Rich's RV and Shootin' Tour 2017

[RJ]

Moved over to a different RV Park here in South Lake Tahoe CA today.

Boy are we glad we left. The last two days were pretty bad. This City owned campground was not what we were looking for: No WiFi, no sewer, huge tree canopy blocking Satellite reception, no cable TV, Verizon cell service extremely spotty, and the hanging odor of wet sodden campfires joining the whiff of stale urine and worse from the filthy bath house every morning. Yuk.

This is our second stay at a California local municipal park, the first was not much better. Do Californians simply not care about maintaining their public outdoor spaces? Geez.

Well.

At any rate, we are now in a commercial campground, 3 miles away from the Lake, in a better part of town. Price is about the same, sadly.

I deployed my new 'Cone' alignment backing aid and put the Airstream into the spot on a dime.



This park has full hook up, decent WiFi, and LoS for my Dish antenna. Cool beans.

We are here till Sunday, when we head to the coast to Marina CA for four days.

[Drang]

We are here till Sunday, when we head to the coast to Marina CA for four days.

I always liked Marina. Then they closed Ft Ord (AKA Planet Odd) and things reportedly got worse...

Do check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
(Stupid spell check. The one in America is spelled with one "r"...)

Otherwise Cannery Row is one huge tourist trap, although I do recommend the Bargetto Winery tasting room if its still there. Try the mead. It's awesome!

Oddly enough, despite spending a collective 4+ years in the Monterey By region, I never went to any of the historical sites at the Presidio. (Stupid spell check. That is too a word!) I do know that it stopped being an open post after 9/11, they let us drive through on the basis of my retired ID, but that was over 10 years ago, so I don't know what current procedures are.

Laguna Seca.

Not into golf, never did Pebble Beach, but my father claims to have psyched out his opponents at his golf club with his Pebble Beach souvenirs, purchased on... Cannery Row.

The coast along Monterey Bay is amazing. Otters are hilarious, and sea lions are impressive. If you have time, absolutely do Big Sur.

Carmel is mostly overpriced. (And Clint no longer hands out at the Hog's Breath Inn...)

[RJ]

"Salud, amor y pesetas. y tiempo para gastarlas".
@SeriousStudent thanks again. Much appreciated.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[SeriousStudent]

De nada, mi amigo.

[RJ]

Well, the truck is fueled up ($3.05 a gallon!) and we are ready to head to the Coast tomorrow.

I ended up liking Lake Tahoe.

We took a fairly sporty 1 lane road 4 miles up to Fallen Leaf Lake, a remote Alpine lake SW of South LT. Very pretty views, and very peaceful.





Today we took a visit to historic Tallac Estate, a collection of buildings dating from Lake Tahoe's brief period as a Spa for the rich and famous from San Francisco and Virginia City at the turn of the century. Unfortunately the Hotel and Casino were torn down in the 30s, but the National Forest Service owns three 3 older lake houses on the property.





Earlier in the week we visited Heavenly, the main South LT ski area. Or tried to, unfortunately the ski Gondola was not running. Still, quite a few upmarket shops and hotels made for nice window shopping.



Enjoyable week. We had spectacular weather.

[RJ]

Ok so the run was 278 miles today, two stops, but no fuel. 13.9 mpg; it was mostly all downhill from South Lake Tahoe to the seaside here in Marina CA.

We avoided the single lane backups on Rt-50 and went south on 89/88 through the San Joaquin valley to Stockton, then I5 down to 101 then over to the Monterey Peninsula.

We stopped for a look near Kit Carson Pass, on CA-88; the pass is 8,879'. Good thing I set the parking brake.



We parked up at the RV Park, where we are paying $75 a night, yikes.



Had a nice Flautas and Cerveza at a local Mexican watering hole, it was not bad.

We're here four nights, and are planning some sightseeing. Big Sur (at least up to where the road is washed out) as well as Carmel By The Sea is on the list.

[Duelist]

I spent a couple of years there in Monterey, years ago. Our son was born at CHOMP, the big hospital there.

Good times!

[ranger]

I was at FT Ord near Monterey 1983 to 1986. Wife worked at a local bank in Carmel Valley and used to see celebrities on a regular basis. 7th ID was transitioning from "Regular" Infantry to "Light" Infantry so I spent all my time in the field which is a good place for a young Infantry officer! Beautiful area.

[JclInAtx]

Just checked parks.ca.gov and only Point Lobos and Point Sure Lighthouse are open. The other parks in Big Sur are closed due to the previous fires and rains from this year. Point Lobos is beautiful. Check out whalers cove and look for sea lions with pups on the beach, I think the timing is right. Watch out for poison ivy for it's everywhere.
Look for the mushroom houses in Carmel too if you walk around town.

[RJ]

Monday we visited a Mission Church my wife wanted to see, then we drove through Carmel By The Sea. Very cute houses on Ocean Avenue.

Today we saw Bixby Creek Bridge and a bit of the coast down the PCH. Wow.





We drove back through 17 Mile Drive and Pebble Beach this afternoon. Holy Smokes. Too bad I'm not a Hollywood Millionaire cause those houses are pretty spectacular.

Going down to try and see Cannery Row and the downtown area near the Aquarium tomorrow for lunch to wrap up our visit.

Thursday we're headed to Napa CA for four days, then we make a long drive up the coast, stopping one day near Coos Bay OR, then headed to Astoria OR to meet some family for a week or so.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk