Menifee, Jamul CA & Yuma AZ

Nov. 21 & 22 Menifee CA

The weather here has been sunny and nice.  After breakfast we drive to Joshua Tree National Park.  Stop at the visitors center first and decide to eat lunch at the cafe next door before going into the park.  Massive rock formation are everywhere and large boulders are scattered over the landscape.  Rock climbers are repelling down the large rock formations and lots of people are just climbing them.  At one overlook we could see the San Andreas Fault in the valley below.  Joshua trees are scattered over the desert, they aren't really a tree but a species of yucca.  Joshua trees can grow over 40 feet tall at the rate of one inch a year.  The park is a very rugged desert landscape and home to many cactus, birds, bighorn sheep, snakes, lizards, desert tortoise and iguana.  We stopped at the Cholla Cactus garden where hundreds of Cholla cactus are in this small area with a pathway through the cactus. We also stopped at the Ocotillo Patch were this type of cactus seemed to grow. 

Joshua Tree National Park

Rock climbers repelling off this rock

San Andreas Fault across the middle of picture.

Cholla Cactus Garden

Tuesday, Nov. 22nd we drive to San Juan Capistrano where the swallows return every spring.  This is a large mission with lots of rooms around the beautiful flowered courtyard.  The Great Stone Church was built in 1797 and took nine years to complete.  There was a 70 foot bell tower which fell during the 1812 earthquake that struck the area as people were gathering for church.  Forty people died at this mission in the quake.  We ate lunch outside on the patio at a  restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Schooner or Later which was at the boat basin in Long Beach. 

San Juan Capistrano

Inside one the the rooms

Courtyard and fountain

Serra Chapel St Peregnine Chapel

Great Stone Church

Boat basin in Long Beach

Nov. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30.  Jamul CA

On Wed, Nov. 23rd we move close to Jamul which is just east of San Diego.  We are only 8 miles from the area called Eastlake where there is all kinds of stores.  San Diego is only about 12 miles by freeway from there so it is an easy commute.  We are in the mountains so have no cell phone or Internet service.  Our campground is only 5 miles from the Mexican border.  The Border Patrol is everywhere and even come through our campground. 

Thanksgiving we stay in the campground and in the afternoon go to the cafe in the campground for dinner. 

Saturday the 26th we go to Cabrillo National Monument which is located on Point Loma.  From the monument we overlooked San Diego Bay and the Naval Air Station on Coronado Island.  The monument is named after Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo who arrived aboard the flagship San Salvador in Dan Diego Bay in 1542.  He was captain of the first European exploration of California.  We also visited the Point Loma Light Station.  We ate lunch at Blue Water in San Diego, another DDD restaurant.  That restaurant was so busy the line went out the door and down the street.  We both had fish tacos and got to pick the kind of fish in them.  After lunch we went to Old Town San Diego which is a series of shops on both sides of the street, a farmers market on a side-street and a courtyard area with shops.  We finally found a place to park and enjoyed visiting the many shops.

San Diego Bay

Point Loma Light Station

Old Town San Diego

Monday the 28th we go to San Diego Zoo.  We arrived at the zoo about 8:45 in the morning that opened at 9.  The weather was beautiful, sunny with a slight breeze.  We started the day with the guided bus tour in a double Decker bus around the park.  Our first stop after the bus ride was the Panda exhibit.  There are three giant pandas in the park a male, female and a 2 year old male.  They are solitary animals so they were in separate enclosures.  The young one was very active, turning somersaults, climbing trees, going in his pond and just putting quite a show.  The mom was sleeping when we got to her enclosure but she woke up and moved around a little waiting for her lunch.  The male was not on display that day.  The pandas were my favorite exhibit in the zoo.  We spent the entire day at the zoo and left at closing time. 

Two year old Giant Panda

Momma Panda

flamingos

Giraffe family

Kolas

Gorilla having lunch

sleeping Polar Bear

Wednesday we drive the jeep up a narrow road that climbs up the mountains behind the campground.  We came upon a Border Patrol that was parked watching the border below.  We stopped and talked to him.  He told us they are only catching about 8 Mexicans a day trying to come across the border and they are mostly people who have been deported and have family in the US.  We could see Tijuana in the valley and the wall the US built to try and keep people from illegally crossing.

