If you own an RV and want to spend a night in San Francisco FREE then consider the upcoming opportunity to experience a day of Fleet Week in San Francisco.
The following routine has become an annual event for Diana and me. We will leave October 8th for Fisherman’s Wharf to enjoy a great lunch and walk the planks, experiencing all the sights and sounds. You can park a MH free at the north end of the main drag (turn left at the “T” intersection and park on the left side of the street, it is reserved for busses and RVs but spaces are limited).
When the evening arrives, we venture over the Golden Gate Bridge to the vista point on the north end of the bridge. The vista point is an official state Rest Area and you can stay up to 8 hours. It has designated parking for busses and RVs. Small bbq’s are permitted, an ideal ability to help save a buck on your food costs.
We spend the night, and then remain for the day to enjoy the air show. Other than being out on the water in the Bay, this is one of the best vantage points to view the events.
The Blue Angels perform on Saturday, October 9th from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. with practice taking place on Friday between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
The fog allowed for only a limited show last year, the weather makes the show a throw of the dice sometimes.
After the show, we journey home via Hwy 1/101 north to Hwy 37 where it connects with Vallejo at I-80.
The only negative aspect of this journey is the 8 hour parking limit. Fortunately, the officials don’t seem overly concerned and don’t go around marking tires because of the volume of vehicles and the nature of this annual event that draws thousands to the area. By 8:00 a.m. Saturday you can’t get into the place but if you arrive Friday night parking is not a problem. The CHP seems to subscribe to the “first come - first served” concept, which demonstrates their ability to be reasonable, all things considered.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. It is truly an experience to watch the jets fly over the rest area. Bring your ear plugs, they fly that close!
We recently pulled into the eastern parking lot for the Timbercove Inn north of Bodega Bay and found ourselves sharing the lot with another surprising form of transportation. Diana snapped this photo of Mike & Zorro to show the actual size of the aircraft.
I found this 8 minute video to be very educational on the subject. How does God relate to the subject of RVs you might ask? Well, He no doubt created them!
With the arrival of fall weather after a wonderful summer, many RVers park their rigs after pulling winter maintenance. I wanted to point out other options that one may want to consider.
The worst thing we can do to an RV is let it sit. They are high-maintenance for sure, but considering how close we are to the California coastline, consider keeping things up and running for some great opportunities to enjoy perfect coastal weather. Your RV will appreciate it!
Less fog, more campsite availability, and reduced gas prices can be tempting. There are dozens of great sites from BodegaBay all the way north to Westport, 17 miles above Ft.Bragg.
Here is a short list of recommended destinations:
Porto Bodega is situated right at the harbor and within walking distance to town. The campground recently improved all their sites with new stone fire pits, tree planting and gravel (the roads are paved). The sites are spacious, with full hook-up including cable TV but no wi-fi. However, the Verizon cell signal is quite strong. www.portobodega.com
Timbercove Innis not a campground. However, they will allow you to park your RV (free) across the street from their facilities and spend a night if you want to enjoy their fine dining and great lobby/bar area. They obviously don’t advertise the RV parking as they are in the business of renting rooms but if you ask permission first, you’ll find they are willing to please. www.timbercoveinn.com
Ocean Cove is a private campground just one mile north of the Timbercove. $20.00 a night, no hook-up, no dump station and no cell service or wi-fi. All you get is a table and fire pit, but the trade off is in the fantastic views (see their website for some great photos). There is no dump station, but water is available, and hot showers. There is a small general store with just about anything you might need. They close for the season on November 30 and do not take reservations, but that is not a problem this time of year. We like the option of getting to the Timbercove for a nice dinner, spend the night, then travel the short distance to Ocean Cove the following morning, fresh and ready for the day.www.oceancove.org
Westport KOA is situated 17 miles north of Ft.Bragg and is a great place for families. As with most KOA facilities, they have much to offer. www.koa.com/where/ca/05457
Go two miles north of this KOA campground and you’ll discover a few State parks that usually have openings even on a 3-day holiday weekend. They offer camping right on the 60-80 foot bluffs overlooking the ocean and go for $25.00 a night. Cell service is available.
There are many options in between these destinations I’ve mentioned, such as Van Dammne State Park, 2 miles south of Mendocino. Unfortunately, they charge $35.00 per night. State campgrounds used to be a bargain but now the State thinks they can raise revenue by raising prices, yet they have probably experienced a net loss. I arrived there last March and there were no other campers in sight. But this particular park is situated close to Mendocino, which everyone needs to experience at least once in their life. Several movies have been filmed there, it is truly a beautiful town with excellent restaurants and many high quality B&Bs.
