Smithwoods RV Park. Felton CA. Monday 31st March 2008
Smithwoods RV Park in Felton, Calfornia is just a paradise & the sun is out & shining & Wayne is cooking porriage for breakfast before we get ready for the train trip to Bear Mountain.

We are back from the Roaring Camp Railroads Steam train trip through the ancient redwoods up to Bear Mountain which incorporsates 180 acreas. The Roaring Camp Railroads & Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park are located in Felton just six miles north of Santa Cruz. Roaring Camp operates two heritage railway lines offering visitors spectacular views of giant coastal redwood trees, lush canyons & forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains & Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park & the other train trip is to the beach at Santa Cruz.

We arrived in the carpark of the Railway Station & the attendent 'ripped' $6- off us for parking which did not make Wayne to impressed but we were in time to hear the steam train 'letting off steam' & it sounded exactly like the steam trains you see in the movies & it is used to be special logging steam train to bring the logs from the top of the mountain back to Felton Sawmill.

Smithwoods RV Park. Felton CA. Sunday 30th March 2008
Wow we are so exciting to wake up to more sunshine in Smithwoods RV Park at Felton, California surrounded by redwood pine trees & the sounds of the crystal creek stream & on the other side of the creek are people horse riding & kids running along the pathway with their family. There are little pretty birds in the trees tweeting away at each other & we are loving this & we just seen the biggest fattest squirrel we have seen so far running along the branch of a tree.

We cooked bacon, poached eggs, tomato, mushroom & parsley for breakfast & it was wonderful & after this we went for a long stroll around the park & it was lovely. There are a lot of 5th wheelers & cabins here which have permanent residents & they have decks built around the 5th wheelers & cabins with outside gas heaters like you see in the Restaurants & beautiful flowers in pots plus different coloured flags & the American flag of course. We seen the most beautiful magnolia bush with the biggest flowers on it & the trees are starting to blooms as Spring is here now.

Smithwoods RV Park. Felton CA Saturday 29th March 2008
Woke up to fog this morning in Monterey Fairgrounds, on the California coast

On the morning news they had The Sydney Opera House with the lights turned out for an hour 8 pm to 9 pm to support the green house effect. It was strange to see the Opera House without any lights.

We had a pretty lazy slow morning & left Monterey around 12.30 pm & headed north toward Santa Cruz which was only about an hours drive from Monterey.

We were so lucky that we went to Pebble Beach yesterday as the day was beautiful with the sun shining & there was not any wind. Apparently the day before was extremely windy & the sun was not out so the waiter told us when we were at Pebble Beach & the people visiting could not sit out on the balcony. We have been so lucky with the weather it is truly meant to be.

Outside of Santa Cruz there were acres & acres of artichokes & strawberrys & once again little Mexicans running around like ants working in the vegetables patches. There were also a few vegetable stalls along the side of the road.

Monterey County Fairgrounds RV Park. Friday 28th March 2008
We had a good night here at Monterey Fairgrounds RV Park it is a great quiet spot & a country feel about it even though it was 5 minutes from the city centre - especially when you smell the horse pooh each morning as the owners or stable hands clean out the stables & then on the other side there is a Golf Course with a sign that states 'You take responsibility for yourself & RV's if you camp here due to the golf balls'. Also there was a huge net protecting the RV Park from the golfers. The course looked very green & was hilly with plenty of golfers around.

Just watching the morning news & President Bush is hosting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd & Rudd has declared he is going to withdraw the 500 Australian troops from Iraq as soon as possible.

We took our time this morning & left around 10 am & headed out to 17 Mile Drive Pebble Beach which is a 17 mile drive through the Del Monte Forest & along the coast of Monterey Peninsula & there are 5 gate century box entrances which cover all entrys to Pebble Beach & the charge to enter is $9-25 per vehicle. I will go on to explain this 17 Mile Drive exclusive residential area.

The secured residential area including the beachs were put in force by Clint Eastwood, the actor, who lived in Pebble Beach & who was on the National Parks Board at the time, but was sacked only last week by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the actor turned Governor of California. This was a very controversial issue at the time but I don't think it will be changed now & the security people at the century boxs are paid with the proceeds of entry, therefore, the poor people pay the rich people to have their secure residential area.

