The California Central Coast

First, my apologies for being very late with this post. I got side tracked with a bout of a killer cold and flu that I'm just about over and also with distractions of family and friends in southern California on our last stop of the trip.

Our trip down from Benbow started with what I embarrassingly refer to as “The Magical Mystery Tour”. As most of you know, I am somewhat proud of my sense of direction and ability to reach a destination without use of a map. Well, meet the newest fan of Garmin! Thankfully, the lovely bride hasn’t rubbed it in too much, but let me warn you; she has a new arrow in her quiver for future shots.

Everything was fine on our six hour drive to San Juan Batista l from Benbow until we crossed over the Richmond Bridge into Oakland. My mission was to head down Hwy 101 through San Jose and down a little past Gilroy. To accomplish this, I had to divert “a bit” around Interstate E/B 80 and S/B 880 along east bay. Somehow I missed the 880 connection south and I cruised along E/B 80 and was passing UC Davis, I knew something was amiss. Trapped in never-never land, I figured I’d eventually a southbound highway towards San Jose to get back on track. Long story short, we revisited Sacramento and the delta, then headed west after we past Stockton towards San Francisco. It turned out to be a nine hour drive and long day to get to our camp in San Juan Batista. Thank God the Betabel resort was a beautiful oasis to land in. They really have some super people managing this park.

From this three day stop we day tripped to Monterey Bay including Carmel, Gilroy and San Juan Batista. We took some trip along memory lane and some new adventures at this stop.

Monterey Bay is a fantastic place to visit if you’ve never been there. The aquarium is, in my opinion, one of the finest in the world. Cannery row has some luxurious hotels and shops and the Bay is spectacular. After our town visit, we did the 17 mile drive at Pebble Beach. Golf fans will know this one; think AT&T Pebble Beach tournament and you’ve got it. Something new to us; it’s now a $9.75 fee to do the drive. Progress, but I guess somebody need to pay for the road upkeep and it is private land. Well worth the fee. We drove out at the Carmel gate and went through downtown. Two thing we missed while there. We didn’t see Clint Eastwood or Doris Day hanging pour nor did we see the Boar’s Head Saloon, Eastwood’s old bar and grille. Either it closed or we just passed it without recognizing it. We highly recommend this area for a romantic getaway place.

Gilroy is the garlic capital of the world and being there at harvest time is easy to recognize. Your eyes are watering along Highway 101 for about 15-20 miles from the odor coming from the fields. To locals, the sweet smell of money; to cooks, the smell of fresh seasoning; to travelers, some fine garlic products and other produce that is fresh from the vines, ground or trees. Taste buds delight! At our resort, one of the full timers has a garden and stocks the store with produce including corn, tomatoes, chilies, onions, potatoes and some fruits. All is free for the taking, donations accepted. There is nothing better than fresh produce from the fields. OK Greg, I get it!

San Juan Batista is a charming small town with the mission being the center of the town. Most missions along El Camino Real have been restored to some degree, but this one is not only beautifully maintained, but is also one of the few that remains the active parish. The plaza buildings are restored and there is a museum at the old stable with a nice collection of old restored wagons of commercial and private use. We particularly liked the wagon that transported Hotel Hollister guests to and from the property and around the countryside.

The next leg of the central coast was based in Paso Robles, CA.  We picked a good spot here. The resort was without question a five star resort. We felt like we were at home in Dolce Vita with all the property amenities. Another great couple running the resort and we met a lot of new friends at the evening happy hour in the Vineyards, the on-site wine bar.

Day trips included Highway 1 along the central coast including Cambria, Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo with stop at the Madonna Inn, some vineyard tours and shopping in old town Paso Robles.

The Paso Robles area is wine country south with the most acres of vineyards in the state. It is better known for blends and whites. There are plenty of medal winners in this part of the country and many wineries to visit. I would guess no less than 60 wineries. Obviously, we couldn’t visit them all, but many of the labels were available at the resort. I did locate and visit the Arciero Vineyards (Frank Arciero was a high school friend) only to learn they had sold the property back in the 90’s to another company. Oh well. I did some nice pictures of the property and cellars. Downtown is another charming town with lots and lots of watering holes and restaurants from which to choose. I chose F. McClintock’s because they had a fabulously restored old west bar. Think of the saloon in the classic western movie Silverado and you get the picture.

