Day 115, 116, 117 & 118

September 21, 2017

From Picacho Peak we drive through Tucson then on to Las Cruces NM for a two-night stay at Hacienda RV Resort.  Iris drove about half way today.  We were very pleased with the park.   Tired after a long day drive but it allows us to have two nights to recover.  We re-learning about hot weather.  Hot!

September 22, 2017

Did some Unity cleaning today then in time for lunch we drove to Mesilla and La Posta for lunch at this place we've been going to for many years.

September 23, 2017

From Las Cruces with rain we drove through (by) El Paso, got fuel at Valero, cheap compared to what we’ve been paying.  Stopped at a rest area just east of El Paso and then continued on and shortly the rain stopped and Iris took over the driving chore.  We stopped in Van Horn where we had intended to spend the night but only got fuel then continued on to Ft Stockton RV Park, nice place.  They have a restaurant on site so we had chicken fried steak for our dinner.  Been missing that wonderful basic food.  Makes one feel sorry for all the folks that don’t know about it.  Early to bed as we will try and make it to Fredericksburg tomorrow.

September 24, 2017

Left Ft Stockton early and drove I10 going east through some rugged country

Arrived Fredericksburg and, as it was still early, we got fuel and continued our journey to arrive home in Georgetown by 4:30 PM, one day earlier than expected.  So this is our last entry to this report of our adventure in US National Parks, Canada and Alaska.  It has been a blast.  We’re really glad we did it, but also decided we won’t need to do it again.    Arrived home to find we have wildlife in our yard, not unusual.

Total days 118

Total 12,301 miles for the trip.

Total cost - Don’t ask!

Days 112, 113 & 114

September 18, 2017

Left Cachuma Lake and drove to Indio CA to spend the night.

September 19, 2017

Drove from Indio to Goodman AZ, suburb of Phoenix and only 13 miles from La Mesa RV where we intend to have some service done on the Unity.

September 20, 2017

Arrived at La Mesa Rv  and they were expecting us.  The service manager and service writer listened to our list of items we wanted addressed and they proceeded to get started.  We had expected it to only take a couple of hours but they ran into more than expected so we shopped at a nearby Walmart then had a nice lunch at Red Lobster and returned to the customer waiting room.  Finally at 4 PM we were advised that the Unity was ready so we finally got away in time to get into the rush hour traffic leaving Phoenix heading toward Tucson.  We drove until until about 6:30 to arrive at the Picacho Peak RV Resort.  Had a glass of wine and a hot dog, Iris’ favorite meal, and went to bed.  So far it looks like the repairs and fixes by La Mesa were successful.  Yea!

Arizona desert scenery

Day 111

September 17, 2017

At leisure this morning, breakfast, talked to Robin to get update on her health, then to the laundry at the Cachuma Lake Campground where the sign on the door said “Closed”.  Iris went to investigate, found the door open and two dryers going so we went in, loaded our clothes into washers, swiped the credit card on each machine and proceeded to get clean.  Never did find why the sign was out.  Finished up with that chore and got the grill out and fixed some ribs that we enjoyed with a salad and the bottle of rose we had purchased at Lincourt Winery yesterday.  All good!  Then a nap as the Cowboys game was not shown on the west coast, bummer.  As it turned out probably didn’t want to see it.  Bob cleaned up the grill in order to put it into travel mode as tomorrow starts our return to Georgetown.  Watched a little TV then read before bedtime.

Day 110

September 16, 2017

Even though we missed seeing Robin she had recommendations for our day in the Santa Inez Valley.  So our first stop about noon was Lincourt Winery where we tasted a couple of chardonnay samples and one rose, very like what we used to get in Provence.  Met some other tasters from Santa Barbara and had some interesting conversations with them.

Then a short drive to “The Wine Merchant & Cafe” in Los Olives for a fab lunch.  Bob had a grilled tuna salad and Iris chose a pizza, both very good.  From lunch we walked to a garden center but different as it was not plant sale but sale of every kind of garden ornament, fountain, furniture, wind chime and decoration we have ever seen.  After finding our car we made our way back to the Unity in time for a short nap, happy hour and the Texas-USC football game.  Great game but disappointed that Texas lost in double overtime.  

