Category: Dog Parks and Brew Pubs

View Milton Photo Gallery>>
Well we are back in the Pensacola Area. Our good friend Bryan has offered up a spot at his house for us to park the motorhome for our stay in Milton. It was great, we were right on the water. Although the water is so warm right now I am not sure fish could live in their to even make it worth fishing.

It was a pretty uneventful stay. It was so nice to see our friends. We got rollerblade with Kirsten and Belinda, played some volleyball with Charlie, hung out with mocha and Sharon got to catch up with Monica and Kim.

;In addition to seeing all those friends we also spent the weekend with our good friends Wayne and Alice. First of all I want to thank them for their generosity. They are like older siblings to us. Whenever we stay at their house, we feel like we are staying with family. It is always just a good time. We laugh and talk, and just like to hang out with them in general.

Oh yeah Alice, Thanks for the clothes! I love my shirt and but I think I may love Sharon’s more, she is prettier than me so it is not really fair 🙂

Since we are thanking people, we need to thank Bryan and Tolly for their hospitality, it was nice being your neighbors for a bit.

So now it was time to start a new Journey. Another volume of the One Shoe Diaries, this time a trip up the East Coast, One Shoe at a Time. Hope we will find enough shoes to do a whole other book. Hard for me to think about another book, when I am still working on the first. I am very close top having it done, should be done in a week or less!

NOTE: Jinjer is crazy, we love her, but she’s craaaazy

Well it was time for another Miss Georgia American Coed Pageant so we left the motorhome in Pensacola for the weekend and drove up to Atlanta in the Jeep. We stay at the Westin Perimeter North where the pageant is being held. It is a very nice hotel and is pet friendly so the Puggles can come with us. They even have their Heavenly brand of dog beds for them. On our way to the pageant we stopped at a dog park in Piedmont Park near downtown. It was rated as a top 10 dogpark in America. It was nice, well kept and the dog owner’s seemed responsible, but not sure if it makes our top ten parks as there was no where for the dogs to swim and cool off. There is also a brewpub on the park’s edge that we did not get a chance to go try but will visit later in the weekend.

The pageant is pretty grueling for us, we work over 12 hours 2 days and 17 hours 1 day. The nice thing was we can keep the Puggles with us in the ballroom where we set up to do backdrop photos, and they behave perfectly. People are amazed how good and calm they are. But if we took them out they would be “willy nilly” all over the hotel.

We had a good time overall. I hit a few snags, I lost some photos, forgot some equipment and broke some equipment. We limped through it though and it ended well. The parents and contestant’s were great. Hopefully it will be financially worthwhile since we are trying to earn a living 🙂

On the road home, we were talking about our future plans for a gallery/studio and missed the I-75, I-85 split and drove an hour down the road before figuring it out, we had to cut over on backroads to get back to I-85 but the long route worked out for us as we were able to get some straight from the grove peaches and some peach ice cream. And to fit in with the way the pageant went, I photographed a shoe on the highway but ended up erased the disk and losing the photos 🙁

The rest of the drive to Pensacola was smooth sailing. I was hoping the next day’s photoshoot would be smooth sailing as well and not like the pageant 🙂

Manteca, CA: The journey back had a scheduled stop in Manteca, CA at the Thousand Trails Turtle Beach for us to give the coach a once over. I changed the oil and planned on replacing brake pads on the rear brakes. Upon inspecting the pads I realized I needed to replace the calipers as well, which needed dot be ordered and would take two days to get in. We now had only 10 days to travel almost 2500 miles. In the meantime we did get to have dinner with an old friend of Sharon’s, Jeff. With whom she used to play volleyball with years ago. We met them at the HopYard Brewpub, of course. They had average food and good brews. And the town of Manteca had its own brewpub, Kelley’s. This was an extraordinary pub, the beers were excellent, the food was as well and the establishment looked great, really done well. One of our top brewpubs visited for sure. The calipers came in and we were back on the road.

Barstow, CA:
We have decided to drive at night to avoid the heat and traffic. All went well over the big hill on highway 58 out of Bakersfield, it was a beautiful drive actually with the full moon lighting up the jagged peaks of Tehachapi Pass. The hill did seem to go on forever as we crept all, but the Cruisemaster was the little coach that could and peaked over the pass like a champ. We stopped and dry docked at a small truck stop just outside Barstow around 3 a.m.

