DECEMBER 2011, Part One: 2 weeks in SLO

This blog goes back a a bit to Thanksgiving holidays and then on to our stay in San Luis in early December.  So...starting with Thanksgiving, we were camping north of Phoenix in a wonderful county park surrounded by nothing but desert and all with in about a 25 min drive to our niece Mandy's home. After our first week there, PK was ready to tackle a with a little home improvement project while we were there...he's always in demand no matter where we land. Even Wesley helped out on a painting project.

Mandy was out of school on Wednesday before Thanksgiving so she and I had a fun afternoon picking out a "Costco-made" dinner, including a deep fried turkey, pumpkin pie and cheesecake. On Thursday, Alena made her famous garlic potatoes, Peggy made the cranberry salsa and we were set!

Thanksgiving dinner's never been easier!
















Then On Friday, Mandy and Logan headed to Sedona to celebrate their first anniversary,

We spent Friday evening with Paul's sister, MarLyn, and her family. Yummy dinner at her favorite Chinese restaurant then back to their condo to make fudge, a fun family tradition. Saturday morning we were up early to pack things up and head west!

It always takes longer to put everything away than to unload but we were on the road about 11:00 hoping to be into California by evening. Made it to Indio and a great Elks RV Park just about sunset, time for wine and dinner outside on the warm evening. As always only a few campers and very quiet. It must get busy there at some point as there were 45 camping spots available. We chose a pull through since we wanted to leave about 6 in the morning to get across LA before traffic got too bad. That turned out to be the easiest and best "Sunday after Thanksgiving" travel we've ever done... We sailed through it all!

By noon we were pulling into a camping site right along  Rincon Beach, with a most fantastic, perfect ocean view!

Opening the door of the motorhome and getting our first whiff of the sea breeze let me know we were almost home! I never realized how much I had missed the feel of being at the beach. Sunset was gorgeous and after dinner we even had a small campfire. Nothing finer!!!!!

It was hard to believe we had been traveling for 4 months and were closing the loop we'd started back in August. I had been wanting to try driving the motorhome with the car attached and being back on familiar roads was the perfect place to give it a go. I took over for the last 45 miles from Buellton to AG and did well... Especially once I realized that I needed to give it my fullest attention and avoid looking at the absolutely gorgeous vineyards all around us, not an easy task. The color of the vineyards was stunning!

We pulled into Debbie Farmer's side yard about dusk and felt like we were truly back home. Familiar surroundings, wonderful friends.

The next 10 days flew by, spending lots of time with friends as well as getting all our doctor and dentist appointments taken care of. Lunches out, dinners at friends' homes, laughing, talking, and more talking, more laughing...just what I was hoping for in coming back to SLO. We went to the Cal Poly Jazz Concert, saw SLO Little Theater's production of The Christmas Story, sold the old yellow dolly (the one WITHOUT brakes) and Paul spent a day condensing our storage units from 2 down to only one.

We even took a trip north to Pacific Grove for an overnight visit with Frank and Maria and more time for sunsets and beach walks. Sunset at Asilomar Beach came with surfers, bongos, wine and a full moon!

After sunset we drove along Candy Cane lane in PG and found the cutest blow up decoration EVER....a little airstream motorhome with Santa at the door, opening and closing it. Sooooo cute!

Once back from Pacific Grove we moved to Jim and Carolyn Park's Orange Grover RV Park and I decorated our little house, setting Santa on the counter! (Thank you, Maria!)

Jean and Andrew Martin from Whitstable, England

We had a lovely visit with our English friends, Jean and Andrew Martin who were also staying with Jim and Carolyn. What fun to be all together! We had a wonderful hike along the bluffs on the Fiscallini Trail in Cambria on my last day in SLO. A beautiful part of the county I'd never walked before

The Martins, Peter and Linda Jankay and me! 

and an absolutely gorgeous day; warm, clear and sunny. There were great benches along the way made of driftwood scraps. We all had fun trying them out.

Carolyn joined us on the driftwood bench

Friday evening Jean and Andrew and Paul took in the Cuesta Jazz Concert while I went to dinner with friends. A perfect ending to our 2 weeks back home. A huge THANK YOU to our many wonderful friends who hosted dinners while we were home...the Wills, Caldwells, Parks, Penners, and Owens'. We loved it! ALSO: thank you to the Jankays, Feslers and Afanas for including Paul at dinners for the four days I was gone.

I left Saturday, December 10th, for a fantastic 4 day visit with my sister, Emily in Tampa, Florida. She's an expert at planning outings so we were busy having fun the whole time I was there.  Saturday evening started with a sunset time at a Tiki Bar.

Sunday we headed to Tampa to visit the Tampa Museum of Art followed by lunch at a wonderful Cuban restaurant, The Colombian.  Such delicious tapas and white sangria. A perfect afternoon.

Monday was our big day out in St. Petersburg and a visit to the newly opened Dali Museum.

 It was such an amazing visit! We joined a docent tour which gave us the background on Salvador Dali and his work.  Emmy wanted to show me St. Petersburg so we jumped on the trolley and had a tour of the town, very fun!

Another museum we stopped at was the Art Glass Museum of Dale Chihuly with this glass sculpture out front

After 2 busy days of museums, Emmy and I decided to just spend some time at one of her favorite places...Honeymoon Beach. Absolutely gorgeous! 

