Goodbye 2020!

Placerville, CA

Elks Lodge

We are back to Placerville (a 20 minute drive) at the Elks Lodge as we have to be one week out before we can get back in to a Thousand Trails Park (with the zone pass we have).

Lake Tahoe

The weather was fantastic and dry after some snowfall so we took a drive up to Tahoe to do some hiking and check on one of our geocaches.  We started out with a favorite breakfast of Linguica and Eggs.  We can always find this Portuguese sausage when we're back home.

On the way up the hill there was still some fall color left to see.

We climb from 2000 feet in Placerville up to 8000 feet.  The Aspen have long lost their leaves and the sun was warm and bright.

We couldn't take the truck back on this dirt road as the snow was thick and had icy spots.  We watched plenty of other trucks driving back to cut down Christmas trees and they were sliding all around, even in 4 wheel drive.  I'm glad we hiked back.

   

I love how the Aspen look in black and white.

I love these huge trees!

Ice on the Carson River near Rts. 88/89.

We drove through Placerville to see the Christmas Trees that line Hwy 50 and see the decorations along Main St.  Due to Covid the horse and buggy rides were cancelled.  They still had the Hangtown crew though.

We finally got to see our son Brennan & Alex's new house.  It's really cute and has plenty of bedrooms for babies (ha, ha!!)

Really nice home.  Congrats!

Back at the Elks we watched as a tree crew was out to remove part of a large dead oak.  They insisted we didn't need to move our rigs.  I sat out front with my coffee and watched them as they carefully and perfectly dropped the dead branches.

These are the large chunks of the branches they took down and the rest of the tree.

Look how close it was to this vintage trailer.

Coloma, CA

Thousand Trails Resort

Back for our last 2 weeks and we have a real nice spot.  It's the last one next to the premier riverfront sites that cost extra.  We had a nice view out the windows of the river.

We had some really nosey neighbors though  :-)

Twins.  Did they chew out the window?  A little Duct Tape and it's all good!

We had cold but sunny days and morning fog that hung over the hills.

Some die-hards out paddling.

The Family Christmas card with Diana, Jaxon & Ryan.

My Dad and Mom

A favorite Italian Christmas treat is Panettone.  It's a sweet bread that is delicious toasted with butter.  A great way to start the day with some bacon.

Our RV friends Ron & Rene of R and R were in town so we met up for a hike at Folsom Lake.

Wow, the lake level is very, very low.  There are remnants of old roads, buildings and a bridge that are visible if it goes low enough.  Last time it happened was in 2014.

Hurley and Rufus loved running around and exploring.

What a pretty little waterfall we discovered back in the cove.

Those are the boat slips in the marina.  They are sitting on dry ground!  Just a small creek running through what is usually a large cove.

Low water didn't stop this guy fishing from his kayak.  He wasn't catching anything but it sure was a great sunny day to be out.

We came upon this painted rock hiding in some grass.

Someone took a lot of time to design this little homestead out of driftwood.

With our hike all finished we enjoyed some homemade cookies that Rene brought.  Delicious!

We have had a great time back home.  Busy as usual.  We only have our eye appointments, Christmas dinner with my parents then we leave for Arizona with a visit to see our grandson on the way.

Well my eye check went fine the next day but I was beginning to wonder what was taking Steve so long.  I was just about to check on him when he walked out to the truck.  He didn't have good news.  Steve failed his eye test so the doctor did more checking and thought he had a detached retina.  Not good.  This was December 23rd.  He set Steve up with an emergency appointment since the holiday was coming and he is aware of our travels.  He had surgery on December 24th.  No Christmas with my folks.  Instead we spent the  night in a hotel as he wasn't allowed to go above 500ft elevation.  This caused lots of chaos with dog sitting, asking to stay a couple days longer at our current park, finding a new place etc. Once he was settled in I drove up and down, back and forth from Sacramento to the trailer and back.  My Mom sent me with a cooler filled with Christmas Lasagna, garlic bread, etc.  That was nice too! Since it was going to be days, maybe weeks until he could go above 500 feet, we decided I'd move the trailer myself and drive it down to an Elks Lodge closer to Sacramento.  Thankfully our friend, Rick, came down for moral support and to help me out.  So nice as it was 1 1/2 hours round trip, in the rain, on Christmas!  Thankful to have great friends and family!

Rancho Cordova, CA

Elks Lodge

So this is where we spent the next 2 weeks.  It's in the industrial area with a salvage yard directly behind us.  

What a lovely view.  We really didn't care.  We were thankful to have somewhere to stay while Steve recouped and we had more doctor appointments.  His recovery went smooth but took longer than we hoped so we had to push back our Arizona plans.  Two more weeks here.

We spent New Years having Lentils with Sausage (for good luck!). 

We had a little party then called it a night!

I sure hope 2021 is going to be a smoother year!!

Looking forward to seeing this cutie as soon as Steve is released.

Covid November in California

Lancaster, CA

Elks Lodge

On our way to the coast we stopped in to the Elks Lodge for an overnighter.  They have quite a bit of RV parking. 30/W/Dump for $20.

