Oceanside, California

Days 32 - 35, Wednesday – Sunday, February 19 - 24, Lake Guajome Regional Park, Oceanside, CA

Down the hill we went, along the coast on 101, beautiful ocean views, then into the San Fernando Valley and south on 405, the San Diego Freeway.  Jim does such a great job driving this big motor home towing the Suzuki behind, up and down hills, on curvy narrow roads, and on freeways through LA traffic!  It is raining in San Diego county, which has an average annual rainfall of 11 inches!  We tried walking on the trails, but the mud cakes on your shoes, making a ring of mud around the shoe.  I missed taking that picture!  We put up our bird feeder, have Golden and White-Crowned sparrows, California Towhees, and Scrub Jays happy to join us. 

Guajome Lake

Thursday, I went for a walk from the campground down the San Luis Rey River Trail, saw a Yellow-Rumped Warbler.  Jim’s feet have been bothering him since running up and down the hill with the hand glider.  We went with J & D down to Joe’s Crab Shack at the harbor In Oceanside, had a great meal.  I had Red Rockfish with Lobster sauce!  Yum!

San Luis Rey River Trail

A great dinner out!

Friday Jim and I went to San Diego Zoo Animal Safari, great landscaping, wonderful to see people working on maintaining populations of animals threatened with extinction.  Jim is interested in condors after watching a nest from the Cornell Ornithological Society website, and we had an interesting chat with a volunteer in that part of the zoo.  We saw a giraffe in the process of giving birth, walking around with the calf’s legs hanging out, and also a kangaroo with a Joey, with the Joey’s legs and head hanging over the edge of her pouch!

Animal Safari Balloon Rides

Beginning of the Tiger Trail

Much-petted Wart Hog.

A new bay elephant at the zoo!

Giraffes down in the plains

Mama Kangaroo with Joey in her pouch, head and legs sticking out!

Lorakeets enjoying honey water.

Oryx, the animal with a crossword puzzle name!

Saturday, once it warmed up a bit, we drove down the Coast Highway, checking out a couple of state park campgrounds on the way, enjoying the ocean views, and headed to the Hang Glider park north of La Jolla, where we watched paragliders for a while.  The wind was not strong enough for hang gliders.  We found an In n Out Burger for lunch.  When we got back, Jim and I rode our bikes about 6 miles down the San Luis Rey River Bike Path, with what seemed like a headwind both ways!  

Looking south toward La Jolla from the Hang Glider Bluff.

Lots of Gliders waiting for wind!

Paraglider hanging in the air!

Sunday morning Jim and Dwayne went to the Antique Tractor and Equipment Museum, a huge place with lots of old equipment. Then we headed up to Anaheim, seeing beautiful California poppies on the hillsides on the way, and lots of cars as people had come out to look at them.

Antiques

Wildflowers and Wildflower Watchers!

Santa Barbara, CA

Days 29 - 32:  Friday - Wednesday, February 15 - 19, Rancho Oso RV Resort, Santa Barbara, CA

We prepared to head south, our weather continuing to be windy and stormy!  J & D decided to buy the Ventana, so Jim went down with Dwayne to look over the rig and go for a test drive before we headed south.  Over the next couple of weeks J & D will be jumping through a lot of hoops to make the purchase work!  We made it up the hill to Rancho Oso, in spite of being led astray a couple of times by Google Maps.  Highway 154 is closed by Lake Cachuma, the way we would usually come up, but Google seems to think it is closed everywhere!

View of the Santa Inez canyon from our campsite.

Rancho Oso is a horse ranch in a big canyon, a feeling of “big sky” there. The weather continues rainy and windy!   Saturday, we went for a walk around the place, then went to a fun wine-tasting event and a great tri-tip dinner.  Sunday, we tried to hike up to the waterfall, made it through several parts of the very rough trail and a couple of stream crossings that had lots of water, but gave up before we got there!  Jan is doing OK with her sprained ankle, has to keep it elevated a lot, and it hurts!  Shooting stars in this place!  (the flowers)

Shooting Stars along Waterfall Trail

Camping Covered Wagons in a Circle around the Campfire

Pretty roomy inside!