View from the top

Tijuana Mexico from the top of mountain

Dec. 1 through 31st. Yuma AZ

Thursday, Dec. 1st we arrive in Yuma Arizona and  will stay one month.   We are in a real nice resort, Araby Acres.  There are many activities here and the people are very friendly.  There is a four wheelers group that go out on trips in the Yuma Valley every Wednesday and we are going to go with them.   The weather is a little cool here, hopefully it will warm up soon.  Happy Travels, Barb

Santa Barbara, Acton and Menifee California

Nov. 11, 12, 13, 14 Santa Barbara CA

Friday we arrive at the campground Rancho Oso which is in the mountains outside of Santa Barbara.  The road into the campground is narrow and windy so it was a little scary going in the motor home,  not wanting to meet anyone coming the other way.  The area is beautiful with the mountains on  both sides of the valley we are in.  This campground has horses and offer trail rides.  They also board horses and lots of people come here to trail ride.  The trip into Santa Barbara from here is over a mountain pass and at the top you can see Santa Barbara and the ocean below.  What a view

Rancho Oso

Saturday we drive north to Solvang which was founded in 1911 as a Danish-American colony.  The buildings reflect the heritage of its founders with a village of shops that were crowded with lots of shoppers.  We ate lunch at the Red Viking Restaurant and had the Danish Smorgasbord, the food was good.  Stopped at Old Mission Santa Ines and took pictures before going back to the campground.

Solvang

Old Mission Santa Ines

Monday was spent in Santa Barbara area.  In the morning we drive south to Ventura and visited the Channel Island National Park Visitors Center.  We went up on the observation deck but a cloud cover prevented us from seeing the islands and we saw a movie about the islands.  The Channel Islands are 8 islands that sit 160 miles off the coast of California.  Only 5 islands are in the national park and they are mostly uninhabited.  The islands and their encircling waters are home to more than 2,000 species of animals and plants, 145 are found nowhere else on Earth.  We ate lunch at a Diners, Drive-ins and Dives restaurant, La Super Rich which had good Mexican food.  Stopped at the Santa Barbara Mission before going back to the campground.

View from deck of Ventura Harbor

Santa Barbara Mission

Nov. 15, 16, 17, 18 Acton CA

Tuesday we arrive at Soledad Canyon Campground just out of the little town of Acton CA.  We are in a mountainous area outside of San Fernando Valley.  The campground is nice but there is a train track right in front.  There were about 10 trains a day but thankfully they didn't run at night. 

Wednesday we decide to go to the Los Angeles area.  The freeways are clogged with cars and a semi truck came close to side swiping us.  He came over into our lane and Dick was able to move over to avoid touching.  It was scary and glad to get off the freeway and head down the canyon to Malibu.  Houses line the beach with no space between so we couldn't see much of the beach and could only see the backs and garages of the houses.  We stayed on highway 1 along the ocean and stopped in Santa Monica for lunch.  Ate at another DDD restaurant called Yea Old Kings Head which is an English Pub.  After lunch we drive to Venice Beach, that was an interesting stop.  Along the beach is a paved path for walking, riding bikes and skateboarding.  There is a wide boardwalk with shops lining one side and people selling items along the ocean side.  Everything was for sale there, even Medical Marijuana.  We were going to go to Long Beach but the traffic was terrible and didn't want to get stuck in the afternoon rush hour (probably more like all hours) traffic so decided to head back to the motor home.  Our day in Los Angeles area was tiring and decided we had seen enough.

Malibu

Venice Beach

About anything qualifies for medical marijuana

Thursday we stayed around the campground and across from our campsite was the catering for the filming of the TV show Parenthood.  They were filming about 5 miles down the road and were using the campground as a base for dressing rooms, make-up and catering.  Dick talked to some of the extras that were hanging around the food area and we saw all the actors and crew come for lunch.  I have never seen the show Parenthood but will try and see it soon. 

Bikers in the shoot

Two of the child actors

Trailers for the TV shoot

Friday we went into Santa Clarita and had dinner at the Rattler BBQ restaurant.  The food was good and we brought home half of our dinners.

Nov. 19, 20, 21, 22 Menifee CA

On Saturday we move to a campground by the town of Menifee called Wilderness Lakes and will stay for 4 nights.  The campground has a series of canals with lots of ducks and other water fowl and aerated for fishing.  We  drive to Hemetr  to do some shopping. 

