Tag: Travel

Paso Robles RV Trip

On By The Flying DutchmanIn RV Life, RV Parks, Travel1 Comment

After our trip to Greenfield which involved a day trip to Cambria, I booked another RV trip which would involve going to Cambria again. This time a little closer, in Paso Robles. We stayed at the Paso Robles RV Ranch about 3 miles north of the city on Highway 101. Even though we were right above the highway there really wasn’t much road noise and was a quiet park. We probably won’t return though for two reasons; 1. The spaces were very tight, and 2. a nearby house likes to play ranchero music late at night, loudly, on the weekends. No bueno.

Sensorio

We drove down to Paso Robles on Thursday and after setting up we drove into town and had dinner at Catch Seafood Bar and Grill. The food was very good though portions were a little small and a lot pricey. Afterwards we headed over to Sensorio. This was a place I had heard of several years ago but it has since grown. It is basically an art exhibit involving lights, shapes, and shadows. You can also get quick bites to eat and of course wine and beer there. It’s a little on the pricey side but well worth it in my opinion.

Cambria 2.0

The next day we drove out to Cambria again. The first order of business is always coffee. Last time we stopped at Lily’s. This time we went farther down the street towards the ocean and stopped at Cambria Coffee Roasting Company. Literally two holes in the wall, one to buy coffee, the other to sit down and drink it. There’s also outdoor seating. The heat wave the coast was experiencing of 70 degree temperatures made sitting outdoors very comfortable. The coffee was delicious! Sorry Lily’s, CCC’s coffee was just better. Afterwards Cristy browsed the shops some more.

We headed back to the east side of downtown and here is where one of the odd things about Cambria happens. There can be a 10 degree temperature difference between the east side of town, and the west side. At any rate we had lunch at Linn’s Restaurant. Food was good but the service was so-so this time. The waiter obviously didn’t want to be there. Cordial but mostly absent. We ran into the owner again who is always friendly. He let us know there was more than just the restaurant; they owned a few shops up the alley. He gave us a coupon for 10% off the other shops. There was another little deli with the same food as Linn’s and then a couple of boutique shops that sold their food items and other things. Neat place.

Afterwards we headed back down to the shore and parked overlooking the beach and the ocean. There wasn’t a hint of fog and the ocean was beautiful. We stayed there a few hours and took a few walks before heading back to the trailer. On our way back we noticed that you could see Morro Rock from Highway 46 as we were heading up the pass. It was too late for me to pull over but we promised ourselves to note the pullouts and get a good photo the next day.

Cambria 2.1

The next day we went back to Cambria. We were disappointed that when we got to the spots where we could see Morro Rock the previous afternoon, the fog had covered Morro Bay so no views. We headed back into town and got coffee at Cambria Coffee Company again. After coffee Cristy checked out a few of the shops that weren’t open the day before. Then we stopped in at Artifacts Gallery and probably spent about an hour there just looking at all the art on display. The staff there were really eager to talk about the artists and air pieces there. Everything was for sale of course but they didn’t put any pressure on us to buy anything. They mostly just enjoyed talking about the art.

Harmony

We wanted to get lunch in Morro Bay because they tend to have more and better seafood than surrounding communities so we headed down Highway 1 to get there. Just outside of Cambria is the small town of Harmony, Pop. 18. They have a glassblower, a coffee shop, a pottery shop, and an ice cream truck. We didn’t buy anything but it was fun to look around. Also, though it is on the coast the sea breezes are blocked by a low range of hills and the temperature was easily 20 degrees higher than at the shore.

Cayucos

We continued down Hwy 1 until we came to Cayucos. We had never been here before so we stopped to take a look around. It kind of reminded us of Santa Cruz. Lots of shops along the beach. Cristy bought some skin care stuff at Mical Skincare and we walked out on the pier. It wasn’t quite lunch time so we moved on.