Fall and winter camping along the coast can spoil you, the weather is often-times perfect, there is less traffic and your RV will thank you for keeping things running!
Just because Diana and I decided to go to the coast last weekend, some said we were crazy. After all, a storm was coming in. What fun would that be to remain locked up in one's motorhome (MH) for the weekend? I watched the news after our return on Monday evening, it reported on the "crazy" weather.
Well, we were right there on a coastal bluff to greet its arrival. And this is the story of our journey back in 2003..........
Usually, we travel with Steven & Skippy.....10 years old and one year old.....a boy and his dog, it's a beautiful thing. Often times one can factor in a second 10 year old...a tag-along friend to keep Steven company when his parents suffer from the simplicity of age. This trip, Diana made plans for Steven to be well cared for by "Auntie Ann" so we could venture out on our own...."just the two of us" as the song goes. Needless to say, we were excited at the prospects of the reduced responsibilities. Diana spent nearly two months refurbishing the MH interior. New flooring, wall paper, window coverings. A new refrigerator and stove have been added. It was like new! And we wanted to make sure all systems were a go for our upcoming 'biggie' trip to the Grand Canyon Thanksgiving week. Oh, and did I mention a new mattress? So now you can understand why we were excited at the prospects of being alone. After all, the new 'devices' needed to be checked....and double-checked. Right? Right.
I spent a vacation day on Friday so we could enjoy a full 3-day weekend. Friday arrived, and when we got up, ready to pack and roll, Steven was sick. Really sick. Oh my goodness.....was our trip going to be cancelled? Dad said "No Way!" and placed a phone call to Grandpa, who saved the day. He came over to take care of Steven until Ann could arrive. While we got a late start ( instead of ) we nevertheless got underway with a song in our heart.
Ocean Cove is north of Jenner ("By the Sea") by about 30 minutes up Coast Highway One. It was dark when we arrived, and there were only two other RV's in sight when we rolled out to our favorite spot, on the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and Ocean Cove. Diana put together a Cajun salmon dinner to die for, of which I washed down with a limited supply of Berringer's finest. By now the rain had started on-n-off, and we enjoyed listening to the pitter-patter of rain on the roof in between our favorite songs on the CD player. As we climbed into bed, we gave a hearty "thank you!" to God for the opportunity to enjoy this rare occasion. It almost seemed too quiet without the boy(s) and dog.
Saturday was what one might expect. Cloudy, cool, wet. Some would say this is not their idea of a good time on the coast. It lent itself to an opportunity for relaxed reading, and napping after a great breakfast of scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon and pan toast. If you don't know what pan toast is, ask me. You'll never use another toaster again!
Okay, so now it's nearing We have had plenty of R&R....now we are getting a little anxious....for a walk, fresh air, movement....anything but sitting around in that little tiny home on wheels. I mean, one can only take so much! We had already taken a hike to the little Ocean Cove store, we had firewood, we had ribs for dinner....now all we needed was some clearing weather.
Suddenly, the rain stopped. The clouds started to split apart. Within minutes, I had the awning out, the BBQ in place, the ghetto blaster on the pick-nick table and my favorite tunes cranked up because we had no neighbors. The sea was crashing to the shore, the tide was coming in, and temperature was mild.....about 63, and no wind. The sun was working its way towards the ocean in the distance, and the vastness of the Pacific was evidenced by a horizontal opening of the clouds that made it look like someone had lifted a blanket, and there was a sliver of blue sky stretched across the horizon. From the left to the right, as far as you could see, south to north, there was this opening that gave enough of a sliver of blue for the sun to enter from the clouds just above the water in all it's glory as if God was saying "you better pay attention, because I'm about to put on a show for you".
The sun emerged from the bottom of the cloud layer and seemed to hover for quite a while, then touched the water. Within minutes it was swallowed up by the sea, but the glow created upon the bottom of the cloud cover cast an orange hue that film cannot capture. The majestic spread of visual warmth was something that cannot be described.
And that was just the beginning......
The ribs were great as were the warmth of the blankets on the new 'pillow top' mattress. Sleep was deep, uninterrupted by the norms of life. We awoke to the sound of thunder......how far off (Bob Seger) I sat and wondered....so we got up, sensing the hour to be about 5:00 a.m. Fresh coffee in hand, we both ventured outside to experience a sense of what it must have been like when God was creating the earth.
