Friends and Family on the Central Coast

Hi there, glad you're back. Our last episode concluded on Monday, September 2^nd, Labor Day. We traveled a long 47 miles from the Fresno Elks Lodge to the Visalia Elks Lodge. We were parked and set up before 1:00, after which we went out and got one quick geocache to keep up our streak of caching days and then went back to the coach to get out of the heat. For the first time in a couple weeks we have 50 amp power and can run both A/Cs in the coach. Yea, we can finally beat the heat. We spent the rest of the day inside, doing a few chores and enjoying the day.

Tuesday we went out after lunch for our bi-weekly laundry run. We found a laundromat down in the main shopping area of Visalia and got things going. While the clothes were drying we walked over to the Big Lots store in the same strip mall and looked around. Jackie found a storage hutch that was just the right size for where she wanted to put it, so we bought that. It has four drawers so she can store junk out of sight. Nice thing, it was only $35, it looks pretty nice, and it's light, so no big weight penalty like we would get with a wooden unit.

After we finished with laundry we got our one geocache for the day. It was just too hot and humid today to do a lot of caching. It was humid, but there was no rain in the valley where we are. However, you could see the thunderstorms building over the mountains to the east. We also made a stop a Home Depot to pick up a couple of things and then headed back to the coach where it was cool. It took about 20 minutes for me to assemble the new hutch and we had new storage. Yea! After that we just relaxed the rest of the day in the coach.

Wednesday, September 4^th, we left the RV park after lunch to do some geocaching. We were able to capture a half dozen new finds in about 90 minutes or so, along with a DNF. We decided that was enough for a hot afternoon and drove to the nearest Walmart to do some shopping. After Walmart we drove around the area for a little sightseeing. We were driving around the east and south fringes of the city and found a lot of fruit orchards and vineyards. I suspect that these are table and/or raisin grapes down here. We made a few more stops at some stores, Best Buy, Lowes, and Michal’s looking for some specific stuff.

Jackie needs a new screen protector for her phone and I needed some new wood platforms to use as jack blocks for the coach. The leveler jacks on the coach don't have a real big surface, only about a eight inch round metal foot, so I use two by two squares of one inch plywood as platforms to spread the weight out on soft ground or asphalt. The only time I don't put the platforms down is when we are on concrete. The coach only has three jacks, two in the back and one centered in the front behind the wheels. That front jack carries a lot of weight and before I started using these plywood platforms I punched a lot of holes with it.

After our shopping we went back to the coach and relaxed for a bit before going over to the Visalia lodge for a cocktail. The bar was pretty crowded, but nobody was very outgoing. Everyone had conversations going on with other people and even the bartender wasn't very friendly. We had one cocktail and left, went back to the coach for dinner and watched TV the rest of the night.

Thursday, September 5^th, we again went out after lunch to try and find some geocaches. In a couple of hours we again had six new finds, but today we also had three DNFs, the most we have had in one day in quite some time. I am pretty sure at least two of them were actually missing in action, but the third one we may have just missed. Once we had our six we decided that was enough for a hot afternoon and made one more shopping run, this time to Petco. We were trying to find a new litter box for the cats. The one we have we bought when we moved into the coach, back in 2005, so it is getting a little beat up. We haven't been able to find anything we like, but we did find a nice big box at Petco that we think we and the cats can live with. That was the extent of our travels today and we spent the rest of the evening in the coach.

Friday, September 6^th, another travel day. We were packed up and on the road by about 10:30 and were heading west and south to San Luis Obispo and the Elks Lodge there. The trip was about 140 miles and mostly on two lane roads, but even with the traffic it was pretty much an uneventful trip. Although it is still warm, in the mid-80's, we are looking forward to being back in the Central Coast area for a while and enjoying the relative cool compared to what we have had for the last month.

We got into the SLO Elks about 1:00 and found several spots open. As soon as we pulled in a lady came out of one of the other rigs, a big Holiday Rambler coach, and told us that they were having problems with the electric. She went on and on about not even being able to watch TV, much less run the A/C or microwave. I was concerned and checked the power at the post in the spot we intended to use, and it was 114 volts. Not super, but certainly adequate. We went ahead and parked and hooked up, but before we put the slides out or anything else, I connected to the power and turned on the air to check the voltage. When the air came on the voltage dropped to 106, which is not good, but not critical either. Regular readers will remember that we were fortunate enough to find a great deal on a voltage boost unit a month or so ago in Nevada City, so I dug that out and hooked it up and everything was fine.

Nonetheless, we called the Santa Maria Elks, which is our next stop, to see if they had any spots available right now. Our original plan was to stay here in SLO for five days, then move to Santa Maria. The SLO Elks only has 30 amp and water, whereas the Santa Maria lodge has 50 amp and full hookups. The lady in Santa Maria said they would have an opening on Sunday, so we changed our reservation from Wednesday to Sunday. Santa Maria is one of the few lodges that let you make advance reservations. So, we will only be here in SLO for two nights, so even if the power is a little iffy, we can make it work.

We continued with our setup, paid for two nights, and got settled in. Once we were set up we went out and got one quick geocache nearby to keep our consecutive days streak going. We are now at 75 days in a row of caching. We then went back to the coach and settled in for the night. We had put dinner in the crockpot before we left Visalia, so we had some great Asian pork ribs for dinner. Yum!

Saturday, September 7^th, we left the coach after lunch to drive to Jackie's Aunt Donna's house in Pismo Beach. On the way we stopped and picked up one geocache, just to keep our streak alive. We arrived at Donna's about 2:00 and spent the afternoon visiting with Donna and her grandson Corey, who lives with her as a caretaker. Donna is 88 years old and is getting a little frail, but she can still take care of herself. Corey is just there to help keep the house clean, keep an eye on her schedule, and drive her around. She still has her license and car, she just got her license renewed, but she chooses not to drive just to be safe.

We had a very nice visit and left to go back to the coach about 6:00. We are going to be here in the Central Coast for a couple weeks, so we set a tentative schedule for some of the things we want to be sure to do with Donna and the rest of the family while we are here. We probably filled two thirds of the days we are here with activities. After our visit we went back to the coach for the rest of the evening.

Sunday was another moving day. Although the power at the SLO Elks has turned out to be OK and we haven't had any problems, it is still just 30 amps and we know from our phone call yesterday that we can into Santa Maria Elks and have 50 amp and sewer too. We didn't get in a hurry and finally had everything packed up by 11:30. It is only 30 miles from SLO to Santa Maria, so Jackie just drove the Jeep and followed behind me. We pulled into Santa Maria a little after noon and were surprised to see that there was a big lawn party going on at the lodge. There were jump houses, a rock climb tower, tents and booths and even a fire truck parked at the edge of the lawn. It turns out that today is the lodge's annual Family Day picnic and party. They looked like they had a couple of hundred people participating.