Morro Bay

We jumped back on Hwy 1 and headed down to Morro Bay. After battling the usual traffic and parking issues you find in any coastal town we settled on lunch a Tognazzini’s Dockside. The food was VERY good and filling. Wait staff was very pleasant and helpful. Our waitress was Jenna who was taking a break from college prior to starting her masters in mathematics! We prayed for her and then had a delicious lunch. We spent a few more hours walking along the docks watching the seals lounge in the sun. Several of them were blocking access to a fishing boat. We were talking about how difficult it must be for the crew to use that boat. Our questions on difficulty were answered pretty quickly when one of the crewmen started walking down the dock toward the boat we were looking at. He stomped his foot and started yelling at the seals to “Get out of hear, go on, git!” The seals were off the dock in half a second and he got onto his boat.

The Photo Op

Even though it would be quicker to take Hwy 47 back to 101 and go north from there, we elected to drive back up Highway 1 to 46 and see if we could get that photo of Morrow Rock from the vantage point we had seen the previous day. It wasn’t far at all and about 30 minutes later we were parked on a large pullout on the side of the road with several other people taking pictures of the now plainly visible Morro Rock. No fog in sight.

We headed back to the RV park for our last night away and enjoyed a few TV shows on the iPad before finding out that a nearby house liked to play loud music on the weekends. It only lasted long enough to wake us up. After that it was quiet and we ended our day. Sunday morning we packed up and drove home. But only after discovering the right turn signal on the trailer had stopped working. I’ll have to get that nailed down before the next trip; The Lost Coast.

10th Annual Red Hills Fly-in

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Boondocking, Lance, RV Life2 Comments

Ten years ago my friend Joey Myers and I were sitting in the living room of our dear friends Jack and Myrna Moyle. They have a 110 acre ranch near Jamestown in the Red Hills Area of Environmental Concern which is managed by the BLM. Joey and I had flown in to say hello. After a bit I mentioned that his ranch would be a beautiful place to host a fly-in and campout. Without hesitation Jack said, “Well you should put something like that together.” So I did.

But before I tell that story, I need to tell the story of this ranch. Jack and his wife Myrna bouth the ranch over 50 years ago. There was one small shack on the property, no trees, no electricity, no utilities of any kind. Jack and Myrna were raising their family of 7 in a one room shack. When they weren’t working Jack and Myrna disassembled some chicken houses on another property they had purchased. Myrna pulled the nails out of the wood and straightened them while Jack was hammering those same nails back into those same boards to expand their small home. They added on three more rooms, a barn, some other makeshift outbuildings and planted a bunch of trees to keep their house cool in the summer. No utilities remember?

One day a mutual friend named Jim Hembree landed on a dirt road that ran through Jack’s property to stop for a visit. Jack was enthralled and wanted to learn to fly too. He firgured that dirt road would make a great runway to fly from. Being a heavy equipment operator by trade he expanded that dirt road and graded it and then had a runway! He bought a Piper Cub up at Columbia Airport and began getting flight training in it. He had the instructor fly him down to his runway on his ranch and teach him how to land there. After that Jack completed his pilot training by taking off from his runway, flying up to Columbia, taking his lessons, then flying back home to his runway.

Fast forward a few years and a few months and we had our first annual Red Hills Fly-in on Memorial Day weekend. This past weekend was our 10th annual and likely last fly-in. So much could be written about it but I like pictures so I will let the pictures tell the story.

We got to spend two wonderfully peaceful nights in the company of friends in a beautiful setting. You can’t ask for more.

California Super Bloom

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

For years ever since I started dreaming of taking off on a non-stop RV adventure one of my bucket-list items was the California Super Boom. It only happens in the high desert in heavy rainfall years and this was on of those years. So I decided, why wait? 2 years from now is not guaranteed so we went this weekend!

