Dog Daze

01 November 2018
We are now in San Diego. If you want to look it up on Google Maps, the apartment is on the corner of Jewell Street and La Playa Avenue. Today is the first day of our second dog sit; this time we are looking after Bonnie who is a bit of a scaredy dog. The first dog sit was with a big Belgian Malinois, Coke (not sure if he was named after the drink or the white powder!), who wasn’t fazed by anything as long as he had a ball to chase.

Let’s see what we’ve been up to and where we’ve been. The last blog was at the start of our fortnight with Coke in Morro Bay. We fell in love with Morro Bay. Then we fell in love with Cayucos the next town north. And with Cambria a few miles further north. Avila Beach is south of Morro Bay and we fell in love with that too. This whole coastline is just brilliant. The sun has been shining from dawn to dusk, the beaches are huge and deserted, the pace of life is relaxed.

The two weeks whizzed by. It made a change to be able to have a shower without worrying about using all the water, boil water in an electric kettle, and have a comfy sofa to relax on. Coke was a really easy dog to look after. We weren’t introduced so our first meeting was when we opened the front door armed with some dog treats and a pillow. That did the trick – you can’t fail with treats. And a pillow fight is the perfect way to meet a hulking great dog. It took a couple of days to become comfortable with each other but once he realised that he was getting regular food and walks, and he could sleep on the bed, he was fine. The local dog beach was a perfect place for the evening walk – we could watch the sun set into the Pacific while Coke tired himself out fetching his ball from the surf.

The drive down to San Diego was probably the most stressful drive of the trip. We stopped in Santa Barbara (fell in love with it) until evening in the vain hope that all the commuters would be at home and we’d have the freeway to ourselves. No such luck. It was heaving with nutters who wanted to drive in all 5 lanes. I just sat in lane 2 and let them sort themselves out which seemed to work fine. It took us 4 hours to get through the worst of LA; by the time we arrived at our campground (actually a Freeway rest Area!) we were wiped out and fell asleep within minutes.

Did I mention that I took part in a race? It was billed as a “fun run” but, as you know, I shun fun. I was mentally prepared to elbow my way to the front and stay there by attacking anyone in fancy dress or ushing a stroller. When I got to the village that was hosting the race and car show there were loads of tanned, fit looking young uns with impossibly shiny teeth. This was not going to be fun and I revised my expectations downwards. It was a great little 4 mile event. I finished 17th (out of 96) and won a badge for being 3rd in my age group. That’s two prizes to take home now.

And so the photographs

Morro Bay – famous for its volcanic rock and the three chimneys from the decommisioned power station. There were also sea otters and pelicans, elephant seals a bit further north, and, of course, a skate board museum with the world’s second biggest skateboard.

The scarecrow festival in Cambria

The race and car show in Bayside/Los Osos

And finally, a couple of shots of Santa Barbara

Until next time, be good.

A Word From The Wise

17 November 2018

Deb here – doing a guest appearance on the blog to give you my customary warts and all summary of the trip so far …(Get ready America!).

However before I give you the truth about living with Andrew in a small tin box for the last 7 months, I’ll do an update on the last few weeks.

We did a quick dash from Morrow bay down to San Diego with an evening drive through the madness of Los Angeles traffic. By then it was dark and we didn’t see a thing, but from what I can gather, we didn’t miss much.

We spent 7 days in San Diego dog sitting in a great apartment with swimming pools, gyms and tennis courts (none of which I used of course as that was all a bit active). The dog was the lowest maintenance pet you can get as it was so nervous the poor thing could barely leave the flat, so long walks were out of the question. I did get my fill of snuggles on the sofa though (with the dog, not Andrew ).

Captain Andrew finally got his first sailing lesson and has decided he was a seafaring adventurer in a previous life. I sat in a deck chair and waved supportively from the beach.

Both of us loved San Diego as a city as it seemed to have it all, beaches, boats, millionaires, shopping, artsy fartsy stuff and airplanes. We took a tour around an aircraft carrier and Andrew has decided to release his inner Top Gun and retrain as a fighter pilot. (If he joins the navy he can combine it with his inner Captain Pugwash).

