Tag: beach

Birthday Trip to Paso Robles

On By The Flying DutchmanIn HAM, RV Life, TravelLeave a comment

Since I had a conflicting event on Cristy’s birthday we decided to celebrate a few days early by taking trip to Paso Robles and more importantly, Cambria. Cambria is Cristy’s favorite town in the world and would live there if she could. If she did live there, I’d visit her as often as I could. I can’t stand fog. At any rate we hitched up our Lance travel trailer on Sunday morning and headed out.

We left around 9:30 am which put us in Coalinga around 11:30 am, my lunch time for the past 40 years when I was working. We pulled into Harris Ranch and parked in their large gravel lot just adjacent to the Harris Ranch Airport. We took about a 45 minute break to make a sandwich and just relax for a bit. After eating and stretching we got back on the road. With the wind at our backs we got good gas mileage and it was only an hour and fifteen minute drive to Sun Outdoors Central Coast Wine Country Resort. Such an easy to remember name. There were three other RV’s checking in when we got there but it was a short wait and soon we were backing into our site. We spent the rest of the afternoon just relaxing. Ah, retirement life. For dinner we headed into Paso Robles and got some great food at Mediterranean Spice. I got a personal pizza and Cristy got a beef shawarma platter. It was VERY good.

The next day we made a bee line to Cambria and, more specifically, Cambria Coffee Company. This little hole-in-the-wall coffee shop serves the best coffee in Cambria. They are located in the West Village closer to the shoreline than much of the rest of town. There are lots of boutique shops lining the streets in the West Village and is Cristy’s happy place. After coffee I left Cristy to explore all the shops while I headed down to Moonstone Beach, a part of Hearst / San Simeon State Park. I wanted to do a Parks On The Air activation of the State Park. I also wanted to try out a couple of different antennas that a friend had loaned me. After spending a couple of hours making FT8 contacts on the beach Cristy texted that she was done. I cleaned up all my radio equipment and drove over and picked her up.

We had lunch at the West End Bar and Grill. It was nothing to write home about but it did the job. We headed back down to Moonstone Beach where I had done my POTA activation and took some time walking on the beach. Cristy really enjoyed hunting through the tiny moonstones on the beach.

On Tuesday we headed BACK to Cambria, have I said yet that this is Cristy’s favorite place in the world? We got coffee at Cambria Coffee Rosasters again and then made a quick dash to Cambria downtown to Linn’s Easy As Pie Cafe. Linn’s is probably the best restaurant in Cambria. We met the owner last time we were there and he is a very personable guy who loves his customers and his restaurant. The Easy As Pie Cafe is a place to grab quick bites to eat as well as slices of their wonderful pies. We just stopped in to grab a jar of Olallieberry Jam.

Afterwards it was on to the main thrust of the day. Cristy let me have one day to do some more POTA activations. We stopped at three places where I was able to activate:

  • US-1157 Harmony Headlands State Park
  • US-3418 Cayucos State Beach
  • US-3480 Morro Strand State Beach














After the first two POTA stops we drove down to Morro Bay to have a late lunch at Tognazzini’s Dockside Restaurant and then on to Morro Strand for the final activation. Cristy enjoyed a walk on the beach while I did my nerdy ham radio stuff. On this beach we discover tons of a jellyfish-like creature called a “By-the-wind-sailor” or Vallela vallela.

Wednesday belonged to Cristy. We slept in and I made scrambled eggs for Cristy’s breakfast. She wanted us to drive down to San Luis Obispo so she could spend some time doing indoor hunting (shopping). We stopped off for coffee at Scout Coffee Company, arguably the BEST coffee we’ve ever had. So good we bought Angela a bag of their Ethiopian blend. After coffee Cristy perused the stores while I read the news on my phone. We had lunch at a “nothing to write home about” Mexican place there in SLO. It was very “fast-foody” and the fish tacos were only okay. After lunch Cristy had pretty much seen everything she wanted to see so we decided to head back to Cuyucos since we really liked the laid back beach there. It must have been what Avila Beach was like about 30 years ago. We had dinner at Duckie’s Chowder House in Cayucos. At least it was better than the place in SLO. But being before the season really opens, they just didn’t seem to have their hearts in it. We wanted to watch the sunset on the beach, however, the fog started rolling in. I could see it was coming from the south so we drove north back towards Cambria. We had to drive up to San Simeon which is only a few miles north of Cambria before we finally beat the fog. We found a beach access road just next to some hotels and pulled in to watch the sunset.

