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Hello,  I no longer have time to keep up two blogs.  I am moving my RVing to my Christine's World Blog.

Here is the link: http://christinescrapandstuff.blogspot.com/

Thank you for following this blog and keep on our RV travels on the above listed blog.

Santa Cruz Summer Vacation 2011

Day 1, July 24th, Sunday

Everything is packed and ready to go. I had our departure set for a Sunday instead of a Saturday and it was so much better.  Time to pack and still do fun stuff during the day.

Campsite 70

We departed our home at about 9:30 a.m. and arrived at the Santa Cruz KOA on San Andreas Road in Watsonville, CA at around noonish.  Check in is at 2:00 p.m.  I go in to the office to check in.  Our site is not available this early so we decide to take a little drive through the campground to estimate when the people in our site are going to be leaving.  To our surprise they are not leaving anytime soon.  Their trailer pretty much looks like they never came back the night before. I said "Oh great, they are not leaving anytime soon".  Back to the office we go.  They inform us that 76 is in 75's spot and won't leave until Sunday.  (Well let me tell you that 76 in 75's spot never left the whole time we were in Santa Cruz).  They never even came back to their trailer.  The KOA put us in a new site which after I was clear I did not want to be near a live-in resident they put us next to a live-in resident.  Also, we were dropped into a site next to a big surfing camp of kids. The grown ups told us "hope you were not looking for a romantic stay".  Oh great!!! Lucky for us we were not.  We unpacked and set up camp.  We had a heck of time finding a place to hook up the dogs as our live-in resident had his big Dalmatian on a 30 foot cord.  So let's just say the start to our trip looked a little bleak at first.

 

Once we were set up we relaxed the afternoon away and then ate a nice dinner.  Our regular "cheeseburger 1st night dinner".  I then made blackberry cobbler in my dutch oven.

We headed to Sunset beach which is about a mile from camp.  It was a little chilly so we headed back to camp.

The houses in the area are just beautiful.

Day 2, July 25th, Monday

7:00 a.m. the Surf Camp is up and banging around things as they leave at 9:00 a.m. everyday for surf lessons.  They talk pretty much next to the trailer from 7:00 - 9:00 a.m. and bang huge boxes around that they have stored items.  They have a refrigerator, microwave and many other home items set up on the patio area.  They are in a lot of tents but use a RV site because of the patio and full hookups.  It is a pretty organized camp and the kids seem very well behaved.  They come back at 5:00 p.m. everyday and in bed by 10:00 p.m.  (Refreshing).  So they have ended up not to be bad to have next us except in the a.m.  We never really got to sleep in, darn!

Today we hung around most of the a.m. at camp and then we went to Seacliff State Beach near Rio Del Mar.  It is a pretty cool place they have full hook up campsites right by the ocean.  Mind you they are on the pavement but the waves do crash pretty close to the trailers.  The sites are nice and roomy.  We might just check this out this location on a future trip.  No where is perfect so here is the info on this location.  The beach is huge and lots of people are here.  It is very nice.  Except the stench from the old ship known as "The Cement Ship".  The SS Palo Alto that was built in World War 1.   It sits off the huge wood pier.  It at one time was purchased (1930) by the Seacliff Amusement Corporation.  They bought the ship and turned it into a elaborate amusement center.  The Palo Alto sits on the ocean bottom and the pier was built to lead to the boat.  The corporation went bankrupt and the boat was stripped and abandoned it is now unsafe for public usage.  However, the birds love it and the amount of poop on the boat stinks to the point you want to get sick to your stomach.  People eat and fish near it but it so stinky I could not hardly get a picture of it close up.

Peanut loved the water and it was a nice cool temperature not like our freezing coast line.  The sand was so hot we carried the Peanut she could not handle it.  There is a little visitor center were you can look at sea life in a tide pool atmosphere.

We headed back to camp to take the dogs back and eat dinner. I made the dinner in my dutch oven. Raspberry Cornish Game Hens.  It was yummy!

We headed off to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for the evening.  It was packed as usual.  It is for sure a people watching location.  Amanda freaked me out on some the crazy rides she went on.  I remember going on some rides when I was kid that were crazy. I can't do them now.  I am a roller coaster person only.  Amanda and Dave went on the famous wooden roller coaster.  Amanda and I went on the water log boat ride in the dark now that was wet and wild. (especially in the dark).  Here is a picture of Amanda on a ride, can you see her?  Good luck!

Can you see Amanda?

Amanda after ride

 

I had a funnel cake which was not even close to the fair funnel cakes that I have had in the past.  We had a great family night!

If you head to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk it is $1.00 per person on the ride after 5:00 p.m. Monday and Tuesday (well at least when we went).

Day 3, July 26th, Tuesday

Up early again and off to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  It was a long ride to Monterey, as they were doing work on the road.  But we finally got there at about 11:30 a.m.

We met my friend Mimsie and her family in Monterey.  We went to the aquarium and it has not changed to much since our last visit years ago with Amanda.  It is about $29 a person to go in the aquarium.  School age kids are about $26.  I am sure for the younger kids it is cheaper.  The aquarium is on Cannery Row which has many shops and restaurants.