From there we moved on to Joshua Tree National park (Via Palm springs) and the desert country. The Joshua tree is a type of Yucca that the Mormon settlers thought looked like Joshua pointing the way to paradise. As you can see in the pictures the branches point in every direction so Joshua must have failed geography in a big way. I didn’t expect to like desert scenery but it was amazingly beautiful.

In contrast our next stop was Las Vegas and true madness on a spectacular scale. The Casinos are so vast that we couldn’t find our way out of Caesars Palace and Andrew contemplated decking a security guard just to get us thrown out! We camped on a car park behind the Paris hotel right on the strip, and fully expected to get murdered or at least kept awake all night but it was an amazingly good nights sleep and only cost $12. We only lasted one day before we were over stimulated and needed a quiet corner for a lie down.

We moved on to marvel at Hoover Dam and Lake Mead before heading on to our next 2 centred dog sit in Phoenix and Flagstaff Arizona.

Now for my honest summary of the last seven months:

Living with Andrew in a small space has not been bad at all! We have both learnt to keep some of our thoughts to ourselves as there is nowhere to go in a sulk and the other one might drive off without you.

America is a fantastic country and a year is not enough to see it all.

The Americans are wonderfully warm, positive and enthusiastic people (New Yorkers excepted) and unlike the rest of the world, they like the British.

Things we have learnt:

100 miles is not that far
You don’t need to wash everyday or change your clothes that often
You don’t need that many clothes
Hells Angels are very good and enthusiastic wavers
Goats are great but its hard to get excited about a chicken.
When you think your pets pine for you when you go away – they really don’t (neither do your children)
Americans like really big hair and collecting rocks.
The British would be a different nation if we had better weather.

Biggest disappointments

Pygmy forest in Redwoods national park (they’re just normal trees in amongst some whoppers)
Cheyenne – Wyoming’s capital city
Andrew won’t play board games with me even though I let him rant to me about Brexit
Calamity Jane was a Prostitute and didn’t sing (nor did she marry Buffalo Bill although he was a customer!)
Whole family refused to let me try skateboarding (and I think I’d be brilliant)

Weirdest

Hanksville = Utah (scarily strange scenery and people)
The bakery at Bryce Canyon (no bread and owner was weird as)
Johnson city – Tennessee (worst hairstyles in the whole of America)
Abject poverty living right next door to conspicous wealth.

Things we miss

The twins, the dog (and other family), having a laugh with friends and for me also having a sense of purpose.

That said – I can’t wait for the next 5 months to see what that will bring.
And the photos

The excitement of planes and a big boat was almost too much. USS Midway in San Diego.

El Dia De Las Muertes in the San Diego Old Town

Other San Diego sights

Poor scared Bonnie

Just like home

Desert views in Joshua Tree National Park. From boiling hot one day to bitterly cold the next.

What can I say about Las Vegas? You’ve got to admire them – they decide to do something outrageous and they achieve it. Indoor canals complete with Gondola rides. No problem. Hotels with enormous shopping malls selling the latest designer gear on the first 2 stories are the norm.

The Hoover Dam.

Scotsdale and Phoenix, Arizona

On the back straight

14 December 2018

It’s starting to feel a bit like the beginning of the end. We’ve just passed the 8 month mark which means we a two-thirds of the way through. We recently passed over the Continental Divide, we have scooted through two time zones in the past couple of weeks, and we keep heading east. But the glass is still one-third full and there’s plenty of the USA to see.

Deb left off just as we were starting our Flagstaff dog sit, looking after two elderly dogs who were very low maintenance. Flagstaff had a lot to offer especially the network of urban trails. It was our first taste of really chilly weather – some of the mornings were bitterly cold and the run to jump in the hot tub in the evening was a bit of a challenge.