Highway 1 along the central coast is one of our favorite areas. Cambria remains a charming coastal town with a fantastic path along the beach side of the highways and B&B’s on the coast side. We could live in this town and if we ever hit the lottery, maybe will. All the towns along the coast have a special ambiance and we would recommend this trip to anyone. Spending a week along the coastal towns would be a memorable vacation.

If you’ve never been to the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, go to their website and it will give you a decent perspective of this unique hotel. The photo of the steak house will give you a small idea of the elegance of the property.

I'll post soon with the next and final leg of the trip. Take care and keep on truckin' guys.

T & C

 

 

Monterey Bay Cannery Row

 

Monterey Bay - 17 Mile Drive

Mission San Juan Batista

 

Cambria Coast

 

Cambria Cost Site

(I offered him a $1, no go!)

 

Madonna Inn Restaurant

Trees, Trees & More Trees

What a week!  But, before I report on our travels and explorations, I have to tell you about California highways. From the time we entered the state from Nevada across I-80, we’ve been off-roading in the motorhome with the Jeep in tow! Enough said other than whenever I see a highway improvement sign in California, the phrase "Caltrans at work........ making roads rough for you" pops into my mind.

This was our first venture into northern California above Napa County (wine, of course). Spectacular is the operative word for the terrain starting with the Redwoods, continuing on with the coast and finally with the small towns that have not fallen prey to progress. In fact, some of the locals in the smaller communities were protesting highway improvements funded by the Recovery Act to widen some parts of Highway 101. It was a flashback to the 60’s. I think we discovered where the Hippies have relocated. Tie-dyes, headbands, shorts and Birkenstocks are still the norm and shaving is infrequent. Many street performers are plying their trade as gas stations, local markets and restaurants. Small donations pay their rent, or so they say. We also saw more medical marijuana facilities than we’ve ever seen. Really cool, man!

Perhaps it was the timing of our visit. While we were in Benbow, there was a three day Reggae festival happening down the highways about 14 miles south of us. Driving by, it looked like a Woodstock type of event. Sadly, we could not get tickets, they were sold out. To give you an idea of the numbers of fans, our RV park was getting $20 a day for parking and running buses to the event.

The redwoods begin in Willits, California or so the sign says that the town bought from Reno, Nevada, that crosses 101 and now reads Gateway to the Redwoods. The further north you drive, the denser the forests become. The trees are simply astonishing, in size and number. The redwoods, as we learned, can grow to a greater height than any other tree. The current record is something like 374 feet and the some of the giants are well over a thousand years old. Considering that one felled tree can market for over $100,000, it is no surprise that logging these forests is tightly managed. It takes at least 30 years for a tree to become ready for market. Examples of overharvested forest spots are easy to spot. The roots, no more than 2 feet deep spread out from the trunk rather than deep in the soil to support their trunk size and weight. All this gives anyone who has had a redwood deck or chair an appreciation of the cost. Properly maintained, your deck or chair will last for generations.

We took two train rides in the redwoods, the first from Willits to Northspur, an old logging camp; the second on private property that had an old narrow gauge line at Confusion Hill. We love train rides.

Day trips from our park included Eureka, CA, CA Hwy 1 along the coast from Mendocino to Leggett and local attractions in the Redwoods. Our park, by the way, was an attraction in itself. We had a nine hole golf course on site and the historic Benbow Inn across the highway. By far the best RV resort we've visited to date. Level sites, nice people and great amenities.

Eureka, CA was an unplanned day trip that turned out to be enlightening and fun. When we asked about the nearest Walmart location at the park office, we were told Eureka about 70 miles away was the closest. This was the longest drive to the market and full service car wash we’ve ever made. We started out and drove through the Avenue of the Giants road to view the redwood forest, then on to Eureka. It is a commercial center for fishing and logging located in Humboldt Bay of about 27,000 people. The Walmart is located as one of the anchor stores in the single shopping mall of the town. Old town has some interesting Victorian buildings and the bay port has some good seafood restaurants. That’s it.

The coast drive was fabulous. The northern California coast is rugged for the most part and nothing like we SoCal guys are used to. Finding a sandy beach is much harder than down south and getting to it often requires a hike down from the highway. The terrain though is breathtaking. Mendocino is a charming city, also Victorian in theme, with many small specialty shops. Carol was in shopping heaven and we're moving there in the very near future if Carol has her way.  