We ended the day with drinks and a beautiful sunset right along the bay then home for another tasty dinner.

 My last day was Wednesday and since I wasn't going to be there for Emily's birthday the following day, we celebrated with a birthday lunch together

 then she dropped me at the airport for my next flight to New York City.  Earlier that morning Paul had left San Luis and we were meeting up at JFK Airport about midnight to begin a 2 week Christmas Holiday in Germany. We are ever so grateful to Laura and Eli Afana for welcoming Foster to their home for the time we are away from California.  What a wonderful Christmas gift for us, knowing he'll be well loved and cared for while we are gone.

From Balloon Regatta to the Arizona Desert, November 4-18, 2011

It's been a while since I sat down to write so I'll do a fast update of our last few weeks. When we left Zion the weather across Utah and Arizona was changing. We were spending the weekend in Page, AZ with my sister in law, Peggy.  Our first time to see her colorful condo...beautiful desert colors and so warm and inviting.  We parked our little cottage at the Elk's but spent all our time over at Peg's. It was the annual Balloon Regatta in Page so many of Peggy's Canyon friends were also coming up for the weekend.  A nice chance for us to visit again with all of them. Saturday was a biting cold wind but we bundled up and walked around the booths downtown but the big event of the evening, The Balloon Glow, was cancelled due to the weather, so disappointing. I guess they usually would close off the main street of town and line up the balloons then one by one they fire up their balloons...must be a be beautiful sight.  But thank goodness, Sunday morning the weather was perfect for launching balloons across the desert. We met up early and headed to the staging area.

Peggy and Terry volunteered to help crew for a team from San Diego while Paul and Dan watched nearby...which also meant Peg got to ride in the balloon! So fun to watch the balloons being inflated and then sail off across a bright blue sky.

Paul got into the action...though when the gas was lit so close to him it took my breath away and his too!!

Soon Peggy was loaded into the basket and away they went.

Paul and I drove out to the desert view area where they were flying and enjoyed the sight. Must have been about 40 or so balloons, floating so softly across the landscape.  The sky was also changing from the clear brilliant blue to cloudy and dark.

We spotted Peggy's ballon and started walking out along the edge to get a closer look.

We just kept walking along the bluff and watching for her balloon.

Amazing thing was by the time the balloon was ready to come down we were very near by so Paul helped pull the balloon in and hold it so they could maneuver it over the fence onto the airport property where the chase truck could meet up with them.

Up and Over.

Then time to deflate and pack away.  Just a perfect morning!

By Sunday evening the dark clouds let loose and it started to rain. We decided to stay another day till the storm blew over which gave Paul that wet Monday to add the missing baseboards all around Peg's condo. I did laundry and played on the computer making our plans for December.

Tuesday morning the rain had stopped and the sky was once again a gorgeous blue but soooooo cold! We packed up, and left for Flagstaff mid morning...late enough for the sun to have warmed up the roads with little risk of ice. The view of the desert was stunning....covered in a dusting of snow.

Views as we drove south kept me clicking my camera.

Since it was too cold and snowy in Flagstaff for us to camp we drove on down the mountain to Sedona. Found a wonderful private little RV park right along Oak Creek and settled in for  a few days.

Took walks and just stared at the beauty of the red rock formations all around us.  Spent one day at Red Rock Park, another day visiting the nearby towns of Cottonwood,  Jerome and Prescott.  It was so funny that one day our phones got great reception for the first time and we were getting calls and chatting along the trail with Ann and Diane, sending tests too.

I fell in love with Sedona...even walked through an Open House of a beautiful new home for sale. What an amazing place that would be to live, but we're not ready for that yet.

We drove up Oak Creek Canyon to the overlook with the top down and of course as the elevation changed so did the temp and we were back in the snow. Since we were only 10 miles from Flagstaff that afternoon we drove into town to visit the Northern Arizona Museum. Wonderful geology and archeology displays. I'm sure we looked a little strange...those crazy convertible Californians!

After 5 days in Sedona we were ready to go further south to our campground north of Phoenix and spend some time with our niece, Mandy. We are now staying in a beautiful desert campground at Cave Creek Regional Park. It's perfect! Warm sunny days, open desert landscape and dark night skies

Visited Montezuma Castle: ancient cliff dwellings 

Fall color along the Verde River

Foster checking out our campsite

The only drawback is that Phoenix is really spread out so there's lots of driving to do anywhere we go. But worth it to be in such a beautiful surrounding. Our campsite is huge and looks out at a large saguaro and palo verde trees. We are close enough to pick Mandy up after she finishes with her first graders and spend time in some very pretty places for Happy Hour or a campfire here with us.

Sunsets are beautiful and Mandy finds some beautiful locations...love the tower of fire!

Yesterday we took our kayaks out for a couple of hours of paddling in nearby Lake Pleasant. My really first big time to be in a kayak, not being much of a water person this is a biggie for me. But such fun.

Today we'll visit the Botanical Gardens and maybe the Phoenix Art Museum. While I am sitting here this morning writing on the computer, Paul is right outside my window playing his piano!

Piano Concert in the Sonoran Desert!

Thanksgiving Day will be at Mandy and Logan's house, with Peggy, Wes and Alena joining us. We'll  also meet up with Paul's sister, MarLyn and her family, before we drive back to San Luis next weekend. And...YES...we love this traveling life in our little yellow "cottage"! 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING To Everyone!

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.  ~Cicero