and I walked to the beach overlook.

It was a good week, but alas we have to return to Camp Driveway tomorrow.

Craig has a dentist appointment in the afternoon and I will be getting my eyes checked early next week. 

But we will be free soon!

Johnson Ranch, San Luis Obispo

After doing dunes and beach yesterday, today we did mountain ranch trails.  Johnson Ranch provides trails in the hills above San Luis Obispo, so we had a bit more elevation change, but not too much!

Over the years we have driven thru this area many times, and we have always looked up at the soft rolling hills. Walking these trails allowed us to look down on the road and the cars. A different perspective indeed.

The first part of the trail was pretty much a track through former cattle pastures.  But assuming that cow pies don't last for years, we saw evidence that the area still hosts cattle on a regular basis.

The latter part of the trail was through mountainside country, so it was narrower and more rocky.  If we had followed this trail to its end, we later learned that it ends up in the parking lot of the San Luis Obispo Costco!

We did meet a number of other hikers on the trail as well as a couple of joggers and mountain bikers.  We were glad it was a midweek day. It must get quite hectic on weekends, and not nearly as pleasant a walk.

One of the better features of the trail was the really mature trees.  This oak was magnificently wide. 

This oak came partially uprooted quite some time ago.  Despite having lost part of its root system and laying down on the job, it was still quite alive!

Some parts of the paths were enclosed and forestlike. I imagine on a hot day these stretches would be very welcome.

Other parts were wide open to the sky. On some parts of the path we could see the developments in the valley below. 

As if to show that oaks didn't have a monopoly on laying down on the job, this sycamore had limbs on both sides of the trunk on the ground, helping support it!

Near the end of the trail, these wildflowers were growing in a gently-flowing stream.  This may be due in part for California's recent rains...

Although we could have hiked five and a half miles on this trail, we decided three miles out and three back was enough for our old bodies.  At the end the pedometer read 6.25 miles.  Merikay really needed a nice soak in the pool when we got back to the RV park!

Pismo Beach day one

On Monday, at a rest stop on US 101, we spotted one of these guys:

picture from the WEB

A yellow-billed Magpie. They are a smaller relative of the black-billed Magpie found in much of the Northwest. We have seen them before, but because I wanted to mention it in my blog post, I took the time to look him up in my Audubon Field Guide.  I was surprised to see what a small range they have, and am now pleased to have seen and identified one.  He sure was a pretty "crow".

We pulled into Pismo Beach Village RV park about 3:30 Monday.  After getting settled in we walked across the grass between the rows of RVs and met CarolK and Dave, anytime RVers and fellow bloggers.  

Travel, even if short and uneventful, can be a little tiring, so after a nice chat we returned to the Alfa for supper with a date to meet up Tuesday for dinner.

The ducks in my new header picture are a pair that seem to consider our site at the Pismo Coast Village home.  They are quite tame, and quite fat!

On Tuesday, Craig and I went for a walk at the Oso Flaco NVRA.
That is a National Vehicle Recerational Area, or a place to play with your dune buggies.  Fortunately it was a weekday and there were none about.

The walk started with this serene road through the trees.

Then onto a boardwalk across an inland waterway.  There were a few ducks and pelicans about but not many people. Love midweek!

We walked a mile or so into the dunes where the ATVs come to play.  Then we realized that the fenced area was too big to walk around, so we walked back.

Sand shark!

We retraced our steps back to the boardwalk and chose the path to the beach. 

The Pacific looked as good as ever...

In total we walked about five miles and felt quite good.

We came back to the RV park, I went for a swim, and later we went out for a fish fry with Carol and Dave. The food was really good and the company was great.

A wonderful day!

I'm adding the ducks' picture here, for when I change the header in the future. They sorta remind me of us! Just hanging out in an RV park mid-week.

A short vacation

We are finally on the road to Pismo Beach for that short vacation I have been mumbling about.

Departure was smooth, hook up of toad went well, and we should arrive by 3:30.  We are stopping at a Trader Joe's in San Luis Obisbo for supplies on the way. 

