Turnkey Camping

  Stu took the day off and we explored SF a bit.  We took a cable car to Fisherman’s Wharf - the kids enjoyed the seafood at the wharf.  After we met Stu’s sister and kiddos and went for ice cream at the Ferry Building then to a playground.  We spent a few hours at the Exploratorium and headed back to the camper when they closed.  It was a spaghetti kind of night and were trying to figure out what to do about the next leg of our trip.  The repair shop said the issue is engine related and we should know more of the scope tomorrow.    

We had a great family day yesterday!  We met Stu’s sister and her family in Ocean Beach at this awesome food truck called Dad’s Luncheonette.  It was started by a Michelin star chef who wanted to move to a surfing area.  We got our food to go and took a hike down to the beach with the kids and dogs.  Afterward, we got reorganized at the camper and went to their house for dinner.  It was a wonderful day!

The trip took a bit of a turn…  we were driving along - about two hours from our destination - and suddenly there was an explosive sound.  This was about 3 pm.  We pulled over to survey the damage and everything looked fine.  We tried to pull back on the highway and could only go about 20 mph.  The truck simply didn’t have any power.  We called roadside assistance from our insurance and they were able to tow the truck to the closest GMC dealer who had already closed for the day.  The campground called about our reservation and we explained our predicament.  She gave us the name of an Rv repair guy who could maybe tow the camper the two hours to our campsite.  The tow truck company was also able to get a taxi to come to the side of the highway with a minivan - so the kids and pets and I hopped in and tried to go to a rental car place at the Salinas airport.  He was cash only and the fare was $40.  I had $42 haha.  When we got th...

I just picked Jude up at the airport!  It is SO good to be together again!  He is such a champ!!  Let the adventures continue!  San Francisco bound!

  Our plans changed a bit last night when Jude’s flight out of Atlanta was cancelled!  We felt so helpless and awful for him because he was so ready to be back with our family!  He was safe and sound with the unaccompanied minor program with Delta, but it was still not ideal.  It will make for a good story later.  And he had a great attitude and made the best of it.  He’s on the plane to Salt Lake City now and we’ll pick him up in SB this afternoon - but in the meantime, we have to figure out a place to stash our 60’ rig because our campground is full!  We’re going to scout gas stations this morning.  What a twist!

We picked L&P up from Westmont this morning!  We all went to the bookshop and got some college sweatshirts - then we took them to our favorite burrito shop, El Sitio.  Next up was Target because we found out that Jude’s camp trunk was automatically being shipped home so he needed some basic clothes for the rest of the trip!  I bumped into a woman who was on my dorm floor freshman year (seen in the background of the middle photo).  Ironically, she is vacationing in Charleston in a few weeks — small world. Jude is on the plane from Asheville to Atlanta and then on to Santa Barbara.  It will be so great to all be together again soon!

Charlie and I had the BEST time at the SB Zoo!  It is a smaller zoo but we spent most of the day there and saw lots of amazing animals!  We had some really unique experiences too. Charlie was able to brush goats. We saw a large male gorilla fairly close. There was a small train named “Kate” and the conductor’s name was Charlie ironically.  It made a large loop around the zoo with just one stop.  Perfect! They had an outback experience where you could walk thru the kangaroo enclosure!  They were hopping all around us!! The animals were all pretty easy to see. My favorite thing (apart from the kangaroos) was feeding giraffes.  They loved romaine lettuce!  Charlie couldn’t quite reach high enough for the giraffe to grab the lettuce, but he tried really hard.  It was a great experience!  We even ended up joining because they are a part of a reciprocal program that includes zoos all around the nation.  That gives me the chance to make quick v...

I’m pretty exhausted this evening because Charlie and I visited - not 1, not 2 - but 3 museums today!  This reciprocal museum pass is really paying off!  We started off at the MOXI - wonderful stem museum!  His favorite exhibit was a car race track - surprise, surprise! I packed a lunch and we picnic’d (sp?) on a bench at the museum right before we popped over to the Natural History Museum.  The highlight of this was the outdoor dinosaur animatronics!  The T-Rex was a little too scary for him to take a selfie with - but he loves the mama and baby stegosaurus! The outdoor space also included a stream to send wooden boats down and a “club house” where kids could observe insects in enclosures and touch seashells and snake skins.  While we were there, we were told about their sister museum - the Sea Center back on the wharf.  I think this was our favorite!  It featured a touch tank and individual aquariums.  There was even a section where folks w...

 Our campground is really nice and we've been fairly content to just stick around here a good deal.  They have a small hiking trail and a great playground.  Every time I try to venture out with Charlie, he would rather just go to the playground.  The weather is perfect - shorts and tee shirt and a sweatshirt - my favorite!  Stu left for Anaheim today and I'm hanging with Charlie and Buster (and the cats!) at the campsite.  We met some really nice friends with a 2 and 5 year old, so it was fun to chat with new camping friends.  Poor Charlie Bear was stung by a bee at the playground.  It was so sad to see him in so much pain.  I was able to put ice on it and give him a tiny dose of benadryl and some lunch.  After that, he took a long nap - until 5:30 pm.  When he woke up, we went to the grocery store because I was out of coffee (yikes!) and drove to Stern's Wharf for the beautiful views and some ice cream.  We ended the night wit...

  Our lives felt very full-circle today.  We dropped L&P off at a college experience week at our alma mater, Westmont, in Santa Barbara.  It was really cool to be on campus again.  Lots of things were the same and there were some neat changes.  We dropped them in the dorm rooms, explored the campus and then they were off for their program!   We took C out for a smoothie and then parked at the bus terminal and took the hop on / hop off waterfront shuttle to a playground on East Beach.   We got back to the truck and Charlie immediately fell asleep.  We stopped at a grocery store and Stu ran in to grab more basics.  He made yummy carne asada tacos in the camper and we called it a night.  We may be down to one kid at the moment - but he has bundles of energy and never stops talking.  Today an old man on the bus put his fingers in his ears because Charlie was talking so much.  Whoops!  We ended the evening with a bucket bat...

We headed back to our friend’s house for coffee this morning and then packed up to hit the road again.  We’re at a cool campground near LA - on a cliff that overlooks the city.  Next we went into Glendora to meet up with friends from college.  My college roommate married Stu’s college roommate and we hadn’t seen them for about 8 years.  We spent the afternoon together and then P’s friend from Thailand came and spent the evening and night with us in the camper.  It has been so fun to reconnect with friends.  We also reminisced about our college - we looked at old photo books and I came across this photo of Stu and I in Thailand before we were dating.  Such fun times behind and ahead. 

We drove to Palm Springs, CA to see some friends we met on our caravan to Mexico.  The last time we saw them was over two years ago.  We spent the evening reminiscing about our trip and laughing about fun shared experiences.  They have a beautiful home with gardens and a pool and they made a delicious lasagna dinner.  On the way back to the campsite, it was so windy - almost like a sand storm.  But we had a wonderful afternoon with fabulous friends.