Well, off to the central coast with a rest stop in San Juan Batista and then on to Paso Robles, CA. Take care and keep on truckin….. I think Carol might (read know) be sick of trees and curvy narrow roads.

Thom & Carol

 

 

 

Eureka Victorian Carson Mansion

 

 

The Pink Lady - Eureka

 

Old Redwood

 

Timeline of Growth

 

 

 

World's Largest Woodcarving

 

Northspur Logging Camp

 

 

Mendocino Bay

 

 

Carol's Shopping Heaven 1

 

Shopping Heaven 2

 

Our Campsite

 

Campsite from Hole # 7 on course

 

 

Stuck In Lodi

This week we travelled to the California Delta in near Isleton and Rio Vista, CA. We stayed at park named the Lighthouse Marina and Resort. It’s not what I would call a luxury resort, but by delta standards, it was above average. When we return to the area, we will probably not use this area as our base camp.

We learned another lesson (Number 4) on RV’ing learned about site selection. Before selecting and settling in the site, check your sewer connection and remember Roofer’s Rule #1 …. Water runs downhill! It was a challenge to empty the tanks, but fortunately, no environmental spills occurred during the exercise and we will not have to surrender to the EPA for sentencing.

Day trips for the week included Sacramento, California, Lodi and cruising along the river road toward Sacramento and looping back to base camp.

Prior to this visit, our only purpose to go to Sacramento was to attend court hearings and trials. After this visit, credibility was added to the old saying that “work interferes with your personal life.” We visited Sutter’s Fort, The Capitol, Old Town Sacramento and the Sacramento history museum.

Sutter’s Fort is located south of the capitol and is the original settlement site of the town. Sutter was an immigrant from Switzerland who arrived in Sacramento around 1839. His idea was to make the fort a central location for industry and agriculture in California. Sacramento was the perfect location. He recruited craftsmen for the industry side who resided near and worked at the fort. The agriculture side was a no brainer if you’ve been through central California. With the discovery of gold in 1849, and with Sutter’s fort as the foundation for trade in the area, development of the city along the Sacramento River cemented the location to become the state’s capitol.

The Capitol and mall area are beautiful. The Capitol building was larger, more ostentatious and historically maintained than Nevada. The first floor was restored as a museum with official offices reproduced at the turn of the century. Cool!  The upper floors were the working chambers and gallery. While we were there, the assembly chamber was being used by the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project. They were conducting a mock session of a bill being presented and passed. Impressive and encouraging to see that some of our youth is active and concerned about the future of the country.

Old Town was fun and the museum was very informative. We stopped and had an appetizer and maybe a couple of beers on the Delta Queen, a restored riverboat turned into a hotel. By the way, Carol has taken over the title of “professional” when it comes to beer drinking in our family. She can put down a Corona faster than I can even finish half of my NA cerveza. Of course, the logic (true, I might add) is that they’re best when cold.

The river run drive was instructive. Sometimes, we felt like we were in Blue Bayou country with boats and homes in total disrepair. Other times, we felt like we were in Huntington Harbor with custom cabin cruisers and upscale homes. In some places along the delta and river, if a ship sunk or a trailer fell into the river, the salvage was just left there. One gets a feeling of what living in New Orleans would be like. Most building is below river and levee level. It’s a bit scary wondering if the levee will hold. Oh well, it’s been like that forever, so I guess it’s OK. Some towns, like Isleton are, for all practical purposes, abandoned. My photo of Rogelio’s below is the best place in Isleton. Everything else is abandoned or barely hanging on, usually local restaurants that continue to have a following.

Lodi…. What can I say?  Actually, a lot! We were surprised to find a community in redevelopment with pride of  their history. The old Creedence Clearwater song that had the phrase “stuck in Lodi” may not be such a bad thing. Old town has some unique shops and restaurants and they are restoring the train station. The farmer’s markets in and around the city brought back some old memories of Upland and Ontario “way back when”. At one of our stops at the roadside stand, we picked up a fresh peach/boysenberry pie. To die for! Corn, fresh berries and salad fixins’…. yum yum.

