Sunday August 30, 2015 Morgan Hill, CA

We were up having our coffee in time to tune into the webcast of Bible study and then the worship services from Oakey Boulevard.  We saw Keith and Alice leave for breakfast and then come back.

Keith worked in the afternoon.  I went geocaching and found five caches.  No DNF's for a change.  I spotted a theme park near the RV park.  Maybe we will go there next time.











At six we went into Morgan Hill for dinner at the Sicilia In Bocca.  It was even better this time.  Keith had the Ribeye steak.  It was over two inches thick. More like a roast.  I had the rack of lamb and Gerri had Pasta Primivera.  Alice had swordfish.  All our meals were delicious and we had leftovers.

This was our last night at Morgan Hill with Keith and Alice.  We visited for awhile before retiring to our separate coaches.

A little TV and reading and we were in bed.

Saturday, August 29, 2015 Morgan Hill, CA

We had our coffee and caught up on computer stuff while having our coffee.  We took our coffee with us when we left for our day trip to Santa Cruz with Alice and Keith.

We went as passengers in Keith's truck.  The road through the vineyards and hills was curvy and many times had no shoulder.   On two occasions the road was one lane.  They had signal lights to stop traffic in those areas.  Even with those restrictions we encountered several cyclists.  Much of the trip was through heavy forest.  Occasionally we had panoramic views of valleys below, but they were fleeting.

Looking from the wharf toward the boardwalk

Eventually we came to CA-1, which in this area was 6 lane freeway with a lot of traffic going toward Santa Cruz.  Santa Cruz was bustling with weekend traffic.  After circling the area near the beach several times we finally choose to park on the wharf itself.  http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/visiting/santa-cruz-wharf

Looking from the wharf toward town

This wharf makes the piers in some other towns we have visited, Oceanside and Pismo Beach, seem small.  There was room for several hundred cars, even Keith's huge truck. We parked about midway out on the pier.  There were  a lot of people fishing off the wharf.  We stopped and watched several.  Everyone seemed to be catching.  The fish were mackerel and on the average they were probably about 10" long.  While we walked on the wharf, Keith and I fell behind looking for a geocache.  We found the bench where the cache was located.  It was piled up with the gear belonging to a couple of fishermen.  We had to get down on our knees to look under the bench.  A cursory search didn't produce the cache.  I started checking each individual bolt and screw.  I finally felt around crevices and corners and finally located the small magnetic container.




Alice and Gerri walked through some shops.  We finally decided on a restaurant for lunch.  We had a great view of a large portion of Monterrey Bay from our seats in the restaurant.  There were a few large sail boats coming and going that were obvious, judging from the number of passengers, tours of the bay.  There was one group of small sail boats That were sailing around almost always centered around a motorized inflatable.  As we watched they sailed in large and small circle making different maneuvers.  Eventually they all went through a capsize drill before sailing around the end of the wharf out of sight.

Keith and Alice Kerslake, Gerri and me

The restaurant we choose was the Riva Fish House. www.rivafishhouse.com Gerri and Alice both ordered the special of the day, mussels in a chili rojo broth.  The broth had peppers, potatoes, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes.  Great for dipping with the fresh bread they served.  Keith and I both had the fish and chips.  The fish was a very firm cod, I had a piece left over.

The Santa Cruz Lighthouse

After eating we drove to a nearby light house and took some pictures of the area.  The Santa Cruz Lighthouse was originally built in in the 1860's.  http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=87The current structure was built in 1967 and is now a museum.

Before getting on the highway back to the rv park Keith stopped for fuel.  I only bring this up to point out that at least in this area, diesel fuel is priced cheaper than regular gasoline. The gasoline is still in the $4 range, diesel was $2.61.

The wharf and bay view from the lighthouse

The drive back to Morgan Hill was of course a reverse of the trip to Santa Cruz.  It was faster because the heaviest traffic was still going toward the coast.

Back at the RV park everyone took a break.  I reread the hint and logs on a nearby cache that I couldn't find a few days ago, and went to try it again.  It was much higher in the tree than I had searched before.  Even with my height I couldn't reach the original hiding spot.  I let the owner know that in my log.  This find brought me to 2 for the day.

Since we had eaten a late lunch, we only ate snacks as we visited during the early evening  It was really comfortable sitting outside.  The weather cools off about 30 degrees at night compared to the daytime highs.  The moon was almost full last night but it hadn't risen by the time we went in for the night.

