Category Archives: October 2013

Football & Friends in sunny AZ! 10/17/13 – 10/24/13

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Seahawks Game in Arizona

We arrived in Scottsdale and the Talking Stick Resort & Casino on Thursday mid-day for the big Seahawks game and birthday gathering of our friend, Becky Kelly. We opted to stay in the hotel and park the MoHo in the lot, which was a nice treat for us. This was a very nice resort and reminded us a lot of Tulalip back home. There was a group of 12 of us, so we had shuttles organized to take us to the game. The guys got in one van and the gals in the other. Not sure what happened, but the guys made it to the stadium in 45 min’s whereas our genius driver got us there in a record 2 hours 15 mins. Obviously he went the wrong way smack dab into traffic. It wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, except one of the guys had all of the tickets. Two of the guys waited outside for us to arrive, which was so nice. We ended up missing the 1st quarter which was a bummer. Finally made it in the stadium to find out our tickets were in the family section (no alcohol). Are you kidding me?! Regardless of these snafus the game was awesome and the Seattle 12th man presence was huge! It was a great win and pretty fun to be there to witness. The shuttles back to the hotel went a bit more smoothly!

The next morning, Mike & I played golf with some of the group. Thankfully we teed off early, as it was pretty toasty by the time we got off the course. We headed back to the hotel for some R & R before the big birthday dinner in old town Scottsdale. We ate at the coolest restaurant, Olive & Ivy. We sat outside on the patio and I had one of the best meals I have had in a long time! Delicious and very reasonable. After dinner the party continued to a few bars in Scottsdale, then back to the hotel. We stopped off at the MoHo for the group to see our home on wheels and ended up having a dance party in there with 14 people (that’s a record)! Only interrupted by the hotel security “encouraging” us to take the party inside. We headed up to the hotel nightclub for more celebrating. Mike & I went to bed early at 1:30am but the youngsters stayed up until who knows when. Thank you to the group for including us in the party. It is so fun to see friends along the way!

14 people in the MoHo!

14 people in the MoHo!

Saturday morning we were up and out of the hotel by 9:30 to stay with our friends, Vickie & Bruce Cline, who were down from Seattle at their house in Sun City. We were able to park the MoHo at their home association clubhouse and stay in their house. They had another couple, Steve & Jolene, visiting as well. The Husky football game at ASU was on the agenda today. I was outnumbered 5 to 1, them in their purple and gold and me in my neutral colors. Off to Tempe we went! The streets around the stadium were packed with fun bars and restaurants with outdoor areas, misters for relief from the heat and loud music playing. What a fun, college atmosphere. There were A LOT of husky fans there, which was pretty impressive. Our seats were in direct sun for the whole first half which was a bit brutal, but the shade came over us for the second half, which was a much-needed reprieve. The Huskies were horrible and in the words of my husband, didn’t even show up for the game. This was a great place to come watch college football and I would love to return for a game in the future. Back to the house for a relaxing evening. Oh, the Cougs also lost to Oregon, no surprise.

Huskies vs ASU

Huskies vs ASU

The next three days were wonderful and relaxing! Mike played golf with the boys one morning. We drove into Cave Creek for the day and a great Mexican dinner. There was also a “Bike-toberfest” event going on there. Hundreds of pristine Harleys and lots of decked out biker guys & gals. We stopped in at the main hub, the Hideaway, for a few beers before dinner and to people watch. We all stuck out like sore thumbs since we weren’t in black or leather. It was fun up until the point where Bruce had his wallet stolen. Not much cash lost, but as we all know, such a hassle to have to cancel everything. Kind of put a damper on things, but Bruce was pretty even-keeled about it. The next few days we hung out poolside, kayaked on the lake that their house sits on, Mike fished for hours and we cooked some darn good dinners, enjoyed great wine and loved hanging out with good friends. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Bruce & Vickie for opening up their home to us!

