Monday, January 26, 2009

Sunset in Pismo Beach

Saturday, January 3, 2009

January 3, 2009 - Last Entry

Happy New Year!

Wow -- our 9 month RV trip is coming to an end. What an unforgetable experience it has been for us. Needless to say, we absolutely love this lifestyle and want to continue with it as soon as we can do so again.

But before we get to what is in our future, let us bring you up to speed with the last week, the highlight of which was the Rose Parade. Way before the market tanked, we secured a spot right on Colorado Blvd. with our RV from which to watch the Rose Parade. Thank God we did that when we did because the event was spectacular.

After leaving Long Beach, we went to Burbank to get my laptop which was being repaired. But when we got there, it wasn't finished. (They will now be mailing it to me next week.)

From there we went to Pasadena and arrived there about 4 p.m. We were not allowed to take our designated spot on the parade route until 10 p.m., so we parked about two blocks away on a side street. At 10 p.m., Jerry moved the RV to our spot in a restaurant parking lot. Three other RVers joined us. See the picture Jerry took of the four RVs.

We put out all of our chairs in the first row on the street to reserve the spaces for our family that were arriving in the early morning.

The party goers were out all night long -- there was loud music, laughing, talking, and fireworks going on throughout the night. We probably slept two hours at most.

By 6 a.m., our kids and grandkids arrived. (They had reserved parking spaces behind our RV.) Jerry made breakfast (eggs with cheese, bacon, sausage, lox, bagels and cream cheese, various fruit and othe munchies) for everyone.

I sat outside and got a first hand view of all the float entries, taking picture after picture of the various ones. Jerry stayed in the RV and videotaped the parade from in there. It has been many years since we attended the Rose Parade and to do it in this style is the only way to go. The kids were running in and out of the RV, the bathroom was right there for everyone, and everyone had a front row seat.

To see the float art from so close is something I will always treasure. And, even better, to be able to share it with family makes it priceless. It is something that cannot be explained in words or even pictures. But, I am including some of the pictures I took in this blog for those of you who may have missed watching it on TV.

After the parade was over, we had to exit the parking lot within half an hour. We did that and drove to Ventura where we spent the night along the ocean (parked 25-30 feet from the shore line). The next morning, we drove to Santa Barbara where we joined Dawn (Jerry's classmate from Cleveland High School and her husband, Pat) for a wonderful lunch consisting of homemade squash soup, salad, lasagna, apple pastry and coffee. (Jerry and Dawn are starting the process of planning for their 50 year class reunion to be held in 2011).

We arrived back in Pismo yesterday. Today we all took a long walk/run along the ocean. We have only two more nights here in Pismo before we have to go back home to Cambria. (While on this trip, we met at least one other person who said "you are from Cambria??? What are doing here in this state? Insinuating that Cambria is paradise.) We agree, after having seen so much of the USA these last two years, that Cambria is the best place to live -- that is, if you want to stay in one spot all of the time.

But we are wanderers and intend to keep living this RVing lifestyle in the years to come. In April 2009, we leave for Alaska via New Mexico (going there to attend the largest RV Rally first). We will keep another blog for those of you who have the time and inclination to follow us on our trip. Even if you don't read our blog, we enjoy writing it and posting the pictures -- so we will do it for ourselves in any event.

For those of you who have followed our blog, thank you for sharing that information with us. Until April -- may all of you realize your dreams and live the life you love, as we are doing. We love you all.

Jerry and Mary