Some TV, computer and reading took us to an 11 o'clock bedtime.

Friday August 28, 2015 Morgan Hill, CA

The first thing I did this morning was get the sewer connection ready for the pumping service that we had scheduled for today.  I did that at 7:30, the service came at about 8:30.  No sewer connection is the only thing bad about this park.  They do provide a dump station but that is inconvenient once you are set up in the site.

Uvas Reservoir looking at the dam

Uvas Reservoir looking away from the dam

Since I was up earlier, I was ready to go out caching earlier.  I had decided revisit the two caches near the park that I hadn't found a few days ago.  I had read other cacher's logs and on the first one I couldn't believe I had overlooked a container that was 2"x3".  I had, I found it deeper in a niche that I had checked before.  The second one I spotted easily this time.  With two previous DNFs out of the way I continued up into the hills.  My map showed a reservoir there.  The reservoir was down about 30 feet.  Unlike desert lakes, like Lake Mead, the wash mark left by the receding water isn't as prominent here.  That makes the shore line a little more attractive.


There were a few fishermen scattered around but no boats.  I did see a couple of no swimming signs.  There were also a couple of parking lots and nearby trail heads.

This small Uvas Creek fills it all and
then runs through our campground

I was struck by the number of very large homes scattered around the hills near the lake.  The road around the reservoir went past another small reservoir before running int the road that led to Morgan Hill.  I found a couple more caches near the lakes.



I found a total of 8 caches today with 3 DNFs.  My total now is 4985.  Even though I didn' hunt many in Oceanside and we have shortened our trip by a week, it looks like I might reach my 5000 goal before we get back to Las Vegas.

When I got back to the RV park, I helped Keith pack up their Ez-up shade tent to return to Amazon.  It seems that a strong gust of wind had picked it up and damaged it.  They had just got the shelter this week.  Alice got return authorization labels from Amazon, but Keith had thrown away the original box.  We pieced together two boxes that he had found in the trash.  They were for smaller shade units.  The result of our efforts will protect the shade in transit, but it was not pretty.We had a delicious chicken/sausage dish that Alice had prepared.  Visiting after dinner completed the day.

Back in our coach we watched some TV before bedtime.  Tomorrow we plan to go into Santa Cruz and act like the tourist that we are.

Thursday August 27, 2015 Morgan Hill, CA

Another beautiful morning here in Morgan Hill.  We had our coffee while catching up on e-mail and Facebook.  I also worked on some of the problems caused by Barclay issuing us new credit cards.  I also made the mistake of looking at some of our investment accounts. Ugly.

In the afternoon I went into Gilroy to try to find some geocaches. The owner of one of the caches I didn't find yesterday had e-mailed me with a new hint.  I went to that one first.  It eluded me as did 4 others during the day.  I found 5 caches, 4 of which were cleverly hidden.

After filling the Jeep's gas tanks I returned to the coach at about 4:45.  Gerri was busy with an online contest with her egg group.  I visited with Keith, Gerri and Alice joined us a little after 5.

Tonight for dinner Alice prepared some of our halibut, baked with a battered crust of pepita seeds. Gerri made a quinoa salad and brussel sprouts.  Along with Alice's coleslaw, it was another excellent meal.

The moon came up before dark.  It is waxing and will soon be full.  The moon was like a bright light hanging in the sky. It didn't photograph very well, but I have attached a couple of what I thought were interesting shots.  In the first picture the camera doesn't catch much detail of the moon.  In the second the flash doesn't reach the moon but lights up the cedar tree in our campsite.

Add caption

 Alice made a berry cobbler for desert.  It was very good.  Unfortunately Gerri can't tolerate the seeds.  After some more conversation the party broke up and we all retired to our separate homes.

Some reading,and a couple of episodes of Judge Judy and Gunsmoke finished off the evening.

Tuesday August 25, 2015 Morgan Hill, CA

Typical morning for the Barkers.  Up checking on email and Facebook while having our coffee.

In the late morning Gerri and Alice went to Costco to stock up items for tonight's feast.  Keith was working.  I had my left overs from Sicilia In Bocca for lunch.

