Trip to Alaska and West Coast

October 27, 2013 – 54 F and Fog.  We went to Lompoc, Santa Barbara, and several other cities around them. Lompoc has many vegetable and flower farms around it. We had a wonderful Mexican dinner/lunch at Los Agaves in Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is a beautiful city. They had venders all along the beach front, a nice beach area (brown sand), a boardwalk and marina. We visited the Santa Barbara Mission and drove along a scenic route along the top of the city. Top of the hill would be a great place to live if you like steps.

Flower farm outside of Vandenberg AFB/ Lompoc, CA

A street in Santa Barbara

A street in Sana Barbara

Entrance to Pier in Santa Barbara

Inside Los Agaves- Great Food

Los Agaves Restaurant with mountain homes in back ground

Vendors along beach in Santa Barbara

Mission Santa Barbara

Trip to Alaska and West Coast

October 26, 2013 – 57 F and sunny.  Football day! Alabama vs Tennessee. Oh! Well there is always next year. Alabama 45  Tennessee 10.  The RV park has 2 nice lounges with new 46 inch TVs and padded chairs. We got to watch the game in style today. Also, the washer, dryers and showers are in the same area so you can do it all and still watch football.

Trip to Alaska and West Coast

October 25, 2013 – 56 F and cloudy. We did our shopping. The base is a missile base. It has a nice flightline but no airplanes.  The AF tests ICBMs, trains missile crews and launches satellites here. NASA has some tracking stations for their work. It does not feel like a busy or highly populated base. The BX and Commissary are small but well stocked.

 

Trip to Alaska and West Coast

October 24, 2013 – 55F and cloudy.  We drove down the San Joaquin Valley on hwy 101 to Lompoc /  Vandenburg AFB. There were vegetable farms all along the way. You can only come into Vandenburg with a RV through the Lompoc Gate. The base stops all RVs and searches them. We had to open all compartments on the truck and trailer. It took about 30 mins. The RV park is ok. We have not had a chance to wonder around base. We will go to BX and Commissary tomorrow.

RV Park lounge - it has 2 lounges

Vandenburg RV Park

Vandenburg RV Park

Trip to Alaska and West Coast

October 23, 2013 -- 53F and Foggy. --  We cleaned the trailer and had a excellent dinner-- pork chops, corn bread , field peas, baked potatoes and cold slaw. We finally had to change the gas bottle. We have been running the refrigerator and stove/oven since July 2. I am surprised it lasted that long. Prissy has some new litter- Fresh Step Crystals. She likes it and we do also. It is lighter than clay, has a blue color and does not have an odor. We are hoping that getting new litter will stop our coughing. Tomorrow, we move south to Lompoc, Ca – Vandenberg AFB Fam Camp. We will be staying a few days and visiting Santa Barbara and other places nearby.

 

Orange trees

Along 101/1 toward Lompoc

Vegetable farms everywhere

Trip to Alaska and West Coast

October 22, 2013 – 52F and foggy.  The sun came out and off we went down Hwy 101/1 to Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur. It was a beautiful drive and fun shopping and eating. We had tacos at a little place in Carmel – Island Tacos. We also, had ice cream at a yogurt place. We visited Monterey’s Fishermen’s Wharf, Cannery Row, and downtown area, downtown Carmel, and Big Sur.

At the beach in Monterey

A beach home in Monterey

Down Hwy 101/1 between Monterey and Big Sur

Beach area in Monterey

Along Hwy1/101

Along Hwy1/101

Along Hwy 1/101

Beach at Monterey

Trip to Alaska and West Coast

October 21, 2013 – 52 F and sunny.  Today we moved to Monterey, Ca. We are at a Navy campground – Monterey Pines RV Park. It is a bargain to be able to stay in Monterey/ Carmel for $30 a day full hookup ( water, electric, internet, TV, sewer) on a Navy golf course. This is a golfer’s paradise. There are about 25 courses around the area. We are planning to stay 3 nights maybe more. The Fam Camp is on the approach to Monterey Airport so you have planes coming and going from 6 am to 10 pm. It makes it a little noisy. The internet is really poor and rv sites and roads are dirt.

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Trip to Alaska and West Coast

October 20, 2013 – 52 F and sunny.  Beautiful weather and wine tasting – priceless. We went to Wine country today. Napa, St Helena, and Sonoma were each visited. There must be over 200 wineries in these towns. We stopped and shopped at Beringer’s winery. It was established in1876 and Frederick Beringer built a 17 room mansion. There are caves deep into the mountain behind the tasting area that keep the wines. Jo Ann likes Beringer’s White Zinfandel.  We also, found a Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream shop. Ice Cream may beat wine. 

  

Sonoma Square where California declared itself a independent republic for a month  ( Bear Flag Revolt)

Downtown Sonoma

Downtown St Helena Home of Beringer's

Vineyards near Napa

Beringer's 17 room Mansion (1876)

Beringer's tasting area

Welcome sign to Beringer Winery

Vineyards near Napa

Trip to Alaska and West Coast

October 19, 2013 – 52 F and sunny. Big football day. Tennessee beat South Carolina 23-21; Ala vs Ark 52-0; Fsu vs Clem 51-14; LSU, Texas AM lost. We got more washing done. It was a great day.

Football on TV and RV = priceless

Trip to Alaska and West Coast

October 18, 2013 – 52 F and sunny. Today was a day of rest. We washed clothes and looked at our next stops as we go south. The weather is wonderful and sitting outside, reading, and sleeping is great fun.

Nice little RV

Nice 5th wheel

Trip to Alaska and West Coast

October 17, 2013 – 52 F and sunny. We drove to San Francisco and had a 3.5 hour bus tour of the city and an hour boat ride around the bay and under the Golden Gate Bridge with the Blue and Gold Fleet. We had lunch/dinner at Fog Harbor Fish House on pier 39. Also, ice cream was found to Jo Ann’s pleasure. We got home about 8:30 pm. I did not remember too much about Fisherman’s wharf. It had only been 40+ years since I had been there.

In front of Golden Gate bridge

Under Golden Gate bridge

San Francisco City Hall

San Francisco from the bay

San Francisco Chinese Market in China town

San Francisco from the bay

Pier 39

Alcatraz

I just love this touring

Entering Golden Gate Bridge

Fisherman Wharf Piers 39 - 41

Pier 39

Seals on Pier 39

Trip to Alaska and West Coast

October 16, 2013 – 51 F and Sunny. Jo Ann and I got a hair cut and shopped at the BX and Commissary. We purchased ourselves 2 muffin pans for corn bread and breakfast muffins. Also, we did our shopping at the commissary for this month. We tried out our ATM card and it worked. We learned it is not a cheap thing to use. Tomorrow, we are up early to go to San Francisco.

Trip to Alaska and West Coast

October 15, 2013 – 47 F and sunny.  We had a great day! We drove around Travis AFB and learned where things were located. The truck needed gas and only took 20 gallons to fill up. Also, we found some tours of the Napa wine country and San Francisco. We will schedule the tours later this week. The weather is in the 70’s with sunshine forecast for the whole week. We talked to Captain Alan and Mate Peggy this morning about their cruise on Adventure to Bluewater Bay Marina in Niceville, FL and their wine likes. I am sure they will have a great time. BBM is a great place to cruise and eat. We can tell we are on a military base. They have bugle calls at 7 am, 5 pm and 10 pm. It is great to wake to reveille, have the Star Spangle Banner play each day at sundown, and go to bed with taps or day is done.

Adventure

Mate Peggy

Football Day at Adventure II