A new addition

Yanks RV Resort
Greenfield, CA

Today we finally pull out and head north

to Camping World for the long awaited

repairs to Harvey.

2 months ago we had a blow out on the trailer

which caused damage to the passenger side.

Why it's taken 2 months to get it finally repaired is unacceptable.

Somewhere between Camping World and NGIC insurance

lies the blame, so we're currently shopping for new insurance.

NGIC has upped our annual premium by $672!

This is after 5 years of no claims, and no significant increases.

Yesterday we did some shopping :-)

Our sofa bed in the RV is falling apart,

and is very uncomfortable to sit on anyway.

George and I have been looking for 

something to replace it with,

such as theater seating with recliners.

It had to be a specific length,

wall hugger,

and not too heavy either.

There is a local Ashley Furniture dealer,

so we looked for something there.

We found the perfect thing!

It is SO comfortable, has a great center console with storage,

and power recline!

Watching TV will be so much nicer :-)

It gets delivered in 3 weeks, we can't wait!

After shopping and taking Mom to the dentist,

we stopped to eat at a local Mexican restaurant.

You know it's authentic when everything

on the menu was in Spanish.

Good thing I took several years of Spanish,

it came in handy!

This is salsa & chips..

8 different salsas, all very hot!

I ordered carne asada,

which was excellent..

It came with refried beans, baked in a flour shell,

rice with corn, and a cactus leaf.

Yum!

Hopefully we'll be back here in Greenfield by mid-week.

Looking forward to getting our Christmas decorations out!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yanks RV Resort

Greenfield , CA

We hope that everyone had a great day Thursday!

Our Thanksgiving Day was a lot of fun.

We made reservations at the Monterey Plaza Hotel

on Cannery Row, and it didn't disappoint!

Our friends Greg & Connie went with the 3 of us,

and it was nice of them to drive.

The spread was just beautiful,

with turkey, prime rib, salmon, shrimp, crab,

and different salads.

Of course there was the traditional sides

of stuffing, sweet potatoes, etc.

The dessert table was wonderful too!

There was a harpist playing in the room we were in,

and our waiter was terrific!

I wish I had gotten more pictures of the spread :-)

Afterwards, Greg took us for a drive to see the ocean..

Yesterday George and I decorated Mom's

apartment with all her Nativity scenes,

and sorted through boxes of other Christmas decorations.

Adam & Jennifer came by and helped too!

Next week we finally are getting the repairs done

to Harvey, we're so happy!

Wow, what a drive!

Yanks RV Resort
Greenfield, CA

I never tire of taking a ride over to the ocean.

Yesterday it rained most of the day here,

so the hills are turning a bit greener.

Today we decided to take a ride to 

get some fresh produce.

We both like to go to a produce stand

in Moss Landing and pick up artichokes,

grapefruit, lemons, strawberries, and other goodies.

After loading up, we drove south on Highway 1

towards Big Sur.

The views from Highway 1 are always breathtaking.

There is a mountain range between the Salinas Valley

and the Pacific Ocean called the Santa Lucia mountains.

The only road that crosses over the mountains is

Nacimiento-Fergusson Road.

It starts just south of the Kirk Creek Bridge.

It connects Route 1 with Highway 101, 

It doesn't take long before the views are amazing!

The road heads east 4 miles south from the little town of Lucia.

Before you know it, the road is climbing about 7 miles

to the summit at 2,780 feet.

  

The Pacific seems to go on forever!

Once it starts descending, it goes through the

Los Padres National Forest,

where live oaks, pinyon junipers, and redwood trees can be seen.

As we dropped down on the eastern slopes

and into the Salinas Valley,

we entered Fort Hunter Liggett.

We got a bit nervous when we went by a sign

that said 'authorized personnel only',

and 'no cell phone use'.

Of course, we ignored it :-)

I had read before we did the ride

that this would happen :-)

Fort Hunter Liggett is an Army training facility,

where they do field maneuvers and live fire exercises.

Apparently if they're doing maneuvers there is NO entrance!

Before long we were back at home.

What a great ride, and only 185 miles :-)

A fun day with friends, and an overnight trip

Yanks RV Resort
Greenfield, CA

On Thursday we got together with

our good friends, Connie & Greg,

and showed them the River Road wine trail.

There are 8 wineries on River Road and surrounding roads.

The road stretches from highway 68 south to Soledad.

