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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Breckenridge, Colorado

Took a trip to Denver.  We left the mountains in almost perfect weather.  However, when we got down to Denver it was completely overcast and chilly.  When we got back to Summit County, the weather was still great.

 

Monday, May 26, 2008

Breckenridge, Colorado

Went car shopping.  Eliminated the Commander from Jeep, but liked the Grand Cherokee.  Went back to the house.  Access was limited because the tile guys were doing the final finishing work.

 

 

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Breckenridge, Colorado

Brought the motorcycle trailer to Josie and Skip's.  Took a lot of boxes out of their storage area.  Got The Shadow running.  Left it in the garage charging. 

 

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Breckenridge, Colorado

Worked on the storage unit.  Found a few things we needed.  Cloudy this morning , but clear this afternoon.  Having dinner out tonight with June and Stace, then going to a movie.  Saw Narnia,it was terrible.  Don't go!

 

Friday, May 23, 2008

Breckenridge, Colorado

Woke up to snow on the ground and the trees.  Very pretty, but it won't last long.  Went back to house while Katie got a haircut and tried to select colors for several of the rooms.  Still lots of action inside the house. 

 

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Breckenridge, Colorado

 

 

 

 The weather isn't so wonderful today.  Chilly and damp.  No matter...  we have chores to do.  First thing is to get four new tires for the Jeep at Big O.  Got there early and they gave us a truck to use while they worked on the car.  Great customer service.  We went to the new house and there was lots of work going on.  Inside of course.  The walls are all done, most of the tile work is done, and the trimmers were finishing up the final trim work.  The kitchen, bathroom and bar cabinets are in too.  So progress was made.  It's just the roof, landscaping, and driveway that has to be completed after July 1.  Went to dinner at Barry and Fran's.  It was great to catch up with them.  It snowed all the time we were there.  Hmmm... I guess spring is scheduled for some time in July!

 

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Saratoga, Wyoming to Breckenridge, Colorado

 

Left Saratoga about 9:30 am.  The ride from southern Wyoming into northern Colorado is one of the most serene trips we've had.  The road passes through a valley that has the Medicine Bow Mountains to the east and the Sierra Madre Mountains to the west.  The valley is lush green cattle grazing land.  No one is here.  At one time I clocked 12.6 miles between oncoming cars.  There are some little towns along the way, but they are few and far between.  Getting back to Colorado felt great.  Got to Tiger Run RV Resort about 2:00 pm.  Thanks to friends who own sites here we have a wonderful place to stay for the next two weeks.

 

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Rock Springs, WY to Saratoga, WY

   

Arrived in Saratoga about 1:00 pm.  Put the motor home in a site right on the North Platte River.  Had some fun photographing birds, ducks, and squirrels.  Went into town and walked around.  Looked at the town hot springs.  Far too hot.  Maybe 114 degrees.  Looked in some shops and then went back to the RV for the evening.

 

Monday, May 19, 2008

Rock Springs, Wyoming

Went into the Red Desert near the Jim Bridger power plant.  Found a few horses on the road to Superior.  Tried several locations, including the natural corrals, but not much.  Finally, found a few more on the way out.  Linda went to the BLM and found out that the round-up has already occured and that the best place to find the horses is in Cody, Wyoming.

 

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Rock Springs, Wyoming

Went to the Red Desert by the railroad tracks.  Tried the usual locations.  Nothing.  Went up the power lines to the watering hole.  Nothing.  Tried the road to Green River.  Found a pair that did a nice job of performing for us.

 

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Rock Springs, Wyoming

Took the motorcycle out and visited various car dealers in town.

 

Friday, May 16, 2008

Coalville, Utah to Rock Springs, Wyoming

Just a short trip to Rock Springs on I80.  Arrived around noon and spent the rest of the day cleaning the car, motorcycle, and motor home.  Linda did some laundry and went shopping.  The weather is wonderful.  Clear skies, cool temps.

 

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Winnamucca, NV to Coalville, Utah

 

Continued east on I80.  There is nothing for 100s of miles.  Very few cars on the road so the driving is very relaxed.  The miles just melt away.  The desert in north eastern Nevada is very green.  So the scenery consists of vast expanses of green desert floor, all surrounded by many mountains, some high enough to be snow capped.  Once we hit the Utah border everything changed.  We had to pass through about 60 miles of salt flats.  As the name suggests,  it's flat, it's white, and beyond that there's nothing else.  Well...except for the mirages that make you think you're surrounded by water.  This is the old home of Lake Bonneville, a large inland lake that covered this area of the country.  The Great Salt Lake is a remnant of Lake Bonneville.  After the salt flats came The Great Salt Lake and then Salt Lake City.  The Great Salt Lake is immense, just look at a map of Utah.  Salt Lake City is tucked up against the foothills of the snow covered Wasatch Mountains.   A very pretty sight.  After SLC we started to climb again.  Past Park City ond into Coalville.  Finally,  Linda and I are back in the Mountains and the sky is deep, deep blue.  We sure missed seeing that.