Lake Havasu, AZ:
First off, after getting 30 minutes down the road I realized I left my flip-flops outside the coach. Sllep deprivation is rough. It was so hot going through Needles into Lake Havasu City we thought we were going to melt. We checked into Cat Tail Cove State Park early so we could get plugged into electricity and get air conditioning going to cool off. But on a 30 amp there is only enough power to run one air unit so it never really cooled off. We went to the lake to cool off but had to carry the dogs so they did not burn their paw pads. We had a great time swimming in the cool clear water. Once we got down we headed out to a brewpub. Yes a brewpub. Are you surprised? Even they could not get the place cooled off it was so hot, we heard at 6:30 it was still 112º. This was the hottest place we have ever been. The water coming out of the tap was warm, we just could not get cooled off. We decided we would stay until around 7 or 8 then head out when it was cool, because we would not survive driving in the heat of the day, we would get too grouchy 🙂

El Paso, TX:
I was pretty tired leaving Lake Havasu but got a second wind and managed to drive to the other side of El Paso at around 2:30 a.m. We stopped at a truck stop (Flying J, our friend on the road) We awoke the next morning to cool air, it felt so good! Upon exiting the coach we noticed that when we pulled in we must have ran over a woman’s white heel shoe. I was excited, I had been traveling on such a time schedule I was unable to find solo shoes, but this time one found us!! But being tired and not of sound mind we ended up leaving before I got the SHOT!! #%^&*%*#&@!%!!!!! But I have an idea, I am going to do a re-enactment photo 🙂

Balmorhea, TX:
Back to our oasis in the desert, Balmorhea State Park. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here the first time so we figured it would be great again. And we were right. It was a perfect stop, we took a well needed refreshing dip in the spring pool. We snorkeled around the entire pool, watching the small fish dart everywhere around us. It was a gorgeous day out. We finished it off by going to the “cutest restaurant in Balmorhea” The Bear Cave. The girls working there work so hard and are so nice, we had a great meal. The dogs enjoyed having soft grass again to potty in.

Junction, TX:
This place seemed familiar, but we could not recall why for some time driving until it hit me. I photographed a shoe there during a night time drive in the rain on our way out. And a when we got off at our destination we realized it was the exit with the truck stop that scared us a little to eat at so we continued on. This time we were staying the night just a few yards down from that truck stop in the tiniest RV park (they advertise 14 sites, we counted 8). We had a check UPS’ed to us at that RV park, but it had a different address than in the book we had and ended up at the “shady” truck stop somehow. They were really nice and had been holding it for us. We and one other motor home were there. We went into town to check out the state park, but the recent onslaught of rain Texas has been receiving the South LLano River was flooded and angry so we could not get in past the low water bridge. Overall the RV park was exactly what we needed for just a night.

Columbus, TX:
Another place we thought we would not be back to again. It was nice though to see something familiar. We stayed in Thousand Trails Colorado River again. We ate at Nancy’s Steakhouse, they have great seafood dishes. We got a beer at Kristine’s, a must-do if you are at Thousand Trails. We met some nice people in there, the locals are very nice. Note: If you go there, have cash, they take cards, but you cannot tip using them 🙁 We shared our bottle of Granny Smith apple wine with a neighbor over a campfire, it was exactly why we bought our wines, to share.

Beaumont, TX:
We started to think we were never going to get out of TEXAS! I had a bunch of work to do so i could not get as much driving in as I would have liked and we had to stop in Beaumont to stay the night at the RV park we stayed at on the way out. At least I did get to get more of the free Texas-shaped waffles for breakfast before heading out.

Milton, Florida:
Finally making it back to Florida we felt exhausted. Ou friend Brian had RV hookups at his house on the water in Milton so we stayed there. But we only had one day there before having to drive to Atlanta for the Miss Georgia American Coed Pageant of which I am the official photographer for.

More Images from Sonoma County >>

Arriving into our Thousand Trails Russian River preserve we made our way to a perfect RV site…or so we thought. It was wooded yet had a view of the sky for our satellite dish, grass just outside the door for the dogs. But it was on a slope that caused the tow hitch to drag and get lodged in the pavement to the point we could not go forward or backward and in the struggle to get in we scraped the side of the coach on a tree as well. This was not a good start to our stay. We however did get out with the help of our new found friend Georgia Ann (to whom I still owe a dollar to 🙂 She figured out a way for us to get unstuck and pointed us in the direction of an even better site.