Sunday we stay around the campground because Dick wants to watch the Nascar race on TV.  It will give me a Chance to do the laundry.  Tomorrow we will go towards the ocean and visit San Juan Capistrano and maybe get to Long Beach.  While here we also plan on going to Joshua Tree Nat. Pk. which is about 80 miles away. 

We leave here on Wednesday and going to San Diego area for 8 days before going to Yuma AZ.  Happy Travels, Barb

Klamath, Redway, Cloverdale, Morgan Hill, Paicines and Pismo Beach CA

Oct. 26, 27 Klamath CA

We have had sunny weather since we entered the state of California.  We are going to be sightseeing all day so pack a picnic lunch to eat along the way.  First thing we see along the highway is a herd of Elk.  We saw 3 different herds along the highway.  Stopped at a visitors center for the Redwoods by the town of Orick.  The road through the Redwoods in this area is closed because a week ago several trees fell across the highway.  We are our lunch along the ocean and headed towards Eureka.  We decided to check out the town of Willow Creek because our neighbor, Gordon had camped there many years ago.  The area is known for Big Foot sightings.  There is even a Big Foot Museum in town but it was closed.  The town is located 30 miles deep in the mountains and it was a beautiful ride there.  In Eureka we visited the Humboldt Bay Wildlife Refuge where the Aleutian cackling geese winter. 

Bull Elk beside the road

Beach neer Orick where we had lunch

Bigfoot Museum in Willow Creek

Oct. 28, 29 Redway CA

This campground is located by the Avenue of Giants which is a scenic drive through groves of Redwoods.  In places the groves of  trees are right along the edge of both sided of the road.  We ate dinner at a good Mexican Restaurant in a little town in the Avenue of Giants.  The second day in the area we drove highway 1 which was very steep, windy and narrow road for 22 miles.  Not a road for the Motor Home,  glad we were in the Jeep.  Finally got to the ocean and it was beautiful.  The road was up on a cliff so we had a great view of the ocean.  I saw a whale blow a spout and then the back and tail came out of the water.  Dick was able to pull over in time to see the second time the whale came to the surface.  Driving along we saw another whale.  Drove to the town of Fort Bragg and then took another road back.  This was also steep, climbed over the coastal mountains and windy but a little wider. 



Avanue of Giants



Oct. 30, 31, Nov. 1, 2 Cloverdale CA

This campground is located in the famous California wine country.  We are close to both Sonoma and Napa Valleys.  We spent one day in the town of Sonoma where we found the old part of town where there are many interesting shops.  Next we drove to the town of Napa and found a visitors center and got maps and information of places to visit.  Checked out some of the shops in Napa also.  Most of the wineries in this area charge anywhere from $5 to $25 to taste.  We didn't feel like spending that much on tasting so we only stopped at a couple of wineries.  We bought a few bottles of wine and enjoyed the beautiful countryside.  We ate lunch at La Texanita in Santa Rosa which Dick has seen on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  Good Mexican food. 

Wineries on the way to Santa Rosa

Beringer in St. Helena

Nov. 3, 4, 5, 6 Morgan Hill

This campground in located south of San Francisco.  We have had sunny weather for the last several days but today it is cooler and cloudy.  After getting settled we drove to Gilroy which is the garlic capital.  The town had the scent of garlic even though the garlic had already been harvested.  We found a couple of places that had garlic products and went to Garlic World and bought some garlic salsa.  Drove to the little town of San Juan Bautista.  Chickens were running loose all over town.  We stopped at a mission in the town but it was closed for the day so I took pictures of the beautiful grounds.

On Friday we leave early to drive into San Francisco to spend the day.  With traffic it took a couple of hours to get there.  We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped at the view point on the other side.  Had a great view of the bay and the city.  The area surounding the bridge is the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.  People were biking and walking the bridge.  We tried to see Point Bonita Lighthouse but the road over to the lighthouse was closed for repair and even the path to see the lighthouse was closed on the day were were there.  Went back across the bridge and drove to  Fishermans Wharf which is mostly restaurants.  We grabed lunch, I had clam chowder in a bread bowl and crab coctail and Dick had a crab sandwich.  We did a little shopping in the stores around the wharf.
Dick drove up Hyde Steet which is the famous street that is very steep and seen in movies (with a stick shift and having to stop a few times).   We drove down the crookedest street, Lombard St. and that was fun.  After our fun day in San Francisco we were invited to my Nieces house, Debbie and Gary, in San Carlos for dinner.  Their house sits high on a hill overlooking the bay, what a fantactic view.  They are moving out for a few month so a complet remodel can be done on their house.  We saw the plans for the redo and it will be beautiful when done.   Had a wonderful dinner and a great visit with Debbie, Gary and son Garrett. 

