From the Coast to the Mountains and High Prarie

Hi there, welcome back to our story. Our last chapter concluded on Wednesday, June 6^th when we arrived at the at the Santa Maria, California Elks Lodge RV park after spending a month in the mountains of southern California at the Silent Valley Resort. Thursday, June 7^th we left the Elks Lodge RV park and went to Walmart for some supplies. After Walmart we stopped and picked up a big bucket of chicken from KFC so we could take it to Jackie's Aunt Donna's house for dinner. We stopped briefly at the coach so we could put the groceries away, then headed over to Donna's house in Pismo Beach. It has been almost a year since we last saw Donna and her grandson Corey, who lives with her as a caretaker. Jackie's cousin Pia, who lives in nearby Grover Beach, also came over for dinner. The five of us had a great afternoon and early evening talking and catching up. We had the KFC for dinner and it was great. We left Donna's around 7:00 and went back to the coach where we spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

Friday, June 8^th, my brother Dennis' birthday. Happy Birthday Bro. We left the RV about 1:00 and went out to do some geocaching. We haven't done a lot of caching lately, mostly because when we are in Silent Valley it is a long way to go to an area where we haven't gotten most of the caches already. We have cached in the Central Coast area quite a bit, but there are still a lot of “new” caches for us to look for. We were able to get 11 new finds, along with two DNFs, by about 4:00. We then quit and drove to Pismo Beach to spend some time with Donna. We had cocktails and stayed at Donna's until about 7:00. We stopped in Oceano on the way home to have dinner at Juan's, a good Mexican restaurant near the Oceano Elks Lodge. We have eaten at Juan's a number of times and the food is always good. We had a great dinner, then drove back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Saturday, June 9^th, we had a mostly stay at home day. I did go out after lunch and took the car for a badly needed car wash. I did a few chores and Jackie worked some on her crafts, but w

e mostly just had a relaxing day. Sunday was pretty much another relax day. I went out and got the Sunday paper, our first in a month since there were no papers readily available in Silent Valley. We had coffee and the paper and then just did a few chores. About 4:30 we left and drove to nearby Nipomo to have dinner at Jocko's Steak House with the family. Regular readers will know that I always tout Jocko's as the best steak house in the country, bar none. We always go at least once any time we are in the Central Coast area. There were six of us, Jackie and I, Donna, Corey, Pia and her boyfriend Wil. Wil is the bass player in a couple of different part time bands in the area. We had a great dinner. Jackie had lamb, as always, I had a huge steak, as always, and we had a great visit. After dinner we went back to the coach and relaxed with the TV the rest of the night. One interesting point is that last night was the first time we ever tried to use the Wifi function on the TV to watch a movie. The Elks Lodge here has excellent free wifi so I connected the TV to it and we watched a movie from Amazon Prime last night. We did it again tonight, watching a really bizarre horror flick called “Dead Body”. It is nice having a huge selection of movies at our fingertips.

Monday, June 11^th, we left the coach around 2:30 and drove to Pismo Beach where we met Corey at one of the local bars where he sometimes hangs out. We met a few of his friends and had a couple of drinks, then drove up to Donna's house and hung out there for a couple of hours. About 7:00 we left Donna's and headed for home. On the way we stopped in Nipomo and had dinner at a cafe called California Grill. It was mostly sandwiches, but the food was pretty good. I had a pastrami sandwich and Jackie had a burger. After dinner we went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime. Tuesday we went out after lunch to do some more geocaching. We were able to get eleven new finds in a little over two hours. After caching we went back to the RV park and relaxed the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Wednesday, June 13^th, we left the coach after lunch and went out to do some shopping. We stopped at the Ulta store first so Jackie could pick up some stuff, then moved on to Costco. Our main purpose was to start to stockpile our vodka supply because in less than a week we will be out of the states where you can buy liquor in grocery stores, which means the price gets significantly higher. We did the same last summer when we left the Southwest. After Costco we hit Walmart, then went home to put everything away. About 4:00 we left again and drove to Donna's house for cocktails and a visit. Pia also came by and we had a nice visit. About 7:00 we left and stopped at a place in Pismo Beach called Pismo Fish and Chips, which was recommended by Pia. The fish and chips was quite good and we had a nice dinner. We then went back to the coach and spent the rest of the night in with the TV. Thursday we left the coach after lunch and drove to the Pismo Beach Outlet Mall to do some window shopping. I needed some new underwear and like the Jockey brand and there was a store in the mall. After the outlets we drove north to San Luis Obispo and made a stop at the Costco there to get some things that the one in Santa Maria didn't have. We also got a couple of nearby geocaches while we were in the area.

