MONDAY & TUESDAY, JULY 13 & 14

ONDAY & TUESDAY, JULY 13 & 14:

      Left Santee around 10:30. Stopped at Rachel's to deliver a backpack she'd left. Then up I-5 to Alhambra & Atherton, where I'd made arrangements to pick up Mother's TV. Most of the time traffic wasn't too bad, the notable exceptions being where they were doing construction work. Down to 2 lanes. Ugh. And with no A/C in the truck, was pretty uncomfortable. By the time we got the TV loaded, we were dying of thirst. I went across the street to Wendy's and got us both a burger and a BIG iced drink while Bill maneuvered getting the RV turned in the right direction. How many times have I been in this Wendy's? Now it really is closure.

       So around 3:00 we got on I-10 headed west, and shortly thereafter to the 101, which will take us all the way to Santa Barbara. The famous (or infamous) Calif Hwy101 . . . going thru part of downtown L.A., with exits for Hollywood, Sunset Blvd, Mulholland Drive, Echo Park . . . all my old haunts. While I was reminiscing and pointing out landmarks and actually kind of enjoying some of the great views of Los Angeles, poor Bill was needing every fiber of concentration to manage the RV in thick downtown traffic, with narrow lanes, lanes merging, other freeways merging. Thank God, not rush hour yet. And thank God that Bill is as calm and steady as he is during times like this.

        After an hour-and-a-half or so, we finally emerged from our long national (well, personal) nightmare – navigating the 101 pulling a 36-foot RV in 90 degree temps with no A/C thru Los Angeles/San Fernando Valley. Continued up the 101 towards Ventura, and then an easy, lovely drive along the coast to Santa Barbara.

       The campground I'd booked isn't in Santa Barbara proper. It's at Lake Cachuma, which is a large recreation area northwest of Santa Barbara, in the Santa Ynez Valley. There didn't seem to be anything too desirable and reasonably priced in SB itself, and this place had great reviews. However, I didn't realize that it was 20 miles on a 2-lane highway with long grades to Lake Cachuma. So once again, stress time for Bill. There were long stretches of 7% grades, which really tested the new engine power. Warning noises & lights were going off like a light display. We had to pull over 2 times to let the transmission fluid temp decrease. Bill said that this road was actually the hardest on the engine/transmission we'd ever experienced – worse than anything in Alaska, Canada, Montana! Right here in Southern California! Simply because the grades were steeper and longer. He said that he didn't know how last year's truck would have made it. But we arrived safely and without incident. Once again, God's angels protected & guided us.

         Then, had somewhat of a challenge getting set up. The motor on one of the jacks isn't working right . . . so Bill had to wrangle with that for 30 minutes. All the while not daring to turn off the engine . . . nothing like the purr (roar) of a Diesel engine in the background. Whew – what a day! By 7:30, all was well. We were settled in, took a short walk around to get oriented, and each had a couple of glasses of wine. No dinner – just wine! Early to bed.

         On Tuesday, we just took it easy and unwound. Like a lot of places that are challenging to get to, once you've arrived, it's all worth it. This is a lovely place – nestled in the Santa Ynez Valley, just north and east of the Santa Ynez Mountains, which serve as the backdrop to Santa Barbara. It's a very large (6,600 acres) county-run recreation area, surrrounded by its namesake Cachuma Lake. The lake itself was formed back in the 1950's w hen they built the dam for agricultural irrigation purposes, and it quickly became a recreation area. In the last few years, because of the drought here, its water level has fallen dramatically – this year, the lake is at only at 26% of its normal capacity. And all of the water now in it is spoken for – by agriculture and the Santa Barbara area population for its water supply. So naturally, the folks here, like most Californians, are praying for an El Nino season this winter. Regardless, people still come here to fish and boat and relax. Not many campers here now, during the week, as evidenced by the fact that an employee told us we could have our choice of lots of sites. But I'm sure it will fill up on the weekend. A very peaceful, rustic atmosphere, with typical Central Coast chaparral and live oak vegetation. Quite lovely. 

 

 

                                     

 

 

   

         A beautiful day. Ate a late breakfast outside after a long walk, during which we talked a little to the naturalist here – a very nice woman. They also have a small Nature Center here, which has some exhibits on the natural and human history of this area.

As we breakfasted, colorful blue jays weren't shy about coming near us looking for crumbs.

                                                          

Later, I plotted myself in a Jonathan chair underneath the shade for most of the afternoon. A cool breeze made the temperture perfect. Bill stayed inside. We both just rested and napped. Took another long walk in the late afternoon.

        Started a fire in our fire ring and grilled hot dogs for dinner. Ate outside, but with the breeze picking up, needed a jacket!