Hi there, welcome back to the story.
Our last episode concluded on Wednesday, June 15th when we
left Silent Valley, near Banning, California, and drove the high
desert town of Lancaster, California. Lancaster sits in the Antelope
Valley of north Los Angeles County and is paired with the City of
Palmdale. Both cities are at about 2,600 feet elevation and both
have populations near 160,000. Although Lancaster started life as a
railroad town, both cities are now heavily reliant on the U.S.
Military as their lifeblood. The huge Edwards Air Force base and
range is located just north of Lancaster in the Mohave Desert, and
Palmdale airport is host to much of the military's air assets
development program. Air Force Plant 42 and the Lockheed Martin
Skunk works, both highly classified, are located there. Both Boeing
and Northrop Grumman also have facilities on the grounds. This
little corner of the Mohave Desert is the aerospace center of the
western United States. We are staying at the Lancaster Elks Lodge, a
very nice, large lodge with a big RV park. The sites are water and
30 amp, but that is sufficient for our relatively brief four day
stay.
Thursday, June 16th, my
eldest daughter Tye's birthday. We left the coach after lunch to do
some geocaching. The last time we were in the Antelope Valley was
just prior to our beginning to geocache, so we have no finds up here
yet. We were able to get ten new finds, and one DNF, in just a
couple hours. One of the caches was a virtual, meaning no physical
container, which required us to walk down several blocks of downtown
Lancaster on the Aerospace Walk of Fame. All along the main street
there were monuments, several dozen in total, memorializing famous
people in aerospace, like Chuck Yeager, the early astronauts, and
others who brought the country such great success in aeronautics.
The cache required us to answer seven questions, the answer for which
were on the monuments or murals in the downtown area. It was a lot
of fun, and educational too. After caching we stopped at Winco for
some groceries and then went back to the coach where we relaxed the
rest of the day and evening.
Friday we left the RV park about 11:30
or so and drove to nearby downtown Palmdale for lunch. On the way
into town on Wednesday we had noticed a Creole and Cajun restaurant
listed on yelp. It had very high ratings and we like Cajun food, so
we thought we would try it. It was a small storefront place just off
the main drag. They had a small menu, but what they did have was
great. Jackie had the shrimp etouffee and I had a shrimp poo boy.
Both of our dishes were outstanding. We also bought a pound of their
homemade andulliee sausage to go, for use in a future dish. After
lunch we set out to do some shopping, hitting a number of stores. We
also picked up a couple of geocaches for good measure. We finally
finished shopping about 4:00 and then went home and spent the rest of
the evening in the coach.
Saturday, June 18th, we went
out after lunch to the movies. It was too hot to cache, so we went
to see Keanu, a movie that has been out a few months. It is a comedy
about a couple of middle class black guys who end up getting involved
with several drug gangs while chasing a stray kitten that one them
has fallen in love with. Other than a little too many “n” and
“f” bombs it was pretty dumb, and pretty funny. And the kitten,
who looked a lot like our Benji, was drop dead cute. After the movie
we stopped at a couple stores, then headed back to the coach for the
rest of the evening.
Sunday was a travel day. We are in the
middle of a major heat wave in the western U.S., so we were packed up
and out early, leaving Lancaster about 9:00, heading northwest to
Bakersfield, about 85 miles away. We were able to beat the heat and
climb the Tehachapi grade without any heating issues. We got into
Bakersfield about 11:00 and settled into an RV park for a one night
stay. We didn't even unhook the car, just stayed in for the entire
day.
Monday, June 20th, the
summer solstice and the longest day of the year, the first official
day of summer. The heat wave was still blanketing the entire
Southwestern U.S. in triple digit temps, so we were again on the road
early, about 8:30, so as to beat the heat. Our trip today was about
130 miles west to Santa Maria and the Elks Lodge there. The trip
went pretty well, the coach got a little warm going up the grade to
top the coastal range, but it wasn't in the critical range and
quickly cooled down once we started down the other side. Also, the
other side of the range was a lot cooler, with the ocean breeze
coming in. We arrived at the Santa Maria Elks about 11:30. At first
we were afraid we wouldn't have a spot, despite having reservations,
because all the sites were full. However, within a minute a coach
pulled out and we had our space. We registered for our eleven day
stay and got settled into our full hookup 50 amp site. We were
pretty beat from two days of early travel in a row, so after we got
set up we just stayed in and relaxed the rest of the day. We look
forward to seeing Jackie's family over the next week and a half.