We were excited to get out and explore nearby Cloverdale. To our luck it had both a thai restaurant and a brewpub in the small town. The first night of we just went to Ruth McGowen’s Brewpub. It was a cool low key pub. The bartender and her sister were very nice, actually everyone in the place was very friendly. The soup was great, they hand make all of their soups. While there we learned brewpubs were all over this area, almost every town had one. This was going to be a fun place to be for the next four days!

The following evening we went out to eat were Georgia Ann and her companion Kathy. They were great people, and we enjoyed the time we spent with them and hope they stay well and travel safely and enjoy the freedom of the RV lifestyle.

We met another nice couple they were staying in the site next to us. They were older full-timers and helped us find a good route to get back to I-10 to get back to Pensacola. Some things for work came up they help steer us to a decision of needing to get back before July 3rd. This gave us around 2 weeks to travel 2500 miles. Which was possible, it just required us to push ourselves faster than we like.

But before we headed out of wine country we had to explore it. We took a full day to go out and visit as many vineyards as we could handle. We had a list given to us by a wine distributor in Claremont we met. Russian Hill, and DeLoach were two of the vineyards listed that we intended to visit starting out, but first we ate lunch at the Bear Republic Brewpub in Healdsburg. The had a pale ale that was my favorite there.

Russian Hill was alright but noting special. We managed to work in the guy’s name from Claremont, but they never heard of him so we would try again at DeLoach after sharon purchased a small bottle of port. Deloach had a great tasting room and the vineyards were gorgeous. Exactly what we imagined a vineyard in Sonoma should be like. They girl presenting the wines to us was so nice, and the wines were incredible. Their Pinot Noirs were the best we had anywhere. We wanted to purchase one, but funds were running low. We intend to join their wine club when we settle down soon.

We managed to only have time to hit one more winery, the Martinelli Vineyards. They had some good wines as well, but the main ones we wanted to taste were not available. The girl hosting the tasting for us was from back in Northwest Florida originally and told us we could get Martinelli wines at Chan’s in Destin which we will try to do when we go back that way.

The day finished with me causing us to run out of gas in the Jeep. I immediately got out and began running for the nearest exit ramp.Partially so we would not have to sit on the side of the road long, and to hear Sharon tell me a “I told you so” 🙂 Because she did tell me to get gas earlier and I blew her off, like an idiot. So there I was running to an exit I was not sure even had a gas station at the end of it, or one even close. Fortunately for me someone stopped to help me just a small distance after I started running, he knew where a gas station was nearby because there was not one off the exit. He dropped me off there and went on his way. I went in to buy a gas can but they wanted $15 for one. So I just bought a big gatorade, went outside drank it and then put $2 of gas into it and took off running back to the Jeep. When i arrived at the Jeep less than 30 minutes had elapsed and Sharon had already cooled down, she was not really that mad at me anyway I found out. What an ending to a very nice day.

Note: When your wife tells you to get gas, get gas!

Our last day in the area we wanted to spend checking out the redwoods at Armstrong Woods in Guerneville. The redwoods were incredible. Walking through the forest was so quiet and peaceful, the sunlight filtering through made it truly magical. All the sounds of the forest are muffled by the soft bark material and needles on the ground, long with the dense vegetation. I could have walked for miles in this forest. Sharon and I were amazed also by the very large size clovers. She was determined to locate a four-leafed clover. Come to find out in the end they were not in fact clovers but some other similar form of vegetation.

On our way home we spotted yet another brewpub. The Stumptown Brewpub. We sat out back on the deck over looking the clear flowing Russian RIver in rocking chairs enjoying good beer, I had a black ale and Sharon had a pale ale, both worth mentioning as top notch brews.

And so our journey across America came to a symbolic end, but not our journey on a bigger scale, because that never really ever ends, or so we hope it doesn’t. It was now time to boogie back to Pensacola.

Side Note: I added to the one shoes in the world when a flip flop slid off my foot in the Russian River rapids never to be seen again.

More photos from San Francisco >>

Well upon entering San Francisco we took 19th ave. over the Golden Gate bridge with the CruiseMaster through heavy downtown traffic, but it was well worth it to see the city. We could barely see Alcatraz out in the bay due to the heavy fog. It got very sunny and warm at our RV park in Larkspur. What kinda freaked us out a bit was we were just over the channel from San Quentin State Prison. It was so close, we could not believe it. At night was the eeriest time to view it, it was lit up so bright and it seemed so quiet and calm, totally sheltering the outside world from the dark awful happenings on the other side of the wall.