Lucky for all of us, the RV resort has free wine tasting passes :-)

We started out at Scheid Vineyards, which is just south of us here.

George and I had never been to that winery,

and this is Connie & Greg's first time to this wine area.

We picked up some crackers, cheese, sausage, and munchies,

and headed on to Hahn Winery.

 They have a couple 'house' cats, 

Chardonnay and Cabarnet :-)

George's favorite winery :-)

We picked Hahn to have our little picnic,

due to the fact that the views from their deck are spectacular!

We had our munchies and a bottle of wine,

it was so nice out!

Even the Jays were happy..

We did go to a third winery, Pessagno,

but by then we were 'wined' out :-)

The four of us ended the afternoon with a nice

dinner at Luigi's in Gonzales.

It was delicious!

Then...

on Friday...

we picked up my Mom 

and drove down to Bakersfield.

My Aunt and Uncle were having a huge garage sale,

and we thought we'd help out

and get a visit in at the same time.

It was a quick trip, but fun to help out.

George was careful not to take home anything :-)

A bit of a hike in the Pinnacles

Yanks RV Resort
Greenfield, CA

We're close to the middle of November,

and the weather is just beautiful here in CA.

It's been in the high 70's, low 80's,

and a perfect day for a hike.

The day use side of Pinnacles National Park

is just about 11 miles from where we are staying.

It's a great drive up into the Gabilan Mountains,

and through lots of fields of grape vines.

In 2013, the Pinnacles was designated a National Park.

We like that, as we got in free :-)

Since 1908, the Pinnacles has added bits and pieces

of acreage, to be its present size of 26,000 acres.

On the day use side,

there are several trails, both easy and strenuous.

We chose an easier one :-) 

The Pinnacles were formed eons ago,

with upthrust, plate tectonics, 

volcano action,

and lots of geology you can read about here.

There is a lot of color in the rock formations,

but not a lot of green in the hills.

We were really hoping to see some California Condors.

The ranger at the visitor center said no sightings

that he knew of.

Last year we were here with our friends,

and saw some condors flying above.

We really enjoyed getting out

and clearing our heads after all the election 'stuff'.

Today we're going to do some wine tasting

at the great wineries here

with our friends Greg & Connie.

Oh, we didn't get the job at the RV park

we were hoping to.

He had just hired somebody else :-(

This, that, and Aebleskivers

Yanks RV Resort
Greenfield, CA

We continue to keep busy here in California.

Tuesday the 1st was my Mom's birthday,

so I surprised her by taking her to

The Steinbeck House.

This house, in Salinas, was built in 1897,

and the Steinbeck family bought it in 1900.

John Steinbeck was born in 1902

and lived in this house for many years.

40 years ago it was made into a quaint restaurant,

staffed by volunteers dressed in Victorian period dress.

I used to eat lunch here when I worked in Salinas.

The food is great!

Thursday I finally got in to a dentist

for a long overdue cleaning.

That and x-rays...$423!!

California is so expensive :-(

Saturday was our church's annual

Aebleskiver Luncheon.

We're not usually here this time of year,

so it was nice to be able to take Mom

and enjoy it.

I was asked to help too,

as they have a 'Grandma's Attic' area,

which is gently used items for sale.

My Mom and George relaxed and people watched 

while I worked :-)

What are Aebleskivers, do you ask?

They are traditional Danish pancakes in the shape of a sphere.

You need a special pan (shown above)

in order to cook them.

The recipe is basically the same as pancake batter,

some people put apples in the batter too.

They're eaten with either granulated sugar,

jam or jelly, or pancake syrup.

I took a picture of the story of the history,

which were on the tables. (Click to enlarge).

My son, Adam, inherited my Mom's pan,

and does a great job making them.

Hmm, maybe it'll be on the menu soon

at his new job :-)

We are STILL waiting for the repairs 

to be done on the RV!

If you don't remember,

we had a blowout on our way here,

which did lots of damage to the side of the RV.

You can refresh your memory here.

It's been over a month now,

and Camping World is going back 

and forth with our carrier, NGIC,

on the estimate.

We think it'll finally be getting fixed

around Dec. 1st! Ridiculous.

We still don't have a job here either.

I did happen to see that an RV park

in Marina, CA (on the ocean!) is 

looking for a workamper.

I sent them our resume,

and we're taking a ride there today,

and bug them until they hire us :-)

It would be 20 miles closer to Mom.

Woohoo!

Keep us in prayer, and keep your fingers crossed!