Hanging in Orange County

Having returned for Alan's knee surgery, we'll be hanging around Orange County until October 1st.  Alan has a follow-up appointment on Thursday the 29th which, hopefully, will clear him to make my birthday dinner on Friday.  Ahem, I mean take off on our adventure for real on October 1st.


Alan is doing very well, all bandaged up with terriers laying all over him.  My thanks to Delores again for watching The Noses during the surgery (and for the delicious organic tomatoes, squash and oatmeal cookies!)  I don't think The Noses wanted to come back with us -- especially River who (apparently) ran around like mad, stretching her long legs out, inside and outside of Delores' lovely home.


I am enjoying lots of tennis and long dog walks.  We started at Doheny State Park which was crowded, dirty and noisy, but fit our budget at $35/night.  We have moved to Newport Dunes RV Park so we can have electric hook ups to amuse Alan with the T.V.  (With our solar, we can only watch about one hour of T.V. per day, which is usually one hour too much.  But the poor guy can hardly walk around right now.)


Newport Dunes is nice and quite a good deal at $55/night including hook-ups.  But beware of the weekends:  People come here to party.  There is a lovely bike/walking path the winds through the bay and marina and a large, clean, swimming pool which I hope to hit if we ever see some sunshine.


Thank you all for the well-wishes for Alan.  I am sure he'll be up and hiking again soon!


-K

Morro Bay, CA, USA - Sept 16 & 17, 2011

More Pictures!

On recommendation from our former neighbors (whom I have had the pleasure of meeting twice, but still cannot recall their names, I just call them Friends of Jim and Gary—sorry guys, I know you might be reading this!) we left our dispersed campsite in the Sequoia National Forest and headed down to Montana del Oro just outside of Morro Bay, CA.  (Highway 180 to 41 to 1.)

As promised, Montana del Oro was spread over the bluffs with some of the most beckoning hiking trails I have ever come across:  Out to the ocean dunes, up into the hills, along the high, rocky cliffs.  But sadly, the hikes all started with a No Dogs Allowed sign.   

Being tired after our long drive, we took a spot in the campground despite having no hiking options and went for a short walk.  When we returned, while pondering the amount of dirt and stickers the dogs were collecting tied up outside, I said to Alan, “Don’t be mad:  I want to leave.”  You see, I desperately wanted a shower and we were low on water.  I’d have to haul the six gallons from the pump house to Salt and that just made me sad.  The thought of full hook ups at the State Park were driving me crazy with desire.  So we hitched back up and headed to the State Park.

By this time it is close to 5:00 p.m.  We thought we would get there just in time for the sun downers and for Alan to watch me scurry off to the showers.  

We were unwelcomed at the State Park with the dreaded “Campground Full” sign at the entrance.  Having no choice, we drove up to the window anyway just to confirm.  (We have read a lot of personal antidotes that revealed the parks aren’t always as full as the signs indicate.)  We enquire.  They are indeed full.  But the nice ranger says, “But wait!  This is your lucky day – it is 5:05 p.m. and I can release the ADA (Americans with Disability Act) spots for sale to regular people.”   (I offered, “And Alan has a cane!” which was not appreciated by either human in my vicinity.  Alan later corrected me, “It is a walking stick.”)  Have I said how lucky we are?  Heavenly full hook ups, a nice long hot shower and a sun-downer.  And I have never been so happy to see asphalt—the dogs were laying off dirt!  All this was topped off with Alan cooking up some bacon to make BLT’s with those fantastic tomatoes from the farmer’s stand.

So . . . two nights at the Morro State Park and we were ready to hit the road.  The next stop turned out to be Santa Barbara for the afore-blogged “Our First Non-Emotional Breakdown.”

The next three weeks will be in and around Laguna due to Alan’s knee surgery.  Postings might be scarce, or even more one-sided than normal.  Hey, Alan will be drugged most of the time!

-K

PS:  You think you have scaled down your life until you are walking away from your car and trailer with only your back-pack, truly homeless for the first time.  