Tuesday, June 21st, we left
the coach after lunch and headed to what is called the Five Cities
area, the cities being Arroyo Grande, Oceano, Grover Beach, Nipomo
and Pismo Beach. We first did a little geocaching in Arroyo Grande
and Grover Beach. In about an hour we were able to get five new
finds. After that we hit a couple of stores, eventually finishing at
a Von's where we picked up some fried chicken and fixings. We would
have gone to KFC, but it seems that there are none in the area. With
dinner in the bag we drove to Pismo Beach to spend some time with
Jackie's Aunt Donna and her grandson Corey, who is her caretaker. We
had last seen Donna and Corey last November when we stopped in for a
week after our trip back east for rallies.
We had a great time catching up and
trading stories. In November Donna had just gotten out of the
hospital after a bout with pneumonia and was pretty weak. Now she
looks like her old self, very upbeat and talkative. She will be
turning 91 next week, one of the reasons we are here at this time,
and she doesn't move around real well, but mentally she is doing
good. We had the fried chicken for dinner finally left about 8:00 to
head back to Santa Maria and home. We spent the rest of the evening
watching TV.
Wednesday, we left the coach after
lunch and went to Walmart for some supplies. After we went back to
the coach and put the groceries away we drove to Pismo Beach and the
outlet mall to shop. The only thing we bought was some new underwear
for both of us. We did a couple of geocaches and then drove to
Donna's house to visit. We chatted and had cocktails with Donna and
Corey. We left about 6:00, drove back to Santa Maria and had dinner
in the coach. We spent the rest of the night in.
Thursday, June 23rd, we
headed out after lunch to do some more geocaching. Today we stuck
around Nipomo, a small town about ten miles north of Santa Maria. We
were able to score eight finds in a couple hours, along with one new
DNF. After caching we went up to Donna's to visit and have
cocktails. We stayed for a couple hours, leaving a little after six
to head back home. Since it was kind of late we stopped at In and
Out for dinner, taking home a couple of burgers. We then spent the
rest of the night watching TV.
Friday was a stay at home day. We did
some cleaning and small chores, but spent most of the day relaxing.
About 6:00 we went over to the Elks Lodge for their Friday night
“grill your own” dinner night. The Santa Maria Lodge is one of
the larger lodges in the country, with close to 3,000 members and
it's Friday night dinner is very popular in town. It is open to
public, although Elks members get discounted prices. When you go in
the lodge you pick whether you want steak (rib eye or New York),
chicken, fish, pork chop or baby backs. You pay for the meal and
they give you a colored ticket which you later exchange for your
protein later. Whenever you are ready you pick up your meat, go out
back to the cook room, and cook it yourself. They have a huge deep
pit, wood fired BBQ, seasonings, and lots of BBQ forks. You write
your name on a little wooden stick and put it in your steak so you
can keep track of it among the dozens on the grill.
We stopped in the bar first for a
cocktail and ended up sitting next to a couple that happened to be in
the motor home just down from ours in the RV park. We struck up a
conversation with them and ended up sitting with them in the dining
room. Seating is family style around very long tables. We cooked
our meat and then went through the buffet line for the rest of the
stuff. They had baked or french fried potatoes, beans, veggies,
garlic bread and a salad bar. We had a great meal and talked to the
other couple, who were from Santa Barbara, for an hour or so. By the
time we left about 7:15 the dining room, which held probably 300, was
full and people were still coming in. After dinner we walked back to
the coach and relaxed the rest of the evening.
Saturday, June 25th, the
first thing we heard was the rumble of souped up engines starting
around 7:00 as participants for the Elks annual car show started
rolling in on the lawn right behind the RV park. We could look out
the window and watch them getting set up. We were here a couple of
years ago when they had the car show and it was great. We had made
arrangements to have Corey, Donna and Jackie's cousin Pia come over
for an early dinner. One of Jackie's other cousins, John, who lives
down in Torrance, also came up to Pismo to visit, so he was coming
over too. I walked over to the show and took some pictures early,
before it got too crowded.