The skies are still a bit overcast, but the grass on the side of the road and on the hillsides has become very green. There should be lots of wildflowers blooming on our way home. The vast agricultural fields all look very happy to have gotten some natural irrigation and are either freshly plowed or a lush carpet of new plants growing. 

It is Spring in California.

Model Train Show

We woke to a rainy Sunday morning. Yesterday Craig had read there was going to be a model train show at the Santa Clara Convention Center, so after breakfast we decided to go take a look.  Craig had trains as a kid, and I am always interested in seeing the devoted handiwork of crafty people.

Picture say it better than words.

This engine was blowing smoke as it chugged along.  Its caretaker complained that it used too much smoke-liquid...  

A busy switching yard

This little loop was the smallest train at the show. The houses look like Monopoly pieces. The train rails were about 1/8" apart, and the train actually went around the track.  A model train layout within a model train layout!

Notice the detail on the side of this old covered bridge and the moss growing on the roof 

We think that most of the scenes represented real places and buildings

This one didn't: a cow being abducted by aliens!

Some of the setups were very complex. This is a small part of one that included Hobos cooking around a burning fire (one LED) and a police car checking out an accident scene.

Model RVs on a model train.  They look like gasser Class A's.

We weren't there for very long, but it was a nice outing for a rainy day.  

The new 49er stadium is being built just across from the convention center.  Craig couldn't resist taking a few shots of it.  

The 49ers will play their 2014 home games in Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.

The 49ers and Santa Clara want it to be the most energy-efficient sports complex in the world.

The area of these solar panels may be comparable to the area of the football field behind it!

Rain

While the rest of the country seems to have had a really rough winter, California has been enduring drought conditions. Actually we have had very little rain for several years, and it has finally become worrisome for water supplies, since much of California's water is collected and stored in reservoirs in winter and distributed in summer.

The lack of rain and warm temperatures were really nice for us here at Camp Driveway. But all of that has changed in the last few weeks. We had a pretty good storm ten days ago, and another system rolled in this past week. We have had five or six inches of rain in the last few days, and expect it to continue for several more.

One night of a gentle pitter-patter of rain on the RV roof can be soothing. Two nights of driving, pounding noise, with an occasional loud thump from a dropped pine cone or small branch gets to be a bit disconcerting. By the fourth night, the rain sound no longer keeps us awake, but I am a bit concerned about some of the trees that are quite near the coach.

The ground is getting saturated!

The tree closest to the Alfa (blue arrow) is a madrone. When we had some tree work done before bringing the Alfa home, the main trunk was cut off and only this branch which leans away from the Alfa remains. I'm not worried about it.

But up hill is a large fir tree (red arrow). A sister tree fell next to it a few years ago. If this one goes, it could hit us. We may die in Camp Driveway! But, probably not.

We did have some sunshine this afternoon, but it is starting to rain again. I went and bought some ear plugs this afternoon. I'm going to try them tonight. Maybe they will come in handy in the future if we are at a noisy Walmart.

I keep checking the seven day forecast for Pismo Beach. It is raining there today too, but sunshine is predicted for most of next week. I'm ready! The rain might be good for California, but I am ready for some dry beach days.

Some news about our son Gil. He finished his first year as an English teacher at a public boys' junior high in Bangkok this week. He is living on a very tight budget, and he really needed to find work for the three month "summer" break because he wouldn't get paid during that time, and was unable to get far enough ahead to cover his expenses. Coming back to the US was not an option.

He had applied for a couple of other teaching positions, and this week has signed on for a one year contract teaching in Yangoon Myanmar (Burma).

I don't know much about the job, except that it is through a private Australian company that does English programs for adults and for businesses. It sounds like a very good opportunity for him. Teaching junior high was a challenge. In his last video the boys in one of his classes gave him a nice "thank you teacher" send-off. But personally, having taught both in public schools and in business situations, I would take the adults every time.

