Tag Archives: Western RV

Bye Bye Germany; Hello USA :) (Casa Grande, AZ)

2016/01/14 davidhobden@mac.com

The American flag was still flying at the house on our last day in Germany. I’m sure Wolfgang put up the Bavarian (Bayern) flag after we left. What a great time we had 🙂 It was sure nice to see all of Stilla’s family again and especially our son William.

Wolfgang drove us to the Munich airport early in the morning on Monday in his RV. It was raining again, but we made it without incident.

Thanks for the ride again Wolfgang 🙂

Our flight to Atlanta lasted about eleven hours, three movies, and two meals. Of course the meals are conveniently timed to interrupt any sleep that you might feel coming on 🙂 Distance traveled was around 4,800 miles.

Notice the shadow of our plane on the ground as we neared Atlanta.

Atlanta skyline in the distance under the wing.

Our Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport experience for incoming international flights was certainly different from our outbound flight experience. We must have stood in four or five separate lines after getting off the plane and almost missed our connection to Phoenix. First, there was a line to put your passports in a newfangled reader that spits out a customs form with your picture on it; next, there was a line at customs to show them the form that we just stood in the previous line to get. Then we had to pick up our luggage from the carousel and stand in line to recheck it. And finally, we had to go through another security check to get to our gate… you know, the security check where you put half your clothes and all your carry-on in bins to be x-rayed, followed by the dreaded pat-down because I have an artificial hip. Anyway, we just made it to the plane as it was boarding for our last leg to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Bi-plane on display at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

My Mom and stepdad Jim picked us up at the airport after our ~4 hour, 1,587 mile flight. It was sure nice to see them again.

Our first stop before heading south to Casa Grande was a Taco Bell at Stilla’s request. One thing that’s hard to find in Germany is a Mexican restaurant 🙂

And here we are back at the “Dirt Farm” again after more than 5 weeks in Schnitzeland. When we got to Casa Grande in the late evening on the 11th, the first thing we did after saying Hi to our little dog ‘Coach’ was to put the slides out on the Urban Escape Vehicle and check things out before we went to bed. Everything checked out good and seemed to be alright until the next day when I plugged in the tire pressure monitoring system and found out two of the tires had gone way down. This wasn’t obvious to us at first because we left the jacks down while we were gone on our trip.

I couldn’t understand how the tires could have lost pressure until I remembered that I had an oil change and service done at the nearby Speedco® just before we left for Germany. The Speedco® technician that checked all the tire pressures didn’t reseat the pressure monitoring cap correctly. I have a Pressure Pro® Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) that I installed soon after purchasing our Coach. This system uses valve caps that send a wireless signal to a monitor on the dash. It’s been pretty reliable and saved me from driving on low tire pressures on at least two separate occasions. Well worth the money.

Tire Pressure Monitoring Valve Cap from Pressure-Pro.

I used my old air compressor which is stored here at the ‘dirt farm’ (my brother Steven & Cheryl / Mom & Jim’s place) to air up all the tires. I used the opportunity to purge any leftover nitrogen from the tires that Redlands Truck & RV® put in a few years back while we were in Quartzsite. I haven’t seen any advantage to using nitrogen in the tires. Plus, where do you find nitrogen at when on the road and you need a refill?

On Wednesday morning, we put ‘Coach’ on a leash and took a walk around the neighborhood to enjoy the nice sunny weather. We also need to get started on losing some of the weight we put on while in Germany 🙂 We walked over to the Escapees RV Park “Rover’s Roost” which is just around the corner.

Entrance sign at Escapees (SKP CO-OP) Rover’s Roost.

Memorial at Escapees (SKP CO-OP) Rover’s Roost.

We walked through the rows of parked RV’s and saw another Alpine!

