Friday: (03/07) This morning it was more clear. I climbed on the roof and cleaned the solar panels which were VERY dirty making them much less effective. With no clouds today I hope to get a charge out of the sun today. We have been using a lot of power since there are three of us and usually the two TV’s are going in the evening. We use about 120-130 ampere hours each evening/night. I ran the generator about 40 minutes this morning to knock the top off the batteries and let the solar finish the charge all day. This morning they opened up the other half of the park for camping. next week the reservation system will start up. We were able to extend our stay in our nice space through Saturday night. We went to breakfast at the Country Kitchen Restaurant in Arroyo Grande. Dawn had oatmeal, Lou had a spinach omelet, and I had chicken fried steak. We made a quick stop at Walmart to get a phone card then returned to camp to relax. Lou made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.
Saturday: (03/08) Spring Forward Eve. I think I’m going to miss the hour? Lou and Dawn had how cereal with apple chunks for breakfast and I toasted the leftover biscuits and added honey for my breakfast. I took care of our tank duty and bought some gas for the RV this morning in order to avoid the Sunday morning rush. We had leftovers for lunch, Lou and Dawn had meatball and cheese sandwiches and I had spaghetti with meat ball. About 1430 we finally left camp and I bought a replacement fuse for the small inverter. Dawn had inadvertently plugged the vacuum into it. It’s 600 watts but just for computers since it’s a sine wave inverter. RV World had the fuse. I was surprised since its a Max fuse. I always want to have a spare. We then drove to SLO to visit a couple of remaining unvisited thrift stores. We enjoyed ice cream from Rite-Aide (Thrifty). We (I) then stopped at Disk’s Sporting Goods. We don’t have one anywhere near our home and they are a good store. I fond a nice escape/emergency thermal sleeping bag. Basically a heavy duty foil bag. If my sleeping Quilt doesn’t keep me warm enough this thing will definitely supplement it until I’m too warm. It’s only 8.5 oz so doesn’t add much to my load. Lou and Dawn passed the time at Target while I look at Dick’s. Lou made Chinese chicken and vegetables with noodles for dinner. The weather today was excellent.
Lou insists I add something about our nice environment here. At night the frogs croak their serenades from the ponds and creek next to our campsite. There is an owl that joins in with its own hoots from the Eucalyptus grove across from the creek where earlier, the monarch butterflies had spent the winter. Now we just have a few fluttering about, the ones that thought flying 1500 miles North just wasn’t in their plans. The ocean waves adds to the music of the night. And then, the occasional train passing by just makes Lou’s day. We like trains.
There is a big difference in the park we experience during the week and on the weekends. During the week there a fewer campers and probably mostly retired folks and a few travelers spending just the night. On the weekends, which is basically Friday and Saturday nights, the campground is full. Lots of people come from the central valley with the family for the weekend. Lots of campfires and noisy conversation. Most of the campsites stretch the 8 person limit as do the number of vehicles. I stepped outside for a walk around the campground and, frankly, I would be hesitant to strike a match in the park. The entire campground reeks of lighter fluid. On the weekend the campfires are bigger and evidently most are powered by lighter fluid. Not so during the week for the occasional campfire built with kindling I guess. Amateurs!
Sunday: (03/09) Sprung forward but still the usual clock confusion when we got home. Another wonderful day. I took a walk around the neighborhood near the park as well as around the park. Lou made chorizo scrambled eggs for breakfast. We relaxed around camp, visited the beach for one last time and were on the road. We stopped in Paso Robles to visit a thrift store and walk around downtown. We especially liked our visit to the Studios By The Park artists coop. We watched some silk dying and etching ink stamps. We had a snack of cheese and chips then were on to Greenfield where we stopped again at the San Miguel Market where I enjoyed a chili relleno, Dawn some Flan and Lou a shrimp salad. I dropped Lou and Dawn off with the Jeep in Los Altos. Dawn was gong to a story tellers meeting. i tried to get LPG and gas but the place i usually go was closed for LPG filling at 6pm and i arrived just before 7pm. Darn. Now I’ll have to move the RV next week to fill things. I got my stuff together and drove down to San Jose. i did a little grocery shopping and settled in to the apartment for work tomorrow. We have a chanc of rain tonght and tomorrow but the rest of the week should be good so I might get some paint on the house.
