Coasting South to San Diego

We "coasted" south down the highway, "The 5" as they call it in California, maybe because you need at least 5 drinks after you spend time on it!  Our first stop was to get some fuel and this can be a tedious chore, especially when you are on a Los Angeles city street and you are towing a car. I have pictures to prove it can be done!

Will we fit?

Yes we did!

We arrived in Mission Bay San Diego 45 minutes ahead of our scheduled 2 pm check in. I always read reviews of the places we plan to stay so I know what to expect and one reviewer indicated, don't arrive even one minute before check in because you will be scolded by the check in staff..so, we waited in a State Park parking lot on the bay and I made some sandwiches as we watched the minutes tick by. There was a view of the Bay so we didn't mind the wait!

A beautiful day in Mission Bay, San Diego

We checked in right at 2pm and made our way to the site, the reviewer wasn't to far off the mark because the ladies at the check-in were brusque to say the least, not sure why that is, maybe it's a qualification of the job. We often encounter these type of winning personalities on the road, but that's a subject for another day.
I've concluded after more than 7 months on the road, my favorite part of the journey is when we are settling in to a new site for a few days, maybe it's the anticipation of enjoying new adventures and meeting new people, I love soaking in the local culture. My initial observations of this area had me excited!

Let's start with the RV park, it was basically a huge paved parking lot next to the Bay, some foliage, nice trees between the sites, old, you an always tell the age of the park by the restroom/shower facilities. We don't need to avail ourselves of these amenities because we have 2 spiffy bathrooms and our shower is just like home, but some folks aren't as lucky and need to utilize them.

Nice trees in the parking lot!

park between the lines, or else!

 I made an exception in Las Vegas at the park because the showers were big and luxurious, like going to a spa and they were right next to us. Speaking of Las Vegas for a minute, this next story, (even though I'm getting off track for a bit) was the "material" bloggers like myself dream of! When we were in LV, Jay would run over to Dunkin Donuts near us to get bags of coffee by the pound, he loves his Dunkin donuts coffee and I think he also enjoys an occasional donut, not that he admits to that! OK, back to San Diego, the second day Jay said we need coffee and we have to find a Dunkin Donuts! The western US is Starbucks territory, one literally on every corner! Of course Jay has an app. for that on his phone, so, he said, let's go! We headed down the highway a few miles and the official Dunkin donuts GPS on his phone led the way.... off the highway, make a left and you have arrived... only one problem, we are pulling into a secured Naval hospital facility and now we are at the check point. Jay says to the 20ish armed soldier, "you're not gonna believe why we are here!" the solider wanted his license and said he wasn't even sure if there was a Dunkin Donuts on the base, no matter, we aren't going to see it! The very serious soldier held his license, stopped the traffic and we made a big U-turn off the base, he wouldn't relinquish the captain's license until we were pointed out, just in case we tried to make a break for it into the base for a coffee break!  Thanks have a nice day, we're outta here! We laughed all the way back to the coach, I bought coffee at the grocery store and we survived!
Jay has a step sister JoAnne who lives in San Diego and we met her for lunch, she actually lives on a 40 foot cabin cruiser in the harbor and collects antique VW buses! We had lunch at a terrific Mexican restaurant and they hadn't seen each other for 20 years, that's a lot of catching up to do! So much catching up we had a $42.50 parking ticket on our car after lunch, two hour parking MEANS two hours! Ok?! Well worth it, we invited her and her friend Joe over to our home on wheels for dinner and we all had a great time!

Jay and JoAnne

We enjoyed many of the sights in San Diego, the beach and Old Town and ate a lot of fish Tacos in the process

A very old cemetery

amazing fish tacos!

! 

a beautiful Sunday in Old Town

 

We enjoyed the views of the bay at Mission Bay RV park but were mystified as to why with such a beautiful location was tired and not updated, we noticed many abandoned mobile homes and even quite a few empty homes right on the water. The mystery was solved when we found out the property was now owned by the City of San Diego and will soon be cleared and sold to a developer to build waterfront resort/condos. The home owners were paid huge sums of money to move...too bad, another great RV park will soon be history. All in all, the locals we encountered were friendly and laid back, every area of California has a completely different culture and San Diego was no different, beautiful beaches and lots of surfers!

