Historic Clairmont with Don & Diane

Sept 25^th

A nice quiet morning, we cleaned the coach and got ready for company. Don and Diane arrived about 10:30 AM from their home in La Puente, about a half hour away. We haven’t seen them since our RV adventures two years ago but it was like we hadn’t even been apart. What great friends!! We visited here at the coach for an hour then spent some time planning today’s visit and things to do next week.

Diane Don and Tina

Once we had a plan it was time to head for lunch. With Don driving and me riding shotgun we headed for the small college town of Claremont about eight miles away. They knew of a great little restaurant called “Kick Back Jack” with great food. We got there and the wait was only fifteen minutes so we were seated pretty quickly. The food was outstanding!!

Downtown Claremont

The Captain and his Admiral

Leaving the restaurant we drove into the heart of Clarement, a small town best known for its tree-lined streets, historic buildings, and college campuses like Pamona College and the Claremont McKenna College renowned for international relations, studies in political science and the Kravis leadership institute. We parked in the Village by the Pamona College and walked (shopped) our way around town eventually ending up at the historic train depot.

Trackside view of Historic Claremont Depot

Going my way?

The depot, originally a wooden structure build in 1887 along the railroad tracks where Claremont began as a townsite on the Santa Fe Railroad route into California. The current building was built in 1927 to replace the old wood Victorain station. In 1967, the Santa Fe closed the Depot and it remained vacant until 1990, when the City of Claremont purchased the building and restored it to its 1920s splendor to serve as a transit center for Metrolink commuter trains and a regional bus system.

Bike Station Claremont

One of the neat features at the depot is a “Bike Station’. This is a secure facility for indoor bicycle parking, 24 hours a day, seven days a week with 78 bicycle racks, a restroom and changing room, a repair stand and tools for self-repair, and retail accessory sales. Valet repair service and bike rentals are available through an operating partnership with JAX Bicycle Center, located across the street. The Bike Station is funded through a membership arrangement with options ranging from daily to annual plans.

Summer House in Claremont

Leaving town we passed the “Summer House”, Claremont¹s only full-scale, classic Queen Anne Victorian home. Built in 1887, it is marked by three gables, bays, sun rooms, excellent wood ornamentation in fish scale and diamond shingle patterns, and horizontal and vertical clapboard siding. The home of one of the founders of Pomona College, the paint is close to the original colors.

Heading north we thought we’d drive to Mt Baldy but with no map and very poor roadside rout markings we spent half an hour driving around before giving up and heading back to the coach, leaving Mt Baldy for tomorrows adventure.

Back at the coach we grabbed one of the picnic tables from an empty site and moved it to our site so we could sit outside and visit. We watched the dogs run around and roll in the grass and talked about going to the LA County Fair and a demolition derby – lot’s of fun coming up.

After Don and Diane left about 5:00 PM, Tina went and did some research on the Fair and we ordered tickets for the Demolition Derby Thursday evening. We had leftovers from lunch for dinner – heh, heh – and spent the rest of the evening relaxing, doing the blog and uploading the photos.

To see all our photos, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski

Long Beach with Joe and Marsha

Sept 24^th

Today we were up early so we could get to our appointment with Advance Auto Glass in Ontario. They were going to replace the windshield that was cracked in Burlington as we were starting our trip. Surprisingly, after we noticed it and got advice on how to deal with it, the crack grew about eight inches on the way from Burlington to Lakewood. 

Tina put a black ink mark at the end of the crack when we were at her mothers. The crack only grew another three inches while we drove from Lakewood to San Dimas but we didn’t want to run the risk of having a serious problem with all the rough roads we still had to travel.

With directions in hand we prepared the rig for travel, pulled out of our site, towed the dolly over to our new site and dropped it off then with me in the lead and Tina following in the car we headed for I-10 E. I had googled the directions a couple of days ago but in double checking them last night, I got a slightly different location and directions. 

Twelve miles east on I-10 we exited the freeway and were quickly on the road Advance was located on. Except, they weren’t there and we were at a construction dead end. Tina called the place and it turns out the first set of directions was correct. Go figure. Fortunately it was easy to turn the coach around and get back on I-10 for the correct exit.

Getting off the freeway again, we got on the correct street again and drove to the shop entrance. Only the shop was located in a big ”Travel Center” diesel stop. Luckily, the shop tech came and got us and showed us where to go and park the rig. Once the paperwork was handled, I called my buddy Joe Ganem and gave him an update on our schedule.

We left Ontario heading west on I-10, picked up the I-605 S, the I-105 W and the I-710 S pulling in to Long Beach in about 55 minutes, meeting Joe in front of their place. He took us around to the underground parking area and then showed us around their new condo. Very nice, right on the corner of 4^th and Long Beach Blvd. We visited with Joe and Marsha for a half hour then headed out to a new Mexican Restaurant they found over in Marina Pacifica called Enriques Mexican Restaurant. 

The food was really good and Joe introduced me to Ceviche (http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/ceviche/), an appetizer made with fresh snapper and shrimp that has been marinated in lemon and lime juice and tossed with diced tomatoes, onions and cilantro. This was topped with a Habanero dipping sauce from a separate small dish. Ummmm, ummm, ummm – so good with a real in your face kick!

After lunch we sat there and visited for a while before heading over to Belmont Park to do a little shopping and strolling through all the small shops lining the street. All too soon it was time for us to head back to Ontarion to pick up the coach and return to Eastshore RV Park. The trip back wasn’t near as quick, but we managed to get to Advance Auto Glass by 4:30 PM, checked out and got back to the park and in our new site by 5:30 PM. 

A very good day but no photos - everybody forgot their cameras. We’re going to try and get together later in the week so we’ll have another opportunity.