I went geocaching.  This was probably the worst day of caching I have had.  I looked for 11.  I only found 5.  I normally don't hunt for caches that have had a couple of cachers log a didn't find.  I also often do not hunt caches that haven't had a log for several months.  I did look for ones with old logs today, I think that is where I went wrong.  When there are nearby caches with recent logs it probably means that people aren't logging their DNFs on the ones that don't have recent logs.  One of the caches with several DNFs had no indications the cache owner had checked on them after the DNF logs.  Whine off.

Our Common area

It was hot today.  When I returned to the RV park, I cleaned up and joined Gerri, and the Kerslakes in our common area for refreshments, hor d'oeuvres and conversation before dinner.

For dinner Alice prepared some salmon that we had brought back from Alaska.  She had made popped potatoes.  The potatoes were kind of like baked potatoes but were sauteed whole in chicken stock until cooked , then flattened and browned on each side.  We also had salad.

We visited outside until about 8:30.  Back in the coach we caught up on computer stuff and watched a Judge Judy recording.  We were in bed by 10:00.

Monday August 24, 2015 Morgan Hill, CA

We relaxed with our coffee, computers and the morning TV shows most of the morning.  Tv here is all via DirecTV.  The OTA antenna only picks up one channel and that one is in Spanish.

We had a lunch of a small quiche each.  After lunch Gerri and Alice went to the grocery store.  Keith was working.  I went geocaching.  The two closest to the park I didn't find.  I found one other near the park.  The low fuel light came on, I went into town and filled it up.  I found four and looked for three others before heading back to the coach.

An areial view of the Thouand Trails Morgan Hill

We sat out with Keith and Alice until dinner time.  Actually a very late dinner, it was after 8 when we ate.  The crab cakes that Alice had served as hor d'oeuvres were filling.  For our dinner Gerri and I finished up the leftovers from Old Juan's and the meatball and salad.

It had seemed like a long day.  Gerri went to bed a little before 10.  I started updates on our account with Quicken, a program I use to track our spending.  I had noticed that the information hadn't been downloading from the credit card we use the most, it didn' again tonight.  Even though it was late I decided to call Barclay Card about it.  I noticed on line my account showed a different number than the card I was carrying.  After an hour on the phone with three different agents I was told that my card is being replaced because of  security breach.  No one could or would explain what that meant, only that a new card was issued and I needed to activate that card because the one I carry would stop working during the first week of September.  They told me a letter had been sent explaining that and a new card had been sent.  It took quite awhile for them to understand we were not home and would not be until mid September.   I got nowhere talking to them for most of the time.  Finally they did agree to send me new cards via FedeX here to the RV park in Morgan Hill.  Those cards will arrive on Wednesday.  I don't understand why they can notify me by text when there is a questionable charge and by e-mail when my bill is due but they use snail mail to tell me something as important as my card being replaced.  After I get the new cards I will have to spend a considerable amount of time notifying my recurring automatic billers of the new card number.  I guess as long as there are idiots out there trying to breach every security this is the price honest people pay.

A river runs through it.  Ok, it's just a creek

After all that time on the phone I finally got to bed at about 11:30.  Of course all this had kept Gerri awake too.

The day was good, the evening slightly less good.  Tomorrow will be great.  We plan dinner with the Kerslake's.  Gerri already has the salmon from Alaska out.  I can almost taste it now, these ladies put together great meals.

Sunday August 23, 2015 Morgan Hill, CA

We were up at 7.  I made the coffee.  I started drinking the coffee as I made a quick check of Facebook and e-mail.  I then started getting the things outside ready to travel. I made sure the waste tanks were empty and put away the hoses and got the shore power and water hoses unhooked and stowed.  A few minutes hooking up the Jeep and I was finished outside.  Gerri got the inside ready to travel. Carpets and coffee table put in their travel places.  The slides came in and the jacks came up. After my customary walk around inspection, we were moving out at 8:30.

Knowing that we wanted to go north on 101, I ignored the initial instructions from the GPS unit.  We drove through Oceano, Grover Beach and Pismo Beach for the last time on this trip.  We entered the 101 Freeway and headed north toward Morgan Hill.  US-101 was our route until we were near Morgan Hill.  101 isn't freeway all the way, it is still a good highway but occasionally there were cross roads.  There was only one steep grade., the Cuesta Grade.  One of the three lanes on the grade was still closed to allow free movement for fire equipment fighting the Cuesta Fire.  We were down to 30 MPH for much of the grade.  We didn't have much traffic until we approached Gilroy.

