Clamming

Well this weather is absolutely incredible for clamming.  Sunny and warm even at 6:30am.  All four of us walked to the beach, dug our 15 clams each and walked back to the park all in one and a half hours.  Amazing ! ! !  Last time we came here was a couple years ago and it was raining sideways.  I didn't even get out of the RV. This is sooooo much better!!!  81 degrees this afternoon.

Dressed and ready to go... Found out that this was way to many clothes.  Tomorrow will not include the waders, only boots. That is, unless the temperature drops ! !   LOL

As you can see, we are practically the only ones on this beach!!! This is Charlie and Joanne.

Today

Nice to be all settled into the Long Beach Thousand Trails Park.  It is actually in Seaview, Washington.  They tell us that 25 rigs will be coming in today. Yesterday the park looked about half empty.  Guess everyone knows that it is clamming season ! !  The park tells us that they got ten inches of rain last month.  You can really see it in all the standing water.  The path to the beach is still a bit wet but didn't stop me from walking in my flip flops !!  LOL

 Looks like clams need a different kind of beach and sand

Charlie and Joanne should be here soon.  Still have our car parked in the space behind us. Hope we don't get kicked out before they get here!  LOL

Here We Go Again ! !

Came home early from the desert so that I could have my surgery for hearing. I had the abutment implanted on 2/22/16 for a PONTO Bone Anchored Hearing System. Since I don't have a middle ear this is the new, high-tech solution. Since I have never been able to hear out of my left ear due to long time infections in childhood, it is quite the miracle.  I will get the sound processor on 5/24/16. Looking forward to it ! !  Scary but exciting ! ! 

Soooo, today is our first trip away since surgery and hoping to take up some time before we leave in June as Tail Gunners for a 60 day Alaska trip with Fantasy RV Tours. 

Ready to go! !

We drove up I-5 to Longview, then to Highway 30, then to 101.  Then you face the Astoria Bridge. It towers over the city of Astoria and I also couldn't believe that it is over four miles long. The ships in the Columbia River are huge !

Arrived at the Thousand Trails Long Beach Resort.  It is really in the town of Seaview on the Long Beach Peninsula.  Tomorrow Charlie and Joanne will be here and the clams will not be safe ! ! 

On the Road Again ! !

After nine days in Pio Pico it was time to leave today... 

Ken installed another Wilson antenna so we had a little bit better service... Some texting and some email but no phone.  Could use the smart phone for the internet stuff but not the computer. Interesting.  The local Verizon store told us it is all because of the county and local developers, apparently no one wants to pay for the tower. There is also a new Indian Casino going in in Jamul which might make a difference.  Weird ! ! !  Except that the park is very rural. (Coyotes and Border Patrol all over the hills.) Then, we had more electrical problems in this park than we have ever had ! ! !  BUT, they were very responsive, even when it was five or more times in one day.  Never again we will park at the end of the electrical line, C-20.  Was great to have Doug & Becky there as well as Joe & Carol.  Always nice to have friends around.  On Saturday the 6th my niece Darcy & her husband Troy came out for a visit.  Was great to have company.  The next day one of my other nieces Becky and her husband Johnny and the girls, Chole and Lyla came out as well as my brother Joe and his wife Celeste.  Was great to see them all.  They brought out salmon and tuna and we showed them all how to pressure can it.  Was a great afternoon ! ! Usually we go to all their houses but this time it was out to Jamul for all of them! 

Johnny, Becky, Celeste and Joe

Sweet Lyla

On Monday the 8th we drove up to Escondido to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and met my high school friends Linda and Betty.  Linda had lived in Albany but moved to Lake Elsinore this past year. Betty lives in Portland. Was great to see them again and catch up a bit.  Linda had passes for all of us so that made it even better. Last time I was at Safari Park it was still called the Wild Animal Park and it was very disappointing. Was kind of run down.  NOW, it was wonderful again.  We took the train.....

and then walked around the exhibits. Was really a great place again ! ! They are successfully breeding a lot of endangered species..  Very interesting..