We enjoyed our time in San Diego and we departed for the Arizona desert town of Yuma which is about 170 miles due east along the border of Mexico.

310 to Yuma!

We also crossed a huge mountain range on Interstate 8 East, I held my breath and the Captain maneuvered the coach flawlessly all the way to Yuma. These mountains are so steep that they also have runaway ramps in case your brakes fail.  I was anxious to arrive in Yuma because it was my birthday and I wanted to have a nice birthday dinner...that proved to be a dining challenge in this small town of traveling snowbirds. We ended up at a roadside diner feasting on fried chicken and had Red Velvet cake from the grocery store! Not quite what I had in mind but it was fun!

Our new home for two weeks is a family owned RV park full of Canadian snowbirds so I better brush up on my French, I'm told they have some jamming Happy Hours!

will it be Shangri-La?

Malibu Beach

We left Long Beach in beautiful weather and headed up to Malibu. We made plans to stop for lunch  at a beach side restaurant called the Reel Inn. It was recommended by our friend Chris's son, he lives in the area and he promised us we would love it! He also joined us for lunch. This place was about 9 miles short of our destination and it had a large parking lot that would accommodate parking the coach. Yes, in fact we loved it! The fish was fresh and delicious we sat outside and Savannah was allowed on the patio too.

The Reel Inn

What a great find, good food, good friends and pristine weather. We continued on up the Pacific Coast highway and found our next home in short order!

Now I understand why people live here, wow, this was the most gorgeous scenery I've seen so far on this entire trip, or at least in California.... anyway, we came up this big hill and pulled into a space with breathtaking views, we were all speechless. The spaces were very tight, but, this was pricey real estate!

This was our view

Can you imagine backing into these spaces?

An amazing sunset

So we were completely "wowed" by this place! I kept thinking about our fate if there was an earthquake but I didn't dwell on it.We were told by somebody that Matthew McConaughy stayed here while making a movie recently and that actors with motor coaches stay here when they are in town!
We did see a very nice Prevost up the hill with a Porsche parked in front of it, but Jay wouldn't let me knock on their door! Prevost's are the Mac Daddy of motor homes, custom built and cost 1 million to start, Willie Nelson has one and actually they are customized in Palm City Florida. Don't see one of those in our future! We stayed 4 days and it was a memorable visit, day trips up the coast, over to Thousand Oaks and I was just mesmerized by the views, the homes nestled in the mountains and right smack on the beach!

We went to a small market one day and let me tell you it was the most expensive food I've ever seen, honey we are not in the neighborhood Walmart ! I think at that point we realized it was time to head south to San Diego!

Next adventure begins in Mission Bay, 138 miles south!



Long Beach California

Our journey to the coast of California included gridlock traffic on the 10 freeway, thankfully it was the Martin Luther King holiday. Being on any super highway towing a car behind a 40 foot motorhome is a nerve wracking challenge, although Captain Jay makes it look easy !

Our Long Beach California park was apparently the only RV park in the area and it was "nestled" in a large parking lot! It was adjacent to a lovely scenic city park with walking trails so we'll take it. I was anxious to be in Long Beach because I was so interested in seeing the Queen Mary which was just across the bay from us. We settled in the first day went out for dinner and planned to see the QM day two.
We made our way over to the bay and paid for a self directed tour of the retired ocean liner. She has called Long Beach her home since 1967 and in my opinion, time has not been kind to her.

 

I had such high expectations of the tour and I have to admit I was disappointed. From the time we arrived there was a strange vibe in the air.  The staff had no energy, they weren't helpful and I didn't feel they were engaged in being part of this amazing bit of history. The ship is very aged and it hasn't been maintained, during our walk around the ship we didn't see anyone around, including other visitors, I was very disappointed to see a Starbucks on board, really? That saddened me, I wanted to see a tea room with cucumber sandwiches...something regal and elegant, a staffer with white gloves or someone in a starched uniform. We considered having lunch at the restaurant but decided it just looked tired and old and was virtually empty at lunch time. A highlight, which I missed, was when Jay and Sandy visited the engine room, the two captains loved it, so, overall it was worth the trip!

