We left Tucson for a short jaunt over to a project we had worked previously just outside of Phoenix in Wickenburg, AZ to spend the night, reunite with friends and inspect the project to see just how much progress had been made on the casita that they were building. They were preparing for the dedication service to take place in a couple of weeks. There had been many legalities delaying the finished casita but it is soon to be complete.
From the Tucson desert to........
to California lush green and water, everywhere!
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Trees so tall that you wonder if their root system makes it to China and trunks as wide as your RV! Redwoods are in a class all their own and man cannot mess with them.
They grow those shamrocks big in California!
Then off to Tehachipi, CA to spend the night in a quaint campground next to a small airport. It was close to Bakersfield, CA where the desert quickly turns to a very fertile area of California where citrus, almonds, artichokes, lettuce, strawberries, brussel sprouts and grape vines were for miles and miles. No wonder California is known for their vineyards. The next day we drove the remainder of the way into our next project at Mission Springs Camp/Conference Center in Scotts Valley, CA. The ocean came into view once or twice but cliffs and mountains were keeping it a secret!
For the next 10 days it rained and rained! At least 12-14 inches total. Our campsite was right next to a creek that roared once the rain start to come down from the mountains quickly exiting to the ocean. The towering redwoods were just a little intimidating with soggy surrounding grounds and drooping limbs. That RV looked small and vulnerable underneath those trees!
The first week Wayne did some electrical mapping for the Frontier Village at the camp and Gail finished painting in the house that the previous SOWER couple had worked on before we got there. Then the 2 remaining weeks we painted 4 lodge rooms (occupancy for 5 each) with bathrooms and the first floor of a small cabin in the Wild Oak area of the camp. Needless to say we have a lot painting experience for our resumes and really hope that our next project will give us a reprieve!
Ok, we have painting down pat, 4 lodge rooms and 1 cabin!
Of course we took advantage of the local sights in each direction. The first weekend while it rained at the camp we headed south on the coast to sunnier sights. The beaches are so very different on the Pacific side - cliffs, mountains and rocks with some sandy beaches. Every morning fog rolls off the Pacific providing the needed moisture for the lush farms. Because many of the beaches are surrounded by mountains and cliffs there are tsunami prone areas in the valleys, so seeing these signs was a little unnerving! Also another sight very unusual at the beach are cows grazing! That is some pretty expensive land to grazing on if you ask me. They don’t know it but I do. Those farms have been in the family for so long and dare say they are not looking for city folk to move in. That first weekend we rode to the Monterrey Bay area as far down as Big Sur. Also take note, water on the Pacific Coast comes down in currents from you know where, Alaska, so, EXTREMELY COLD! Hard to even put your feet in the water but you gotta in order to say you did!
Wayne and I rode up to San Francisco on a week day to see the Golden Gate Bridge. Everything we had imagined and the fact that we were able to see it at sunset was a plus. Alcatraz was in plain site and going thru San Francisco I kept singing the song for that rice commercial from years ago, “the San Francisco treat”! It really looks like that with the trolley cars and steep climbs on the roads.
Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz above, rocky cliffs and rare sandy beaches on Northern California coastline.
Believe it or not the valleys next to the coastlines are prone to tsunamis. Many of the residents will tell you about watching the huge waves and swells come by after a Japan earthquake. Little unnerving!
One weekend we rode north to Ano Neuevo (about half way to San Francisco) to a state park that is a breeding ground for elephant seals. What an education! Huge seals and a real life example of living off the fat of the land (blubber)! The females come there to give birth, nurse the pups for one month, then the mothers leave for nourishment while the “weiners” continue to grow for another 2 months. They say the departure is quite traumatic for the weiners and you can hear them crying for their mothers for hours. So sad! The seals come there twice a year to molt their hide after swimming 3,000 miles away so they swim a total of 12,000 miles per year. Amazing creatures. Then we came back down and watched seals play in the water and under the Santa Cruz wharf while we ate at a fine seafood restaurant. Also on the way up the coast we stopped by Swantonberry Farm for an old fashioned experience. They grow all types of berries there on the coast and open up their business the “old way”. A cash box on the counter and everyone puts their $ in and takes out change they need the “old way”. The honor system - remember that? It still exists believe it or not. All kinds of jellies, jams, breads, scones, strawberry apple cider, coffee and berries when in season.
