Making Our Way to LA

It should probably become a running joke that I leave too long between posts. But this has been an especially long time and with no good reason. I've had plenty of downtime. Just not the will. I'm going to break this up into 2 entries as well - there's just too much to tell, and I don't want you to feel like you are reading an essay for school.

So, we drove down and stayed in Santa Maria for a couple of nights at a county fairground. We have found this part of California to be particularly devoid of affordable places to park the RV. The county fairground was a pretty good deal, it just turns out that Santa Maria isn't a highly desirable place to visit. We learnt later that it is home to the tri tip - an undersung cut of meat in England, but over here in Central to South California it is don. It is a fatty piece of meat from the sirloin, but when cooked/barbecued slowly, all the fat melts into the meat and leaves a delicious flavor sensation.

After Santa Maria we headed on down to Santa Barbara - a place we had heard great things about. The journey there was a bit harrowing, and Dave and I have agreed on each other's strengths. I'm good at city driving, Dave is good at narrow, windy roads. Dave was driving through Santa Barbara, and we ended up at the tiniest roundabout I've ever seen. I will set the scene - Dave had been driving for a couple hours and the steering wheel was squeaking like crazy. This alone is enough to set him off. We approach this tiny roundabout - the only way to get out of a tiny parking lot. Without exaggeration, he must have had to

An entrepreneurial way to make money on a Santa Barbara Beach

execute a 12 point turn to get the rig around this thing. I am trying desperately not to laugh, I really was trying as I could tell Dave was not in the mood to see the funny side. Then I made eye contact with a woman who had been watching us the whole time. That was it. I nearly hurt myself trying to bite my lip to stop laughing. The whole thing was such a farce. Luckily he just looked straight ahead and ignored me. We ended up pulling up in a parking lot and asking a guy with a very homemade looking RV where was good to boondock in the area. Turns out he had been in that parking space for at least a couple of years. When he found out we were full timers and not just renting our RV he opened right up and told us all the good places to go. Santa Barbara has obviously seen a lot of people trying to camp on the street for free as there are signs everywhere telling you that you can't. We managed to find one street that they had missed and plonked ourselves pretty centrally in Santa Barbara. We went out to an English pub and had a few drinks and then hunkered down for the evening. Santa Barbara is beautiful, and it is full of beautiful people. I imagine the cost of living would outweigh its beauty though.

As we had been in cities for a while, we felt the need to retreat back into the woods. We ended up at a massive, well organised camp ground situated around a reservoir. As we are traveling just as we come out of the tourist season, places are pretty empty. However, on this particular day, there was a cycling race taking place along the road that led to Lake Casitas. This was a winding, narrow road and there were a lot of cyclists on the road, mostly riding three abreast. When you're in an RV, as I'm sure you can imagine, trying to navigate around a bunch of cyclists is pretty harrowing. But I managed it and got us there in one piece - the cyclists were ok too!

We rolled up to a great spot and had lots of space between us and anyone else camping. Until a convoy arrived carrying a huge latin family. We watched them set up, then play football (English style) and crash balls into RV's. We put them out of our mind for a while and ended up chatting with our neighbor. He was there with his daughter, who was on the other side of the lake with her school rowing team. We ended up chatting all evening, and it's always nice to spend an evening waxing away the time. While we were chatting, the large latin family were talking very seriously, and it kind of looked like the last supper gathering. We went to bed
and didn't think too much more of it. Our new friend, however, was in a tent and apparently had to endure a whole evening of raucous noise. The toilets the next day looked as though they had been used by a pack of rabid wolverines. They threw away their rubbish, mostly, but left all the tables in a row, which they had dragged over from other campsites. If you have never seen a camp host - the person who is going to have to clean up any mess you leave - I should tell you that they are old and usually disabled in some way. The camp hosts all gathered around the mess and had a chinwag, smoking cigars and riding aloft in their golf buggies. I never saw what came of this meeting, but I'm sure it was momentous.

Bin Squirrel

That morning, the guy in the tent came over and gave us his details, said we were welcome to park up outside his house in Orange County if we ever needed to. We were touched by such a generous offer, and it was only one day before we decided to take him up on it. Before we left we decided to go for a walk around the massive campsite. We came across  our first wild tarantula here! Towards the end, we came across a ground squirrel stuck in a large dumpster. It looked scared and tired, and my heart went out to it. We set it up with a makeshift ladder to be able to get out and walked away to let nature take its course. I still hope he made it out.

We felt a bit weird taking Mike (our newly acquired friend) up on his offer so soon, but if you don't ask, you don't get. We got a really friendly reply telling us they'd love to have us. So we set off, a bit unsure of what we were going to encounter. As we were early, we decided to go to the beach. We first had an extremely overpriced deli lunch. We then went down to the beach, called Sunset Beach, and settled down with a bloody mary (dutch courage). I got a bit carried away with the camera and took far too many pictures. I can't decide which are the best, so you can look through all 20!

