Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Birthday fun

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

The last couple of days have been relaxing..
and makes us both say..'aren't we glad to be retired?'

The RV job is easy...boring at times.
There are the typical fluctuations of 'guests'
coming in and out of the park. Fridays and Mondays
being the busiest, as the weekend warriors come to visit.

We've had a few clubs come, some of them with 10 RVs
in the group..and they use the clubhouse to have a potluck, etc.
We also get a lot of golfers who like to stay here,
and we shuttle them over to the local Coyote Creek golf course,
in the golf cart 'limo'. 


There was a big group a few days ago, so we had to use
two carts to get them and their clubs to the golf course.
George drove the limo, and I drove the smaller cart.
When we picked them up, we both got tips :-)

Today was extra special..
my 56th birthday.
Not that I celebrate them anymore..but..  ;-)

George took both our shifts today so I could have a day to relax.
I spent the day working for the other 'job' on the computer :-(

The highlight was going out to dinner with Mom & Dad.
They took us both to Gino's for some fine Italian food.


They had a wonderful artichoke bisque to start with..


and I had the lasagna, which I could only eat about a third of..
it was huge!


Of course we had to have dessert..
and my Dad and I both had a cannoli,
and mine came with a candle :-)


Was a great day..and so glad to spend it with family!

Friday, January 25, 2013

Artichokes!

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

Yesterday was another nice day off.

One of the perks of workamping in this area..
or being in this area, period, is..
all the wonderful produce that is grown around here.

In Salinas - the Salad Bowl of the World -
you can get pretty much any type of lettuce..
In Watsonville - it is strawberries -
and in Castroville - Artichokes!

We took a drive from Morgan Hill over Route 152 (Hecker Pass)
which winds up and over and down the Santa Cruz mountains
and through Watsonville to Highway 1.
The views from the top are beautiful..



The goal was Castroville, to snatch up some yummy artichokes.


There are several produce stands along the way,
one in Moss Landing, where we stopped and bought some things.
The place I like the best, however, is the
Giant Artichoke.
You can purchase produce, and any size artichoke you could ever eat.


They also sell their famous french fried artichokes
which you can eat in their little restaurant,
or buy frozen in bags.
We picked up a small bag, as well as lemon biscotti
made at the local Portuguese bakery.

We then decided to surprise my parents,
and drop by with our goodies.
We shared the artichoke hearts and biscotti,
and then stayed for a nice meatloaf dinner :-)

Today was a lazy day..our last day off this week.
I worked on taxes, accounting work for 'the other job',
and did laundry.

Tomorrow is a full work day...looks like it will sunny!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Santa Cruz

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

We were finally almost at the end of a 10 day run of workamping here.
I've been wanting to spend a day with my son, Adam, but his days off are limited.
Today was one of his few days off (he works two jobs!),
so we switched with another couple so that we could spend the day with him.

I know one of his favorite places to spend time is downtown Santa Cruz.
It's not far for either of us to drive to, 
so we made plans to meet him and his girlfriend, Candee, there today.

We drove over route 17, which is a nice winding highway through the mountains.
We decided to park at the boardwalk parking lot, as it is free this time of year,
and has plenty of open spots for our truck.

While waiting for them to get there from farther south,
George and I walked around the boardwalk.



This is the off-season, and being the middle of the week,
none of the rides were open.
It was raining a bit, so not like we were going
to go on them anyway :-)

The boardwalk had its 100th anniversary in 2007.
It is one of the most colorful I've ever seen..
and it brought back memories of coming up 
and spending the day when I was in high school.



The beach was empty today..

 

Finally, Adam & Candee showed up. We all decided since the rain had
stopped, that we would walk downtown from the boardwalk parking lot.
It isn't too far a walk, and it was nice to get the exercise.
We promised them lunch, and they recommended this little place


The food there was fabulous, and we were lucky enough to
be the only ones in there, as they were prepping for an employee party.

I had Kianti's Gourmet Pasta..


It was so nice to spend time with them!


We walked around downtown a bit.
Santa Cruz has a very colorful downtown as well..



There was a suggestion to go to this great place..
a chocolate bar :-)
Chocolate for lunch and dinner...well...I'll be!


George had a warm, dark chocolate cupcake..


..and I opted for a coconut cheesecake,
with white chocolate and chocolate ganache..


Good thing we had to walk back to the truck
after eating all that..

It was a perfect day!



Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Taco Tuesday

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

Well let's see..
last time I posted..
we had gone out for pizza with our fellow workampers..
the 49ers won the NFC championships..
and we had a not-so-famous boy band in the park.

We have been pretty busy since.
The boy band left today, but gave me a signed copy
of one of their CDs. Maybe they'll become famous someday.

I found a bike buddy in Sylvia, the other workamper.
We've been exploring the bike trails while our husbands work :-)


Yesterday we rode 4 miles,
but today I took the camera to document it.
We actually rode 6 miles today.

The trail winds around and is behind the park here.
It is nicely paved, and there are some gentle slopes
to give the heart a workout.





This bike path is part of Coyote Creek Parkway.
It is 13 miles long, so I have some more riding to do!

When we got back, I rode around with George a bit in the cart.




Tonight was our first Taco Tuesday!

For $1/taco and $1/beer we had dinner.




We sat with Dennis & Sylvia, as they were
on the night shift tonight.
Later a few more people came and we sat and chatted.

It was a great day!

