When we left on January 1, 2022, our hashtag #drivetillthebuttermelts seemed more of a dream than a possibility. Snow had been hammering Vancouver Island, temperatures were too cold to put water in the trailer, but we took off with high hopes.
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| WTH? Snow in December on Vancouver Island?? |
We stopped off in Bothell for a couple of days for a late Christmas celebration with Brad, Anette and Magnus. It was fun to have Magnus spend the night with us in the trailer.
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| Snug as a bug in a rug! |
Prepared with chains and winter gear, we headed south on January 3rd, and our first night was spent in Medford, Oregon. We joined Harvest Hosts which is a really neat way to travel with an RV. Wineries, breweries, museums, farms, restaurants, etc allow members to stay in their parking lot overnight. The only request is that campers purchase something from their business. Since we love doing tastings, this was an easy ask! We pulled into Edenvale Winery and were greeted with a tour and glasses of hot mulled wine. Once settled, we returned to the tasting room and enjoyed their wines and a delicious charcuterie board.
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| The mansion in the background is where the tasting room is located, and is over 100 years old. |
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| You can see our truck and trailer through the window |
Once we got over the two mountain passes (without needing the chains), the skies turned blue, and temperatures warmed up enough that we could use water again in the trailer. Oh, the simple things that make me happy!
We arrived in Chula Vista, just south of San Diego on January 6th and checked into
Sun Outdoors for the next 6 weeks. The RV resort was just that - a beautiful resort complete with a pool, exercise room, bar, activities, etc.
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Each site had a firepit, and we were right across from
the lovely cottages that are also a part of the resort. |
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| Most mornings, I headed to the pool for aquasize and Roger worked out at the gym. |
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| The sunsets were spectacular in San Diego |
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| The cottages were lovely |
Roger's brother, Jack, his wife Siu, and son Chris live in San Diego so at least once a week we got together for sightseeing or to experience some of the great restaurants. Siu also treated us to an amazing homemade Tongan feast at their home!
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| A tour of the USS Midway was a great way to spend a few hours |
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| Roger is wondering how he ended up being "Goose", and I was "Maverick"! |
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| A statue by the Midway depicting the iconic picture taken in New York's Times Square in 1945. |
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| Cabrillo Monument was a fantastic place to see the city, harbour, ships going through the cut and Mexico in the distance. You can easily see the lights of Tijuana at night. |
Our nephew, Chris, organized a fantastic fishing trip that included beautiful weather, pretty calm waters, and enough fish caught to make tacos for dinner!
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| The charter company, Seaforth, had an excellent boat, and an even better crew |
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| We caught mainly Sculpin, but they were delicious! |
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The crew was great - by the time we got back to the harbour,
everyone's fish had been filleted and ready to cook! |
Brad and Anette gave us passes to
Balboa Park which is a 1200 acre park with numerous museums, gardens and an Amphitheatre. We went a couple of times, and really enjoyed it.
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With an ode to Brad who used to own a Delorean, Roger got behind the wheel.
We remembered our wonderful camp worker, Obert, who helped us when we lived in the Kalahari. When we told him that Brad had a Delorean, he earnestly replied, "Can it fly?" |
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| The Air and Space Museum was our favourite. As you can see, the airport was close by! |
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| Getting in the capsule was one thing -- getting out was much harder! |
One of our favourite places to hang out was Coronado Beach and its famous resort.
Good friends of ours, Rob and Laurie Vanderlee spend the winters near El Centro, California, and we were thrilled to have spent time with them. One day we met in Julian, California which is known for their amazing apple pies. The hype was well founded. We also drove out to their RV Resort and really had fun meeting their friends, and learning how to play pickle ball!
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| When Rob and Laurie visited us, we took them to Coronado Beach and they enjoyed it too. |
Good friends, John and Laurel MacPhail spend the winter in Indio, and stayed in the cottages at our resort for a couple of days. We had lots of fun as usual, and they even gave us a pickle ball lesson.
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We had a great lunch in Oceanside with Cheri and Roger Wolbeck.
