The RVs Last Few Miles

1 Nov – Tucson

The RV did the last few miles down to Desert Trails RV park in Tucson where it will be staying for the next 6 months.  We had stayed at this park for a month back in March and met a few familiar faces when we checked in. 

We had been in touch with the jHavelina Hash who were organising the Hash De Tucson this weekend.  So we met up with them for some drinks Friday evening.  They were all dressed up in Halloween/Waking Dead theme costumes and makeup.

2^nd Nov – Hash De Tucson

The Hash De Tucson was to be 4 consecutive trails totalling around 16 miles.  We joined them at the half way halt and did the afternoon trails which took us through the desert for a couple of hours

before arriving at somebody’s house for the ‘Après’.

 

A very friendly bunch and we had an invite to join some of them for the All Souls Parade the following day.

3^rd Nov – All Souls Parade

Mid-afternoon we set off to join Geno and his friends for a pre-parade party and preparations.

This involved food, alcohol and face paint. 
We then walked into Downtown Tucson where thousands of people were gathering to watch the parade in honour of loved ones lost.  The majority of people were dressed up for the occasion.  Many people carried mementos of their lost ones.

We walked with the parade for about 20 mins and then stood and watched it continue down the streets.

4^th – 11^th Nov Desert Trails

We spent the rest of our time here in Tucson preparing the RV for storage including trying out its new cover.  We met several familiar faces at the resort that we had met back in March and did a bit of catching up with everyone’s adventures over the summer. 

  We played bocce ball a couple of afternoons enjoying happy hour after spending a hot 2 hours in the afternoon sun.  The day time temperature is between 25-30C but at night it drops down to 5-8C.  Every evening we listen to the coyotes howling our in the surrounding desert.
The resort had a number of musical evening entertainments that we attended and also a ‘soup & salad’ lunch one day.

On the last Saturday we visited with the jHavelina Hash again for a trail that took us around the northern outskirts of town for around 5 miles. After the hash we joined them at a local pub.

12^th Nov – Last day in Tucson

We have spent our last night in the RV.  We park the RV in the spot where it will spend the next 6 months and secure it and get the cover over it.  We say a fond farewell, and a friend gives us a lift to the hotel near the airport ready for tomorrow’s flight to Austin Texas.  We will be joined in Texas by Louise and all three of us will spend the weekend at the 2013 Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas before flying back to UK on 20^th November.
 

This marks the end of Our Big Adventure which we started nearly 16 months ago.  We return to UK

for 6 months and then will fly back out to Tucson on 29^th May 2014 to begin all over again……….

This has been our home for 16 months, it seem strange to be leaving it covered over.

To be continued…………………………………….

Still in Arizona

28^th Oct – Travel to Casa Grande

We said our goodbyes to our neighbours Bill and Shirley and set off east along I-8 to Casa Grande.  We stopped on the way at “Dateland”.  General Patton had a couple of training camps in this area in the ‘40s including an air-strip . 

 

However the construction of the runway could not cope with the B25 Bombers.   This place is now home to a Date Farm as it has ideal weather for growing dates.  So we stopped and had a Date Milkshake before continuing to Casa Grande just south of Phoenix.

29^th Oct – Casa Grande Ruins NM

We visited Casa Grande Ruins National Monument an ancient dwelling built around the 14^th Century.  The local people living here at the time had built irrigation ditches along the valleys where  the rivers flowed and it is estimated around 2000 people may have lived here in those days. Stonehenge was mentioned as there is a window in the building of this dwelling which aligns with the summer solstice sun.

We got back in time to join residents of the RV park for Happy Hour.

We had considered driving to Picacho State Park for a hike up the mountain there, but having seen the weather forecast of ‘bad air quality’ due to dust we decided to leave it until later in the week.  We were glad we had made that decision as later we heard on the evening news of a fatal accident involving a 19-vehicle pile-up on the I-10 by the State Park.  Where there is bear earth the breeze had created a cloud of dust across the interstate which was as thick as fog.

30^th Oct – Az State Fair, Phoenix

Phoenix was just over an hour’s drive so we spent the day at the Arizona State Fair.  There were the usual attractions; fair-ground rides, craft displays, farm animals.  We sat in on an Ice carving demo, a talk about wolves and some Native American Indian dancing.  The highlight for Alison was the Star  Trek Exhibition. (Paul was conned into going) It was one of the largest exhibitions featuring sets and costumes from all five TV series and 11 films.