We had time on our first day in S.F. so we decided to track down a dog park. We found one in Sausalito that drew us in from their welcoming website. Seeing we have had a couple bad run ins lately we figured this park might be better. It was in an upscale community and the dog owners were proud of their park enough to create a well-designed website and even had a board of directors for the operations of the park.

We were not disappointed. The park was very nice, well-kept with pretty much mulch and some grass. The people and dogs were great. We made friends with a couple of people and chatted with them while the puggles played with whistle (a small jack russel mix with endless spunk). One of the people we met was , he is one of the board of directors and the website creator. He and his friends told us of the Marin Brewing Co. Brewpub which happened to be just down the road from where we were staying. Perrrfect. Time to head out for beer:)

We figured we would eat at the brewpub but as we neared it we saw our dream restaurant row. On the right of the pub was a sushi bar, and the left was a THAI place!! We were in a happy place. So we had awesome thai food followed with a great beer to follow. I had a San Quentin Breakout Stout, so appropriate I thought 🙂 We met a great guy at the pub who gave us a lowdown on things to do and places to see around San Fran. Thanks Steve!

So the day was upon us, one we had been waiting for a couple of years now, a day of exploration around San francisco. The day started with an old fashioned chocolate donut while taking a ferry from Larkspur to the Ferry Plaza downtown. We cruised by San Quentin, still as eerie as ever even in the daylight. It is still so wild to think of the people that are behind those walls and the horrible acts they have committed on other human beings. The next landmark wouldn’t you know it to pass by was Alcatraz with the Golden Gate Bridge visible in the far distance. It was a bright and sunny day, we were so lucky to get such beautiful weather in mid-June. No fog at all. It was quite chilly on the water though but once on land in the sun it felt great.

While we rode the ferry we observed a family on the lower deck break out wine and cheese for the ride over and we thought it would be a great idea to find a bottle of wine for the ride home and do the same. Would make the ride home a good capping off on what was to be a great day. We probably should have grabbed a ferry schedule to see when the last ferry was scheduled but we checked the board and it was 5:30.

So once we disembarked we caught a streetcar to the Fisherman’s wharf. Sharon came up with the idea to eat our way around the city and I was all for it. The first food came at The Crab House on the second level in the form of a bowl of crab chowder. It was alright, but not like Maryland crab soup like we were craving, but it worked. We had a view of the bay and the sea lions perched on their manmade platforms. The highlight of the restaurant was their Crab House Pale Ale, it was great. Highly recommend it!

Next on our agenda was Dim Sum in Chinatown. We grabbed a cable car to get there and actually got to hang on the outside from the handrails, it was something I always wanted to experience. I was like a little kid again with a goofy smile that would not go away as I watched the streets of San Fran go by. One of the many moments from our journey I will never forget.

Chinatown was even more crazy than I had seen on TV. I felt as if we had just been transported to the other side of the world. It was awesome. But where to eat dim sum was not going to be easy as it was at every restaurant. And as always I was looking to score a solo shoe photo, especially in San Fran to commemorate the day. I wanted to go down a few alleys thinking that would be the best spot to find one. As we strolled down one we saw a small sweat shop turned fortune cookie factory and had to stop and get some cookies. I did not know they came in chocolate! Well we were getting hungry so we settled upon a place for dim sum. Being a little leery of eating mysterious dumplings from a small hole in the wall restaurant at $5.95 all you can eat we opted for a nice establishment. We had great little bites of chinese cuisine and then dashed off. We paid of course first 🙂 No dine and dash these days.

We were now going to head to Japantown but had to do some shopping first. We strolled around for a bit and decided that Japantown was too far and we might miss the Ferry back so we decided to just mosey back to the Embarcadero and maybe eat some and shop some and get the 5:30 ferry back to Larkspur. We ended up taking an electric zero emissions bus back to the Ferry port. As we got off and were walking to the Ferry, I spotted a shoe, finally! It took me a bit to get the right angle and lighting but it was barely 4:30 so we still had plenty of time. Or did we? Had we had a ferry schedule we would have noticed the 5:30 was for Sausalito, the Larkspur was scheduled to leave at 4:30!!! Holy shitake!! We are going to miss our boat, we ran, but it was tooooo late. It was just pulling out. The only time something runs on time for us is when we need it to be delayed 🙁 Of course it was the shoe that was the cause of this, had I not found it, we would have been there in time to catch the 4:30 ferry. Damn shoes.

