livingthedreamwithsallyandvic/wp-admin

We spent the day enjoying Monterey starting with the Wharf where Sea Lions sun themselves on the rocks and play in the water.

Then we walked up and down the Wharf and decided to have breakfast overlooking the water.

I looked out the window overlooking the marina and saw this pelican.

Towards the end of our meal a woman was seated at the table behind us. We had seen her before we came in, sleeping on a bench. She had a walker with her with a couple of grocery bags in it. Nothing over the top but she looked obviously homeless. Vic started talking to her. What’s your name, where do you live etc. she was talkative until he asked her where she slept. She did not like that he asked that question.

I wanted to know how she was going to pay for the meal – she ordered the works with a Bloody Mary. Entrees were almost $30.

After breakfast we had a fun walk on a walking/biking path next to the beach. Zoe was so tired from all the visual stimulation and walking I had to carry her to the truck.

It was perfect weather – blue skies and low 70’s.

Diesel is expensive $5.09 but worth it to be here.

We are staying at a city park called Pinto Lake. It’s extremely well maintained and landscaped with a softball field, basketball court, areas for family get togethers (yesterday there was an under 5 yo party with a bouncy house, bubble machine.

There is also a marina and a boat launch. We are in between Moss Landing and Monterey, CA. Great location.

Things I don’t like about this place: geese have taken over the marina area. They are disgusting.

We had to park in a full hook space since there is no area for dry camping. It’s $45 a night which isn’t outrageous especially when other places are much more, up to $200 a night.

The worst feature of this place is the sites are only 15 feet wide. The next camper is so close we can’t put our awning out. We are already plotting our escape. There’s an Elks Lodge nearby that has a big parking lot. We will move there as soon as our paid time here is over.

Yesterday we went to Moss Landing where there are sea otters and sea lions. People go fishing there.

The best part of where we are is the temperature. High today will be 73 and stay like this all week. We plan to hug the coastline all the way up to Oregon/Washington and stay cool.

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there!

This is an Army base. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of personnel here and the ones we’ve seen are mostly doing drills. Many buildings are in disrepair, even saw one where it had a fire and half the roof is caved in. It looks like they have no budget for repairs. Lots of weeds too. There’s a decent laundromat with snack machines and a machine that dispenses coffee and expresso. There is an Exchange about the same size as the laundromat and no Commissary at all. It’s a very strange place.

We planned on staying 3 days, see Hearst Castle, then go on to Monterey.

Vic started coughing on our way here on Friday. By yesterday, Saturday he felt worse. The Covid test showed positive almost as soon as he started the test. I tested too and I’m negative.

We spent the afternoon getting diagnosed and then trying to find a drugstore that had the test in stock.

He’s been taking Paxlovid and benedryl for 18 hours and they are helping a lot. Whew! We can’t figure out where he got Covid from – we are so careful using sanitizer etc.

I’m masking up, keeping my distance and spraying Lysol on everything he touches. 🤞 I don’t get it too. By the way I got the last booster but he did not.

We are out of the heat dome – very happy about that!

Stay well!

We are only here for one night. Tomorrow morning we head to Monterey. Can’t get out of here soon enough!!!

May 31, 2024

There are so many lakes around here. We just found this one yesterday, went back to our site in the Inyo Forest, grabbed our stuff and moved over here 2 hours later. We enjoyed the forest, it was a good location for exploring the area, quiet, and we enjoyed the few people we met. However this place has so much more. We are thrilled to be here, it’s just gorgeous.

The lake is 5 miles x 12 miles (a little bigger than the island of St. John, USVI). There is a marina, bait & tackle shop, boats for rent, cabins for rent, trout fishing is the big thing, also perch. Vic has already gotten a pole and some bait and plans to fish from the shore. The fish are so plentiful you can see them jumping out of the water.

We are excited to stay here for several days maybe a week. We never did get around to making a post about the forest, still working on that. I have read the oldest tree in the world was near us in the Inyo Forest but its location is protected. It is called Methuselah and is 5,000 years old. There are tons of ATV trails and I suspect the only way to get near it is on an ATV – if you can find it that is.

Here’s a couple of phone pics of where we are.

The camp host used to build boats. He lives in this half scale boat – it’s the tiniest space, no idea how he manages.

Yosemite is nearby but Tioga Pass – the access point from this side of the Sierra Nevadas – is still closed due to snow. Last year the road didn’t open until July! Maybe we will get lucky and get to see that.

That’s all for now. Stay safe. XO

There are only two ways in to here. One is Canyon Road, a narrow curvy road between huge rock outcroppings. (Not for trailers!) The other is a detour, about a lane and a half wide. If someone comes toward you, somebody has to crouch at the side of the road. We got through with the camper all right.

There are 80 spaces, each one spaced far apart from the next – yay – on two loops. There is a picnic table on each one. Several vault toilets. The scenery is incredible – Sierra Nevada mountains behind us, snow capped mountains. A bubbly ice cold creek runs past us.