Of course when I saw someone outside the Coach, I walked over and introduced ourselves. We met Joan who then introduced us to Ken. We talked for a short time and Ken & Joan showed us the inside of their beautiful 2005 36′ Front Door Double Slide (FDDS). It’s always great to meet up with other Alpine Coach owners! What nice people, as all Alpine owners seem to be 🙂 I asked them if they were going to Quartzsite for the Desert Rat Rally but they already have other scheduled plans. Hopefully, we’ll get to see them again in the future at one of the Alpine Coach Association rallies. Nice to meet you Ken & Joan… please keep us in mind for one of the upcoming Alpine SoCal or ACA rallies 🙂

And that’s all for now folks. We’re just fighting off the jet lag and prepping to head over to the Desert Rat Rally in Quartzsite (←link). I’d like to get there a couple days before the Alpine Coach Rally kicks off so I need get the ATV ready and loaded up, among other things. I’ll post again as time permits… lots going on.

BTW – We just heard from good friends Jerry and Marilyn. They just got into town here and are staying at the Casa Grande Elks Lodge. We first met Jerry & Marilyn at the Colorado Springs Elks Lodge and went on a nice motorcycle ride with them (among other things). Old Post HERE. We plan on getting together today (Thursday)… stay tuned…

Germany

Day 31 in Deutschland – Cleaning Out the Attic & Another Birthday Party (Sindersdorf and Hilpoltstein, GE)

2016/01/08 davidhobden@mac.com

There’s still a little snow on the ground here in Sindersdorf this morning (Monday, 4 January).

This is the view from the upstairs window (below), towards the main street and the Volunteer Fire Department (Freiwillige Feuerwehr) house.

The next door neighbor was out shoveling his Hof (driveway). Hi Xaver 🙂

On Monday morning, we got put to work here at the house. Guess we have to earn our keep, right? 🙂 Stilla’s brother Wolfgang has been cleaning out and working on the attic. There used to be a room at one end of the attic that was built out in 1974 with cinder block walls and heavy-duty paneling and plaster. William and Wolfgang had already broken down most of the walls prior to us getting here and now there was a huge pile of debris that needed to be cleaned out.

Here we are taking an old metal door down the narrow stairwell from the attic. I supervised most of the heavy-lifting as you can see from the pics 🙂

Wolfgang, William, and Stilla carefully maneuvered the door down two flights of stairs to the front yard. Wolfgang will probably re-purpose the door somewhere else around the house.

That was one heavy door, or so I was told 🙂 How do you like the ’70s-era poster still pasted on the door?

The remnants of the cinderblock walls were strewn all over the floor in the attic. Now how should we get all this cleaned up?

Well, the solution was a giant transport container and a construction debris chute that Wolfgang had delivered from a local business:

Here we are stringing the chute in place up to the attic window:

The plastic debris chute got heavier and heavier the higher up we pulled. Here I am tying off the debris chute to one of the attic timbers. Hope it holds 🙂

We finally got the top piece of the debris chute in place.

And now it was just a matter of tossing all the debris down the chute…

… we used our hands and shovels to toss chunks of concrete and plaster down the chute and into the container.

Even Stilla got crazy with the sledgehammer 😉

Go Stilla, Go! Whew… we haven’t worked that hard in awhile 🙂

We got most of the debris cleaned out by late-afternoon when we finally called it a day. We’ll finish up tomorrow morning. We had to get ready to go to another birthday party!

But before we left the attic for the day, Stilla snapped some pics from the seldom used attic windows. Here’s some views (below) from the attic window on the west-side of the house:

Sindersdorf church steeple in the background behind the neighbors house.

View to the southwest. The house next door used to be a Gasthaus, now it’s just a rental unit.

And here’s the view out the other side of the attic on the east-side of the house (below).

The family yard (Hof). View to the east.

Front driveway and the old barn which is now a B&B run by Wolfgang. View to the north out the west-side attic window.

After we got cleaned up, Stilla and I got picked up by Maria (Stilla’s older sister) who drove us over to Wolfgang and Verena’s house in Hilpoltstein. Wolfgang is Maria’s son, who recently got married to Verena.

It was Verena’s birthday! Happy Birthday Verena 🙂

Wolfgang & Verena visited us in Colorado back in 2012. We took them with us on a short trip in the Urban Escape Vehicle through Utah.

Here’s Wolfgang & Verena (below) at Goosenecks State Park in June 2012.

Our campsite view at Goosenecks State Park in 2012.

