HOPLAND, POTTER VALLEY and WILLITS August 6-8, 2012

 Monday we were back on the road but only for a short distance. Leaving Charlie and his family we drove on to Hopland about an hour north to make a visit to my cousin Emjay's new tasting room. Emjay and her husband, Jim, are the owners of Naughty Boy Vineyards of Potter Valley. Their new venture is adding a tasting room in Hopland. Emjay chose the name WAA WAA as her business...Wine, Art and Antiques (times 2)! Jim was busy putting the final touches on the room and they were hoping to open this last weekend. Paul picked up a brush and did some little finishing details.

 Emjay was out at their place so we closed up the store and drove the motorhome out for a 2 night stay right in their vineyard. What a fantastic view with warm and sunny skies.

 Tuesday Paul and Jim headed back to Hopland for another day at the tasting room, hanging Uncle Joe's giant Moose head as the focal point on an upper wall. More antiques and boxes of goodies were packed into the truck while I stayed in the vineyard and enjoyed time down by the creek behind Emjay's house. Such a peaceful setting.

She gave me one of her favorite books, Tisha, the story of a young teacher in the Alaska wilderness in the 1920s. It was a perfect afternoon to just sit in the coolness of the trees and water and read. Must have been 10 degrees cooler down by the creek than at our motorhome.

That day the sign went up on the tasting room...

and Jim put a final layer of wax on the floors. Now all they need is to fill it with their awesome wines and open the doors.

Dinner both nights was outside in the yard and delicious!

Emjay and I just had to pose for this photo that evening.

Camping sites don't get any better than this one!

 The next morning Emjay, she was off to Tracy and Jim was putting in a day in the vineyards so Paul and I left for the little town of Willits about 20 miles up the road and a visit with Paul's cousin Evelyn Fisher and her 3 boys...and were we in for a treat!

Somehow though, I made a huge mistake in our directions and instead of only a 20 mile drive we passed through the town of Willits and continued another 20 miles before I realized that just couldn't be right, and back we went to Willits. We knew she lived out of town but what a surprise to follow her directions west along a paved road, then about 8 miles further down a graveled mountain side road to arrive at her home. (No...we did not do this in the motorhome, only the SAAB, but quite the drive, nonetheless). Evelyn's husband, Adrian, is a contractor so when he has time he's busy building them quite a homestead on 200 acres of wooded and forested land. 

Their home sits among a redwood grove with a nearby spring for their water supply. They live completely off grid and what an amazing life for her boys! There's a pond for swimming and fishing, blackberry bushes for picking and Evelyn's amazing all organic garden with an orchard of fruit trees and a pretty amazing sunflower. 

We loved our visit and were so glad we had made the trek out to see her amazing life as a modern day pioneer woman.  We were so impressed with what they have accomplished in just a couple of years with lots of dreams still ahead. Being so far from everything means they also have all kinds of wild life around: rattlesnakes, bears, deer and even a bobcat that had dug under the walls of their chicken coop and wiped out her flock of 30+ chickens earlier this year.

These 3 hammocks hang in the shade near the pond and the boys hung out with us. 

 Such sweet boys enjoying a life very children know today. Besides their organic lifestyle they attend the Waldorf School in Willits where Evelyn works during the school year.

 We left with a bag full of veggies and so happy to have spent the time with Evelyn to get a glimpse of her life. We still had some miles to do to get near Richardson's Grove for the night. We loaded the SAAB onto the dolly and north we went.

A WEEKEND IN HEALDSBURG, CA AUGUST 3-4, 2012

No, this is not our new home but it was a pretty wonderful stop on our way to Healdsburg. Tired of driving, we pulled in a long driveway to Chateau St. Jean Winery just outside of Sonoma, a perfect stop.

 We sat under the trees and listened to a guitar and singer, such fun.

 The rustic gardens are set amid a country villa right out of Italy or France. The main garden has formal shrubs, fountains and a rose garden. You step outside the main garden area to a wide span of lawn full of picnic tables to enjoy. Next time we'll bring a picnic and spend an afternoon.

 We walked all over the beautiful property and found these beautiful hydrangeas blooming everywhere.

 We got to Charlie and Mary's late Saturday afternoon and spent the evening outside with a BBQ and fire pit time.  But first, I got a tour of the veggie garden, the new chickens and helped Mary harvest some of her tomatoes.

