Bishop Peak Hike (SLO)

Wednesday: (03/05) Leftovers from LUU Noodle House for breakfast. Another nice morning. We drove down to San Luis Obispo (SLO) for the day.

Bishop Peak Hike. The hike was 4.3 miles with an elevation change of 1207 feet.


I was dropped off for a hike up to Bishop Peak. It’s an SLO city park/Open Space that begins at the edge of a residential area West of town. You can see the peak ahead on the trail near the start of the hike in the right picture above.


Some of the trail is through a nice forested area, the rest is rather exposed. On the right above is a view toward downtown SLO.


Another view toward SLO on the left above. On the right above is a steep downward view sowing some of the trail leading up the hill.


Above left is some proof I actually made it to the top, or at least one of the tops. There are several rock piles at the top the one I’m pictured in is the easier. The one on the right is the highest pile and is more difficult to get to. There is a log book there.


Above left is a view of the first pile I scaled where I had my picture taken. Above right is a view toward the coast from the peak. There were several buzzards and a couple of hawks flying all over near the top and below where I was at on the peak.

Lou and Dawn were busy checking out a couple of thrift stores. They both got tired, Lou due to her bad leg and Dawn due to a cold. When I had walked back downtown (2.9 miles from the end of the hike and another 562 down hill), I called them and they were back in Pismo Beach and had to return to pick me up.

We had chocolate dipped strawberries for lunch. Some relaxing in the afternoon. For dinner Lou made roast beef with corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and broccoli slaw.

Pismo Beach, North CG

Monday: (03/03) We did our final preparation to leave. Frankly, one should never take such a long break in moving the RV. Habits are lost. When I left the house with Dawn in the RV, I drove off without the step and door mat so I had to return to get them. For some reason, the clock started falling out of the bulkhead above the dash. Lou had an appointment at noon after which we hooked up in Santa Clara and hit the road South at about 3pm. It was raining. Sauerkraut potatoes with pork and eggs for breakfast. Coconut bars for lunch. Dinner in Greenfield at a the Rancho San Miguel Market. Excellent chili relleno plate for me and super nachos for Lou and Dawn. I also enjoyed a piece of cheese cake that was one of the best I’ve had in quite a while and it was only $2. Prices are great and the food outstanding. This is one of our new must stops since we discovered it last year. We settled into the Pismo Beach North Campground a little before 8pm. Even though we arrived so late we got a good outside spot, the last. Lots of the sites are or have been flooded in the last storm. (GPS: 35.13052, -120.63602)

Tuesday: (03/04) Leftover sauerkraut potatoes with pork and eggs. A nice morning, 68 degrees at 0800.


Lou and I took a walk on the beach from the park to the pier, quite a ways for Lou. I returned with the car to bring her home. We then went to the market, a thrift store, a hardware store and an RV parts store. I need to look at some things and then can get a few parts need for the motorhome. Nice to find a well stocked RV parts store like RV World.  We then picked up Dawn and went to lunch at Pismo Fish And Chips. We relaxed at camp the rest of the afternoon.


Lou and Dawn walked the park while I napped and I took a walk around camp and to the beach at sunset. Lou made asparagus soup for dinner. In the evening we watched the Joy Luck Club movie.

Another Rainy Week

Monday: (02/24) I didn’t head down to San Jose last night. Still here in Palo Alto. Lou and Dawn were off early to appointments. I repaired the leaky kitchen faucet. Fortunately it was only loose. I borrowed an Allen wrench and a crescent wrench from Ernie and it was all better and I was on my way by 1000. I stopped at Harbor Fright Tools for some ear plugs. I’ll need them for my hike and if I do some concrete sawing this week. It seems counter productive to be out in nature and turn off your ears but it evidently is needed to get some sleep. I then stopped at Jack In The Box for breakfast. I was settled in San Jose by 1130. I then didn’t get right to work but spent some time online locating and ordering some parts for Ernie’s trailer. My work for the day, since we expect rain and it ws late was to do some stripping by the breakfast nook. I didn’t feel like getting really dusty for just a short period of time. Dusty tomorrow is OK. Looks like we will have a really good rain Wednesday and some Thursday so may not be too much work this week. For dinner I prepared another trail meal test. Dried black bean soup with spam. Very good.

