Saturday, March 31, 2012

Back to civilization, and back online!

What a great couple days we have had coming across California, and now, as I type, sitting in our new home of Lake Havasu City, Az.  We did not get the satellite dish set up last night, as we were in the Middle of the Mojave National Preserve, and were simply too busy!

So we have a bit of ketchup to do, so here we go.    As we drove into Orange Grove RV Resort, this is the view of the manicured orange trees… neat to see!

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This was our setup below, and here I am just installing our Shaw Direct Dish as my beloved Leafs played on Thursday night and I had to watch… it was not good!

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This is a Class A Park, and has a great Barn, where everyone can meet and eat!

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The oranges have all been picked off the trees, and harvest is over, but that did not stop the Staff from giving us a big bag of oranges as we checked in… Judy made Orange Juice!

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We were on the road early on Friday, and had our sights set on the Mojave (Moe-have-eeeee  ((my pronunciation…)) National Preserve.  It is one of the biggest Parks in California, is actually quite high!  Our Camp Site was 4,100 feet high, but warm.  It is an amazing place for sure!  This is the road leading into the campground, which is 20 miles north of Hwy. 40.

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This was our campsite, #1 of course!  It is wide open… we loved it!

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This Preserve is very diverse, and we had this Butte in our backyard!

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It was very hot when we arrived just after lunch, too hot for hiking anywhere, however we unhooked the Jeep and took off on a great Jeep Trail through the Preserve.  Found these funny looking creatures below, not quite sure what they are????

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The Jeep Trail was great, and took us over a pass and down to the Visitor’s Centre.

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We had to go under the rail tracks on the trail…

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This is the Kelso Depot, which used to be a big train station in it’s day… the purpose was to provide extra engines to passing trains to get up the huge incline on the tracks heading east… much need iron ore was mined out of here, and put on the train to head to be processed into steel, and fuel the metal needed to win the World War II.  Automation made the Depot obsolete, so it was turned into the Visitor’s Centre, and museum.  Nice spot with a great restaurant inside. 

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Did I mention diversity in this Preserve… this sand dune area is 45 Sq. Miles, and all the sand was blown her by the wind!  Go figure!  I was trying to push the dune down with my hand, but not having much luck!

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The sand dunes are amazing, and lots of them!

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The dunes are surrounded by a ring of mountains, and the contrast was amazing between the two.

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Below we are on our way back home, cross country of course, and found all kinds of cactus growing on the hill behind the Jeep.

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Access to the Jeep Trail, was through the gate, so the “gate opener” was doing her job!  (She did live on a farm, and probably did this all the time!)

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There are two main campgrounds, and the other one suffered a major fire a couple years ago… it is on the way back.

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There are a bunch of deer that run the Preserve, and by the looks of the one below, they are tagged.

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On the way back to our camp, we came across this neat limestone deposit, with a bunch of wind caves in them… they warn you here to check wind caves first for animals before you enter them!

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Patra loved it here in the desert, and wanted to rub against a cactus all the time… go figure what goes through the cat brain!

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We had great BBQ Steaks, and had our fire in the can, while enjoying the views of the Butte.

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I will post some more photos from Mojave tomorrow.  David and Angela should be flying into Lake Havasu City tonight, and we will likely see them tomorrow.  It is very hot here… over 90 deg. F. this afternoon! 

Till tomorrow…

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Oarange Grove RV Park...

We have made our way to Bakersfield, Ca. Tonight and we are Staying at Orange Grove RV Park, which was recommended to us by Rene and Jeanette... Great spot with lots of free oranges for everyone.  They have free Wifi here, that didn't work so I am down to the smart phone that does not really like blogger!  No pics tonight!  Nice and w,arm though... Lots of RVers staying tonight. 

Going to be very short tonight, will try again tomorrow...

Till tomorrow...

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Our last day on the Pacific Coast!

Yes, all good things must come to an end… tomorrow we leave Mariana, Ca., and will be heading east… about 1 month from now and yes, we will be back into Ontario!  Where has the time gone!

We had an iPad Skype call tonight from our friends Tom and Cheryl, in Richmond Hill…(aka Richman’s Hill).  They just got back home from a Florida trip in which they enjoyed good weather, and are working towards full time RVing soon!  So, of course you have to start a blog!  You can catch them at http://www.canadiandaydreamers.blogspot.ca/  and see what they have been up to!  Don’t everyone hit they link at once though, we wouldn’t want to bring the system down!

We will start off tonight with a picture of me standing down on the beach last night… we ended up with a bunch of rain falling out of that black cloud behind me, but not until we got back to the RV.  I would not have gotten wet though, as I am modelling a new weather proof jacket that I bought while touring San Francisco the other day!  You need one around here when the weather gets a bit wet!

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This afternoon we headed into Monterey.  Judy wanted to visit a park… a special one!  This Heron was waiting for us when we got to the park… he is majestic!

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Yes, we hit the Dennis the Menace Playground.  It is a bit famous, as Hank Ketchum, who created the character, Dennis the Menace, spearheaded the construction of this park around the Dennis the Menace theme.  I assume he lived in or near Monterey. 

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The park was dedicated back in 1956, and is still in good shape today, as it is being upgraded and maintained.  It is also right on a water way, in Monterey, so we though we might get the kayaks wet!

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It turned out nice and warm, and a bit of sun came out this afternoon, and the water was nice and calm…

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There is a small island near the park that we boated out to, and this egret lived out there… lots of birds live here, great spot!

