The butterflies are here!

Yanks RV Resort
Greenfield, CA

Yesterday was a perfect day to get together with

our friends, Connie & Greg.

We met them halfway, in Salinas,

and then drove with them over to Pacific Grove.

Our mission was to go to the butterfly grove,

and see the Monarchs that have migrated here.

We saw them last year, at the tail end of the migration,

so there weren't as many to see.

This is the beginning of the migration,

you can read about it here.

The four of us saw a couple of pretty good clusters.

When they're clinging to the tree and each other,

they look like dead leaves.

They hang there until the temperature gets above 55º,

then they'll fly around looking for nectar.

There was a male warming up in the sun..

Connie took a break on the bench,

and the local cat jumped up for a snuggle :-)

There is a nice trail that winds around the grove of Eucalyptus trees.

Docents are stationed in different places with a telescope

focusing on clusters of the butterflies.

The lens is fed into an Ipad, so that people have an easier time seeing them.

Although the docent said they current count is about 7,000,

later in the winter there will be so much more!

We got some silly shots of Greg & Connie in the butterfly pose..

We opted for the pose on the butterfly bench..

Connie was kind enough to bring some lite munchies,

and we brought some things to add,

so we drove over to see the ocean.

We found a picnic table at Lover's Point,

and attempted a selfie shot :-)

Oh well :-(

The waves were crashing on the rocks,

even though it was a windless day.

 These two guys tried to encroach on our picnic!

After enjoying the sunshine, we headed over to Fisherman's Wharf

to check out more sights.

They were just starting to decorate for Christmas.

From the wharf we could see a pod of dolphins,

but even with my telephoto lens, 

I only got the back fin of one.

You can see it just to the right of the buoy.

This is the first time I've seen so many jellyfish

right off the wharf as well!

I did enhance the colors a bit so as to see them better.

There is never a shortage of sea lions barking away,

or sunning themselves.

These two were just over the railing down below the wharf.

Lazy bums!

I caught this sea otter rolling around,

but he was just out of reach to get a good shot

of his cute face.

We always enjoy the fishing boats sitting,

waiting to go out.

 Herons and pelicans can be found sitting on the rocks as well.

The four of us really enjoyed our day out.

We have future plans as well, can't wait!

After we got back into Salinas, George and I dropped by Mom's

and decorated her apartment for Christmas.

It looks very festive!

Today we're off, I'm doing laundry,

and we put our decorations up as well.

It's going to be a great Christmas!

Our routine

Yanks RV Resort
Greenfield, CA

We are quite settled in back at our jobs here.

I'm in the office Friday - Monday 8 - 4,

and George works outside Friday - Sunday 8 - 4.

We both love it here!

Office work is pretty simple,

taking reservations (a lot are done online),

checking guests in,

taking payments from a few long term guests.

I do some minor cleaning of the office area,

and restock any gift or grocery items we have.

George cuts grass once a week,

does minor landscaping work, 

escorts guests to their sites,

and fills propane when needed.

Outside work is great in sunny 70° weather!

There are 4 full-time employees here.

2 guys do the landscaping and escorting when needed.

One lady cleans the facilities daily,

and another is in the office 5 days a week.

The couple who manages the park is wonderful.

Since I have to get up so early,

I get to see the nice sunrises from my window.

The other day there was a nice rainbow after

some steady rain the night before.

The park is all decked out in Christmas decorations,

including this tree in the clubhouse..

(thanks Norma!)

We finally get to get together with our friends

Greg and Connie tomorrow.

We'll be checking out the Monarch butterflies

now that they've migrated to Pacific Grove.

There are lots of whales in the Pacific too!

Ahhh, California...

Yanks RV Resort
Greenfield, CA

George and I finally have made our return trip.

We are back in the central coast of California,

workamping at a great RV resort.

For now we're in a different site than when we left,

but all sites are great here!

We'll move back to where we were in B2

when the other workamper leaves in a few weeks.

We'll be working our normal schedule here,

getting our bank account stocked up.

It was an expensive trip!

Sunday after we got set up and reunited with everyone here,

we took a ride up to Salinas to visit Mom and have dinner.

Yesterday we took a ride up to our favorite winery.

Before we left 2 months ago, we became a club member.

There's no cost, but you must commit 

to 4 bottles of their wine every quarter at club member price.

Not a problem, as we buy that much usually anyway :-)

Hahn Estate wines are the best!

Of course we get free tastings now,

but we love to go up for the view.

The grapes were all harvested, and now the vines are

waiting to be pruned back.

Cheers!

Thanksgiving will find us going out to dinner

with Mom, Adam, and Jennifer.

It will be nice to get together again after being gone for 2 months.

It's going to be a busy year!

Adam is getting married in August,

and we have a pretty cool trip planned in August as well..

more about that later :-)

We're anxious to get together with friends Connie and Greg too!

The whales are pretty active here in Monterey bay,

so some trips over to the ocean are in our future.

If any of our RVing friends are traveling through California in the next year,

please come see us!

Next stop 'home'!

Bakersfield River Run RV Park
Bakersfield, CA

Well, after almost 2 weeks of one night stops,

and a brief stay in Amarillo,

we are finally almost 'home'.

A bit of an update since my last post..

Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers,

as my recheck mammogram and ultrasound showed nothing.

It felt good to leave Amarillo and not have to worry about that!

Before we got to our overnight in Kingman, AZ

I got an e-mail from a long-time blog follower.

They are in Bullhead City and asked to meet us

for a meal in Kingman.

Tebra and George are fellow Pennsylvanians

and are now fulltime since 2013.

It was great to finally meet them and hear

about all their travels.

I'm sure we'll keep in touch and see them again somewhere!

We had nice travel days this last week,

and I always love the desert scenery.

We are now in Bakersfield at our favorite RV park.

Our two night stay will able us to visit,

and rest up a bit!

We had dinner with my Aunt and Uncle last night.

Today we're getting the RV washed, it's got 2 months of

road dirt on it!

Tomorrow we will be back at our home base

at Yanks RV resort in Greenfield.

We've got plans for Thanksgiving with Mom,

Adam, and Jennifer.

We'll start back to work on Friday.

Can't wait to be back and stationary for awhile!

Halfway 'home'

Amarillo Ranch RV Park
Amarillo, TX

George and I have finally landed in Amarillo

after a week of traveling from PA to CA.

We stayed in a new park in Van Buren, Arkansas,

Park Ridge RV Park.

It is conveniently located right off I-40,

and we had a site long enough to stay hooked up.

The park is filled with pecan trees!

They sell them by the pound, but we

found a few right on the ground.

The leaves were falling, sounding like rain on the roof.

We had just enough clearance through the trees to 

get a satellite signal.

We're in Amarillo until Tuesday.

I was called back to do another mammogram screening

as they found a 'subtle difference' from last year's.

Appreciate thoughts and prayers for tomorrow at 1 pm.

There's no family history of anything, 

so I'm hopeful.

We will be in California by Sunday the 19th,

back at Yanks to work for the winter and summer 2018.