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  Breakfast at Big Meadows, Fruit Parfait for Deb, Eggs and Bacon for me!

Big Meadows Lodge - Stanley, VA

 In my carefully constructed Type “A” getaway, we were to go to Longwood Garden, Chaddford Winery, then the Inn at Montchanin, with dinner at the the KitKat.  All that was turned upside down when Longwood Garden shut down because of a fuel spill.  

Deb and I have always wanted to spend the night at the lodge at Big Meadows in the Shenendoahs.  We love the campground, but thought staying at the lodge would be fun.  Even though it was a Saturday night in July, they had one room left.  Now if that isn’t a sign.  As part of the fun, I got to drive the northern end of Skyline Drive (in Deb’s sporty Lexus, rather than an RV).  Some of the fun was dampened as Deb slowly turned more and more green (not a fan of curves, especially at 35MPH), and kept looking at the map to see how much more of this enjoyment she was going to have to endure.

After a short hike, we had drinks on the terrace, and then dinner on another terrace.  All very rustic.  Tomorrow, I think that after a short hike, we’ll scoot down off the access roads rather than completing the rest of Skyline Drive. (I think I got a sign!)

Cork Factory Hotel - Lancaster, PA

 

Up and ready for our promptly served breakfast at the Inn at Watson’s Choice.  We were expecting toast hoping for bagels, we got fruit bowl, omelettes, home made sausages and banana bread.   Our scheduled tour at Falling Waters was at 9:30 and since tours are already booked through the end of the year, late was not an option.  Although I had been there years ago with Son two, Deb had never seen it.  Surprisingly, it is as modern and relevant now as it was 80 years ago, with open spaces and a focus on the surroundings.

On to the Flight 93 Memorial.  After walking the black walkway that defined the path of flight 93, we stopped at flight path lookout, which overlooked the crash site, but it was all somewhat confusing.  So we went to the visitors center which had a timeline of what happened that day with quite a few exhibits.  There was a 1.2 mile long circular walkway that lead eventually to the crash site.  Deb and I talked about what it must of been like on the flight.  You can’t go to the crash site but there is a large boulder that marks it.  After reading the names of those who died, we walked back to the car.  It was not a remorseful visit. Afterwards, I googled the architect, Paul Murdock, to read that this was precisely the way he wanted the memorial to be viewed!

On to our rest stop in Lancaster.  Son one went to college there, and we had always stayed at the Lancaster Arts Hotel, but they insisted on a minimum two night stay, so this time we stayed at the Cork Factory Hotel, another upscale boutique hotel.  Because it was Friday night, I went big time and booked reservations at the fanciest restaurant in town, John J Jeffries.  Well it turns out that the John J Jeffries is the hotel restaurant for the Lancaster Arts Hotel and we ate there many times on college trips.  The dinner was delicious, served with a heaping plate of deja vu!

Inn at Watson’s Choice - Uniontown, PA

This is new travel for us: we have been traveling by RV for seven years.  Our first test of our new car travel life style is to just park on the street in the quaint little town of Warrenton, VA and have lunch at a sidewalk cafe…easy peasy! Although there are many ways to get from here to Uniontown, PA, Deb has requested that we take shortest, straightest route.  Google maps is only showing winding roads to get there but the GPS in the Lexus is showing only straight interstates (of course it would, it’s her car!). 

When we get to the inn, there is a sign at the registration desk that gives the phone number of the innkeeper.  Nancy, the innkeeper, answers the phone and chastises me for not knowing the name of my room (it was on the confirmation e-mail!).  With detailed instructions on where she would meet me, which I vaguely remembered, we headed out to find our room.  This was sort of like an escape room adventure.  As we neared some cabins at one end of the property, a man posing as a landscaper said “no, no, those are not it, you have to go over there.”  Once we got to the pavilion area, a woman posing as a a guest said “Nancy went in that door.”  In exasperation, Nancy appeared and redirected us once again to the correct door which had a combination lock that was encoded in the receipt she gave us along with a key which had fob with a floral pattern that we had to match with door to the room.

A check of é mail revealed that the third destination of our trip, Longwood Gardens, had to close because of an accident with a fuel spill.  During dinner, we made a tactical decision to leave the gardens for another day and instead spend the last night in the Shenendoahs.  We booked the last room at the Big Meadow Lodge while sitting at the table in a wonderful Italian restaurant waiting for our entrees.