We enjoyed the evening with close family and lots of Wolfgang & Verena’s friends who showed up to help celebrate her birthday.

As usual… lots of good food and liquid refreshments :

Wolfgang demonstrated his espresso making skills with his commercial grade machine. It didn’t know making coffee could be so complicated 🙂

We held out late into the evening and were the last ones to leave. We thanked Wolfgang & Verena for another wonderful evening and caught a ride back home with Martin and Maria.

Happy Birthday Verena!

Arizona

A Dirt Farm Thanksgiving (Casa Grande, AZ)

2015/12/02 davidhobden@mac.com

Wow! I can’t believe it’s been over a week since my last post. We’ve been super busy enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday at the “dirt farm” and then prepping for our trip to Germany.

It was your typical American Thanksgiving; We enjoyed lots of good food…

with lots of good people…

All my relatives in the area came out to the “dirt farm”. We even had some come in from far away places: My Aunt Kathy came down from Sun City Grand (Phoenix) for a few days with her boyfriend from Canada; My cousin’s daughter (Jules) came down from Denver with her boyfriend from Ireland.

My cousin Kristine came down from Denver. That was a special treat! Haven’t seen her in years. Here she is (below) looking through an old photo album.

Here’s me and my brother Steve.

We even had family friends come down from Tempe.

After an awesome dinner, we played some games.

And just hung out.

After all the holiday festivities and lots of leftovers… I spent some time cleaning the Harley to put it away while we’re gone.

Then I got the ATV out to prep it for when we get back. I keep it stored here at the dirt farm and we’ll want to take it with us to Quartzsite in January when we get back from our Germany trip.

I even cleaned up the trailer that I keep here on the farm and took it up to Phoenix for an annual service. I bought it a year ago and got a timely phone call from Trailers-Plus telling me that the one-time free service was due.

Here’s little ‘Coach’ running around the farm. We’ll leave him here with my Mom during our trip. He’s turned into quite the farm dog and enjoys being off leash.

I then got the oil changed on the Urban Escape Vehicle at a nearby Speedco (←link). I also topped off the fuel tank at a nearby Pilot Flying-J and drained the tanks. I then gave it a good washing in preparation for leaving it here in storage while we fly to Germany for Christmas and New Year.

Now, we just have to finish packing our suitcases 🙂

My next post will be from Germany. We leave on the 3rd of December and will return on the 11th of January. Follow along…

Arizona

Back at the “Dirt Farm” (Casa Grande, AZ)

2015/11/24 davidhobden@mac.com 4 Comments

We made it! We’re back at the “dirt farm” in Casa Grande, AZ where we’ll stay parked until we get back from our trip to Germany on the 11th of January.

We made the circa. 290 mile trip from our overnight boondocking spot at the Red Earth Casino located next to the Salton Sea without incident. We arrived at my brother Steven & Cheryl’s ~5 acre “dirt farm” in Casa Grande, AZ before dusk. I wrote about why they call it the “dirt farm” in previous posts HERE and HERE.

Driving across the border into Yuma, AZ.

Stilla even took over driving duties for the last 100 miles or so 🙂

The long and straight Highway 8 (east bound).

Here’s the Urban Escape Vehicle in front of Mom’s house.

A few pictures around the “dirt farm”:

Opposite side of Mom’s house, looking at one of the chicken coops and the casita.

My brother Steven & Cheryl’s house on the “dirt farm”.

Steven & Chery’ls (new to them) Class-C RV parked by their house.

View of the “back 40″… the horse corrals and sheds behind Steven & Cheryl’s house.

We’re expecting to have a bunch of relatives and friends here for Thanksgiving, so we’ll enjoy that while we get prepared to leave for Germany on the 3rd of December.

I was able to find a couple round-trip tickets for just under $1,200 so we’re all set to spend the Christmas and New Year holiday(s) with Stilla’s family. And, more importantly her father’s 85th birthday on the 8th of December.

