Santa Cruz, CA

On Sunday Sept 30th, we leave Half Moon bay and make a relatively short (about an hour and 1/2) and pretty drive down Hwy 1 to spend about 5 days in Santa Cruz.

We stay at the Santa Cruz Harbor RV Park, which is really a single row of 12 over-sized asphalt spots with hookups that face directly towards the boats in the marina.

So even though the spaces are not fancy, they are smack dab in downtown Santa Cruz within walking distance to the beach, restaurants and green space. Even at this time of year, we find flowers are in bloom along our walk to the beach.

We had a couple of meals at the harbor restaurants down by the beach.

On Wednesdays early evenings, they have informal sailboat races. You can watch a steady parade of boats heading out for the race. So around 5, we went to the Crows Nest restaurant (behind Tom in the picture above), sat out on the second floor deck, which gave us views (like the picture at the top of this page) of the boats going in and out of the harbor, and had cocktails and appetizers.

Half Moon Bay, CA

We reluctantly leave Bodega Bay on Sunday the 23rd. We head back to the valley for a doctor appt and a vet appt, a chance to run a few errands and stock up on supplies. Once complete, our long range plans are to head south along the coast before turning east to visit southwest Utah.

Our first stop is Pillar Point RV Park at Half Moon Bay. The RV park sits right on the edge of the harbor and has wonderful views of the bay to one side...

and the open ocean on the other.

 

You can easily spend your day watching surfers, kite boarders, joggers, walkers, cyclist, pelicans, egrets, gulls, sandpipers, dolphins and sea lions.

We found this guy hanging around the fish cleaning station at the harbor.

The Mavericks surf break is also just off the coast here and, when conditions are right, attracts professional surfers from around the world to surf monster (30 ft +) waves (the surf was calm while we were there).

Sam's Chowder House is an easy walk up the beach trail and is a must visit because of its delicious chowder and great views. We stopped in and had roasted garlic chili prawns, and wild mushroom and burrata bruschetta appetizers, and bowls of New England clam chowder. It was a relaxing way to wind down the day.

Bodega Bay CA

On Wednesday Sept. 19th, we head over to Bodega Bay. Our plan this time is to spend a couple of days at one of the local Sonoma county regional parks (Westside) and then move over to Porto Bodega RV Park. The reason for doing this is twofold: 1) availability and 2) water/electric/sewer hookups. Westside is dry camping, and Porto Bodega has full hookups.

While there, we lunched on clam chowder and a crab salad sandwich at Spud Point Crab Company. We also had a simple but nice evening meal and some wine while sitting out overlooking the bay.

One of my favorite areas of Bodega Bay is Bodega Head. It is the very southwest tip of land surrounding the bay. One side of it (looking west) is open ocean, 

the other side (looking east) faces back towards the bay and the town beyond it. You can reach it by taking Westshore road around the bay all the way to the end. It has dozens of trails running through it and an infinite number of sitting/viewing spots.

On Friday, we moved over to Porto Bodega and decided to splurge on a nice dinner at Terrapin Creek Restaurant (which has a Michelin star rating).

We were fortunate to have our younger son Andrew and his girlfriend Crystal join us for a few days while we were here. Andrew is training for a marathon in December, and I promised if they came over to visit, I would be his support crew during a 16 mi. training run. So on Saturday morning, we head out, Andrew running, and me on my bike. A few hours later, we were done. It was an effort on a bike, but nothing like what it took for Andrew. Nice job youngster!

Grass Valley, CA

After spending some time in the Sacramento area taking care of doctor appointments, various car and RV repairs, and dropping Wendy off in Stockton to spend some time with her mom, Tank and I head up to Grass Valley for some family time.

We have reservations at Nevada County Fairgrounds and RV park. It's actually a nice little RV park. It's surrounded by tall trees and has a small lake right next to it. Tank really is a bird dog and was more than ready to jump in and go play with the ducks.

The main reason for heading to Grass Valley is to have a chance to spend some time with my sister, Cathy, and her boyfriend, Dave. Cathy had recently broken her right leg. She hasn't been able to drive and was going somewhat stir crazy at home. 

I'd say that I had a captive audience for all my travel stories and pictures, but, instead, she took advantage of my visit by putting me to work chauffeuring her all (and I do mean ALL) around the Grass Valley/ Nevada City area. I think our lifestyle has inspired her as she and Dave had recently purchased a retro travel trailer. She's been busy (as a gimp can be) getting it ready for their initial voyage. As a reward for my service, Cathy and I had a nice Mexican food lunch one day, and Cathy and Dave made a wonderful dinner another night. It was really fun to have the chance to visit with both of them.