Our First (Non-Emotional) Breakdown

Our first break-down!  This entry will be a little out of sequence on the timeline as I haven't reported on Morro Bay yet, but I think this is slightly more interesting at the moment.


Driving from Morro Bay to Dana Point today (one of my favorite drives ever, along Highway 101), the Pepper started to shake a little on the highway.  I was driving and thought it might be the road at first so I kept on for a mile or so, but then it started to feel like a flat tire and so we pulled off and into a nice, large, Ratheon parking lot just outside of Santa Barbara.  


The tires checked out ok, but Alan noticed that the weight distribution hitch was loose on one side.  We hoisted Salt off of Pepper, and Alan went to work tightening the hitch while I walked the Noses.  All tightened up, we jumped back in (spent a good 15 minutes trying to get out of the parking lot where I had tried to take too sharp a turn and Salt's wheels kept hitting the curb but really that turned out to be the least of our issues) and re-hit the highway.  


We were back on the Highway for about a mile when the feeling came back.  It's like the Pepper can't breathe, maybe a fuel pump issue?  Anyway, we take another exit and find ourselves on a tiny road in Santa Barbara on which I am determined to spend as little time as possible:  I have driven through Santa Barbara and as beautiful and quaint as it is in a small car, pulling a trailer would be very daunting on most of it's tiny streets.  


So we do a quick u-turn (this time in less than 15 minutes) and park off to the side.  I then asked my phone to "Navigate to Porsche" and heaven appeared!  A Porsche dealership only about two miles away.  Trouble was, Pepper was getting worse by the second.  On the highway, it was only having trouble at higher speeds and while accelerating, now it was having trouble just starting out at all.  So flashers on, we crept, and I mean crept, to the Porsche dealership.  


We are two of the luckiest  people for sure (more of the luck was used in Morro Bay--the posting still to come) and there was a nice long parking spot available next to the dealership.  Being Sunday, the service department was closed, but David in Sales graciously allowed us to pull Salt into the Service area and leave both there overnight.  (David in Sales also graciously supplied us with water, coffee, soft drinks, drinks for the dogs, and a washroom.  There is something to buying expensive cars!)  


Of course, Alan is thinking we are going to "finally" get the new Cayenne he has wanted since we first starting thinking about this trip.  Is that part of the New Austerity I wonder?  I think it will have a lot to do with what is wrong with Pepper . . . 


In the meantime, we are at the dodgy Hacienda Motel (walking distance from Porsche) in Santa Barbara.  We can each stand in front of our own bed (2!), spread our arms out and not touch anything at all.  Unless we want to.


-K


PS:  And the CFO ruled that this hotel charge isn't going to be charged to our regular hotel budget, but to Pepper maintenance.  I wonder how he will feel about the wine at dinner . . . 

Sequoia National Forest, CA, USA - Sept. 7-8, 2011

More Pictures Here!

Sitting by the campfire Wednesday night, watching the farm-fresh corn and potatoes cook over the open flame and waiting to put on the three trout that Alan caught in Peppermint Creek, Alan leans over and gives me a big kiss.  Then he sighs and looks up at the blue sky through the giant sequoias and says, “This life sucks.”  I almost spit out my Veuve!

That’s right, we finally opened our bottle.  (And that’s right, we have already caught some fish!)  We had saved the champagne for the very first Aventura night, but when that night came we were so exhausted a nice calming glass (or two) of Opus One was where we turned.  (Remember my hang-over?  Yikes.)   But we decided it was the perfect time to celebrate:  Our first fish caught (first three fish!) on the Aventura.  The main course was free that night!  Camping at Lower Peppermint only cost $17 so it might go down as our cheapest day yet—unless the CFO requires me to add in the Veuve.  By the way, Alan is working on his “By The Numbers” – the promised budget and actual comparison soon to be posted to its own page on the blog.

Before I get carried away into the fishing stories, I must say the drive from Lake Isabella through Kernville and up into Lower Peppermint was stunning.  You follow the Kern River up the valley and it is quite beautiful.  Something right out of “A River Runs Through It”.  I did make a short Bloggie film of it, but none of the free Wifi’s will let me upload it (and who can blame them?) so no more movies for now. 

