Brad retired

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost

Rapid City, SD

Snowed in at Hart Ranch we made the best of it and at first enjoyed the novelty of the new fallen snow. We visited some of our favorite establishments from our last visit and made a few new friends.

We attended the Nat'l Tattoo Association's annual convention (in Rapid City this year) and of course I got a cool new tattoo!

Tattoo artist Mike Culley from Cheyenne Mountain Tattoo in Colorado Springs, CO.
My 'bear with beer' for my beloved bear Brad.

Sturgis, SD
We made a trip out to Sturgis (about 20 miles from Rapid City) to take a look around but this time of year it's pretty dull. Best thing going was the 'steak tips' at the Loud American Roadhouse, a gigantic place that's packed during the Rally. The 2012 Rally (held the first week in August annually) brought over 700,000 people and sadly there were 9 deaths this year.


Found another Oasis bar!

At last the weather cooperated and we headed out of Rapid City and through the Badlands on our way to Sioux Falls.

A heavy down pour in the distance.

Stopped at the small town of Chamberlain on the Missouri River to stay the night and check in at the local bar. On to Sioux Falls where we explored the downtown a little more.

Turkey vultures galore at this RV park on the river!

Sioux Falls

When we entered Iowa we began to see green again; after all the drab brown of South Dakota it was a welcome sight! The trees were just beginning to bud and the grass went on forever and everyone has riding mowers to keep up their palatial lawns. We stayed in Waukee a suburb of Des Moines and made day trips into the city and surrounding areas. Rv parks became increasingly hard to find the closer we got to big cities.

Des Moines, capitol of Iowa, population 206,599. We sought out and found the 'El Bait Shop', a 70's dive bar and restaurant with an attached beer pub with over 100 beers on tap, mostly craft beers. Had a great time sampling some new beers as well as a few favorites and ate some awesome broasted chicken in the funky diner.

The Des Moines River runs through the city.

The next day we went for a drive to the Mississippi River where we got our first sight of Illinois on the other side. We visited the pretty tourista town Le Claire to see the Antique Archaeology shop from the show American Pickers. It was a little disappointing as mostly they had souvenirs from the show and the shop was small and of course they (the stars) don't actually work there.

We enjoyed the towns along the river but were happy to finally reach our next destination of Elgin, Illinois where we would stay for a couple of weeks while we visited Loretta & Jeremy in Chicago. There are no campgrounds within a 50 mile radius of Chicago (would NOT bring the rig into Chicago anyway!) so we stayed at a wildlife preserve out in Elgin and took the train in.

Now, on to Chicago!

As our daughter Loretta and her boyfriend Jeremy had moved from San Francisco to Chicago last summer it was inevitable that we would make a trip out to see them. Having traveled in the fall as far as Madison, South Dakota we are traveling through some familiar areas again but this time in early spring. (When we left Roseville, CA the temps were in the 70s!)

Salt Lake City, Utah

Sharon with Irene Polidor, Brad's aunt

Uncle Skip & Kurt Young

We had fine weather until the night before we left and then the big storm hit. We followed the storm far enough back that the roads were clear but we traveled through a winter wonderland.
The mountains around Salt Lake after the storm.

We drove by Brad's beloved departed Grandpa Joe's house on St. Mary's Way. Many were the happy times we spent in the house that Grandpa built overlooking the city.

This is of Brad's old apartment from the days when he went to the University of Utah.

In order of appearance; Salt Lake's City Hall, the Capitol, the Temple and the angel Meroni

Ensign Peak overlooking Salt Lake

The Coachman restaurant, Grandpa's favorite eatery for liver & onions.

Finally made our way out of town. Park City's beautiful mountains; just days before people were golfing in shorts!

Headed for Green River, Wyoming where it was a balmy 17 degrees and 30 kts of wind.

The Green River as we headed out for Cheyenne.

Elk Mountain pass elevation around 8000'. Elk Mountain - 11,156' obscured by clouds.

Cheyenne got around a foot and half of snow from the storm. In order of appearance; downtown and the Capitol building, our rig in the snow.

On our way to Rapid City, SD and the National Tattoo Convention, staying at Hart Ranch.

Cool cowboy silhouette.

We're keeping any eye on the weather and plan to be in Chicago by the first week of May.

We had fine weather as we traveled up the coast to our chosen destination of Pacifica, CA. We stopped for lunch on our way through the Salinas valley in the town of Moss Landing to check out 'Phil's Fish Market & Eatery' a local favorite. Best soft shell crab sandwich ever and the fish market was something to behold as well.

Pacifica, CA
The 'San Francisco RV Resort' (in Pacifica) is perched on the (ever eroding) cliffs overlooking the Pacific ocean. The view from the bluff is phenomenal and you can visit San Francisco easily from the BART station a few miles away. We enjoyed our stay but were anxious to get up to Roseville, CA to see friends and our old stomping grounds. We enjoy staying at the Roseville fairgrounds where we can walk down to old town for a pint or two.

Collins Lake
Our good friend Scott Whitaker let us use his boat and we headed up to Collins Lake http://www.collinslake.com/fishing/ for a 10 day stay of early trout fishing. The weather cooperated and we caught some lovely German Browns.

View from the boat of our campsite.

Evenings were spectacular. I wanted to capture the different affects of the setting sun on the water, golden to lavender & so beautiful.

