Eureka Trip July 2012

7-12-12
We left the house at 3:30 AM and had an easy drive through Los Angeles.
At Costco in Oxnard we got gasoline for the motorhome and had breakfast in the parking lot.
In Santa Maria I had to stop to give my knee a rest. I am getting old. My knee hurts when I drive for an hour or more. While driving through the Los Angeles area I could not use the cruise control. Even that early there was a lot of traffic. When I get back from this trip I have to see my doctor.
While I walked around the motorhome Doreen went into Wallmart and exchanged something.
We arrived in San Luis Obispo at 10:00 AM and were ready for a nap,
Since the weather is perfect and not hot, as I had expected, we asked for a dry camping spot. We are next to a cemetery. It is very peaceful.
After lunch we went to the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden. They have all the plants which grow well in our region.

When we came back I went to the swimming pool and did some laps. There were a thousand children in the pool. Their mothers in their tiny bikinis were trying to get a sun tan.
Late afternoon we drove down town for the farmers Market.

Some of the vendors were already cooking before the scheduled time and the customers were waiting in line. The hungry people told me that the food was so good that it was worth standing in the street for a long time.

This day started with a little mishap. This morning I missed the entrance to Interstate 5. I use this entrance at least three times a week. This is another sign of getting old; I cannot talk and drive at the same time.

7-13-12
We left San Luis Obispo at 7:00 and arrived at the Elks Lodge in Sunnyvale at noon.
After lunch we went to Filoli, one of the finest country estates of the early 20th century.
The property is on 654 acres and includes the 36,000 square foot house and the 16 acre English Renaissance garden.
When we arrived at Filoli we were greeted by a full grown deer. It ran in front of the car.
The house was built in 1917 by William Bourns. The second family who owned the estate donated it to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The gardens are beautiful.

The cook worked for the family for forty years.

At home I could not find the pictures,which I took today, on the camera. The computer told me that the disk had to be defragmented. I know that would erase all the pictures. I used a cable for the USB outlet on the computer and the camera. I was able to transfer the pictures to a memory stick.

7-14-12
In the morning we picked up Vera and George, Doreen’s sister in law and brother in law. We went to a restaurant and had breakfast and Doreen and her relatives exchanged family news.

After that we went back to the motorhome and got ready for the drive to Petaluma.
There was a lot of traffic in San Francisco.

On the other side of the bridge it was a lot better.

The Elks Lodge camping area was not full so we had to take a space with hookups. After setting up the motorhome, having lunch and a nap we headed for the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens, in Santa Rosa.

Every serious gardener knows about Burbank. He introduced more than 800 new varieties of plants, including over 200 varieties of fruits. At his garden Burbank conducted the plant breeding experiments that brought him world renown.

He also grew a spineless cactus so ranchers did not have to worry about their cattle getting hurt while eating the plant.

At the memorial garden was a Mexican wedding. The bridesmaids were trying to lift up the bride.

7-15-12
We visited Betty Anderson this morning. She was a neighbor of us at Camino Hills. Now she lives with her daughter in Guerneville, Northern California.

From there we drove to Fort Ross State Historic Park. The Fort was established at Metini, a centuries old Kashaya Pomo coastal village, by Russian explorers and traders in 1812 to protect them from Indians, the Spanish to the south and English to the north.

The chapel is a Russian Orthodox Church.

The Fort is at a beautiful spot on the coast.It was foggy today.

7-16-12
This was a driving day, but we stopped at the Solar Living Center in Hopland. At the center they have hundreds of solar panels producing electricity. In the store they sell everything needed to set up an environment friendly house.
Their grounds are very beautiful.

We arrived at Eureka at 3:00 PM and took it easy the rest of the day.

7-17-12
It rained part of the night and the morning. Doreen wanted to have breakfast at Denny’s.
We went and had a surprise coming. The server brought us the bill when we were finished eating.
The manager came and took the bill and told us that somebody had paid it already. We told him that this must be a mistake. He told us that they rang it up already and that was final.
We had a free breakfast today.
Late afternoon we took Claudia, Scott, Jacob and Nicolette out for dinner at the Chinese buffet.