But back to those fish:  Thank god the Three Wise Fishermen back at Deep Creek told us to ignore the depth of the water!  They said if there are fish, they will be hiding behind rocks or fallen trees and will jet out into very little water to snatch a treat.  When we drove up to Peppermint Creek I was prepared to be underwhelmed and disappointed in the fishing—the creek is barely five feet across.  But after a short walk up the waters, we discovered tons of trout just hanging out under fallen trees and behind rocks—just as foretold.  I’m not kidding, there was one fallen tree that had five trout sitting underneath! 

I had quite a few bites, and then landed a nice big one, but, as I don’t like to get the fish off the hook, I swung it over to Alan while it was still on the line.  Alan was fighting the water, the Noses (who, I imagine, thought this was a great new toy), and the fish.  The fish won and he got away.

The next morning I made Peach Flapjacks with some of the fresh peaches we had picked up on our way. Drizzled with a little maple syrup and served fire-side.  They tasted like peach pie.  Delicious!

After the flapjacks, we did a short hike to see Bush Tree (H.W.) – a giant sequoia dedicated to him as a thank you for putting in place land protection around these magnificent trees (some are said to be over 3,000 years old.) 

Upon returning from the hike we resumed the fishing extravaganza and this time we each caught one.  Mine was 11”!  And we managed to get it to shore this time (truth be told, it had a short detour through the mouth of a Fox Terrier.)

So another night of fresh fish on the fire!  We were hoping to get up Friday morning and head out for a one-night backpacking trip but the rain set in so we set out.  Packed up in record time and hit the road—we were in desperate need of an “Oasis” experience (referring to an RV Resort in Vegas that has full hook-ups, a swimming pool, laundry, etc. has become our key word for “we need a break from the dirt!”)

The road down was gorgeous:  The foothills reminded me of Walnut Creek, golden rolling hills spotted with oak trees. 

We tried two “resorts” and rejected both (CA Hot Springs Resort [I knew it was doubtful when I read the sign that prohibited “public displays of affection”, although the spot was rejected due to lack of cell service] and Eagle’s Nest Resort in Porterville [rejected due to fear of getting mugged]) before heading to a tried but true KOA in Visalia.  I was literally salivating at the thought of cell service and a shot at an internet connection not to mention a nice hose in order to wash the dogs.

It’s hot down here, but we are fully hooked up, laundry loads are happening and the clean out shall begin--in between US Open matches, that is! 

Took some great video of Rosco running the agility course at the KOA, I think he’s thrilled to be showing River something she doesn’t know (although she thinks she does—sound like anyone?)

-K

PS:  Heading back up tomorrow to Hume Lake area.

Lake Isabella, CA, USA, Sept 7, 2011

Being the home-body that I am, I had been wondering if I would enjoy taking off every few days.  But when Tuesday (“drive day”) came along I leapt up with the thrill of adventure and the promise of the open road.

It is a good thing I started so strong because it was a long day of driving – left in record time at 10:00 but we didn't arrive in "Paradise" Cove until nearly 4:00, at least we did more than 60 miles – 184 from pitch to pitch.  We had an early mis-navigation (I was driving, I’m just saying) and ended up going in a circle around Lake Arrowhead which added about 20 minutes to the drive.  It is times like this that I get nervous about Europe:  Here we can read the signs and still get lost.

We took Highway 14 north instead of 395, and came west on 178.  It was much more enjoyable than 395.  Hot, but very enjoyable.  Great scenery along the quiet route, especially through Red Rock State Park. 

We discovered a fantastic Mexican grocery in Lancaster and Alan went in to get us some tortillas (to wrap around the delicious black-eyed pea salad he made last night.)  He was delighted to discover a tortillaria on site:  They were making them fresh right on the spot.  These little delicacies are so full of lard that they are almost translucent.  But wow did they taste good heated to a crisp and wrapped around that salad!