After Costco we went to downtown San Luis for the Thursday street fair. We walked around and shopped for a bit, then stopped in Mother's Tavern for dinner. We have eaten here before, but it has been a few years. Although the service was a little slow because of the huge street fair crowds, the food was outstanding. I had the meatloaf dinner with mashed potatoes and grilled veggies and it was the best meatloaf dinner I have ever eaten. I also had a tequila chicken soup that was excellent. Jackie had a burger that she said was good, although she wasn't as impressed with the food as I was. But, a burger is a burger. After dinner we walked the street fair for an hour or so, then got in the car and drove back to Santa Maria. We watched TV for the remainder of the evening.

Friday, June 15^th, we left the coach after lunch and went to do our laundry. After we got done we went back to the coach and put stuff away. We left again about 3:00 and drove to Pismo Beach and met Corey at Scotty's bar again for a drink. After one drink we went up to Donna's house and hung out until about 7:00 when we left to go home. We stopped at In N Out for a quick dinner, then went home and watched TV until bedtime. Saturday we left the coach about 2:30 and went over to Donna's house. It was just Donna, Corey and us, but we had an early celebration of Donna's 93^rd birthday, which comes in another week. Since we are not going to be here then we celebrated today. We made a lasagna and some garlic bread and had a salad. Corey got a nice ice cream cake and we had a great afternoon with family. We left around 7:00, went back to the coach and spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Sunday, June 17^th, we had a stay at home day. I spent a little time working on some projects and putting stuff away in preparation for our departure tomorrow. We thought maybe Corey and Donna might come over for a visit, but Corey called and said Donna was having a tough day and didn't want to go out. Monday, our first travel day and the “official” start of our summer travels. We are done with our winter retreats and family visits and are ready to head out. We are due in Gillette, Wyoming for a series of FMCA and Chapter rallies, starting on July 7^th, when we go into the Monaco International Rally. That gives us about two and a half weeks to go about 1,500 miles. We were packed up and on the road leaving Santa Maria about 10:00. It was an uneventful ride to Bakersfield, where we stopped for an overnight stay. We didn't unhook the car, just stayed in and stayed cool.

Tuesday, June 19^th, we were packed up and on the road again by 9:30, heading another 140 miles to Yermo, California, just east of Barstow on Interstate 15. We arrived in Yermo about 1:00 and met up with Ray and Suzie Babcock, who had also traveled today from their home in Menifee. They are enroute to the same set of rallies as us and will be traveling with us for much of the next month. We had cocktails at 4:30, but as this was also just an overnight stay neither of us unhooked our toads, we just stayed in and relaxed.

Wednesday, June 20^th, We were on the road again at 10:00, heading northeast on I-15 towards Las Vegas, about 155 miles. We both stopped in Baker and had lunch at the Mad Greek restaurant, a tradition for us when we travel to and from Pahrump or Vegas. After lunch we set out on the last 100 miles of the trip. Jackie and I had a bit of a problem with the coach overheating on the long grade out of Baker towards Vegas. Although I only had a red warning light once for about a second, I did get way hotter than normal, up to 225 at one point. I think I might have been pushing a little to hard up the hill when the outside temps were well over 100 degrees. We pulled over twice and let the engine cool a bit and only lost a few minutes. After we got over the summit we did see another older motor home on the other side of the road burning to the ground. I guess my overheating wasn't so bad. We pulled into the Hitching Post RV park in North Las Vegas about 2:30 and got settled in. This will be a two day stop. After we got set up the four of us went in Ray's car to Walmart for some supplies.

After we got back from Walmart Ray discovered that his air conditioners had stopped working while we were gone and the inside of his coach was like an oven. The two of us worked on it for an hour or so, taking the inside cover off and checking things, with the assistance of a technician on the phone. Of course, the tech was just guessing and eventually began trying to sell Ray on just replacing the units. As it turned out, after we got everything put back together the A/Cs were working again. I think maybe there was a loose connection or plug that we inadvertently fixed while taking it apart and putting it back together. We had cocktails with the Babcocks at our house while theirs cooled down, but no dinner since all of us were pretty full from the big lunch. After Ray and Suzie left we watched TV until bedtime.