Tuesday: (02/25) Pancakes and sausage for breakfast. I started sanding the house at the peak of the porch. I haven’t done sanding in a couple of months now. It wouldn’t seem to be much but it took a while to set up. Vacuum, hoses extension cords sander, sandpaper. Everything in place and away I went. I stopped for a break which turned in to lunch. I had a license plate bridge toll invoice for going across the Golden Gate bridge last month. They mailed an invoice, I went online to their website and paid it, got a confirmation but there was never a charge to the CC. So I checked and it was still open. I tried to call them yesterday and today and the machine says ” do to a high volume of calls we cant talk to you call back some other time. That obviously wasn’t the real reason which is likely that their phone system works a well as the invoice and payment system. I finally gave up and just processed another payment to them online and got another confirmation. This time I also got the charge confirmation from the bank. So, maybe now, I wont be hauled off to jail. I grilled a pork chop and had some carrots for lunch. After lunch I finished sanding the upper area then caulked it. Then I moved my scaffolds but didn’t do any more work up front because I didn’t want to spend the clean up time for another short work period. I spent the rest of the work day stripping paint by the breakfast nook. I finished up about 1750. For dinner I prepared another trail meal. Some dehydrated potatoes, mixed vegetables, peppers, corn and cheese. Everything rehydrated for 10 minutes with very hot water. Quite good.

 Wednesday: (02/26) I enjoyed some pecan granola for breakfast. it was dry outside so I planned on doing some work before the likely rain. Plans change. About 0758 it started to rain. O-boy! No work today! Lou and Dawn will be coming by for appointments, as usual for a Wednesday. So now I’ll tinker until I go to lunch with Lou. The weather forecast as of now says 70-100% chance of rain for the next three days. There are no good holes in the forecast now. There was a hole for Thursday when I checked yesterday and last week there was a hole on Friday. Right now my planned group hike up the mountains to Alice’s Restaurant for lunch on Friday doesn’t look promising. Even so, there are now 32 hikers signed up so I’m not the only optimist. Today I’ll probably do a little shoe shopping. One thing I’ve been hearing and my Mt Diablo hike proved is that I need hiking shoes about 1-1.5 sizes bigger than my normal size. Also, almost all PCT hikers wear trail runner shoes rather than hiking boots. I like my boots. I like the extra ankle support. But they are much heavier than what amount to tennis shoes with good soles. So, i’m going to try a pair of trail runners. I’ve been reading PCT hiker blogs and several mention that they or the people they observe start out with boots or other shoes and end up in trail runners to solve their foot problems. The most recommended is Brooks Cascadia so that’s what I’ll try. Why reinvent the wheel, so to speak.


Thursday: (02/27) The ground was wet but the skies were clear as I walked to get my breakfast burrito at La Victoria. Due  to the rain there was no construction on the building I’ve been watching them build. After breakfast the clouds started returning and in the afternoon it rained some. I was working under the porch stripping the porch ceiling. Its about half done now. Lunch was a couple of ham and cheese wraps. I packed up in the evening and returned North. I stopped at the Los Altos Taqueria for dinner, a chili verde plate. After dinner i stopped in at the Mountain View REI store for a presentation of Backpacking Basics. rather interesting but, even though I haven’t back packed yet, i could have done just as good a presentation. It was free.

Due to the heavy rain we’ve had and the fact that tomorrow is forecast to be the same as Wednesday when we had so much rain, I tried to cancel my hike for tomorrow. Of course nothing went right. The Meetup.com website was down. Went out about 0730 and is still down du to a denial of service attack. So I couldn’t cancel it online. I received an email from the site though so something must be working. So I checked the Meetup app on my phone and it was working. I was able to cancel the hike via the app. i figured it would email everyone that was signed up. My co-host said he and his wife received the email but I never received one so I’m not sure everyone did get the email. So tomorrow I’ll go to the site and meet anyone who didn’t get the word. If, by chance, the weather is good, we may do a hike. I did reschedule the hike for next Friday.

Friday: (02/28) Lou fixed bacon, eggs and potatoes for breakfast. I had to cancel my hike this morning but due to problems on the Meetup.com website some hikers may not have been informed so I went out to the trailhead. None showed up so they must have gotten the word or maybe they just didn’t feel like hiking in the rain. I then did some shopping at Redwood Supply an REI picking up a few thinks for my hike. I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. I then spent my time tinkering with my hiking stuff. Lou and Dawn were busy all day with appointments. We had pizza for dinner. We have decided to head out and will visit Pismo Beach for a few days starting Monday.