The attendant at the ticket booth was great, she refunded our money and gave us information on when and where to grab the city bus to get back to Larkspur. We had 10 minutes to get 4 “real” city blocks, as she called it. “You probably don’t need to run, but I would do a brisk walk” she told us. Our brisk walk turned into a full sprint at the end. We did not see the #80 bus anywhere when we got there. Finally after some help from another bus driver we saw it, it was getting ready to leave! We ran full speed with panic faces and just caught the driver’s eye so he waited for us. Thank god, because a cab would have been over $40 bucks I bet.

So there we sat, going through all of downtown SF, making stops every 10 seconds. It was our fifth different form of public transportation today. But we were still having fun, we got to see all of the city now. As luck would have it, the bus stopped right in front of the RV park. Now all we had to do is grab the dogs and go for a short walk to the ferry parking lot to get our jeep. It was still early and we could go to the coast at Muir Beach to catch the sunset so off we went.

Traveling to Muir beach was a beautiful 30 minute drive over Mt. Tam. We witnessed a rental motor home take off a mirror of a car traveling in the oncoming lane, close call!! Muir Beach was really cool, tall steep granite cliffs sourounding an almost black sand beach in which dogs could roam off-leash. The puggles had so much fun running in the surf, they just love the beach. It always make us feel good to see them having so much fun after being trapped in the motor home all day. We realize we are crazy dog owners, but hey what can we do, we love our dogs. I found an old soft sided suede winter boot down there sitting half buried in the sand, perfect for a great sunset beach shot.

We thought about stopping at the pub by the beach for a beer but we were worn out, It was an long awesome day of sight-seeing. Sometimes it is fun to just be a tourist running around a city just soaking it all in. It was, as we like to call it, a diamond day.

We thought about staying longer but we needed to move on to Russian River, and we decided it was time to speed up the process of getting back east, we were dying to see our family and friends and share our stories with them.

Before leaving out we did meet a nice family that has been full-timing on the road for a while. We enjoyed sharing experiences with them, so if you should happen to read this blog we wish you safe travels.

Note: I could easily live in Larkspur or the surrounding communities if I got rich 🙂

More photos from Big Sur >>

Well the time has come to fulfill a dream, my dream to drive highway 1 from Monterey to Big Sur. And this was one dream realization that did not disappoint. It was beyond words. One must see it to understand. I fell in love, I never wanted to leave.

The day started by driving over the Santa Cruz mountains and descending to highway 1 to start the journey in Monterey. There was not much on our “to-see” list in Monterey except for the 19 Mile Drive. We finally found the drive but realized it would cost 9 bucks just to drive a road past a bunch of ultra-rich people’s homes and a golf course I did not wish to see anyway so we took a skip card on it. It proved to be a wise decision we found out from several locals.

Carmel-by-the-Sea was the next stop. But before we could explore we needed to get some warmer gear. I parked and found a great deal on two jackets for us and we were ready for the cold foggy Carmel. We had read earlier about the Forge in the Forest restaurant so we tracked down its location and went to be seated. We read it was dog-friendly, but we did not expect it to have a totally devoted patio just for dog owners. It was so nice to find this kinda of acommodation. Also we spoke we other people in the section and made a few friends, which if we had been without the dogs, we would not have mingled at all. The dogs seemed to bond us instantly with the other dog lovers and we began speaking. It was a great lunch, and in the process learned that Carmel beach allows dogs off-leash.

It was chilly in Carmel but that always seems to energize the puggles. They had a blast on the beach, it was beautiful. This just made Carmel even more appealing. And I have not even mentioned the art galleries at every turn. This was an artist’s dream community (expect maybe the cost of living 🙂 I hope we can get back there again to more fully explore the rich artistic community. But we were limited on time so we headed on to Big Sur.

It did not take long to be in utter awe of the coastal landscape. The fog gave way to blue skies and I snapped so many pictures along the way but I am not convinced they do it any justice, it was truly one of those places you have to personally experience to understand. There were huge rock cliffs and crashing waves around every tight turn. We saw many beaches that looked great to hike to and finally settled on one that had a great looking trail leading down the cliffside to it. It was perfect, we were the only ones down there (except for weird naked guy, but he kept his distance thank god 🙂 The dogs got run and play to their hearts content and Sharon and I just enjoyed being together on a beach with our each other. It was truly a magical place. We stayed as long as we could but it was getting late and we had a ways to go to get back to the park and we saw a restaurant on our way to the beach that we felt would be awesome to stop at for wine and an appetizer…and it was that and more.

