Jacqueline’s Jaunts

Today was a day of looking for neighborhoods, and homes K & J may want to move to. We went along for the ride to check out the cities and towns around Pismo Beach. We left around 10:30 AM and stopped at Starbucks in Grover Beach on the way to Arroyo Grande. Ken stopped at a real estate office, and Jan went inside to see if she could get any information about neighborhoods and home prices in the area. She did get quite a bit of information from one of the agents. They exchanged contact information, and we were on our way. Jan and the agent texted most of the day. He was immensely accommodating all day.  The first place the agent said to drive through was the neighborhood behind the real estate office. The homes were older homes and well-kept. All the houses had such character; you could tell they were well-maintained. Barry and I loved the area. K & J want a place with some property so they can store their motorhome and pontoon boat on their property, so this neighborhood wo...

Today the four of us headed for REI in SLO. Their sale ended today, and K & J wanted to take advantage of their coupon. We already did, but we can always find something at REI. Ken needed new tennis, and Jan wanted inserts for her hiking boots....getting ready for our Utah trip! All of us bought what we needed and more. LOL! Next on the agenda was to go visit K & J's friend's (from the other night) new house they are still moving into. It's a new subdivision in SLO. Beautiful homes and a lot of building still happening. They were on the waiting list for this subdivision. Great dog, Finley. He is two years old and loves Barry. Great view from their upstairs balcony. They still had a lot to unpack, so we only stayed about an hour.  By this time, of course, we were hungry. We decided to go to Central Coast Brewery. We passed it earlier today. Great looking brewery outside and inside. In the outdoor seating area was a vast carved-out redwood log made into a fire pit; se...

Steps Today - 4,508 Not many steps today. We mainly drove. We drove to the fish market in the town of Grover Beach. Only about a mile from here, if that. We purchased huge Prawns for dinner tonight and a piece of halibut for me. Later in the week, the other three are doing steaks. I'm not a beef eater, so we bought a halibut steak for me and frozen scallops. Then, we returned to camp to put the fish in the fridge. Then we decided to head to The Barn in Avila Beach. It's by the Avila KOA we stayed at last year. It's a huge fruit and veggie stand with fresh corn you can buy and eat, a stand that cooks fried chicken, lots of goats and chickens, and a separate building you can buy ice cream, salt water, taffy, and other candy. You can purchase Romaine lettuce from The Barn and feed the goats. They only want you to provide the goats Romaine, for some reason.  There are other animals too.  The whole reason for going was because Jan wanted a cobbler. When we arrived, the cobblers ...

My Man! Steps today - 14,442 Saturday, and so much for sleeping in. The Reynolds daughter Brook, son-in-law Aaron, granddaughter Kensley, and grandson Arik arrived this morning. Soon we heard Kensley and Arik at our door to say hello. They seemed excited to see us, and they gave big hugs to both of us. Then, they told us about school, and everything they have been doing, as much as an 8 and 10-year-old can say to you. Then back over to abuela and papa's RV.  Soon after, we were off to Pismo Beach. We drove to the left, went as far as we could, then turned around and headed toward the far-end gate. The part of the beach you can drive on was so short compared to before, but it was due to the recent storms. The Reynolds were ahead of us, and as we passed the first gate, a guy flagged us down. His truck was stuck, and he needed a tow to get out of the hole he was in. Barry said sure, and I texted the others to let them know what was happening. They pulled off of the beach highway and w...

Steps Today - 5,532 We slept great last night. Barry was up early and made coffee and tea. I got up around 9:00 AM and sat on the sofa with my yummy hot cup of tea! I planned to read the handout for my 4:30 PM class today with Tom Jones, Advanced Genealogical Writing Skills Using Word.  About an hour later, Jan came over and said there was an Italian market on the other side of Pismo, and she wanted to go check it out. She needed to buy gnocchi for a dish she is cooking in the next few nights. So, we hopped in their jeep, and off we went.  Our first stop was the RV dealer down the street. We wanted to walk through the Newmar's we saw as we drove in yesterday. A few new models were right up front. We spent about an hour there, but the person helping us was not pushy and answered all our questions. They have five models we walked through, including a Tiffin Phaeton. All were beautiful, and I thought they were reasonably priced, but Barry thought they were a bit high. Jan loved t...

Steps Today - 5,048 We left around 10:30 AM and headed to Pismo Beach, California. One of our favorite spots. It is a five-hour drive for us but a pretty easy and picturesque one. We are spending the next ten days with our friends, Ken and Jan Reynolds. We are staying at the Oceano State Park campground. Great location because it’s only about a 10-minute walk to the beach.  We arrived at about 3:00 PM and set up camp. This campground is full of eucalyptus trees, and watching the gentle winds carry the eucalyptus fuzzy flowers everywhere was hypnotizing.  We took a picture of the campsite the Reynolds will be in and sent it to them. As I finished texting them, they pulled into the campground. As they pulled into their campsite, we said “hi” and let them set up.  In about a half-hour, we checked on dinner plans, and Jan really didn’t want to cook. We decided to go down the street to Old Juan’s Cantina. We have eaten there before, and they have the best huge margaritas. Grea...

HALLOWEEN Monday was Halloween and our front yard looked terrific. Many people stopped by to talk to Barry or honk as they drove by. Most telling him what a great front yard we have for Halloween. We were expecting 500+ kids but I think it was only 350-400. The little ones are always the best. The most popular costume this year was a fireman or spiderman. Not many fairies or Disney princesses.  JAUNTS No jaunts this week.  CLASSES Tuesday I attended the second week of my AppGen class, Overwhelmed by Ancestry DNA classes. I hosted a CGS education class titled Voting Records with Pam Vestal.  Worked on AppGen homework all week between packing away Halloween directions.  Friday evening attended an Ancestral Souls session with Jennifer Holik and a few other individuals. I think we laughed more than anything else. It felt good.  VOLUNTEER  WORK This was the week I volunteered at the FHL on Wednesday evenings. I was expecting a patron to come in that needed help ...