OUR JULY TRAVELS July 1-15, 2012

 With our plan to go north, we stopped for an overnight at Eli and Laura's beautiful Paso Robles ranch.

 Paul got us set up and we enjoyed a wonderful warm evening and BBQ on their deck

 The next morning, Paul was looking for new paint to add to the green wagon. Eli rounded up some white and a new stripe was added.

 I followed Laura down to the barn to feed Sharley, then we took a walk around the ranch looking at things  in the garden.  Between the animals, the vegetable garden, the bees, the orchards and Laura's love of quilting, they are a very busy couple. Oh, and I almost forgot to add... 9 grandchildren!

 By noon, we were back on the road with hugs and good byes to Laura and Eli. Always fun to see them!

 From Paso we drove to the Monterey Elks staying through the Fourth of July celebrations.

 4th of July started with blue skies and a parade at 10:00!  From there we walked over to the grassy area of Friendly Plaza for an afternoon of music and food. Fun to be in a new locale for a major holiday

 We took a tour of Colton Hall, the location of the signing of the California Constitution then had our pictures taken with President Obama and First Lady.

 We left July 6th for a longer drive up to Healdsburg and a few days stay with Charlie and Mary. We were welcomed to the Chiquita Roadhouse "with full hook ups and amenities" as our sign reads.  Another chance to spend warm evenings around the pit, talking.

Uncle Paul gave some painting tips to Molly and helped get her bedroom painted.  Friday night we drove to Cloverdale's Farmer's Market for dinner and a chance to watch Molly pitch for her softball team. Before leaving, PK added a couple more Molly's colors to our little trailer...now it was really ready to head into Oregon!

After a nice relaxing few days in Healdsburg we left the motorhome at CT's and took off with a lighter load; the SAAB, the little trailer and Foster.

Loved our drive through the beautiful redwoods along the Avenue of the Giants and on to Oregon's coast.

We had left Healdsburg at 5AM that morning and by 3 in the afternoon we were ready to find a camping site and get out of the car. We stopped at Humbug State Park and pitched our new tent. Loved being back in a tent.

The next morning we headed inland and the freeway north to Portland, arriving about 2:30. We unloaded Mandy's treasure boxes, took a walk down to Alberta Street and got to know her new neighborhood. Along the way Mandy pointed out these little Smart cars we were seeing all over the city. They are a rental company's neat way of getting people about. You register with the company, Car2Go, and when you need wheels...you look on the website to find a car parked in your neighborhood. Then with a swipe of your registration card, you unlock and off you go, leaving the car at your destination for someone else to find and use. Gas, insurance and parking are all included in the rental cost. Pretty neat concept, but then, that's Portland!

Wednesday was a busy one. We checked out bikes, hit a great Goodwill for some decorating things like this cute mirror and found a mattress on C's List. Mandy's place is darling and with her things she was able to get settled in.

We went out to dinner that night with Mandy and friends, Nicci and Chris.  They totally wanted us to try a food cart dining experience. So fun! After deciding which neighborhood had the best food carts we hopped in the car and enjoyed a variety of foods at this one. Food carts are a phenomenon in Portland, Nicci said about 800 different ones scattered all over the city. They are set in parking lots, sidewalks, and even parks; sometimes in large groups and sometimes solo, with every kind of food available. What a fun evening and so reasonably priced!

We said another good bye the next morning and got back on the road with a long day's drive ahead. Our destination was the other end of the state, Medford, to visit with my Mom. Leaving by 7:00 that morning we were at Mom's by 2:00 and had such a wonderful time just sitting and visiting with Mom.  Harry and Mary were on "Cloud 9" when they met up with us as they had just sold their house the day before and it had only been on the market for 5 hours!!!! How amazing is that! Mom looked great and still as happy and pretty as the last time I saw her.

We stayed the night with Harry and again left bright and early for our last leg of the trip: Medford back to Healdsburg. Yes, 1400 miles in 5 days! Once we were back in Sonoma County we definitely needed a break and stopped at Stonestreet Winery for a relaxing hour out of the car. I ordered glass of wine, they gave PK a large bottle of spring water as the DD and we sat under the trees with this beautiful view of the surrounding hillside.

It was SO GOOD to be out of the car and back in our own bed in Healdsburg. It also gave us a long weekend to hang out with Charlie and his family, visiting every night in the back yard around fire pit. We just relaxed and didn't do much of anything except eat and laugh! We did decide to join CT and Mary for a wonderful Sunday afternoon concert at Rodney Strong Winery. Once there and waiting for the 5pm show to start we found our cousin Emjay and her husband, Jim! Fun to catch up with her for a bit. You just never know who you might meet when you go out!

Al Greene was the headliner and what an awesome show he put on! Mary and I tried often to get close enough to the stage to be awarded one of the long stemmed roses he was handing out, but not lucky, though I got these fantastic photos. A great afternoon on a warm Sunday listening to classic Al Greene tunes and wonderful Rodney Strong wines...a perfect day!

It was time to head back to San Luis for a few Dr. appointments so we were on the road again Monday morning with an overnight stay at the Santa Clara Elks Lodge and then to Carolyn's Orange Grove in SLO.