Alison even got to sit in Captain Kirk’s chair. 

Unfortunately photography was not allowed.

31th Oct – Picacho Peak

The weather was just right for our climb up Picacho Peak – and we do mean “climb”.  The Peak is only 3374ft high; 1500ft above our starting point.  However the trail took us up to the ‘saddle’ at 2960ft, we then had to climb back down 200ft the other side of the mountain, with the aid of cables, to discover we had to climb straight back up again with the aid of more cables.  The 2 miles up took us an hour and 40mins and almost the same coming back down.  At the top we had 360 views all around the valley.  The state park was surrounded by agricultural land and one of the crops is cotton.

Picacho Peak is of historical significance in that it was the only place in Arizona to witness a battle during the American Civil War.   

On our way to Yuma, Arizona.

12^th October – Travel to Valencia, CA

We left Oceano and took the scenic route past Lake Cachuma and came over the mountains to the view of the town of Santa Barbara below us.  We continued along the coast towards Los Angeles but turned east on Route 126, as we were going to skirt around the northern edge of the city tomorrow.

As we have moved away from the coast the weather is warming up nicely.  California is a lovely spot to be in October and we are pleased the camp site has a nice swimming pool to relax in after our journey.

13^th October – Travel to Indio, CA

Today’s journey took us on the I-5 towards Los Angeles.  We then turned east and followed the I-250 along the edge of the Angeles National Forest.  We passed Pasadena and San Bernardino.  It was a scenic drive through the agricultural crops and citrus groves, with the hills on our left.

The I-10 took us through Palm Springs passing hundreds of wind turbines everywhere.  Joshua Tree National Park was only a few miles away but we had to by-pass it as it was still closed due to the Government shut-down.  At the camp site we were into the swimming pool to cool off.

14^th October – Travel to Yuma, AZ

This is Day Four of consecutive travelling for us and our route took us past The Salton Sea.  In 1900 irrigation channels diverted water into a dry lake bed and for a few years the area was fertile.  Of course water always takes the path of least resistance and in 1905 the Colorado River flooded and created a series of problems that eventually led to the accidental creation of this shallow Inland Sea; the largest lake in California.  A hundred years later it is now 226ft below sea level, saltier than the Pacific Ocean and has become a major resting stop for migrating birds.

 

 

We leave California and arrive in Yuma, Arizona to temperatures of around 30C – time for the pool again!

15^th October – Mexico

Our reason for coming to Yuma was for Alison to continue dental treatment in Los Algodones in Mexico.  So we were up and into Mexico for the 10am appointment.  The town was not as busy as our previous visit in April when there were still a lot of “snowbirds” coming across the border every day.  We were bombarded with people toting for business and trying to sell us something.

16^th October – Yuma

Our first camp site in Yuma was a little out of town so we moved to another site nearer to the amenities.  The town of Yuma has a permanent population of less than 100,000 but during the winter months Retirees (“snowbirds”) from the northern states and Canada swell the number upwards to nearly 250,000.  There are many RV, Trailer and Mobile home parks in the area but most are virtually empty waiting for the “snowbirds” to begin their migration to their winter quarters.

17^th - 27^th October – Yuma  

We spent the next 10 days preparing for our departure from USA as we now only have 4 weeks left in the country.  The RV needs sorting and ensuring everything is in good repair for it to be left for 6 months.  Inevitably this means something goes wrong and we had to call out the RV Repair Man to fix the electric water heater which has chosen this time to pack-up on us.

We had two more trips into Mexico for the remaining dental treatment which proved successful in the end.  On one of the day trips we were accompanied by Lynn and Dave, who we had spent the afternoons with by the pool.  Paul enjoyed bargaining with vendors for items and Alison got two pairs of glasses (for £40) as well as a hair-cut for £2.50!  Everything is so much cheaper here including the Tequila!

We have had fresh grapefruit for breakfast on a number of occasions as the RV park is full of fruit trees.

We heard that Yuma was hosting the Arizona Hog Motorbike Rally on 25/26 Oct so we took a trip into Downtown Yuma on the Saturday.  Somewhat disappointing as we only saw about a dozen motor bikes and the Vendors only took us about 15 minutes to walk around (not at all like Sturgis!).