Saturday: (03/01) We started our day with the usual grocery shopping trip. I had leftover pizza for breakfast. Lou and Dawn had yogurt. In anticipation of dinner, I started a pork roast with sauerkraut and potatoes in the slow cooker. Lou and Dawn went to some rummage sales.


I helped Ernie replace the shower faucet in his trailer and setup his trailer to use hot water from our tank.



After that we washed his trailer. Lou was busy planting more strawberry plants. Dinner was very good.

Sunday: (03/02) We were busy preparing to leave most of the day. Lots to be done. Chorizo scrambled eggs for breakfast. Lou’s homemade chicken soup four lunch. Dawn seemed to be coming down with a cold so Lou made soup. Dinner at LUU Noodle House.

Another Rainy Week

Monday: (02/24) I didn’t head down to San Jose last night. Still here in Palo Alto. Lou and Dawn were off early to appointments. I repaired the leaky kitchen faucet. Fortunately it was only loose. I borrowed an Allen wrench and a crescent wrench from Ernie and it was all better and I was on my way by 1000. I stopped at Harbor Fright Tools for some ear plugs. I’ll need them for my hike and if I do some concrete sawing this week. It seems counter productive to be out in nature and turn off your ears but it evidently is needed to get some sleep. I then stopped at Jack In The Box for breakfast. I was settled in San Jose by 1130. I then didn’t get right to work but spent some time online locating and ordering some parts for Ernie’s trailer. My work for the day, since we expect rain and it ws late was to do some stripping by the breakfast nook. I didn’t feel like getting really dusty for just a short period of time. Dusty tomorrow is OK. Looks like we will have a really good rain Wednesday and some Thursday so may not be too much work this week. For dinner I prepared another trail meal test. Dried black bean soup with spam. Very good.

Tuesday: (02/25) Pancakes and sausage for breakfast. I started sanding the house at the peak of the porch. I haven’t done sanding in a couple of months now. It wouldn’t seem to be much but it took a while to set up. Vacuum, hoses extension cords sander, sandpaper. Everything in place and away I went. I stopped for a break which turned in to lunch. I had a license plate bridge toll invoice for going across the Golden Gate bridge last month. They mailed an invoice, I went online to their website and paid it, got a confirmation but there was never a charge to the CC. So I checked and it was still open. I tried to call them yesterday and today and the machine says ” do to a high volume of calls we cant talk to you call back some other time. That obviously wasn’t the real reason which is likely that their phone system works a well as the invoice and payment system. I finally gave up and just processed another payment to them online and got another confirmation. This time I also got the charge confirmation from the bank. So, maybe now, I wont be hauled off to jail. I grilled a pork chop and had some carrots for lunch. After lunch I finished sanding the upper area then caulked it. Then I moved my scaffolds but didn’t do any more work up front because I didn’t want to spend the clean up time for another short work period. I spent the rest of the work day stripping paint by the breakfast nook. I finished up about 1750. For dinner I prepared another trail meal. Some dehydrated potatoes, mixed vegetables, peppers, corn and cheese. Everything rehydrated for 10 minutes with very hot water. Quite good.

 Wednesday: (02/26) I enjoyed some pecan granola for breakfast. it was dry outside so I planned on doing some work before the likely rain. Plans change. About 0758 it started to rain. O-boy! No work today! Lou and Dawn will be coming by for appointments, as usual for a Wednesday. So now I’ll tinker until I go to lunch with Lou. The weather forecast as of now says 70-100% chance of rain for the next three days. There are no good holes in the forecast now. There was a hole for Thursday when I checked yesterday and last week there was a hole on Friday. Right now my planned group hike up the mountains to Alice’s Restaurant for lunch on Friday doesn’t look promising. Even so, there are now 32 hikers signed up so I’m not the only optimist. Today I’ll probably do a little shoe shopping. One thing I’ve been hearing and my Mt Diablo hike proved is that I need hiking shoes about 1-1.5 sizes bigger than my normal size. Also, almost all PCT hikers wear trail runner shoes rather than hiking boots. I like my boots. I like the extra ankle support. But they are much heavier than what amount to tennis shoes with good soles. So, i’m going to try a pair of trail runners. I’ve been reading PCT hiker blogs and several mention that they or the people they observe start out with boots or other shoes and end up in trail runners to solve their foot problems. The most recommended is Brooks Cascadia so that’s what I’ll try. Why reinvent the wheel, so to speak.


