Loving & Leaving Southern California

---

Terry and I celebrated our 46^th wedding anniversary in February by taking a cruise along the Mexican coastline from Los Angeles. Although we had never cruised (and thought we would not enjoy it), here we were on the West Coast so jumped on a special deal. And we were very happy we did. The accommodations, entertainment and of course the FOOD were first class. We were pampered and were getting used to it. We sailed around Cabo San Lucas on an excursion boat looking for George Clooney who lives there in the mountains. I thought for sure he knew we were coming and would have flown a flag of welcome. But no.

Our motor home stayed in San Diego at a park with good security while we were gone. So no worries there. We enjoyed watching Navy Seals learn skydiving at a field near the RV Park and visited Balboa Park in downtown San Diego. A new adventure every day!

We enjoyed one more week in Southern California at Guajome County Park in Oceanside. Thanks to the great weather we spent several days on the beach. It was fun to meet up with long time friends from home, Pat and Reggie Smith. We had lunch on the pier and coffee at the Succulent Garden which was very cool. It was a fun time and good to see them.

Cousins Linda and Mark Allen parked their motor home next door for a night. We played on the beach and still found time to quilt. This was our third visit on this trip and we did not enjoy saying good-bye. We were sorry to have missed seeing cousins Phil and Carolyn this time. Then it was sadly time to leave Southern CA and the wonderful weather.

We chose to take the 101 north to San Francisco. While a little longer than the I-5 it is worth the time for the beauty of the ocean and the fertile fields rather than just highway. Grapes galore and many other crops. There were oil wells off shore and pumps along the road with trucks moving the oil from there. We were surprised to see solar panels on a meatball truck keeping them nice and warm, or maybe cold??

San Francisco was a trip in itself. We first took a tour via double decker bus which took us to the majority of sites and areas of town. We returned to Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39, Chinatown, the Coit Tower, Golden Gate Park, and the Golden Gate Bridge. We drove over the bridge and then walked it both ways. Dodging the bikes and fellow walkers coming from both directions was not easy. Terry did get bumped by a bike but no injuries or law suits. It is 1.7 miles each way where the Mackinaw Bridge is 5 miles plus and in our estimation more impressive. But we are of course biased. We hiked Lands End along the shoreline of the far Western side of the city. It is there that many ships have sunk due to strong currents and fog. The views of the bay and shoreline were impressive.

We met up with friends Ken and Karen (not the Barbie’s) from the cruise for a nice dinner. Our last day we drove to Yountville in Napa Valley and had lunch with Brenda and Marty Patrick who I met in Costa Rica. Lots of meet ups I know but we enjoy these friendships. Napa is lovely.

We left San Francisco RV Park (which is on a cliff overlooking the Pacific) and are headed for Yosemite National Park. If the bear don’t get us there will be more to come.

---

Comments

[Gail Nelaon]

Good to Hear From You
Happy Anniversary you two. Sounds like you are enjoying a wonderful time. Safe Journeys.