Weiner just putting on weight to eventually go out to sea after going from 60 lbs. at birth to 250 lbs. at the end of 3 mths. to leave for a 3,000 mile swim!
A male elephant seal just waiting for the ladies to come back!
Seals playing under the wharf.
The wharf at Santa Cruz where we ate some might fine seafood.
Swantonberry Farms where everything bought on the honor system. A cash box for anyone and everyone.
Another weekend we ventured back south to Monterrey Bay again to see the Aquarium. Worth every penny we spent to get in and would go back in a heartbeat. The Aquarium is right on the ocean occupying buildings that were once fish canneries in the early 20s and 30s. Amazing sea animals now housed in this aquarium to include seals, otters, penguins and even a display from the Baja area. Displays like this reiterate to me how my God is in the details. Fish that look like their surroundings, fish that travel on fish, fish that travel in schools and creatures that can transform themselves for protection and survival. Just amazing!
The Monterrey aquarium was a wonderful sightseeing adventure. Tiger shark to the right and below a school of jellyfish.
Originally there were fish canneries where the aquarium is today.
We never had a whale sighting so I guess we will have to come back! BUT we did get to see a banana slug. Not many people have even heard of them but they live in this region and the kids that come to camp at Mission Springs if they let one lay across their nose for 5 seconds they become a member of the “Banana Slug Club”! Not me, nada, never gonna do it, and it is NOT on my bucket list. Yukko! As curious as I am I would like to see what would happen if I put salt on one! If you ever had experiences with slugs or snails as a kid you know what I am talking about!
Mr. Banana Slug
A good 4 1/2 in. long! Would you dare put one across your nose to become a member of the Banana Slug Club?
Well, other than that, the many hours in the RV while it was raining were for making miles with my sewing machine. I made quiet pages for the g’girls, 6 sets of doll clothes for a g’niece and 3 Easter dresses for the 3 g’girls! Fun, fun, and more fun. Always love to be in close proximity to a good fabric store, yeah buddy!
Wayne put together this puzzle while it rained, and rained and rained and then rained some more!
We were able to spend time with Wayne’s cousin that lived in the Los Gatos area, just east of San Francisco. One of the perks of traveling on the road from place to place, you get to see everyone and everything along the way. They treated us to a wonderful lunch on the beach in Aptos. Their boys went walking on the beach with us and not long after they were wet head to toe, how in the world do they get in that cold water. And surfers everywhere, but they usually are in wet suits, still not warm enough for me!
Pretty high cliffs, a few sandy beaches, and frigid waters.
BUT GORGEOUS!
I have a saying……..San Francisco is still very hippyfied! In some areas and places you see the old VW buses with travel stickers all over them and yes, people still live in them on the side of the road! Silicon valley was very ritzy with their gorgeous homes but was a little disappointed that they don’t upkeep their highways. Potholes big enough to lose a small car in if you are not pulling it behind a RV! Everything is E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E. Even tho they have miles and miles of produce in the fields, they can change whatever they want in the grocery store. Even the thrift stores are expensive! People are friendly and helpful. It was a totally different experience than in the east part of the state where we spent 2 months on the edge of the Mojave Desert 1 1/2 years ago. A lonnnnnng state California is.
We are now on our way north, making our way to Alaska for the summer. A little scary driving out of the USA but God will be with us all along the way. Wayne has been sick with a cold and congestion while I have suffered with a couple of bouts of vertigo. The altitude can do strange things to ya………..RV crazy or what?
Headed north through Oregon, gorgeous!
Up to Crater Lake where the snow was a good 20 ft. deep.
Extremely cold and windy but........
trudging on thru Oregon then to Stanwood, Washington just north of Seattle. We are now only 2 hrs. from the Canadian border.
It's spring in Oregon & Washington. But why am I still cold! Something tells me it will be this way till re-enter the U.S.A. in September!
Flowering quince in Grants Pass, OR.
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