Home

Down the dreaded Northeast Corridor, we sidestepped Philadelphia, Baltimore and DC.  All together the trip lasted 46 days and was slightly over 9,500 miles.  We enjoyed every minute of it!

Spruce Run Recreational Area - Clinton, NJ

 According to their web site, there are 7 sites with electricity here, and this is the only park in New Jersey with any hook-ups at all.  This place pretty much splits the trip home into two equal parts.  I bet Deb a nickel that she would want to just keep going and not stop, just to get home…I lost!  There are so many cicadas here, it is deafening (and they land on everything), and the park ranger just informed us that there will severe thunderstorms in about six hours. 

Surry Lane - Pelham, NH

 Arrived in the old family stomping grounds.  It’s been well over a year since we have been here.  The plan is to settle in on the first day, see family on the second, play some cards on the third.  

Executed with perfection!  It was great to see the extended family again…it’s been a long time

We followed it all up with dinner at the Tuscan Kitchen in Salem, it seems that knowing the entire staff has some advantages…thanks Marie and Nan.

Savoy Mountain State Park - Florida, MA

After a short walk on the Hudson River, we departed for Savoy Mountain.  We are back in the part of New England which is more familiar to me.  Our mission today is to make Mac and Cheese for the week-end get together.  There is a local cheese maker just outside of Williamstown.  It is a self-serve, on the honor system place with a chiller full of cheese and a freezer full of meat.  In the corner is a scanner and a credit card reader.  Having purchased the cheese and milk, we head to our campsite for an early afternoon of hiking and cooking.

Tomorrow we head for the family reunion.  We have put together our slideshow of nearly 300 photos, which include my world famous videos of waterfalls in slow motion!

Schodack Island State Park - Castleton-on-Hudson, NY

 We are getting close to Massachusetts.  The plan is to be there for the week-end, so we have slowed our progress to a few hundred miles a day.  It was probably a good idea.  The first half of the drive from the finger lakes region was pretty hilly and since we travel with everything, including the kitchen sink, we tend to take hills very slowly.  We have driven through lots of state capitals and have enjoyed the architecture of the capital buildings.  Albany is no exception,  the capital building is a huge egg.  I was enjoying it so much that I missed my turn and ended up on the road that went directly to an elaborate tunnel under the egg itself.  My GPS just looked at me dumbfounded!  As it turns out the tunnel ends up in a u-turn right back out the other way exactly to where I wanted to be.  I sort of felt like I was the ball on a miniature golf course.

The park is lovely, but almost directly under the New State Thruway bridge over the Hudson, 

Robert H Treman State Park - Ithaca, NY

 

We have been to Watkins Glen a few times and decided to try something different. It’s all the finger lakes of New York. Watkins Glen is on the ring finger and we are staying at the end of the pinkie!  The campground is less than ideal.  It’s overgrown with dirt roads and there is a small tree right in the middle of our campsite.  Deb and I have done our usual RV placement dance which looks kinda like we doing a senior version of the Floss.  We have ended up with RV parallel to the road (most other campers have come to the same conclusion).  But now to the fun part…even before we finish setting up, we headed out to hike the Rim Trail which leads to the top of Lucifer Falls and back on the Gorge trail.  Much of the trail was built by the CCC in the 30’s.  There is a stone staircase which goes up the side of a 300 foot cliff.  

Then came the path that they cut into the gorge.  Absolutely Gorge-ous 

Chapman State Park - Clarendon, PA

 

Today we went to Cuyahoga Fall National Park.  There is a scenic train that goes through the park. Only problem is that runs Wednesday thru Sunday and we were there on Monday, the other tiny problem is that it is sold out through the rest of the year.  We hiked to Brandywine Falls, the tallest falls in the park.  It was a nice 5 mile walk which culminated in a sudden rain deluge, about ten minutes after we got back to the RV.

We are now in the sleepy northwestern part of Pennsylvania, Trump flags abound but internet is in short supply.  We make it through the evening by binge watching DVD’s of M*A*S*H episodes, but we will be leaving early to catch some internet.

Butler/Mohican KOA - Butler, OH

 Maintenance stop. Deb did laundry, while I replaced the screws that came out of the Microwave, reseated an electrical outlet, and cleaned off the front of the RV that got “bug blasted” in North Dakota.  Since it was in the 90’s, we finished the day in the pool…since it is the first week in June, the pool was….refreshing!

Tomorrow, we’re going to Cuyahoga National Park, the largest National park in Ohio, then to Pennsylvania.