 This attraction could be so much better,  I hope in the future that the City of Long Beach with restore this attraction to its former glory.
We stayed in Long beach for 5 days and we enjoyed other sights and had some amazing lunches on the water, the weather was so..so but that didn't dampen our enthusiasm for the area. We also visited Laguna Beach and it was a wonderful day trip with extraordinary views of the beaches and some very fancy stores and finally some ice cream for the trip back up to Long Beach to pack up for our trip to Malibu.

A gorgeous beach!

Next stop Malibu Beach!

 

 

California Here We Come!

We departed Las Vegas after a three and a half month stay...where did time go? We were lucky enough to share our journey with our friends Sandy and Chris. The trip seems shorter with good friends aboard the coach!

First stop, Parker Arizona, The Pirates Den RV resort. Any time you end up at a park with a water view you feel like you've landed some place special!
This park is a favorite of the snowbird crowd and if you want to stay longer, like for the winter, book a year in advance!

How about this sunset?

 Our view of the Colorado River

 

Next overnight stop, Indio California this spot is just outside Palm Springs and it was special for a different reason... Grass, no not that kind! An RV park with grassy grounds, we haven't seen a blade of grass since the summer!

 

 We settled in and went out in search for lunch, our friends hadn't tried a California legend.

The In and Out Burger! We enjoyed a "Double Double" and Chocolate Shakes!  It's truly a sensation in these parts, take a lesson MacDonald's, they do it right, under 10 items on the menu and everything is fresh except the employees who are dressed in clean white uniforms with a strong emphasis on politely serving the customer, how refreshing is that?!

The next day we were back on the road headed west early with a planned stop for breakfast in Palm Springs. We parked the coach in a Casino parking lot and headed around the corner to Ruby's diner for Eggs Benedict. Palm Springs reminds me of Palm Beach back in the 60's. A vintage kind of glamour with way too many gift shops, but cute.

 I'd like to come back here sometime for a few days... maybe some basking in the sun by a spa pool, just enough glamour for my taste. It's on our list!  Before we left town We took a stroll down the street and I had my picture taken next to a statue of a past Mayor of Palm Springs, the late and honorable Sonny Bono. I can see why he liked this place, jus sayin!

Savannah taking in the sights

 

Heading for the coast of California,  I haven't seen an ocean for months and I can't wait!

Leaving Las Vegas...

I couldn't help myself, I had to use that title, it's so fitting! We've been here in Las Vegas since October 1st and we are packing up the coach and setting out on a new adventure this Saturday. This place has been a lot of fun, we started out swimming everyday and then it all changed after Thanksgiving, the cold weather came and I was totally unprepared for the down right freezing weather here. I had no winter clothes to speak of, but, being the resourceful person I am... I found out that the consignment stores here are amazing! I now have a fabulous winter wardrobe that will carry me for a long time! Not that I plan on spending much time in the colder climates in the future as I am a Florida gal thru and thru!

 The nice thing is that the temperature swings here are fairly significant, 60's during the day and high 30's at night. It actually snowed here New Years Eve, it didn't last but it was kind of a novelty for the folks here because it only snows here every few years.

In one sense I am sad to leave because we met so many nice friends here on Agave Street, it was a pleasure to see them around the neighborhood everyday, have dinners together and hearing their many fascinating stories. I am fairly sure we will pass by here again later in the year. I never, ever thought I would spend 14 weeks living in Las Vegas!!

Las Vegas was a fun while it lasted but really, we HAVE to move to warmer climates. We have some tentative plans for 2015 that include Arizona, New Mexico, Seattle,Vancouver Island and New Hampshire and now it's time to "get going" so we can see it all! We will also be back in Florida for at least a month in March, leaving the coach behind for service in New Mexico.