Sunday Paul and I went into Healdsburg for a coffee but since Pks favorite coffee house was closed we walked into a nearby tea shop and spent a lovely 1/2 hour with Lavelle, who was minding the store for a friend. She gave us several tea tastings of black, green and even white teas. As we visited I asked about her colorful headdress and she told us it is a traditional covering from the Congo called a Lapa. A beautiful woman and a wonderful afternoon.



 Back at the ranch, it was time for Mary's fabulous blue margaritas and another BBQ. Such a relaxing time together with Chas, Mary and the kids.

 After several visits to Charlie's we've finally been accepted by Maddy the Rottweiler. She's an awesome guard dog and such a sweetie. We have yet to introduce Foster to Maddy...don't think that's ever going to happen.

 The bros were checking out the night shades...

 While the girls tried on the electric blues!

 Always a wonderful stay with plenty of talking time round this pit. And, it always goes by too quickly!

COPPEROPOLIS, CA July 31-August 4 2012

We left Monterey's cool and gray skies Tuesday mid day for the heat of the valley and a visit with Paul's sister, MarLyn and her husband Randy. It's been more than a year since we had visited them in their new home near Copperopolis in the foothills east of Stockton. What fun to see all the changes they've made in a year.  The house renovations are complete and a new garage was added to their property. Their home/cottage is on a hillside with beautiful trees and views of the hillside across from them from the huge deck that surrounds the house. The heat of the day gave us lovely evenings and a perfect way to enjoy it was on the old pontoon boat they have down at Lake Tulloch.

 The lake has 55 miles of shoreline with tiny little coves tucked all along. It's surrounded but the Table Mountain range studded with beautiful mature oaks and scrub. Since it was late in the afternoon and a mid week evening, the lake was quiet and peaceful. With Randy as captain, we found a secluded part of the lake to hang out with a picnic both nights. The first night we went out we needed a flashlight for lighting our way back so...on the 2nd night Paul brought along his LED lighting to add to the front of the boat, turning it into one of the brightest boats coming into the dock.

 MarLyn fished, Paul puttered, Randy read and I relaxed enjoying the serenity of this view.

 Paul and MarLyn at twilight. As we returned to the dock we looked behind us to see a lovely full moon on the rise!

 We were in for a different treat on Friday night...a John Fogarty Concert outside at Ironstone Winery in Murphy's. Such a fantastic evening of music which started off with Arlo Gutherie's Family Legacy Band opening the show. The long, silver-haired Arlo sang both his own and his father, Woody's songs. His talented son, daughters, grandchildren and even great grandchildren joined him on stage as they finished an hours performance with "The City of New Orleans".

 Then at 9pm Credence Clearwater Revival's John Fogarty came on stage and performed non stop for an hour and a half. All the wonderful music sung with the voice I remember from 40 years ago. Not much has changed and what a kick to hear it all live. He's an amazing guitarist and changed guitars frequently during the show including his baseball bat guitar he used when doing "Centerfield"! Amazing! Of course, even though we started out sitting in our beach chairs, I just had to dance once John Fogarty started playing. Hoped that Marcus and HJ were singing and dancing with me somewhere out there in that starry night.

 Saturday morning was time to roll our newly named motorhome off the planks we'd used to get us balanced. Paul chose the name Rever  for the new name of our house; a French word meaning to dream, which is what we are doing right now...living our dream as we travel this big round rock of earth.

 Again, time goes so quickly and we were soon saying good bye to Randy and MarLyn and their cute little house.

 We'll be back next year and maybe the next addition will be a flat RV pad at the top of their land for us, but if not...we'll prop up our Rever and enjoy the stay.

JULY 17-JULY 30, 2012

Yes, we were back in San Luis AGAIN for a few days...and for me, that meant time with friends in between the appointments we had. As always a stay at Jim and Carolyn's meant a morning walk with Carolyn, Foster and her visiting doggie, Molly. Thursday morning we met up with Linda and Annette for a beautiful hike at the Johnson Ranch property, a 3.5 mile roundtrip hike through oak groves and along a trickling creek. The trail is shared by hikers, mountain bikers and cows.

That afternoon Paul and I moved the motorhome to Oceano Beach County Park for a beautiful sunny afternoon and evening along the beach. Then packed up again the next morning for a stay at Cachuma Lake near Santa Barbara. The valley had heated up again but we found a shady site and enjoyed walks and bike rides early morning and evening.