Two layers of clouds were hovering.....an upper layer of sheer thin white, and a lower level of dark, thick rain clouds, which were broken up into chunks like clay broken across a floor. Wind was evident when you looked up....you could see rapid movement of this awesome mass, but back on the earth, stillness abound. Then you could see it, miles off shore. Lightening bolts dancing across the water's surface, originating from the dark clouds. It lit up the shore line, the pearl white gleam of ocean foam from the turf tumbling towards the final crash of liquid vs. solid earth. Then the awesomeness of lightening bolts stretching across in a horizontal fashion like I have never seen before. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! I'm standing outside listening, and watching in total amazement, then realizing what an idiot I was for standing out in the open, in puddles of water no less! The lightening was now flashing from the east, and the west. We were surrounded by a show of force that man could never recreate.
I retreated into the comfort and security of our home on wheels. Diana and I looked at each other as if to say "did we really see what we thought was saw!?!" It was absolutely beautiful, like being in the eye of a hurricane, but without the organized violence.
Then we happened to notice the clock.....it was ! It must have been the electricity in the air or something. We both felt like we had a full 8 hours of sleep. So we packed up our campsite and headed south. Destination: BodegaBay. For about an hour we ambled along at 15 mph, enjoying the total lack of traffic, and a view from the bluffs that looked straight down nearly a thousand feet it seemed. Diana clutched her armrest, trying to avoid eye contact with the crest of the cliff.....many without guard rails.
Around we pulled into a day use area and parked overlooking a beach that is usually filled with tourists from San Francisco. The smell of breakfast cooking with a view of the moon approaching the water was just too good. After stuffing ourselves, we decided to nap. All the excitement, travel and food must have worn us out, because we did not awaken until Not a cloud in the sky. A fresh pot of coffee filled our travel mugs and away we went, heading for home. We ended up catching up to the storm that had departed the coast line. Light rain on and off all the way home. We arrived around ....plenty of time to unpack and reflect on our journey.
We could not have experienced this in a hotel, motel or house. The cozy MH and ability to park on a piece of million dollar real estate brought us to a sample of what creation might have been like. A trip we will not soon forget. At $14.00 per night, we will return this winter, rain or shine. I know one thing....had Steven gone with us, he would have thought we were crazy.
Ocean Cove sunset - without the storm on a better day
Over five thousand years ago, Moses said to the children of Israel , "Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the Promised Land."
Nearly 75 years ago, (when Welfare was introduced) Roosevelt said, "Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a Camel, this is the Promised Land."
Today, Obama has stolen your shovel, taxed your asses, raised the price of camels and mortgaged the Promised Land!
I was so depressed last night thinking about Health Care Plans, the economy, the wars, lost jobs, savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc . . . I called a Suicide Hot Line.
I had to press 1 for English. I was connected to a call center in Pakistan . I told them I was suicidal.
They got excited and asked if I could drive a truck......
With many of the possessions of our lives, the expectation of acquiring the object is often more exciting than the product itself.
Whether it's a new camera, dress or home sprinkler system, we dream about the item and how it will enhance our life. But usually, once acquired, the product soon becomes just another possession.
That's not true with an RV, which continues to captivate most owners for years and years. Perhaps it's because an RV is more than a "thing." It's a magic carpet that takes us on grand, memorable adventures. Anyone who has traveled with their small children in an RV and then had to sell the RV years later can come to tears seeing the RV drive away with all its memories. An elderly couple, too old to travel anymore, will likely feel the same.
RVs provide an ongoing source of wonder to those who own them. And unlike most of the miscellany in our lives, the passion an owner feels for an RV rarely dims.
This was written over 30 years ago, long before the Internet..... Sitting is an art that isn't getting passed on. People these days feel as though they have to be doing something. If they're not working, they're jogging, playing tennis or golf, or taking courses to improve their minds and bodies - or they are parked in front of the TV. Sitting in front of a TV isn't sitting - it's watching.
People used to sit a whole lot. You'd walk down the street or drive down the road, and there they'd be, out on the porch, sitting. You could go down to the store and sit on a bench our front in the summer or around the potbellied stove in the winter. There were sitting benches out on the courthouse lawn. At the garage there were straight-backed chairs. There among the oil cans and windshield-wiper blades, you could kick back and sit.
Houses used to have sitting rooms, where the grown-ups would go after Sunday dinner. Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Aunt Ruby would sit and digest the fried chicken and talk about Aunt Ethel's gallstones, and how good the preacher did today. Outside, the children would play, and the afternoon would drift by in a comfortable haze.
That sort of thing looks like doing nothing. A recharging battery doesn't look as if it's doing anything either. Sitting restores your soul. If you want to enjoy a truly full life, don't just do something - sit there.