One of the many horses on this ranch.

Monday, I went down to Santa Barbara with Jim while he had a hang-gliding lesson at Elings Park.  I dropped him off, then went to a Starbuck’s to catch up the blog on their signal!  Our 16 G is going away fast!  Then I bought groceries, then walked around for an hour and a half at this nice park till Jim was done.  Pretty muddy in spots still!  Jim enjoyed the lesson, although unfavorable winds did not give him as much air time as he would have liked.  I made a pot roast for dinner, and J & D joined us.

View toward Santa Barbara from my hike to the top of Elings Park.

Paragliders at the top of the hill

Jim at Hand Glider place below, Channel Islands to the west.

Hang Glider Landing Incident

Tuesday, Jim headed back down to Santa Barbara for another hang-gliding lesson.  I walked around the campground a bit, bought some souvenir earrings in the camp store.  J & D and I went to have lunch at the Cold Springs Tavern, an old stage stop, great food and cool old buildings.  I had quiche, which was so good I brought home a couple of pieces for Jim and me to have for dinner the next night.  There is lots of water in the Santa Inez River this year – previously when we were here, we were able to drive across the dry river bed and up the other side of the river.  Snow at home, still!  The entire west coast is cold and wet!  We are hooked on the Justified series now!

San Luis Obispo, California

Day 19 - 26:  Wednesday to Friday, February 6 – 15, San Luis Obispo, CA

After a morning spent organizing and tidying, we headed south on 101 to San Luis Obispo.  The weather continues to be intermittently windy and raining, while there is snow and ice at home!  We got a great campsite at El Chorro, screened by bushes full of golden-crowned sparrows, and a yard full of California Quail and white-crowned sparrows when we put up our birdfeeder.  When they heard tossed-out birdseed on the ground, the quail came rushing out of the bushes.  Jim headed to the RV store to get parts, fixed the hot water heater problems. 

Yellow trees blooming all through the campground, gurgling creek below us.

Black-Capped Chickadee and Golden-Crowned Sparrow enjoying a feast.

Busy California Quail, such pretty birdies!

Thursday, we waited for the temperature to warm a bit, then headed up to Santa Margarita Lake to go kayaking.  This is the reservoir for the Salinas River, and this year it is 104% full.  We saw lots of Clark’s Grebes, also a few herons.  We went up one arm that ended at a cataract coming into the lake, then found the main channel and paddled up the lake a way.  Just a little wind, lots of peace and quiet, a great paddle!

Kayaking at Santa Margarita Lake, reservoir for the Salinas River.  104% full!

A boater's campground, peaceful area!

By the cataract where Salsipuedes Creek comes into the lake.

Friday, my nephew Mason, whom I had not seen for many years, was gracious enough to drive up from his Mom’s house in LA, before he was heading home to New Jersey on Saturday.  He is such a great guy, and got to visit with him more than I ever have before!  We hiked up to Eagle Rock above the campground, then up the road to the end, stopping by a pool on Dairy Creek for lunch.  We walked through the Arboretum here, then came back to the RV.  Mason and Jim went up to the baseball field here for Jim to fly his Mavic drone, then Jan and Dwayne joined us for dinner.  I made guacamole, Jim barbecued pork chops, I made an asparagus, rice, mushroom stir fry, and we had brownies for dessert.

Nephew Mason, with our destination Eagle Rock, above.

Oxalalis, lots of that around here!

This pretty flower with six petals is in the lily family!

Mason on a collapsing bridge!

Lunch by a pond on Dairy Creek.  Croaking frogs nearby!

The California ground squirrel is everywhere, with pretty, mottled fur.

A selfy at the top of the hill, Moro Rock between our heads!

Pretty, peaceful country!

Saturday, we went up to Hearst Castle with Jan and Dwayne, went on the upstairs tour.  Such a beautiful place it is! 

One of the many, many rooms!

Many beautiful works of art.

View of the ocean from an upper balcony.