                           

Santa Barbara, CA

Elks Lodge

We  Made another short move to Santa Barbara for another overnighter at another Elks Lodge.  We've been here before.  Nice Elks, 30/W/Dump, $25. This visit is on our route and I wanted to see my good friend from NY, Rita, that just moved here to help take care of her first grandchild for a year.  It's been a few years since I saw her last.

Baby Marcus, Max, Pauline and Rita.

We had a little picnic in the park to see the new baby.  Then it was off to bed for another short drive to Monterey to see our grandson the next morning.

Monterey, CA

Elks Lodge

   

We visited with Ryan, Diana and baby Jax for the week.  We just hung out and didn't do much but enjoy each others company.  My daughter-in-law did take me out to lunch at the Pebble Beach Golf Club one nice sunny day.

Our outside table had a perfect view of the famous 18th hole.

Diana and I having a delicious lunch with a view.

The grounds are meticulously landscaped and maintained.

After lunch we took the scenic route back to their home along the coast.

Our daughter, Kaylee,  visiting with Jaxon.

The week flew by and when we headed to Placerville to spend the rest of the month it was a windy drive.

Placerville, CA

Elks Lodge

Our home lodge and where we'll spend the next week.

The weather was very nice but getting colder.  We didn't do much except visit my parents a lot and get 1/2 our doctor/dentist/eye appointments done. 

Coloma, CA

Thousand Trails

Our nice spot in the back.  30/W/Dump, #E18

This is where we'll spend the rest of the month of November.

Our backyard view of the fall color.

The American River runs right next to the campground.

There is a nice trail that starts on the other side of the bridge, next to the river.  The clouds made for an interesting reflection picture.

Boy did the weather get colder and the mornings were very foggy.

Later in the week when it warmed up a tiny bit we hiked along Lake Jenkinson with friends Mike and Rose.  I love this 6.5 mile hike back to the waterfall.  It's gorgeous in every season.

Lake levels are usually low in the winter as they let water out for the Salmon and to make room for all the snowmelt an rain.

At the waterfall it's always 10+ degrees cooler as the river creates a chute-like effect and cools the air as it funnels through.  This made for plenty of frost and ice.

Me, Steve, Rose & Mike.

I even spotted this pretty painted rock around some bushes.

There is still some snow on the ground.

Thanksgiving was very strange for us as well.  We didn't get together with any of the kids so it was just us and my parents for a simple dinner and cards.

We did have a nice hike along one of the bike paths in Placerville that used to be a railroad.  It weaves in and out of town and heads up the hill through a couple more small towns.  All the vineyards are bathed in fall colors too.

Fast forward a couple of months and they had to shoot a Mountain Lion that was stalking people on the path.  Scary and sad.

On Saturday we took a day trip through San Francisco to see the kids who all gathered for the holiday at Shane and Lindsay's new apartment.  They all work in the medical and dental field so they are Covid tested a couple of times a week.  The picture above is the Sacramento riverside view.

We drove through the area that one of those HUGE CA fires were along I80 in Vacaville.  Our youngest son and wife live across the highway and were evacuated but no fire.  You can see how close the fire burned to some of the houses and road. 

We drove over the bridge through San Francisco.  Always a pretty drive and with Covid, there was hardly any traffic.

Best I could get of Alcatraz while riding in the truck.

Coit Tower which sits on Telegraph Hill.  It was a way to alert residents of the arrival of ships back in the day.  It is also home to flocks of parrots.

Some of the city buildings as we wizzed by.

Shane now lives in San Mateo.  I was born here and his apartment is just down the block from where my grandparents home was. Funny.

We stayed out in the courtyard and played a fun lawn bowling type game.  I loved this sculpture.  When viewed from straight on it is almost invisible and looks creepy as you can tell there is something there but you can't really see it until you walk around it.

This is the view as I walk around it.

Again, if you don't see a video above it's because Blogger has a problem and you can only see it if you view it on a computer.  It's a really cool video showing how the sculpture is almost invisible until you walk around it then it appears more with each step you take.  Really cool!

The  Boys, Shane, Ryan, Brennan & Steve.

Uncle Shane and Jaxon

Love their new home.  Very cute and great views.

Covered back patio.

Auntie Lindsay

Auntie Alex

Dad, Jax and Mom

Later in the day we drove up the mountain to cut Christmas trees with the kids.  They all got one and it was a fun day.

I liked these huge lights that resembled Dandelions which turned colors viewed from their balcony.  We were hungry and Ryan really wanted to take us to  a place for dinner that specializes in Soba.  Our kids are very adventurous in their food.  I've never had this but it was delicious.  It reminds me of fondue but you cook your choice of meats and veggies in broth.

It was very good!

Like father, like son.  Jaxson loves cars already.

It was nice to be home again but bummed we could only see the kids one day.

December will probably be much the same with no family get-together for Christmas.  At least the weather was decent enough to visit with a couple of friends outdoors.