We arrived at the Thousand Trails in Morgan Hill at about 12:30.  It has been about 12 years since we were here last, so not much looked familiar.  The fire danger dial was on "Extreme" and this area, like most that we traveled through today, looked tinder dry.

Since we expected our friends, Keith and Alice Kerslake, to arrive in a couple of hours we looked for two pull through sites that put our entry doors facing each other.  We found two such sites but they were in the section that has been upgraded to 50 amp service and has an extra daily fee.  They may have up graded the power supply but this park doesn't have sewer connections at the sites.  They have dump stations and a pumping service.  The pumping service is an extra fee.  We will probably use the service toward the end of the week.  That way we avoid the task of unhooking and closing everything up to drive to the dump.

Alice and Keith arrived at about 2.  They have a fifth wheel trailer and were set up pretty quickly.  We got right to the visiting.  We saw them last in April in Lake Havasu City.  Because of watering restrictions the grass between our sites is dead.  We put out carpets to make a patio type area and hold down the dust and dead grass being tracked around.

One of the park employees came around checking who was in which sites as we hadn't taken that information to the ranger station.  He gave us some restaurant recommendations in Morgan Hill.  We drove into town but the restaurant we had choosen seemed to be closed.  We spotted another place next door that seemed to be busy.  We found a parking place on the street.  I forgot to say that we had driven into town in Keith's new truck which is a 4 door daully and very large.  This restaurant was Italian and reminded us of Chicago Joe's in Las Vegas.  It was a small old house converted to a restaurant with a deck in front for outside dining.  We choose to eat inside.

Our dining experience at Sicilia in Bocca was beyond great.  Our waiter, who I think was the owner, was friendly, attentive, helpful and accommodating.  The food?  Well the food was extraordinary.  Brocchetta for appetizers, and fresh warm bread served with the dinners.  Slight changes in the menu were no problem.  Gerri asked for a little more sauce on her pasta.  The waiter brought out a tomato sauce that was freshly made.  The only ingredients were Roma tomatoes, olive oil and onion cooked and then pureed.  When we waiting for our leftovers to be boxed the waiter brought out a sample of their freshly made marinara sauce.  Too bad we couldn't eat more.  We didn't even ask about desserts.  One of the best meals we have had recently.  That is saying a lot after our recent experiences at The Old Custom House, and Old Juan's.

Back at the park we went to our separate units.  Everyone was very tired after a long day.  We were in bed with the lights out by 10:30.

Saturday August 22, 2015 Oceano, CA

Our last day in Oceano.  I slept in really late and it felt pretty good.  After having coffee and catching up on computer stuff,  I went out and checked the sewer connection.  Yesterday when I drained the sewer it didn't seem to be running properly.  Sure enough there were a couple of pieces of what appeared to be rock blocking the outlet where the water jet sprays blocking the line to the sewer connection.  I removed that and everything seemed to work properly, Where something like that came from will remain a mystery.

For lunch I had my left overs from the Custom House.  After lunch I went out to find some geocaches.  I drove south near Nipomo and found 7, and did not find 2.  My total is now 4961 finds.  I had hoped to reach 5000 on this trip.  That goal may not be reached.  I wasn't able to hunt as much as I wanted because of my leg.  Now we have shortened the trip by a week.  To reach my goal I will have to find 3 caches a day until we get home.

Back at the coach we watched some TV.  We had onion rings as appetizers and Gerri served a salad along with the leftover spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

We played one 500 Rummy game before bedtime.  Gerri won again.

Friday August 21, 2015 Oceano, CA

The only only activity we planned today was a drive on the beach in the Pismo Dunes Recreational Vehicle State Park.   There is driving and camping allowed on the beach.  This is the only California state park that allows vehicles to drive on the beach.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalupe-Nipomo_Dunes.

We had our coffee and watched the morning news.  The Cuesta Fire has grown to 3500 acres and is now 20% contained.  In the afternoon I went out caching.  I found 8 and missed 3.

At about 6:30 we headed for the beach.  We entered the beach area from Pier St. in Oceano and drove south.  There is about a mile stretch where no off road vehicle are allowed.  Then for about 5 miles there is camping and off road vehicle use, sand rails, motorcycles and ATVs.  There are hundreds, make that thousands of people out there on every imaginable type of vehicle and campers from tents to motor homes.  There are no travel lanes and they drive where they want, from the water line up into the dunes.