(Incidentally, Alan was in there so long I was beginning to get nervous [not to mention boiling hot—did I tell you that it was 95 for most of the drive?]  Apparently he got way-laid by the meat department where they proudly displayed all pieces of the cow.  And pig.  But we do love a good ethnic grocery!)

Paradise Cove is not so paradise-like.  For one, it is hotter than hell out here.  No wonder all the campgrounds at the beach are full-- everywhere else in California is hot and dusty!  But we are one of only three people in camp so it is quiet, unless you count the highway which runs about 200 yards behind us.  (We drowned it out by blasting the Salt Mix from my iPod while enjoying our Rum & Tonics.)

We are right on Lake Isabella which is great.  I had a lovely swim with the dogs trying to save me.  They were thrilled to swim in the cool water—did I say it was over 90 when we hit camp?!?  So the first “trying to save Kit” swim quickly turned into “hmm, I think I’ll just swim this way too, just to be safe.” 

After the aforementioned dinner, we went back to the shore for some fishing.  I had seen two little fish while swimming and managed to get a hit with a lure, but nothing bit hard enough to bring home.  River found the bones of a fish head (still intact, but all flesh gone) and proudly paraded it by us.  It’s bad when even your dog can get a fish and you can’t.

-K

Lake Arrowhead Area, CA, USA - Sept 2-5, 2011

Note:  Pictures Available!  RMC on the title and open in a new window . . . and just added the coyote movie!  Click here to view.


Our third morning into the trip and it was our first morning that we felt like we really didn't have anything to do.  What a joy to wake up without a list!  Even while camping in Laguna, we woke up with a list - Bark Park, Zinc, Brussels, Main Beach, but here, nothing.  It's wonderful and I hope it lasts forever.


But that doesn't mean we don't have more lessons to learn!  Like--hello?-- research the area you are heading to before you get there.  Who knew that Lake Arrowhead was private?  So much for bringing down our blow-up boats and floating along catching fish!  The next nearest lake, Lake Gregory, doesn't even take dogs.  So we are up at Dogwood Campground (NFS) about 3 miles from Lake Arrowhead, utilizing the great solar (it's over 80 every day), hiking and enjoying our campfires.  


The campground is crowded - we realized that this is the first time we have camped in the summer and on the busiest weekend no less.  Thank god I had thought ahead to find us something for this Labor Day Weekend, as it was no small task finding an open spot anywhere in Southern California.  Our site, #71, looked to be (as Alan indelicately put it), "the worst site here."  Could this be the start of our first Road Fight?  I thought, "He should be thanking me for finding us a spot at all!"  


But I held my tongue (for one night--and Alan would say, "for once") he had a rough driving day -- only about 80 miles but it took us 5.5 hours!  That L.A. traffic man, it was grueling.  So I let the comment go right on by.  As our luck would have it, all the other sites filled up with the exception of the one right next to us (the pitch was literally 20' away) so our enjoyment of the previously-thought worst site increased dramatically.


Plus, how can you not enjoy a place where you are greeted at the front gate by a roaming coyote?  Enjoy the short film here.  We are doing our best to use Bloggie (the wonderful HD camera that is lighter than my phone), but get caught up in the fact that it records voice as well--so much pressure!  Especially when you can't even remember the date.  I'm sure we'll get the hang of it soon, or we'll have the best looking silent film ever.


We stayed until Tuesday and what a difference a day makes!  Wow, we were one of only a few people left and it became so quiet and lovely.  Clearly, traveling on busy weekends will be a challenge.  I think we might have a revelation here:  If we are going to be crammed right next to people on busy weekends, why not stay at the RV Resort types and at least have cable hook-up?  


I had my first "miss":  I miss my televised sports!  And it's the US Open!  We might have to find a cable spot for this weekend's finals.


-K


PS:  On the Calendar to the left of the postings, I will put "GP - xxx" entries for the General Plan.  Right now a lot is up in the air due to Alan's surgery, but at least you will know as much as we do!