We decided it was time to face the unknown. We pulled up at the house and introduced ourselves to what we would learn was an incredibly welcoming family. Mike has a wife and 3 daughters, whom we had learned all about when we were camping. We were offered beer and dinner, the best way to impress Dave and myself. We chatted to them through the evening and the next, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. We were roused one morning to what we initially thought must be some sort of practical joke. It sounded like someone was mowing our hair it was so close. We looked out the window and realised we were surrounded on all sides by a gardening company. It's a small price to pay for free camping and new friends, it was just rather unexpected. Then again, I'm sure the gardeners weren't expecting to have to work around a 30ft mobile home either. Priscilla was coming to pick us up to take us to the Ivory Tower, so we made arrangements with the Burneys (our new friends!) to come back and cook them a meal to thank them for everything they had done.


We have started to think about opening our own business. Food trucks are all the rage and we have been coming with ideas for a pie truck - good old fashioned English pies with a creative twist. I guess this is just an explanation for one of the pictures in dropbox - we tested our first pie, homemade crust and all. You know what? It was actually damn good!



The next leg of the journey is a bit of a departure from our usual tale, so I'll leave that for the next entry.

Piccies!!

Santa Maria & Santa Barbara
Lake Casitas

The Unexpected Wedding etc

It appears I have left it just a little bit too long between blogs!

We finally made our way to San Jose to see Dave's uncle. Not before taking a road that the casino website expressly asked us not to go down. It said "not suitable for RV's" but our gps, designed for navigating RV's, was telling us it was the quickest way. After a quick map reference, we decided to chance it as any other way was going to add hours on to our journey. We understood pretty quickly why it had advised us against it, but after the roads we have traversed through northern California, it was nothing we couldn't handle. It was meant to be my turn to drive this day, but due to an incredibly limiting crick in the neck, it was decided that it wasn't safe for me to drive. Despite the road being tiny and windy, it was a lovely drive. One thing I have failed to mention so far is the squeaky wheel. Our steering wheel starts to squeak after an hour or so of driving, and if we start out on windy roads, it starts straight away. This isn't a fade into the background kind of noise. It's more of an 'I wish you had nuts so I could kick them and you can feel my pain' kind of noise. The anger that is reserved for a petulant computer or the drawer that always comes off the runner as you push it in.

The closer we got to San Francisco, the worse the roads got. You notice these things a lot more in an RV because you can hear all of your stuff rattling around in the back. If anyone had looked into the cab while we were driving, they would have seen both Dave and I clenching our teeth as we vibrated over the potholes in the freeway. We stopped off at the viewpoints over Golden Gate Bridge to get the obligatory bridge over San Fran picture. It is admittedly very impressive, and we wandered around getting pictures from various angles. When we made our way over the bridge, we encountered quite a lot of traffic that we hadn't seen from the hill. When we finally made it onto the bridge, there were a number of cops and general public peering over the side of the bridge, and I can only assume that someone was about to make the final decision. The morbid part of me wanted to know what someone who was about to end their life in such a dramatic way looked like. Do they look normal? Do they look like a mad professor?  Do they look insane? But they do not publicise people who jump off the bridge, so I will never know.

We got to Bill's after a gruelling 6 hour total journey, Dave having to drive the entire way. He truly is an amazing travel partner, and I'm lucky to have someone who is willing to do that without snide comment or using it for future gain. So after some difficulty in parking, we managed to squeeze it up their driveway and get the beast plugged in. We were then introduced to some of the family - the bride and groom to be (the groom being Dave's cousin, Andrew), the bride's parents, and Dave's aunt and uncle. They were all so welcoming, and it was lovely to sit around with people and have dinner, wine and conversation. We were very kindly invited to the wedding, and after sitting around with them for an evening, we thought attending the wedding would be lots of fun. The next day we headed into San Fran on

our own. We ended up getting in rather late in the afternoon as we had no idea how long it would take us to get in! But we made it, and we made it to a sandwich place that Dave has been raving about since we started going out. Dave's uncle, Bill, couldn't believe that he dragged me all the way out to this shop when we had passed a few infamous sandwich shops on the way! But the sandwiches were a meat feast served up on fresh bread and served with a bbq gravy. They were delicious, and Dave was beaming, and that made it worth it.

We also went down to Pier 39 which is permanently occupied by sea lions. Apparently they took over after  a big hurricane and never left, and are now a popular tourist attraction. Sea lions are attention hogs and love

to show off for people. They are also incredibly noisy, but I still filled the camera trying to get the perfect sea lion picture! We did the tram and only paid half price before jumping off and running away. It took us to the other end of San Fran and we moseyed our way around the bay. For the final stretch we took a cycle cab which were giving free rides to the baseball stadium in honour of the giants vs the dodgers game. All in all a good day!

The next day I got to experience the Daly family in all its glory. Dave has 17 aunts and uncles in total on his Dad's side, and I met only 6 of them. But they are a force of nature, and a lovely one at that. They are renowned for their disorganisation and indecision, as well as the ability to enjoy themselves at a party. They were all kind and welcoming, but I got to experience the herding of cats phenomenon that is trying to organise them. It's funny as they all blame someone else in the family for this, and they all contribute in their own little way. They are great fun to hang out with, and I envy the history they all have, the good and the bad. Everyone was as well behaved as the Daly family can be at a wedding, considering their Irish heritage! The wedding itself was beautiful, and Andrew and Amanda made a happy couple.