Day 109

September 15, 2017

Woke this morning with a friend on a post nearby.

Hearst Castle at San Simeon was our destination for a visit today.  We got there just before 9 AM, opening time, to find we were the first RV in the special parking area for RV’s.  A short walk brought us to the window to pick up our tickets, had a coffee and muffin as our breakfast then waited for our special bus to take us up the 5 mile road to the castle where we were offloaded to a big golf cart and our driver, Colleen, whisked us up to the kitchen entrance that is not part of the normal tours.  We spent quite a bit of time there.  

We had booked an accessibly designed tour to avoid the hundreds of steps required on regular tours.  Then we were to meet the regular house tour but the other couple with us asked Colleen if she could lead us on the tour.  She agreed as her only duty was to take care of us so we essentially had a private tour with only the five of us in each of the rooms - a bonus for photos and good for asking questions.   We saw all the rooms just ahead of the big group.  A bit about the house before we describe our tour.  In 1919, newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst hired San Francisco architect Julia Morgan to build a hilltop house on what he called his “ranch at San Simeon”.  Their collaboration on the project lasted from 1919 to 1947.  Morgan designed this Mediterranean Revival estate and filled it with art and antiques from Hearst’s vast collection.  Hearst formally named the estate “La Cuesta Encantada” (The Enchanted Hill).  Today, Hearst Castle is a California State Park for over 50 years now.  The exterior:

The cottages, Casa del Monte (House of the Mountain) was built first, very small at 2400 square feet, used while the big house was being constructed.

Next built was the Casa del Sol (House of the Sun) as a guest house, 8 bedrooms and bathrooms, 5600 square feet.  

Last was Casa del Mar (House of the Sea) with fantastic views toward the Pacific Ocean, larger still and used by Mr. Hearst for many years while the big house was constructed.  

The big house was called Casa Grande and follows the Mediterranean Revival Style of the rest of the estate with the primary focus found in the architecture of Southern Spain.  The design precedent for Casa Grande’s bell towers came from a cathedral in Rhonda Spain and overall the structure has a church-like appearance.  It is made of poured concrete reinforced with steel and is approximately 68,500 square feet containing 115 rooms including the assembly room (living room), 

dining room, 

billiards room,

38 bedrooms, a library, movie theatre, 

kitchen, gardens

and living quarters for the household staff.  There are two tennis courts and both indoor and outdoor swimming pools.

After the tour we watched a 40 minute IMAX movie about Hurst’s life.  We had a very enjoyable time at Hearst Castle and from here we drove to the town of San Simeon for a light lunch then 115 miles to our campground at Cachuma Lake about 18 miles from Santa Barbara.  The lake is very low so we have only a sliver of view out our kitchen window.  The purpose of this stop was to visit Robin but we found her  with several problems including sinus infection so we three decided it would be best to visit by phone not in person.

Day 108

September 14, 2017

We left our lovely resort campground at Greenfield and drove south on US101 to Paso Robles where in 2009 we had bought our Tiffin Allegro Bay motorhome.  This time we did not need or want a new motorhome.  We’re quite happy with the Unity.  Lots and lots of vineyards and wineries both arriving and leaving Paso.  We had a shopping excursion at Albertson’s then had a fab lunch at “Buona Tavola Ristoranti” after finding a good long parking spot on a side street.  The staff was very attentive and the food was wonderful.  Bob tried his Italian on the waitress unsuccessful as she was Russian.  Then our drive from Paso to CA46 and through wine country on to US1 back north almost to San Simeon for our overnight at San Simeon State Park.  No hookups so conserving the batteries by watching the news on TV then reading before early bedtime.

Day 107

September 13, 2017

The drive from our campground at Greenfield to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium on the central cost of CA took about an hour.  Parking close-by two blocks away and we were at the entry.

We enjoyed a coffee and muffin at the cafe before starting our adventure at The Open Sea display with lots of different jelly fish.

Fish

Penguins

Sharks

We had lunch in the restaurant at the aquarium and this was the view out the window where we sat.

Easy drive back, very little traffic and we were back to the Unity.