Two year olds in training !

Our last activity was "going to the top of the mountain" behind Pio Pico.  Have been talking about doing it for years but you need a four wheel drive or SUV. We also thought that we could just walk up.  Well, Doug and Becky talked us into going with them.  It took a half hour to drive up the hill.  Oh my.  I could not look out for most of the trip. One lane dirt, rutted road. It was WAY up in the hills but OMG when we got there the views were absolutely incredible.  You could see Tecate, Tijuana and clear to the ocean in San Diego as well as way north and east into more beautiful mountains.

 Otay Lakes in the foreground and the ocean way out there.  Hard to see but was amazing there.

From here we went to Ramona to the Ramona Cafe as Diners, Drive-ins & Dives had visited and recently aired the segment.  The food was fabulous and the cinnamon rolls were as promised.  

Today was the drive to Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield.  Love getting the fresh oranges that they offer for you to pick yourself.  However, getting through Riverside was not fun ~ ~  per our GPS it took an extra 20 minutes and it was just traffic, a real mess.  Glad we were not in any hurry.  

Tomorrow off to Tracy Elks where we will stay for the night and drive the car over to visit with Corey and Angela in Livermore for the afternoon, evening ! ! !  Also, pick up our mail.  First time to try the temporary mail forwarding option.  Seems like it is perfect.  Will see if our mail get rerouted home as requested.  

Last day in Palm Desert

Last happy hour in Palm Desert with Dorothy & George and Sharon & Jim.  Will miss this place and the people here.  Can't believe that our month is already over.

Heading to Pio Pico in Jamul tomorrow morning.  The text, Internet and phone service is pretty much non-existent there.  Will probably only have service when we go to "town", about six miles away.  Excited to get to visit with my nieces and their families as well as my brother while we are there.  Will be teaching them how to can fish this weekend.  Fun times ahead.  Heading home on the 12th as I found out yesterday that my pre-op stuff was fine and so my surgery is a go on the 22nd.  Short snow bird season this year ! !   LOL, hopefully it will all be worth it.  

Beautiful ! !

The sky is absolutely beautiful tonight ! !   We are moving on Wednesday to Pio Pico in Jamul, San Diego County.  Sorry to leave here but excited to see my brother and nieces.  

Sunnylands Center & Gardens

Ken isn't feeling well today so I went with our Canadian friends George and Dorothy for a visit to Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage.  Have never heard of this place before today but it certainly appears to be a very important place to many of our Presidents since Richard Nixon.  Walter and Leonore Annenberg built this 200 acre estate and historic home as a retreat, not only for themselves but for world leaders.  Many a US President visited here and did business while also enjoying some down time on the golf course.  It is said that the Reagan's attended about 18 New Year's Eve Parties here.  The Annenberg's established the Annenberg Foundation Trust to "address serious issues facing the nation and the world community." Lots of bipartisan meetings have taken place here over the years with a much less structured format than would occur in Washington.  President Obama was here about a year and a half ago when he met at Sunnylands with Chinese President Peng and some important things were discussed.  

Hard to tell, but these river rocks are covered in water that is recycling on both sides.  It is totally full of water.

This little hummingbird sat there for a long time while Dorothy and I took it's picture.  


Beautiful gardens and free to boot ! ! 


On the way back to Thousand Trails we decided to stop at the In N Out Burger joint...  Oh my, never have I seen it so busy.  There must have been 20 people working, shoulder to shoulder, behind the counter and maybe a hundred customers in the store.  Two buses had just stopped in after we ordered.  Next door is Carl's Jr and Del Taco.  They are empty and people are using their parking lots...  Sad for them.  We parked a block down the street and walked back. Couldn't park in the other stores lots..  Just couldn't. LOL........ Good burgers ! !