Well, we’re off to Benbow, in the heart of the Redwoods for our next leg. Hope we didn’t bore you with this week’s adventure. Hope all is well with you!

T & C

 

McDonalds in Lodi. The Golden Arches !!!

 

Welcome to Lodi !

 

"The place In Isleton"

Liquor in the front - Poker in the back

I wonder what's in the back-back

 

Typical drawbridge on the Delta

 

Sutter's Fort

 

Workshop in the fort

 

 

Delta Queen

Great crab cakes!

 

Capitol Mall from the North

 

Capitol Mall from the third floor of Capitol

The Golden Bridge at the end crossing Sacramento River

 

Smith Valley, Nevada - Part II

Week two of our northern Nevada visit went as advertised. This week, our excursions included Bridgeport California, Carson City Nevada and Lake Tahoe, CA & NV. We also did some exploration around our campground and discovered there was more than meets the eye in things to do around the camp, thanks to some new neighbors who came into the campsite next to us. Besides being a huge off road vehicle site, they have a beach and picnic area along the river, fishing, hiking trails and, if you're into hunting and shooting, a clay pigeon range.

Bridgeport is a small community (<1000 population), that is the seat of Mono County. That’s all you need to know about Bridgeport. It does have a nice old courthouse in the center of town and the drive from Smith Valley has some magnificent scenery though the southern edge of Toiyabe National Forest. Rounding our loop, we continued from Bridgeport north up US 395 back towards Carson Valley. Crossing the state line from California to Nevada is Topaz lake and a hotel and casino overlooking the lake. We had lunch from the terrace restaurant overlooking the lake. It looks like a fun place for water skiing and/or fishing. My choice would be more fishing than water skiing in this area as the water temps in this area are in the 50’s or 60’s. Remember, we’re at 4000+ altitude and the lakes and rivers are fed by the melting snow pack from the Sierras.

Next up was Carson City, Nevada’s capitol. Carson City is distinguished from Carson Valley in that the City is in a different county and is over the next hill from Carson Valley. We visited the historic district to see the capitol grounds and old town Carson City. Carson City was founded by a guy named Abraham Curry, who thought the lots for sale in Genoa (the first Nevada settlement) were too expensive. He purchased Eagle Ranch in what is now the capitol and plotted out a town leaving a plaza in the center of the community in case the community would select this location as the capitol if Nevada ever became a state. Clearly, this guy had vision and drives because as the Nevada became a territory in 1861 and eventually a state in 1864, he lobbied for Carson City to be the capitol and succeeded. Gee, I wonder if the massive amounts of gold and silver in the hills of Virginia City and surrounding area had any influence in Nevada statehood during the Civil War period? Duh!

Anyway, we took some good photos of the old and new capitol buildings. One thing I like about Nevada is that their legislature meets every two years. What a concept! Only bring legislators in for needed work and legislation, don’t pay them enough to not have another job or profession and make sure they don’t sit around waiting for lobbyists and others to think up laws for the “good of the people”. Perhaps Washington DC and other states could learn from this.

While we were in Carson City, we thought we would make sure we are “legal” and went to the county records department and picked up for $1.00 a copy of our marriage certificate to make sure the minister in Lake Tahoe had filed the paperwork after we were married up there. He did and it’s a good thing because when we got to Tahoe, we found the chapel where we were married didn’t exist anymore.

Lake Tahoe was the third venture of the week. God’s country!!  We personally think this is one of, if not the most, beautiful place in the country. It’s one of the places that pictures do not do it justice. Since we were last here, they have made some major developments on state line border, California side, including a gondola lift to Heavenly Valley ski area directly from the resort complex area on Highway 50 (the main route). This definitely a place we plan to come back to and stay at the resort area for a week. While we were having a snack and some iced tea below the lift and Carol was considering whether she had the “huevos” to take the lift, we noticed the lift stopped occasionally, then restarted, usually within 3-5 minutes. A guy sitting at the next table told Carol the reason for the stops were the winds on the run. When they got too strong, the lift would stop and wait for the gondola to stop wavering too much. Oh well, that ended the gondola adventure! Wind and height combined finished Carol’s love of the idea…

Finally, we had to visit Emerald Bay on the south side of the lake. Twenty five years ago, we tent camped at the California State Park at that location Sadly, it has closed (budget cuts?), but we had the greatest campsite ever at this park. Out tent was set up on a plateau that had an unobstructed view of the entire lake. In the real world, it would be a million plus lot. In one photo, you will notice a small structure on the island in Emerald Bay. This was built by an owner before the land was acquired by the state as an afternoon tea house.