Saturday: (03/08) Spring Forward Eve. I think I’m going to miss the hour? Lou and Dawn had how cereal with apple chunks for breakfast and I toasted the leftover biscuits and added honey for my breakfast. I took care of our tank duty and bought some gas for the RV this morning in order to avoid the Sunday morning rush. We had leftovers for lunch, Lou and Dawn had meatball and cheese sandwiches and I had spaghetti with meat ball. About 1430 we finally left camp and I bought a replacement fuse for the small inverter. Dawn had inadvertently plugged the vacuum into it. It’s 600 watts but just for computers since it’s a sine wave inverter. RV World had the fuse. I was surprised since its a Max fuse. I always want to have a spare. We then drove to SLO to visit a couple of remaining unvisited thrift stores. We enjoyed ice cream from Rite-Aide (Thrifty). We (I) then stopped at Disk’s Sporting Goods. We don’t have one anywhere near our home and they are a good store. I fond a nice escape/emergency thermal sleeping bag. Basically a heavy duty foil bag. If my sleeping Quilt doesn’t keep me warm enough this thing will definitely supplement it until I’m too warm. It’s only 8.5 oz so doesn’t add much to my load. Lou and Dawn passed the time at Target while I look at Dick’s. Lou made Chinese chicken and vegetables with noodles for dinner. The weather today was excellent.
Lou insists I add something about our nice environment here. At night the frogs croak their serenades from the ponds and creek next to our campsite. There is an owl that joins in with its own hoots from the Eucalyptus grove across from the creek where earlier, the monarch butterflies had spent the winter. Now we just have a few fluttering about, the ones that thought flying 1500 miles North just wasn’t in their plans. The ocean waves adds to the music of the night. And then, the occasional train passing by just makes Lou’s day. We like trains.
There is a big difference in the park we experience during the week and on the weekends. During the week there a fewer campers and probably mostly retired folks and a few travelers spending just the night. On the weekends, which is basically Friday and Saturday nights, the campground is full. Lots of people come from the central valley with the family for the weekend. Lots of campfires and noisy conversation. Most of the campsites stretch the 8 person limit as do the number of vehicles. I stepped outside for a walk around the campground and, frankly, I would be hesitant to strike a match in the park. The entire campground reeks of lighter fluid. On the weekend the campfires are bigger and evidently most are powered by lighter fluid. Not so during the week for the occasional campfire built with kindling I guess. Amateurs!
Sunday: (03/09) Sprung forward but still the usual clock confusion when we got home. Another wonderful day. I took a walk around the neighborhood near the park as well as around the park. Lou made chorizo scrambled eggs for breakfast. We relaxed around camp, visited the beach for one last time and were on the road. We stopped in Paso Robles to visit a thrift store and walk around downtown. We especially liked our visit to the Studios By The Park artists coop. We watched some silk dying and etching ink stamps. We had a snack of cheese and chips then were on to Greenfield where we stopped again at the San Miguel Market where I enjoyed a chili relleno, Dawn some Flan and Lou a shrimp salad. I dropped Lou and Dawn off with the Jeep in Los Altos. Dawn was gong to a story tellers meeting. i tried to get LPG and gas but the place i usually go was closed for LPG filling at 6pm and i arrived just before 7pm. Darn. Now I’ll have to move the RV next week to fill things. I got my stuff together and drove down to San Jose. i did a little grocery shopping and settled in to the apartment for work tomorrow. We have a chanc of rain tonght and tomorrow but the rest of the week should be good so I might get some paint on the house.
No comments:
Post a Comment