As a mother, I am a bit uneasy about the country. Myanmar is not politically stable and has very strong ties with China. It is indeed a third-world country with questionable conditions.

from the web

But then I think back on what his apartments have looked like, and perhaps this is an improvement! (Just a mother's view of her son's housekeeping.)

This picture is not of his room. 



He also tells us the internet is very bad there, so we will probably not hear from him as often as we would like.

But all of that said, he is not a fresh faced kid. He is almost forty-four and quite knowledgeable about the world. He will be fine, and add another adventure to his life.

Hitting the road as fulltime RVers pales in comparison.

Some responses to your comments, and thoughts about Solar

First off, it is really fun and easy to make plans and reservations for the future when you are an armchair RVer, parked at your own house with 20 amp power and reliable water.  

This is not boondocking, but no reservations are required.

When traveling on business, when someone else was paying the bill, I would stay at "better" hotels. When traveling on my own dime, or just sleeping somewhere while on a ski trip, I stayed at some of the less expensive motels. Clean, relatively safe, but not fancy. Older places, but no "by the hour" rooms if you know what I mean.

Once the house sells and the proceeds are in decent income-yielding investments, our financial situation looks pretty good. We have our Social Security income, medicare and a supplemental health care plans, no debts, no storage, no mortgage, and no dependents. But I am a frugal person and want to live within a budget. If RV plans are made in JELLO, budgets must be the powdered mix they start with. 

To balance the cost of staying at some posh RV resorts with their heated pools and other amenities, I am looking forward to exploring public lands and other legal boondocking opportunities.  I have heard of Harvest Hosts in the past, but I don't see it as a way to keep expenses down.  If we stayed overnight at a winery, we would probably go in for a wine tasting which is not free, and would probably buy a bottle or three of their wine.

Wineries don't sell the cheep stuff we are used to, so the whole experience would cost more than a local RV park. For on the road stops, I don't mind an occasional Walmart.  Craig is not very enthusiastic about them. I guess some are OK, but the ones we have stopped at have been bright and noisy. We have eaten at Cracker Barrel, but not stayed at one.  They seem to be far and few between in California.  It is always a possibility, but again I would stop there for the convenience not for the economy   I'm sure we would eat there, and the meals could add up to nearly as much as a park space.

I'm sure we will investigate "Boondockers Welcome" and keep our eyes and ears open for other low cost options.

We have used our Passport America discounts and stayed at a couple of Escapee parks. You can dry camp at many of them for less than $10 a night. Full hook up spots run in the low $20's. We really like their homey feel.

We have looked at a few National Park campgrounds, and because the Alfa is only 35' long, we could stay at some, but most don't have power. The privately run concessioners parks in or near the National parks do, and that is where we have stayed so far. Except for our few days at Yosemite where we ran the generator. I really felt bad about that with our noise and smell polluting the campground.

We have been talking about getting a solar system on the Alfa. We think it would be best to go ahead and get it as soon as possible.

We have not yet looked into what we need or want, nor what it will cost.  But I have run some numbers on how long it would take for dollars spent on a solar system to balance  paying private RV park space rents.

Considering that some places we might use the solar because there are no power hook ups, the saving on space rent might be about $30 per night.  For every $1000 spent on solar we could boondock or stay at a no-hookup park for 33 nights.

I have no idea how much a good solar system will cost but running an extension on the above numbers, $5000 spent would be recovered in about 150 nights.

Spread out over two years, that would be 6 to 7 nights a month. 

Of course at the end of the two years we would still have a  solar system, slightly depreciated. Maintenance cost is always an unknown.

Doing a solar system is certainly cost effective if you plan on dry camping part of the time.  The freedom to do so is priceless!

We have talked about going to see Solar Mike over at the Slabs after the Alfa Owners Rally in April.  

We would appreciate any input you may give us. 

• Useful URL's, what to watch out for.
• How not to be ripped off as newbies.
• How much it should cost.  

But, as always, the house sale has to close first!