Our son Tom flew down from Auburn, WA for the weekend and was rewarded with plenty of sunshine and trout dinner! (We fixed him 2 racks of lamb the first night--no leftovers!) We had an outstanding time and hope to fish Collins Lake before we head east again.

After a 3 month stay in the desert snowbirding and visiting relatives in the LA area we were ready to hit the road again. We enjoyed exploring the desert communities especially Palm Springs funky downtown and all the relaxing soaks in the natural hot springs of Desert Hot Springs. If you ever are in the area you must try a 'date shake', true indulgence! The winter weather was mild so it's easy to understand why so many Canadians and cold climate dwellers congregate there. It proved to be a good base to visit family in Orange County every other week. (There are no reasonably priced RV parks in the LA area, they all charge upwards of $50 a night and no monthly rates so we used our RPI membership for stays in the desert averaging $15/night.)
Having treated ourselves to tickets to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am Tournament it was time to head north and a long awaited coastal drive. Our first stop Pismo Beach 'and all the clams you can eat!' But not really, as there has been a moratorium on clamming because of over harvesting. Still the Central Coast is a beautiful area and the neighboring town Oceana is the only beach you can drive on in California.

Oceana/Pismo Beach

The campground overlooking the dunes in Oceana

Pismo Beach

Hard to believe that people drag their large RVs out on the sand! Brad had fun 4 wheelin', me not so much!

We brought the kite to fly but the wind died and it was perfectly calm.

We stopped by the Monarch Butterfly park to see the migrating butterflies. From late October to February, the butterflies cluster in the limbs of a grove of Eucalyptus trees at Pismo State Beach. They cluster to protect themselves from the elements.

The cocoons left by the metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly.

Next we headed north to the Monterey fairgrounds for the week of the Pebble Beach Pro Am. (FYI-county fairgrounds are great for RVers as they usually have full hookups for a small price during their off seasons.) Attending a major golf tournament is something we've both wanted to do especially on the beautiful links of Pebble Beach where Brad has golfed with his father and brother many times. I am not a golfer but enjoy being out on the courses as they are usually located in scenic areas. The courses located on 17 Mile Drive are some of the most beautiful links you'll find.
Our season tickets gave us daily access to all three courses (Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill & Monterey Peninsula Country Club) plus free shuttle service from Ft. Ord, a great deal for $125! The first day out (Tuesday) was the 'Chevron Shootout'; a charity exhibition between the San Francisco Giants (the winners receiving 55k) and the 49ers (rec'd 45k) for their respective charities.

Scenic 17 Mile Drive

Wednesday was the 3M Celebrity Challenge with notables such as Ray Ramano, a heavily whiskered Bill Murray , Huey Lewis, Carson Daly, Kenny G and Andy Garcia to name a few. It was fun to watch and we had the best weather, clear & 70s!

Finally Thursday and the 1st round of the tournament! We walked the challenging course at Pebble Beach and finished the day with a wonderful seafood lunch at Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf! Cameras are prohibited on game days so no pics of the pros. We visited Spyglass Hill on Friday to follow our pick to win Brandt Snedeker and was amazed by his prowess as a golfer. Saturday was our least favorite day as the crowds were large (and drunken) and made getting a view of the play difficult for me (being short), Brad had an easier time and we both had binoculars (a must!). Sunday was the best as the crowds were gone and we were able to follow Snedeker and see him win the tournament. We hope to attend more PGA tournaments in our travels!

After a spectacular visit to the Grand Canyon we made our way further south into Arizona to see my brother and his wife, John & Lisa Cooper. We traveled through Oak Creek Canyon located within the Coconino National Forest. Running from Flagstaff to Sedona the canyon formed along a fault line and is renown for it's beautiful walls and rock formations making it a popular destination for hiking & sight seeing.
Humpheys Peak, highest mountain in Arizona at 12,637 feet

We stayed in rural Cornville, AZ at a lovely campground on Oak Creek where we fished every day and made some friends.

I made a wild cast and landed my hook into a tree but was determined not to lose my crawdad jig so I waded out to get it!

The local watering hole and therefore a place we frequented.

Brad's first fish of retirement!

We had a nice day with my brother John and his wife Lisa and we spent the day in Sedona.

Our travels along Route 66

The London Bridge in the town of Lake Havasu, AZ. The 1831 London Bridge was the last project of engineer John Rennie and completed by his son, John Rennie the Younger. By 1962, the bridge was not sound enough to support the increased load of modern traffic, and was sold by the City of London to Robert McCulloch, the founder of Lake Havasu to boost tourism. Now the bridge spans the Colorado River.

Our adventures in Las Vegas and historic Fremont Street

I was approached by two gentlemen in KISS costumes who admired my tattoo work!

We met our friends Wayne & Shelly Waltrip for dinner at the El Cortez dining room and then took in the Fremont Street neon lights.

A trip to Vegas wouldn't be complete without a trip to Hoover Dam, especially since I had never seen it.

We finally made it to California and the Coachella Valley. Our first stay was at a resort called Silent Valley nestled up in the San Yacinto mountains where we were able to get out for a hike again. As you can see we were all alone as it was off season.

A dinner out with our son Tomas before we left Sacramento.

A prime rib Thanksgiving with family and friends.

This scarf I embroidered (with silk ribbons) for my sister Darla for Christmas.

We are spending a few months visiting our relatives in southern California and plan to hit the road again in February 2013. We hope all our friends and family enjoy a happy, healthy New Year!