Birthdays and decorating

It was Phil's birthday and the family were there to celebrate with cake. Where can you buy anything you want? No, not Home Depot. Cathy bought two enormous cakes from Cosco. I find it odd that a store can carry anything from diamond rings to enormous bottles of booze to birthday cakes.

And here is a picture of the newest member of the Moore clan. This is Rachel and Vinnie's baby Nate held by his cousin Ally.

After the party Tom hung our first picture. We bought this print in Chicago last year. Finally it has a home.

And a final touch. Our bathroom cabinets have Petoskey stones for door knobs. These ancient fossilized stones are only found in the area around the Great Lakes.

Oprah, wisdom and Starbucks

You know that you have come close to being proclaimed a deity when your every pearl of wisdom is  captured on Starbucks cups to educate coffee lovers all over America. As I was sipping on my latte I was gob smacked to read  "Know what sparks the light in you. Then use that light to illuminate the world".

Each cup had different wise missives to nourish the soul. Good on you Oprah and well done Starbucks for spreading the knowledge!

Busy errands

The interior is getting there so now it's time to look at outdoors. These marigolds are supposed to be deer proof and hardy. Time will tell.

And the stairs to the beach are nearly finished.

Our first fire

The weather here is so odd. Today it is very hot but last night we made up our first fire and were even thinking on turning on the heater. We sat contentedly in front of the flames watching "The Princess Bride" on one of our hundred odd T.V channels.

Handy people

Tom drilling bathroom wall to erect towel rack.

The aforementioned towel rack!

Building a bed.

These bunks took us two and a half hours to build. We are leaving the second set for Jesse and Mel to  make up. Comforters cost $17 in Kmart.

This sofa bed only took and hour and a half to build. When we have finished, this house will be able to sleep fourteen people.

And here is one of our 42 inch t.v.s that we bought in Kmart for $300 dollars each. We picked up the cute little supporting table at a garage sale.

Decadence

It's not all about hard work and healthy living. We do occasionally stop for lunch.

Not a pretty picture. But I promise you at home we are eating all organic sourced from the Boyne City markets.

A remarkable visitor

When I mentioned that our hill had been leveled,  I neglected to mention the force behind that leveling. An ancient wizened gnome of a man by the name of Bob Crandell excavated the land. He came to see us to find out if we were satisfied in his original 1930 Ford A car. He is 77 and the car is 84 and they are both running well.

Charlevoix

As with all travel, things go wrong. Our plane from San Francisco was delayed and we ended up at Traverse City at 10.30 at night. Luckily Phil was there to transport us home in his posh new Ford hybrid car. It was too late to go up to our house and unpack all our boxes of sheets and towels so we stayed the night at the Beach cabin. Next morning we climbed the hill which has now been mulched and leveled up to the house. It is just as beautiful as it was last year but more finished. The ceiling in the lounge room is now fully timbered which makes the house seem smaller but cozier.

 

The bathrooms are all tiled, have toilets and working showers and look remarkably stylish.

So we now start the whole process of getting the house up and running functionally. There are a few things missing. We have to build steps down the hill to the beach, a nook to sit and watch the water and the wet bar downstairs is completely missing. It is just a hole in the wall. Luckily, the dock men arrived and erected our beautiful new dock. Unfortunately, it is still freezing here. We did go for one arctic dip however just to keep up the Charlevoix traditions.

Next step is getting wifi, buying televisions and getting them installed and starting off the buying process again with more plates, cutlery, pots, pans, beds, dressing tables, bed lamps, pillows, sheets, quilts, towels, plants - the list seems endless. Somehow or other we fitted in a game of tennis with Cathy and Phil and managed to tie. Hopefully, we will be able to chill out after we buy two more dressing tables and six bed side tables.

San Francisco

Driving into San Francisco was quite hairy. We were already anxious about being over an hour late dropping off the van but when we came to the Golden Gate Bridge and found that there was a toll but no cash facilities, we panicked and just busted on through. Apart from that anxiety it was a great drive. It is a magnificent bridge. Finally dropped Keith off at Fisherman's Wharf and grabbed a burger at a Cuban food van.

We then walked around all the tourist area and then slowly up the very steep hill through China Town and Nob Hill towards our hotel. It took us about four hours because we kept stopping to look at the sights. Also Tom was in pain some of the time with what he thinks is a hernia. We will see a doctor when we get to Charlevoix.