The group at Vickie & Bruce's house

The group at Vickie & Bruce’s house

On Wednesday, they were off to the airport for their flight back to Seattle and Mike & I continued our visiting of friends. We drove 15 minutes west to Surprise, AZ and the Sunflower RV Park. This was an over 55 resort, but they made an exception for us! This was our home base for our visit with Bob & Gloria Woolsey, Mike’s former employers and now close friends. They have a beautiful home in Buckeye. We got settled then headed out to their house for dinner. Another friend who used to work with the group was also there, Brad Wallace. They made us a delicious home-cooked meal and we had a great time catching up talking about old times. Bob & Gloria were a bit of an inspiration for us with what we are doing. They bought a 40-foot MoHo over a year ago and have been doing a variety of trips. We visited them when they were in the Seattle area and toured their rig. This was in the early stages of our planning so seeing how they were doing it and talking through the lifestyle change with them proved to be invaluable. They have really been great supporters of what we are doing. We returned to the MoHo that night for a great night sleep in our own bed after being out of it for almost a week. The next morning, we headed back to their house for a five-star breakfast and more fun catching up. Mike & I had errands to run for the day, but they came down to “our house” for dinner that night. We ordered pizza and sat outside and watched the baseball game. Really, really great to see them and spend time together!

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Mike, Brad & Bob

Next we are heading north to Sedona and the Grand Canyon!

End of the wine trail…boo hoo! 10/9/13 – 10/15/13

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Paso Robles, Eberle Winery

Paso Robles, Eberle Winery

We headed out of Monterey to Paso Robles, a nice short and easy drive of just about 2 hours. We arrived at the Wine Country RV Resort around noon and got set up quickly. So quickly we had the rest of an afternoon to head out and find some wineries to enjoy! The resort had free coupons for tastings at several different of the local wineries, so we grabbed our daily allotment of 4 coupons and headed out for the afternoon. First stop was Vina Robles, a newer tasting room that spared no expense. Very large and open building, with great service from Bob, and a nice assortment of wines. A very nice concert venue here and we almost bought tickets to the John Fogerty show the next evening, just could not commit.  Next we were on to Eberle Winery. Again, great service from Sarah, and a nice little tour of the wine cave there. The wine owner, a Penn St. grad who played football many years back, has a great little thing going. He has been there for decades, and everyone knows him and respects his wines – the godfather of Paso. The third stop that day was at Tobin James winery. We were told this was a party site, and it felt a little more lively when we arrived. There were several different people at stations pouring wine, and the atmosphere was definitely more alive. We had some okay wines here, and did a little shopping in the store, but were rushed out the door promptly at 6:00PM when they closed, even though were still had a few more wines to try, a bit odd. Returned to the park and the MoHo for dinner and some rest.

The next day we were off to the other side of town, the west side of highway 101. Headed out highway 46 and made several stops, first of which was at Grey Wolf. A very small outfit, with average wines, dog friendly, and not much more to talk about. Next stop was Zin Alley. We got some great recommendations from a friend Traci worked with, Dana. This winery was right on highway 46, but not listed on any of our maps. Very basic, almost seemed as if it was closed. Well, the owner, wine maker, farmer, property manager, etc. was there with a lively couple of ladies at the tasting bar. They were having a great time, and it was only noon! We sampled his 5 Zin-based wines, and he knows what he is doing!! This is a great stop, not to be missed, but get out your wallet, wines here are not cheap, but the pricing reflects the quality. Third stop was Turley, just south of highway 46. A very nice place, and good wines here, but again just missing something to make it special. Next we were on to Tablas Creek, just off Vineyard Dr. to the west on Adelaide Rd. Beautiful grounds, free waters served in re-usable aluminum water bottles. A very nice place, we would have had lunch if we had time, definitely a great place! Next on to Lone Madrone, a new location for them, but you would never know it. We had great service here and chatted with another couple who were there picking up theire shipment and they gave us a recommendation for our next stop, if we hurried. We did, and got up to DAOU Vineyards around 5:30PM. This place is on the top of the hill, and the views do not fail! A must stop if you get to the area, and good quality wines to add to the ambiance. We headed back to Paso for some dinner, and accidentally found another place to stop, Paso Underground. This tasting room is a place that the little guys share, there were 4 tables here, only one tasting that night though, Edmond August. He had a group of 12 coming in and as soon as they arrived, we quickly finished and headed out to find some grub. We both were in the mood for Mexican, and found a nice little place called Estrella’s. We had great food, and went home full and tired, but happy with our full day of wine tasting!  Overall, the vibe in Paso was very relaxed and casual and we would highly recommend a visit to this area. And, the RV Park we stayed at was probably one of the nicest yet.  Clean, friendly and the customer service was second to none!