The Santa Maria Lodge has two RV parking areas, the original parking, which is behind the lodge to the north, has only water and electric. There are about ten of those sites. They also have the newer full hookup sites to the south of the lodge building, closer to the front parking lot. That is where we wanted to park since we plan on being here for a while. There are a dozen of those spots and when I first pulled into the lot it appeared to me that they were still all occupied. I had to drive around the back of the lodge to access the RV parking, so I left the coach there in the back, near the old sites, and walked over to the newer ones. I then saw that Jackie had located one open site and she was motioning me to come on back. I went back to the coach and drove around the building into the RV lot. When I got there she told me that several other coaches were just ready to pull out, so we waited a couple minutes and then parked in one of the empty slots.

We decided that the lawn party, which was going on in the open area right behind our coach, was a little too loud. They had music playing and an announcer that was very loud, so we decided to get the basic setup done, utilities, leveling, that sort of thing, and then leave to go get some lunch and do a cache or two to get away from the noise. We would do the internal setup later. By 1:00 we were in the car and off to find lunch.

We drove to the mall, which is only a couple miles from the lodge, and found a Red Robin restaurant where we stopped for lunch. The food and service were pretty good, but the restaurant was in a mall space that was very industrial, a high open ceiling and all hard surfaces, so it was very noisy, much more so than I would expect in even a casual place like Red Robin. They need something to attenuate the noise and I am going to mention that in my Yelp review.

After lunch we walked around in the mall for a little while, then went out and found one geocache to keep our streak going, now at over 75 days. We then went back to the coach. The party was still going on, but it was winding down as we heard them starting to give away the prizes and such. Within an hour most everyone was gone and they were cleaning up and it was quiet again. We spent an hour or so finishing our setup, putting stuff inside the coach where it belongs. Once we were done with that we settled in and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Monday, September 9^th, Jackie left just before lunch to go meet her Aunt Donna for pedicures and lunch. I stayed home and worked on some chores that I have been putting off, mostly because of the heat, and because I am just lazy. I did manage to get about half of my to-do list cleaned up before Jackie got home about 3:00. After she got home we went out because I had to make a quick run to Home Depot for some parts. No to-do list can be completed without at least one trip to the hardware store. While we were out we also picked up one geocache, just to keep our streak going. We got back to the coach and I worked for another hour or so, finishing up a couple of big repair jobs, then I cleaned up the mess and we relaxed with the TV the rest of the evening.

Tuesday, September 10^th, we left the coach about 9:45, that's a.m., and started north for a visit to the Hearst Castle. I have known of the Hearst Castle since I was in high school, and was familiar with some of the history, I have never been there. I told

Jackie that since we were going to be in the area for two weeks this trip, I wanted to set aside one day to visit the Castle. She had been there once, dozens of years ago, and thought that was a good idea.

We stopped on the way and picked up Corey, Donna's grandson, in Pismo Beach. The original plan was for Donna to go also, but she backed out, deciding that it would be a bit too strenuous for her. Corey had also been there many years ago and was looking forward to going back. It was 73 miles from Santa Maria to San Simeon, where the Castle is located, but it was an easy trip with nice scenery and only took about 90 minutes. Since we arrived before noon we decided to make a quick visit to the nearby elephant seal rookery at Piedras Blancas, just a few miles north of San Simeon. Elephant seals are one of the largest of the members of the seal branch of marine mammals, and the beaches near Piedras Blancas bay are one of a dozen or so established rookeries, places where the seals return to have pups. During certain times of the year the beaches are covered with seals to the extent that you cannot see the sand. There were only a couple hundred on the beach today, but they were still fun to watch, especially when the larger ones are coming out of the water, humping along the beach. The elephant seal was nearly hunted to extinction for their oil in the 1800's, but once hunting stopped the population started to come back. Now the animal is not even on the endangered list, although it is still protected under the Marine Mammal act in the U.S. They estimate there are more than 125 thousand northern elephant seals living along the Pacific coast of North America.

After visiting the seals we went back to San Simeon and stopped at a local restaurant for lunch. We stopped at the San Simeon Beach Bar and Grill, which had pretty good food. It looked a little beachy and funky on the outside, but was very nice inside. I had a grilled snapper sandwich that was excellent and Corey and Jackie both enjoyed their burgers. It was a little on the pricy side, but it is a tourist area. Once we were done with lunch we drove to the Hearst Castle visitor's center to begin our tour.

William Randolph Hearst was born in 1863 and was the only son of self made millionaire George Hearst. George made his fortune in mining, but he spent much of his money buying land, including a ranch along the Pacific Ocean south of San Francisco comprising more than 500 square miles. William spent much of his youth camping, working and exploring on this land and grew to love it. The younger Hearst earned his fortune and became famous in the newspaper publishing business and by the early 1900's was one of the richest and most influential people in the United States. Although he had many homes around the country, including San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles, he wanted to build something spectacular and he chose the hilltop overlooking the ocean where he spent so much time as a child.

Construction of Hearst Castle began in 1919. It was overseen by Julia Morgan, one of the first and only female architect and civil engineer of her time. Although the house was mostly complete and in use by the family within a few years, it was always under renovation and expansion and was never actually completed. Work finally stopped in 1947 when Hearst became ill and stopped coming to the estate. Hearst died in 1951. The castle has over 90,000 square feet of space and featured 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a movie theater, and the world's largest private zoo. There are also three large guest houses on the estate and a private airfield down the hill closer to the ocean.

In the mid-50's the Hearst estate donated the property on the hilltop containing the Castle and it's associated buildings and gardens, along with some 30 miles of the ranch's land along the coast, to the State of California. For the donation the estate got about ten million in tax breaks and some concessions and restrictions with regard to the property. Among the restrictions were that the State can never sell or otherwise dispose of the property, is required to maintain it for public visits and use, and cannot make substantive changes to the property other than for maintenance and safety purposes. This includes not being able to complete the uncompleted service wing of the main house. The California State Parks Department operates and maintains the property with the assistance of the Friends of Hearst Castle private foundation. The Hearst corporation still owns and operates the rest of the huge ranch surrounding the Castle grounds.

The Foundation operates the visitor's center, which is just off of Highway 1 at the base of the hill below the castle. This is where we started our tour. The tickets for the tour were pricey, $25 for each of the three standard tours of the castle. One tour takes you through the main ground floor rooms, another takes you upstairs to the living quarters, and a third takes you through the kitchen and other service areas. There is another tour which takes you through the three smaller guest houses. All of the tours end with you being able to walk about the grounds and look at the outside areas at your own speed.

We picked the downstairs tour, which were basically the party rooms. The entrance hall and gathering room, the refectory, or dining room, the billiard room and the theater. These were the rooms where all the famous people hung out and partied back in the 30's and 40's. They don't allow private vehicles to climb the steep, narrow five mile long road that goes up to the Castle, so after you get your ticket you have to get on a shuttle bus. The bus drops you off at the main entrance steps where a guide picked up the group. Our guide told us he had been working there for over 30 years and he was quite knowledgeable and entertaining. He had a lot of stories and examples of life at the Castle back in the day. He also had an answer for every question that was posed to him.