This is the Grace Cathedral; an amazing liberal Episcopalian church - very gay friendly. It had gorgeous metal doors and inside lots of colored ribbons hung from the ceiling - all inscribed with tiny prayers.

Got to our comfy Cova Hotel and had a relaxing bath and then sauntered out for a cheap but delicious Vietnamese meal. Our hotel is in the tenderloin district and apparently we are right in the Vietnamese section. A disturbing thing about San Francisco or the area we are staying is that there are a lot of homeless and sometimes crazy people who lunge at you and sometimes ask for money.

Next morning we caught a shuttle down to Fisherman's Wharf to catch the ferry to Alcatraz. I bought the tour from Australia which was lucky. If I'd been trying to buy them now, the first available tour was two months away. It was very windy and cold on the island. All the Park Rangers were very informative and eloquent speakers. We heard all sorts of stories about the island from its early military beginnings to the gaol that housed Al Capone and the Birdman of Alcatraz to the native American occupation in the late sixties and early seventies. We spent a couple of hours walking around buffeted by the wind and serenaded by the screeching gulls.

After the tour we had to try the famous Dungeness crab for lunch. This was a messy but delicious business.

We ate outside in the howling wind surrounded by screeching gulls, street musicians and mad people shouting at the birds. Then we walked back up another steep hill. Saw a crazy winding street that snaked around in zigzags. Tourists were taking photos of cars driving down the bendy road.

We got back to our hotel and went out for lovely Thai meal. Again we saw more homeless and crazy people. We came across a huge queue of smelly, mentally and physically disabled people lining Ellis Street (where our hotel is) waiting for a meal from a shelter. It was quite daunting. Life is so unfair. These people through no fault of their own are living a hard and disadvantaged life. Tomorrow we fly to Chicago and then on to Traverse City where Phil will pick us up and drive us home.

Calistoga

Finally, sitting under a sycamore tree sipping a Sierra Nevada pale ale after a glorious long, warm shower. It is amazing just how wonderful hot water, clean hair and skin can be. We pulled into Callistoga R.V park at about six thirty. This is perhaps our most unattractive camp site. Wall to wall huge metal monsters sitting on grey concrete. It is also the most expensive camp site as each mobile home has access to power, sewage and water.

On our way though the Nappa Valley we stopped and bought an excellent bottle of merlot  which we had with a frittata I cooked on the portable stove. This is our last night in the van and we are sorry to say goodbye to it. We have grown quite attached to Keith.

Next morning as we were munching on our muesli the man in the next site began to pump water and sewage out of his R.V. into an underground reservoir. He was quite dainty in his disposable plastic gloves but it rather put us off breakfast. Our neighbor was quite chatty and told us of the joys of owning and traveling in an R.V. Apparently they have showers, toilets, t.v's and even spa baths inside - all the mod cons. Prices start at $17,000 for a second hand one and go as high as $300,000 for the deluxe versions.

We drove into Callistoga township for a wonderful coffee and a walk around the very upmarket shops. We were accidentally sucked into the Callistoga Olive Oil Company where we spent $130 on gorgeous soaps, oils and shampoos.

There were so many wonderful shops that we had to make a speedy retreat before we could spend any more money. I loved this little ceramic horse.  It was such a seductive town that we were surprised that it was suddenly ten thirty and we had to get to San Francisco by noon to return the van. The traffic into San Francisco was horrific. There was an accident and a bush fire which slowed things down considerably. We were racing against the noon dead-line.

Yosemite day two

We said goodbye to the chipmunks at Silver Lake campsite and headed towards Tuolumne Meadows to go trekking and find a new campsite for the night. I couldn't resist jumping out of the van to make some snowballs. We managed to get a site in the park this time. We parked our van under huge trees and were warned by the rangers to keep all our food in the fridge to prevent the bears foraging. The rubbish bins have bear proof locks on them and each site has a lockable food safe and a fire pit. Sadly the camp has no showers so we have now not washed for three days.

We did a hike up Lembert Dome - a huge rocky boulder jutting out of the earth.

That isn't us. The sun was so blinding that the photo I took of Tom didn't pan out. But this gives the general idea. Tom climbed to the top. I stayed at mid point. The views were fantastic. I found my heart pounding and the effort of climbing quite difficult. We were at up to 10,000 feet in parts of the park. Both of us had vague headaches due to the altitude while we were in Yosemite.