There is a constant wind off the ocean and a small layer of sand near the ground is constantly on the go.  Many of the the campers have built barriers on the windward side to make it more comfortable on the lee side.  They have every thing from sand walls to plywood.  Still it seems to us there is more sand than we would ever want.  I guess that if you are into ORV riding you like sand in everything.  Different strokes for different folks.  Most of the campers have also put up yellow caution tape around their camping areas to warn off  ORV drivers.  That and prayers may hold the casualties down.

This from the internet on a more crowded day

We drove back to the area with no off road vehicles and parked facing the beach.  We took several pictures as the sun set  There was a thick marine layer, so we ever saw the sun set into the water.  There was enough smoke and dirt in the air to make a colorful sunset.  It was really hard to choose which sunset pictures to post.  The ones with the most color were taken with Gerri's Canon, the others with my iPhone.  It was surprising how differently the two camera see the same scene.

We decided to have supper at Old Juan's again.  http://www.oldjuanscantina.com/ The restaurant is on Pier St. where we entered and exited the beach.  We really enjoyed our meal the rellenos and tamales we so good.  They offer either refried beans or black charro beans.  We had the black beans, they are especially good.  We both had combination plates with a tamale and a rellano.  As a third item Gerri had taquitos and I had a beef taco.

After dinner we drove back onto the beach.  Our $5 fee was good unil 11 PM. I didn't mention before but this is one of the rare places that fires are allowed directly on the sand.  We drove about a mile north and exited the beach on Grand Street in Grover Beach.  There were probably 50 fires ranging from small campfires to raging bonfires.  Driving at night on the beach without traffic lanes was more disconcerting than in the daylight.

Back at the coach we weren't up very long.  With a sunset on the beach and a late dinner we were tired.  I think tonight had been the first time in over a month that we were out after dark.  No TV tonight, no Rummy game and the internet connection was slower than usual.  I think Gerri read for 5 minutes before the light went off. I didn't even start reading, just straight to bed.

Thursday August 20, 2015 Oceano, CA

The smoke from the Cuesta fire has reached our area. It is several miles north and inland.  We had our coffee while catching up on computer activities and watching the morning TV shows.

After coffee I went out to try to find some caches.  I got off to a slow start. The first two I couldn't even find a way to get close enough to start a hunt.  The next two I hunted and couldn't find.  I finished with four finds in a relative small area on the border of Pismo Beach and Grover Beach.

Avila Beach Pier

I went back to the coach about 5 so I would have plenty of time to get ready for dinner.  We went to a restaurant about 12 miles to the north in Avila Beach.  The Custom House was recommended by friends as their favorite in the area.  http://oldcustomhouse.com/ The restaurant is on Front Street, that should give you an idea how close it was to the beach. Avila Beach is a quaint town.  It is like Dana Point in that when you are facing the ocean you aren't facing west so the sun seems to be setting in the north.  The town also has two piers.  The bay wasn't very busy with only 4 sailboats in view.  Due to the smoke the view was hazy.

We had a very good dinner.  Our waiter, Andrew, was very accommodating.  I had a top sirloin special and Gerri had a shrimp dinner.  On the menu it was a mix of shrimp and scallops, but at Gerris request Andrew had the chef make it all shrimp.  We dined on a patio that was enclosed on three sides.  They had gas fireplaces and in spite of the coolness it was very comfortable.





It was getting dark on the drive back to Oceano.  Curtis had called during dinner.  I called him back and we talked for most of the drive home.  School hasn't started in Kyle but he was working at home on schedules.

Back at the coach we watched some TV and played another game of 500 Rummy.  Gerri won again. That is five in a row, all the games we have played.

Some more reading brought us to bedtime.

Wednesday August 19, 2015 Oceano, CA

We spent the morning around the coach.  We had our coffee and later some lunch.  Today is our youngest granddaughter, Vanessa, 7th birthday.  She called to thank us for her present and check and to let us know they were going to Chuck E Cheese to continue celebrating.  She had a party last Saturday with her friends.

In the afternoon we played another game of 500 Rummy.  Gerri is really getting the knack of this game, I am not.  She beat me again.

I went out to try to find some geocaches.  A way of licking my wounds from the Rummy game.  I found six and looked for another that I wasn't able to find.  I did see a couple of interesting Victorian style houses.  One was being remodeled and I couldn't get a good picture.  The other is used for special events.













