We left the Flying J early Thursday morning and headed north
of Bakersfield, passing through farm lands producing a variety of crops. There
were almond and pistachio trees, and orange trees, of course. Unfortunately, there was
also the smell of chemicals in the air due to the pesticides that were being
used. I could even taste them. It made me even more determined to try my best
to eat only organic!
We drove by acres and acres of vineyards, and before we
reached Paso Robles, Larry passed a sign that said “Estrella Adobe Church.” We
took a back road that allowed us a closer look at the farms and vineyards that
dotted the countryside, and finally reached the tiny church which was built by settlers
in 1879.
We wandered through the adjoining cemetery with lots of crumbling headstones.
There was an adjoining vineyard,
We got back on the road in the direction of the San Miguel
Arcangel mission. It was built in 1797
and was simply beautiful. A lot of reconstruction was being done, but I was
glad to see that the plaster was still crumbling in places.
I love old doors...
I wasn't trying to do this, but I got Jumbo in this shot through the Mission arch.
Once again, there
was an old cemetery on the grounds to explore...
I was
also fortunate to come upon a little lizard who posed nicely for me.
The stairs leading up to the bell tower. There was an iron gate, so that I couldn't walk up if I wanted to!
Time to leave...
Our next stop was the mission in Soledad. On the way...
Jumbo passed under a drive-through tree...
The Mission- It wasn’t as
impressive as San Miguel, but was very peaceful and soothing.
There were some
lovely lemon trees in the garden, and I was tempted to pick one, but there were
signs here and there warning us that cameras were watching us. I wouldn’t want
to be arrested for lemon-lifting at a mission, of all places!
On to Salinas! Our plan was to spend the night at the Pilot
Travel Center in town, but when we got there, it was so tiny that we couldn’t
even find a place to park Jumbo temporarily, let alone overnight. And I was a
little bothered by the fact that people were fishing food out of the garbage cans.
Obviously, this happens everywhere, but we thought it best if we find another
place to stay. At this point I was getting a little stressed out. I so like to
have these things planned in advance. We were able to get online in the Pilot
parking lot, and Larry found Laguna Seca Recreation area on the
Salinas-Monterey Highway. It allowed RV parking for $35 a night, so we decided
to check it out. When we turned into the driveway, we immediately saw that
there was a steep incline that Jumbo would have to maneuver. I was following
along behind and expected Larry to pull over and give up at any moment, but he
kept chugging along, and we made it to the campground at the top. Larry was a
bit shaky, but managed to park Jumbo in a nice spot and drove my car back down
to register and pay. We decided to stay three nights. Three whole nights with
showers! This was truly paradise. And the view is amazing. Larry was especially
excited about the Raceway which is located here. Apparently it’s pretty famous,
but I was more impressed by the showers!
We wasted no time in hopping in the car and heading for
Monterey. It was only seven miles away. I couldn’t believe that we were
actually going to see the saltwater! We stopped first at the Visitor’s Center
where I loaded up with info, and then made our way to Municipal Wharf.
We
walked along the wharf and then went down to the beach. Duchess loved it!
Duchess was pretty depressed when we had to leave! We stopped at a store for some
wine & beer and a chunk of cheese, and took our place in the extremely long
line of cars headed back toward Salinas.
When we arrived back “home,” Larry hooked up the electricity
and we both headed for the showers. I got back to Jumbo just in time for
Jeopardy. We were so exhausted and in an incredible amount of pain, that we
were happy just to sit and do nothing for a while. Unfortunately, the closer I
am to the coast, the more my arthritis is aggravated. It was so lovely when we
were in Arizona. I could actually walk around pretty much pain-free, but here –
not so much! And we have a lot of coastline to navigate our way through. I’m
remembering now what I felt like when I lived in Everett. It’s worth it, though. I just need to stock
up on Aleve, and maybe invest in a cane!
The sunset from our campsite...
Tomorrow we’re going to drive into Salinas and visit the
Steinbeck Center.
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