Thursday August 13, 2015 Oceano, CA

Great sleeping weather last night 60 outside 61 inside.  I pulled up the blankets the first time I woke up.  Gerri started with the light cover and later pulled up the comforter.

I had heard a humming noise during the night.  I looked around for the source. It was coming from the front bathroom area.  The TV satellite dome is on the roof in that area  I checked and the power to the dish was on. I turned it off, the humming stopped.  I turned it back on and the system started searching.  After a few minutes we had DirecTV on the salon TV.  But the dash TV still shows "No Signal."  Now we can watch both TV and recordings.  I think we need someone that knows how to service the KVH dome to go on the roof and check it out.  That is not me.

We had our coffee as usual and checked on our computer stuff.  Gerri said today was going to be a down day.  She then did several loads of wash.  I took care of ordering some refills for some prescriptions.  I also did a few chores around the coach.  I tightened up the bracket around the hitch receiver and put a pressure regulator on the water hose.  I had noticed that my 3/4 inch hose was closer to 1 inch.  The reducer is set at 60 psi, I'll see what that does with the hose.

I went to the CVS Pharmacy in Arroyo Grande and picked up my refills.  While downtown, I found a cache.  I also drove through Pismo Beach on Highway 1.  Kind of the long way home, we will have to drive around and see what the area offers besides riding ATVs on the dunes.  I picked up some brochures on local attractions from the park office.

 I went to an empty site across the road and took pictures of the dunes to the west.  I took the picture posted on yesterday's blog from the same place last night after sunset.

Throw Back Thursday -
Supper was part of one of these

Gerri prepared a delicious supper.  She cooked some of the Halibut we brought home from Alaska and served it with salad, brown rice and asparagus.  Oatmeal raisin cookies were our dessert.









Evening was our normal routine.  TV, computer and reading.

Wednesday August 12, 2015 Oceano, CA

We were up with the 7 o'clock alarm. I made the coffee and we quickly caught up on Facebook and e-mail.  We were ready to travel by 8:30.  Our route started north on I-215 to Riverside.  In Riverside we merged on to CA- 60 Freeway.  With a few other turns we headed north on CA-101 Freeway. We did stop for fuel in Azusa before getting on the 101.

Traffic was very heavy until we got into Santa Barbara County  We were within 100 miles of our destination before I first used the cruise control.  In the Ventura/Oxnard area we could see the ocean before we turned inland again.

After we left Hwy. 101 we took several turns before arriving at the RV park.  http://pacificdunesranch.com/We were assigned to a pull in site, 171.  We face west with dunes visible out the windshield and passenger window.

After setting up we got no DirecTV.  That means no watching recorded shows or live TV.  The Verizon MiFi is slow.

Our view to the west was sand dunes with patches of vegetation pure sand dunes were beyond that.  The sun was just a bright ball until it dipped behind the horizon.  I will have to get a picture of the dunes while the sun is still acceding.  By the time I took a picture it was a little dark to see the dunes.

Doing some research on nearby caches showed that we are actually quite a ways from the ocean, with towns like Pismo Beach, Grover Beach and Arroyo Grande to the north of us.  Santa Barbara is to the south about 100 miles. There are several RV parks closer to the beach.   I chose this park because it is in the Thousand Trails Encore group and we can use it with a 30% discount.  I checked on line on the Pismo Beach Vehicular Recreation Area.  They allow camping on the beach and there are services in town for water delivery and sewer haul away.  The big attraction is the use of off road vehicle in the sand dunes.  We plan to do some exploring and see if we want to come back to this area later.

Gerri called Montyne and she will send us our mail.  There won't be a lot, just that that accumulated after Curt and Dana left and before she put the hold on with the Post Office.  Since mail has to be taken care of, home or not, I prefer not to have it all waiting when we get home.  Even with out junk mail and obvious solicitations the mail piles up after a few weeks.

We watched an episode of the original Stat Trek before the MiFi signal faded.  We had ham and cheese sandwiches followed by watermelon and cantaloupe.   After that it was reading until bedtime. If the temperature at sundown was an indication it will be cool comfortable sleeping tonight.

Tuesday August 11, 2015 Menifee, CA

A lazy morning.  We had our coffee and computer time.

We left the RV park at 12:45 to make it to my 1:30 appointment with Dr. Luna in Murrieta.  We talked about the pain I am experiencing and the x-rays I have already taken.  The diagnosis without more invasive tests is that I have a pinched nerve caused by degenerative disk disease.  I cannot take MRIs because of my pacemaker and some other test that involve dye injections are ruled out by my kidney disease.  A cortisone injection would require me being off my blood thinner for 7 days before the injection. Since we are planning to leave this area tomorrow that is ruled out.   Dr. Luna seemed to think that some improvement has occurred since the second week of July, that the situation may correct itself in 2-3 months.

After the doctor appointment we went to Nessy Burgers for an early supper.  Nessy's is a small hamburger stand at the intersection of CA-76 and I-15.  They have a limited but delicious menu.  http://www.nessyburgers.com/.

I looked for a cache near Nessys with no luck.  We stopped at Albertson's on the way back to the park for groceries.  For now we have decided to continue our trip, at least to Oceano, CA.  We will decide as we go whether to continue.

I went out and found a cache near the RV park and tried to get pictures of the sunset.  I think I missed the best of it.













The setting sun lit up the clouds in the east but the color didn't show in the pictures.


Some computer, TV and reading brought us to a 10 PM bedtime.  We want to get started tomorrow by 9 so that we get through LA after the heaviest traffic.

Monday August 10, 2015 Menifee, CA

Not much activity today.  We had our normal morning with coffee and computer.