The actual time we spent inside the Castle was about 40 minutes, but there were some pretty spectacular rooms to look at. One of the things about the Castle is that it really is a museum as well as a home. Unlike most collectors, who buy art and historical items and put them on display, Hearst collected architectural elements and actually used them in the construction of the house. The ceilings in some of the rooms were actual ceilings from 15^th and 16^th century buildings. Parts of the walls in the assembly room and refectory came from 14^th century cathedrals. Original ancient Greek and Roman columns are integrated into the structure of the place. It is a fascinating place to look at when you learn the history of Hearst and his dream for the house. After we were done inside we spent about an hour walking around the gardens and terraces of the property, looking at the guest houses, the tennis courts, and the pools, all of which defy written description. I would just have to urge anyone who hasn't been there to go see it if they ever get the chance.

Once you are done wandering you can catch one of the shuttle buses and return back to the visitor's center for a walk through the obligatory gift shop. We finally left the visitor's center about 4:30 and started the drive back to Santa Maria. We picked up a geocache in the parking lot of the visitor's center and we also had gotten two others in the area prior to going on the tour. We dropped Corey off at home and we were back home by 6:30 and we just relaxed the rest of the night.

Wednesday, September 11^th, Patriot's Day and one of those days for which you will always remember where you were and what happened. In our case we were in our house in Indio and were getting ready for work. Jackie always got up a half hour before me so she could have her two cups of coffee and watch the news. When she woke me up she told me that a plane had just crashed into one of the world trade center buildings and another had hit the Pentagon. With the two incidents I was positive it was no accident. By the time we left for work the second tower had been struck and the fourth plane went down in Pennsylvania. I watched the towers fall while I was at work. My boss sent everyone home early that afternoon.

Today we just went out and got some geocaches after lunch, finding four in under an hour, and then we did some shopping at Walmart. We went back home after shopping and put everything away and relaxed until about 4:30 when we left again to go to dinner at the Oceano Elks Lodge. The Oceano Lodge always has an all you can eat spaghetti dinner on Wednesdays, and they have pretty good spaghetti. We always try to go there at least once during each trip to this area. We used to stay at the Oceano Lodge RV park, but they don't have sewer, only 30 amp service, and are parked in a pretty tight, grass lot. For this they charge more than Santa Maria, which has full hookup sites. Granted, the Oceano Lodge is right next to the beach, but we don't go to the beach, so it's no big deal for us.

We got to the lodge and met Donna, Corey, Pia and Korby. We had cocktails and talked until 6:00 when they served dinner. This time they had meatballs along with the sauce,but the meatballs were only OK. The sauce was a good as always. After dinner they had the 50/50 drawing and Jackie won, collecting $77 for her ten dollar investment in tickets. Yea! We all had another cocktail on her before leaving and heading back home where we just watched TV the rest of the evening.

Thursday, September 12^th, we finally had the opportunity to have a stay at home day, almost anyway. We didn't leave the coach until about 4:30 to drive up to San Luis Obispo for the Thursday night street fair and farmer's market. We always try to go at least once whenever we are in the area. We arrived and got parked about 5:30, a half hour before the fair was even scheduled to be open, but most of the stores on the street were open, so we just walked around and enjoyed the great weather and watched everyone getting set up. A little before 7:00 we were met by Ron Kopf, Jackie's cousin Stephanie's husband. When we were in Fresno a week or so ago we made arrangements to meet Ron here tonight for dinner. Ron is working on a big solar project near SLO and stays down here during the week, only returning to Fresno on the weekends.

The three of us went into McCormick's steak house, which is right on the street where the booths are set up, and had a nice dinner. McCormick's also has a booth outside, but it is very popular and the line runs for a block. In addition, there are few tables or places to eat, so you have to sit on the curb to eat. Not my idea of a nice meal. We all had sandwiches and had a very nice dinner and had a chance to spent some time with Ron that we didn't get when we were up in Fresno. After we ate we all walked the length of the street fair and looked at everything. We picked up a few veggies for dinner tomorrow, but other than that didn't get anything. We then walked back to the car, said goodbye to Ron, and we drove back to Santa Maria. By the time we got home it was 9:30, about the latest we have been out in a while.

Friday, September 13^th, eek, Friday the 13^th! We left the coach after lunch and went out to get our cache of the day which we did on the first try. We are up over 80 consecutive days now. After that we did some shopping, a few things at Von's that we couldn't get at Wally World yesterday, and then a stocking up trip to Costco. It will be a month or so before we are close to a Costco again, so we stocked up on vodka and meat, two of the main things we shop at Costco for. After shopping we went back home and relaxed for a while.

About 3:30 we left again and drove up to Pismo Beach to Donna's house for dinner. Corey was cooking tonight and the guest list was us, Donna and Corey, and Pia and Korby again. We had some cocktails and chatted for a while. When dinner was served it was great. Corey had BBQed some tri-tip, made mashed potatoes and beans and Jackie made a nice salad. Everything was very tasty and everyone enjoyed the meal. After dinner we talked for a while, until about 8:30 when Pia and Korby left. We left a few minutes later and drove back to the coach where we watched TV for a while and then off to bed. Second night in a row we have been out after dark. Yea us.

Saturday, September 14^th, we went out after lunch to do some geocaching in the area. We cached in the town of Nipomo, which is the next small town north of Santa Maria, and we were able to get six new caches in about an hour. Once we had our caches we quit and drove to the town of Oceano, about fifteen miles northwest, to pick up our tickets for the Oceano melodrama theater. We made reservations for this coming Wednesday night to see one of the shows with Jackie and I, Pia and Korby, and Donna and Corey. In order to confirm our front row seats we had to buy the tickets today, so we drove over there and got them in hand.

After that errand we drove to the outlet mall in Pismo Beach, right off of Highway 101. Jackie had some coupons from some of the outlet stores and we didn't want to let them expire. We both got a few new pairs of underwear for next to nothing after we factored in the coupons. We spent about ninety minutes walking around the mall and looking in all the shops. We each got one new shirt and I got a new pair of Skechers tennis shoes. Once we were done with that shopping we headed home where we had the chance to just relax all night for the first time in a while.

Sunday, we had our usual Sunday morning, watching the news shows and reading the paper. After lunch we went out and did one geocache just to keep our streak alive, the returned to the coach and cleaned house. We are having Donna and Corey over for dinner tonight. Ron, Stephanie's husband that we met in SLO the other night is also coming over. Pia and Korby were supposed to come, but they canceled because Korby had band practice or something.

Everyone arrived around 4:00 or so and we had a good time talking. Donna had never met Ron, even though she is related by marriage to Stephanie. Like most families, the tree branches out pretty far and not all the folks on some limbs know everyone on the other limbs. We had our cocktails and about 6:00 had dinner. Jackie made a big pot of risotto, with mushrooms, shrimp, onions and asparagus, one of my favorite meals. Everyone enjoyed the risotto, although both Corey and Ron picked out most of the asparagus. I guess hey didn't like the green stuff. After dinner we had another drink and talked for a while. Ron left about 7:30 and Donna and Corey left about 8:00. After they left we cleaned up and then relaxed the rest of the night.

