October 31, 2011

October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!  Our costumes are all ready for a fun day.  I am going dressed as a grandmother and Bill can’t decide if he wants to be an old codger, a geezer, or a grouch.  I don’t know which one to vote for, but he’ll have no trouble with the role of any of the three. 

This morning I went for some lab work.  That was a hoot and a half!  Afterwards, I went to one of my favorite stores, The Container Store.  I didn’t have long to wander around, so I will just have to go back another day, eh?

We had one trick-or-treater at our motorhome.  Usually we have no one, but this year we were lucky!  Our friend, Jennifer and her six year old son, Rowan, aka Superman, stayed for a short visit.

Our caching adventure today took us to Concord.  We had some challenging hunts.  One was hidden in the bark of a huge cork tree.  There were many places that a little tube could be hidden.  It took us quite a bit of searching, but finally we were successful.  The last geocache of the night was at a Haunted House.  It was a lot of fun.  We found a total of four caches.

October 30, 2011

October 30, 2011

It was another beautiful day in California.  

JP and Rosie went back home today, but we’ll see them next weekend.  They are great “kids.”

After shopping at Sam’s Club for the Garmin Nuvi that we are wanting (No luck!) we did some caches in the same area.  In fact, one of our finds was in the Sam’s parking lot.  We log five other finds.

We watch the NASCAR race from Martinsville, Virginia.  There are only three races left for this season.  Sniff, sniff!  It will be a lo-o-ong winter.

October 29, 2011

October 29, 2011

California greeted us with really great weather...cool in the mornings warming up to the mid-70s by late afternoon.

We left Petaluma at 10:30, heading for Lori’s in Walnut Creek.  J.P. was with us, riding “shotgun” with Grandpa.  It brought back happy  memories of traveling with J.P. and Natalia.  That was back in the good old days.  We have missed them bunches and bunches.

After arriving at Lori’s at lunchtime and getting the “house” parked and organized, I went to watch Lori and Natalia bowl in a tournament.  They both did a great job.  Most of the bowlers were in costume.

Bill and I watched the Oregon Ducks football game against Eastern Washington State.  He had recorded it.  The Ducks won!  Yea!

Today’s Travel Totals: Today’s mileage, 50---Geocaches, 4 

October 28, 2011

October 28, 2011

This was a really busy day for us.  J.P. came for an early morning visit.  Its so nice to sit and visit with him.  He’s a really great kid...er, young man.

We drove to Guerneville, about 25 miles east of Petaluma.  It is a quaint little town on the Russian River.  J.P. and Rosie took us to Korbel Winery for lunch.  After a relaxing meal in a beautiful setting, we went in search of a geocache on the grounds of the winery.  After logging the find we walked around the area, passing the champagne cellars and the old railroad station.  Korbel’s has been making champagne since I882.  It is a very interesting place to visit and certainly worth the drive.

We traveled back through the village, found another cache, and then returned to Petaluma. Waiting for us at the motorhome were Lori and Natalia.  It was great to see them after so long.

Shopping was in order, of course.  We went to the rejuvenated downtown region of old Petaluma.  The town has done a really good job of preserving the area.  It was a great place to walk around and enjoy the nice weather.

J.P. called Grandpa to meet us at In-N-Out.  Yum, yum!  That was a perfect ending to wonderful day with members of our family.

Today’s Travel Totals:  Geocaches, 2 

October 27, 2011

October 27, 2011

We drove to Petaluma and checked into the Elks Lodge.  We called JP to find out about his class schedule for today.  He has a lab that ends at 2:30.  He’ll come to the MH when the professor turns him loose.

He arrived at 3:00 and we had a good visit with him.  His girlfriend, Rosie, came after a doctor appointment.  We decided to go caching before the sun went down.  Three caches later we headed for dinner at a Mexican restaurant.  The food was really good.

With happy tummies, we went back to the MH.  JP and Rosie stayed for a showing of the movie, RV.  Where?  In our RV, of course!  

Today’s Travel Totals:  Today’s mileage, 80---Geocaches, 3  

October 26, 2011

October 26, 2011

On our way to Ukiah this morning we went past the turnoff to the Avenue of the Giants.  In that area there are huge redwoods.  Another sign announced a tree that spans the road and has been tunneled out so tourists and the likes of us can drive through it.  We contemplated going there on our way south.  We weren’t worried about the Honda fitting, but we had major concerns about the motorhome!  At this point in time Bill doesn’t think he wants to make it a convertible.

Today’s drive was mostly through redwood forests.  It was beautiful though many curves and twists were a challenge for Bill.  About 15 miles north of Ukiah the terrain changed to a drier, more arid area.  There was still a lot of vegetation, but not as tall and thick as we were seeing earlier in the day.  This is also vineyard country.

At one area on Hwy. 101 there was a sign that read “Elk Refuge.”  I looked out into a large field as we passed by.  There were lots of big brown “lumps” scattered over the area.  What I saw weren’t big rocks, but resting elk, as I later learned.

Speaking of elk, we parked at the Elks Lodge in Ukiah, and went geocaching.  Our total of five finds were all in a huge vineyard region.  There were also pear orchards.  It was an interesting place to drive through.

Today’s Travel Totals:  Today’s mileage, 155---Geocaches, 5 ... Critter sightings, 50 or 60 brown “lumps” that were quite possibly elk. 

October 25, 2011

October 25, 2011

It was midmorning before we got on the road.  Within just a few minutes we crossed into California with much fanfare (Honk, honk! Yahoo!)  Yesterday’s practice really helped.  We did a jim dandy job of all the hoopla for California

Soon after leaving Crescent City we got into a redwoods forest.  If you were of a mind to be a tree hugger, it would take you and a bunch of friends to reach around one of those big, ole’ trees.  

After parking at the Elks Lodge in Eureka we headed for Costco with plans to cache on the way.  We were able to log two finds before going to our favorite hotdog place.  We were hoping to buy a Garmin Nuvi, but they didn’t have the model we wanted.  We drowned our sorrow and disappointment in Polish dogs and lemonade.

Today’s Travel Totals:  Today’s mileage, 121---Geocaches, 2---Critter Sightings, 3 quail (They can really scurry across a road.)