I’ll post again in a couple/few days… there’s lots to do before we leave: I’d like to get the oil changed in the Coach, plus we still need to top off the fuel tank and dump our tanks… Check back soon 🙂

California

Southbound & Down (Red Earth Casino – Thermal, CA)

2015/11/23 davidhobden@mac.com

Happy Monday! My new favorite day of the week since retirement 🙂

We’re on the road again headed south to the “dirt farm” in Casa Grande, AZ. The “dirt farm” is a term of endearment that my Mom, Stepdad, brother Steven & Cheryl call their ~5 acres where they keep horses, chickens, dirt, etc., 🙂 We need to be back there before Thanksgiving because we have a lot of family coming to visit over the holiday, plus we are making plans to leave the Urban Escape Vehicle parked there while we travel to Germany to visit Stilla’s family over the Christmas holidays. We need to be in Germany for Stilla’s fathers’ birthday on the 8th of December.

We sure would have liked to stay at Bill & Patti’s but we have to hurry down to Casa Grande as I said earlier. We’ve dawdled enough and better get down to the dirt farm to help out with things before Thanksgiving.

Thanks again to Bill & Patti for their hospitality! We said goodbye with hugs and ‘see-ya-laters’.

We traveled about 200 miles yesterday (Sunday) after we left Bill & Patti Figge’s house in Thousand Oaks, CA. We needed fuel… Bill turned us on to a nearby Chevron station that had easy access. Thanks again Bill! We put in a couple hundred dollars worth of diesel and continued on. We stopped at the Red Earth Casino (map below) for an overnight stay. It’s free as long as you stay away from the slot machines 🙂 We stayed here once last year on our way to Pomona… it’s not bad here, but there’s dry-camping (boondocking) only.

The fine (sic) roads around Los Angeles took their toll on the drivers-side sun shade (below). The little bolt that holds the arms to the shade loosened itself up and fell out due to all the bumpy roads and vibrations from the concrete freeways. Luckily, a rest stop wasn’t too far away. I was able to find all the pieces and put it back together 😐 I also took the opportunity to tighten the others, i.e., side-window shades and the passenger-side windshield.

Drivers-side view after the sun-shade fell apart.

And here we are at the Red Earth Casino (←link). We made the rest of the days trip without incident 🙂

Red Earth Casino (Thermal, CA) dry-camping.

Here’s the rest of our intended route for today (map below). 291 miles to go… check back later to see if we make it 😉

California

Alpine Friends & Malibu Dining (Thousand Oaks, CA)

2015/11/22 davidhobden@mac.com

It’s been a couple days since my last post. We stayed an additional day (Friday) at the Elks Lodge in Pismo Beach to enjoy the nice weather. I also took advantage of the extra day to wash the Silverado and the Harley… they were looking pretty bad after driving around on the beach and the rain from previous days.

On Saturday, we drove the 160 miles south on Hwy-101 to Bill & Patti Figge’s house in Thousand Oaks, CA. Along the way, we made a small detour in Santa Barbara where we followed a tip from my cousin Phil to take Shoreline Drive and take in the views. Nice… Thanks for the tip Phil! We had to dodge a few low-hanging palm trees, but it was worth it.

We contacted our friends from the Alpine SoCal group (Bill & Patti Figge), who offered to let us stay at their beautiful house in Thousand Oaks. So we plugged their address into the GPS and pulled into their driveway around 2PM.

Bill & Patti Figge’s beautiful neighborhood street view.

Bill directed us onto his RV pad next to the house. Wow… 5-Star amenities with full hook-ups! Their Coach is at the shop right now… unfortunate for them but fortunate for us 🙂

Here we are with our nice backyard views.

The Urban Escape Vehicle parked at the premier RV spot at Bill & Patti Figge’s in Thousand Oaks, CA.

Our view this morning 🙂 We even had hummingbirds outside the windows.

Little ‘Coach’ really likes the backyard, but he wasn’t too sure about the lawn decorations.

Bill & Patti took us to dinner in Malibu.

The Malibu Seafood Fresh Fish Market and Patio Cafe (←link) was absolutely wonderful… with great food, great views, and even better company. Thanks, Bill & Patti!

Views of the beach across the street (Hwy-1) from our patio dining seats:

And here we are! (L to R) Patti, Bill, and Stilla.