 

We had a brief visit to the ‘Peanut Patch’.  Yuma has a lot of crops around it, such as peanuts, alfalfa fields and citrus groves.  We also saw two fields of sheep – the most sheep we have seen in the whole of our visit!  Lamb does not seem popular with the Americans.  It is rarely seen in the shops and hardly ever on restaurant menus.  (Guess what we’ll be having for our first Sunday roast back in UK!). Burger's! Don't think so.
 

Our camp site was used years ago to accommodate John Wayne and the filming crew when producing a film about the French Foreign Legion out in the Sand Dunes. The film was made in the 30s.

It is close to the Marine Corps Airbase in Yuma.  They flew their aircraft anytime between 7am and 10pm every day including Sunday.  We spent every afternoon by the pool watching the Chinooks, Ospreys, Harriers and other jets flying over.  The airbase has the longest runway (approx 2.6 ml) in USA.

 

We also get some good sunsets when there are some clouds during the day.
 

Highway 1

8^th October – Moss Landing, Monterey Bay

Leaving our campsite north of San Francisco we travelled through a continual concrete jungle for over 70 miles, along the east side of San Francisco Bay; towns such as San Quentin, Oakland, and San Jose.  Once we got to the coast we took the by-pass around Santa Cruz and continued south on Highway 1 along the coast line of Monterey Bay.

We stopped at Moss Landing for lunch and were delighted at the wildlife there.  Sea Otters were floating in the harbour in-let.  Seals and Sea Lions were dozing in the sun by the harbour, and  Pelicans gliding by.


There were a couple of Researchers from the Monterey Bay Research Institute who were monitoring the sea otters.  Some of them had been tagged so it was known that this group of more than 30 were all male, either fairly young or old. 

Those in their prime were elsewhere with the females.  It was really delightful to watch them cleaning themselves and playing, swirling about in the water.

 

Just off the coast there is a Deep Water Canyon that is up to 2 miles deep and hence the Marine Research Institute’s presence at this location.  We decided to stay in the vicinity and found a camp site near the harbour.  Later in the afternoon we went down to the beach and watched the sea otters fishing, along with a couple of seals and dolphins.  The Sea lions on the dock made a continuous noise and some kept clambering over those that were trying to sleep.

9^th October – Big Sur

We carried on down Highway 1 to Big Sur stopping once or twice to enjoy the sea views from the hill side.  Big Sur is a name given to; the river, the lighthouse, the village and this coastline stretching 94 miles.  The road hugs the cliffs around 500ft above the sea crashing below.  The few sandy beaches are not easily accessible but there were many lay-bys to enjoy the views.

We parked the RV in the camp site in the Redwoods next to the Big Sur River.  After lunch we took the car down to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park where we enjoyed views of McWay Falls which tumble onto the shore.  Prior to 1989 the falls fell directly into the sea but a landslide further up the coast line meant sandy soil was carried by the tide building up the shoreline into a beach.
 

We stopped at the Coast Gallery for a cup of tea on the way home.  Established in 1958 the Gallery has been created inside dis-used Redwood Water Tanks overlooking the sea.

10^th October – Monterey Bay Aquarium

We drove back up the coast to Monterey passing through Carmel Highlands – where Clint Eastwood was Mayor for a time.

We spent over 4 hours in the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  There were some enormous tanks with a variety of local sea life including Giant Bass and huge Tuna.  There were lots of hands-on exhibits for the kids (both large and small). 

The Jellyfish Sections were the best and included florescent Jellies glowing in the dark.  The  

Aquarium is home to a number of rescued animals including coastal birds that would not survive in the wild.

We sat in on a couple of presentations; one about inventions inspired from aquatic animals and the other about Sea Otters.  The story was told of a rescued pup that was fostered by an adult female sea otter at the Aquarium, who taught the pup survival skills which enabled it to be released later.  There are only about 2900 Sea Otters off the California coast so the ‘raft’ (collective word for sea otters) we saw the other day of over 30, accounted for 1% of the population..  The populace of Sea Otters have proved beneficial for the survival of the forests of Sea Kelp off the coast, as they eat the Sea Urchins that would otherwise eat the Kelp.  Unfortunately the Sea Otter exhibit was closed undergoing repairs as the animals can be a little destructive at times.

On the way home we stopped at the Monarch Butterfly Grove Sanctuary.  The Monarch butterflies east of the Rockies migrate to Mexico for the winter, but those on the west side of the Rockies stop off here in California.  Unfortunately it was a cool breeze today and only one was spotted in flight. 

11^th October – Hearst Castle

Our journey, continuing south on Highway1, took us past Piedras Blancas Beach upon which was an Elephant Seal Rookery. There were hundreds of juvenile Elephant Seals lying around on the beach basking in the sun, flicking sand over themselves and play-fighting in the sea.

It was terrific to see them so relaxed with the tourists taking photos from behind the fence line.

We stopped at Hearst Castle high up on the mountains at San Simeon.  It was built over a 28 year period during the 1920/40s for newspaper and movie tycoon, William Hearst, who entertained celebrities of the day such as Charlie Chaplain, Clark Gable and Howard Hughes etc.  It was built in a Mediterranean design and we enjoyed a guided tour of the Grand Rooms on the ground floor. 
We wandered around the gardens, patios and pools and imagined what it must have been like spending a weekend as a guest in such lavish surroundings.




W Hearst also had a personal zoo on his land and although most of the animals are long gone there was still a small heard of zebra to be seen from the highway.

We then continued on Highway 1 to Oceano.  We had lost the rugged cliff tops and were now down at sea level.  Our campsite at Oceano was right next to the Sand Dunes so we had an exploratory hike down to the sea – which took nearly 30 minutes. 

There were many people with their RVs and dune buggies gathering on the beach for the weekend.  On the way back over the dunes we met a family who let Alison use one of their boards to slide down the dunes.

 

San Francisco

5^th October 

The 113 miles to San Francisco took nearly 4 hours.  Our route took us over the mountains using some very, very twisty roads with numerous switch-backs and hair-pin corners.  We passed near the Napa Valley and several vine-yards, which looked very inviting.  We finally arrived at an RV park claiming to be the ‘closest to San Francisco’.  The temperature was 30C and not a cloud to be seen in the sky.

6^th October – San Francisco

We took the ferry across the San Francisco Bay.  We passed San Quentin prison and then Alcatraz Island with the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance.  We were not able to visit Alcatraz as it is part of the National Park Service and hence currently closed.

We spent the morning wandering along Fisherman’s Warf enjoying the morning sun and people watching.  The whole place was really busy and there was quite a buzz going on.  We had lunch of clam chowder served in sour dough bread bowl, sitting in the sun listening to the street entertainment. 

The queue for the cable trolley bus up the hill was too long so we walked up to the next Stop and got on the trolley which took us up to the top of the “Crookedest Street” – Lombard Street.  This street
winds its way down the very steep hill and there were police at the top directing traffic that wanted to drive down the tight switch-backs.

We then got back on the cable trolley bus and carried on to China Town, going up and down some of the 47 hills of San Francisco.  Unfortunately we missed the street parade that afternoon.  On the next trolley we carried on through
Union Square which had some terrific looking shops to the end-of-the-line where we watched them turning the trolley on the turntable.

Our next trolley bus took us to the Street Fair in the Castro district (GLBT community area).  After a short time wandering around we decided to continue our travels around the city so we sought out the nearest metro station and journeyed on to Golden Gate Park for the Bluegrass Festival. 

Golden Gate Park was a lovely spot and we sat amongst the crowds on the grass in the sun listening to some bands playing at one of several stages that had been set up for this free event.  There were thousands of people here and most seemed to have travelled by bicycle as there were thousands of bikes parked up everywhere we looked.

We finally left the park just after 5pm and it took us at least half an hour to walk half the length of the Park.  It is a very large park and we could easily have spent a full day here exploring the various places such as the Japanese Tea Rooms and the Conservatory of Flowers.

We caught a bus back to the ferry port and managed to catch the last but one ferry back to our destination at Larkspur.  As we travelled back across the bay we were treated to a most colourful
sunset as a back-drop to the Golden Gate Bridge. We chatted to a couple of ladies on the ferry and they recommended some local eateries.

7^th October – The Golden Gate Bridge

We spent the morning chatting with a family from Australia that we had met on the ferry yesterday morning. They just happened to be in the same RV park as we were and directly opposite us. Their
five children kept us entertained for quite a time.
Later we went down to Sausalito for lunch at a place recommended by the ladies on the ferry yesterday evening. 
We then took the car along the road leading into the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.  Some of the roads were shut but we were able to get to some spots with great views over the Golden Gate Bridge.