Whitewater Memorial State Park - Liberty, IN

 

Deb and I are pretty much dyed in the wool type A people.  We created the route for our RV trip back in January and we tend not to deviate (we did deviate slightly when a storm closed the road out of the campground for two days...but we hyperventilated the entire time and drive through the night to get back on schedule). This time we only had a one bar of internet and nothing exciting to do so we converted a two nighter to a one nighter and moved on, spending the second night in Indiana, at Whitewater Memorial State Park.  The park has a few halfway decent hiking trails, but the campground is 300 sites in large fields...perfect for people watching.  This is a Saturday night, with dozens of family get togethers.  There is the champion cornhole match and the misbehaved children...even a seven foot palm tree made totally from LED’s.  

Tomorrow is a maintenance day at the next KOA.

Chris forgot to mention the cicadas! A constant loud buzzing sound.

Fox Ridge State Park - Charleston, IL

 

A fairly long day, but an audio book, a discussion about sustainability, and a few discussions about our latest e-mail threads made the trip go by.  Fox Ridge seems okay for a one night stand, but it’s not going to  be an enduring love affaire.  We had planned this to be a two nighter, but we have decided to move on to Indiana for the next night.  

It’s Saturday, and that means a big breakfast.  Instead of cooking bacon and eggs, I suggested that we eat breakfast in the small town of Casey, IL.  Big things in a small town!

A local business man in Casey has used some of the scraps from his business to make the “World’s Largest ________”. We ate breakfast on the porch, overlooking the “World’s Largest Wind Chime, the “World’s Largest Rocking Chair,” and the “World’s Largest Teeter-Totter.”  

Backbone State Park - Dundee, IA

 The heart of the park is the Devil’s Backbone.  This is an interesting geological formation made by the Maquoketa River making an oxbow.  The backbone has 150 ft cliffs on both sides, sometime less than 20 ft across. It’s interesting, especially since it’s in Iowa.  This is the portion of the country that we, irreverently, refer to as the “I” states. These are the states with the worst roads, the least accommodations, and virtually nothing scenic.  

For an “I” state, this park isn’t bad.  We had  “chicken ala king,” which was really good.  Tomorrow is a two nighter in Illinois....we’ll see....

Newton Hills State Park - Canton, SD

 

We occasionally refer to our RV as our land yacht, since we traded sailing for RVing.  Sailing with wind just off the bow is uncomfortable, called “sailing to weather”. Yesterday, we sailed to weather the entire day with the prevailing wind just off to the right.  The fact that the prairies were dotted with wind turbines confirmed that it wasn’t going to get better, and our gas mileage confirmed it. As the saying goes, “Gentlemen do not sail to weather!”

After a full day of rolling prairies, we were skeptical that we would actually find a hill at Newton Hills State Park, but not only did we find a hill but some woods as well.  Even with a stop at Walmart in Sioux

Falls, where I had both pimentos and artichoke hearts on my shopping list (it took five employees including an inventory specialist to find pimentos...they were next to the artichokes), we got to the campground early enough for a nice hike on the “Woodland Trail.”

Tomorrow we should be on a beam reach the entire way.  Or as the saying goes, “may you have clear skies and following seas.”

Fort Ransom - Fort Ransom, ND

 

Hiking to the sunset vista last night, we met two people from Wisconsin who were going to go to Teddy Roosevelt on their way home.  I, of course, suddenly felt the need to go to Teddy Roosevelt too.  It was actually a National Park, 60 miles down the road we were already taking.  We took a nice 40 mile scenic tour of the park with the requisite bison and prairie dogs with a few wild horses and wolves tossed in.  From there, it was North Dakota prairies for 300 miles to Fort Ransom State Park.  This is a park straight from the twilight zone.  It took about a dozen turns to get to the deserted town of Fort Ransom and then another dozen to get to the park.  The park itself is virtually abandoned.  We may never get out again!

Our site is on the banks of the Sheyenne River, and an evening sun shower, complete with a brilliant rainbow topped the evening.  Tomorrow, we will try to retrace our path to escape back into the real world for a fairly short trip to South Dakota which will mark the halfway point in our trek from Seattle to Boston.

Makoshika State Park - Glendive, MT

 Getting here was a pretty short trip, so we made a few stops on the way.  Our first stop was Pompey’s Pillar, a national monument.  It is a place where William Clark, of Lewis & Clark,  carved his name on July 25, 1806.  A must stop for L&C fans.  Lewis’s first name, by the way, was Meriwether.  We thought of starting a Lewis & Clark school and call it “William and Meri.”  