Monday, September 16^th, we left the coach after lunch and drove to an urgent care place so I could get my knee looked at. A month ago, when we were in Lodi, I was dancing on the grass and stepped in a hole or something and twisted my knee just a bit. Nothing major, I just felt a little pain when we walked back to the coach. It pretty much stayed that way for the next three weeks, never getting really bad, but never going away. Then these last couple of days it has really started hurting, throbbing at night and making it hard to sleep, and really showing signs of swelling. I wanted to get someone to look at it just to be sure I didn't really do anything bad to the knee and give some hints as to how to treat the soreness.

They took some xrays and the PA at the center explained that she didn't see anything broken or especially bad, other than some arthritis signs and the swelling. She said the xrays didn't show the tendons or ligaments, so if it doesn't clear up by the time we get to Pahrump I should go to an orthopedist so they can do a cat scan or MRI. She recommended regular ibuprofen to lessen the swelling and pain, ice for a while each day and then they put on a very nice elastic knee splint that she said would take some of the pressure off the knee structure. They also gave me copies of the xrays for future use.

After we were done at the urgent care we stopped and picked up one geocache and then went back to the coach to rest. About 5:00 we left again to go to dinner at Jocko's in Nipomo. Regular readers will know that every time we are in the Central Coast area we have to go to Jocko's for dinner at least once. It is, hands down, for the best steak house anywhere. It is not a fancy place and the prices are not cheap, but certainly not Spencer's or Ruth's Chris high either. They give you salad and a garnish platter before the entree, potato and beans with it, and then coffee and ice cream after. The biggest steak they have, the large Spencer, is only $28 and it is at least 20 ounces. That is what I have and they cooked it perfectly, blood rare. Everything is cooked over an open wood fire. Jackie always has lamb chops, three big chops, for $21. A great place to eat.

We met Donna and Corey there and had a couple of drinks before going in for dinner. We had thought Pia and Korby might come, but they other stuff going on. Donna ordered the baby backs and got a full rack plus a few bones, also cooked over the open fire. Dinner was outstanding, as always, and afterward Donna and Corey went home and we went back to the coach to lounge for the rest of the night.

Tuesday, September 17^th, I spent the early part of the day sitting with ice on my knee as suggested by the PA at the urgent care. Since we are still trying to keep up our challenge to extend our consecutive caching days as far as possible we went out about 2:00 or so to get a cache. We drove a few miles north, back to Nipomo where we were last night, and did nine caches in about 90 minutes. My knee felt much better and the brace they gave me provides support when I walk around, so we just kept caching until we found all the ones in Nipomo. After caching we went back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the day, working on getting my knee back in shape.

Wednesday, September 18^th, we stayed in the coach, playing, doing a few chores and relaxing for most of the day. I kept ice on my knee for several hours and tried to baby it as much as possible. About 5:30 we left and headed for Oceano, about 15 miles to the northeast, to attend the melodrama at the community theater there. We had gone to what was the first melodrama for me a few weeks ago when we were in Oakhurst, and I had really enjoyed it. We are going to meet the rest of the family, Donna, Corey, Pia and Korby, at the theater when they open at 6:30. On the way to the theater we did some caching to keep our stats up and ended up getting four in time to still be ten minutes early at the theater, in time to get a good parking place.

The theater opened and we all went in and got our seats, front row tables again. We got popcorn and I had a beer while Jackie got a bottle of wine for her and Donna to share. The play started right on time and was called Death at Devils Cave, Or No Mother To Guide Her. I guess all melodramas have secondary titles. I later found out that the play was based on a play written in 1907 which was titled No Mother To Guide Her.

The last show we went to had two short plays, this was a longer one with a much larger cast. One of the players was only 12 but has been acting since he was 7. He was a great little actor too. There was not as much booing and cheering in this one simply because the pace of the play was quicker and they didn't pause as often for the audience participation. The acting was better too. These were mostly professional actors as opposed to local folks just doing it for fun like in Oakhurst. The play was good and the acting very good. Not quite as much laugh out loud humor as in the Oakhurst plays, but still pretty funny. At the intermission I got another beer and a sandwich.

After the second break the entire cast, except for the young kid, changed clothes and put on a Grand Old Opry style music show for a half hour. Most of them played instruments and all of them sang and danced. A lot of old country music and it was very good. By the time we got out of the theater it was almost 9:30, so they put on a two hour show all together. We headed back to the coach and watched TV until bed.

Thursday, September 19^th, we went out about 1:30 to do laundry. It has been over two weeks and the pile of dirty clothes threatened to overwhelm the bedroom. After laundry we stopped and picked up one geocache, just to have one for the day, and then went on to Walmart for a few things. After Walmart we headed home and spent the rest of the evening relaxing. My knee is getting better, the swelling has gone down and it doesn't hurt as much during the day. It still aches some at night, making sleeping difficult, but I hope it will continue to improve.

Friday we went out after lunch and found three new geocaches. After caching we had to make another Costco run because we realized that we had forgotten a couple of things the last time. We probably won't be near another Costco for a month or so. After Costco we went home for a while before leaving about 3:30 or so for a last visit to Aunt Donna. Pia and Korby arrived soon after we did and Corey made some pizzas for the six of us. After we had our pizza we spent about 90 minutes playing the game “Catch Phrase.” This is an electronic game, similar to password except that what you have to have the others guess could be a single word or a multi-word phrase. We had played this game with this group the last time we were here and Pia called us before we left the coach to remind us to make sure we brought it again. It is really good for big groups and is a ton of laughs. About 9:00 everyone said their goodbyes and we headed back to the coach. We will be back up here again in the spring of next year.

Saturday, September 21^st, our time to leave the Central Coast and begin the journey back to our “home” town of Pahrump. It is about 400 miles from Santa Maria to Pahrump, so we broke the trip up into three legs. Today's destination was Bakersfield, about 130 miles east and over the coastal range. We got out of Santa Maria about 10:00 and were in Bakersfield about 1:30, after a brief fuel stop. We stopped at an RV park we have used before, Bakersfield Palms RV Park. Most of the park is kind of dumpy with mostly full time residents, however, on one side they have built a very nice transient area with great pull through spots. It is right next to the train yard, so it is a bit noisy, but it is a good spot for a one or two night layover.

We only set up the very basic necessities since we were only here for one night. We did have to unhook the car because we needed to go get a cache for our cache of the day. We couldn't find the first one we looked for, but had better luck with the second and scored our COTD. After finding the cache we found a nice Mexican restaurant called Red Pepper. Although the food was just a little on the pricy side, the quality of the food and the service were outstanding. Some of the best Mexican we have had in a long time. The chili rellano I had was among the best I have ever had. If you ever find yourself in Bakersfield, poor baby. But if you do, be sure to visit the Red Pepper for great Mexican.

Sunday, September 22^nd, we were packed up and on the road again by 9:30, this time headed for Barstow. This trip was about 140 miles and required us climbing the Tehachapi Pass, a little over 4,000 elevation. Fortunately, it was cool, so there were no overheating issues and the trip went without any problems. We arrived in Barstow about 2:00, again after a fuel stop. We had also stopped at a rest area on the road for lunch, and while there found a geocache in the rest area. Since this gave us our cache for the day, we didn't even have to unhook the car when we parked.