Above are photos of the park. After sightseeing we returned to our camp for dinner. It was too cold to sit outside to eat dinner. It was seven degrees! So we cleaned our teeth and were in bed by nine o'clock. No sign of bears. We slept fitfully because it was so cold. We were up and on our way by eight forty five. We spent an hour or so driving through the park to Yosemite Valley. As we dropped thousands of degrees in altitude our ears popped. We stopped to look at a major tourist attraction - El Capitan - another huge boulder jutting out of the ground. Somehow we missed the view from the front. It didn't matter though, Yosemite is more about the staggering whole than the individual sights.

Yosemite

We had expected the drive from Pfeiffer State Park to Yosemite to take about four and a half hours. That's what Google Maps told us. We were on the road for nine hours! We had to drive all the way through the park to get to Silver Lake Campsite on the other side of the park. The scenery was grand - rushing stream to our left and high old mountains all around. As we drove through the park the scenery became more dramatic. Winding narrow roads snaking around the high craggy rock faces. Huge boulders over hung the road. Some had even fallen on the road. It is an old landscape.

We got to our campsite at about nine o'clock. We were starving and tired. We were in a wind swept valley among tiny tents and massive R.V.s. It was perishing cold. We raided our Machu Picchu beanies and gloves and braved the elements to cook our chops on our little stove as the wind thudded against the van.

Luckily we had bought supplies to soften the harsh realities of nature. Next morning we awoke to look up at the snow tipped mountains with picturesque rushing stream. And then it was time to go back on our tracks and explore the beauties of Yosemite.

Big Sur

This is a lucky shot of a gull enjoying the view.

The camping life

This is life on the road. Hard and earnest and the steaks are great!

Santa Barbara and Hearst Castle

This is inside the grand Santa Barbara Courthouse. We stopped for a coffee and a cruise around the Courthouse. We had a great coffee and enjoyed the 100 year old building built in Spanish/Moorish style. It had lovely tile floors and high ornately painted ceilings. We even visited one of the courts in session. It was a bit intimidating; as we were entering room a heavily tattooed and handcuffed man was led out.

We camped the night in Morro Bay and cooked some mean steaks over the fire. After a good night's sleep on our comfy mattress we were on our way to the Hearst Castle. We had booked a 10 o'clock tour from Australia and we rocked up to catch bus up winding road from the coast to the top of the rolling hills to the amazing edifice. The tour and the castle and the gardens,swimming pools and tennis court were all mind blowing. Hearst might have been a weirdo but it was wonderful to see all the art,sculptures,tiles and tapestries he collected. Entire painted wooden ceilings were imported from all over the world and integrated into the building. It was most impressive - a bit like the Getty Villa on a much larger scale.and with Getty he made an exact copy of an Italian villa but this castle was a vast mismatch of Gothic,Renaissance and oriental. Anything grand! And he called this place his little ranch.

This is one of the many tapestries .

This is me with a 4000 year old Egyptian statue.

And here is the indoor swimming pool.

Elephant seals and Big Sur

After we left Hearst Castle we headed down the road to visit California's largest elephant seal colony. There were hundreds of them lying supine on the beach. They come here to breed,molt and sleep. They were like a cross between a giant slug and a Labrador. We watched them throw sand on themselves, play fight and hump up and down the grey sand. But mostly they slept. After a quick sandwich in our van we drove down the magnificent Big Sur to our campsite.

The views were breath taking. Windy roads and craggy black rocks and churning seas. There was lots of bird life. We stopped and saw dolphins frolicking. It was very spectacular and the narrow roads made it quite hairy at times. We arrived at our campsite at Pfeiffer State Forest at six o'clock and did a quick recce of the toilets and trails. This is who we met at our site.

Next morning we went for a walk to Pfeiffer Falls. 

The huge park is full of trails and streams all are overlooked and protected by the might giant red woods.

At last! U.S.A here we are!

It has been a long time coming with no internet, faulty internet and incomprehensible devices that wouldn't do anything I wanted them to do. But now I seem to have everything under control. This is our first day on the road with Keith - our campervan named after Keith Herring the graffiti artist.

We flew into L.A, grabbed our van and drove through to Santa Barbara and stopped for coffee. Finally arrived at El Capitan campsite and got there quite late. We bought some expensive takeaway salads for dinner and had a shower and a quick walk on the beach. Of course we had no provisions so we had to buy some cheap towels and I stole a scrap of soap from the showers.