Our next stop is the Pirates Den in Parker Arizona for one night and this little gem of a place is right on the Colorado River about 175 miles due south of here.

It's a scenic trip and our friends Sandy and Chris are joining us as we head from there to Palm Springs for a night and then to Long Beach California for a week of sightseeing in the warmer weather!
I already have a list of sights to see starting with the Queen Mary, I'm crazy about cruise ships and a close family friend wrote an amazing book recently about the last voyage of this ship so I am anxious to check it out. I read her book and I highly recommend it so pick it up on Amazon! The title is
Dogs in the Sun by Janice Convery. The history of the QM is fascinating, it was a colossal ship that was bigger and faster and more powerful at 1000 feet than the Titanic. It was in service for decades as both a World War II transport ship and a luxury liner, during the war it was called the Gray Ghost because of the color it was painted to make her stealthy in the war-time waters. She saw her share of deaths somewhere around 50 and  is now considered one of the most haunted places to visit in America!

 

Our next stop will be San Diego, Mission Bay, we have spot right on the water for a few days. I really miss our water views at home in Florida so we will be right at home!


Jay is busy getting the coach ready for travel, check the tires, fill her up with diesel, secure the bikes, lawn chairs and ladders.  The price of diesel fuel is considerably less than it was 3 months ago, when we filled her up this week, it was "hundreds" less in fact! I plan to spend the money we saved on some great California cuisine!

We will be ready to roll bright and early Saturday!

                                   I can't wait to share all our future big adventures!

Making Holiday Memories "RV" style

Our Thanksgiving came and went without the normal fanfare of an enormous meal. Jay went to Florida and I stayed in the coach in Las Vegas with Savannah. Prior to his departure I was "schooled" on anything that could possibly go wrong in his absence. I enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal with Jay's sister and sister in law who treated me dinner at a casino while we watched football! No cooking or dishes, I could get used to this routine!

I  prepared a modified version of Thanksgiving before Jay headed for Florida because I wanted to see if it was possible to do so in this small  kitchen! The Turkey breast was perfect and the meal was a huge success and I also had the benefit of  all the leftovers!

I was excited to pick up Jay from the airport because it was now time get ready for Christmas, let's get this coach decorated! we started with a tree...

We placed it in the windshield, it's 36 inches of pure joy! I was feeling bad enough about not spending Christmas with my family and not having my ornaments that I have collected over the years to decorate the tree so, this tree was going to have to do the trick! It started out as a small tree in the window and it has become a competition with all the neighbors to have the most spectacular decorations! Especially when we found out there is a contest for the best display in the park, we hope to get first prize since we made 5 more trips to Target! Stay tuned....

You be the judge...

The most recent addition was the wreath & Florida Santa

I was also ready to see some Christmas lights, every city has holiday light displays and Las Vegas does it well.  Ethel M. Chocolates has a Cactus Garden and I was excited to check it out!

This was a nice place for families and it was free, sort of...I say that because at the end of the tour

we went to the store and purchased a box of chocolate to share for $30. bucks. It was absolutely delicious and I went home in a sugar coma!

I see a theme here...

every cactus is lit up

The weather has become "wintry" by our standards, we didn't see a drop of rain for months and in the past week we are getting rain from the Pineapple Express and it's very chilly, 40's at night and mid 50's during the day.

 It's definitely sweat pant weather! It would be so easy to sit on the couch all day in my sweat pants and watch it rain so I decided to get a part time job for the holidays, not about the money, ALL about the discount! I am having so much fun working a few hours a week at my favorite retailer Bath and Body Works, not since high school have I had such fun working! It's great when you have no management responsibility and you don't need the money. Jay says I smell like candles and lotion when I come home. As of today, the shopping is done, the packages are wrapped and shipped and I even made holiday cookies. Its been a wonderful year of travel adventures and we are planning some new travel adventures in January to California so I will updating this blog more often when we get back on the road!

Happy Holidays and lots of love to all our friends and family!

 Captain Jay and Barbara and Savannah