For lunch we stopped in Miles City, at the Black Grill.  It was our first indoor dining experience since the pandemic.  We were so proud of ourselves, we didn’t even giggle!  

Makoshika State Park is the largest state park in Montana, but has only 12 campsites, no electricity, limited water, and no dump facility.  It’s sort of the bad lands of Montana with strange rock formations and fossils.  Even though it’s Memorial Day, it’s very peaceful.  We spent the day hiking and saw nobody.  

Billings KOA - Billings, MT

 

We left the snow capped Rocky Mountains for mesas and buttes.  Billings is the corporate headquarters for KOA and the Billings KOA is the first campground they built.  Sort of interesting because we have been using KOA’s as our maintenance and laundry stop for the past seven years.  There seems to be one around every time you need one.  It was about 90 in the sun and 60 in the shade, so if you sit outside you either melt or freeze.  The only obvious solution is a round of miniature golf...Deb cleaned my clock!  

Tomorrow it’s off to the Montana badlands.

Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park - Whitehall, MT

 It’s 3,600 miles from Seattle to Boston and we have 18 days to get there.  This was a 350 mile day which would be good but we are spending two days at Lewis and Clark State Park.  We visited here several years ago, Deb loved it, I got stung on the inside of my lip by an irate Yellowjacket that had fallen into my wine just before I took a sip. 

This time we had the opportunity to visit the caverns.  Today was the first day that they were open.  The ranger suggested that the tour might not be right for me.  It involved some duck waddling, sliding on my butt, 600 steps, 2 miles of walking.  

Wow, too old for the tour...now that’s a challenge.  We were up for the challenge, no problem! Well, at least we didn’t complain, or have to crawl on on our hands and knees like some people on the tour.  

Deb felt that two miles of duck waddling wasn’t enough so she added a three mile hike in the afternoon.  We finished the day with pizza on the Barbie and a quick campfire, as the temperature plummeted to 50.

Farragut State Park - Bayview, ID

We drove through the apple orchards of Washington and then to the Grand Coulee Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. One million gallons of water flows through the turbines every minute.  California must be soooo jealous!  From there it was just a short drive to Farragut State Park.  It was warm enough to sit outside for awhile.  We were in site number 368 which makes you realize how big the place was; however, there didn’t seem any reason to leave our site and we had to be out early in the morning to be positioned in a rest area for a board meeting.

Pearrygin Lake State Park - Winthrop, WA

 Relatively speaking, it was a short drive, 116 miles, along the North Cascades Scenic Loop.  This was one of the most memorable drives we have ever taken.  The Northern Cascades are called America’s Alps.  

Diablo Lake is sort of the epicenter of the area.  We took a 4 mile hike up Thunder Knob which had some nice panoramic views.  From Diablo Lake the road climbed up to 5500 ft elevation which is the portion of the road that is closed from November to May.  There was still a considerable amount of snow and there were waterfalls everywhere.

Winthrop is one of those theme towns where everything looks like it was in a western movie.  We arrived at the campground, apparently too early.  The day had been perfect, but it was raining when we arrived.  15 minutes later, the sun was shining, the weather got warmer and we sat outside for the first time in two weeks.

Raser State Park - Concrete, WA

The drive was only 76 miles today and 116 tomorrow.  This is wonderful, but it is very slow progress

getting across country to get to Boston.  During our little hike today, through giant western cedars and cottonwoods, I pondered this dilemma.  Upon my return, I ascertained that our return trip was indeed three weeks, not two as I had assumed.  This is the problem of planning a trip in February for June.  Raser State Park is another small Washington Park, absolutely lovely with 3.75 miles of interpretive hiking trails, mostly along the Skagit River.  There are dozens of interpretive signs identifying all the flora in the park.  We are learning the difference between raspberry, hackberry, huckleberry, gooseberry, thimbleberry, snowberry and service berry.  We now know what horsetails are and what to use them for (scrubbing dishes...).

Tomorrow, we continue along the Cascades Scenic Loop to Pearrygin State Park, another tiny park in the Washington Cascades.  We are planning to stop for lunch at Diablo Lake, the photographic icon of the Cascades.