Part of the huge library, where Hearst micro-managed his newspapers.

Neptune Pool, where the rich and famous cavorted in the 1920's.

Views of rolling hills through all windows, along walkways and porches.

Blue Pool

 Afterward we drove up to Piedra Blancas and saw the Elephant Seal rookery, including young ones and big males snorting and trumpeting and chasing each other around.  Right after the birthing season comes the mating season.  These animals have an amazing life story, hunting far at sea and at great depths, and migrating as far south as Baja.  Their numbers have increased from 50 in the early twentieth century to over 200,000 now.

Elephant Seal at Las Piedras Rookery.

Lots of people looking at lots of seals!

What a handsome guy!

Windy weather on Sunday.  Jim worked on the plane in the morning, and in the afternoon we drove up to Montana de Oro, a beautiful drive along the rugged coast with a view to Morro Bay, and hiked 2.3 miles up the Coon Creek Trail, a moderate walk along a rushing stream.  We saw Sessile Trillium and a number of caves in the hillsides.

Jim, on the first of 6 bridges over the stream.

Sessile Trillium, lots of it in the canyon!

Caves in these rocky hills!

Pretty trail!  My jacket matches Jim's!

Monday was Morro Bay kayak day.  With an afternoon high tide and cool weather, we waited until 1 pm to embark.  We paddled up the estuary, saw sea otters, loons, and Western Grebe.  The wind came up, and we had a strenuous paddle back to the launch point!  I had to tack back and forth to make headway against the wind and the tide, which was still coming in!  Afterward we rewarded ourselves with clam chowder at Rose’s Bar and Grill.

Heading south on calm water in Morro Bay

Heading back against the wind on rough water, J & D and Morro Rock.

Sea otter, munching on dinner!

 Tuesday Jim and I went down to Grove Beach to the RV Parts Store, then stopped at Pismo Beach Monarch Grove, saw a few Monarchs fluttering around, some in the trees.  Headed back to SLO Von’s for groceries, at lunch at Carl Jr.  Back at the park, we rode south from the park as far as Los Oso Road, a pretty ride through green fields and horse ranches, saw Red-winged Blackbirds and more California Quail.  Total ride 11 miles, one gentle hill. (Did cause me to be in 1 and 2 on the way back.  Steeper for me than for Jim!)

The plane is coming right along!

We were scheduled to go to Rancho Oso on Wednesday, but it was very windy and it looked like there was a problem on the road up from Santa Barbara, so we decided to stay two more nights here.  I worked on this blog in the morning.  In the afternoon, we drove down to an RV dealership in Pismo Beach with Jan and Dwayne and looked at various RV’s.  The Newmar Ventana is quite a critter, beautiful woodwork, many amenities.

Wednesday night there was loud thunder, lightning, and pounding rain on our roof!  In the afternoon, Jim and I and Sarah walked on the boardwalk at the Elfin Forest, a beautiful spot overlooking the Morro Bay estuary, with coast oak trees 800 years old in the dunes, only 10 feet tall.  Then we walked Los Osos Oaks State Reserve, where the same oak trees are 50 feet tall!  We saw wildflowers, also some Witches’ Butter.

Fuschia-flowered Gooseberry along the boardwalk trail at Elfin Forest.

800-year-old oak trees, stunted by the harsh dune environment.

Ceanothus, or Buck Brush, all in bloom along this trail.

Morro Bay Estuary, with Morro Rock in the distance.  Low tide!

Witches Butter

Lichen on many branches.

When we got back to the Bounder, we discovered J & D were gone, checked Life 360 and discovered they were back at the RV dealer.  Uh oh!  They found what they think might be the diesel pusher meant for them, a 40 foot Newmar Ventana!  While inspecting the various rigs, Jan twisted her ankle where the bath at the back changed levels.  They had to stop at an Urgent Care place, discovered her ankle is sprained, not broken, but she will be on crutches for a while.  How tough is that!  Jan, as usual, is a good sport, even though she is in pain.

J and D's new Newmar Ventana!  What a rig!