PISSMO VILLAGE RESORT

We had a great second half of our vacation with the Taylors, but I stopped blogging the minute we got here at Pismo Coast Village for the Komfort Kruisers rally. My humans volunteered to be the wagon masters and it was way more work than they anticipated. 

It’s a great location, right on the beach. But, because it’s so popular that every site was booked. Our group was sort of parked together except that the Taylors were two rows away from us which made our wagon master duties a lot harder. And because there was no kitchen, Warren prepared everything at his coach and the three of us were walking back and forth to the club house with the breakfasts and dinners.

Everything turned out well, Warren made his special French toast breakfast and our shrimp fry dinner was delicious and a great success. Even the  beach blanket bingo game was a hit. 

My humans didn’t have much time for sight seeing, they did manage a trip to Avila Beach for a couple of hours, but then it was right back to work. 

End of this vacation for all of us, we made this second half work even when it seemed like all the campgrounds were already booked. Kathy T was able to put together a vacation in spite of  the short notice.

We will be going to Alaska next summer, Kathy T has already started making reservations!

THREE VERY LAZY DAYS

We have been here at Coyote Valley RV resort now for two nights and we ain’t done nothing! I guess that we all needed a break from all the excitement of being in Lake Tahoe, but it doesn’t make my job as blogger very easy when there is nothing to write about.

First of all, the site we are in is too small. We are packed in like sardines. We don’t fit in the site and the bikes are squished into the shrubbery.  And it was so tight we had to decide if we wanted to open the door or park the car in the site. We parked the car somewhere else. The Taylor’s site is a bit worse as they are parked directly across from the office which is busy all day. The park is really very beautiful with two pools and two dog parks, but with us booking so late we didn’t have any options. We are making the best of it.

First night we we all so tired from the drive that we did nothing but eat dinner and sleep. Yesterday was Saturday and they all got up early to go to the Farmers Market in Morgan Hill. It was a great market with all kinds of produce and cooked specialties. There was also a small craft market and beer tasting area on the opposite side of the city plaza. Apparently, Morgan Hill is very popular with the young families that work nearby in San Jose. Last night my humans had an interesting dinner at the Crab Broil, they said it was research for the upcoming rally in Pismo Beach.

Today, nothing is planned, just sleeping for me, googling for Jim and reading for Kathe. If  anything else happens, I’ll let you know.

LAST NIGHT IN ANGELS CAMP

Very warm here today. It was over 100 degrees when we woke up this morning and it really never got any cooler until tonight.  We are still the only 2 coaches in the resort, but they say that tomorrow things will change, and all the sites will be full. 

Today the humans went to the town of Murphy, which was one of the richest boom towns in the mid 1800's.  Today it's a cute little tourist trap with lots of shops, restaurants, and places to taste local wines. My humans spent the whole day shopping in every little store for treasures. Lots of shopping bags filled with clothing, kitchen tools and specialty foods. A fun day.

They stopped for lunch at the Pour House Restaurant for a picnic lunch in the shade before setting out for some wine tasting. They tasted some really good which were gold medal winners at the local county fair. They even bought a few to take back home. Unfortunately, someone forgot to close the hatchback and one of the bottles crashed into the street as they were driving away. What a mess, Kathe, Warren, and another local woman swept up the glass and they were on their way again. I spent the day in my usual way, curled up on the passenger seat, in the cool air-conditioned coach.

CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS

Not too far from Angels Camp are two very interesting State Parks. Today my humans went to both of them while I protected the motorhome.

First up was the Columbia State Historic Park which is also a National Historic Landmark. The park is an actual town that has been preserved with restaurants and shops. Walking the street there was like going back in time to the gold rush days. The people in the shops are dressed in period costumes. The town was originally built in 1854 and restored twice due to devastating fires. They had a great lunch in the old hotel dining room before moving on to the next State Park.

The Calaveras Big Trees State Park was established in 1931 to preserve a mixed conifer forest with two groves of giant sequoias. The trees are magnificent, the largest trees in the world! There is a self-guided trail through the grove of trees, and you feel very small just being next to them.

DRIVING THROUGH THE SIERRAS

Okay friends let's pretend it is last night. Things got a little out of my control and I couldn't get to the computer until this morning. Something to do with a thing called a Sunset Martini!

We had a spectacular drive yesterday from Tahoe to Angels Camp. We drove for miles through the Sierras with nothing but tall pine trees and beautiful blue lakes out my window. We drove past a few little "resort" towns, with tiny hotels and a lot of teeny tiny campgrounds for tents and small motor homes. But it wasn't an easy drive, lots of hairpin turns and climbing up and down altitudes of over 7000 feet and back down and up again. My ears were popping! We finally reached Angels Camp Resort after five hours of hard driving and everyone including me was ready for a restful evening. 