The Rocky Point Restaurant was something we could not have dreamed up any better. It was situated on a rocky cliff overlooking a view that was too good to be true. The wine was great and we highly recommend the calamari. It was mouth watering and unlike any calamari you will ever have! It was from this point that I got on of the best photos I think I have ever captured to date. The light was perfect, the golden light that photographers always speak of. I was truly blessed and fortunate for great timing by mother nature. I hated to leave this magical place…I hope to return someday, perhaps maybe live within driving distance so i can leave all of the real world stress far behind and just weave down highway 1 in search of another mystical beach on which to spend time with my lovely wife and two great dogs. I will never forget that day, it is burned into my memory until the day I die.

More photos from Santa Cruz >>

I gotta start this blog with stating that this is a place I would love to settle down for a while. It is the best place to live for our lifestyles. Too bad we will never be able to afford to live there 🙁

We just had time to tour around and visit a dog beach for a bit. The place was so alive yet still had a true beach town identity that I love. People were very friendly. The beaches were gorgeous. I got the California bug. I understand now why Californians love to live there. I am jealous.

We sat and watched surfers catch great peeling around a rocky point by the surfer museum. I was hypnotized by the breaking waves and watching the surfers take them all the way in, carving it up the entire ride. If it wasn’t for the cold water, id love to be a surfer 🙂 But if we lived here, we could bike redwood forests one day and play volleyball on the beach the next day. I think this is what is commonly referred to as “California Dreamin’”

More photos from San Benito>>

NOTE: The hill past San Luis Obispo is a long steep climb for a motorhome towing a vehicle.

Once again we found ourselves heading into the rural landscape of California to stay at a Thousand Trails at San Benito. But instead of farm land it was VINEYARDS, lots of them! This county is home to a wine trail comprised of 7 vineyards open for public tasting. This was going to be a must for us to experience since it was only a mile away from the entrance:)

So the next day we got ready and headed out to blaze the Wine Trail. The first stop was the Calera Wine Company. They had 5 wines to sample for free and a premium sampling for $5, a small price to pay to try five different $50+ bottles of wine. We ended up purchasing a Pinot Noir. A quick in and out. On to the next stop.

Pietra Santa was the next vineyard stop. It was beautiful. To get to the wine tasting room you have to drive through the perfectly manicured vineyards. The architecture of the building was old spanish mission style. Just a gorgeous building surrounded by rolling hills filled with rows of grape vines. Just stunning. Upon entering the inside was done as well as the outside. The tasting area was upstairs complete with balconies overlooking the vineyards. This vineyard was clearly a level above the last one, at least in aesthetics.

We met a really nice Irish woman who now lives in Santa Cruz and was quite a hoot, she had done a lot of tasting if you know what I mean. But she was not obnoxious, but rather quite funny. Our tasting started when we met our wine guide, we’ll call her Lupe. (Name has been changed for anonymity). She was so nice, we talked and tasted wine after wine after wine. We had a zinfandel paired with raspberry dark chocolate truffels that was to die for! I remember a great cabernet, but it was out of our price range. We sat at that tasting room for two hours, tasting over 12 wines. After a while they all blend in and remembering what was what became impossible. Just before closing time the party that we heard laughing and screeching downstairs came upstairs to purchase wines. It became chaos, it was all women who were a wee bit too tipsy. We waited until they finished and we purchased the zinfandel but forgot to get the chocolates. But once in the Jeep we inspected our bag closer and it seems Lupe was looking out for us and placed some chocolates in our bag 🙂 Thanks LUPE! We really enjoyed meeting you and your family, good luck in life. We will always remember you and Pietra Santa.

Now time to move further into Wine Country 🙂 🙂 🙂

We had only one evening in San Jose but it was a really good one, I will let Sharon write this one because it was her cousin we met up with. But I want to give a thank you to Greg and say that it was awesome getting to spend time with you and getting to know you better, I hope we can hang out for a beer in Oregon someday!