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Ya, we went under the bridge below…

 

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Judy was the photographer today, and here we are landing to end our trip…

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Lots of fun today, and we headed back to the RV for some work, as we loaded the Burgman on the Jeep, and got a bunch of other duties completed to help us get out of here in the morning… we will now turn east, and keep going until we get back to Ontario! 

Spent some time on the phone this morning with Ma Bell back in Ontario, and will probably get our new iPad added to our existing Smart Phone account, so will be surfing the new

4G Network at blazing fast speeds maybe soon!  Also looked into possible Verizon plans in the States for next winter!    Gotta have your technology!

And we have to welcome “Where’s Weaver” tonight as our latest blog follower… welcome to RVlifeonwheels!

Till tomorrow…

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Ketchup day…

After yesterday’s wild day of touring up in San Francisco… today the agenda was a lot less strenuous for sure!  This morning we took life easy, talking to family and friends on good old skype.  I sure like using skype a lot better now that we can use Apple TV.

Some regular RV maintenance routines also filled the morning time.  This afternoon, we had to go out and about for a few things.  Yesterday, while making some toast for my breakfast, all of a sudden our toaster started fizzling and looked like it was ready to catch fire.  Lucky for us, I was right there, and was quickly able to pull the power cord from the wall.  We didn’t even look at the toaster, just pitched it in the garbage.  So, a new toaster was on our shopping list for today.

First it was off to Midas in the Town of Seaside, who did a complete oil change on our Jeep, along with doing a full shake down of all mechanical items for $34.95.  Good service, just don’t know why it now takes an hour to do an oil change… seemed a bit long, however…  Passed!  Whew…

While waiting for the Jeep, we toured Staples Store, and picked up a fancy new leather holder for our iPad.  Fits great!

On the way home this afternoon, Judy did a bit of internet research, and found one of our favourite Restaurant’s right here in Marina, Ca.  Papa Murphy’s!  This is a great Pizza place, and is only “Take and Bake”.  If you have not been to one, put it on your list!  We picked up a large pizza, loaded, for $12.95.  You have to see how many ingredients they put on it!  Wish they were up in Ontario!  What a business opportunity for someone!  (No, they did not pay me for this plug!)

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After we made it home and unloaded, I felt I needed some exercise, so we headed off to the Pacific Ocean!  Why not!  What a great place to walk… Our access is directly down onto the fully sand beach… check it out below.  It reminds me of the lovely sand beach up on the east shores of Lake Huron, at Sauble Beach, Ont., as we walk the sand beach with our good friends Deb and Gerard!  They have a great cottage that I have blogged about many times there.  Gerard is facing some personal health matters, and seems to be doing very well!  Keep it up Gerard!  (I know your reading!)

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One of the biggest differences between the beaches, is that you cannot drive your vehicle on this one, like you can at Sauble Beach.  Sauble does not quite have the breaker though, that hit the beach here!

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That was about it for the day here.  Only a couple days left here, before we hit the road again… can’t let the Dura Max sit around idle for too long!  Big plans made today for future travel, and you will have to hang in there to figure out what they are!

Till tomorrow…

I left my heart… in “San Francisco”…

Talk about a whirl wind tour of San Francisco… wow… what a day.

We hit the road by 8:00 this morning, on a bit of an overcast, cooler type of day.  We decided to take the coastal highway #1 all the way from where we are staying, into San Fran.  It was a great drive…

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What a beautiful coast it is…

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We got into San Francisco around 11:00 after taking our time getting there… it is also a bit of a stress ball driving around there!  We headed right to Fisherman’s Wharf, where we boarded a tour bus that Judy arranged some 1/2 price tickets for on the internet!  Great tour!  2 hours long, took you all over San Fran.

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or we could have taken the Segway tour????

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You wouldn’t come to San Fran without going by the Original Mel’s Drive-in…

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This is the hill that Steve McQueen came barreling down catching air in the movie “Bullet”…

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George Lucas bought these building below form the military, and stores all of the Star Wars Movie stuff in…

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Walt Disney Studios own the buildings below, and have a museum here for Families.

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Probably one of the most popular bridges in the world below…  The Golden Gate Bridge!

 

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Along with the famous Island of Alcatraz!

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Terrific view of the skyline from near the bridge.

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Golden Gate Park below… great spot!

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Botanical Gardens in the park…

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Next on the list, was the famous Haight Ashbury District… where all the Hippies hung out!

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Below is one of the original Hippies… he was yelling something about have some grass for sale, but I didn’t see any sod????

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This home below, is the house that Jimmy Hendricks owned!  Still in great shape…

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That is a mural on the wall of Jimmy…

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Oh dear… don’t know what this is below, but I think she is stuck!

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Yup, some sketchy places here for sure…

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But then you come across some nice Victorian Homes worth a bundle…

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These six homes below, are the most photographed place in the City… one just sold for over 2 million.

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This is the top of City Hall below, and is made of 24 Karat Gold!

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Lots of neat trees in the City…

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There are lots of the famous streetcars in San Francisco!

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We ended up back down at the Wharf area, and I really liked this VW Bus Restaurant!

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We tried to get a tour out to Alcatraz, this view below is from the Wharf area, however it was all sold out!

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The prison closed in 1963 due to lack of money and a decaying facility, but is now a big tourist trap of course!

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Bet you thought we wouldn’t see any Sea Lion’s today, right!  You were wrong!

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I stopped by this place below, and said “hello’ to George!  He is a great guy!  I think he may be in the movies… not sure.

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We didn’t get back to the RV until about 8:00 tonight, both of us whipped tourist’s for sure!  It was a great day, but not near long enough to see it all!  Have to come back!

Till tomorrow…