Thursday: (02/27) The ground was wet but the skies were clear as I walked to get my breakfast burrito at La Victoria. Due  to the rain there was no construction on the building I’ve been watching them build. After breakfast the clouds started returning and in the afternoon it rained some. I was working under the porch stripping the porch ceiling. Its about half done now. Lunch was a couple of ham and cheese wraps. I packed up in the evening and returned North. I stopped at the Los Altos Taqueria for dinner, a chili verde plate. After dinner i stopped in at the Mountain View REI store for a presentation of Backpacking Basics. rather interesting but, even though I haven’t back packed yet, I could have done just as good a presentation. It was free.

Due to the heavy rain we’ve had and the fact that tomorrow is forecast to be the same as Wednesday when we had so much rain, I tried to cancel my hike for tomorrow. Of course nothing went right. The Meetup.com website was down. Went out about 0730 and is still down du to a denial of service attack. So I couldn’t cancel it online. I received an email from the site though so something must be working. So I checked the Meetup app on my phone and it was working. I was able to cancel the hike via the app. i figured it would email everyone that was signed up. My co-host said he and his wife received the email but I never received one so I’m not sure everyone did get the email. So tomorrow I’ll go to the site and meet anyone who didn’t get the word. If, by chance, the weather is good, we may do a hike. I did reschedule the hike for next Friday.

Friday: (02/28) Lou fixed bacon, eggs and potatoes for breakfast. I had to cancel my hike this morning but due to problems on the Meetup.com website some hikers may not have been informed so I went out to the trailhead. None showed up so they must have gotten the word or maybe they just didn’t feel like hiking in the rain. I then did some shopping at Redwood Supply an REI picking up a few thinks for my hike. I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. I then spent my time tinkering with my hiking stuff. Lou and Dawn were busy all day with appointments. We had pizza for dinner. We have decided to head out and will visit Pismo Beach for a few days starting Monday.

Saturday: (03/01) We started our day with the usual grocery shopping trip. I had leftover pizza for breakfast. Lou and Dawn had yogurt. In anticipation of dinner, I started a pork roast with sauerkraut and potatoes in the slow cooker. Lou and Dawn went to some rummage sales.


I helped Ernie replace the shower faucet in his trailer and setup his trailer to use hot water from our tank.



After that we washed his trailer. Lou was busy planting more strawberry plants. Dinner was very good.

Sunday: (03/02) We were busy preparing to leave most of the day. Lots to be done. Chorizo scrambled eggs for breakfast. Lou’s homemade chicken soup four lunch. Dawn seemed to be coming down with a cold so Lou made soup. Dinner at LUU Noodle House.

Mt. Diablo

Saturday: (02/22) Lou and I headed off to do our weekly grocery shopping. When we visited Walmart I get a McGriddle sandwich and Lou and Dawn had coffee. Lou made waffles with black berries for breakfast. Our kitchen sink faucet hot water valve won’t shut off. I was supposed to repair it as well as Ernie’s shower faucet.

But I decided to go to a BBQ with a bunch of through hikers up in Benicia. It started at 1300. It was interesting learning form all their experience. I hurried away bringing just my day hiking pack for a hike tomorrow with the group. I should have brought a sleeping bag as many of the attendees were spending the night at the host’s house. I stayed at a nearby motel myself.
Sunday: (02/23) I had breakfast at Jack In The Box then went out to the Mt. Diablo trailhead at Regency Ave. About 16 or 17 hikers started the hike at 0900.


We hiked up to Olympia Peak then to Mt Diablo Peak. The hike was 12.7 miles. It had an elevation change: 3,369 feet with a total climb of climb 5,322 feet.


The first peak was Mt Olympia. I was the last there and people actually waited for me? Our group photo.


The view of the South bay from the top of Mt Diablo, foggy haze in the distance. The mountains I usually hike in are just beyond the fog. There is a “Castle” at the top of Mt Diablo with a beacon and an observatory. The view was pretty good but I’ll have to return on a really clear day to see the entire state from there.


We had lunch at the top. All these hikers were fit through (long distance) hikers so guess who was the slowest.


I was the last to the top and the last to get back to the bottom. Our host, Scott (trail name Schroomer) told me when I made it to the top that there is nothing on the Pacific Crest Trail that is as bad as the hike up Mt Diablo. That’s encouraging. When I got back to the bottom at 1610 he again encouraged me and said I should have no problems on the hike. I said I thought so too but I’d be days late. He said, so that’s your trail name.  Good enough, My trail name will be “Days Late.”

