Here we are, on the road: We’re in Santa Clara, California

Sunday February 13, 2011 Lorraine’s Report

There will not be a report from her this week, she is too busy being Nana!!

2/13/11 0000 Chuck’s report

Here we are, back in the Bay Area, close to our daughter’s place. We always try to spend as much time as possible with Kaitlyn while we are here, Lorraine and her play, do projects, watch TV programs and such all the time.

We usually tell our grand daughter when we are coming back but this time we didn’t have a particular day so we just let her know we would be back sometime this week. Susy told her on Thursday we were coming today and she was so excited, when we picked her up after school she came running, yelling NANA, NANA. Her classmate said she couldn’t hardly wait until we got there, it was all she could talk about that day. I always let Kaitlyn know how long we are going to be here, this time I told her we would be here a week and she asked if we would stay for a year, ha.

Last week after posting our blog on Monday, Joe/Alice came by to take us to Pala Casino for a lunch buffet. The had to be one of the best buffets we’ve been to, especially the desert section. They had a guy there who would make deserts to order, banana splits, cherries jubilee and such. We all ate our lunch, then hit the desert section where we ate too much. After lunch we had to try the slots for awhile, I think the gals both won and the guys left some seed money for next time. But it was the buffet that we will remember about this place, that’s for sure. Next time we are in the area, you can bet we will stop for the buffet again.

Next day we drove over to the park where Joe/Alice are staying for the winter. Pretty nice place for the price they are paying, we may have to try it some time. We were staying at 1000 Trail using our membership so it was free but only for two weeks. Plus the 1000 Trails is outside of town a few miles and there is the dairy right there too.

Joe drove us all up to Idyllwild, a touristy, artsy, fartsy little town in the hills. I think it was about 5000’ in elevation and we didn’t bring our coats so we didn’t do a lot of exploring on foot, too cold. We then continued up the mountain, trying to find another 1000 Trails park up there. We finally found it, checked in with the ranger at the gate and he asked if we had a set of tire chains. Joe said no, not with him and the ranger said he wasn’t supposed to let anyone in without chains but we could drive as far as the lodge but no farther.

There was a little snow on the side of the road but the ranger said last year at this time there was over 4’ of snow, people were snowed in for over a week. This place has minimal hookups for the campers, the road into it isn’t really very good for big rigs and it was cold. They are at 7200’ and the ranger said they can get snow as late as May, don’t think I’ll be heading there anytime soon, that’s for sure. I don’t even think we would like it in the summer, it might be cooler than the valley but there isn’t anything around for miles, its pretty isolated. Nice place, just not for us.

After coming back down the hill, we stopped for lunch at a Mexican place called Acapulco in Hemet. We also tried to find a place in San Jacinto that was near our friend Tim’s grandparents house. We never did find the hotel, Tim, although we did look around for awhile. I bet the place has changed a bit in the past 60 years, ya think?

We really like the Hemet area, both of us said it was the kind of place we could settle down when we get off the road, if it wasn’t in California that is. This area is within a couple of hours of San Diego, Los Angeles and Palm Springs yet remains pretty quite although Joe said the traffic is bad in the afternoon. Part of the reason we liked the area so much is we haven’t seen much green in the past 4 months and this place has lots of it due to all the rain. I doubt it is normally that green and I’m sure it gets pretty hot and dry in the summer, but it was nice while we were there. We were seeing daytime temperatures into the 70s and down to the high 30s at night, really nice. Anyway, I’m thinking this is an area we will have to check out once again only next time for more than three days.

Wednesday found us getting ready to hit the road once again. We decided to break this portion of the trip into two days rather than one long day and find a spot along the way. Joe suggested we change our travel plans so we didn’t have to hit the Los Angles traffic, instead we headed North through the desert and came out in Bakersfield. It was too early to stop there so we continued on to a park we’ve stayed at before near Coalinga off I-5 but not near the large stock yards.

It’s been awhile since we’ve hit bugs while driving but this time I had to wash the windshield and front end when we stopped due to the bugs. Yep, there are lots of signs of spring around here, bugs, flowers and trees blooming and the temperature is getting a bit warmer than last time we were here. We also noticed all the honey bee hives that were delivered and set up at the almond tree groves. We must have seen over a thousand hives in 30 miles or so, a big business to get those trees pollinated and the trees are starting to flower out already.

Next morning we got on the road a bit earlier than normal, the fact we were getting here to pick up Kaitlyn may have had something to do with our timing. After we got set up here at the Elks lodge and washed the bugs off the front end again, we headed off to pick her up from school. As I said earlier, she was sure excited to see us and we her. We brought her back to our coach where she and Lorraine enjoyed the rest of the afternoon just being together. Lorraine also cooked up some mac and cheese, one of Kaitlyn’s favorites, and pork steak, one of mine, for supper. Susy came by after work and spent the evening with us before they had to head home after a good day for all of us.

Friday we got our car washed before we picked up Kaitlyn after school, an early out day for her. We had to make a Costco and grocery store stop before we got back to our place. Kaitlyn doesn’t like to go shopping, not for clothes, shoes, groceries, toys or anything, I think she gets that from me. She says it is too boring and she would rather be doing something, even homework.

After Susy got off work, she came by and we met Mark for dinner at Andy’s Bar-B-Q. Kaitlyn left with her dad for the night and Susy came back to our place where she and Lorraine played cards for awhile. Soon everyone was yawning so they called it night and Susy headed to her apartment for the evening with plans to see us the next morning.

Yesterday we had a quiet morning, just the two of us. Later, Susy came by and we met Mark and Kaitlyn at the San Jose Swap Meet. We explored the booths for a couple of hours, had lunch, then Susy and Kaitlyn came over to our place where the gals all rested a bit while I spent some time on the computer. Later Mark came by with take out from a spaghetti place and we had dinner together once again.

Kaitlyn wanted to spend the night with Nana so after Mark left, Susy got her ready for bed. Later Susy took off for home, Lorraine put Kaitlyn to bed and laid down with her, just until she went to sleep you understand. It wasn’t long before I checked in on them and found both of them to be sound asleep, out for the night.

Like I mentioned earlier, the weather has been very spring like, even here. It got up to the high 70s yesterday, forecast for today is in the high 60s. Our motor home is darker in color than some so it really absorbs the heat when the sun is shining and gets HOT inside. We only have 30 amp electrical service here so we can only run one of our air conditioners. We do have to turn on the heater in the morning to take the chill out of the air, especially this morning while Kaitlyn is here.

We wanted to spend Valentine with Susy and Kaitlyn plus Susy’s birthday is this Wednesday. It’s been awhile since we’ve been around for her birthday so we made plans to be here with her on her birthday this year. But the next morning we have to get on the road, back to Washington. I have to be there before the 24th, that gives us a week to make the trip. We have made the trip from there to here or visa versa in two days in the car a number of times but we don’t travel like that in the motorhome.

We know it to be about 1000 mile trip one way, we usually only travel 200 – 250 miles in a day and seldom travel more than two days in a row. But with a time line over our head, we will have to change our normal travel mode to get there in time. I am trying to keep an eye on the weather, we could still have a snow storm in the mountains in Northern California around Redding. If there is a storm predicted, we may have to head for the coast vs. driving the freeway, that would add travel time to our trip too. But such is the life we lead, always make our plans short term and in Jell-O, easy to change when needed. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Well, with that, I guess I’ll add some pictures and get this posted. It’s been a good week, we really liked exploring the Hemet area and of course we like being here with our daughter and grand daughter too.

We want to wish our daughter, Susy a very Happy Birthday; so happy to be here with you, we love you so much…..We also want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day.

On the road towards Hemet