Back at the coach we watched some TV and read until supper time.  Gerri made Spaghetti and Meat balls with a salad.  After supper  we relaxed some more and it was TV, computer time and reading until bedtime.

Tuesday August 18, 2015 Oceano, CA

Another great cool night.  We were awakened earlier than usual by our neighbors loading up and getting ready to leave.  We got here a week ago and the park was nearly full.  Now there are very few units in the lower area and most of the ones up where we are appear to be long term residents with landscaping and other parapanalia all around.  I guess it is because in California school has already started.

In the late afternoon we went to Arroyo Grande to pick up a prescription and then on to Pismo Beach.  Our outing today included a visit to the Pismo Brewing company to sample their home brewed root beer.  We had missed National Root Beer Float Day on August 6th, so we intended to make up for that oversight.  The root beer was good but didn't have a lot of pizzaz, tasted a little like a low calorie drink.  We passed on having it in a root beer float.  Maybe next NRBFD we will have a root beer float.

We asked the waitress at the brewing company about local restaurants and she gave us several suggestion for good ones and planned a couple of others.

We decided to have dinner at an interesting place in Oceano that we had passed several times.  The Rock N Roll Dinner(http://www.rockandrolldiner.com/) is housed in two art deco style railroad cars.  I'm sorry to say that the food didn't live up to the atmosphere or recommendations.

The Cuesta Fire from the RV park

The nearby Cuesta Fire is still burning. it is now up to 2500 acres.  The smoke is visible from the RV park.  Our only concern with this fire is that is along our route when we leave here Sunday going north on 101.  Early in the reports on this fire there was a lane closure.  Now there is an evacuation order for part of the town of Santa Margarita.  The fire is reported to be 15% contained.  Hopefully that will improve before we travel.





We enjoyed another game of 500 Rummy before bedtime. Maybe I should say Gerri enjoyed it, she out scored me two to one.  We enjoyed some TV and reading before bedtime.  Even though neither the root beer or dinner was up to expectations, it was a good day.

Monday August 17, 2015 Oceano, CA

Another night with great sleeping temperatures.  We had our coffee and caught up on e-mail and Facebook.

In the afternoon I took care of some chores outside.  Later in the afternoon I went out to hunt geocaches.  I found 5 nearby.

The marine layer was present all day, the sun was never real bright.  As the sun set it was a white disk visible through the haze.  I couldn't get a good picture and it never turned the vivid gold like yesterday.









Dinner tonight was left overs from Brad's with a salad added.  After dinner we played 500 Rummy, followed by TV, computer and reading.  Gerri did talk to her mother on the phone.  It had been awhile so they had a long conversation.

We didn't do much today but it was really relaxing.  Maybe tomorrow we will explore the area a little more.

Sunday August 16, 2015 Oceano, CA

This morning the marine layer or fog was as close as the dunes.  We could feel the water in the air.  Later of course we could see where it had settled on the roof and had run down the sides of the coach. More streaks down the side and then dried puddles at the corners.

We tuned in to Bible study and worship services from Oakey Boulevard.

I got our mail from the office this afternoon.  I went through it and found only two things that need attention and one other item that was interesting.  Proving again that most of the stuff in snail mail is just like e-mail and internet content,  you don't need most of it.

I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with DirecTV.  We danced around a long time on issues that were not solved.  We did solve the main thing I called about.

We decided on an early supper at Brad's downtown Pismo Beach, http://www.bradsofpismo.com/.

A cabage field near our park

This park is off the highway and we drive through an agriculture area when coming or going.  

A cabbage patch without the kids

On a Sunday afternoon Pismo Beach was very busy, a lot of vehicle and foot traffic.  The restaurant was moderatly crowded, I was seated quickly and had to wait for Gerri.  She had dropped me off and went to find a parking spot. Brad's had an extensive menu, sea food to BBQ. We had come because of the write ups we had read on their Clam Chowder.  We both had a large serving of Fish and Chips with a cup of Clam Chowder.  The chowder lived up to the advertising and the large serving left enough Fish and Chips for another meal.


















Back at the coach we watched some TV, did some computer catch up.  There was a high marine layer to the west and I kept an eye out for the sunset.  When the sun got to the horizon formed by the dunes, it was a bright disk that showed through.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  After the sun dropped below the horizon the sky did turn golden.

