From Apache Junction near Mesa, AZ. to Benson, AZ. February 11, 2009

Hi from Benson Arizona,

  
Just arrived here tonight by default.  We were planning on visiting Tucson and had an RV Park picked out but changed our plans when we saw it.  It was tucked behind an RV lot much like you would see on 99 in Lynnwood with 1 palm tree, all black top, and 5 feet between RV's.  The location was nicely centered between the Tucson Airport and the local Air Force Base. Needless to say this wasn't the place for us so we continued south and east trying to find just the right RV Park.

For the past two days we have camped at Lost Dutchman State Park at the base of Superstition Mountain.  It is quite an impressive mountain, very rugged with steep trails that will take you to the top.  Our  campground was situated in the Superstition Wilderness which is about five miles from where the sprawl stops and the desert begins.  There were many saguaro, cholla, prickly pear and other cacti dotting the landscape. One of my friends who lives in Mesa, recommended this treasure. We learned quickly that staying far from the cholla cactus was mandatory.  Both dogs managed to come up lame with thorns in their pads and when Mike went to pull them out he got stuck himself.  The chollas emit a toxin so Sam was crying, and some helpful person took pity on the 3 and managed to help Mike remove the miserable sticker from at least one of the dogs.

My friend from childhood, Bob took us to a country western bar and restaurant on Friday night for some good country western music and dancing.  Lots of  older cowboys duded out in 10 gallon hats,  shiny large belt buckles, and boots. Some of the women wore skirts and vests, all wore boots. Mike and I learned how to do the electric slide, the waltz, and the two step.  At 16 I had to take cotillion lessons and that might have been the last time I did the two step.    The music was lively and definitely good for dancing so we kicked up our heels.  The fiddler, and two guitarists were very good musicians and we enjoyed their gig and the local culture.

We also enjoyed returning to our very quiet campsite that night and looked forward to the next day.   We had all kinds of plans for the next day but the one that won out was the "doing nothing" choice.   We needed the respite and it was in a beautiful place and so we read, took walks with the dogs, Mike played his dulcimer and I played the tin whistle, made chili for dinner, listened to a blue grass concert at the campground and invited Bob to join us for a meal under the stars.  All was good.      

What I didn't mention is that Mike's computer completely died so we bought an Apple Laptop.  The spilled Apple juice on the PC Keyboard was the death knell for the PC.  There must have been a connection between the apple juice and the apple computer.  I believe the stars even lined up in an Apple shape that night.  So now we are both proud owners of 2 Apples.  

 The weather was turning and so we headed for Tucson, bypassed it and ended up in Benson where I started this e-mail.        

Will send next installment soon.    

Hope all is good with you.

Joshua Tree National Park - Feb. 3, and 4th

 

Joshua was more then we imagined.  Stopped in at the visitor center to get a sense of the place. It's small with a few exhibits.  As usual, we were advised not to take dogs on the trails so occasionally Mike and I hiked separately with our Walkie/Talkies.  

Found a great campsite at Jumbo Rock campground known for it's attraction to rock climbers.  This site had two Jumbo Rocks among other mammoth rocks.   It was picturesque and the day perfect for exploration.   Bright blue skies with a few white bellowing clouds made for great pictures. Visited Key View which had an expansive view of the San Andreas Fault, Saltillo Sea, Mexico, Palm Springs and several large peaks to the North.  We took turns hiking to  Baker Dam.   The sun was beginning to set so I didn't make  the entire loop hoping to give Mike a chance to see some of it.  He was gone longer and it was getting dark when he returned with two rock climbers from Boston.   We talked about Boston for awhile and they were curious to see the Snail so we invited them in.

Taking a walk at night with the almost full moon lighting our way, stars everywhere and the silhouettes of the jumbo rocks on either side of us was magical and surreal.  It was cold but we didn't care it was too beautiful to turn back. We are loving this evening.   

 

February 2nd and 3rd from LA to Yucaipa Regional Park to Joshua Tree

Just wanted to sent you a quick note from Yucaipa Regional Park.  After getting lost in the dark and climbing high above the city with the lights sparkling below we finally found this county park and settled in for the night.

We left Malibu yesterday and of course found ourselves in unbelieveable traffic even with six lane freeways.  Had a  wonderful time in Malibu until my address book blew off our picnic table distributing all of it pages to the cliffs and the great Pacific Ocean below. Being in such good shape  and taking on the mountain goat personna we were able to recover almost all but a few pages.  What was nice about Malibu RV Park was that it was high on a bluff overlooking the Pacific.   Although the coast highway  below was very noisy  we were up high enough that it wasn't noticeable.    There is a wonderful canyon adjacent to the park which gave us an opportunity to do some further exploring. That was

a bonus for an RV Park as they are usually minus such features - in our experience.