Lake Pleasant RV Resort (2) - Bothell, WA

 Our last day of visiting included not only a spring walk around Green Lake, a park next to the apartment, but also the requisite board game.  These are not the board games from my youth; they are slightly more complex.  We played Mysterium, a twist on the classic Clue game that I used to play.  Here, you play six Clue games simultaneously and the “clues” are apparitions from the ghost of the victim.  Of course, in the end everyone wins together as a team, including the ghost.

Our son’s partner has taken an interest in cooking Korean food.  We really have no idea what we ate but it was delicious.

Tomorrow we start our return trek through the Cascade Mountains with the forecast of snow in the higher elevations!

Lake Pleasant RV Resort - Bothell, WA

 Took the ferry from Kingston to Edmonds and arrived before noon, which gave Deb time to do laundry,

and me time to pick up a rental car.  Deb had spent some time this spring in the attic and found several boxes of books, and other memorabilia that belonged to our sons.  We had carefully packed them into some of the less readily available storage areas on the RV.  I’m not sure, but we may have lost a mile or two per gallon carrying all that stuff across country.  About half of it went to son one last week and the rest was loaded into the back of our rental SUV, including “paws,” the stuffed polar bear that our youngest son said that he would keep for the rest of his life when he saw it in Jackson Hole, WY at the age of five. I just couldn’t let it go, could I!

It’s warmed up to near 70, and it’s been sunny, so we have been able sit out in the backyard and go for walks in the Washington Park Arboretum.  

Eating takeout Thai food.

The azaleas and rhododendrons were gorgeous!

Jerrell’s Cove State Park - Shelton, WA

 It was an easy drive today, so we made Time for a long lunch at Lake Sylvia State Park.  We have not had much experience with state parks in Washington.  So first of all, there are literally hundreds of them.  None of the ones we have seen are very big.  After lunch (we only buy Bologna on road trips, it’s one of my tricks to get Deb to go with me), we hiked a loop around the lake.  My first covered bridge on a hike!

We arrived at Jerrell’s Cove in the early afternoon.  You can choose either a wooded site or an open site.  There was already a camper in the wooded site, so we took the open one.  Although very small, it is a nice park, well maintained. Deb got a real campfire, with dry hardwood.  Bologna and a campfire in the same day, I really know how to spoil a girl.

Tomorrow we have a choice, around Puget Sound counterclockwise, through Tacoma and Seattle, or clockwise, up the coast and take a ferry.  I love ferries, when I offered the two choices to Deb, she just rolled her eyes!

Wild asparagus grows everywhere! Oops, I discovered this is really Horsetail!

Ft Stevens State Park - Hammond, OR

 We have been continuing up the coast on route 101, driving along rocky shores, sometimes precariously close to hundred foot precipices, sometimes crossing giant dunes. The Oregon shore goes from desolate, to quaint, to honky-tonk every couple of miles.  It’s probably still to early for most vacationers, but all the scenic vistas are full of picture takers.  

Even though it was a fairly short day, mileage-wise.  We managed to consume it with slow driving and a Walmart stop.  By the time we arrived the mosquitos had already set up camp.  Dinner was beef stew cooked in a small crockpot that sits in the sink while we drive (I just think that it’s cute that we can do that!)

We should be able to get a nice walk on the beach before we leave.  It will be our last look at the Pacific for this trip.  From here it will be another day to get to Seattle for the week-end.

We took a walk on the dunes trail to see the Peter Iredale wreck. I wouldn’t want to be famous for that!

Bullard Beach State Park - Brandon, OR

 Northwestern California is a world unto itself.  There are few roads in and out, and they are all hilly and winding.  Our sojourn began with 40 miles of scenic route 1...twenty miles of rugged shorescapes followed by twenty miles of mountainous redwood forests.  Finally to route 101, the major thoroughfare for another 200 miles of the same seascapes and redwoods.  In Eureka, there was an interesting road sign, “Route 101, Road Construction 60 miles ahead, expect up to 2 hour delays.”  Since the only other option was to drive over the mountains to I-5 and then back over the mountains to our campground (an extra 3-4 hours), we continued on.  As it turned out, our delay was about an hour or so...stranded in our little mobile home with a kitchen and bathroom and a million dollar view.

  

Once past the construction site, we headed into Oregon, leaving $4.49/gallon gasoline in our rearview mirrors.  Bullards Beach is about a mile from the ocean.  We are camped right next to the trail.  Deb got her second campfire of the trip, but the firewood was wet pine, so after fifteen minutes of serious smoke, we abandoned the fire for chips and salsa and some reruns!