The rest of the family came over around
2:30 or so and I, Corey, John and Pia all walked over to the show to
look around. They had probably 60 or 70 cars and trucks and it was a
great show. We took some pictures and ogled the cool cars. The show
broke up about 3:00 and they all started to pull out. We went back
to the coach and sat around and talked. We had dinner about 6:00.
Jackie made a nice meatloaf, broccoli and mashed potatoes, and Pia
brought a salad. We had a great dinner and then talked some more.
Everyone left and headed home about 7:30 and we spent the rest of the
evening with the TV.
Sunday we left the coach about 12:30
and headed north for an afternoon at a winery in Avila Beach. Avila
Beach is a small community just north of Pismo Beach. Jackie's
cousin Pia is sort of an unofficial photographer for a lot of the
local bands and musical groups. One of those groups was playing at a
local winery this afternoon and we all decided to go. We stopped at
Donna's house first, to pick up Donna and John, but Donna woke up
with a cough and decided not to go. John still wanted to go, so the
three of us left and drove to Avila Beach and the Kelsey See Canyon
Winery. There were quite a few people already there when we arrived,
just before the band started. The band, Back Bay Betty, was a light
rock and jazz group of five and Pia knew a lot of the people there.
The party was out on the lawn, with a
lot of tables and umbrellas. It was a good thing, because the winery
was a bit up in the hills away from the ocean. It was in a valley
and it was pretty hot. We got a bottle of Zin to split with everyone
and we had some lunch. We knew there would not be any food, so we
packed a picnic lunch for everyone. The band was actually pretty
good and we stayed there until almost 4:00, listening to music,
watching people dance, enjoying the wine and a nice afternoon. After
we left we stopped at Donna's to drop John off, and went in for a
cocktail. We left a little after six and went home, where we stayed
in the rest of the evening.
Monday, June 27th, we left
the coach about 11:30 and drove to Pismo Beach to have lunch at the
Splash Cafe. Splash is in downtown Pismo, just a block from the pier
and beach, and is very well known for it's excellent clam chowder.
We try to have lunch here at least once whenever we are in the
Central Coast area. We missed it the last time we were here and were
not about to repeat the mistake. It is not a very big place and we
had to wait in line for about 15 minutes before we got to the order
desk. Fortunately, we were able to find a seat right after we
ordered. When it is really busy that can be a challenge too. I had
a bowl of chowder and a fish sandwich. Jackie had chowder and some
calamari. We had a wonderful meal, although for some reason Jackie's
chowder was a little thinner than mine. Must have been the bottom of
the vat or something. Almost everyone we know that has been to Pismo
has been to Splash and we would highly recommend it.
After lunch we did some caching in the
five-cities area, actually hitting all five cities for at least one
cache. We were able to get ten new finds, and no DNFs, in a few
hours. I always tell people that geocaching takes you places you
wouldn't normally go to or find. Today proved that idea again. One
of the caches took us to the Temple of the People, which is located
in an unincorporated area between Avilla Beach and Oceano. The area
is known as Halcyon and was founded in 1903, when there wasn't much
development around these parts, by a religious organization called
The Temple of the People. Originally founded in 1889 in New York
state, the group moved to California and built the Halcyon Hotel and
Sanatorium, where all manner of addiction and nervous ailments, as
well as tuberculosis, were treated and which remained open until
1949. Other members of the Temple followed the founders to Halcyon
from Syracuse, and made their living through farming, poultry, and
handicrafts. The group owned nearly all the land of what was then
Halcyon. In 1923 they built the Blue Star Memorial Temple, which
still stands today and is operated as an unaffiliated church, still
operated by members of the Temple of the People society. Jackie has
been to this area a lot over the years, she even lived here briefly
in the 80's, but never knew this place was here. Yea geocaching.
After our geocaching we went up to
Donna's house for cocktails and to visit. We were originally going
to order in some pizza for dinner, but we were so full from lunch
that we decided not to. We stayed and visited with everyone until
about 6:00 when we left and drove back to Santa Maria. We stayed in
and watched TV the rest of the evening.
Tuesday we left the coach about 10:30
and went out to do our laundry. In the past it has been hard to find
laundries in Santa Maria. They are all old, grubby and small. We
found one on the south end of town that we have used the last couple
times we have been here, but it is kind of the best of the bad.
