Monterey Bay Area

We spent the past week in the Monterey Bay area.  We stayed at the Santa Cruz/Monterey KOA and despite the campground's Tengointernet WiFi and Verizon Wireless's coverage map indicating 4G wireless & data coverage, we had no internet or cell phone service.  So we got out and decided to see the sights.

Monterey was our first stop.  And it was just that - a stop.  We weren't allowed to park our truck in Monterey, so we moved along to Pebble Beach and it's 17-Mile Drive amongst its beaches and golf courses.  The first two pictures are from views along the 17-Mile Drive (on our second visit).

Second stop was the Pacific Coast Highway and Big Sur.  Beautiful drive, but no camera!  Didn't matter as the views were somewhat muted due to the fog.  I had expected Big Sur to be something similar to Malibu.  What we found was an area similar to Yosemite.  You're back inland among redwoods at Big Sur.  We'll go back there when Terry and Forest fly out for a visit.

The next trip out was up to Santa Cruz.  It was Sunday afternoon, and we found Santa Cruz crowded.  So we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway a little ways to Davenport, then inland to Big Basin Redwoods State Park and a great walk under the redwoods there (bottom picture).

We couldn't leave without pictures of Pebble Beach, so Monday was a picnic lunch and a leisurely drive along the 17-Mile Drive again.  However, this time we stopped and shopped.  We'll do this again, too, when Terry & Forest come out.

We eventually found a spot at the back of the KOA campground where we could make a phone call.  We also found Aptos Street BBQ in Aptos, CA.  Another great hole-in-the-wall BBQ restaurant that really looks like an abandoned building from the outside.  Worth the hassle of trying to find if you're in the area.

We left the area Wednesday, and we're now sitting just outside Vacaville, CA.  We here to pick up extra parts for our refrigerator door, wait for the rain to pass, and checkout the Famcamp at Travis AFB.  The Military Campground Listing noted some issues going through the gate at Travis with a long motor home with car-in-tow, so we drove over today to see if we'd have a problem and shop at the commissary.  Gate entrance looked fine for our rig and the commissary is huge.  So we're now loaded with groceries.  And Donna's found a Curves, so she's a happy camper.  And we can at least make phone calls from the trailer here though this campground has Tengointernet, and it's just as useless as it was at the Santa Cruz KOA.

Upcoming schedule:  Move Sunday to Chico, CA to have the computer running the fuel transfer from our second fuel tank checked out, have the truck serviced, and visit with another NPS volunteer who worked at Voyaguers NP last year.  If all goes well with the truck, we'll go to the Redding area the following week and see if enough snow has melted so we can visit Mt Lassen Volcanic National Park.  At least that's the plan...until it changes.  Later, David