We did look up the rules for a basic Rummy game  and played cards for an hour or so.  I had the highest score when we finished.  We both read for a while before bed time.

Saturday August 15, 2015 Oceano, CA

Another cool sleeping night, the sheet and cover felt good.  We had our coffee and caught up on e-mail and Facebook.  From where I usually sit I could watch the activity of other RVers coming and going.

The internet connection using the Verizon MiFi, 3G LTE has not been good, nor was it good at Wilderness Lakes.  Consequently we have been using the 4G LTE JetPack for necessary communications.  We have an unlimited data plan on the MiFi but not on the JetPack.  We have had to increase our data limit three times.  I spent a lot of time on the phone with Verizon, trying to understand how to use the 4G and 3G at the same time.  I still don't understand.

For attending
a Meet n' Greet

Found on
Int. Geocaching day

In the afternoon I drove to a nearby town, Nipomo, to find some caches.  I choose that area because there was a puzzle cache there that would  earn me another 2015 Road Trip souvenir.  I have earned 3 of the six.  I probably won't get the other 3.  The other souvenirs I probably won't get.  Many people ask what I get out of caching.  The thought being there ought to be some type of prizes. There are few tangible rewards to caching. I get the reward of seeing different places, some places not many others go to.  I get the satisfaction of solving puzzles.  Of course there are bragging rights over cachers that haven't found as many caches as I have and that haven't earned the geocaching badges and souvenirs as I have.  Pretty small rewards, huh?

For finding
 a puzzle cache

For finding a
cache  with 10
favorite points

Nipomo foothills

The Nipoma foothills were to the west while I was caching.  The area had a lot of cows and horses in the dry looking pastures to the east were citrus groves.

I returned to the park after the office closed, so I wasn't able to pick up the mail we expected to arrive today.  The sun was very bright in the west so I had to pull the shade.  By the time I raised the shade I saw that we had missed the best sunset since we have been away from the coast in Oceanside.

Gerri prepared a dinner from left overs from two past meals.  She added cowboy beans and salad.  Gerri is world famous for making great meals from meager ingredients.

Another routine evening after supper.  This was a good day.

Friday August 14, 2015 Oceano, CA

Last night the low was 55 outside and 65 inside, comfortable sleeping.This morning I was awakened by a grinding noise from the Omni-directional TV antenna.  It stopped after Gerri switched the control box to cable,  We had not been able to get TV signals off the air during this trip.  After the experience yesterday with the satellite dome, I tried getting local channels.  I found two on the over the dash TV.  One was NBC.  We were then able to watch local news.  I tried to tune in the other TVs with no luck.  Another thing on the repair list.

We had our coffee and caught up on e-mail and Facebook.  We had on the Today show and local news.

There was a cache listed less than 500' from where we are parked.  Looking at a satellite view of the site, I saw that it required going around some thickets and could require walking about a quarter mile.  The cache hadn't been found since mid June.  That worried me as much as being able to walk the 1/4 mile.  Many times when a cache isn't found in that length of time it is missing and other cachers haven't logged a didn't find.








 I decided to go for it.  I figured I could stop and rest my leg as needed.  I took pictures of the dunes near the cache.  I found the remains of the cache near ground zero.  All that was there was a small composition book with some torn out pages that had other cacher's logs on them. http://tinyurl.com/otq4ojj









I gathered up the pieces and placed them in a zip log bag that I found nearby.  My leg didn't bother me until I was back in the RV park.










In the afternoon we decided to drive to the main parts of the beach.  There are several small cities, Oceano, Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Pismo Beach and others further north.  There are also a lot of RV parks closer to the ocean than where we are parked.  There are also state and county parks that allow camping.  We drove to a street that had a view of the Pismo Beach Pier.  As you can see there were a lot of volley ball courts.  No one was playing but there was one man with a metal detector checking for anything that may have been dropped.  My stepdad, Ted, used to do that.  He had a collection of rings and keys.  He once found a class ring that he was able to return to the owner though the school and Josten.



We checked out many places to eat and decided on Old Juan's Cantina in Pismo Beach.  http://www.oldjuanscantina.com/  Very good food. I had chicken and shrimp stuffed Poblano Chilis in Adobo sauce.  When we left the restaurant, I couldn't resist doing a cache in the parking lot.  http://tinyurl.com/oqqzcgn









Once we were back at the coach we were in for the evening.  We watched TV, did computer stuff and read until about 10:30.