At about 12:45 we headed to Murrieta for my appointment with a spine doctor.  It didn't take long to get there but we spent a little time trying to find the building with the correct address.  We got there before the office opened at 1:30.  When we got to the receptionist we were told they had left a message on our phone that the doctor would be in surgery and cancelling my appointment.  I thought I had listened to the messages over the week end, but I guess not.  I made another appointment on Tuesday.

We dropped off a prescription that I needed transferred at a nearby CVS.  We went to a Batteries + in Temecula for the odd size batteries needed in the motor home's remote locking fob.

Back at the RV park we stopped at the gate and extended our stay here at Wilderness Lake one more day.  Back at the coach. I called RPI and delayed our arrival at our next destination, Pacific Dunes RV Resort in Oceano, CA, by one day.  I also checked y e-mails and found no message cancelling today's appointment.  I do have an appointment with a spine doctor in Las Vegas next Tuesday.  The decision on whether to go on with our trip or to return to Las Vegas depends on what the doctor says tomorrow.

We had a late lunch of leftovers from two previous dinners out.  In the early evening I took out the trash.  All is not just fun and games while RV'ing as we still have routine chores.  I had noticed a coach parked across from us, it was a Revolution similar to our last coach.  When I returned from taking out the trash there were two couples sitting out by the coach.  I went over and talked to them for a while.  Their Revolution was a 40' and a year newer than the one we had for 5 years.

Back at our coach it was reading, TV and computer until bedtime.

Sunday August 9, 2915 Menifee, CA

There was some early morning fog today.  Water that had settled on the roof was making streaks down the windshield that will have to be cleaned before we travel on Tuesday.  We had our coffee and caught up on overnight events.

At 10 we tuned into the worship services net cast from the Oakey Boulevard Church of Christ. Eddie Gilpin delivered a message from 2nd Kings 5.  The lesson came across to me in two parts.  The first with Naaman a Syrian General and his reluctance to do a small thing commanded by God and his rewards when he overcame that reluctance.  The second involved Gehazi a servant of the prophet Elisha.  Gehazi bilked Naaman out of some of the rewards that Elisha had refused for God's curing Naaman's leprosy.  He was afflicted with Naaman's leprosy for his wrong doing. The lessons; 1- do all that God requires, two - don't seek riches you are not entitled to.

In this area you see a lot of these

Jane and Joy came at about 1 and we visited at the coach for about an hour.  We then went for a driving tour of the area.  Joy had lived in the Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee area for a number of years.  Like most areas the Temecula valley has grown exponentially over the last 10 years.

An arbor at South Coast Resort and SPA

We had a great time catching up and seeing the area,  The economic driver of the area is the vineyards.  These are also bedroom communities for both LA and San Diego.



















We decided on Italian for dinner.  We checked out a restaurant that Joy had recommended but it was closed.  We decided on another one that Gerri found on the internet.
This restaurant, Rustico Ristorante and Pizzeria (http://iloverustico.com/), was kind of on the way back to Menifee.  The bread they served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar was the best we have ever had.  Gerri had Lasagna and I had Pasta Primavera.  The dishes were good but not as good as in some other places we have eaten. Battista's Hole in the Wall in Las Vegas and DOC in Cabo San Luis set a very high bar and I have never had Pasta Primavera as good as East Side Mario's.  There was a definite chill in the air when we left the restaurant,  We hadn't noticed it on past evenings.

Back at the coach we said our goodbyes to Jane and Joy.  The rest of the evening was TV, Computer and reading.

Tomorrow afternoon I see a spine doctor and we will have to decide where the rest of the trip goes.

This from cousin JoNell in Texas; http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/stethoscope.html

Saturday August 8, 2015 Menifee, CA

There were a few clouds around when we got up this morning.  That cleared up later in the morning

Gerri, me, Joy and Jane

Today we met our long time friend Jane Knowles for lunch.  We met at the La Cocina Mexican Restaurant in Temecula.  http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-cocina-bar-and-grill-temecula  Due to her recent health situation Jane's daughter, Joy, brought her to the restaurant.  It had been a few years since we had seen Jane.  The visit lasted until about 3:30, very pleasant.

During lunch some of our conversation was about geocaching.  Joy had never heard of it.  I explained the concept.  When we finished visiting we went to a cache just outside the restaurant.  It was a micro cache stuck under a fire hydrant by a magnet.  After saying goodbye to Jane and Joy but before leaving the parking lot Gerri took me to another cache on the other side of the shopping center.

The marina is out of sight due to low water

Before going back to the coach we drove out near Hemet to see the Diamond Valley Lake, http://www.dvlake.com/ which is east of the RV Park.  It is a state park and due to the water level there wasn't much activity, private boat launching was suspended in mid-April.  We saw one boat leaving the marina.  I found one cache near the turn off to the Marina.    What I thought was unusual was that while driving to the lake we saw three large earthen dams.

One of at least 3 earthen dams that contain the reservoir.

We then went back to the coach and started our routine night with TV, computer and reading until bedtime at about 11.

Friday August 7, 2015 Menifee, CA

We spent the morning in the coach.  Usual stuff, coffee, TV, computer, reading.

In the later afternoon I ventured.  My main chore was to mail some birthday cards.  I went across I-215 on Newport where there was a Post Office.  While out I looked for some caches.  I found two and didn't find three.

Love, Peace and Veggie Grease

Earlier in the week we spotted a RV that had a wrap of scenery and writing.  We passed it every time we entered the park, so I thought I would post a picture.  You may not be able to see them but there are lodge poles on the roof.  We haven't seen anyone around the coach.  There is a web site on the front; http://ecowomb.com/.







More reading, TV  and computer time until bedtime finished the day.  Even though it is hot during the day the nights cool off into the low to mid 60s, so sleeping is comfortable without the air conditioning units running.