We again stayed in an RV park we have been in before. The Desert Springs RV park is actually in the town of Yermo, just east of Barstow, and is right across the road from one of the Marine Corps' major supply facilities. It is a pretty dumpy park, all dirt and gravel, but it has pull through sites with full hookups, so it is handy for a one night stay.

Monday, September 23^rd, we were out of Barstow (Yermo) by 10:15 and once again northeast bound on I-15. Within an hour we had reached the little desert town of Baker, California, home of the Mad Greek restaurant. We always make it a point to stop here when we are traveling to or from Pahrump via I-15. Jackie really likes Greek food, and I can always find something I like, even though I don't care for lamb. They also have a big truck parking lot, so parking the coach when we stop here is never a problem either. Before we went into the restaurant we went to find a geocache that we saw was hidden in a gas station right across the street. This gave us our COTD, so we don't have to worry about running out and getting one after we get to Pahrump.

Lunch was great, Jackie had a gyro and I had a beef and Swiss with green chili sandwich. We were quickly back on the road for the last hundred miles into Pahrump. We arrived at the Wine Ridge RV Resort just before 2:00 and quickly got registered. Phyllis, the lady who was manager the last couple of times we were here is no longer working at the resort, but she and her husband Don still live in Pahrump, so we will get to see them. Wine Ridge used to be called the Pahrump Winery RV park and had been one of our Western Horizons membership parks. A couple years ago it was sold to a private party, but the new owner still provides very nice discount rates, $12 a night, to Western Horizons members. The new owner has also made a lot of really nice changes to the park. Since we were here last year they have completely remodeled and renovated the clubhouse, opened a new pool and spa, and some pickleball courts. The park is looking very nice.

We also found Robin, the activities director at Indian Palms in Indio, another park we stay at every year, was working the desk here in Pahrump. She is here for a while training the new activities director for the Pahrump resort. Robin is the one we have worked with and who booked us the New Year's Eve entertainment last year and again this year. She keeps telling us she is going to get us some compensation for our efforts. It didn't happen last year, but she again said she was going to work to get our stay at Indian Waters comped this year for our help with the entertainment. We'll see.

We got parked and set up for our two week stay here at the resort and were pretty much done by 4:00 or so. Jackie made a quick run to the UPS store to pick up our mail, but other than that we just stayed in and rested after our three day quickie trek from Santa Maria to Home. We always consider our arrival in Pahrump to be the transition from “summer” travels to “winter” travels. It also makes a good cut off point for this chapter of the blog. We will publish again in a few weeks. Until then, remember to try and deal with life with as much ease and humor as possible.  Try and remember that if you're going to make every issue a matter of life or death, you're going to have a lot of problems. For one thing, you'll be dead a lot. Think about THAT! Bye.

Sierra Nevada Foothills, Last Chapter

Hello again, welcome back. Our last chapter concluded on Friday, August 16^th, while we were in Placerville, California camping at the Placerville Elks Lodge enjoying our last full day in the area.

The next day, Saturday, was another moving day for us. We packed up and left the Placerville Elks about 10:30 and started the 65 mile trip south to the Lodi Elks Lodge. The Lodi Lodge is actually in the little town of Woodbridge, just north of Lodi. We have stayed at this lodge before. They only have about eight spots, but most of them look out over a big, green park that is part of the lodge property. The lodge building is the former Woodbridge Country Club, which the Elks bought when the club built a new clubhouse.

They don't take reservations at Lodi, so we were hoping that there would be a vacancy. We were surprised when we pulled into the lot and saw that there was only one RV in the lot, and it belonged to the park host. We thought we were really lucky until we saw some signs that the RV park was closed for an event. There were a bunch of tables and chairs set up on the lawn too. The camp hosts came out to greet us and told us that the lodge was having a luau tonight and that they had told the camp hosts to close the RV park and not let any RVs in because there would be so many people coming to the event. However, they said that they would allow the spot right next to the camp host to be used, and they said we could have it. Yea, we have a place to stay.

We got moved in pretty quick and went into the lodge to see if they had any tickets left for the luau. We had fun at the Carmicheal luau last week, so we thought it would be fun to go to this one too. The bartender had tickets, so we bought two and are going to our second luau this month. We then went out to get a quick couple of caches. It was nearly 100 degrees, so we didn't want to be out too long. We were able to get three in about a half hour, so we have now extended our consecutive days caching streak to over 50 days and are still on track with the every day in August challenge. After caching we went back to the coach to cool off.

After we had cooled down a little we changed into our luau clothes and about 5:00 went outside for cocktails out on the lawn with the camp hosts and some of their family. Although it was warm, we were in the shade of some big trees and there was a little breeze, so it was quite nice. Around 6:00 we walked across the lawn to where they had the luau set up and bought a cocktail from the bar there so we would have one of the bar's glasses. For the rest of the night we would refill from out supply in the coach.

We got a table and visited with some of the people sitting around us who were members of the Lodi Elks. They had over a hundred people at the party and they were a very friendly group. Around 7:00 the served dinner, which was pork, of course, chicken, a nice salad, some fruit, and sweet potato fries. The quality of the food, which was all cooked at the lodge by volunteers, was very good and they gave you plenty to eat. At 8:00 they started the entertainment, which was another local dance group specializing in Polynesian dance. This was a larger group than the one at the Carmichael lodge last week. This group had four male singers and drummers, a couple of which danced occasionally, and five very attractive girls who did most of the dancing. As with the group last week, they had about four costume changes along with different styles of dance. They didn't do as much audience participation as the group last week, but overall they were a more talented and entertaining group. They put on a show for nearly an hour, after which the DJ started playing some 50's and 60's rock for people to dance to. Overall it was an excellent luau and we were glad that we had the opportunity to come. The people were great and the party a lot of fun.

About 9:15 our friend Fern Lenordini stopped by the coach to visit. Fern and her husband Andy live here in Lodi, not too far from the lodge, and operate a vineyard. They don't make wine, they wholesale the grapes, which are very nice old vine Zin, to other people to make wine with. Fern and Andy are the primary reason we stop here in Lodi every couple years. We knew that Fern was going to come by this evening because she and Jackie had talked earlier in the day. She had been working at her daughter's restaurant this evening and wanted to come by and visit after work.

This has been the first time that we have been able to actually talk to Fern since the death of our dear friend Colleen Cohen last month. We actually met Fern and Andy in the Coachella Valley through Barry and Colleen. Fern and Andy had a winter home in the same country club where Barry and Colleen lived at the time and Andy was one of Barry's best friends. We became friends with them back in the late 90's and have stayed fairly close since. They are older than we are, in their late 70's, and they have sold their place in the Coachella Valley, so we only see them when come through Lodi.

We spent an hour or so visiting and catching up, but mostly talking about Colleen and her sudden illness and death. Fern left a little after 11:00 with the promise that we would get together with her and Andy sometime during our stay here in Lodi. After Fern left we went off to bed.