Well, enough for this post. We’re off to Isleton California on the Delta. It will be interesting to compare California’s capitol city to Nevada’s, one of our planned adventures. Take care and miss you guys.

T & C

 

Walker River on our Campground

 

 

The old Nevada state capitol

 

 

Separation from the Utah Territory

 

 

County flags in the capital corridor

 

 

 

The new Nevada capitol

 

 

 

Senate chamber 

 

Carol's gondola ride

 

 

Stateline Resort Complex

 

Emerald Bay

 

 

Tea house on Emerald Bay Island

Smith Valley, Nevada

We are now in Smith Valley Nevada at the Walker River Resort. It may be in the middle of nowhere, but it’s a lush campground along the river and in high desert country. What a pleasant change in weather. The highs are in the low 90’s and cool nights in the 50’s. How nice not to need A/C 24 hours a day!  Two weeks schedules at this location, but there are more day trips and activities we can do in this region.

To give you a frame of reference, we are located in the Carson Valley/Lake Tahoe region of northern Nevada. In my (Thom) opinion, this is one of the most beautiful areas of the country. We are along the eastern side of the Sierra’s in basically ranch land at 4000 + elevation with mountains and forests less than an hour away. We are located about an hour from Carson City.

Last week, our day trips were to Reno, Virginia City and Carson Valley. Quite a few changes since Carol and were here last. We haven’t been in this area since we were married in 1986. Gardnerville/Minden was two small towns about 2 miles long, but now it takes about 30 minutes to drive through the towns due to expansion.

Reno has grown dramatically, but the expansion is in the suburbs rather than downtown. Downtown looks like it is the middle of resurgence, as the day we were there, they were having an off road vehicle event. There were lots of unusual road trucks, motorcycles and specialty vehicles to look over. They closed off center town, so it was a fun event. The city is also trying to redo the river district around the college with plenty of specialty restaurants, pubs and coffee shops. It’s a work in progress. We also went to Sparks in search of the Harrah’s collection, only to find out it no longer exists. I didn’t know the Holiday Inn Group sold off most of the collection in the 80’s and donated 150-200 cars to a non-profit called the National Museum. Unfortunately, I learned this after we had completed that day trip. Oh well, something for the future to check out.

Virginia City is replete with Nevada history and we were surprised to discover that mining (strip mining) is back in operation, not to the liking of the locals I might add. As long as gold prices hold, my guess is it will continue. They haven’t changed the town of Virginia City or Gold Hills; otherwise, I think there would be a tourist rebellion. We spent much of our time in St Mary’s Catholic Church, which has been there since the beginning and rebuilt 3 times of the years. Beautiful with plenty of artifacts and architectural highlights.

We also took a train ride down to Gold Hills and had to have a beer at the Bucket of Blood Saloon. Train ride was interesting and harrowing for Carol as the tracks went along the side of a mountain with steep drop and a tunnel. She had fun, or at least I told her she did!?

One thing that hasn’t changed is the first Nevada settlement of Genoa (founded 1851) since I’ve been here last. The town has been kept the same and development is occurring outside of town at golf resorts communities about three miles north of town.

Some of the good old things still survive. The JT Basque restaurant in Gardnerville is an experience that, if you’ve never had dinner at a Basque restaurant, you should try. Dinners are fixed with main courses of the day, usually three or four, and the rest of the meal is serve family style. They will bring soups, salads, bread and sides as much as you like. Good food and plenty of it.

Well, enough for this post. Next week is Tahoe (yea!), Bridgeport and Carson City and whatever else we can think of.

Thom & Carol

 

 

St Mary's, Virginia City

 

St Joseph vestibule at side of altar

Working steam engine from Carson City (V&T Line)

 

 

Restored cabooses

 

 

Virginia City Fire Museum

 

Faro table in saloon operated by 3 people

who went broke and committed suicide

 

Carol along the boardwalk Virginia City

 

Bucket of Blood Saloon (est 1876)

 

Truckee River Reno

 

Reno River Walk redevelopment section

 

Amorgosa

This was an interesting experiment. This is the video of the Amorgosa Opera House. Click on the link below to view on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EViSUAuRoCE&feature=youtu.be

Thom & Carol

Where the He.. is Pahrump Valley?

