September 30-October 10: Finishing Up The Coast Segment

I’ll combine three stops into one post to save time and space…

We continued south on Monday, yes still on US-101 for the most part, and continued the “Elks Crawl”. We left Petaluma on US-101, caught I-580 across the Richmond Bridge then I-80 through Berkeley to I-880 from Oakland all the way to San Jose. [Somebody is singing right now.] Back on US-101, we were soon in Salinas and parked at the Lodge.

This stop was more to break up the driving day than anything else, so we didn’t have anything planned. We easily met our objectives.

On Wednesday, we motored south to San Luis Obispo for another 2-night stay. We specifically timed this stop so we could go to their Thursday Night Market, where Higuera Street is closed off for the evening. We ate first (many restaurants set up booths right outside their locations) and filled a bag with veggies before heading home.

Surprisingly, it turned hot. Before we knew it, we needed the air conditioning, and put quite a strain on the Lodge’s 30-amp electrical system. It took a couple of tricks (plugging into two 30A circuits plus using a voltage-boosting transformer) to keep us cool. Fortunately, things cooled off very quickly once the sun went down.

Friday was our next travel day, finishing up our move south along the US-101 with an 8-day stop in Santa Maria. We spent a little more time with a full-timing couple we’d met at SLO; Darrell & Judy have a similar motorhome and were heading for the Palm Springs area. We enjoyed their company for cook-your-own steak night (not as good as Eureka but still nice).

We didn’t have a lot planned for this stop, but we did catch up on laundry and shopping. I had planned a dinner at Jocko’s in Nipomo, a rustic, rough-and-tumble kind of place with excellent steaks, and we weren’t disappointed. In fact, the steaks are so large that Geri and the pups both still have leftovers in the fridge!

Of course, we also ate well on our own. Geri made a new recipe for Avocado Eggrolls which we’ll have again, and I grilled a Tri-Tip with Santa Maria Red Oak chips for smoke (Thanks, Mike Casper!). With the Tri-Tip, Geri made Mozzarella-Stuffed Arancini using the leftover Mushroom Risotto we had on hand. Another great set of meals!

So, the coastal portion of our trip south has come to an end. From here, we turn east for the next 3½ weeks as we make our way back to our “winter roost” in Arizona. Let the adventure continue!