Monterey County Fairgrounds RV Park. Thursday 27th March 2008
Wow another day in America at Monterey Bay on the California west coast. That sentence still does not seem real - are we really in America?

We left Marina Dunes RV Park around 11 am & headed back into Monterey Bay to have a look around this area & beside the road in a wooded area was a Salvation Army food truck & they were giving out food to the homeless people which was quite sad to see. This also happens in Brisbane as when we had the Hygiene Business we would see the Salvation Army doing the same in the city.

There is a lovely lake or big pond in Monterey with ducks & they had paddleboats which were for hire & nearly every paddleboat was out on the pond it looks a very popular area for families.

We then headed for the Monterey Harbour & walked around the pier where people were fishing & one family had caught a beautiful orange coloured star fish which they threw back into the water thank goodness. There were little eating places on the pier which were crowded but they did not look very inviting & we could smell what appeared to be sheep pooh, but it turned out to be pigeon& seagull pooh as we looked up onto the roof of the eating places & it was covered in pigeon & seagull pooh yuk yuk we did not feel hungry for a while after this site & smell.

Marina Dunes RV Park. Monterey CA Wednesday 26th March 2008
I was up at 5.45 am & it is still dark due to day light savings, I could not sleep as I am getting to excited about moving on today saying good-bye to Pismo Beach, I just loving travelling & checking out new places it is so exciting not knowing what the day will bring.

Wayne took a few photos before we left Pismo Beach/Oceania Dunes & then we headed up to Pelican Point Restaurant car park to check the emails on the way out & then we headed for San Luis Oeispo about 30 miles away.

San Luis Oeispo Library is where there is a political meeting this morning where Arnold Schwarzenegger the actor from The Terminator movies, will be attending this meeting as Arnold is now Governor of California & lives in Los Angeles. There is talk about cutting back allocation of moneys & it is being said they may have to cut back on National Parks money as there is not enough to run the parks & then the other side is - this will then bugger up tourism. There are a lot of National Parks along the Californian coastline for instance they have roadside areas near the beach areas where you can camp & there is a charge of either $20- or $25- per night & they have rangers who patrol, collect the fees & have a ranger box in some of these areas. Also there are the National Parks which are in the forest areas where camp grounds are also available & fees apply. There are no facilities only the beach view & 'drop dunnys'.

Le Sage Riviera RV Park, Grover Beach CA. Tuesday 25th March 2008
What a beautiful day again it is here is Pismo Beach, there is not a breeze in sight at the moment & the sun is shining so we are in short sleeves today again & I can hear the surf but the news does say the wind will come up this afternoon.

The internet is still 'down' in the caravan park so we are going to drive up to Pelican Point Restaurant & park outside to check & send the emails.

We were looking for a supermarket today & came across a Sales Team who were selling motor homes, 5th wheelers & caravans which were parked in the car park of a shopping centre so we had a good look through them & wow they were unreal. We have seen these vehicles driving onto the beach & we had spoken about the size of them, but once you walk inside it is just like a 'small home unit on wheels'.

Both the motor homes & 5th wheelers are all set up with one or some of them had two toilets, showers, leather seats, lounges, table, recliner chairs, two door fridges, microwave, oven & even coffee machines all set up. (This was for the larger ones) You could choose to have double bunks if you wished & they had 'two or three slide outs' to give you more room inside once you have set up for the night.

Le Sage Riviera RV Park, Grover Beach CA. Monday 24th March 2008
Up bright & early to watch the sun rise & it is pretty quiet on the beach front this morning.

Not much happening in the car park at the moment - no wait a horse float has just arrived & trotting horse just arrived with a trotting gig, so this should be interesting. Lucky there are not many vehicles about.

Well we have been educated about Easter here in California. They do not have a public holiday for Good Friday or Easter Monday, the kids still attend school & the shops are open. They celebrate Easter Saturday & Sunday but all the shops are open Saturday & mainly the shopping centres & take aways are open Sunday.

We had a nice day today cleaning up & then packed up some gear to send back to Australia. We had a bbq in the webber for lunch & then we took off on the push bikes to check out the beach & found another boardwalk near us & rode along the boardwalk which had a fantastic view of the beach. We then rode along a creek & into another National Parks camp ground.