To help keep my family and friends informed as to where we where and what we where doing while traveling in the motor home I started writing a newsletter. When I started I was emailing it to my children and siblings and a few friends. Apparently some of the recipients told others about it and before I knew it I was emailing about 40 copies. Below is the latest volume.
Travel Notes, volume 45
October 2009
Hello All
As most of you know we now have a house in Oakley. Last winter we had some remodeling done and Jim and I spent the spring putting things to rights. The summer we spent on the delta with friends from Florida. Great fun. Then back to the house to get it ready for the winter. We (Jim and Travis) planted approximately 36 Italian cypress trees along the backyard fences. When they mature it will be a site to behold. Which is why we planted them, so the guys across the street could not behold any sites in our backyard. This summer the most extensive work was done in the backyard. Besides the trees we had 6 separate cement pours after 40 yards of sand was removed. On one Saturday all the grandbabies were visiting during a pour so I got a special step. This step will be a personal treasure.
Another winter approaches and that means we are on the road again. Actually we were scheduled to leave last Tuesday but when Jim heard the fierce details about the storm that was due Monday night we bumped our departure date up a day. Soooo we were ensconced in Chowchilla for the wind and the rain. Wow….glad we didn’t have to hook up the car in that weather. Our visit in Chowchilla had great games, wonderful time with friends and yummy food as usual. We tried to stay at our usual place near Pismo but they were full so we stayed at the Elk Lodge in Atascadero. Boy what an opportunistic turn of events, the members were extremely accommodating and the bartender was a sweetheart (she introduced me to the lemon drop martini OMG), we had so much fun. Did I tell you that a lemon drop is deceptively yummy and extremely sneaky? The first night was the awards for the kids soccer completion. In the under eight category this little guy won, he couldn’t have been 3 balls high and maybe 5 years old but he could sure kick that ball. They served stuffed pork loin , yummm. Friday night is Wii Bowling and they were serving lasagna and since we were invited to join we just couldn’t say no. Those Wii sports are pretty cool. Then on Saturday the city of Atascadero had ‘Colony Days’ and the lodge had a BBQ pork sandwich booth. The parade was worth the walk and one of the booths (a local merchant) had a necklace that just cried out to me and seduced me with the 20% off sign. We took a day and drove to Morrow Bay. A town with friendly squirrels and a charming waterfront. They also have great clam chowder.
This lodge definitely deserves another visit.
We are on 101 south bound heading into Santa Barbara to visit Aunt Dottie .
She is looking good. She is still not ready to leave the center, so she sent us shopping for her, gave us a list. It was like a treasure hunt. Did you know Santa Barbara does not have a Walmart or a Target. Sears was a little pricey and some of the clerks have forgotten why they get paid to be there.
Jim hates driving through LA even at the best of traffic times but it is the only way to get to San Diego from Santa Barbara.
October 26th
We came to the Chula Vista Elks just for a few days so we could visit the USS Midway and some other museums but the weather took a hand in our travel plans again. High wind advisory for the El Cajon pass has added a couple of days to our stay here, which means, I get to go on the lodge’s casino bus trip tomorrow.
In the next volume I’ll tell you about our visit to the Midway museum that took us over 4 hours. Stem to stern and engine room to conning tower.
Huge Hugs to All
Adrienne