Sharon: Randy was sweet enough to give me the pleasure of writing this blog entry. While in Morgan Hill, CA we found out that my cousin Greg was going to be in Santa Clara, CA for a few days, which is only a 30 min drive for us, a perfect place to all meet up.

Growing up, Greg was like a brother to me, but he now lives in Washington State with his family. Now we only get to see each other every few years or so. I was so excited to find out we would be able to meet up and grab dinner together. Since Randy and I have been on the road, we have had many diamond days and this was one of them. We had a great dinner in San Jose at a very nice seafood restaurant, where we had a great meal and wonderful conversation. Greg has grown into such a great man and it was so wonderful to get to know him again. Randy and him really seemed to hit it off, which made the night even better. After dinner we grabbed a few beers at a local pub and laughed at Greg’s stories. We Would have loved to hung out all night, but those darn dogs make us come home early or else 🙂

Nights like those don’t happen as much as we would like, but when they do we treasure them in our memories forever.

Greg, thanks again for dinner and we will make it up to you in blue crabs when we get to MD, we promise 😉

More photos from Santa Barbara >>

Driving up from L.A. was pretty awesome as far as scenery. The coastline on the West Coast is so different than Florida’s coastline. Huge Mountains going right to the edge, big rock islands and ocean cliffs just inspire me.

The only drawback to the mountainous terrain is…the mountainous terrain. Just because we are in a motor home and it is rough going up and over mountain passes. The pass we had to climb over from Santa Barbara was pretty big for us, we took the car off this time and the hill was not so bad. The RV park we were going to, Thousand Trails Rancho Oso preserve, was set far back into the valley, we thought “Where the hell are we going” as we winded up and through valley hills until 20 miles later we reached the park. It was a gorgeous site descending down to the park overlooking the sprawling horse pastures that made up the Horse Ranch attached to the park.

We were surrounded by the rugged mountains of the Los Padres National Forest. I was so excited to get out and explore them. Our first experience in the forest was hiking to a waterfall near the park. The trail was great and the waterfall was small but beautiful as it cascade over granite rock boulders. The wildlife was abundant, ground squirrels, coyotes, wild turkeys, deer and a lot more. The puggles were crazy with their hunting instincts taking over. Walking them became a chore as they were just tugging and tugging trying to get at a squirrel or rabbit. It worked as doggie TV as they sat for hours just staring out the windows watching the squirrels dart from hole to hole.

The second experience in the forest was one we will never forget. We decided to participate in a three hour trail ride on horseback to the top of a ridgeline across the valley. It was so incredible to be riding these horses through rivers and up narrow cliff trails. The switchbacks both terrified and electrified my spirit. We were both in heaven, it was almost like a dream. It was so beautiful at the top. I took photos but photos do not do justice to the large expanse of beauty we saw before us. The ride down was just as great. I did want it to end. Once back at the ranch we tried to get the horses to gallop but Sharon’s got spooked and almost bucked her off. It scared the crap out me, I cannot believe she held on! We were exhausted after the ride, we had no idea horseback riding would take so much out of us. We would like to formally thank our guide Lisa for a wonderful trip! You made it awesome.

The following day I set out to take on the mountains on my bike. I scoped out a trail to ride that sounded great. The Cameusa connector trail was its name. It was a pretty brutal uphill that seemed to keep going up and up, getting steeper and steeper. The trail guide claimed 2 miles but it was closer to three. Once I got to the connector trail it was all singletrack from there. It had a little of everything that makes mountain biking fun, tight twisty singletrack that just flows and flows with downhills and uphills mixed in for technical and aerobic challenges. I was once again in heaven. This may have been the best trail I have ever ridden!

Santa Barbara was a place that if Sharon and I could afford it (which we probably never will) would love to call home. It had it all, sunny warm weather, mountains and beaches. It had abundant culture, great restaurants and beautiful aesthetics. The brewpub in town however turned out to be average, the beer was alright but nothing spectacular. And we never made it to a dogpark 🙁

Santa Ynez was quaint small town with a lot of personality. We ate a good yet very overpriced Italian place and got a good, yet once again, over priced beer brewed by Firestone. I guess they did not already have enough money they decided to produce beer also. Their double pale ale is a good beer though. We were disappointed because we could not locate the Cold Spring Tavern that night.

NOTE: Either carry a map or reference one before you explore a place you have never been.

Rancho Oso was a great Thousand Trails Preserve that was very apparent the staff there took great pride in keeping nice. If in the area it is a must go-to-preserve.