Being in Flagstaff gave us easy access to Sedona which is one of those towns that is surrounded by breathtaking scenery that looks like a cowboy movie set. The colour of the rocks and the myriad trails that give access to the mountains make it a very popular destination. We managed a couple of memorable hikes up a couple of mountains and got views to die for.

Flagstaff also gave us the opportunity to spend a day in and around the Grand Canyon. We weren’t sure whether we’d make it and I am so glad we did. Boy was it cold though. We travelled around the South Rim and took one hike a couple of thousand feet down for a different perspective. It is almost impossible to describe the scale and grandeur; I am determined to go back and hike to the bottom and camp for a night or two.

I had a haircut in Flagstaff. Normally Deb uses the clippers to tidy up my ever receding curls but this time I let a trainee barber loose and got the best haircut I’ve ever had. All for $5. Bargain. And that meant I looked a million dollars for our Thanksgiving meal at a vegan restaurant in town. I was looking forward to a big turkey dinner but the buffet and the atmosphere in the little family run cafe was really tasty.

After we dropped the dogs back in Phoenix our next stop was Tucson. We decided to camp at a casino on the outskirts of town and, after getting registered, went to look around the city centre. We never found it. I did ask someone and he said there wasn’t one and hadn’t been one for years. Like a lot of cities everything except local admin and commerce has moved out to the sububurbs.

We also managed to run the Tucson parkrun on the Saturday morning and ended up getting volunteer kudos as well.

Saguaro National Park was on the doorstep so we had a day out there. Saguara are the type of cactus that look like there is someone hiding inside. Either that or they look phallic. Check out the photos.

I had a couple of hours to myself while Deb did craft stuff with some driftwood and where better to spend time than looking at aircraft. I was like a kid in a sweetshop. Every size and shape was there.

Next stop was White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns. White Sands is a collection of sand dunes (made of, would you believe, white sand) in the middle of a desert. So white that it looked like snow; in fact some intrepid people were sledging down the dunes. We had a bit of a moment when we saw what we thought was a dead body at the top of one of the dunes. It was only right that we should go and check so we bustled across; just as we got to him, he popped his head up. And so did his girlfriend. Whoops. Sorry.

Before we headed to Carlsbad Caverns we were going to stay the night (free, of course) on an Air Force Base. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for the likes of us and we got and armed escort off the base by a very nice, but heavily armed, young man.

Carlsbad Caverns was a real proper surprise. It was right up there with some of the other wonders we have seen. The “rooms” were like the most ornate cathedrals imaginable with huge Stalactites and Stalagamites formed into gaudy shapes. Truly jaw dropping.

Finally, for this blog, we went to Big Bend National Park in SW Texas, right up against the Mexican Border. This Park is at the end of a long, long road to nowhere and would have been easy to pass by. I’m so glad we didn’t. Another exceptional example of Mother Nature’s ability to produce stunning scenery on a mammoth scale. We did a couple of hikes that took us to heights from which you could see for miles. I wish we could have stayed for a fortnight. As it was the fact that we’d crossed a time zone and lost an hour made our stay a little bit shorter.

Leaving Big Bend we were stopped by the Border Patrol guards at a checkpoint and they noticed that our visas had expired. We ended up being detained for an hour and fingerprinted while they checked the validity of application to extend our visa. All’s well that ends well, but for a while I was a little worried that we may have to make a mad dash for the UK just as the girls were flying to the USA for Christmas.

What’s next? We’ve got another week in Texas before we fly out to New Hampshire for a big family Christmas. And then it’s back to the road trip. We are booked in for some more volunteering on a farm, this time in Louisiana.