It was great catching up with Bill & Patti. What great friends! I just hope we can return the favor sometime in the near future. We look forward to seeing them again in January at the Alpine Coach “Desert Rat Rally” in Quartzsite, AZ.

Now we need to head on south and get ourselves to Casa Grande before Thanksgiving… a lot of the family is gathering again and we better get there to help out. So time to hit the road again… stay tuned 🙂

BTW – Here’s a map showing all the locations we’ve stayed at during our last year and a half of travel. There’s a lot of gaps… guess we better get busy, eh?

California

Still Beach Bumming at Pismo (Elks Lodge 2504 – Oceano / 5 Cities, CA)

2015/11/20 davidhobden@mac.com

We spent the day (Thursday) bumming around the Pismo Beach area while we’re still parked at the Oceano / 5 Cities Elks Lodge.

Here’s a little history about the lodge from their website:

Many years ago, probably in the 1940’s, there was a real estate office located on the corner of Highway 1 and what is now Pier Ave., just up from the Lodge. It’s unique design included a three story tower that Harold Guiton, the developer, used to enjoy relaxing in. When it was no longer needed, the office was torn down, however, the tower was moved to a vacant lot across the street from the Lodge where it laid for several years. In the early 1950’s the tower was incorporated into a new drive-in built across the street. The drive-in was called Skipper’s. Built separately up the street was a bar, called The Sands. Eventually Skipper’s closed until a local cook leased the building. He added a dining room and opened a Mexican restaurant called Spanish Seas. He eventually built his own restaurant on the corner of Highway 1 and Pier. This popular restaurant is still going strong, now called Juan’s Cantina. After the Spanish Seas moved, the building and the bar next door sat vacant until a few men looked into opening an Elks Lodge in the Five Cities area. They eventually got the charter and leased this property on a lease-buy agreement. The 564 charter members were initiated on March 23,1974 at the Arroyo Grande High School.

Our Lodge, located within easy walking distance of the beach, and with a large RV area, is a popular place to visit. We currently have just over 1200 members. We have many activities on the calendar and many ways to volunteer.

After breakfast we walked the beach again and enjoyed the day. Later on we drove around the area to check things out and stocked up on some groceries. Then we walked around the beach some more:

Stilla stayed on the beach walking ‘Coach’ while I did a little wading.

We closed out the day at the Pismo Beach Pier.

Out on the wharf.

We’ll probably head on south today (Friday). Check back to see where we end up…

California

Beach Bumming (Elks Lodge 2504 – Oceano / 5 Cities)

2015/11/19 davidhobden@mac.com

We left the Camp Roberts FamCamp around 10:30 and headed south on Hwy 101. About 60 miles later, we pulled off into the Pismo Beach area and got onto Hwy 1.

Just south of Pismo Beach, the GPS routed us to Elks Lodge 2504 (←link) Oceano / 5 Cities.

We checked in and paid $25 per night for two nights.

We’re only two blocks from the beach.

We spent the rest of the afternoon just driving around at the beach and dune area. Then we parked and enjoyed the sun. It was a little brisk with a light wind but otherwise warm.

‘Coach’ really enjoyed the beach and couldn’t understand why the birds didn’t want to play 🙂

We watched the sun go down before we went back to the Elks Lodge for a Salisbury Steak dinner.

We’ll hang out here until Friday, then southwards again…

California

Castles, Lions, and Zebras (Camp Roberts FamCamp – Paso Robles, CA)

2015/11/18 davidhobden@mac.com

Sounds like a fairy tale right? But really! We went to Hearst Castle today, saw some (sea) lions, and the Hearst estate actually has zebras, right here in (somewhat) sunny California.

When we left the San Jose Elks Lodge on Monday, we headed south on Hwy 101 and landed at Camp Roberts (Army FamCamp) located just north of San Miguel, CA. Full hookups, and 50 Amp power for only $10 a night. Granted it’s not the nicest park… right next to Hwy 101 with a good number of folks that appear to be parked here for an extended stay based on all the “stuff” around their rigs, but it’s conveniently located and very affordable.