Inside the aquarium there are the a few otters (none outside in the bay like in the past). They had lots of Jellyfish.  They had a Sea Horse exhibit which I think is their feature this year.  We watched the Penguins get fed, they are so cute.  Then Dave wanted to see the Albatross .  It looks like a huge gull.  They have had the bird since it was small as it has a damaged wing and cannot fly.

We headed over to Bubba Gump's of course for a nice lunch/dinner.  I love their big mix of shrimp it is very filling and yummy.  The company was good.  The price is steep for food there but it is a tourist restaurant so you should expect to pay higher prices for meals.

The weather was a little cooler today and foggy.  It was the coldest night we had in Santa Cruz.  We ate left over cobbler and snacked.

Day 4, July 27th, Wednesday

Today is stay at camp day and relax.  We took a small trip to the Capitola Mall so Amanda could get a book that was released.  Plus Borders has sales going on since they are going out of business.  I bought several photography magazines at 40% off .  Mostly things are 10% off so no big savings.  

We stopped at Safeway picked up a few things.  Tonight was Amanda dinner night.  Rigatoni, French Bread, Salad, Peas, and a nice chocolate dessert (cooked in the dutch oven).  It was very nice and relaxing.

Dave and I walked the dogs over to this house on the hill so I could take pictures of it. It was so cool looking sitting up on the hillside overlooking Bok Choy and cabbage.  Most of the area around Santa Cruz is agricultural.  We saw raspberries, cabbage, strawberries, etc. while driving and walking.

Dave and I enjoyed the fire and then headed into the trailer for a game of Yahtzee.  Amanda was able to get wi-fi on occasion (this KOA had poor wi-fi service).

Day 5, July 21, Thursday

We are up early as Dave is heading to Pinnacles National Park to view Condors.  It is a long hot drive both ways due to once again, you guessed it road work.  The dogs cannot go on any of the trails so Amanda and I read our books (well I do Amanda can get occasional cell phone coverage so she texts).  Dave goes on a short hike into the canyons to see if he can see the Condors.  He does see a few Condors from a distance with his binoculars.  The park is very nice with a pool and camping sites (dry camping).  It is VERY hot there and this was a day that was not super hot so I can imagine on a really hot day it would be terrible.  I took pictures of some of the wildlife but missed a cute bunny and deer. 

We then stopped at Dave's cousin Nancy's house.  She lives way up in the hills in San Juan Batista.  On the way to her house we stopped at nice little store that actually carries Clover products!  They also carry Fufu Berry Soda by Jones Soda (it is very hard to find). I bought Amanda a six pack, it is her favorite soda.  We headed up the road to Nancy's house and missed the turn.  We ended up so high up in the canyons it was a really cool sight to see.  The view was amazing.  We slowly and carefully turned around and headed back to find her house.  Nancy and her husband have the cutest house, decorated with antiques and paintings. She shares her home with 4 cats.  The view from her home is amazing too.  Nancy shares with us how she is researching her family history and includes so much of Dave's side of the family.  He filled her in on some of the info he knew of and it was interesting. Nancy wanted us to stay for dinner but we were pretty ready to head back to camp to relax and enjoy the last night on our trip.

View from Nancy's back deck

Ridge above San Juan Bautista

Our trip back to camp was a little longer then anticipated as it took a while to find a gas station and we felt like Round Table Pizza.  So we took pizza back to camp.  We headed down to Sunset beach to enjoy a show by the dolphins and surfers. We enjoyed a little fire and knocked down the outdoor camping items.  Then another night of family Yahtzee.  Amanda got the first Yahtzee, she was all smiles.  

Day 6, July 29, Friday

Well another fun summer vacation. I hope Amanda has fun memories of our camping trips when she is older.  The drive home was long and it is nice to be home.  So until next time enjoy the outdoors and make memories!

For many more pictures visit this link: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvHxVRL

Benbow RV Resort and Inn

We were not able to take our trailer on this journey.  It was in the shop getting the awning fixed.  If you recall it was destroyed by a wind storm a while back.  My sister-in-law and her husband always wanted us to go to Benbow RVing with them, but we never did.  So we decided to take them up on a offer for us to drive up to stay the night with them in their 5th wheel.  We are very glad we did, The Benbow RV Resort and Inn is a very nice location whether you are RVing or just want a nice romantic get away at the Benbow Inn.  Located in the redwoods in Northern CA.  The location is quiet and the river runs along the property.  The park has lots of family fun, games, ice cream socials, and swimming pool.

We went up on 4th of July weekend so it was quite full at the park and we have heard people book a year ahead to stay at this park.  Lots of friendly people and nice sites.  The Inn is older but very nice, we may just go back on our anniversary.  

We took a ride through the redwoods "Avenue of the Redwoods".  Very beautiful country, the trees were huge.  We visited a couple of other campgrounds, dry camping of course.  The Northern CA country is just gorgeous.

While we were at the Benbow RV park, a neighboring trailer caught on fire.  It was their refrigerator.  Here are the fireman working on the fire.

We look forward to taking our trailer on a trip to Benbow soon.

