June 2014 - Point Logos

Here we are on the left coast and to prove it we are visiting one of our favorite sites, Point Lobos located just south of Carmel-by-the-Sea noted for its one time mayor Clint Eastwood. Entering the park the first area that we come to is called Whalers Cove, so a visit is in order. 

Funny looking whales, don’t you think? Well this is one of the most famous areas for scuba diving in the U.S.

From here I moved on and got a view of the coast showing the whole of the reserve. Well there is some behind me.

Point Lobos

 We made many stops along the way watching the water play along the rocks or just looking at the way the trees seem to grow out of the rocks. There are hiking trails all along the reserve, so you can leave your vehicle at one area and hike the whole of the park, wish I could. We parked in the last parking lot and started the final hike south (1/2 mile) with the first coming across a hidden beach called China Cove.

It sure looked like a nice place for a swim, but knowing the temperature of the water down there I could just shiver. There was a better view, but doesn’t this look a bit more hidden? At the end of the hike were a couple of islands filled with Cormorants, I guess you could say the islands were “for the birds.”

It was their mating season and according to one of the docents it was rather unusual that they were all so tightly massed. Another half mile back to the truck. During the visit there were other wild life about including the ever present sea lions whose bark can be heard for miles, but for all their noise, we could see very little of them. All in all a pleasant day at Point Lobos State Reserve. And that takes care of June, let’s see what July has in store for the Coopers.

June 2014 - Las Vegas

We pulled out of Moab planning to stop on the NV – CA line at one of the casinos that I had looked up and found a campground. Before we left, I called and checked with the casino and found out that the campground was closed however, they did offer “free” boondock camping, yeah right. Instead we found Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort one very fancy RV campground and very pricey. But, it was a member of Passport America, so we got in for half price about $25 with 50amp hookups. Good thing too, because the temperature got up to a whopping 113, ouch! I don’t know why I named this segment Las Vegas, we only slept there.

Having arrived around lunch time (we gained an hour), we decided it was time to go on a tour of Boulder Dam. Excuse me, Hoover Dam. We have driven around it, and above it a number of times but never taken the time to stop and explore. We are parked 30 miles from it, so it is time to explore it. This is the view of the dam from the parking structure.

Hoover Dam

 We went down into that building with the dark windows you see on the left which is the visitor center and that is where the tour began. Oh yes, we are parked in Nevada, but on the other side of the dam, that is Arizona.

After paying the money, you watch a 15 minute film about the construction of the dam, which occurred from 1931 – 35, which is impressive that the hydroelectric is still functioning today. They then pack you into an elevator (try and stay towards the end of the line for a better chance of more standing room) and take you down to a deck where you observe one of the two tunnels used to divert the flow of the Colorado River during the construction.

After a bunch of yada yada about the millions of gallons etc., they move you back to the elevator for your next drop down to the generator room and more yada yada about the millions of kilowatts they generate and how they maintain the monster gernerators.

Hoover Dam Generator Room

I liked this picture because the little generator, which is a big as my motorhome, runs all of the power used inside of the dam. The big generator in the background, which there are 6 or 7 behind it, are for the rest of the area. Oh yes, there is another generator room on other side of the river.

 Here we are outside looking down on those generator rooms. 

And finally we are looking up at the new bridge they built after 9/11. They had stopped all trucks and RV’s from crossing the dam for fear of explosives, hence the new bridge, I brought the lovely lady along to dress it up.

I don’t know what happened to the hat, I guess the wind just turned it around.

The next day we were off and running with an overnight in Bakersfield, where the temp cooled off to a mere 101. We were surprised with a stop in Mojave to drop the truck for our climb through the Tehachapi Pass. I remember it as a very dusty, sleepy town. But this time through there were a lot of new stores and homes, it looks like the town woke up. After a night in Bakersfield, it was a breeze into Watsonville to settle into our summer digs at Pinto Lake.

This year I’m not working at Pinto Lake, so, we have to head over to the Elks Lodge for a couple of weeks, before coming back for another month. Back on the road the end of August heading back to Texas. Keep an eye out though, I’ll have a little something now and again during the summer.