Friday, February 12, 2016

Reality of Los Angeles Traffic as We Head East!

Just realized we were leaving Santa Barbara and heading to Rancho Mirage on a Friday afternoon before a three day weekend... dumb, dumb, dumb! 
Traffic was awful... probably took us almost two hours longer to get to our destination.  The nice thing is... Our destination is beautiful and relaxing at friends Brent and Nan.  And now, for some down time!  The view from their home on the course is beautiful!  Very nice after what we'd been looking at for the hours before!


 ahhhhhh, peaceful...quiet....comfy....take a breath!


Thursday, February 11, 2016

Winding Road, Views, Cows and Elephant Seals!!!

Started out as a lazy day, coffee, fruit and a muffin before we really woke up.  Check out was at noon and we took advantage of that.  We went for a geocache hunt with a little walk.  Darn, it was a difficulty 4 (5 being the highest) and we were stumped!!!  Had to log it as a DNF... phooey!  Oh well, onward and upward... Got the car packed and off we went.
Driving SR1 down the California coast is so beautiful.  


Even the cows have gorgeous views as they graze, they are California Cows after all (they probably had sunglasses on, but were too far for us to check that out!).

Lunch was super nice... albeit a bit pricey, but in that out of the way location and view, not a surprise.  Truly one of the best views while eating!

Continued on down, a few traffic delays due to construction/rock slides but easy to take when it's all so pretty.  Mostly clear, but it times, we were above a low sea cloud layer. 
Then, we saw a sign about Elephant Seals and a Vista coming up...huh?  What's that mean?  Should we stop?  We don't know... oh well, let's stop.... SO GLAD WE DID... hundreds of seals... this is their time for birthing, mating and all the noise the males make as they show who's king of the hill.  We were so glad we stopped!






Finally left the steep hillsides and trees and the area became more rolling and eventually back to the shore on our way to Santa Barbara!  Time to turn this car off and get some rest!

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

On to Monterey Bay... to a Room with a View after Many Gorgeous Views along the Coast!

So, we stopped at this quaint little place in Willits.  And why Willits, well there was a cool restaurant we'd eaten at the year before and wanted to have brekky there again, Ardella's..  Yummy place... and, the next morning, we set out for that yummy food and were greeted with the sign "We'll be open soon"... SHOOT!  We were highly disappointed... Ate instead a another nice little place and rewarded ourselves with a geocache in the neighborhood... was a very clever hide...but we found it!
  Left Willets and we meandered through towns and a couple bigger cities off 101.  Jerry was absolutely tickled cuz he reached an all time high for miles per gallon in the Passat... over 57!  Woot Woot!!! And then, of course we reached the famous landmark: The Golden Gate Bridge!




Decided to splurge and got a nice room in Monterey Bay with a view.  So peaceful to hear the waves softy landing on the shore and in the distance, also softly if you can believe that, the sea lions were talking... since they were way down on the wharf, it was not obnoxious in our area.  
We decided to go to Ash Wednesday Services here... found a church that said it was 7 minutes away.  Score, we could go for a walk and then to church and then a meal... Guess what, I was reading the time in a car not walking... it was a 30 minute walk... and after our leisurely walk in the area, we had to high tail it quickly to church.  Got there and they had speakers set up outside... it was a full house... and there were lots of us outside... was still nice, other than as the sun set, it got a bit chilly.  
Left, had our dinner (unfortunately, we are not finding any places where we did not like the food... so we tend to eat it all!) and headed home for the mile walk... Had a great nights sleep and woke to a beautiful sunrise... and a visitor on our deck.  ahhhhh, this is the life!



 Good Morning Monterey Bay
Our visitor... and no, I was/did not feed him !




Tuesday, February 9, 2016

From the Sea to the Redwoods -

Off we continued on 101, a long, curvy adventure, sometimes next to the ocean and other times winding our way through the coastal hills.  Jerry spied the Bandon Dunes Golf course as we speed by... He turned the car around and we adventured on in.  Beautiful place... links style course, expensive houses and lodges... too rich for our blood.  Nice place, but it really is out in the middle of nowhere... BUT, it is making the owners some good money now!




We continued on... visited a couple potty stops and had a great meal in Brookings, OR. As we were leaving, we noticed this street sign... literally, the street was painted with the sign! 

Decided to take it, and sure enough, we were treated to a great view.


 Their monument to the Port there in Brookings, was very minuscule compared to the surroundings.




We continued on... Four hours to Willits which was gonna be our stop for the evening.  It is so cool to be driving right next to the ocean... and then, through the Redwoods.  The sun setting as we were driving along...

Wow... Our First Road Trip Now That We're 'Retirees'....


Still not sure everything we need is packed... Going on the road anyway.  We have the house sitter in place, Oliver is a happy camper even though he is not with us... and best yet, now that the travel day is over, Jerry got 50 miles per gallon in the Passat as we journeyed here to our first stay, Coos Bay, Oregon.
Our first stop was in Salem Or, where Jerry had set up a lunch with a couple of his former submariners he served with from the USS SEAFOX... they're also known as 'Bubbleheads'.  I had not ever met any of them and found that they were super nice, with friendly wives and full of Submarine Stories... I learned how they earned their 'dolphins'.... hard core back then.  Only frustration is that they won't be at the big reunion in May... phooey!
Bill and Tootie Norfleet, Mike and Cathy Nida

Friday, October 16, 2015

Our place in Lapa Rios.... Beautiful surroundings... we were smack in the middle birds, monkeys and critters!

 To get to our room, we had to hike down 200 + steps... We were exhausted...











 Our Cabin