Thursday, June 21^st, the first day of summer, although you couldn't have known that from the temps here in the desert. Ray's air worked all night, so he was happy. We left the coach after lunch and went out in Ray's car to run errands. We first went to the Desert Orthopedic Center so Jackie could go to her knee doctor to get a cortisone shot. That was the reason we left Santa Maria a couple of days early, so she could get an appointment here when we came through. The doctor gave her a gel type shot this time, claiming it should work better than the cortisone with fewer side effects. After the doctor we did a Costco run and a quick stop at Walmart for supplies. Once our errands were done we went back to the RV park and hid out in the coaches from the heat. About 6:00 the four of us walked over to the Hitching Post Steak House and Saloon, which is on the property of the RV park and motel. They do it all here. It is just a little place, kind of plain, but the food of excellent. I had a porterhouse that was very tender and Jackie and Ray had rib eyes. The service was good, the food excellent, and the prices very reasonable. We had a great dinner, then walked back to the coaches and spent the rest of the night with the TV.

Friday, June 22^nd, another travel day. We left Vegas around 10:00 and started on the fairly short, 75 mile trip northeast to Mesquite, Nevada. Mesquite is the last town on I-15 before you head out of Nevada and is not a real big town. We arrived at the Oasis RV park and found it nearly empty, not surprising since the temp was well over 100 degrees. We got settled into our spots and set up, then the four of us drove over to the Casablanca Casino to register for our spots. The casino runs the RV park, a couple actually, and don't have people on site at the parks. After we signed up we gambled for an hour or so, then went back to the coaches for the afternoon. Around 6:00 we again drove over to the Casablanca and went to the Friday night seafood buffet. It was pretty good, better than some we have been to, and we had a great dinner. After dinner we gambled again for an hour or two. Jackie did OK, probably breaking even, I lost twenty bucks. About 9:00 we were back in the coach and we watched a little TV, then went to bed. So far Ray's air is still working.

Saturday, June 23^rd, we went out after lunch and drove around Mesquite, just doing some sight-seeing. It turns out that there are a bunch of very nice, newer developments including a big Sun City by Del Webb. We also picked up a couple of easy geocaches, just for the numbers. After our tour we went back to the coach, Ray and I went over to the pool for a little while. We got together about 5:00 for cocktails in the Babcock's coach, then Ray served a nice corn beef and cabbage dinner for the four of us. We chatted and visited after dinner and went back to our coach about 8:00. We just watched TV until bedtime. Sunday was another travel day. We left Mesquite around 10:00 and drove about 140 miles to Beaver, Utah. When you leave Nevada right after the town of Mesquite, you go into what is called the Arizona Strip, the far northwest corner of Arizona that is only accessible from Nevada or Utah. Interstate 15 goes diagonally across the corner for about 35 miles then crosses into Utah. We also lost an hour when we entered Utah and Mountain Time. We got to the Beaver Camperland about 1:30 and got parked. It was 25 degrees cooler in Beaver, of course it's at almost 6,000 feet elevation. We had cocktails and then Jackie served a nice meatloaf dinner for the four of us. After dinner we visited a bit, then watched TV until bed.

Monday, June 25^th, we left Beaver around 9:30 and continued north going about 160 miles to Provo, Utah. We arrived at the Lakeside Campground around 1:30 and got checked into our site. We are here for two days. Since this campground had a whole slew of trees all over the property, I had to dig out the portable satellite dish and get it set up, so I didn't get done until almost 3:30. We relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon and got together with Ray and Suzie at 5:00 for cocktails. Since the weather was nice we actually sat outside in the shade for cocktails, it was very nice. After cocktails we had Ray's leftover corn beef and veggies for dinner. We had corn beef sandwiches and they were excellent. About 7:30 we were back in our coach and watching TV until it was time for bed.