Cheri is the sister of our good friend Stu Shaw, and although we had only met Cheri once, the four of us chatted like we had known each other for years! |
Roger and I always seemed to have something to do, or places to go. We kept a list of everything we wanted to do in California, and it was fun crossing things off.
Little Italy was one of our favourite districts. It had a great energy to it as we walked around, and we found a fabulous place for lunch, then went to an Italian coffee shop for cappucinos. One evening we returned and had dinner at
Ballast Brewery with Jack, Siu and Chris.
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| A seafood feast and cool cocktails - a lunch to remember at Ironside. |
Wine tasting in Temecula was highly recommended, and again, it was well worth the trip! The town is charming, we had a great lunch, then went to
Bailey Winery and Vineyard.
We went to Carlsbad one evening for dinner to meet friends, Linda and Dallas Miller who live in Yorba Linda, California. We hadn't seen each other in years, but we had a great time and made plans to visit them in their home the following week, when Linda's aunt and uncle (who we also know and love) were going to be there.
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| At a beautiful look out just before the sun set in Carlsbad |
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| Carlsbad sunsets never disappoints |
The following Friday we headed north to see the Millers and Campbells, but stopped in the
Mission of San Juan Capistrano. The mission, that dates back more than 200 years was a beautiful place to explore.
We had a wonderful visit and ate delicious pizza that Dallas made in a pizza oven that he designed and built himself.
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| Left to right: Roger, Linda, Peggy, Bob, Austin, Dallas and Trista |
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| Dallas has always been super creative, but this pizza oven was over the top! |
Super Bowl Sunday in the U.S. is a big deal, so we went down to the pool and joined the fun.
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| Magnus loves football, so we FaceTimed with the family while they were watching the game. |
On February 18th we started heading north. We headed to Paso Robles, a stunning wine region that we think can give Napa a run for its money. The first night we stayed at
Tobin James winery through Harvest Host, and had a tasting there. The wines were excellent and the vibe was fun.
The second night we went to
Vines on the Marycrest, which was such a great experience. We were the only trailer there, the owners were super interesting to talk to, I loved their wines, and we walked to the top of the vineyard and got the most amazing view of the area at sunset.
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| You can see our trailer in the middle of the parking lot. The view from the top was simply stunning. |
We moved to an RV park for 3 more days and drove around the countryside. One day we went to Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo.
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| On the beach at Morro Bay |
On the road again, we stayed at
Chico Rice Farm (through Harvest Host) in Willows, California. While we didn't meet the owner, the location was beautiful and we were treated to another incredible sunset. We purchased bags of organic rice in their self serve kiosk, and would stay there again in a heartbeat.
Here was our Things to Do list --- so fun!
We kept heading up I-5 to Grants Pass, Oregon and stayed at
Climate City Brewery, again, through Harvest Host. We first visited a glass blowing store, moved on to a new distillery, and then had dinner and beers at the brewery. We talked to interesting people who we never would have had the opportunity to meet had we stayed in a typical RV park. It's a win-win for business owners that attract new customers, and campers that experience interesting and tasty places to eat and drink!
We finally made it to Bothell again, to where we really started our winter getaway. We spent a wonderful two days with the family and got a chance to have Magnus for some fun 1:1 time.
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| Roger and Magnus LOVE eating shelled peanuts by the fire |
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| When it is raining, but Magnus wanted to mini-golf --- we go golfing! Had so much fun, and he has played at this course enough that he gave us tips how to play each hole! |
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| Magnus is only 8 but he is definitely gaining on me! |
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Magnus loves giving "hug attacks".
I can still feel how wonderful it felt to hold our kind, funny and smart grandson. |
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| Sixty days after leaving the Island, we returned home. The snow was just a bad memory, and the crocuses and daffodils were out in full bloom. |
It was a great winter - our first as snowbirds. We saw lots of cool things, lived in a small space 24/7 and still came out as friends, and we have plans to do it all again next year. The itinerary will get a few tweaks and hopefully some friends will join us. And the butter melted.
"Traveling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller."
Ibn Battuta, Explorer
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