DAOU Winery - beautiful view!

DAOU Winery – beautiful view!

Our last full day we went over to the coast, another friend Bruce had recommended we go see Morro Bay. Oh how I wish I had looked it up on the map before we headed out. This is an amazing little town on the coast with a very large natural bay and would have been great if we had brought clothes to go kayaking, damn! We walked up and down the main road, and stopped for lunch at a little bar on the water. Did a little more scenic driving around and then it was time to head back to Paso Robles. The resort had a free tasting that night in the clubhouse, but the wine was not good, so we went back to the MoHo and made dinner and stayed in for the night.  Oh, and we got a few loads of laundry done!

Morro Bay

Morro Bay

The next morning we were off to Cachuma Lake Recreation Area, a reservoir above Santa Barbara to the NE about 20 minutes. This place is an old Mobile Home park that had been converted to a campground. We had a nice big pad to park on, it was quiet and a great location for everything in the area. We got in early enough that day to sit back and chill and watch some football, Dawgs and Cougs kind of stunk it up, oh well.  We decided to drive into Solvang to grab a bite to eat at the local brewery.  This little Danish town was hopping on a Saturday night.  Our dinner was just ok, then we headed home for the night.

Sunday we met up with Traci’s friend she worked with, Dana and his wife Sharon. They offered to take us around Santa Ynez Valley and show us the wine region that is in the valley just north of Santa Barbara to Los Olivos. A small area but it did pack a great punch when it comes to the wine quality and wineries. This is the area that the movie Sideways was filmed.  We started the day at Rideau. A wonderful little place, with very nice wines and great grounds, easily could have spent a whole afternoon here, but we had some other venues to explore. The next stop was at Arthur Earl, a winery that Dana and Sharon are wine club members with. Again, very good wines here, with a nice little tasting room, and very friendly help. The last stop of the afternoon was at Demetria. After a long drive up the entrance road, we arrived at this amazing gem in the middle of the valley and secluded as if you were in the middle of Tuscany! WOW!! We had brought some lunch from town and found an open table outside and sat down and enjoyed lunch and a bottle of wine, amazing place! You would never believe how many people were here, so far off the main highway, but when you are good, they will find you! We headed back to the MoHo, an early evening set in, so we got out the fire pit to keep warm and enjoyed a couple of our wines we brought from home with our tour guides. A great day, a huge thanks to Dana and Sharon for taking care of us and showing us the valley!

Demetria Winery with Dana & Sharon

Demetria Winery with Dana & Sharon

The next morning, moving a bit slow, we decided it was time to wash the house…in the heat of the morning. Long story short, 3 plus hours later the dirt and bugs were cleaned off the outside of the MoHo and car and we were really tired. Quick trip into town for some groceries and we were just happy to relax the rest of the afternoon.

Our last full day in the area, we headed to Santa Barbara for the day. We drove down to the waterfront and headed to a little bar in the Marina that Dana had recommended, Brophy Bros. His tip was to sit at the bar (the best seats in the house).  We did exactly that, had a beer and peered out at the marina, what a little gem of a location. Next we headed back up the beach to another little restaurant for lunch, the Shoreline Cafe. We sat on the beach, feet in the sand and enjoyed the sun and sand, along with a nice meal. We headed into town, I dropped Traci off at the Color Room for a hair appt (another rec from Dana & Sharon), and I headed back to the beach for a couple hours, super relaxing. I picked her up and we headed to Dana and Sharon’s for dinner in the Santa Barbara hills. A gorgeous home with amazing touches and an incredible patio, we sat outside for appy’s and dinner and wine. A perfect finish to our weekend in Santa Barbara, we again can’t say enough thanks to our hosts for a great time!  We really loved this portion of the trip.  Paso Robles, the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Barbara are places we will return to for sure.

Toes in the sand, Shoreline Cafe in Santa Barbara

Toes in the sand, Shoreline Beach Cafe in Santa Barbara

Tomorrow we are off towards the Phoenix area, with an overnight stop just east of the CA/AZ border. It is another double, Seahawks on Thursday, Husky’s on Saturday, sandwiched with a birthday party for a good friend in Scottsdale. Then, finishing the weekend with two more couples in the area. Going to be a great weekend!