Buellton to San Dimas

Sept 23^rd

Since we had a relatively short driving day we took our time over breakfast, walking the dogs , etc., but by 9:30 we were able to get everything stowed and ready for the road.

Pulling out of Flying Flags we got on Hwy 101 south and cruised on down out of the hills to the ocean at Gaviota Beach. From Gaviota Hwy 101 runs along the Pacific through Santa Barbara, Carpinteria and on to Ventura/Oxnard where 101 moves inland through Camarillo and over the coast hills into Thousand Oaks and on into the San Fernando Valley. From there we picked up CA-134, the Glendale/Pasadena Fwy and then on to I-210 E. Just past Glendora we got on CA-57 S and onto I-10 E for a couple of miles getting off the freeway at exit 44, Fairplex Ave. 

On our pad at Eastshore RV Park

From our exit it was only a couple of miles up into the hills to Bonelli Regional Park and the Eastshore RV Park (www.eastshorervpark.com). Since we were a day early we got a site for one night and set up the coach, walked the dogs and kicked back after the drive which turned out to be a little more stressful than expected due to the volumes of traffic, all the fwy construction and the speed everybody drives.

Looking out over Puddingstone Reservoir

After dinner we took the kids for a walk around the section of park we’re in. It’s a really nice facility with grass everywhere and paved pads. The pool is right next to our site and the section we’re in is perched high above the Puddingstone Reservoir with great vistas in several directions.

Distance traveled today, 165 miles. Total for the trip so far, 1,411 miles.

Only a couple of photos today. To see them, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski

Solvang

Sept 22^nd

A beautiful day in the Santa Ynez area. A short report today.

Starting our day in Solvang

After a lazy morning we headed for Solvang about 10:30 AM to explore the town. We’ve actually been to Solvang twice before plus I was here with my buddy Don to do the Solvang Century. It is a cute little town much like Leavenworth with a Danish theme to the architecture. But much like Carmel, the business district is about 8 blocks long by 4 blocks wide surrounded by residential areas.

Flowers, trees and unique spaces for shops

One other feature is that the town has lots of different types of shopping areas with courtyards and small alleys, lots of public areas where people sit and visit and a beautiful central park and bandstand in the center of town. The city has put a lot of flowers and trees all over town in pots, planter boxes and dedicated gardens with public art and fountains. Walking is easy from any of four public parking areas and there is plenty of on street parking, though it disappears fast.

Greenhouse Restaurant

We stopped at the Greenhouse Restaurant for lunch (http://www.greenhousesolvang.com/). Tina had an open face meatball sandwich, sliced Danish pork meatballs topped with pickled cucumbers and red cabbage. I had a Nordic Burger, a Danish pork burger with carmelized onions,and swiss cheese on a grilled onion bun and fries. Both were excellent as was the service.

A public courtyard and fountain surrounded by shops

After lunch we continued our walkabout and by 3:00 PM called it a day and returned to camp for a dip in the pool.

To see all our photos, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski

Carmel to Buellton

Sept 21^st

Getting ready to come down the hill

Up at 7:00 to walk the dogs and have breakfast. With all our morning chores done and the rig prepped for travel, we moved the car out of the way and pulled the tow dolly (by hand) down next to us ready for hookup. After getting everything ready we disconnected the cable, water and shore power, started the engine, brought in the slides and pulled up the jacks. When all the gauges showed correctly we pulled out of our site and connected the tow dolly and headed out for the bridge with Tina leading in the car.

This is where we passed the horse trailer

Set up for the crossing with Wicket in the window

Whew! Made it! There's about 9" from the tire to the curb

She made several stops to take photos of the rig coming down the hill where we passed the horse trailer and then crossing the bridge. Once across the bridge we pulled over to put the car on the trailer. With a final check of all connections we headed for Hwy 1 and the drive to Salinas where we stopped for diesel before getting on Hwy 101 for the drive to Buellton.

We were on the road about 9:00 and the 196 mile drive down Hwy 101 was pretty uneventful except for one second where we were passed by a big semi while on a bridge that was being widened. The problem was that we were both doing over 50mph, the bridge had been narrowed with Jersey barriers to protect the workers and we were on a slight curve. By the time I realized he was next to me there was only about 15” separating us and our mirrors only missed by about 9 inches. Fortunately it was over before I had time for my adrenaline to kick in.

We pulled in at a rest a stop just north of Paso Robles, walked the dogs and fixed lunch to eat on the road. From there it was a straight shot to Exit 140 and the Flying Flags RV Resort in Buellton. Unfortunately, I had written the directions wrong and so we ended up down a narrow road and had to turn around in the parking lot of an industrial business. Fortunately we made it and got back to where we should have been.

Pulling in to the resort, we registered and got out to our spot. With the rig set up and connected to power, water and cable, we changed clothes and went for a swim in the pool. We took our books and after a final dip in the hot tub, we grabbed a couple of loungers and read for half an hour.

On our pad at Flying Flags RV Resort

Getting back to the coach, our neighbor mentioned a Farmers Market in Solvang. So we changed again, grabbed the dogs and their leashes and made the four mile trek to Solvang. Tina parked near the event and we walked less than a block to the entrance. There was lots of really good looking produce, fruit and plants but I was asked to leave – the dogs aren’t allowed by health dept rules. So I waited with the dogs until Tina returned and we headed back empty handed.

With dinner over we took the kids for a long walk around the park looking at all the different units. Once back I finished the dishes and gave the dogs a bath. With me washing and Tina drying it took no time at all to turn them into cute, fluffy balls of fur. That’s about it for today. Tomorrow we’ll spend time in Solvang.

Miles driven today, 216. Total the trip so far, 1,246.

To see all our photos, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolansdki