Friday, May 6, 2011

Well, here we are at another Best Western in Hood River, Oregon.  My, what a beautiful state this is!  It seems all the states are just a little different with many different sights.  We passed a lot of state parks - it seems it would be haven for campers, hikers and boaters. 

This is the first time on this trip that we ran into some rain.  When we got to the motel, Bob realized that he could watch the last period  of the hockey game - he was smiling even more than usual.  It was very hard on him, knowing there were two games a night being played..................and he couldn't see them as they weren't televised in the areas we were staying.

There are many times during this trip that we lose satallite with our GPS and cell phone service.

My little Ethel is recuperating and there is talk of her being moved to Sunnyside for recuperation.  She has been put into isolation because of a Super Bug that is apparently going around at Grand River (and they felt she was exposed to it from another patient).  She is in a private room and is finally able to feed herself with solid food.  The only hiccup is that her daughter-in-law who has been looking after her is in the same hospital as of yesterday with a problem with her hip.  She is unable to walk and is working with a therapist to get her walking again.  It never rains but it pours........

Well, we are definitely heading EAST while driving so are on the right track to get to our home.

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

We are in Crescent City California (at another Best Western) after spending a day driving through the Avenue of the Giants (Redwoods).We tried to get Bob's truck to drive through one of the Redwoods (tourist trap).  We were a little worried we would get stuck so decided to take a picture of it IN FRONT of the tree instead!  Awesome sights! 

We stopped for lunch at a little town called Ferndale, very Victorian, pretty and interesting.  I had a sandwich made of creamed cheese, black olives, lettuce and avocado on sour dough bread - awesome.  I'll have to try it at home.

We are getting a little weary of 'coastal' driving.  We travelled 250 kms and were on the road for 8 hours so that should tell you how windy and hilly the roads were.  So we are heading inland and heading north through Oregon.  Apparently it is beautiful and has a lot of state parks, etc.

What an exciting and beautiful trip - sure there are many more 'different' spots to come.

Well on to another SkipBo card game! 

Wednesday, May 4th,2011

What a beautiful and diversified this State of California is.  We are now inland at the Best Western Humboldt House Inn at Garberville.  The terrain is fabulous - getting ready to go through the Avenue of the Giants (Giant Redwoods) tomorrow.  The town of Garberville is very small and has an interesting main street. 

Apparently the weather here has been unusually warm.  We will take it!  Today it was 98 degrees and we are fairly far north! 

This motel has a wine and cheese happy hour, compliments, every day.  We have never experienced that before in our travels.

We are about to have another game of Skip-Bo.  Last night the score was 385 (Bob) and my score was 0.  Bob was NOT happy, but as you can imagine, he was a good sport about it.  He's still smiling........

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

What a great way to celebrate my 50th birthday (lol).  We drove to San Francisco and had lunch at Pier 39 - nice seafood lunch starting with a bowl of Clam Chowder.  We toured around Fisherman's Wharf and ended up going on a 2 hour open aired bus tour of the city. 

We toured  Boudin Bistro, a company famous for making sour dough  bread which we both love.  I think I could have bought half the place......fabulous.  We did end up with a product of Blue Cheese/Dijon Mustard and a loaf of sour dough bread.  That, along with cheese and meats was our dinner. 

We travelling north of San Francisco after  realizing that between Bob's bum knee and my angina problems, hilly San Fran was not for us!  We ended up at a place called Point Reyes Seashore Lodge in Olema, CA right on Hwy 1 (coast) about an hour north of San Fran.  What a find!  It's stuck in the middle of nowhere - even has a jazucci (but no TV - boo hoo for Bob).  He can't watch the hockey games.....

Anyway, we will be touring in the area tomorrow.

Monday May 2nd

Another great day - spent about 4 hours driving on Hwy 1 up the California coast.  We stopped and watched the Elephant Seals on the beach - what an experience. 

We ended up in Carmel By The Sea.  We are staying at the Best Western Carmel Bay View Inn which is very nice.  It even has a fireplace in the room.

I don't know how long we can play cards tonight - I haven't been able to have power naps in the car during the day.  There is just too much to watch and so beautiful that I have trouble resting.  Such a problem, don't you think???????

Sunday, May 1, 2011

What a beautiful day.  We drove to Santa Barbara to attend an Arts and Crafts Show held every Sunday on the boardwalk right along the Ocean.  It's an awesome sight.  We took a tour of the city on a bus, then drove to the pier and the bus drove into the water and we became a boat for 1-1/2 hours.  What a gorgeous area.

We stopped in at Solvang, a little Finnish town with a lot of shops (similar to St. Jacobs), then through interesting farming area with fields of strawberries, spinach, lettuce and many vineyards.

We ended up at the Best Western Casa Grande Inn at Arryo Grande, a few miles south of Pismo Beach.  We are pretty excited about the next few days, driving up Highway 1 heading north to San Francisco.  Off to play Skip-Bo again tonight.

Saturday April 30, 2011

Well, we are on the road.  We stopped in the Palm Springs/Bermuda Dunes area and had lunch at the Shields Date Garden (burger with sauteed dates and blue cheese - awesome combination).  Of course, we had to share a date shake to go.  Things sure have changed and expanded since we lived there!

We are at the Best Western in Ventura California for the night.  The positive is that we are located right at the Ocean and can see the water from our room but the negative is that there is a train track running right in between the motel and the water front - and it is LOUD when the whistle blows.  The view makes up for the train though.

We are having beautiful weather and hope it continues.  We are planning to travel up the coast to Santa Barbara tomorrow where there is a weekly Arts and Crafts show along the ocean.  Should be fun.