Saturday we left in the morning again to drive south to see Monterey Bay area.  In Santa Cruz we had lunch at a little reastaurant on the boat basin filled with sailboats.  Drove around the bay to the town of Monterey and along the rugged coastling stopping at Pt. Pinos Lighthouse.  This is a working lighthouse and they had the keeper's house like it was when it was lived in.  Next stop was the quaint town of Carmel.  Bumper to bumper traffic and so many people, no place to park.  Drove down to the ocean before heading back through town.  Finally found a place to park so checked out the shops.  Things were expensive in the high-end shops but it was fun to look.  Went into Tiffanys and they has no prices on anything.  I guess if you have to ask the price you can't afford it. We drove all the way to Big Sur before turning around.  On Highway 1 out of Carmel there is spactucular scenery of the California coast.  On the way back to the motor home we stopped at a produce stand and bought artichokes, brussells sprouts and strawberries.  We saw acres of different kinds of produce being planted and harvested.  With the mild  weather here in California something is always being planted or harvested or the ground being prepared to plant and  we saw lots of people working in the fields. 

Chicken in San Juan Bautista

Mission San Juan Bautista

Rows of houses hooked together

Golden Gate Bridge

View of San Francisco and Bay Bridge from other side of bay

Fishermans Wharf

Going up Hyde St.

View from Hyde St. and Lombard St.

Alcatraz Island

Cars going down Lombard St.

Driving along Monterey Bay

More Monterey Coast

Pt. Pinos Lighthouse

Inside Lighthouse

On the way to Big Sur

Nov. 7 & 8 Paicines CA

We move about 40 miles further south by the town of Paicines.  After getting settled and ate lunch we go to Pinnicles National Monument.  The area was formed by an ancient volcano, which lies 195 miles southwest.  The San Andreas Fault Zone is just east of the park and the magma oozed up from below the surface and formed the rock spires, crags and sheer-walled canyons.  We hiked a one mile trail to a lookout.  It was an up hill hike so we were both tired when we got back to the car.  We saw 3 bobcats today.  One in our campground and 2 ran across the road near Pinnicles.

Bobcat in Campground

Pinnacles Nat. Monument

Pinnacles

At the viewpoint

Nov. 9 & 10 Pismo Beach

Pismo Beach is a neat beach town with the houses on the hillsides so they have a view of the ocean.  Disapointed with our campground, no grass, just blacktop and not much room between campsites.  Glad we are only staying 2 days and sightseeing both days so not spending much time in the campground.   On Wednesday we walked about 1/2 mile to the Monarch Butterfly Grove.  From late Oct. through Feb., thousands of Monarch butterflies cluster on the limbs of Eucalyptus and Monterey Pines giving the appearance of yellow and orange leaves.  They were high in the trees so even with my zoom my pictures don't show the butterflys close.  A man was there with a long zoom lends and we could see the colorfull orange and black butterflies in his camera.  We walked back to the campground on the beach.

Clusters of Monarch Butterflies

Sunset on Pismo Beach

Thursday we spent the day driving north to San Simeon where the famous Hearst Castle is located.  We stopped at the visitors center but didn't go on any of the tours.  We had seen the castle on a prevous trip to California.  We drove a little further north and saw the large number of Elephant Seals lying on the beach.  There is a boardwalk above where the seals are on the beach to take pictures and not disturb them.  We had lunch in the little town of Cambria and then drove to Paso Robles.  Lots of interesting shops there and bought some olives, sticky buns and smoked sausage.  It was dark when we got back to Pismo Beach.  Tomorrow we leave here and our next stop is Santa Barbara.  We will spend 4 nights there.  Happy Travels, Barb

Hearst Castle

Elephant Seals