Yesterday we saw a Gambel Quail with her brood. We tried to count them and gave up after 15. They were all over the place pecking for food. We watched them out our back window for a while – if only the camera worked through the window! They took off when we went outside. The babies were flying! The whole thing was astonishing.

We are leaving tomorrow morning, heading to Mammoth Lake/east entrance of Yosemite.

This was a good place to stop and rest and “lick our wounds”. We have been through it the past couple of weeks. Spent the weekend gathering supplies (food, propane, etc), doing laundry and such. Tomorrow (Monday) we head to Tuttle Campground in CA. (128 miles) It is called a campground but there is no power. Essentially we will be boondocking.

We will be visiting Sequoia National Park and the surrounding area.

Wish us luck no more travel issues.

Our truck was finally fixed after 5 days including the weekend. The Serpentine belt wore out and shredded. The tensioner had to be replaced. Also the max air flow sensor had worn out. The mechanic ordered a new one, put that in and still didn’t work. We think it was defective because the next one he ordered worked perfectly. We stayed another day to drive around and make sure all was well. This whole time we were stranded at a Shell station 45 miles from the entrance of the Grand Canyon. Endless noisy traffic.

We met some truly wonderful people: Cathie who works part time at the Shell came over as soon as we got there and put the hood of the truck up. She helped with finding a mechanic, then finding a tow service (Adam’s Towing and Repair) for the truck, taking Vic to get a part, taking Vic to Adam’s to pick the truck up.

We also became friends with Cheryl, a Navajo woman selling handmade jewelry and crafts at a table in front of the Shell. There were several other women with tables but she’s the one we became friendly with. She even started calling Zoe “sweet sweet”, our nickname for her haha. She lives on a reservation in a house. Some people don’t have running water here, they get it brought in.

Yesterday we decided we were good to go and started off towards Needles, CA. 85 miles down the road one of the camper tires blew up and flew off, shearing off the lug nuts in the process.

There we were on I-40W, semis roaring by at 80 mph, not much of a shoulder, it was dreadful. Called AAA and they were useless. After calling around to several local towing services we realized no one had a tow capacity for the camper. We had to drive very slowly to the next exit and luckily on the off ramp there was a gravel area big enough for us and 20 other campers.

One guy we talked to, Jack, has a tow service and is a mechanic but his truck isn’t running. However he tried his best to help us in some way. Vic talked to him a couple of times. Jack gave us several names and numbers of locals to call. None of that panned out and we eventually called Eric, the mechanic we had for the truck 85 miles back at Williams AZ, near the Shell. On the last call Jack asked if we had food and water. He was prepared to bring us whatever we needed. He is a man of such kindness I can’t believe he is so down on his luck. We went to his house this morning – we had to meet this guy. He’s a wealth of information.

Eric, the mechanic from Adam’s Towing has rounded up everything (cross your fingers) and will be here this afternoon to get the camper back in the road. We need way more than just a tire.

That’s our update. Wish us luck.

Hi friends. It’s not all fun times on the road. 45 minutes into our trip to Needles, CA the truck indicators said the battery wasn’t working. We spied a Shell station and planned to pull over when the truck lost power right in front of this Shell station. Vic was barely able to steer it onto the very large apron in front of the gas station. Talk about extremely scary!

A local woman was very helpful with an offer to call a mechanic she knows. By then Vic had figured out it was the alternator (from talking to his brother Ralph who knows just about everything to do with cars and trucks). Vic knew what part he needed and the woman offered to take him to a store nearby and get the part. Can you believe some people? The mechanic showed up and couldn’t fix it so the truck got towed and we are sitting here overnight. What needs to be replaced is the tension pulley for the fan belt.

The truck will be ready tomorrow and we will be on our way again. The local people have been so nice. We feel so fortunate we ended up here, a safe place with help nearby.

May 8, 2024

Did you know the Grand Canyon is one of the seven wonders of the world. It truly is spectacular.

5,000 feet down and 2,600 miles around the rim. When we stood at the edge (at a safe distance!) we couldn’t see the bottom!

Yesterday we went into the park around 10-10:30 am and were overwhelmed by the crowds. We couldn’t find a parking space at the Visitor’s Center! It’s not even “season” yet.

We did see an elk on the way out so that was cool.

This morning we got to the park entrance by 7:30 and had a much better time with fewer crowds.

By the way it’s pretty cold, it went down to 27 last night but then it warmed up during the day.

We decided this is a spectacular thing to see but we only need to see it once. There is too much commercialization and fighting the crowds is not our thing. We wanted to see the Bright Angel trail with its petroglyphs but even early this morning we couldn’t get a parking space. It seems that access is limited to people staying at the Angel Lodge, people that get to the park before it opens, or people taking the bus around the park. We were disappointed we couldn’t get to the trailhead.

The Colorado River flows through the park. What fun that must be to float or kayak down it.

Tomorrow we go to Needles, CA. I’m looking forward to a much lower altitude. Havasu National wildlife refuge is there, looking forward to that as well.