Overall we really enjoyed our trip to Paso Robles and the coast. However, one thing I should mention. Calfiornia had just had several days of high winds. When we got to Paso Robles our allergies started kicking in from all the grass pollen that was being blown off the hills into town. We couldn’t wait to get to Cambria and SLO to get away from the pollen but our allergies were just as bad on the coast! The ONLY place we got relief from our allergies was when we were standing on the beach. Not near the beach, not in the parking lot, ON the beach. That all being said we loved it there and it was a great way to celebrate Cristy’s birthday!

Anniversary Trip 2025 – Humboldt Redwoods

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Boondocking, Campgrounds, HAM, Harvest Hosts, Lance, RV Life, TravelLeave a comment

Hard to believe that it’s been 38 years since my wife and I eloped; and took my family with us. This year we decided to take a trip up to Humboldt Redwoods Avenue of the Giants for the week. We packed up the trailer and went to church and afterwards headed off to our first stop.

Incidentally, if you look closely you see a white strip above the black bumper of the trailer. Just under the ladder you see a small black dash in the white strip. That black dash is my travel mug for my coffee. There’s no telling how long the mug rode along on the back bumper of the trailer. All I know is that it was never seen again.

Nelson Family Vineyards

Since it was a long drive we decided to break it up into two days. We drove up to Nelson Family Vineyards, a member of the Harvest Hosts program, to stay our first night. It was absolutely gorgeous and peaceful. It was cloudy when we arrived but the clouds cleared off that night and the stars were unbelievable. We enjoyed the walk along the vineyards and the old-school playground they had there for the kids. Probably installed back in the1960’s. Very quiet stay; the only noises we heard were coyotes.

Ancient Redwoods RV Resort

The next day we made the short 2 and 1/2 hour drive up to Ancient Redwoods RV Resort. Per our reservation it told us to drive directly to our site, no check in needed. We did and found our receipt and reservation information on the power pedestal. We were parked up near the front in a pull-thru space. There was no RVs next to us the entire time. There were some 5th wheels and Class A’s clustered together toward the back of the park but we had plenty of privacy and a great view. The pictures below were taken at the entrance to the RV park.

The Redwoods

We spent two days exploring the redwood groves. Not two consecutive days; we tried to break it up between beach days, shopping, and forrest. Here are some of the pictures we took.

Our first redwood day was spent walking on the Founder’s Grove trail. Just a short two-mile round trip walk in the woods.

On another day we visited the Garden Club of America Grove which was technically closed but only to automobile traffic. We walked in and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the end of the season.

We also drove down onto a gravel bar on the Eel River. We spent some time enjoying the peace and quiet of the river.

Victorian Architecture

We also spent some time exploring some of the wonderful Victorian-era architecture of the area. There were two great examples in Eureka and and then the entire town of Ferndale. They just don’t build them like that anymore.

Eureka

Ferndale

Coastal Drive

We also spent a couple of half-days at the local beaches. Just walking and breathing in the clean air. We pretty much had these beaches all to ourselves. The first was Samoa Beach, the second was Clam Beach. I don’t have pictures of the sandy beaches we walked on because they were pretty featureless very long strands of beach. I did get photos of the coastal cliffs and rocks we explored, and those are below. They were taken just south of Trinidad, Ca.

Shopping and Dining

Of course what trip would be complete without shopping and eating out, including coffee-getting. I’ll be honest, we were hoping to get some good seafood being that Eureka is a coastal town. However, the reality is that most fishing off the north coast has been shut down. Most of the seafood is deep-fried, sadly. However, one gem we did find is Vista Del Mar. It’s half-bar, half-cafe that served some killer grilled fish tacos. The other restaurants were so-so. Cristy did do some shopping in their downtown and picked up some oysters at another bar. While she was off doing this I was playing ham radio while parked on a waterfront street. I contacted the USS Iowa in Los Angeles and some guy doing Parks On The Air near Boise, ID. Not bad for a battery powered mobile high-frequency rig.

Coffee

Although it never used to be, coffee has become a passion of mine. I hated coffee growing up but within the last 5 years or so I’ve experienced a sort of coffee renaissance. A few mornings I made my own coffee using some some coffee I pre-ground before the trip. My favorite coffee is purchased from Revive Coffee in Sonora, Ca. Their Confluence Espresso blend is my absolute all-time favorite so far for just straight-up coffee. On one of our coastal excursions we decided to try a local place. The highest rated in Eureka was Witness Coffee Roasters. We ordered caramel lattes, with Cristy getting her customary decaf. We were a little disappointed in how weak the coffee was. Looking to console ourselves we drove to Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate and got THE best coffee of the entire trip. It was rated lower that Witness but was much more flavorful. I ordered ANOTHER caramel latte and it was really good, but the magic happened when we poured the drinking chocolate Cristy ordered into my latte. We mixed to two and Cristy’s brain just lit up! Second best coffee of the trip was at Mind’s Eye Manufactory & Coffee Lounge in Ferndale.