 

Are you ready for some football? 10/2/13 – 10/8/13

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Cougs vs. Cal

Cougs vs. Cal

We left Yosemite disgusted with the Government closure of the park (and for that matter, all National Parks. What a shame for people who had planned their vacations and events who are not able to see these amazing places). We planned the drive out of the area a bit better than the drive in. We opted not to hook up the car and I drove separately from Mike in the MoHo. MUCH more pleasant for all! Our destination was San Jose and the Coyote Valley RV Park. We were now in the Bay Area and the prices reflected it! We got settled for the night and enjoyed a relaxing evening ‘at home’ in the MoHo.

The next morning the wind was howling, but we had a tee-time at the Coyote Creek Golf Course so we decided to go for it. We were paired up with another guy and ended up having a great time. It certainly wasn’t our best round, but the course was in great shape. We headed into the local town, Morgan Hill, for pizza that night.

Friday morning, I was in desperate need of a pedicure so we headed into town and found a local nail joint. Mike went to wash the car and I enjoyed my hour of bliss! Then it was off to Saratoga for the day our new friend Joanna planned for us (we met her and her husband in Lodi and they basically planned an entire afternoon/evening for us). First stop was Mountain Winery. We drove up a steep, windy hill to the winery and felt like we were on top of a mountain with amazing views of the valley. It was a gorgeous, sunny day so we opted for glasses of wine and a cheese plate. We walked over to the concert venue and were instantly jealous that we had never been here before. Bonnie Raitt/Marc Cohn were playing that weekend but it was sold out. We were determined to get tickets as this was a venue NOT to be missed (more later on this topic). We enjoyed another glass of wine, then decided it was time to head back into Saratoga. Next stop was ‘The Bank,’ a dive bar where we enjoyed an ice-cold BL. Then onto stop 2.5, ‘The Basin’ for a recommended Martini. Mike actually had a Moscow Mule and I opted for refreshing glass of sparkling wine. The menu here looked incredible, but we were determined to honor Joanna’s itinerary and hit La Fondue for dinner. This place was very similar to Melting Pot (our local Seattle fondue restaurant), but more upscale. We did the typical cheese, salad, meat and dessert courses. My fave was definitely dessert, but we both left feeling overly full. Good food, but definitely way too much of it!

Mountain Winery concert venue, Saratoga

Mountain Winery concert venue, Saratoga

Today, was the day! The reason we came to the area. COLLEGE FOOTBALL! Mike had scoped this out months ago. Cougs were playing Cal in the day and the Huskies were playing Stanford in the evening. We were doing the double! We were up early and on BART to Berkeley on the 9am train. We met Mike’s aunt Melanie for breakfast and bloody mary’s and a quick visit. Then it was time to head onto campus and prefunc for the game. Surprisingly, it was hard to find a bar to get a beer in. We ended up in some random hotel, then found a Coug rally area where we got a cold beer. The game was a bit boring to be honest. Yes, the cougs won, but the turnout wasn’t great and the Cal fans were quiet! I’ll take the win though! Off, we went back to BART for the trip back to Fremont where our car was parked. It just so happened that there was also an Oakland A’s playoff game that night, so the train was packed with A’s fans. Kind of fun to feel the energy of these excited fans. We made it back to our car and headed to my very dear friends house, Renee Kaplan. We have known each other since middle school. She lives very near Palo Alto with her hubby Evan and darling sons, Jace and Penn. The game was very exciting and I must say those Husky fans definitely outshined the Coug fans. They had a HUGE presence at the game, which was very impressive. The energy at this game definitely kicked butt over my Coug game. Sad, but true. We also ran into good friends, Mike & Dawn Cameron, who were down from Seattle to cheer on the Dawgs. I was shocked at how close this game was and hard to admit that the UW Huskies are no joke. They actually could have won this game and it was too bad that it came down to an officiating call. A great game to watch! We headed back to Renee & Evan’s and said our goodbyes and back to the MoHo. A VERY long day, but so fun. We did it!