We drove down I-5 and stopped off for lunch at Harris Ranch. We ate the sandwiches that Cristy had made that morning but once we smelled the meat cooking in the sandwich shop we decided to eat lunch there on the way home. After topping off the truck’s tank in Bakersfield we continued on up the Grapevine until we hit highway 138 and took it over to Lancaster. I hadn’t yet decided where to go see the super bloom but the last long stretch of Hwy 138 into Lancaster made up my mind for me. The wildflower just went on and on.

We finally made it to The Californian RV resort and checked in. I asked the lady at the front desk where was the best place to see Wildflowers. She said it was out on Hwy 138. Right where we spotted them on the way in. It’s just over the hill from the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve but she said the preserve was usually very crowded and parking is difficult. Hwy 138 was a much better option. She turned out to be right.

After a nice long sleep in the first day we headed back out to Hwy 138 and, well, I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

There are a lot of places you can go see the flowers but it turns out this little stretch of Hwy 138 was pretty good. The lady at the front desk was right, there was no problem finding a place to park and we were the only ones out there. It was perfect.

See you next time.

So long 2023

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Faith, Opinion2 Comments

If you’ll notice, I update this block far less often than I used to. It’s not intentional it’s just that other things seem to get in the way. But we’ve had several notable changes this past year so I thought a brief recap is in order.

New church

Perhaps the most important change this year is we finally found a church we like and have formally become members. We have been attending Big Valley Grace Community Church for the past 7 years or so. And in all that time we never really felt like we belonged. We started going because it had a great program for Scott called Mustard Seeds. Also, Angela had started performing with their praise team. But the church is too big and as such had some problems with their staff due to lack of oversight. We did join some small groups but still never felt connected. The size, staffing changes, and lack of connection is what prompted us to seek out and find Almond Valley Christian Reformed Church. They are descended from the Dutch Reformed Church. It reminds us both very much of the churches we grew up in and everyone was so welcoming. After attending for 7 months or so we took a membership class and was accepted into their membership.

Uncertainty at work

It’s actually been a little more than a year since our new Chief Information Officer started as head of the department I am in at the hospital. Due to some management style differences my immediate supervisor has left to work elsewhere. This has cause a lot of stress in my life as she was my backup at work. That being said she caused a lot of stress at work herself so her departure is a mixed blessing.

More camping

We actually got to do more camping this year as opposed to last year when we did get to go camping at all. Places we went included:

  • Red Hills Fly-In
  • Ham Radio Field Day at Barret Cove at Lake McClure
  • Lance owners rally at Shingletown/Mt Lassen
  • Camping by our secret lake (LDS)
  • Jackson Rancheria (twice)

And while it didn’t count as camping we took a two-night trip to San Luis Obispo and stayed at Le Petit Soleil near downtown.

More flying

I entered into a agreement with a friend from the airport that allows me to fly his plane and pay him $30/hour dry (meaning I buy my own fuel). This has been wonderful as he is a devout Christian and we regularly pray for each other. It the same make and model as the very first airplane I ever owned; an Aeronca 7AC Champion.

49ers Game

We were able to score some seats in a private box at Levi Stadium for a 49er’s game. It was a fun family outing. Especially since the 49er’s won (naturally)

New Truck

As a result of our drive up to the Shingletown KOA from a camping trip this past September Cristy realized that we really needed a more powerful truck. The ladies at the rally also helped convince her. So in December we bought our 2023 Ram 3500 short bed truck with a Cummins High Output Turbo Diesel motor. We have used it to tow our travel trailer and love how it performs. We bought the truck with an eye to the future and a larger, heavier 5th wheel a few years down the road.

2024 will be a year of change for us; change in the job, change in the political climate. It will also be a year of preparation. I am down to the last 2 full years of work and while we have been preparing for my retirement for many years, those preparations must continue. Events at work and monetary and political events in our country are going to come to a head this year. We’re buckled up and belted in. We have made the best preparations possible. We have put our full faith and trust in Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father who, by the power of His Holy Spirit will guide and protect us throughout the coming year.