Sunday, August 18^th, I went out as soon as I got up and got a couple of Sunday papers. We like to relax on Sundays with the paper in the morning. We decided that this was going to be a stay at home day, something we hadn't done in a while. We did go out about 2:00 and got our cache of the day, but we only drove about a half mile, got the cache and went right back to the coach. Today and tomorrow are supposed to be hot, over 100 degrees, so we will not be doing too much caching for a couple days at least. We spent the entire day inside, doing a few chores, playing games and watching TV.

Monday we were looking at another 100 degree plus day. I was craving an In & Out burger, and there just happened to be one not too far from the Elks, so we went there for lunch. After lunch we found four quick geocaches in or near the parking lot of the shopping center in which the In & Out was located. This took care of our cache of the day requirement. Once we found our caches we drove south into nearby Stockton to visit the Best Buy store to pick up a part I ordered. I had needed a small part for the old laptop that I use for navigation when we are driving the coach and because the computer is about nine years old, ancient by computer standards, the part I needed wasn't available in store stock, even at Fry's Electronics, which has most everything. Best Buy did have it online, so I ordered a week ago and had it delivered to the store in Stockton because I knew we would be in the area this week.

After I picked up my part we spent an hour or so walking around the mall that was adjacent to the Best Buy. Actually, Best Buy was one of the anchor stores, which is a little unusual. A number of the shopfronts inside the mall were vacant, including one of the three big anchor store locations. The Macy's was still at one end, but I don't know what the other store had been as there were no signs visible from it's previous life. Once we were done with our mall walking we headed back to the coach where we spent the rest of the day trying to stay cool.

Tuesday, August 20^th, we left the coach after lunch to do our laundry and some other errands. We first stopped and picked up one quick geocache for our cache of the day, then went on to the laundromat, which was only a couple miles from the lodge. It took a couple of hours to get all the laundry done and then we stopped at the local Walmart and Safeway stores for supplies. Once our shopping was done we headed home and stayed out of the heat for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Wednesday we went out after lunch again to do some geocaching on our last full day here in Lodi. The weather had cooled off somewhat, in the low 90's today, so we set a goal of getting ten new finds, which would take us over the next milestone of 5,600 finds. We cached for a couple of hours and were able to get our ten finds, along with two DNFs. Yea! After caching we stopped at a couple of stores so Jackie could look for a small table she wants for inside the coach. She wants to replace the rather ugly tray we use at the end of our dining room table with something a little nicer looking.

We didn't find what Jackie wanted, but at our last stop at Staples, the office supply store, I found a very nice office chair on sale and bought it. I have been wanting to get rid of the original barrel chair in my back “office” that came with the coach. It is an OK chair, but it is too low for working comfortably at my desk, which is where I spend my time when in the back. I found a nice, high back leather office chair on sale for $90 that was very comfortable and just what I wanted. After we packed the box with the unassembled chair in the back of the Jeep we headed back to the RV park.

Thursday, August 22^nd, another travel day. Since we have been staying at Elks Lodges for the last few weeks in sites with no sewer we have been limiting our stays to five days. We could go longer, but it would be inconvenient. With a five day stay we can dump the holding tanks, move on to the next lodge and stay another five days. Today we left the Lodi lodge around 10:30 and started south on Highway 99, heading for the town of Oakhurst, California and the Elks Lodge there. We have never been to Oakhurst, which is located about 45 miles north of Fresno and 45 miles south of the main part of Yosemite National Park.

The drive, about 150 miles, was a little taxing as there was a lot of construction on Highway 99 south of Stockton and a lot of traffic too. Once we got off 99 and started east towards the Sierra Nevada's on the secondary highways the roads got a little narrow and the coach started running a little hot as we hit the grades leading up into the foothills. Oakhurst is only a little under 3,000 feet elevation, but with nearly 100 degree temps even climbing that far with the coach puts a lot of strain on the engine. We never overheated, but I was in the yellow zone a couple of times.

We finally got to the Oakhurst Elks about 1:30 or so and found a spot in their RV park. I had been concerned that we might not be able to get into the park since, unlike most Elks Lodges, have their park open to the public. It is also only 12 miles from the south entrance to Yosemite, and is the closest RV park. However, Jackie had talked to someone at the lodge yesterday and they said they only had a few rigs in the park. When we got there we found they did only have two on the lower level and two on the upper level. The upper level is not not suitable for big rigs like ours, so we found a nice spot on the lower level, which is still a hundred feet above the highway on a bluff, and got settled in. The lodge was not open,

but they have a self service check in. The sites, which have water and 30 amp electric, are $15 a night for Elks, $25 for the general public. After we had a little lunch we went out and got one geocache, our cache of the day, in a parking lot across the road from the Elks, and then went back to the coach to keep cool in the nearly 100 degree heat of the afternoon. We are going to be here for five days, and have plans to visit Yosemite at least once, assuming the big wildfire burning to the north of us doesn't close the park. We have our fingers crossed.

Friday, August 23^rd, we left the coach after lunch to do some geocaching in the Oakhurst area. We cached for a couple of hours and were able to get six new finds, along with one DNF. One of the caches was a virtual that took us to the Fresno Flats Historical Park, a cute little area with a number of restored buildings from the time of the founding of Fresno. A good place to provide a little information about the town of Oakhurst.

Unlike the other “Gold Country” towns we have been to over the last few weeks, like Nevada City, Grass Valley, and Placerville, Oakhurst was not founded as a mining town. The town was founded in the late 1850's and was populated at first by people who had come to California for the gold, but were unsuccessful and disenchanted with the mining life and wanted to settle down to a more normal lifestyle. The town, which was founded as Fresno Flats, soon became the center for local agriculture, ranching and timbering, as well as providing some support for the many mining towns scattered around in the higher mountains.

The town also became known as the gateway to Yosemite, the area which had been placed under Federal protection by Congress and President Lincoln in 1864, the first instance of wilderness land being set aside specifically for conservation and public use. This action set the stage for the creation of the National Park system in 1872, with Yellowstone being the first actual National Park. Yosemite gained that status in 1890. The name of the town was changed to Oakhurst in 1912.

At the turn of the century the town was bypassed by both the regional railroad and the new highway into Yosemite and when the depression closed the main timber mill the town was close to fading into history. However, in the late 30's a new highway, Highway 41, was built from Fresno into Yosemite National Park and the road was built right through the middle of Oakhurst, bringing new life to the city as a tourist town, supporting visitors to Yosemite. Although the Census Bureau set the 2010 population of Oakhurst at just over 2,800, the town, in various publications and on the official highway welcome signs, set the population at just over 13,000. The Census Bureau only recognizes the population within the six square mile boundary of the town as recognized by the State, while the town considers the larger surrounding area in it's estimates.

After our caching we made a quick stop at the drug store for a couple things and then went back to the coach to cool off and relax for a few minutes before going to the Oakhurst Elks Lodge for a visit. Having looked at their website, we knew that the lodge wasn't open on a regular basis, but that they probably would be open tonight for Friday night dinner. About 5:00 we went up to the lodge, which is on the second tier of the mountainside on which the lodge and RV park are built, and is directly above the coach, accessible via a staircase. We found about a dozen people or so in the lounge already and we sat down at the bar for a drink. The volunteer bartender was the Exalted Ruler's wife and the ER himself was taking orders for dinner. They had spaghetti and meatballs tonight, so we decided to buy a couple of tickets. We had cocktails and chatted with the bartender and a couple of other people while waiting for dinner. We also picked up a lodge pin for our banner. Dinner was served at 6:00 and we all went into the dining room. They served dinner family style, just putting bowls of food out on the tables for everyone to share. We were at a table for eight and had a very nice chat with all of the people. This is a very friendly lodge. The dinner was quite tasty and included dessert. After dessert we excused ourselves and went back to the coach for the rest of the evening.