I called Lou and said I was on the way home and she prepared corned beef hash and eggs for dinner. Dawn followed that with chocolate ice cream on berries.

Razerback Ridge Hike

Friday: (02/21) Granola for breakfast. Today was Friday hike day. I led my group on a hike up the Razerback Ridge Trail along the Bay Area Ridge trail and hack on the Hamm’s Gulch Trail. 14 hikers joined me on a perfect weather day. Nice views of the bay. We had lunch at the top of the mountain. Leftover lentil soup for dinner.


A bridge along the Eagle Trail near the start of the hike.


A couple of nice views along the trail.


These flowers were all along the trail. I’ve never seen them before.


Having lunch at the top by Skyline Road and our group photo.

My How Time Is Flying

Saturday: (02/15) We made a quick run to Sprout’s Market for a few things. Normally this is our chopping day but today we abbreviated it. Lou and Dawn went out to a rummage sale after breakfast with our neighbor Meili. I tinkered with my new hiking toys. Grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. Soup for dinner.

In the evening we all went to a Bluegrass concert in Mountain View and saw the Dry Branch Fire Squad. Another great Redwood Bluegrass Associates concert. Excellent music and humor. Having watched Ron Thomason singing, plucking and providing simple humor in the show you could see he was someone with clear thinking, possibly like Will Rogers. I went to their website and found a link to Ron’s Rants. I was blown away by his thinking. His thinking certainly puts my my thought process to shame. I’ve only read the first entry, so far, but will have to take the time, which will be considerable, to read the rest. he sounds like a hick in his show but clearly isn’t.

Sunday: (02/16) Lou and I started the day with a shopping run to Walmart and Trader Joe’s. Yesterday we didn’t do all our shopping stops. We went to breakfast with Ernie and Courtney at A Good Morning Restaurant. My bacon avocado omelet was excellent. After breakfast, Ernie and I went up to Redwood City looking for parts for his trailer. Not much luck finding what we needed. Probably need to go online. We also stopped by REI for me to look around before returning home. I spent the afternoon weighing stuff for my backpack. The base pack is now at over 16 pounds so I want to get rid of three more pounds but I still have some things to add. Dawn made some lentil chili for dinner. In the evening I returned to San Jose.


Monday: (02/17) A breakfast burrito from La Victoria to start. I erected my scaffolds into a tower and stripped the paint from the peak of the porch. Ramen noodles with freeze dried vegetables and chicken for lunch. The freeze dried stuff is some samples I got to try out for the hiking trip. Leale’s RV called and said my replacement windshield wiper arm was in so I arranged to have it installed tomorrow. For dinner I had a pork chop with baked beans and fried potatoes. I relaxed as traffic died down watching more Veronica Mars. About 1930 I drove back up to Palo Alto.


Tuesday: (02/18) I got up early and cleaned out and readied the RV to roll. I was on the way to San Jose about 0830. There was a lot to organize, a product of sitting still so long. I went to Leale’s RV epair in San jose and got the new windshield wiper arm installed. The new arm was a little different and it took a while to locate so I didn’t mind paying them to install it. The replacement arm was even cheaper than I had found it online and i just wasn’t sure what I had found was actually the right one. I was on my way back to Palo Alto by 1000 with the new arm, both blades replaced and the arms adjusted. Now, if only the vandals will stay away! I picked up breakfast at Jack In The Box on the way home. I left the Jeep there and caught a bus to San Jose. Courtney needs the jeep tomorrow. I got off the bus at the Grocery Outlet and picked up a couple of things before walking to the apartment.


I finished stripping the high peak of the porch. Really not much was done. I could have done some more work on the porch roof but convinced myself that I was through for the day, at 1500. Could have been my sore back, could have been that at that fairly late time of day I would have spent as much time on cleaning up as on working which just didn’t seem right. An afternoon off!

Wednesday: (02/19) I stripped the right column and ceiling area. Pancakes for breakfast. Wiener and cheese wraps for lunch. Rice roast beef and corn for dinner.

Thursday: (02/20) A breakfast burrito from La Victoria Restaurant. Busy stripping the left column and nearby ceiling area. PBJ tortilla for lunch. Chinese for dinner.