Tomorrow we are meeting my son, Adam and his girlfriend, Candee
in Santa Cruz. We plan on spending the day with them..
should be fun!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Pizza time

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

California weather is starting to get better...
it's been in the high 60's most of this week!
Now to you Florida people, high 60's would be downright chilly :-)

I've finally been able to take the time every day,
and walk a mile or more around the park here.
I use my RunKeeper app on my phone,
and walk up and down every loop in the park.
I still want to take our bikes down the bike trail, 
but we've been on 10 day schedule,
so it will have to wait until we have a few days off.

By the way..
we found out that this Prevost is not Vernon Davis's..
it is Randy Moss's :-)


Of course, he's currently in Atlanta getting ready for football :-)

We had another bit of excitement yesterday.
A big tour bus pulled in..


..and out came a 5 member boy band.
I must admit I didn't know who they were,
so looked them up online.
They don't sound too bad! 
Maybe we can get them to play for us.

Tonight we went out for pizza with our fellow workampers,
Dennis & Sylvia Morris..to My Pizza.
We had a great time, sharing stories of being on the road,
and I forgot to take pictures!

There is a lot of excitement around here,
as the 49ers are in the NFC championship game tomorrow.
I'm sure there will be a crowd in the great room watching the game :-)

GO 49ers!!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Flip flop weather

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

Finally, the days seem to be getting a bit warmer.
Even though there was frost this morning, the sun
came up and finally warmed up this part of the earth to
a nice 60 degrees. We'll take it :-)

Not a whole lot to blog about lately.
We're enjoying our job here at Coyote..
but it's not without drama :-)
Anytime you have permanent residents and
semi-permanent residents along
with workampers, and weekend warriors
all in the same park,
things get fun at times!

There is a guy, Tony, who has a mobile RV washing business,
and George has gotten to know him this past month.
George hands Tony's cards out when RV's check in,
and in exchange, Tony and his guys came and
washed Harvey today!



We gave them a bottle of wine for their trouble.

Since it was so nice today,
we hopped on our bikes and rode around the park a bit.



We saw our fellow workampers out on their afternoon shift..



oh...then there's this..


Apparently it is Vernon Davis's Prevost
(he's a 49er, in case you don't know).
His driver came and is storing it here until
he comes and picks it up again :-)
Geez, no one is even staying in it.
It's all about the money, baby!

More warm days on the horizon..
we hope to get some time to ride
the bike trail!



Sunday, January 13, 2013

Two days off

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

So this morning, I read that the east coast is 30 degrees warmer 
than normal, and the west coast is 30 degrees colder.
When I saw that it was 44 in Pennsylvania, and only 27 here this morning..
I thought, there is something wrong here!
Oh well, it is supposed to 'warm' up to the mid 60's this week.

Yesterday we took a ride to San Jose for a follow up at the Urgent Care.
I'm getting better with the antibiotics, so that's good.
I'm glad there are more and more of those types of places,
especially for full-time RVrs who do not have family doctors.

I was going to show George some of San Jose,
where I went to college at San Jose State University,
and a few other places...
however..
the traffic at about 1 pm going north was stop and go.
Everyone was heading to Candlestick to watch the 49rs play :-)

We decided to go south instead!

We ended up in Gilroy. There is a Bed, Bath & Beyond there,
and we were looking for a new can opener, as ours bit the dust.
We poked around the store a bit, but since we don't need anything,
and don't want to spend money on something we don't need, 
we didn't buy anything else.

We wanted to grab a bite somewhere, so I typed 'Gilroy brew pub'
into my smartphone. One came right up, so when I looked for the directions..
I realized that what came up was a pub in Gilroy, Australia!
A little far :-)
Instead we went to

It was pretty empty, so we got good seats to watch
the Broncos / Ravens game.


The food was pretty good..



This morning we drove down to meet my parents,
and went to church with them.
Afterwards we came back to their house
and had a nice healthy salad for lunch.

The Falcons / Seahawks game was on, so we
watched that, then watched part of the
New England game before we came home.

I'm loving that the 49rs are in the playoffs.
I was living here in CA when they were under
Bill Walsh, and watched them win several Superbowls.

We start a 10 day workamping rotation now..
with mostly 5 hour days.
Weather is supposed to be lovely (when it finally warms up!)
so we're hoping to get on our bikes and get some exercise!



Friday, January 11, 2013

Friday night wine tasting

Coyote Valley RV Resort
Morgan Hill, CA

It's been a pretty busy week here at the campground.
Seems like my shift has been mostly driving around,
picking up guests garbage and recycling,
and cleaning off sites to get them ready for new guests.
George gets his shift, and all the new people come in,
needing to be guided in.

Yesterday & today, a group of 10 Tiffin Phaeton/Allegro Buses
came in  for a get-together.
What a group! They are all from the bay area,
and are very friendly.

Tonight the resort had their weekly wine tasting.


The Tiffin group was there too, and welcomed us
with open arms.


They love George :-)


I haven't felt that great the last couple days..
but went to the doc today, and found out 
I have a bladder infection (ouch).
Rather have that than the nasty flu that is going
around on the east coast!

Another freeze warning out tonight, 
temps in the 20's.
Brrr...when is it going to warm up!?

George and I have Saturday & Sunday off.
Sunday we're spending down at my parents..
maybe we'll do a bit of sightseeing tomorrow.

Stay tuned for more details!