Our week in Pahrump was terrific. First of all, who knew Pahrump would be a great place to spend the 4^th of July? With a combination of the small town festival in the park with arts, crafts and food vendors and the night ending with a spectacular fireworks show, I couldn’t have written a better script. The bill of fare for the holiday was, of course, hamburgers and hot dogs. Capping out the celebration, there was an additional fireworks show and much larger put on by the local casino which was about 300 yards down the street from our park. This show was larger and right above our heads. It looked like the bursts were going to land on us. Fantastic!

Day trips included Death Valley, all parts, the Amorgosa Wildlife reserve and Opera House, and a winery, believe it or not.

As one might expect, we, as native Californians had never been to Death Valley. It’s one of those places that pictures don’t really do it justice. You have to be there to enjoy the beauty of the desert. Visits included Scotty’s Castle, the Artists Pallet and the Furnace Creek Inn and Resort.

Resort was fabulous and surprising busy, even in the middle of summer with average temps at 115+ degrees. Very nice RV Park, cabins golf course, good restaurant and bar as well as a fabulous museum, with the story of Death Valley development and mining operations. We were told that Europeans are the bulk of the visitors during this season. This would be a good long weekend trip to consider for the future.

Artists Pallet is a one way drive through canyons and mountains with multiple geologic formations and colors illustrating the development of the valley from volcanic, seismic and flooding action.

Scotty’s Castle, in initially built by a Chicago businessman because of an elaborate con by “Scotty”, later continued because of their friendship and mutual love of the desert landscape and climate is an amazing story. Now a National Park, the guided tour was informative and entertaining. Our guide definitely loves his job, something that makes the tour that much more fun.

Amorgosa Wildlife Reserve in Nevada near the California border is a marshland refuge for animals and fish in the middle of the desert. To us, not being environmental students or experts, it strikes us as strange how a marshland can survive in an otherwise total desert climate. A giant oasis, I guess?

More interesting to us was the Amorgosa Junction where a ballerina from Europe while touring Death Valley decided that an abandoned rest stop was the place she would live and retire would become her home. On the property, she created, opened and performed a theatre opera house. Since the audience would not be large, she created her own audience by painting them on the walls of the theatre to watch her performance. Clearly, she is a multi-talented artist and her life’s passion for theatre makes for a “must see” out of the way place if you’re in the area.

Finally, we had to visit the winery in Pahrump. As wineries go, similar to the Arizona wineries. They are certainly not Napa Valley, but nevertheless fun. If you’ve never visited a winery, the passion of the owners and pride in their vintage is what makes the stop interesting.

For those of you who like to gamble a bit, we had two casinos right down the street from our park. Both reminded me of the “old days” when you got great and reasonable meals in the restaurants, smaller minimum bets at the tables (usually $2) and “play or pay” question when sitting at the bar. For those who do not know, casinos bars generally have multi-game gambling machines at your seat. If you’re playing, the drink is free, or you can pay for the drink. I usually play and have some fun at blackjack for bets as low as 25 cent or as high as $5 while chugging down some ice cold O’Douls. I also had a one pound chicken fried steak dinner for $10…… just what I needed for weight control, but what the he.., you need to splurge once in awhile !! By the way, this is Thom, not Carol talking here!!! I probably did not need to tell you that. Carol’s new passion is Coronitas, 8 ounce ice cold beers. She can put “em” down like a pro…

Enough rambling for now. We’ve been a week in Walker River Resort, Smith Nevada and have some interesting day trip to report on our next post. Miss you guys!

Thom & Carol

PS

I'm going to try and download a video of the Opera House later this weekend.

 

 Amorgosa Opera House

 

The stage

 

Railroad Museum at Amorgosa.

A nice couple is building the replication of the Borax days 

 

Artist's Pallet

 

 

 

 

 

Borax Museum at Furnace Creek

 

Wagon that was hauled by 20 mule teams

 

Another interesting wagon frame. Wheels are wood.

Rail engine in back from later days used after 20 mule teams.