Today we lucked out and found a brand new laundry only a mile from
the Elks Lodge. It is huge, nice new machines, and clean. We had a
light, fast food, lunch and did our laundry. We then ran a couple of
errands and headed back to the coach.
We spend a couple hours relaxing in the
coach and getting things put away. We left again about 4:00 and
drove to nearby Nipomo, the next town north, to meet everyone for a
great dinner at our all time favorite steak house, Jocko's. We have
written at length in past blog entries about how great Jocko's is.
Esthetically it is a bit of a dump, and the wait can be really bad
sometimes, but the quality and quantity of the food makes up for it
all. We met Donna, Corey, Pia and John there and had a cocktail
while we waited for our table. Tomorrow is Donna's 91st
birthday, so this was kind of the celebratory dinner. I had the
large Spencer steak, which is a boneless rib eye, or is sometimes
called a Delmonico steak. The steak was well over a pound and as
always was preceeded by a huge salad, a veggie plate, and served with
beans and a giant pile of french fries. The steak was cooked
perfectly for me, charred outside, raw inside. Jackie had lamb
chops, which were slightly overcooked this time, a rare misstep for
Jocko's. Everyone enjoyed the meal, although it did get a little
loud at times. After dinner we headed back to the coach with our big
containers of leftovers, and watched TV until bedtime.
Wednesday, June 29th, we
left the coach after lunch and I drove Jackie to Pismo Beach to meet
Pia for a pedicure. Donna was supposed to be there too, but decided
this morning she didn't want to go. After I dropped Jackie off I
drove to another RV store where I was able to find a new door for my
water heater. Somewhere on the road between Bakersfield and Santa
Maria the door came open and apparently blew away. The new doors
only come in white, so I will have to get some gray paint to try and
match it to the body paint on the coach. Fortunately, it's in an
area on the exterior where there is only one color, not in any of the
graphics. After that I walked around the nearby outlet mall and an
antique store, and then sat in the car and read until Jackie was
done.
After Jackie was done with her toes we
stopped and picked up some groceries and then went to Donna's house
to visit. Today was Donna's 91st birthday, so Corey made
a lasagna and garlic bread for dinner. We brought some salad. After
dinner we had cake and ice cream and sang happy birthday to Donna.
We finally left about 7:30 and went back to Santa Maria, staying in
the rest of the night with the TV.
Thursday, June 30th, our
last day here in Santa Maria. We went out after lunch to do some
shopping. Our first stop was a Best Buy store so Jackie could have
one of the techs there look at her phone. Yesterday, while we were
at Donna's, her new Samsung phone spontaneously reset itself to
factory specifications. That is not supposed to happen, certainly
not just by picking the phone up. She lost all the changes she had
made, including her contact list and photos. Last night I was able
to get most everything reloaded and working again, but there were a
few things she wanted done that I didn't know how to do. The Best
Buy guy tried and fixed a couple of things, but she still does not
have the photos she had taken over the last couple weeks. Since she
wasn't doing backups she won't get them back either. We then went to Walmart and stocked up
for our departure tomorrow. By the time we stopped at home and put
away the groceries it was time to go to Donna's for one last visit
before we departed the area. We had a great visit, although Pia had
called and said she was not feeling well and wouldn't be over. We
had some snack stuff for everyone and we talked until about 6:30 when
we headed back over to Santa Maria for the rest of the night.
Friday, July 1st, halfway
through the year. Today was a travel day and we were packed up and
on the road about 10:30. We were driving 175 miles northeast to
Fresno, California and the Elks Lodge there. Since today was the
first day of the Independence Day long weekend there was a lot of
traffic on the roads. Nonetheless we arrived safely into the furnace
of Hell. From temps in the 60's at the coast to 105 in Fresno,
yikes. We got into our spot at the Elks Lodge and did the minimal
setup. Since this lodge only has 30 amp electric we are limited to
running one A/C and it is struggling to keep the living room cool.
Since we were whipped after the long drive and the heat we just
stayed in the rest of the day. We will be here for five days,
provided we don't melt before then.
This marks a good place to close this
chapter and get it published. Until the next time, remember the
words I recently found in a fortune cookie. Don't take life too
seriously. Laugh and smile at it once in a while. See ya soon.