Miller's and Kaplan's at the UW/Stanford game

Miller’s and Kaplan’s at the UW/Stanford game

Needless to say, we slept in on Sunday after our 16-hour day! It felt great to relax and just hang out at the RV Park. We watched the Seahawks lose (boo!) and went to the grocery story. We got a new neighbor, PGA pro Charlie Beljan. He rolled in his mac-daddy MoHo for the Fry’s tournament just south of San Jose. We were watching the President’s Cup on the TV when he came over to talk with us, so it was very cool to find out he was in the PGA! We had a relaxing night on the MoHo and getting ready for our morning departure. We were going to try to get tickets to the Bonnie Raitt concert, but lost our steam after our busy day. But, I still believe this could be one of the best concert venues ever! It would be worth it to scope out next year’s concert calendar and fly down for a long weekend.

Our drive was an easy one. Only 90 minutes, which is a dream come true! This never happens so it was a pleasant surprise. We arrived in Monterey to the Monterey Fairgrounds by noon. This area was a challenge to find a place to stay, as there aren’t may options. So we felt fortunate to find a spot. However the airport was right next door (loud!) and the spots were not level at all, so our jacks had to lift the front end of the MoHo 6 inches off the ground. But, the location couldn’t have been better. We got settled and headed right out to the 17-mile drive. This is a drive along the Monterey Peninsula/Pebble Beach area. Talk about gorgeous scenery and amazing mansions. We did stop at Pebble Beach Golf Course for a light lunch at the Lodge overlooking the 18th green. This was so cool for us to be at such a recognized location that we have seen so many times on TV. Loved being here!  We checked out the pro shop and inquired what green fees are…$495!  We drove back to the Fairgrounds for the night. Wow, those planes were loud!

The Lone Cypress near Pebble Beach

The Lone Cypress near Pebble Beach

18th green at Pebble Beach

18th green at Pebble Beach

The next day it was off to the coast. We drove the 1 down to Big Sur. It was a pretty foggy day, so the scenery wasn’t perfect but pretty impressive. We drove as far as Nepenthe, a cool restaurant on the side of a cliff overlooking the amazing scenic coast. We drove back and stopped in Carmel (or Carmel by the Sea, the official name) and strolled through this quaint town. They were gearing up for their film & arts festival the next day, so I was hoping for some celebrity sightings, but no luck. I think there is some cash-ola in this town! We drove back to Monterey and decided to hit Cannery Row downtown. This is a vibrant, touristy area right on the waterfront. We walked and walked and decided on an early lunch at the Cannery Row Brewing Company. Then headed back into town for the local farmer’s market. We nabbed some blackberries, raspberries, lettuce and delicious caramel apple. We love to hit these local markets when we can!

North Coast

North Coast

Bixby Creek Bridge, near Big Sur

Bixby Creek Bridge, near Big Sur

Next stop is Paso Robles and more wine tasting! Yippee!

Yosemite (sort of…) – 9/29/13 – 10/1/13

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Half Dome, Yosemite National Park

Half Dome, Yosemite National Park

We left Lodi and headed to the hills towards Yosemite. Nice day for a drive, but I did not do a lot of research into our route. It seemed pretty straight forward, just go east and you will get there. We traveled mostly back roads or 2-lane highways, a couple areas were nice and open, one or two were not so much. The real “fun” began when we started to head up the hill on Hwy 120. Again we got the signs that the road was not recommended for large vehicles, but there is only one road in and out of the area from here, so up we went. (There is actually another road up for cars-only which the locals know about, but we could not go in the MoHo). Straight up 5 miles of 15 and 20 mph corners on the side of a canyon, super slow going for sure. These are the roads that Traci hates, and I have to really concentrate, as there is very little room for a mistake. Then you put very few pullouts along the way and you get lots of upset drivers behind us pushing us to go faster, sorry folks, but we are not a Ferrari! We got to the top of the hill and finally it eased up a bit toward Groveland. We traveled another 17 miles to the campground at Thousand Trails Yosemite Lakes. Along the way we started to see some of the devastation from the fires this summer, and it really is sad. It seemed that every road leading off the highway was closed, and there were piles of fallen burnt trees in every pullout or viewpoint. The fire crews were still very present in the area working on hot spots and cleanup. GPS wanted us to turn down one of these closed roads, we couldn’t, so we just kept going for another mile and there was a much better entrance road to the campground. We arrived for our four-night stay and got set up and relaxed with a cold one, the drive was short, but technical.