 

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Placerville, CA to Winnamucca, NV

   

Headed east on 50 across the Sierra Nevada mountains.  A good climb, but the motor home did great.  Drove by Lake Tahoe, through Carson City, up to Reno, and then onto I80 and into the Nevada desert.  Lots of wind stirring up tons of sand.  Not fun to drive through.  Got to our campground and the winds had died down.  The sand in the air made for a beautiful sunset.

 

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Placerville, CA

 

Spent the day touring wineries in the Amador Valley.  Bought some things at Renwood and then found a great winery, Vino Noceto.  Couldn't get enough.  Bought a bunch.  Great Barbera's and Zinfandel's. 

 

Monday, May 12, 2008

Midpines, CA to Placerville, CA

Relocated further north in California.  Placerville is in the Amador Valley, a great wine producing region.  We want to vist the Renwood Winery.  A few weeks ago we shared a bottle of 1989 Renwood  Port with some friends.  It was fantastic.  So... we want to stock up on some of their new product.  We arrived at the campground early enough to take a quick trip into Placerville.  A cute little town.  Poked around a few galleries and picked up some needed supplies.

 

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Midpines, CA

   

Had a relaxing morning at the motor home.  The drove to Mariposa and got in touch with the kids.  After that went to the ghost town of Hornitos.  It was interesting.  Lots of buildings, some preserved and some in ruins.  At one time Hornitos, which now is home to under a hundred people, had a population of 15,000 and shipped $40,000 a day in mined gold. 

 

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Midpines, CA

Spent most of the day in Mariposa, the town next to Midpines. Poked around art galleries, antique stores, and gift shops.  Made a few calls since we have no cell service in Midpines.

 

Friday, May 9, 2008

Midpines, CA

     

We got up early and spent the whole day in the park.  We caught the morning light and the afternoon light.  Each part of the day brings a different look to the formations and the falls.  And the falls are BIG.  Yosemite Falls is composed of three falls and in combination they are the fifth largest falls in the world.  El Capitan and Half Dome, each granite monoliths, guard each end of the valley. Had an early Mother's Day dinner out.  At at a small place in Mariposa.  Good food and good wine.

 

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Three Rivers, CA to Midpines, CA

   

About 150 miles this morning.  Mostly on Rt 99.  We arrived early enough to take our first trip into Yosemite.  Apparently there was a rockslide two years ago that completely buried the approach road for about 1/2 mile.  The debris is still there.  So temporary bridges were built to take traffic across the Merced River and then back again on the other side of the slide.  Also, flooding inside the park has caused serious road erosion that required a complete redo of one section of road.  So... between these two construction sites it takes about 1 1/2 hours to get into the valley from our campground.  We needed a little gas on the way in.  Paid $4.81 per gallon for regular.  WOW!  But, given all the challenges, the park is worth the trouble.  It's spectacular.  Photos can't do it justice, only being there can.

 

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Three Rivers, CA

I went out in the morning to get on the Internet and get a haircut.  My hair is growing about twice as fast as it usually does.  Sat in the parking lot next to the paper.  The only barber in town was closed.

 

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Three Rivers, CA

We poked around Three Rivers.  It's a really small town.  Spoke to the editor of the local paper.  He said Disney wanted to come in and build a ski resort.  They voted it down because they wanted to keep the place quiet and unspoiled.  He told us about a ride to take out of town.  We took it.  The road followed the Kaweah River but it was not as spectacular as we hoped.  We did find the Kaweah Post office which claims to be the longest continually running Post Office in the US.  Linda spent some time talking to the Post Mistress and I got in a conversation with one of the locals.  He told me that Kaweah started out as a cooperative community in the 1800s.  It lasted a few years and then failed.  Got on the Internet in the lobby of the local paper.  We rode out to Kaweah Lake where we got two bars on the cell phones.  Made a few calls for the birthdays tomorrow.  We had dinner and then had a campfire by the river. 

 

Monday, May 5, 2008

Three Rivers, CA

   

Got up early and went back to the Park.  Just past the Giant Forest Museum is General Sherman, the largest tree in the world.  311 feet tall and 40 feet in diameter.  It's about 1/2 mile walk, downhill, from the parking lot to the tree, which is protected by a rail fence.  It is huge!  The walk back was a little more difficult.  We continued through the Park and exited just past another Giant Sequoia grove called the Lost Grove.  We drove for several miles through the Sequoia National Forest and then entered King Canyon National Park.  Even though theses two parks are connected they are entirely different.  Sequoia contains groves of Giant Sequoia, cedars and pines, while King's Canyon has sweeping vistas of mountain ranges.  We drove into the park for a while and then decided to turn around due to high winds.  We were on a narrow road cut into the side of a mountain and lots of rocks were falling.  One was the size of a basketball.  Didn't want one of these to hit the car.  We stopped a Hume lake which is a quiet mountain lake located three miles off the main road.  Lots of pines growing right up to the water's edge.  Then we stopped at the General Grant tree, which is the third largest tree in the world.  Once again, huge.  We couldn't figure out where the second largest is.  Several hours later we were back at the campground. 

