December 28, 2011
We departed Santa Rosa at 7 am to meet Ted and Joan for breakfast in
Petaluma. We were on our way south to Pismo
Beach by 9 am. After smooth sailing
through the San Francisco Bay area down 101, we
stopped for lunch at McPhee’s Grill in Templeton. Arriving at our campsite in Pismo Beach in the early afternoon, we found the section we
would be staying in had just opened up and was sparsely populated. After popping our top and setting up our
chairs, we strolled a short way to the Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove , one of the largest on the west coast. The
weather was warm and we could see the butterflies floating above and amassed on
the branches of the eucalyptus and pine trees.
They overwinter on the west coast from east of the Rocky Mountains. Sadly, their population has decreased
dramatically in the last 20 years.
We walked from the campground to the Pismo Beach Pier along
the beach, about ½ a mile and enjoyed a cold beer and calamari at an ocean
front establishment. The walk back to
the camp was painful for Ted, he’d forged a stream as we walked the beach and
awoke an old injury.
December 29, 2011
We left Pismo about 8:30 for the long drive to Agua Caliente
Hot Springs, little did we know what a journey it would be!
Soon after 9 am, as we were coming down the Gaviota Pass into
Santa Barbara, we received a call from Rob, he had just arrived at our house,
after having been with Jane during the night, when Jane’s caregiver, Joan,
called to let him know that Jane had passed away right after he left.
We pulled off the freeway at El Capitan State Park to
regroup and make a some calls. It was
ironic that we should be just arriving in Santa Barbara, the place Jane had
wanted to spend her last days.
Knowing that everything that could be done, would be done we
continued on our journey. Today would
become known as Jane’s Journey. Before
leaving Northern Santa Barbara we decided to bypass Interstate 5 and Orange
County, having traveled that route so many times, by way of the desert and
Indio. Our thought was that the desert roads
would be straight and wide, rather than the steep windy roads through the San
Diego Mountains. As we crossed the
Inland Empire Mark was surprised to look to his right and see Loma Linda Hospital. Jane had tried to “check in” a few months
prior assuming they’d gladly take her at the hospital where she was born. Sadly, they denied her acceptance. Continuing the journey through the desert we
passed through Palm Springs, a place she spent a lot of time during the first
several years we were married with Burt, the father of Mark’s cousins Kathy and
Kerry. The journey through the desert to
us alongside the Salton Sean and through Ocotillo Wells.
We were greeted at our camp site at about
5:30 by Katie, Mike and Emily. The sun
had set and darkness was quickly approaching.
We think our "shortcut" through the desert added about 2 hours and 100
miles to our drive.
December 30, 2011
Having the long day of driving behind us we awoke to a
glorious desert sunrise. After a
leisurely breakfast, and agreeing not to do a lot of driving we left to explore
the Arroyo Tapiado Mud Caves, a short drive away.
As we
approached the mud caves we made a stop at a HolIywood and Vine sign perched
atop a hill in the middle of what seems like nowhere.
I was surprised to find
that the caves were not what I think of as caves at all, but cracks in the side of
the dirt hills that one can walk into. Some led to rooms where you look up to see the light coming through,
others led to paths that continued on and on.
I didn’t mind crouching over and needing a flash light to continue on,
but drew the line at crawling through on hands and knees. I could have spent a longer time exploring
the caves, but we decided to take one of Joan’s infamous “short cuts” back to
camp.
Actually her desire was that we didn’t have to retrace our path.
Actually her desire was that we didn’t have to retrace our path.
The
road continued through the sandy ravine in the mud cave hills to a point where
we could “climb” out of the ravine. This
was our first serious off road experience in Big White. We only hit the nurf bar once! The drive continued through narrows for what
seemed like miles, eventually bringing us
back to the highway, we arrived back at camp about 3:30, a little late for
lunch.
December 31, 2011
Happy 60th Birthday Mark! Today’s exploration was on paved roads. We drove over the mountain to Borrego
Springs. The highlight of the day was
seeing the sculpture installation at Galleta Meadows.
These life size metal sculptures are all over
Borrego Springs on commissioned and on land owned by the owner of Avery
Labels. The artist currently lives in
Paris, California. A local told us the sculptor is looking for a home to
purchase in Borrego Springs. Back at the
camp for our New Years Celebration, all were in bed long before midnight.
January 1, 2012
Happy New Year!
I awoke at midnight to hear a lot of whooping and hollering
from down the hill from our site, surprisingly calm for all the young people
who were in the camp ground. I awoke
once again at 12:30 when I received a text message saying Happy New Year from
Kaci, and yet again at about 3:00 when I received another text message from
Kaci telling me that her friend, Michelle, had just gotten engaged. Later the same day she sent me a message
saying one friend was about to have a baby, the other engaged and she was just regular. I reminded her that she was wonderfully
regular!
Today's journey took us through Julian, known for its apple
pie, west to the coast and south to Dana Point where family would be meeting us
around 3. Pooling all our resources we
had quite a feast around the campfire.
It was a lovely day at the beach and
Helen and Diana and the family dog enjoyed playing. We celebrated Mark’s Birthday with a carrot
cake baked by Nette.
Our poor neighbors had asked for a quiet spot, only to end
up with a large group next to them for most of the evening!
January 2, 2012
When I first got out of the camper at about 6:30 I thought,
burr this is going to be cold! Once the
sun came up, in the east, which at Dana Point is over the ocean (I lost a bet
on that one) it began to warm up and was very pleasant. Today we visited with Bob and Peggy, drove to Crystal Cove and back to Dana Point
through Laguna Beach, yet another drive
through one of Jane’s favorite places.
The beach and streets of Laguna were packed. The beautiful sunset at Dana Point,
reminded me of my birthday in 2010 when we raised our wine glasses on the beach to
Mom.
January 3, 2012
We had planned to drive directly home today, but felt in
no hurry and decided to drive up the
coast and spend the night in Morro Bay at the State Park.
After stopping for lunch at Refugio State
Park, which is a great campground right on the beach, we arrived at the park just as the sun was
setting.
January 4, 2012
What a glorious morning, so sad not to be able to stay
another day.
We spent about an hour down
on the water front enjoying the lovely morning, while Mark shot pictures before
our voyage back to the bay area.
Upon
arrival home our neighbor, Sarah, brought
us a homemade chicken pot pie. What a
glorious gift! I didn’t have to go to
the store to buy something for dinner.
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