Going North - May 2016

May-8-2016

I Left Oceanside at 7:00 AM and arrived at the Elks Lodge in Garden Grove at 9:00 AM.

There was road construction on Interstate 5 near San Clemente. From four traffic lanes it went down to two. It was stop and go for a long time. Because of Mother’s Day the traffic was heavy.

After I set up the motorhome I drove to Los Alamitos and visited Elisabeth, my landlady when I worked in Long Beach for McDonnel Douglas.

She made me and Doreen part of her family. We had a good time living in Los Alamitos. On weekends we went all over Los Angeles.

May-9-2016.

To get through Los Angeles without traffic problems I left at 5:15 AM this morning. Even at this hour there was a lot of traffic.

I stopped at Costco in Oxnard for gasoline and stayed in the parking lot for a while to eat breakfast and shave.

Ten miles south of Santa Barbara the traffic was stop and go until I got to the city, then it opened up.

I arrived at the Elks Lodge, in San Luis Obispo, at 9:30 AM.

After a rest I started checking out the wiring from the motorhome to the car. The rear lights on the car did not work.

I thought I had it fixed but I still have a problem. The wiring and connecters I did replace a few weeks ago. Today I took the seven pin to four pin adaptor apart. The four wires are held in place with four small machine screws. All four were loose. I tightened them.

I still had the same problem. At the lodge they gave me a telephone number to call. I called and was told they were busy, but to call back tomorrow morning.

In desperation I started pulling fuses and found a blown one. It was the fuse for the rear lights.

To treat myself I drove to Avila Beach and enjoyed an ice cream and the scenery. This is a beautiful, small beach community.

When I came back to the motorhome I went to the swimming pool. The lodge has a pool for children and a pool and hot tub for grownups. This picture was hanging on the wall in the lodge.

The jacaranda trees are blooming right now. This big tree has lost a lot of flowers already, leaves are showing up.

May-10-2016.

I got up early again and drove to the Elks Lodge in San Jose. The campground host was not available yet so I called the Elks Lodge in South San Francisco. They had one empty space.

If the weather would have been better I would have stayed in San Jose and enjoyed their large pool, but the sky was dark.

After setting up the motorhome I drove to the Bart station and investigated about taking the train to the Embarcadero. There I want to get on the sightseeing trolley. I do not feel like taking the car. In this city is very little parking available.

May-11-2016.

At 9:00 AM I was at the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station. The machine where one buys the ticket is not very user friendly. I asked a fellow traveler and still got it wrong. I paid for the fare with a credit card and used the ticket to get to the train area.

Then I used the ticket to pay for the parking. I also put three dollars cash in the machine. My ticket came out of the machine again and I boarded the train.

I went to the Powell Street station and checked where the hotel was where the tour company would pick me up at 1:00 PM.

At the Powel Street station is the end of the cable car line. The conductor drives on the turn table and pushes the cable car until it turned around.

People were waiting for the next cable car.

Powell Street, like so many streets in San Francisco, goes up a hill.

Since I had several hours I walked to China Town.

It is larger than China Town in Los Angeles.

This church had information in Chinese on the bulletin board.

A street entertainer was dancing to Michael Jackson music. He was a good look alike.

 At 1:00 PM a small bus picked me up at the Parc 55 hotel, and at the tour operator office I transferred to a big tour bus.

We drove along Fisherman’s Wharf. I could only take pictures from the bus. In this area are many restaurants. A stop was not important for me since I know the Wharf from previous visits.

A large sailboat and a ferry were anchored here.

Our first stop was the Palace Of Fine Arts. Fifteen minutes was not enough for this stop. I will come back next time and spend more time at this fantastic building.

Very rich people live across this pond.

The next stop was the Golden Gate Bridge. I never stopped at the south end of the bridge. Here is a lot of information available about the construction of the bridge.

A monument of Joseph Strauss, the designer of the bridge, is located near the visitor center.

Alcatraz Island was visible through the light fog.

The weather was not very good for taking pictures of the city.

We also drove through Golden Gate Park. This is the largest man made park in the United States. It is larger than the park in New York.

A lot of museums and gardens are located in Golden Gate Park. This is the California Academy of Sciences building.

Goethe and Schiller are standing among the bushes.

There is a large Japanese Garden.

Then we drove up to Twin Peaks. From here one has a wonderful view of the whole city. Unfortunately the fog was coming in.

On the way back to the tour company office we drove through the Haight Ashbury District. Hippies are still there, but they are called now transients.

A lot of stores sell vintage clothing.

The big bus dropped me off at the train station. The gate for entering the train area would not open. I had to add $ 2.80. This meant I paid twice for parking. I finally made it to the train.

In South San Francisco I could not leave the train area. I had made another mistake and added only   $ 2.70.

After I added a dime to the ticket I was ready to go to the parking garage, get into my car and drive to the motorhome.

It was 7:30 PM and I was very tired. I moved the motorhome and attached the car.

I got everything ready for an early departure tomorrow.

May-12-2016.

It took me only twenty minutes from South San Francisco to the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I had left at 5:15 AM and just zipped along I-280 and then 39^th Avenue. On 39^th Avenue I hit almost every green traffic light since there was very little traffic.

It was never that easy before.

After I crossed the bridge I stopped at the Vista Point and had breakfast.

I arrived at the Coyote Valley Indian Casino at 8:30 AM and after a little rest did some computer work.

I went to the Buddhist Monastery and had lunch there.

 

I am always intrigued when I go there. It is so different of what I am used to. The Hall of Ten thousand Buddhas has many Buddhas in the wall. I do not know whether there are actually ten thousand of them.

On the outside, on the wall, are two large paintings. 

After lunch I went to the library. The rest of the day I just took it easy. It is warm in Ukiah.

May-13-2016.

I left Ukiah at 6:30 AM and three hours later I arrived at the Moose Lodge in Eureka.

In late afternoon I went to Claudia’s house and picked up my mail.

The latest book of my travels had arrived, so did an antenna for the cell phone booster. This antenna is for the car. I have one on the roof of the motorhome.