Camping in May

We go once a year with our church youth to Sugar Loaf State Park.  It is a beautiful park.  The kids get to relax and enjoy the outdoors.  Well as much as kids can, it is hard for them as they are usually running around the city, texting, or sometimes getting into trouble.  What is nice is no electronic communications work in Sugar Loaf unless you just happen and I mean just happen to set you phone in just the right spot.  Amanda and I just happened to get a couple texts out to my husband by just setting the phone on a cabinet in our trailer.  He was in the picking up kids and were at camp and we needed a few things, like the dog food we forgot. 

The weather was gorgeous the country was beautiful.  There is a nice creek that flowed behind our campsite and that made for some beautiful sounds. Night was particularly musical with frogs croaking loudly. 


This year we did not experience an hail storm instead we received warm days and cool nights.  As you can see the kids enjoyed the waterfall a lot after their hike down into the creek area. 

Their were not a lot of flowers this year as in the years past.  There were lots of deer watching us while we hiked in the evening.

 
On Saturday night the Spanish congregation brought a full on Mexican dinner.  It was so good.  I wish I could cook that good, but then it might be a good thing. I don't want to gain weight :) 

Morning Moonscape

It is sad that we will loose this park to state budget cuts.  It is one of the most scenic we have in Northern California.  Many of our state parks are closing, I hope that maybe they will give private groups the opportunity to adopt the various parks.  Hopefully next year I can show you pictures of a camping trip at the same park.

Casini Ranch Campground

View from Campsite

Great weather for once, Great Company too!

Arrival to camp was uneventful but wait could it last.  Friday night is cheeseburger night and that seem to go smooth.  But then it happened -  I decided to tie our dog Aimee to my nice anti-gravity lounge chair.  It is also known as the "Queen's Chair".  Everyone knows not to sit in my chair (it was my mother's day gift a few years back).  I was standing by the fire getting warm after we all enjoyed a nice night of smore's.  I flipped my scarf back and as I did everyone starts screaming.  I think oh my gosh "AM I ON FIRE".  Oh it could not be that exciting, well.... maybe it could.  I look up to see my "Queen's Chair" being dragged and flipped across the ground by our dog Aimee. She decided that it was a good time to act a little like a big boss dog and chase down a couple walking towards our site with their dog.  The chair was flying and Amanda was screaming.  Everyone was yelling "Stop Aimee".  I was running like a maniac with my gnome hat and my scarf, probably pretty exciting for the folks looking at this situation coming towards them.  I am almost ready to grab the chair and then Aimee takes off again.  It was a sight to see believe me.  I finally get a hold of my chair and drag Aimee back to camp.  I was livid, my chair was damaged, scrapped and thrown through the air like a rag doll.   Then I look at my poor daughter who is clinging to her daschund, Peanut.  Poor thing did not know what to say but she knew to hang on to Peanut with dear life.  After the shock wore off of what happened. I could not quit laughing as the tears came streaming from my eyes as the reenactment of the event replayed in my head over and over.  The huge chair flying through the air in the dark on a gravel road.  It really was funny.  My my chair now is officially broke in with minor scaring.  Lesson learned never tie a dog to your lounge chair.  I wonder what would have happened had I been in the chair, oh boy I have a feeling that would not have been a pretty event.

Moon in the beginning of the evening by the river

Saturday we spent time lounging and visiting.  We took a little trip to Duncan's Mill to check out the few little shops that remain in the little city.  Dave and I bought my wedding ring at the jewelry's there but it is no longer in business.  There is a very cute tea shop that sells many, many tea pots, tea sets, and varieties of tea.  I of course made a purchase there.  Dave was gone most of the day to a event at another location.  But when he returned he told me of a man with a huge camera lens near the road into the town Duncan's Mill.  The man was taking pictures of the Osprey nest.  My birder husband just needed me to take photo's so I grabbed the camera and off we went.  Of course I do not have a HUGE lens.  But I do the best I can for the sake of my man.

Note the one Osprey lays flat so the other one can land

Osprey most likely laying on eggs

We went back to camp and enjoyed a wonderful t-bone steak dinner.  Strawberry shortcake for dinner and then a night relaxing and enjoying everyone's company.  Oh wait I almost forgot!  There was a Air Stream Rally at the campground.  I never saw so many Air Stream trailers.  Dave and I are big fans of these trailers and dream of owning one. We were able to go into some of the trailers and they were decorated so cute and then some not so cute. People will buy old trailers, gut them and build them up again.  The oldest was a 1953 tiny thing and then the big new 2010 model.  I hope some day we get one for ourselves.

Sunday morning we woke to another beautiful day.  We headed off to a benefit for the Pole Mountain Fire Lookout.  A nice pancake breakfast, 3 huge pancakes, scrambled eggs, and a slice of ham.  Orange juice and coffee flowed freely.  All for $6.00, what a deal!  And it was super yummy!

General Store

We packed up, said our goodbyes and headed home, with one more crazy and great trip under our belts. Thanks Beth, Steve, Vinny, Nancy, Chris, Britney, Dave and Amanda for a fun time!  Thanks Aimee for one more crazy memory!

Until next time!