Tuesday, June 26^th, we left the RV park around 10:30 and went out with Ray and Suzie to explore Provo a little bit. We have been here several times in the past, but they have not. We drove through the campus of Brigam Young University (BYU) which has it's main campus in Provo. This is a very large, research university that is operated as a non-profit institution by the Mormon Church. There was not a lot of activity on the campus as it was summer, but it is a very pretty campus. We then went to the next town up, Orem, and went to a little hole in the wall cafe called Joe's that had great reviews on Yelp. It was just a breakfast and lunch place and probably only seats about 40 people max. The owner is a big, gregarious black guy, Joe, who is loud and smart ass and flirty and everyone loves it. The food was outstanding and we all enjoyed our meal. Jackie and I both had omelets which were huge, Ray and Suzie both had big burgers. A true five star eatery for us. After lunch we went to Winco for a few supplies, then headed back to the RV park. We did a few chores and Ray and I did a quick drive to an RV parts store for some stuff. We had cocktails and snacks with the Babcocks, but no real dinner as we were all full from lunch. About 8:00 we were back in our coach and watched some TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, June 27^th, another travel day. Today we were leaving Provo and driving to Green River, Wyoming, about 200 miles northeast. We knew that once we left the Salt Lake Valley we had to climb over the Wasach Mountains with a summit of about 7,000 feet. It was cool in the morning, but the temps were supposed to rise quickly to the high 90's, so we got an early start, on the road by 8:30. As a result we hit a little rush hour traffic in Salt Lake City, but we got up the grade before it got too hot and both of us made it without the coaches overheating. Our coach got warm, just in the yellow warning range, but not for long and I was pleased. We arrived at the Green River Travel Camp about 12:30 or so and quickly got settled in. We were parked on either side of our friend's Vernon and Peggy Bullock, who had come into the park yesterday. They are also traveling to the rallies in Gillette and we will be with them on and off for the next month. We had a great reunion, having last seen them back in early April in Camp Verde, Arizona. We had cocktails with the six of us, then Peggy served a great dinner of penne pasta. We had salad and bread too and had a wonderful meal. We talked until about 8:00, then went back in our own coaches for the rest of the night.

Thursday, June 28^th, the six of us left the RV park around 11:00 and drove into Green River to explore and have lunch. We stopped on the way and picked up a geocache just for the numbers. We are not doing a lot of physical activity because Jackie does not do well in high altitudes and we are over 6,000 feet here. We drove around town for about 20 minutes, which was enough to see most of this town of 12,000 people. We then all went to the China Garden Chinese restaurant. We didn't have huge expectations but the place had decent reviews. We found that the food was actually very good. They had both menu service and a small buffet with a half dozen selections. They even had prime rib, which is what Vernon had. Suzie ordered off the menu and the rest of us did the buffet. We ate way too much and were very satisfied. After lunch we went back to the campground. I did some repairs to the coach while Jackie did some office work. At 5:30 we had cocktails with the group, but no one wanted dinner or even snacks. About 7:30 we were back in the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, June 29^th, another travel day for us. The Babcock's and Bullock's are staying in Green River one more night. We left the park about 10:00 and drove 130 miles to Rawlings, Wyoming. Rawlings is another small, prairie town, even smaller than Green River. We got settled into the Red Desert Rose RV park, got set up, and spent the rest of the afternoon doing office work. We had really bad internet in Green River, but it was good here, so we managed to get a lot of work done. We spent the rest of the day and evening in the coach. We will be here for two days and will be joined again tomorrow by the Babcock's and Bullock's.

Saturday, June 30^th, we pretty much stayed home for the day. This town is over 6,800 feet in elevation and Jackie is not wanting to move around too much. I did go out and get a geocache that was on the frontage road not too far from the entrance to the RV park. We did some chores around the coach, but it was cloudy and on and off light rain, so nothing outside. The Babcock's and Bullock's arrived in the early afternoon and got parked.  About 4:30 the six of us got together for cocktails, then about 5:00 we all drove to a place in downtown Rawlings, all two square blocks of it, to a restaurant called The Aspen House. It was a steak and seafood place that was inside of a turn of the century Victorian house. The food was outstanding for the most part. Jackie and Vernon had rack of lamb and when it came out it was cold, so they sent it back and, predictably, the reheating had overcooked the meat. They were less than impressed with their meals. On the other hand, Ray and I had blackened Cajun rib eye steaks that were huge and cooked to perfection. Peggy had a filet she said was outstanding, along with a lobster tail. Suzie had lobster ravioli and she said it was very good too. After dinner we went back to the RV park and watched TV until bedtime.

Sunday, July 1^st, another travel day for us. The Babcock's and Bullock's are staying in Rawlings another day. We were on the road at 10:00, driving 150 miles east to Cheyenne, Wyoming, the capital city. We have been here a couple of times before and stayed at the same RV park, AB Camping. We checked in and got settled into our spot, then went out to do a Walmart run. After we got back we finished setting up, then relaxed in the coach for the rest of the day. Monday we left the coach about 11:00 and went to lunch at a nearby Thai restaurant called Anong's. We learned that this is a small chain with stores in Rawlings, Laramie, and Cheyenne. We had seen the place in Rawlings and the Babcock's and Bullock's went there for lunch yesterday. They told us the food was excellent. A friend of ours also told Jackie online to try it a couple days ago. Everyone was right, the food was outstanding. I had the buffet which had sesame chicken, spicy beef and egg rolls. There were a number of other dishes, but those were the three I had, besides a wonderful cup of coconut chicken soup. Jackie had rack of lamb with veggies that she said was better than we had a couple nights ago in Rawlings. After lunch we went to the laundromat and did our laundry. We then went home, picking up a geocache on the way. After we got everything put away we relaxed the rest of the night.