Click the link above for the official national guard website and HERE for the Wikipedia® link which gives the following information:

Camp Roberts is a California National Guard post in central California, located on both sides of the Salinas River in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties, now run by the California Army National Guard. It is named after Harold W. Roberts, a World War I Medal of Honor recipient. Nearby communities include San Miguel, Heritage Ranch (Lake Nacimiento), Oak Shores (Lake Nacimiento), and Bradley, all unincorporated. The nearest incorporated city is Paso Robles. Camp Roberts is adjacent to Fort Hunter Liggett.

Camp Roberts is host to annual training to almost every California Army National Guard unit and it is also used by the British Army.

Camp Roberts is undergoing major renovations, including demolition of World War II-era barracks, which have been plagued with mice, asbestos insulation, and lead paint. Demolition of nearly all the World War II-era structures facing US Route 101 began in 2012. (ref. Wikipedia®)

We passed the Camp Roberts Historical Museum (←link) which claims to be the largest Army museum in California. It’s only open Thursdays and Saturdays so we didn’t get a chance to check it out. 🙁

Here’s our first view of the Camp Roberts RV Park. It’s a mile or so from the main part of the Army post and located right next to Hwy-101. Surprisingly, not much highway noise though.

On Tuesday morning, we woke up to frost and a little ice on the Silverado… we need to hurry up and head farther south.

Our RV site at the Camp Roberts FamCamp:

We decided to stay a couple nights here at Camp Roberts so we could check out (the somewhat nearby) Hearst Castle and a little bit of the coast on Hwy-1. We drove 57 miles to get to Hearst Castle.

Views of the coast after crossing the mountains (hills) on CA-46:

There were a large number of zebras grazing with the cows near the entrance to the Hearst Castle Visitor Center.

We parked the Silverado in the Visitor Center parking lot and cracked all the windows so little ‘Coach’ would be comfortable. It was a balmy 60° at the most.

We had purchased our tickets online the day prior, $25 pp, So we checked in, got a snack, and got in line for the bus.

The bus takes a 4.2 mile winding road uphill to the Castle.

The bus dropped us off below one of the cottages where we met our tour-guide to start our 90-minute tour.

We read in the literature, and now the tour-guide reiterated that photos are encouraged for personal use, but written permission is required for anything to be published, therefore, in the spirit of compliance; I am only posting pictures of the outside of the castle, the gardens, and the swimming pool out-building. This was also the case on our tour of the Winchester Mystery House (posted HERE) where they only allowed picture-taking outside of the house and in out-buildings.

Click HERE for a link to the Hearst Castle website.

Our tour-guide took us through the estate grounds and then led us into a side door of the castle. What an impressive place… I took lots of pictures, but again, in order to stay in compliance with their policies, I won’t post any inside photos on the blog. But, here’s a few photos of the outside gardens and surrounding area that we took during and after the tour:

There were lots of statues and fountains.

Entrance door to one of the cottages.

The front door to the castle.

The tennis courts (below) were built above an indoor swimming pool.

The indoor swimming pool with the tennis courts on the roof.

We were told that gold was used in the tile work.

If you’d like to see pictures of the inside of the castle, just do a search online… I’ll let others get in trouble (if any) for posting pictures.

After our tour, we boarded the bus again for the long winding trip back down to the visitors center.

View back up to the castle from the access road.

Portion of the 4.2 mile access road to the castle. Only accessible by tour bus.

The visitors center has a nice viewing area of the castle on the hill.

Zoomed-in from the visitors center.

After we got back from the castle, we went back to the parking lot to walk little ‘Coach’ and then went back inside the visitors center to get a little lunch and check out the huge gift shop.

Then we watched the informative 40-minute film in the 5-story tall ‘big screen’ theater.

This was a great “must-see” attraction. I highly recommend it (at least once) if you’re in the area.

After our castle tour, we followed the signs north up Hwy-1 to check out the Elephant Seals:

After taking a hundred pictures (or more) of the seals, we headed back south to the William R. Hearst Memorial State Beach.

We went into the Hearst Ranch Winery and did a little wine tasting.