Our sites are right next to each other under the trees. As a matter of fact, Jim couldn't pull into our site until they chopped off some large branches which were hitting the top of our coach. We have a nice space in between our rigs for our chairs and a picnic table. The weather is great and it's so nice to eat outdoors for a change, you never have to worry, something always falls to the ground for Bella, Gianni or me. 

More later after the planned excursions today to the town of Murphys and the Calaveras Big Trees.

EMERALD BAY STATE PARK

Last night was very exciting. We know that bears are frequently in the campground. We've heard them and seen the evidence, but last night we actually saw one walking around in the dark. One of the tent camping families had their food stolen right out of their truck. Everyone was warned to keep the food locked away, but I guess they didn't believe it would happen to them. Needless to say, we are on high alert whenever Kathe and I go out for our walks. 

Today the humans went to Emerald Bay State Park to hike to a waterfall. It was a pretty long drive to the trailhead and there were so many tourists that parking was a problem. Kathe took a picture of Emerald Lake from the edge of the cliff.

Later, Warren, Kathy T, and Jim decided to hike to Eagle Falls. My Kathe started out on the hike but became winded and decided to sit that one out. I guess hiking at altitude is pretty difficult for her. She had fun watching the people starting up the trail, but so many turned around just like she did.  Our humans enjoyed the hike all the way to the top.

They decided to forgo the picnic lunch that they brought and drove to Tahoe City for lunch at a bar and grill. The weather was perfect, and they ate lunch outdoors overlooking the lake. Great day!

SOMETHING ELSE IN TAHOE

You know when you have a motor home, something always needs fixing. Yesterday we had a problem with the automatic step cover. When Kathe pushed the button to close it there was a loud boom and it just stopped working. Jim and Warren spent about four hours working on the problem. Good thing they had each other to bounce ideas with each other, finally they were able to figure what needed to be repaired. A bolt, maybe 2 bolts snapped, but it was very hard to reach the problem and screw things back together. It's all fixed now. Only now today the ice maker quit working. Always something!

It is beautiful here. Today they spent the day driving all around Lake Tahoe. It was a fantastic trip looking down from the highway to the Lake. They stopped in Truckee for some shopping and to have lunch at Jax at the Track a restaurant that was featured on Guy Fieri's TV show.

Back at camp this evening they just sat around the campfire with some adult beverages and enjoyed the evening.  

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE

Glad we made it. It was a long and very scary drive from Red Bluff to South Lake Tahoe. Totally worth the drive. We have two awesome sites together on the edge of the campground surrounded by huge pine trees. 

Not much to report as we didn't get here until 4:00 after driving for five hours. Most of the drive was on the interstate. If you think Los Angeles traffic is bad, Sacramento traffic is even worse. So happy that Kathy T. and Jim are such good drivers, and that we arrived safely. I was so scared with all the curves on highway 50 that I spent most of the ride on Kathe's lap trying to remain upright.

Looking forward to spending six nights here. Only one problem, Kathe is worried about the wild animals. The camp host told us that black bears and coyotes frequently roam around the park. She said they were looking for food, so I hope that doesn't mean me. 

BACK ON THE ROAD

Today was a very long driving day from Canyonville to Red Bluff, California. It's already too late to do anything here but eat dinner and sleep, and tomorrow is another long driving day to Lake Tahoe. Warren took this picture of our coach as we drove past Mount Shasta today. When we drove North past Shasta a few weeks ago, there was so much smoke that we couldn't even see the Mountain. And now, with all the rain the fires are out, and the sky is clear again.

Turns out there were a couple of interesting things to do in the Seven Feathers area besides watching the rain fall every single day.  One day they took a drive to see the three Covered Bridges in the area of Canyonville. The were all built in the 1930's, and still function as bridges. You can still drive through two of them which crossed small streams. A third one is now restored and part of a very nice city park.

On Sunday they took a drive out into the country outside of the town of Roseburg, to visit the Cooper Vineyards for some wine tasting. The sun came out long enough to enjoy the afternoon and drink some great wine. They had a Sunday event at the vineyard with entertainment and a food truck which made for a very pleasant afternoon.

SEVEN FEATHERS

The sun is finally out today after nonstop rain since we left McMinnville. We are at the most popular Oregon RV Resort, Seven Feathers in Canyonville, Oregon.  We are staying for five nights, and as you might have guessed, there is nothing much to do here. There is a big casino and a very small town, but not much else unless you drive about 30 miles north to Roseburg. And since we made that drive yesterday, we have just been chilling out. At least today we can relax outside and enjoy the RV Park in the sunshine.

There are beautiful trees at every site and hanging baskets of flowers at the end of each row. Ok, so that's it trees and flowers. So don't be worried if you don't hear anything form me until after Labor Day, I'll just be sleeping, curled up on the cool tile every day, until it's time for my evening walk. That's what I do best, eat, sleep, and repeat. That's a vacation.