And since all good things must come to an end our trip came to an end on Saturday when we drove back down to Nelson Family Vineyards to stay one more night before driving back home. It was just as peaceful as the first time we stayed there. These trips always feel too short when we’re on them and have to come back. Our consolation this year was that I wouldn’t have to rush home so I could get back to work next year! Looking forward to it!

2024 Camping Season – Part 3

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Campgrounds, Ram Truck, RV Life, RV Parks, Travel1 Comment

September 2024 – Paso Robles RV Ranch
The RV park itself was nothing to write home about. They were friendly enough and the park was okay. But what really set this trip apart was our trip to Sensoria. And more visits to Cambria, Cristy’s new favorite coastal town.

Sensorio:

Cambria:
We had to go back to Cristy’s favorite coastal town for more coffee, seafood, views, and a road trip to Morro Bay.

October 2024 –

Day Trip to Lake Alpine:
Sometimes we just have to get away for a day if not for a weekend. This trip up to Lake Alpine helped us get some (thin) air.

Westport Beach RV Park and Campground:
For our anniversary we headed back to the coast. This time up to the Lost Coast at Westport Beach, CA. We found Red

Bear tracks!

37th Anniversary Trip to Westport Beach

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Campgrounds, RV Life, RV Parks, Travel2 Comments

My wife and I recently celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary by travelling to Westport Beach on California’s Lost Coast in Mendocino County. It’s about 17 miles north of Fort Bragg, California on Highway 1. We were up there for about a week and thoroughly enjoyed the area and the beautiful Fall weather. For those interested in visiting the Lost Coast Fall is typically when they have the best weather; winds are calm, the temperature is warm, and the fog lays off the coast. This trip did not disappoint. We had one foggy day, but the fog cleared off by noon. We had one day were it rained very early in the morning. The other five days we had beautiful weather. Rather than detail every day and what we did I’ll just give you a synopsis and photos of places visited.

Beaches and coastline

Our campsite at Westport Beach RV Park was about a 2 minute walk to the beach. We spent quite a bit of time on that beach, especially at sunset.

Westport Beach

Point Cabrillo Light Station

Seaside Creek Beach / Ten Mile Beach
Easily our favorite beach. Although the beach is only about 4 miles long. It’s named for the Ten Mile Creek which empties into the ocean here.

Mendocino Headlands State Park

Coffee

We can’t have a vacation without coffee! We only found two good coffee shops and one bad one while we were there. I’m sure there were more good coffee shops but these were the only two we could find. Sips: Organic Coffee and More in Miranda was by far the best followed closely by The Waiting Room adjacent to Cafe Borjolais in Mendocino. The bad one was Headlands Coffee in Fort Bragg. Maybe we just caught them on a bad day but the coffee was barely drinkable.

The Comet

Since it only comes around once every 800,000 years (or so they say) I had to try to go out and find it. Visible just after sunset and just to the right and above Venus. Never saw a thing. So on a whim, I took some pictures of the night sky about 45 minutes to an hour after sunset hoping my phone would capture it. It did.

Avenue of the Giants

The RV Park

This was the quietest, most picturesque RV park we’ve been to in a while. They bill themselves as a resort but there really aren’t many amenities aside from the beach that they front. There is a playground for the kids and a horseshoe pit but those hardly qualify as resort amenities. The beach was lovely aside from the breathtaking amount of sand fleas, some of them almost roach-sized. By far the most colorful character at the park was the one we never saw. We felt our trailer lurch violently on our first night. I thought maybe we had slipped off our leveling blocks. In talking to the lady next door they asked if we had seen the bear yet. I replied that we hadn’t. She told me that the bear was pushing on their motor home one night and almost shook them out of bed. That explained our trailer shake. Luckily he only pushed one time and left no marks on the trailer.

To wrap this trip up it was just amazing. We’ve been to the Lost Coast before but it’s been close to ten years. We definitely want to go back, probably again in the Fall. This time, we’ll spend even more time there, and probably a little closer to Mendocino this time.