In the morning we took a hike to the beach. The trail was 1.5 miles round trip in sand! But the view was worth it!

MacKerricher State Park - Ft Bragg, CA

 We had a wonderful weekend with son one; we are now off to our next weekend with son two.  We have four days to travel up the coast from Monterey to Seattle.  Our first day gets us about 300 miles.  We drove up the 101 through San Francisco.  It’s been a long time, and I forgot that 101 is just city streets until you

get to the Golden Gate Bridge.  Fortunately, in some sort of dark way, the pandemic has turned the entire Bay Area into a trafficless ghost town.  North of San Francisco, we got back on route 1 and wound our way up the coast through Bodega Bay and Mendicino to Ft Bragg.

Years ago, we took an RV trip with Deb’s parents and rode the Skunk Train deep into the forst where they used to lumber redwoods.  MacKrerricher State Park was the ocean terminus where the lumber was loaded an ships. 

Although it only got to about 56, the sun was out and we got to sit outside for awhile.  We also got to sleep in our sweat pants and sweatshirts.

Marina Dunes RV Resort 2 - Marina, CA

 Haven’t seen Justin in over 15 months. Went wine tasting on Saturday at Odonatta Winery. Then on Sunday went for a chilly walk on the beach. So nice!

Marina Dunes RV Resort - Marina, CA

 We drove the coastal highway from Morro Bay to Monterey.  The marine layer had receded quite a bit. (Marine Layer is just a California fancy way of saying fog).  North of Morro Bay, the elephant seals have taken over all of the sandy beaches.  This is our third trip on the coastal highway, our second in the RV.  The first RV trip was southbound in 2014, where Deb, as the passenger, hung precariously over the edge of 100 foot drops.  This time, northbound, she was precariously riding under potential debris flows. (Another California fancy word for mud slides).  

Of course, there was very little traffic, the views were stunning, and the weather was lovely.  We arrived in Marina, the home of son one, with sufficient time to do two weeks of laundry.  The washers and dryers are all controlled by an app on your phone.  Of course they are!  We tried not to appear old and out of touch.

Son one came over for dinner, our first guest since before COVID.  It’s really starting to feel like the beginning of the end!

On Saturday, we went wine tasting at Odonata Winery (outside, of course).  Sunday, a walk on the beach in Marina.  With the temperature in the 50’s, it was a brisk, enthusiastic walk. After lunch, we strolled the historic section of Monterey.   Then came thought...should we? ...would it it be right, so soon?  

Yes...just do it...and we did! We ate dinner at a restaurant! (Of, course it was outside)

Photo of Big Sur coastline.

Morro Bay State Park - Morro Bay, CA

 This morning has been the morning that I have dreaded since first planning this trip - the drive through downtown Los Angeles. Fortunately, it was pretty easy.  We stuck to the 5 until we got to the 101 and we were done!

We are absolutely, positively sure that we spent the night at Morro Bay back in 2014;  but what we remember was a parking lot with dirty restroom.  There is no mention of the place in our blog.  Either we were never here, or we have found a wormhole in the universe.  This campground is lovely, with a long boardwalk that goes out into the bay with great views of Morro Rock.

Deb got her first campfire, last night.  Siri told us that sunset was at 8:00, which put lighting the fire around 8:30...as I was putting the last log on the fire, Deb’s chair was empty and there was a lump in the bed.

Tomorrow, we are off on scenic route 1 to Monterey to see son one.

Silver Strands State Park - Coronado, CA

Our propane regulator cracked and yesterday we spent a few hours successfully searching for parts in Yuma, AZ.  The drive from Yuma to San Diego goes right next to the Mexico boarder and the wall, and then goes over mountains of boulders.  After traveling through the desert for a week, arriving in San

Diego was a culture shock.  The RV park is a large parking lot with lines painted for each site.  Each site is large enough to be able to fully extend your awning with at least 6” to spare before hitting the RV next to you.  The ocean is only a few feet away.

In the morning we walked a few of the miles of Sandy beach.  After lunch we went on a great adventure.  We crossed over to the bay side where there was a hotel.  A large hotel, a hotel with a Mexican restaurant, a Mexican restaurant with outdoor seating.  We bravely put on our masks and for the first time in fifteen months, we ordered a beer, tortilla chips and salsa.   From here on, the world is our oyster!   

Tomorrow, Morro Bay, and the rest of the world! 

bougainvillea