We managed to park at the hotel that Dave's family were staying at for free - we just omitted the fact that we were sleeping in it and not staying at the hotel ourselves (we also helped ourselves to the breakfast buffet!). We saved ourselves a bunch of money with this manoeuvre, and Dave's family were kind enough to treat us to breakfast, lunch and dinner during our stay. So the next stop we were able to splash out a little bit without feeling too guilty. Splashing out wasn't really optional as all the RV parks as we go further south get more expensive. So really, we went for the cheapest option, which was still expensive. We have stayed at lots of places that slap the term 'resort' after their name in hopes of attracting a higher calibre of customer. It seems a place can call itself a resort just for providing 'pay per shower' cubicles. But the next place we stayed at
very much lived up to the name. It had a clean pool, a hot tub, and a spa that was reserved for adults only. The shop was nice, there was lots of space between sites, it really was a dream. So we spent an entire day drinking rum next to the pool until it was inundated by rambunctious children, and then we moved on to the adult only hot tub, which we had all to ourselves.

Morro Rock

We then made our way down to San Luis Obispo to visit a friend I worked with in Seattle who had relocated. When we first arrived, we stopped of in a place called Morro Bay to kill some time before going to see her. But she got hold of us and told us that her boyfriend, Jake, worked down at Morro Bay, so after a little turn around Morro Rock, we met up and followed him back to their house. San Luis Obispo is a great town, and if it wasn't so early on into our trip, we would seriously consider staying. It is a college town, but a more subdued college town. And we really inadvertently came at a great time. We were taken to a huge farmer's market on Thursday night which showcased much of the local restaurants. Jake had taken us to Monterey and Big Sur during the day, an epic and beautiful drive we never could have done in the RV. We thought it was bad when the sign said 22 miles of windy road. This sign said 77 miles, and it felt like 77 miles on stomach by the end of it! It was incredible though, and great to be in a car both as passengers. We also stopped at a beach inhabited purely by elephant seals. But when we got to the farmer's market we were getting hangry, so food was of utmost importance. Dave and I's inability to make a decision lets us down here, as we both get annoyed with the other one for not being able to make a decision but not wanting to do it ourselves. We settled on pizza in the end and it was a great choice. We were shown where Ariel works - an independently owned cafe called Bello Mundo with fiercely proud owners who take a lot of pride in everything they do, and it shows. Check them out here and stop in if you ever get the chance, all the cakes are hand made by Ariel! Almost the whole town is comprised of independently run shops, and there is not a walmart in sight. It truly is a delightful town, and as trite as delightful sounds, it does epitomise the term. So it's not trite, everything after it is!


We found out that the Harbor Festival was happening on the weekend, so we made our way down to Morro Bay. Ariel had arranged a spot for us on a boat she works on - a brunch cruise with free-flowing mimosas. The service was amazing, apart from the serenading we received from a group of awkward high
school students. It was in aid of someone's birthday, but they sang for a little too long, and probably could have received a standing ovation had they just known when to call it a day. Seeing them reminded me of why I would never want to be a teenager again - that horrible sensation of being uncomfortable in your own body. Not only that, but everyone who was once a teenager can see it all over your face. But, I guess, as a teenager you think you are the very first to feel this way and no one understands, so they have no idea that we are all looking at them thinking 'god, I'm glad I'm not you.'

Jake and an Otter

After the cruise we wandered down to the Harbour Festival where we found out that we had to pay $10 each to get in. We circled the joint and found a little opening being manned by some litter picking hippies who let us in for a fiver each. Not a bad deal really, and I think they probably could have used the money just as much as us, unless they were trustafarians of course. You never can tell. We had a good time people watching, or people 'judging' is probably more apt. After sauntering through the crowd a bit we made our way back into San Luis as we wanted to check out a little English style pub. We ended up getting chatting to a guy after he overheard us people judging a couple who were obviously on drugs, one referring to the other as a fuckhead and ramming him with a bike. Then some friends of his arrived and more drinks were consumed and it developed into quite a fun evening, ending with some hole in the wall bbq. And holy shit, was it good bbq.

So that brings me nearly up to date. I'd talk about yesterday, but it was spent mainly recovering. We have been cooking for Ariel and Jake, which has been an interesting challenge as Ariel is on the paleo diet. It's all about eating foods that people in the paleolithic era would have eaten. But it has forced us to think outside

Jude on left, Dexter on right

the box, and we have had some fairly good results. Not enough to entice me to try, but diets aren't my style. Having the space for both Dave and I to cook at the same time has been amazing, and Ariel and Jake have been such accommodating hosts. They have two dogs - Jude and Dexter - with whom there is never a dull moment. They are two of the sweetest pit bulls I have ever met, even if Dexter is obsessed with his willy. He will put it on any body part he can, including Jude's head, and the two dogs have been known to have a cheeky snog.

Yet again it has been another epic post so I shall let your eyes rest for a while. We are headed down to LA now, so the next time I write I'll let you know what gang we have been absorbed into.

See more of our pictures!

San Luis Obispo
San Fran & San Jose

Wistful Ariel