Then we headed back home to the Camp Roberts FamCamp.

We’re heading on south from here today (Wednesday). Still not sure where we’ll end up… check back to find out what’s next on our adventure….

California

Alpine Friends; Family Reunions; & Sad Goodbyes (Elks Lodge 522 – San Jose, CA)

2015/11/16 davidhobden@mac.com

Sunday was another great day of get-togethers and reunions. It was also our last day here. First of all, we drove over to visit with fellow Alpine Coach owner’s and friends John & Marlena Schierholtz. They live in the San Jose area.

Older photo of John & Marlena Schierholtz in front of their Alpine Coach.

We navigated our way over to their wonderful home from the San Jose Elks Lodge RV Park where we’re still parked.

We greeted John and Marlena with hugs and spent a short time catching up before we went out for breakfast together.

Check out the cool 21-window bus that John has in the garage. Nice… I think John should set this up to tow behind the Alpine. 🙂

John & Marlena took us to breakfast at Alice’s Restaurant located on a hilltop in scenic Woodside, CA “where you can get anything you want” according to their website. Sometime during the 1960’s the restaurant was bought by Alice Taylor who renamed the restaurant after herself and the now famous Arlo Guthrie song of the same name.

It was a cool day with gusty winds – especially on the hilltop where the restaurant is located, but that didn’t deter a few bikers from getting out.

This popular restaurant was busy and we had to wait for seating.

None of the customers wanted to sit at any of the outside or open porch tables because it was too cold and windy.

Notice the huge redwood tree growing through the deck.

We found seating at the bar and enjoyed a good breakfast with good company.

Afterwards. we visited the gas station / gift shop next to the restaurant.

This time, I found a cool t-shirt to add to my inventory.

We took the scenic route back to their house and stopped at a nice viewpoint along the way.

View of the San Francisco Bay.

We spent some more time visiting with John & Marlena at their house before we said our ‘see-ya-laters’ with hugs and handshakes. It was great getting to spend some time with them during our stay here… we hope to see them again at the next Alpine Coach “Desert Rat Rally” in Quartzsite, AZ in January. Thanks for everything John & Marlena… see you soon!

We made it back to the Elks Lodge with just enough time to pick up our little dog Coach so we could continue over to my cousin Philip and Tina’s house for our previously scheduled 5 PM dinner date. We made it just in time for the arrival of the pizza, pasta, and salad dinner. Here’s cousin Beth (below) performing delivery duty.

We enjoyed the rest of the evening with family at Phil & Tina’s wonderful home.

(L to R) Keith, Faith, Nathaniel, and Philip.

The girls (Daria, Faith, and Anya) had to finish up some homework before they could play. 🙁

We closed out the evening with some board and dice games…

while the girls talked in the living room.

It was another great family get-together that we were privileged to be a part of! Thanks again to Keith & Beth, Phil & Tina, and Aunt Donna for putting up with us and showing us around 🙂 We hope to get back this way again soon.

We’re finally going to continue our drive south today (Monday) with the goal of getting to Casa Grande, AZ before thanksgiving. Check back to see where we end up next…

Urban Escape Vehicle .com

Tag Archives: Western RV

Bye Bye Germany; Hello USA :) (Casa Grande, AZ)

Day 31 in Deutschland – Cleaning Out the Attic & Another Birthday Party (Sindersdorf and Hilpoltstein, GE)

A Dirt Farm Thanksgiving (Casa Grande, AZ)

Back at the “Dirt Farm” (Casa Grande, AZ)

Southbound & Down (Red Earth Casino – Thermal, CA)

Alpine Friends & Malibu Dining (Thousand Oaks, CA)

Still Beach Bumming at Pismo (Elks Lodge 2504 – Oceano / 5 Cities, CA)

Beach Bumming (Elks Lodge 2504 – Oceano / 5 Cities)

Castles, Lions, and Zebras (Camp Roberts FamCamp – Paso Robles, CA)

Alpine Friends; Family Reunions; & Sad Goodbyes (Elks Lodge 522 – San Jose, CA)

Follow along on our adventures…

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