Touring Central California

Since we talked last, we've stayed pretty busy doing one thing or another. 

Our work gig here at the RV park has been quite enjoyable.  It's such a pretty temporary home, and we share lots of laughs with our co-workers.  We also meet some pretty interesting people coming through here.  A week or so ago, I spent some time visiting with a lady from Cleveland, Ohio.  She was very curious about the workamping aspect of our stay here and what inspired us to hit the road in this house on wheels in the first place.  She shared with me that her husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer not too long ago.  After going through the whole chemo and radiation thing and thinking they were finally out of the woods, she took him home and 10 days later he had a massive heart attack.  Can you imagine?  They had always wanted to travel but had not found the time.  After all that happened, they said NOW is the time.  They go it at a slower pace, but that's ok.  They go it at his pace.  They are making it happen.  And they are counting each day.  I love that.

A couple of weeks ago we attended the Warbirds Air Show here in Paso Robles.  This organization has a museum at the airport, and then once a year they have a big air show.  Max was in heaven!  He's a big airplane buff, and he said he got to see planes he's wanted to see and hear all his life but has only seen on television.  We saw four P-51 Mustangs in formation and solo; a P-38 Lightning; an F-4 Corsair; a Hellcat and a Bearcat; a B-25 Mitchell bomber; a P-40 Warhawk, and a P-47 Thunderbird.  These planes flew individually, in fly-by formation, and then at the end did a dogfight with what he thinks was a Japanese Zeke fighter.  (Yes, Max dictated these specifics to me.  If I have something here that doesn't make sense, it's because my dictation skills have gotten rusty.  They were just cool looking planes to me.  :))

The first plane we saw that morning was this one.  For those readers who don't know, "Dolly" was my mother's nickname and the name everyone knew her by, so of course this was my favorite plane of the day.

Some other cool things...

It's name: Iwo Jima Yacht Club

 

This C-130 Hercules was from Britain.  Max visited with the pilot.  They carried British SAS (Special Services) paratroopers in training.  They would drop them over the forests in Canada, and then the pilots would go on to spend the night in a nice hotel in the city while they waited for their guys to make their way out of the forest.  Nice to be a pilot!



 

Since we've been here, we've bought some of the local olive oil.  Yum!!  On just about everything.  They even tell you it's good on ice cream!  I haven't tried that yet, but it sure does top off a nice salad.

 
One day we drove over to Morro Bay, a little town on the Pacific coast about 30 minutes away.  It was a beautiful, sunny day here.  We got over there, and look what we found!  We never expected that.

We had a great time anyway.  We just pulled out our jackets and went for a nice walk along the beach. 

Looks like seaweed.  But is that thing a root?  I need a marine biologist on consult.

One of the famous landmarks in Morro Bay is Morro Rock.  Sometimes called the "Gibraltar of the Pacific", it has been used as a navigational guide for hundreds of years.  It reminded us a bit of the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.

We found our way to the waterfront, sat and watched the elephant seals for a while, and had a delicious meal of fresh clam chowder and fried clams.  Nice day!

One day last week we took off for a trip up scenic Highway 1 to Carmel.  I really enjoyed it.  It was a bit of a harrowing drive for my chauffeur.  Not sure how much he enjoyed it.  Maybe next time he'll let me drive so he can enjoy the scenery.  LOL 

On the way back from Carmel we took Highway 101 which to many is probably considered the less scenic route.  To us, it was very scenic--just in a different way.  There is so much agriculture in this area, and to this old country girl, it's fascinating and beautiful. 

An interesting tidbit--in the immediate Paso Robles area (a 25-square-mile area), there are over 300 wineries.  They are what are called boutique wineries--"a small operation offering specialized products and services", according to Wikipedia.  Driving down Highway 101, you see much larger operations--Kendall Jackson, J. Lohr, etc.--with fields of grapes stretching as far as the eye can see.  You also see field after field of lettuce, kale, cabbage, onions, strawberries, broccoli, bell pepper, etc., etc.  It was quite fun to play "identify the produce" as we drove along.  At one point we came up behind a truck loaded down with something red; turned out it was red bell peppers.  You just wonder how the ones on the bottom don't get crushed.  Someone told us there's a Ragu plant close by, and they were probably headed that direction.  Fascinating!

Until next time...take care!

Paula