Here’s the pics

Flagstaff and the dogs

The Grand Canyon

Lovely Sedona

Tucson

Saguaro

Planes

More planes

A Roadrunner Statue (Las Cruces)

White Sands

Carlsbad Caverns

And finally Big Bend

A Foreign Country

19 January 2019

Hello from Louisiana, deep in the heart of Cajun country which feels like a foreign country in a foreign country. Everything is different down here – the scenery, the people, the history and the culture. Our current billet is on a smallholding near Opelousas and our wonderfully interesting hosts, Jim and Christy, are hugely enthusiastic about Cajun culture; promoting it and preserving it. We have the task of helping them get ready for some Canadian guests who arrive next week to spend a week getting immersed in all things Cajun and we should be able to absorb a good bit of it in between our chores. There are four nights of live bands playing traditional music; these guys are world famous in their genre. We are getting dancing lessons (our teacher doesn’t know that we were chucked out of Salsa school) so we can enter into the spirit. I’ll tell y’all about it next time.

Since the last blog we finished off our time in Texas and then had a fortnight with the family in New Hampshire before jumping back in the RV and heading east into Louisiana.

Our last big stop was San Antonio, a city with deep Mexican/Spanish roots and, of course, famous for The Alamo. We spent a day wandering around the city and were taken with the River Walk which is a canal like system through the heart of the city and is lined with bars and restaurants. There are also Mariachi bands looking for romantic couples ie those that aren’t married or have been married less than five years; we were completely ignored by all of them.

As well as the Alamo, there are other Missions just outside the city along the river and the best way to explore them is to rent bikes and use the cycle-friendly paths. The missions were lovely and the cycling was a doddle; even Deb was finding it easy. Then we turned round and realised that we’d had a strong tail wind. Oh my sweet lord, a headwind, a heavy bike, and rubbish paths on the far side of the river turned the air blue. Deb couldn’t wait to ditch the bike and do a storming off walk until I told her we were 8 miles from the car. We eventually got back and failed to see the funny side. Still can’t see the funny side.

From San Antonio we spent a bit of time in Austin which is famous for its live music scene. Not on a Sunday morning it isn’t. The closest we got was crashing a carol concert in the State Capitol Building. The main reason for us being in Austin was to catch a plane to take us to the frozen north east. We got a great deal on a hotel, 14 days parking and a shuttle to and from the airport for $70. Bargain. We also bagged another state on the way up when we changed planes in Missouri; with Louisiana that makes 27.

And so this is Christmas. Obviously it was a delight to see the girls and spend time with them; it makes me realise how much I’ve missed them (please don’t tell them I said that). The whole two weeks was a family fest with great food and games. Such a change from spending all day every day with She-Who-Is-Always-Right. We got to take part in a couple of Yankee Swaps – OMG the nasty side of the American character comes to the force. Basically a Yankee Swap involves getting a random present (drawn by lots) from under the tree and deciding whether to keep it or swap it for a “better” present. So, just when you think you’re going home with a large bottle of Jack Daniels someone swoops in and swaps it out for a set of BBQ tools. The only person who wasn’t a victim of the good-natured nastiness was Granny. Once she’d got her hands on a Betty’s fruit cake and set her face to “just you dare” mode nobody was even tempted to take the cake from her grasp.

Special mention must go to the lovely Olivia who was born just days after we left New Hampshire at the end of April. What a little sweetie she is. It was nice for me to have someone on the same wavelength to talk to; there are only a select few who can communicate by lip fart.

Another mention to Eleanor and Milly who successfully negotiated planes, trains, and automobiles to guide their Granny safely across the Atlantic. Nice work, girls.

The two weeks zipped by and we had to say goodbye and head back to Austin. A big thanks to Kate and Bill for hosting, for Rebecca for putting up with us on Christmas Day and New Years (Birth)day, and for everybody else for making it a Christmas to remember.

And so we returned to Austin where it was colder than Boston and collected the RV and headed east. On the way to our current destination we had an overnight stop at a Casino/Hotel, arriving well after dark. The next morning we awoke at first light to the sound of frenzied shouting. Looking out of the window, fearing the worst, we realised that the casino had its own racecourse and there were about 60 fit-looking gee-gees being put through their morning gallops. I never realised that some jockeys really scream at their mounts to get maximum effort.

That’s all for now folks; I’ll have more for y’all after we’ve finished here at the Whirlybird.

Here’s the snaps (there’s less sun for this group of pics so the colours are less vivid).