Oct 25: Las Vegas

We arrived in Vegas several days ago and will probably stay through the weekend.  From here we head south to Apache Junction and our winter home.  We will stay there for 5 months.

(Note: At the bottom of each page, there is a link "Older Posts".  Click on that link to see more postings.)

Stay tuned.....more adventures to follow

Oct 10: Hail Storm in Morgan Hill

We were at a winery in Morgan Hill and all of sudden it started raining, and then it hailed.  And I mean it was large hail.

So we just continued our wine tasting.......

The Vineyards

Suddenly the hail stopped and fog came in.



Another view of the vineyards

And then we returned to our campsite......

The dry creek bed behind our campsite was no longer dry.

Oct 1: Barb's visit to her mom

As most of you know, Barb goes to visit her mom every 2 months.  So with all of our traveling, we schedule a stop in a city near an airport.

After leaving Napa, we headed to Morgan Hill which is just south of San Jose. 
Barb spent 5 days with her mom playing bingo , taking walks and just chatting.

Oct 9: Sea Otters and Pelicans

On one of the days at Morgan Hill, we drove to the California coastline.  We stopped at every beach along the 20 miles section that we drove.  I think there was a beach every 5 miles and at some exits there were two separate beach fronts.

Our most exciting stop was at Moss Landing.
 And there to our surprise were sea otters just frolicking in the water. 

A pelican flew over to check out the otters



Let's play peek-a-boo

Sept 28: Napa Valley

We left Newport at the end of September and traveled down to the coast into California.  We stopped for several days in Napa Valley.  Each day we went to 3-4 wineries for the views and tastings.  It was amazing to us how beautiful as well as how ornate many of the wineries were. 

Below are just a sampling of the vineyards we visited.

Peju Winery

Peju Winery

Artesia Winery

Pegasus Winery

The hills are covered with vineyards.

Artesia Winery through the wine glass

Sept 22: Views of the Yaquina Lighthouse from Pacific Shores Resort

This year a group of volunteers within the park cleared an area, set up steps and hand rails so that we would have a good walking path to the beach.     On several different days we walked along the beach and viewed the Yaquina Lighthouse.

Some of the days the fog was very thick which gave the lighthouse an eerie effect.

August-September: Newport Bay Front and Bay Bridge

The Newport Bayfront with Bay Bridge in background.

Newport is one of the largest commercial fishing communities along the coast.  The fishing boats come in daily with their catch and sell to restaurants as well as to the public.  We only wish we had a large enough freezer to purchase a whole Albacore Tuna.  We went to the bay front at least 3 times a week to purchase tuna loins and grill them for dinner.  Our favorite meal !!!

Sept 12: A Drive along the Oregon Coast

We think the Oregon coast is one of the most exciting and beautiful sites to see in this country.  And we are very impressed with the way the state of Oregon as planned so many state parks and overlook sites to view the coastline.  On one of our many drives along the coast, the waves were high and exciting.

These photos are from Devils Churn and Neptune Beach.  We spent an hour or more just sitting on the rocks at the base of Devils Churn, watching the waves and feeling the spray.  A glorious experience.

One of the many views from sites along the highway

Devils Churn



Bailey loved running in the sand at Neptune Beach

 

Sept 10: Adding steps to the deck

There were no steps on the backside of our deck, just a two foot drop off.  So this year we hired a contractor to add steps and hand rails.  We think he did a great job.

View of deck before steps were added.
 To get to the back area, we would just use the little step stool or jump down.

Work in progress.....hand rail for front steps

All the equipment !!!!

Hooray, they're done.



View of our site from the rear.