We needed to be back to Santa Maria by Sunday night and decided to try out the Santa Maria Elks Lodge for a 2 night stay. We've driven by that lodge for years but this was our first stay. We were surprised that there are actually 2 areas of camping. Since the full hook up area was already fully reserved we set up further back in a quieter area and, as always, nice neighbors to chat with. 

Tuesday morning it was time to move once again. This time to the Avila KOA Park for just one night. We've stayed only a couple of times at KOA parks, this was fine for being close to Avila, but sites were too close together. One thing a private park offers is a pool and jacuzzi which Paul enjoyed. Tuesday afternoon, Sheri came by for a visit and a wonderful chance to catch up and our photo op.

We were up early Wednesday morning for a visit from Dave and Kathy Moore and MaryJo Devitt. Kathy and Dave had just returned from a fabulous trip to the midwest with their beautiful Air Stream trailer. Paul and Dave always have lots to talk about when it comes to travel life. We've had fun this past year connecting with them at some of our camping sites.  Since it was Wednesday morning, it was time for Kathy, Maryjo and me to meet up with our Breakfast Club at Avila's Woodstone Deli. While I enjoyed hanging out with friends in Avila and then at Diane's house, Paul packed up our house and moved us up the coast to San Simeon State Park.

The day was warm and so pretty. I stopped to walk Foster along Atascadero Beach and then got on up to San Simeon.

Sunset from the top of Washburn Campground was beautiful!

We have always been addicted to driving Highway One from Cambria to Monterey so it only seemed natural to try doing it with the motorhome. Yes...this time WE'D be that huge, slow moving vehicle that every one wishes would hurry up and get out of the way. But we were delighted that by leaving early enough Friday morning we had so few cars and the road was almost deserted. The skies stayed cloudy but that seemed fitting for the coast in summer.

Not only was the road narrow and windy but we came upon road construction of a brand new tunnel at one of the most damaged parts of the road. Rain storms cause landslides every year and this part of the road finally needed some drastic construction. As we looked at the gravel path ahead, it looked a little tight for us, but Paul did so well getting through.

We never tire of this drive and since we probably won't be in California for a while it was wonderful to see the spectacular scenery we've come to know so well. I've always marveled at the construction of Highway One...who were the men who built this gorgeous road?  

Here's some of what I learned...With combined federal and state funds, the highway was begun in 1919. San Quentin Prison set up three temporary prison camps to provide the labor for the road. One was set up by Little Sur River, one at Kirk Creek an the last was established at Anderson Creek. Inmates were paid 35 cents per day and their prison sentences reduced in rerun for their hard work. Locals like John Steinbeck also worked on the road. There are 33 bridges constructed along the road with the most famous being Bixby Rainbow Bridge at Big Sur. Hard to imagine eight hundred twenty-five trucks bringing yards and yards of concrete to create that amazing bridge.

So, to the ingenuity and hard work of these men so many years ago, I say, Thank You! How lucky we are to have one of the most Scenic Drives in the world right in our back yard. And, a Thank You to PK, for taking the challenge of driving our motorhome; being so high up gave us spectacular views.

We had a one night reservations at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park another favorite place of ours. We knew that our motorhome length of 32' would make it harder for camping, and this time it was true. Our reserved site was under a beautiful oak tree...but that became our problem, a low branch that we couldn't get around. Back to the kiosk I went to find another site with no trees. Not as pretty as our reserved site, but still surrounded by redwoods and oaks. The day never cleared and in fact was getting colder which is unusual for big Sur. After a couple of walks we spent the afternoon up on the patio at Ventana Restaurant around a fireplace.

From Big Sur we drove on to Monterey and a visit with Frank and Maria. Always like coming home. We had a wonderful 3 days visiting back and forth from our Monterey Elks camping site. The Olympics were just starting so we enjoyed watching the day's events each evening after a wonderful "Maria dinner" together. Paul hung this squirrel feeder for Maria, but those smart little squirrels stayed away as long as Mr. Foster was on guard in the yard. Once we left, the corn cobs were being devoured. 

One of our favorite things to do in Monterey is biking the trail along the bay. Cold and gray, but fun.

And, a walk out to Spanish Bay with Maria and Foster for my tasty Bloddy Mary.

After a wonderful couple of days, we bid adieu to The Penners and got back to the road.