Fire Devastation near Yosemite

Fire Devastation near Yosemite

The next day we were off to Yosemite National Park (we would normally link to the NP page, but with gov’t shutdown, the websites are all down); got to the gate about 9:45AM. The ranger at the gate asked for our park pass, and warned us the park may be closed tomorrow…huh?! (I had the TV on that morning and heard something about a govt. shutdown, and now it was making sense.) She said the park would be closed if the govt. shutdown occurs the next day. Fine, whatever lets just get in and go explore. (Political rant here…come on you children, get your act together and figure this out! It seems like someone wants to take their ball and go home and not let the rest of the kids play, absolute joke! If I had my choice, all of those people in politics would only get to serve 2 or 3 terms total, for their entire lifetime, no more career politicians, it just does no good for the long term.) We drove into the park and headed to the Yosemite Valley, as we were hoping to be able to explore more of the park later in the week if it was open. We got to see our first sightings of El Capitan and Half Dome, massive to say the least! We parked and decided to take a hike up to Vernal Falls, a short 2.4 mile round trip, but 1,000 foot elevation gain. A nice paved path leads up the side of the hill. We got to the bridge and we both wanted to continue to the falls, but it was a bit of a climb to here. (There is a note on the hiking map, the last half-mile is up a granite wall of over 600 steps, and it may be wet with water spray from the falls depending on the time of year.) It was dry, but oh my goodness was it straight up! We both took several breaks on the way up, as it was a lot more than 600 steps. We finally got to the top and were tired, so we spent some time relaxing in the sunshine and had some lunch we packed in. The view was amazing up top and completely worth it, but we were dreading the descent back down those same steps. Coming down is always way more difficult, as you have to control your movements or you could tumble. We got down some 100-150 stairs and both of us already had jelly legs, and our balance was not good. We powered through it and knew we were going to be sore the few days, but had no other choice to get back down. Even the last portion that is paved is really challenging as we were exhausted, and our legs were spent. We hadn’t hiked in awhile and our bodies were feeling it! A.G.E. We headed out of the park with a quick stop at El Capitan to watch a few of the mountain climbers on the rock wall doing their crazy thing on the granite face. (You have seen the pictures of this type of climbing I am sure, but if not Google it and you will see why my camera could not even pick them up). Back to the MoHo for spaghetti and wine, we were in bed by 9:30PM exhausted.

Hike up 600 granite steps!

Hike up 600 granite steps!

Vernal Falls - this was halfway up. We ended up at the top of the falls.

Vernal Falls – this was halfway up. We ended up at the top of the falls.

Look closely - there is a climber in blue near top right and a climber in red bottom left. Crazy!

Look closely (click on photo to make larger) – there is a climber in blue near top right and a climber in red bottom left. Crazy!

The next day we were stuck, as we figured. We had stayed up late the night before long enough to watch the news channels and find out that the govt. was closing all the national parks. This was really too bad as there was so much more of the park that we wanted to explore. I guess we were fortunate though to have spent one day here as our neighbors traveled from England and didn’t get the chance to go in. We stopped by the campground office to find out if we could get a refund if we left a day early since there really isn’t much to do here with the park closed. There was a sign right inside the door, no refunds for early departures. Great, we can at least ask, right? I think we caught the manager at the right time, as he let us cut our stay a day short, just fill out some paperwork and he will give us refund due to the park closure. We headed back into Groveland for some cell service and lunch. We ate at the Iron Door Saloon – the oldest continuously running Saloon in California, open since 1852. Back to the MoHo for the rest of the afternoon. We took a venture around the area to see how close the fires got to the place, amazing work done by the firefighters to save this campground. Dinner in and another early night, bodies were still revolting against us from our hike the day before! Heading to San Jose area tomorrow, our base for the weekend of golf and two college football games to attend on Saturday; WSU @ Cal. at 1:00PM in Berkley, and the UW @ Stanford at 7:30PM in Palo Alto. Going to be a busy weekend!

p.s. I think the ants are gone!

Here are more pics from Yosemite.  Notice the ones showing the fire damage and look very closely at the ones that just look like a closeup of the mountain – there are actually rock climbers  on the face!