 Today we will be heading to Joshua Tree National Park and into the desert. Wind farms cover the landscape in this area.  Looking forward to this part of the trip as the rock formations are interesting and Joshua Trees are suppose to be very pretty.  This is a well known area for rock climbing and even though we were mountain goats yesterday I don't think we will be doing any major rock climbing. Hiking is just about our speed.

The weather should be perfect high of 70 and a low of  40 degrees. 

 The dogs are fine.  Luna is quite protective and emitted a low growl as she looked out of the "Silver Snail" our RV's front window last night.  There are coyotes, mt. lions, cougers, hares,racoons, and skunks in this park.  Needless to say we didn't stray far on our dog walk.

       Anyway, more to come in a few days.

       

Feburary 1st, 2009 Point Reyes to Malibu and Pictures of Calif. Coast

Sorry to have been out of contact for so long but we are having little luck with cell reception and unable to use the computer.

Right now we are parked high on a bluff overlooking the blue Pacific in Malibu and this particular RV park is quite nice. The weather is a balmy 70 degrees( sorry, if you are feeling envious). We will be taking a hike from this park into the canyon with Luna and Sam in just a few minutes.

We saw my oldest friend and neighbor, Ann ( born 1 week after me) and her significant other Dennis last night and they took us to a great restaurant called AK which is suppose to be the place to eat and be seen eating. No one asked for our autograph so I guess will will have to go there another time when I'm certain someone will recognize us.

Today we are off to see the Super Bowl at Dennis's house which is right on the beach.  I am excited to see Ann's children, who I haven't see in about 23 years. They each have one child and so the house will be filled with babies and dogs and it will be a busy and fun filled day. This house has a great view of the Pacific and the water at high tide is just a few feet in front of the foundation. When you look out, you feel like you are in a boat looking at the ocean. They were both very kind and inclusive and made us feel at home and welcome.

Yesterday we pulled into Carpenteria, just south of Santa Barbara and ended up staying at a Holday Inn Express. No RV Parks in the vicinity that had hook ups and we needed a good shower and  a place to do laundry so we accomplished both of those tasks. When we checked out we visited with our friend David's parents and had a nice chat and a cup of coffee. They live in a beautiful spot looking up at the mountain range whose name I haven't yet looked up. We heard a few stories about Hugh and Jane and the family and saw some pictures of their children and grandkids. Now we know where David grew up.

Most of our trip has been away from the crazy world we live in and that has been great for us. We have spent all of our time so far on the California Coast finding wonderful places to camp out.  We love the State Parks because they are quite beautiful. When we need to hook up to electricity or fill up with water or dump our grey and black water we look for an RV Park. We attempt to find parks in pretty settings if possible. Our favorite places have been the state parks and the first was MacKerricher right on the ocean with hiking and a 10 mile bike trail on the coast. The next was at Pt. Reyes, a lovely area. We hiked to the lighthouse and took the dogs for a walk on North Beach. The ocean is wild and beautiful and we saw lots of Muirs and Cormorants and Redtailed Hawks and Vultures etc. Several seals were spotted on the beach along with sea lions . We walked the earthquake trail and saw where the quake of 1906 did incredible damage . The San Andreas Fault runs right thorough that trail. We didn't stay in Samuel Taylor Park and instead opted for the closest park to the Visitor Center at Point Reyes in Olema.   Next time Sameul Taylor will be a must visit as it looked nice and really wasn't far from the Park entrance.

We managed to spend a little over a day in San Francisco and visited with my second oldest friend Charna and had dinner with her in Pacifica. Fun to catch up and share stories.

Next day we found a way down to the Golden Gate Bridge at Cressy Park a beautiful walk along the water just near the bridge and the Presidio. It was a perfect day and so we took lots of pictures of the bridge (ad nauseum)from every angle. The dogs got in a long walk and were tuckered out by the time we got back.

Then on to San Jose to hook up with my 2nd cousin Tyler who took us to the restaurant he works in where we ate a wondeful meal with him and his roommate, Maria. We caught up and were glad to have the chance to see him although short. We headed to Santa Cruz where we spent the night and walked along the cliffs watching the surfers down below. Another beautiful day. We wanted to get moving to Big Sur so that is where we pointed our Silver Snail and arrived around dusk. Unfortunately, we spent the first night in the redwoods in a very muddy place and were eager to get moving. The next day we found paradise at KirK Creek campground, overlooking the Pacific. Set up shop in a nice grassy area.
We stayed for a couple of days and watched the whales and took the dogs on some walks and just relaxed.

I am going to cut this shot because the computer is going to die.
To be continued.