Local Knowledge Gone Fishing

On our drive up to Lake Arrowhead, James followed us off the I-215 to a Chevron where he stopped us to talk about Salt—he being an Airstream enthusiast.  His enthusiasm increased when he discovered Rosco and he immediately shared pictures of his own wire fox terrier.  Maybe because he felt we were kindred spirits, he provided us with some local insight:  For a nice day around a creek, drive off of Route 173 to Hook Creek Road and follow it to the end.  He mentioned it is not a suitable road for Salt, but Pepper should have “no problem.”  At the time, I was thinking, “We don’t need a creek, we will have all of Lake Arrowhead to play in—who needs a creek?” 

But we are determined to start using local knowledge when it comes to us so on Saturday we took a quick tour out Route 173 to locate Hook Creek Road and then followed that curving extravaganza to the Deep Creek National Forest Recreation Area.  (Really, we need to figure out how to find these places on our own!  If not for James, we would have never known it was here.)  The dirt road became a bit much for me (terrified of popping one of our low-profile tires, my brother Chris has the best story about that) so we parked off the road a bit and peered over the edge.  Wouldn’t you know it?  We could see running water.  James didn’t know if there was fishing or not, but he did mention that dogs run freely and there are just a “ton” of little pools throughout the valley. 

Sunday dawned hot hot hot and, having learned about Lake Arrowhead being private (i.e., don’t try to play in it unless you own a piece of it) and Lake Gregory not allowing dogs, we found ourselves in need of a creek after all and headed back to Deep Creek, dogs and fishing gear included.  We hiked almost a mile into the valley and saw two fish of decent size, but had no luck catching any.  The dogs had a great time splashing through the water and running freely along the trail.  River even went swimming (although only to try and “save” me when I had dunked under in our private swimming hole.)

On the way out we caught up with three fishermen and so I asked, with a bit of sarcasm, if they had any luck.  “Oh yes!” They all replied.  “I caught two, a 12” and an 15” trout”, “I caught three”, “I caught three too”, to which I replied, “Oh you guys are joking!”  And thus started to laugh good-naturedly.  They did not join in.  They were serious.  They also practiced catch and release so didn’t have the proof my jealous senses were seeking.  But that got us hooked!  We had to come back.

However, Sunday morning dawned with rain showers which kept us inside.  Alan installed some new LED lights, I did my nails, cleaned up a bit and took a short hike with the dogs.  If we stay in the area another night or two (or again sometime) you can bet we’ll be back out to Deep Creek!

-K

PS:  Will have some lovely pictures soon . . . internet connection is difficult to come by and I need a good one to upload pictures.

Laguna Beach, CA, USA - Aug 31 & Sept 1, 2011

 (Pictures available!  Right mouse click on the title and opt to open in a new window.)

It seems a little like cheating to write about Laguna since we have lived here for so long, but none-the-less, it is our first stop on the Aventura and it certainly deserves full mention.

The town is lovely, nestled between the green grass of Main Beach and the wilderness hills on all sides.  Years ago, the residents of Laguna voted to raise their property taxes in order to purchase “wild” acres of land surrounding the town and it has paid off nicely.  Very rarely in Southern California do you get to see so much open space, particularly so close to the ocean.  (Well, once you crane your neck around the massive hillside homes.)

We spent a leisurely morning in camp at Moro Canyon before packing up the dogs and heading into town, two miles south.  A quick stop at Zinc for the best drip coffee in town got us prepared for the fun of Bark Park (a few miles out of town on the State Highway 133) and provided our first “uhhhh” moment:  Kathy at Zinc, while waiting on me with her usual great service, asked what I was up to today.  “Uhhhh”, [insert blank stare], I replied.  How do you quickly say that this is the first day of a brand new life?  I certainly didn’t know, especially being asked before my much-needed second cup (we celebrated our first night with our last bottle of Opus One and I was still in recovery at 11:00 a.m.)  I finally offered, “We are playing tourists in Laguna today.”