 

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Morro Bay, CA to Three Rivers, CA

 

Left Morro Bay this morning and headed inland to Three Rivers, a town located about six miles from the Ash Mountain entrance to Sequoia National Park.  Once we go through the Coastal Range, which was mostly marine mist, we broke out into the sunshine and the temperature started to go up.  We arrived at the campground early enough to take a quick trip into the park.  We drove about one hour in through lots of twisty turns and climbed up to 6000 feet where we came to the Giant Forest, a forest filled with giant Sequoia trees.  Up to 300 feet tall and up to 40 feet in diameter.  The we drove out to Moro Rock where we climbed 400 steps up to the top.  From this point you can see for miles in all direction.  The campground where we are staying is beautiful.  It is located on the Kaweah River and has lots of open space.  Our site is right on the river and has a wonderful view.

 

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Morro Bay, California

   

Today was the first day of the Antique and Classic Car Show.  There must have been over three hundred cars.  Each one more beautiful than the next.  We saw '62 Corvettes, '57 Chevys, 1930 coups... and many, many more.  A number of the exhibitors had photo albums showing what the cars looked like when they acquired them.  Most looked like piles of junk.  However, the final results were things of beauty. The men and woman who do this as a hobby need to be given a lot of credit for their talent.  The rest of the day we spent cleaning up and getting ready for the next leg of our journey.

 

Friday, May 2, 2008

Morro Bay, California

 

We started the day off with a bicycle ride on the beach.  The tide was in so we had to ride higher than other days which made it more difficult because the sand was softer. After breakfast we rode the motorcycle south to Pismo Beach.  Had lunch on the beach at Splash.  Linda had clam chowder.  Not in a sour dough loaf, but just in a plain cup.  I had calamari & chips.  We've eaten at this place before and enjoyed it just as much this time as we did before.  Before getting to Pismo we stopped at Avilia Beach and Shell Beach.  Each is a small town on the coast.  After we got back we went down to the beach and walked a bit. Before going to the beach Linda put our steaks outside in the sun to thaw.  When we got back one of the campground maintenance men told us he put our meat in our grill because the gulls were trying to steal it.

 

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Morro Bay, California

We kind of took the day off.  Went to the beach and did a lot of walking.  Later in the day we went to the market at San Luis Obisbo.  Lots of wonderful fresh vegetables and fruits.  We bought what we needed and then had dinner from several different booths.

 

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Morro Bay, California

 

Drove up the coast again.  Stopped to see the elephant seals and then stopped at Ragged Point.  Very windy.  The flowers we all in bloom and were quite pretty.  Last time we were here there was a low fog.  Today was clear and sunny.  Then went up a little further to a little park on the water where we had lunch.  Highway 1 along the coast is spectacular.  It reminded both of us of Hawaii.  Back to the RV about three in the afternoon.  Took pictures of the sunset.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Morro Bay, California

   

We rode bikes on the beach this morning.  The marine mist was thick keeping us from seeing Morro Rock, or anything else.  It was chilly, but once we got going on the five mile ride we warmed up quickly.  This afternoon Linda got a haircut in Los Osos after we enjoyed a cup of Chai tea in an outdoor cafe.  After the haircut we went to a park called Montana de Oro.  It has a wonderful secluded beach and majestic views of the Pacific Ocean.  Linda and I took pictures and generally relaxed on the beach.  The wind was picking up so we sat in the lee of a rock outcropping.  There were numerous artists painting the scenery on the beach.  It truly is beautiful.

 

Monday, April 28, 2008

Morro Bay, California

      

Took a motorcycle ride up the coast to San Simeon.  The sun was out but the air was cold.  We had intended to go to Ragged Point, but Linda got too cold and we stopped at San Simeon Bay and walked out on the pier.  San Simeon bay is very picturesque.  To the north the pier looks down on a wonderful half moon beach that is very quiet.  In the other direction,, the pier looks down the coast.  Since California has restricted any building along the water, the view is beautiful and unobstructed by high rise hotels and condos.  On the way back we had lunch at The Moonstone Bar and Grill on Moonstone Beach.  We ate on the porch, which overlooked the ocean.  Lunch was great and we'll return once we're hungry again. Linda built afire after she made a shrimp dinner.  We sat there for a while and then I went to the beach to take some pictures of the sunset.

 

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Morro Bay, California

    

Rode the bikes on the beach before breakfast.  Blueberry pancakes for breakfast.  Back to the beach to watch the kite fighting contests.  Fun stuff.  Contestants are challenged to touch the top or bottom of the string of their opponent.  Kites are small and highly maneuverable.  Drove up the the beach where the elephant seal females come in to molt.  Thousands of seals on beach.  Stopped and watched the kite surfers.  Many multi-colored kites with riders speeding across the water.