Saturday, August 25^th, we were showered, dressed, and out of the coach by 9:45 this morning, heading north to visit Yosemite National Park. We were about 12 miles south of the south entrance to the park, and about 45 miles from the main part of the park in Yosemite Valley. I talked a little bit about the history of the park in yesterday's entry, so I will give just a few of the pertinent facts about the park here. The park is nearly 1,200 square miles in size, however about 89 percent of that land is designated as wilderness and is mostly inaccessible. The park gets nearly four million visitors a year and the vast majority of them spend all of their time within the six square miles that comprise the floor of the Yosemite Valley.

It took us a little over an hour to get to the visitor's center in Yosemite Valley, including a brief stop on the way to pick up our one needed geocache for the day. The roads are narrow, hilly and curvy, and within the park the max speed is 35 MPH, which makes for slow going. It does make it easier to see wildlife though. We saw an eagle perched on a rock next to the road, two different coyotes, several deer and a lot of the little mammals and birds that populate the area.

What we didn't see were bears, of which there are estimated to be five or six hundred, mountain lions, or bobcats. They are a little more recluse, living back in the wilderness areas. Many years ago the Park Service relocated the bears that used to hang out in the valley and were the big tourist attraction. Bears are still a big topic of discussion with regard to safety, but they are rarely seen anymore in the populated areas of the park, and when they are they are immediately subdued and shipped off to the wilds again.

Although the bears that used to sit on the road and beg for food are gone, we did find one coyote that had learned a thing or two about people. He was laying in the dirt in a turnoff at the side of the road, just looking like a skinny, scroungy dog, but, of course, everyone who spotted him had to stop and take his picture. When we came back an hour later going the other way, he was still there, but now standing next to a car letting them throw food out of the window for him. He wouldn't get closer than a few feet to the car, but he wasn't running away either. He has figured out that laying around looking “cute and wild” and getting people food beat running around in the heat trying to catch squirrels. Work smarter, not harder.

We spent about ninety minutes walking around the village, going to the visitor's center, checking the shops and museums and having lunch at one of the restaurants. We then continued our driving tour of the valley and also taking the ninety minute round trip drive to Glacier point, a destination on top of one of the mountains overlooking the valley that gives you a view of the entire valley from nearly 4,000 feet above the valley floor. After driving around the park for a while, taking in the sights and enjoying the

splendor of nature, we headed back to the coach, getting there about 4:30, just in time for cocktails. We stayed in the rest of the night.

Sunday, August 25^th, we left the RV park around 1:30 and drove about a half mile down the road to the Golden Chain Theater for an afternoon of community theater. A few days back, while we were caching in town, I saw a poster for this theater advertising their summer melodrama presentations. We noted that they were having a Sunday matinee performance today, so we decided to take it in. The tickets were only ten dollars and they had free popcorn and a full bar, who could resist.

I have been to a number of community theater productions over the years, but never to a true melodrama theater, where the audience participates by booing the villain and cheering the hero throughout the play. We got into the playhouse, were greeted by some very nice people, and went to the bar where I got a beer and Jackie got some wine. We got our free popcorn and went to our table.

Today's presentation was actually two separate short melodramas, the first was “Run to the roundhouse Nellie, he can't corner you there!” This was a three act play that takes place around a railroad yard. Before the play started a couple of girls got up in period costume and performed the Can Can. We were in the front row of tables and at the end when the girls took off their garters and flung them into the audience one landed on the table right in front of me. The play was cute, lots of booing, hissing and cheering. In the end the villain was run over the train he had hoped would hit the heroine whom he had tied to the track.

The second play was called “The Shagwood Secret” and took place in a saloon. Some of the same actors played in both plays, but the second had several more than the first. The hero from the first play portrayed the villain in the second, and was a much better villain than hero. All together, including the brief intermission between plays, they put on a two hour show that was very entertaining. Very cheesy sets, cheesy acting, cheesy lines but great comedy, especially he second play. Lots of laugh out loud moments. It was a very enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. After the play we stopped and got one geocache for our cache of the day and then went back to the coach where we stayed the rest of the evening.

Monday was already our last full day in Oakhurst. We left the RV park about 12:30 and drove a mile or so south to El Cid, a Mexican restaurant we have noticed has always got a lot of cars around it every time we drive by. It was moderately busy today and the service was a bit slow to get started. They had an interesting menu with lots of choices. We did notice that they are not an inexpensive place, not real pricy, but a little higher than you find at most mom and pop type Mexican places. The three item combo selections were almost $13. I had one with a red chili burro, enchilada and taco, Jackie had one with a chili relleno, chicken taco and chicken enchilada. Both meals were good, but not exceptional. Given the fact that this place is popular, the other choices in town must be pretty bad. If we were in the area again I probably wouldn't come back.

After lunch we decided to drive down to the Bass Lake area for some sight seeing and geocaching. Bass Lake itself was the first hydroelectric project in central California, with the first dam being built in 1901. The current rock and earth dam was built in 1910 and the project is still producing electricity for the San Joaquin Valley. The lake itself is not real large, about a half mile wide and four miles long, however, it is a major recreational asset for the area with several

marinas. There is also a very nice housing area along the north shore which has about 600 homes, many of which are very large and nice. We spent a couple of hours driving around the neighborhood, looking at homes and geocaching. We ended up with ten new finds.

After our caching we took the long way home by driving south from the lake to the town of North Fork, then heading west to pick up Highway 41 where we drove back north, through Oakhurst and eventually back to home. It was a very nice afternoon.

Tuesday, August 27^th, was another travel day. We had the coach packed up and pulled out of the Oakhurst Elks about 10:00 headed straight south on Highway 41 to the City of Fresno and the Fresno Elks. The trip was only 44 miles and the first ten miles out of Oakhurst were up a very steep grade, so we decided to not hook up the car and just let Jackie follow me for the trip. The trip went quickly and we found ourselves in the Fresno Elks, hooked up, set up and ready to go caching before 1:00. We have stayed at the Fresno Elks several times before. They have ten sites behind the lodge with water and 30 amp electric with all of the sites overlooking a retention basin that is always full of water, so you basically have a nice lake view, complete with ducks.

After we had lunch we went out to pick up our mail, which we had sent to the UPS Customer Service Center in Fresno, and to do some caching to ensure we had our cache of the day. We picked up the mail and started caching, getting four new finds and one DNF before deciding that the mid-90's temps and humidity were a bit too much. With that we went back home where we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening. I did a few chores around the house, including finally putting together my new desk chair that I had bought a week ago when we were in Lodi.