Powered up, we headed to Bark Park and let the dogs run wild-ish.  Rosco really just tries to get laid with an occasional chase thrown in to show he still has “it” and River tends to be a little shy in crowds.  But they took off just as we realized we were being followed.  A lady working next door had seen us arrive with River and, having an Irish of her own, naturally had to come over for chat.  She was very pleasant (as are most people in Laguna) and certainly didn’t deserve our “Uhhh” [insert two blank stares] reply to her question of whether we lived in Laguna.  We really need to come up with a better answer to this soon.  I imagine this will get easier when we are not standing in Laguna.    

Since the New Austerity has kicked in (Alan’s phrase, naturally), we picked up lunch at Whole Foods (passing up our favorite [pricey] restaurants) and ate at Main Beach while laying in the sun for the first time all year.  The water was too rough for swimming so it looks like we’ll be leaving town without even on dip in the ocean.

An afternoon treat at Brussels Bistro (Leffe, Chimay and fries) before returning home to a turkey meatloaf dinner enjoyed while gazing at the ocean from our picnic table.

We may be getting into a bit of a routine:  Alan has gotten up first and walked the dogs and returned to make coffee for two days in a row.  This morning (Friday) he added flapjacks.  Alan calls it, “Habitat for Her Majesty.”

Off to the mountains – time to catch some fish and lower our food bill!

-K

We're Off!

Our first official Aventura destination might have only been two miles away, but it was still quite an adventurous two miles!

I tried to work up a bunch of emotions upon driving away, but with our tenants clearly so happy to be “home” and our wild adventure ahead of us, I just felt . . . well, relieved is the best description.  Relieved that the packing and moving of stuff is over (except for the packing and moving of stuff that will now happen every few days.)  By the way, for my friends who cannot believe my clothing allotment, click here for a view of my clothing inventory--complete with their designated uses and location in Salt (the location was for my benefit--sometimes I will have to really dig!)

So with the tenants waiving a cheery goodbye, we coasted away--and that is no pun, I mean coasted.   You see, we started the Pepper, but as Alan put it into drive it stalled.  (Pepper has never stalled before, was this an omen?)  But the worst part is that we didn’t realize Pepper had stalled.  We had started on a huge downhill and Salt was kindly just pushing Pepper along.  Until it came to nearing the stop sign when Alan tried the power brakes.  Thank god he figured it out quickly, threw it into Park and then started Pepper up again. 

We were off!  With the Pepper pulling Salt right through downtown Laguna and the whole two miles north on “the PCH.” 

All too soon we came upon our right turn into Moro Canyon Campground and lo and behold, it was blocked off for repaving.  The flag man was waiving us right on by!  We could see that in order to get in, you had to approach from the north so we knew we’d have to turn around.  We turned into one of the Newport Coast drives and Alan performed our first U-turn!  It took 3 and a half lanes to execute, but it was done.  One more lesson down and it wasn't even our first official day.

We drove up to the check-in at 2:57, at which point the ranger informed us that check-in time was 3:00 but we “could leave the trailer right there.”  (I still wonder if she knew what time it was when she spoke.)  

Although we can no longer claim novice status at backing up, we did take two or three (or four?) attempts to get into our spot #6.   Alan was driving and I was directing (usually our best combination), but it wasn’t pretty.  I can only assume it was because we forgot to do our habitual kiss and “remember we love each other very much” just before I hop out to give directions.  Maybe some time during all of this we will figure out just what makes backing up such a nerve-racking experience.

The views down to Crystal Cove are wonderful and you can hear the waves break even up at our site.  I feel closer to the ocean and further from poverty than sitting on our old deck at home.  It all seems so simple and calm and something I have been planning for all my life.  As my Mom would say, “Kit has always loved small things.”  That produced no comment from Alan.

  

-K

PS:  Today, the first of September and our first official Aventura Day, we are going to drive back into that cute little town of Laguna and be The Tourists.  I hear they have a great off-leash dog park, wonderful local coffee at Zinc, and the best beer, fries and muscles at Brussels.  (Don’t count on me always ending on a rhyme.)