January 22, 2009 MacKerricher State Park

Arrived at MacKerricher State Park on the Pacific 7 miles south of Mendicino on the 22nd after starting our drive from Eurika at 5pm.  We are getting a rather late start these days and realize that this will have to be changed because driving at night is anything but fun.  We drove along Highway 101 until it merged with the coastal Highway 1 which twists and turns as much as any road we've been on and made it to MacKerricher around 9:30 pm. Glad to arrive as it looks like a cool place - even in the dark.  We woke up to a nice surprise in the am because it is a very amazing place, situated on the Pacific with a great walking and biking path.  We walked with the dogs for a little over an hour and never really managed the whole trail. The surf is wild and would be a surfers dream.  We did spot seals, sea lions and all kinds of shore birds. Apparently the grey whale has been spotted in large pods just this week but we haven't noticed any yet. There is an interesting plant that covers the shore line above the dunes and it looks like a succulent and has some remaining flowers but don't know what it is although I feel like its a member of the Portulaca family. Later found out it is a non native Ice Plant that the Park Service would like to get rid of - good luck to them - it's everywhere.

     Spent the afternoon in Mendicino looking at nice galleries and even found a good place for salad and soup. Apparently they had a large exhuberant crowd for the inauguration.  The Highlights Gallery was a treat as local artists display their talents.  It was one of the nicest I have ever seen.  

     Nothing else special to report but we are still excited about the inauguration.  Finally got the paper where we could read the details.  What an amazing day.

      Hope all is well with you.   

      Barb, Mike and Pooches

January 20th, 2009 Obama becomes President

Our first view of the Pacific was in Crescent City, Calif, Jan.18th just as the sun was setting. So excited to be here. Love the smell of the salt water and the wild Pacific as it crashes against the 

rocks.  Lighthouse is off in the distance.

We just saw the inauguration from the comfort of our RV. We are so excited about this momentous day in our history. Barack Obama is such a breath of fresh air - so intelligent and capable. Let's hope that we can all pull together to make this country a better place because if we have any chance it is now.

Right now we are in Trinidad, Calif. at the Sounds of the Sea RV Park.  Not much of a place; RV 's lined up on patches of grass and no trees. The best feature was the electrical hook ups and cable so we could watch the inauguration and take a shower, not at the same time of course. We are within walking distance of Patrick Point which is on the water and touted as a good place for hiking with scenic vistas and big rocks including Wedding Rock.

Yesterday we were at Jedediah Smith State Park just 10 miles north of Crescent City. This is a lovely park with tall Redwoods everywhere. There are great campsites on the Smith River with stone steps leading to the river. The river is so clear that you can see large flat appearing stones on the sandy bottom. We did not have one of those sites as we came in at 8 or 9 pm and it was too dark to see much of anything. If you know what inukshuk is then you will know what I am talking about when I tell you that we saw many stones carefully balanced on each other. Since this isn't the arctic they obviously had a different meaning if they had meaning at all - but regardless they were nice to look at and capture on camera.

Sam almost bit the dust yesterday when his leash got tangled with the owner of a large mastiff/lab. As the lab jumped up Sam was literary hanging in the air by his neck and luckily the other owner let go of his leash as I was trying to untangle Sam. I guess we will keep our distance from now on. Sam just doesn't get that he isn't a big dog. Otherwise, both dogs are doing well and we are beginning to establish a routine as we move along.

The sunset yesterday along the coast showed more pastel colors and large sea stacks rising out of the Pacific. Hope to have captured some good pics.

We are not moving very quickly and today we are headed south to Mendicino. If you have been there and have suggestions please feel free to send them.

Bye for now.

Barb, Mike, Sam and Luna

January 16, 2009 The Beginning Of Our Adventure

January 16, 2009 

Made it to Woodland, Wa.spending the night at the Columbia Riverfront Park. There was a heavy fog surrounding us but you could hear the sound of the fog horns from the big ships traveling the river from the Pacific to Portland just a few feet away. When the fog finally did lift we realized how bleak and grey it was and were impressed by the size of the tree trunks that washed up on shore from the last heavy rainstorm.

We got a late start and being a Friday the traffic was heavy but managed to get to Olympia for dinner and visit the Capitol Campus. Walked the dogs along Capitol Lake - a very nice walk and visited Christine Gregoire. A ctually, we stood outside her mansion and talked to the security guard.

We are all adjusting to the tight but well organized quarters. The dogs were on the cold side last night, but we were toasty. Tonight we will get them a warm blanket. The temp. when we arrived here was in the 20's.

Mike got tips from Shirley the experienced RVer on how to keep the poop from sticking to the sides of the grey water tank. The things you never knew..

Finally relaxing and getting into the RV mindset. Not sure what that is but anyway, hope you are well.  Will blog again soon.

Barb, Mike, Sam and Luna