Tuesday, July 3^rd, another travel day. We left Cheyenne early, about 9:30, because we were driving 180 miles north to Casper, Wyoming. The weather was nice and we had an uneventful drive, arriving at the Casper East Campground around 12:30. We quickly got parked, just a few spaces down from the Bullock's and the Babcock's, who arrived here yesterday. We are actually here for three days because of the holiday tomorrow, the first stop longer than two days in a couple of weeks. After we got set up we relaxed for a while. We had some rain come through, and the weather radio even went off twice regarding some severe storms in the area. Fortunately those were north of us and moving away, all we got was some moderate rain. About 5:30 everyone came to our coach for happy hour. We sat and talked and drank until about 7:00 when everyone went back to their own places. We relaxed, had a light dinner and watched TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, July 4^th, Happy Independence Day! Jackie and I went out after lunch and did a Walmart run. We spent a few hours relaxing in the coach, then around 3:00 Ray, Vernon and I drove to one of the shopping centers here in Casper for a car show. It was a fairly small show, only three dozen or so cars, but some were very interesting. We spent about 45 minutes with the cars, then drove back to the RV park. Everyone spent some time in the late afternoon getting things ready for our 4^th of July dinner. We all gathered outside, because the weather was nice, for cocktails at 5:00, and then had a nice dinner of BBQ ribs, cole slaw, baked beans and desert. Thanks to Vernon for cooking the ribs, I am not so good with ribs. We had a great dinner, everything tasted wonderful, and some great time with friends. By 7:30 we were all back in our own coaches for the rest of the night. We heard a few fireworks and firecrackers around the area, but we were too far away from the official City of Casper fireworks show to be able to see them.

Thursday, July 5^th, we went out after lunch and did a little sight-seeing around Casper. We first stopped at Kohl's so Jackie could exchange some shirts, we then drove to the south side of town to the Fort Caspar museum. When we were here in 2015 we stayed at the RV park which is right next to the museum, but we never got around to visiting it. Today we met the Bullock's and Babcock's there and did the museum. Very interesting history of the area and especially the bad relations they had with the local Indians. We also got a geocache there at the museum. After checking out the museum we drove around downtown and some of the older residential areas of Casper before stopping at the Elks Lodge for a cocktail and lodge pin.  After the lodge visit we headed back to the RV park. We had cocktails with the group at 5:00, then we all had a nice Mexican dinner that Jackie made. Chili relleno, rice and beans. We had a great time and were back in our own coaches around 7:30.

Friday, July 6^th, another travel day. We were on the road around 10:00, heading north about 115 miles to Buffalo, Wyoming for a one night stay. All three of us are going to Buffalo, but the Babcock's and Bullock's are staying in a different RV park because the one we had reservations in had no more room. We arrived before noon and pretty quickly got settled into our spot. We stayed in until 5:30 when we left to go to the Winchester Steak House, just down the road, for dinner with the gang. Today is Peggy's birthday and we all gathered for dinner to celebrate. Again, we had a great meal. I had a rib eye that was cooked perfectly and tasted wonderful, as good or maybe better than my favorite, Jocko's. Jackie had halibut that was very good, Suzie had shrimp and everyone else did prime rib. After a wonderful birthday dinner we went back to the coach for the rest of the night.

Saturday, July 7^th, we all left Buffalo about 9:30, headed east for the last leg of our travels for a while. We were going 70 miles to Gillette where we will be for two and a half weeks attending rallies. We all arrived together around 11:30 and got parked together. Unlike most rallies we go to we have full hookup, 50 amp sites here so being in one place for all the rallies will be really convenient. After we got parked we spent the rest of the afternoon setting up and then relaxing. At 4:30 we had happy hour with a bunch of the Monaco International members who are here early. The rally actually doesn't start until the middle of next week, but we are here early because we are helping with various things for the rally. At 5:30 we went back and had another happy hour with our group. We and the Bullock's then did some burgers on the BBQ for dinner and had a nice dinner. After Peggy and Vernon left we watched some TV then went to bed.

This first week will be all Monaco International rally stuff, then the next week will be the FMCA rally. Our arrival here for our summer rallies marks a good place to close out this episode and get it published. Until next time, remember to be thankful for everybody in your life, good and bad, past and present. They all made you the person that you are today. See ya soon.