Saturday, November 30, 2013, Exploring Santa Cruz, CA

We explored Santa Cruz, CA, following some suggestions we received from our friend, Jeff, in Sacramento. We started west of town at the Natural Bridges State Park. There were originally three bridges that gave the park its name, but two have since fallen and there is now only one remaining. A very short way along West Cliff Drive is the Surfing museum housed in an old lighthouse. It was closed but a nice place to walk around.

We followed the drive into the heart of Santa Cruz with stops at the Santa Cruz Wharf and Santa Cruz Boardwalk. After we crossed the harbor and onto East Cliff Drive, Joani got a nice shot with two lighthouses in the frame. A little further east we found Pleasure Point. That could have been named for a lot of things, but in this case, it was all about surfing.

There were hundreds of surfers, but we only included a very few here that seemed to know what they were doing.

Friday, November 29, 2013, Lick Observatory, Mt. Hamilton, CA

Joani indulged me in what turned into nearly an all-day excursion to see the Lick Observatory. Google maps said it was only about 40 miles, but as you can see below the road did not support an average speed of much more than 15 mph. It was worth the effort - what a fantastic view!

When we could first see the observatory, we were still nearly an hour away!

This switchback was so tight the Honda could barely make the turn and stay in the lane (and I was not going fast - I was in 1st gear).

Finally, we reached the observatory. It was a fitting reward after more than an hour of navigating hairpin turns and narrow roads. What surprised me was the number of bicyclists. Apparently, Lance Armstrong once made the trip up Mt. Hamilton which inspired a lot of others to do the same thing.

 

During the summer, they allow people to observe through the 36-inch refractor. That would be a pretty good "bucket list" item, but I would hate to drive that road in the dark - maybe a sleepover - I'll have to check into it.

The entire floor (inside the rail) cranks up to the eyepiece.

Laurie Hatch Photography (I took a picture of her picture)

More Laurie Hatch Photography (Wow)

The 120-inch diameter mirror for this telescope was really the practice run to refine manufacturing processes before casting the 200-inch mirror for the Hale telescope. We were told the mirror was brought up the mountain using two trucks and a crane. When they came to a really tight bend they would stop and move the mirror from one truck to the other, instead of stressing the mirror as it rode on a single truck.

They certainly have created a lot of optical paths to use with a variety of equipment. This telescope was used to find extra-solar planets and was leading that effort until more observatories became involved and methods were improved. Now many hundreds of planets have been found orbiting distant stars.

Our campsite was a little tight. You can see from this picture we were close enough to reach out the window and touch the neighbor's awning. We were in good company though - next to an American Eagle and really nice neighbors all around. The campground had just installed a new heater for the hot tub, so I took advantage of it with a couple of early morning soaks.

Thursday, November 28, 2013, Thanksgiving With Bob and Richard, Santa Cruz, CA

Diane and Mike, Richard's good friends and neighbors, graciously invited Bob, Joani and I into their beautiful home for a Thanksgiving feast.

Diane is an amazing cook.

I love listening to Bob's and Richard's stories.  Darian, Richard's daughter, prefers to avoid the camera, but we enjoyed her company!

Mike carved the turkey like a pro!

Great food, good friends (old and new), very good wine and hours of lively conversation made for a memorable day. Thank you again, Diane and Mike, for including us!

Bob, safe travels back to Georgia!

Apple-Cranberry Galette, Chocolate Pie, and Peach Pie (the best I've ever had)

WORTH EVERY CALORIE!!!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013, Move to Santa Cruz, CA

Wednesday morning, the boys at Golden State Truck & Trailer Repair in Salinas, CA, had me pull into the garage and they started pulling things apart again. The owner said the pump was available and would arrive early that afternoon. We left in our toad, found a place with a hotspot and tried not to worry. Around 1:00, we headed back and found the coach was out of the garage and in the lot.

It was finally repaired. It started first time, every time and there was no Check Engine light. Rene, the owner, made it all good. In the end, he only charged for a few hours of labor dealing with the filter changes and leak investigation and the amount he had quoted for the original pump replacement. There were no charges related to the drive shaft debacle and nothing for all of the extra effort to troubleshoot the lift pump (it was removed and re-installed at least three times!)

We hooked up the toad and left as quickly as we could, hoping to get to our campsite before the holiday traffic got really heavy (we did - there were no traffic issues.) I could not quit looking for a little yellow Check Engine light for the entire 48 miles. We only drove a portion of the originally planned move from Pismo beach, but for the record, the total trip (including some back-tracking and test driving) was 215.9 miles (5,573.3 trip/65,054.4 total).

Santa Cruz Ranch RV Resort in Santa Cruz, CA, really came through for us. They never charged us a dime for changing our reservation from 10 days to 4. Joani was on the phone with them every day during our saga ("we'll be there - we won't be there") and was greeted with hugs when we finally arrived. Once we settled in, we found our neighbors knew all about our ordeal and then told us tales that made us realize how much worse it could have been. The day ended well on every front, and as you can probably imagine, we were both more thankful and relieved than we could remember being in a long time. What a wonderful feeling to be back on the road again, just in time for a big Thanksgiving Holiday!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013, With Bob at the Monterey Aquarium in Monterey, CA

We had plans to meet Richard, Darian, and Bob at the Monterey Aquarium in Monterey, CA, so we left the motorhome keys with the boys at Golden State Truck & Trailer Repair in Salinas, CA, and headed out in the toad.

A very hyper Jelly.  Only about 2 inches across.

 They were the cutest of the jelly family.

Crown Jelly

 Upside-down Jelly rests its bell on the seafloor.

The variety is staggering. 

Moon Jellies (I think).

Crystal Jelly

Purple-stripped Jelly

Aptly named, White Spotted Jelly (another little guy, about 2-3 inches across)

 Cousin to the octopus, the Cuttlefish has 10 strong arms that lash out and grab small fish.

 A starry flounder pushing its head up with its fins.

 It looks like it has lips!

 Spiny brittle stars

 They are both the same kind of fish, but they are adjusting their color to blend in with their environment.

Sea Pen

 I did not use my flash!  BUT, I took my picture at the same instant that the person next to me used their flash.

Ahh, penguin love...

Hamming it up for the camera!

Thanks again, Richard, for sharing your Aquarium membership with us!!!

About 12:00, I received a call that all was well again - the disintegrated filter had not been fully flushed from the system and it had clogged up the new pump. It was fixed, and we could pick the coach up at any time. We decided there was really no hurry, so we continued to enjoy the aquarium, but maybe even a little more given our great sense of relief!

Point Pinos Lighthouse, Pacific Grove, CA built in 1855.

When we returned at 2:00, we quickly hooked up the car and were ready to head to the campground - full hook-ups and showers beckoned us. Before we made it out of the parking lot, the Check Engine light again illuminated. VMSpc confirmed it was again a failure of the lift pump. The shop owner checked it himself and agreed, the pump had failed. He said that happens sometimes (not something you really like to hear). He was not sure he could get another pump quickly, and he recognized that we were running out of time - if he could not get a pump on Wednesday, it would be Monday (due to the holiday) before we could be on the road. We did not like the prospect of Thanksgiving in limbo, not knowing how this issue would be resolved.