Wednesday, August 28^th, we went out after lunch for a Walmart run. On the way we stopped and picked up our necessary geocache of the day. Only three more days to complete the 31 days of August challenge. After shopping we went back to the coach and put stuff away and cooled off from the almost 100 degree temps. About 4:30 we left again for a quick run to Costco and then to go over to Jackie's cousin Stephanie's house for dinner. Stephanie's husband Ron is working out of town, but she and the kids will be there and we wanted to be able to spend some time with them.

We picked up a couple of roasted chickens at Costco, they make the best, and then stopped at another grocery for some mashed potatoes and mac and cheese, so when we arrived at the door we had a complete dinner. That included some vodka for Jackie and I since we had picked up a couple bottles at Costco. We had a great time with dinner and visiting with Stephanie and the two younger kids, Bryce and Madi. The older son, Tyler, came home just before we left. Tyler graduated from High School last spring and is now going to Junior college in Fresno. We finally left about 9:00 and went back to the coach for the evening. We will be back with the family on Saturday to do some geocaching. The two kids really enjoy caching, and on Saturday Ron will be home for the weekend, so we can see him too.

Thursday, August 29^th, we headed out from the lodge about 1:30 and drove to a nearby mall to go to the movies. Today we selected We're The Millers, a romantic comedy with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudakis, one of the Saturday Night Live cast members. The crux of the movie was that Sudakis was a small time drug dealer who gets pressured into going into Mexico to pick up a load of marijuana and bring it back across the border and up to Denver. He decides that the best way to avoid problems is to rent an RV and get a fake family to accompany him. Aniston is a a stripper who lives in his apartment building. He also gets help from a teenage boy who lives in the building and a homeless teenage girl who happens by. There is no redeeming social value to this film, it has no life meanings, no messages, and there is no reason to go see it unless you want to be well entertained for 90 minutes. The writing is great, if a little raw, but then they are a drug dealer and a stripper. Some great action parts when they are being chased by the Mexican cartel folks, and, being a romantic comedy, everything comes out great at the end. Both of us really enjoyed the film which had a lot of laugh out loud moments. After the film we went out and did a few geocaches, getting four new finds and one DNF. We then went back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Friday, August 30^th, we went out after lunch to do some caching. We were able to get four new finds in less than an hour. We then decided we needed to get some fuel for the Jeep and a badly needed car wash. The car wash was busy and the Jeep was so dirty they had to run it through twice, so pretty much killed most of the afternoon. After our chores we headed back to the coach, cooled off a bit, changed clothes and drove over to the Clovis Elks Lodge, only about five miles away from the Fresno Elks where we are parked.

We went to the Clovis Elks to meet our friends Jeanne and LeRoy Foote for dinner. Jackie and Jeanne went to high school together in Los Angeles and were not in touch until a couple years ago when they reunited as a result of the school's 50^th reunion. We had dinner with them back in April when we came through Fresno on our way north. They were at a large table with a bunch of friends and we had a great time with everyone. After an hour or so of cocktails they served dinner which was some very nice New York steaks cooked perfectly. We were ready to leave about 9:00 but Jackie and Jeanne had been talking about geocaching and Jackie found that there was a cache located only a few hundred feet from the lodge, so the four of us walked over there so we could sort of demonstrate geocaching to them. We found the cache, which was a very nice hide, and they were impressed. After that we got in the car, drove back home and chilled the rest of the evening.

Saturday, August 31^st, we had told Stephanie that we would be over in the morning so we could go out and do some geocaching with her kids before it got too hot. We were out of the coach by 9:45 and on our way to Stephanie's. When we got there we chatted for a bit with Ron, her husband, who was home for the weekend. He is working on a big solar energy project out near San Luis Obispo and is only home on the weekends. About 10:30 Ron, Stephanie and their daughter Madi got in the car with Jackie and I and we went out for some caching. The other two kids were busy with friends. We were able to get nine new caches, along with a DNF, in a couple of hours. Each of the members of our little “team” for the day had at least one find and everyone seemed to have a good time. I think Ron and Stephanie would geocache on their own except that they already have a busy schedule with the kids and with work for the two of them.

After our nine finds we decided it was getting too warm and Ron had some things he had to get done around the house, so we went back and dropped them off at home and said our goodbyes. We may see Ron again next week when we are in the Central Coast area, but we probably won't see Stephanie and Madi until next spring. After we dropped them off we drove to the BJ's Brewhouse restaurant not too far from the Elks and had a nice big lunch. We have been to a couple different BJ's stores now around California and really like the place. They have a great menu, good portions, and great food. I had Jambalaya which was nearly as good as what I have gotten in New Orleans. Jackie had a chicken pasta dish that she said was good too. After lunch we went back to the coach and just stayed in the rest of the day.

Sunday, September 1st, the 15th anniversary of Jackie and I being together. It was this day in 1998 that I moved from Phoenix to Indio to be with Jackie. Fifteen wonderful years and I am looking forward to spending the next fifteen with my best friend and best love exploring everything life has to offer. We spent the morning as we usually do on Sundays, reading the paper and watching the news. About 11:00 or so we left the coach and headed over to Jeanne and LeRoy's house in Clovis. Jeanne is a retired hairdresser and still does friends hair in her house. She had offered on Friday to do Jackie's hair today, so we were on our way over there for that. They have a very nice, older home in the suburbs of Clovis. Jeanne gave Jackie a haircut while LeRoy and I chatted. The haircut turned out nice and I think Jackie is happy with it.

After the haircut we took Jeanne and LeRoy in our car and we drove to Sal's Mexican Restaurant to meet the two other couples with whom we had dinner on Friday at the Elks. They were already in the restaurant when we got there, so we didn't have to wait. Jeanne told us that Sunday lunches at Sal's were something this group did quite often. The food was pretty good, a lot better than we had at the place in Oakhurst last week. We had a nice time talking to the group. After lunch everyone followed us back to the Fresno Elks so they could see our coach. Jeanne and LeRoy hadn't seen it since the remodel, and the other two couples just wanted to see what we lived in. They are all RVers, but none of them have a big RV. We showed off the coach and talked for a while before everyone left to go back to their homes. After everyone left we went out and got one close-by geocache, just to keep our consecutive days streak alive, and then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing.

Monday, September 2nd, Happy Labor Day. Today was a moving day again. We left the Fresno Elks about 10:30 and completed the arduous 47 mile trek south to the Visalia Elks Lodge. Since it was early on the holiday we didn't have much traffic and it was an easy trip. There was only one other coach in the lodge RV park and they have 16 spaces, so it is not real popular when the temperatures in are close to 100. We parked and got set up pretty quickly. For the first time in a couple weeks we have 50 amp electric service, so we can run both A/Cs. Yea! Once we got set up we went out and got one geocache for our streak then returned to the coach for an easy day off. No labor on labor day!

Our move here to Visalia marks a good spot to close this chapter and get it published. We will be here for four days and then we move over to the Central Coast area and San Luis Obispo. The weather should be cooler over there and we get to spend time with Jackie's family. Until the next episode, remember the words of the famous storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. Enjoy life. There's plenty of time to be dead.” See ya.