June 13   Off to Lake Casitas,  CaptDan took the wheel today and we headed south.  We have about 160 miles to go down the 101 headed to Ojai.  Its a beautiful drive and every time we near the ocean Butter is sitting up and just waiting for us to turn right and when we don't she plops down with a harrumph and waits for the next ocean sighting and it begins again.  Its hard to disappoint a dog that loves the ocean as much as we do, but if we let her plan the route we would never leave the ocean, and thats not a bad thing.  But we go on past Ventura and turn up the 33 and just a few miles later we are pulling in to the camp grounds and hooking up.  This is our first time with no sewer hookup but its just for a few days and we can conserve water.  Sophie and Brit come up to visit in the late afternoon and its just a nice quiet campgrounds.

June 14  Some family heard we would be in the area and asked to come visit and see our new house, so we invited them up for grilled ham burgers and they insisted in bringing the fixings.  Great weather we are having here, perfect for sitting around the table outside and visiting.  So Brit and Sophi are back up along with Harry and Yvonne, Charles and his kids, Emily and Logan, and its a party.  Great burgers and we head to the lake for fishing lessons.  Emily and Logan get lessons on casting and it doesn't take too long before the bait is actually getting out in the water.....Kids are really fast learners.

June 15  We have an easy day, the girls come out and we just take it easy and head to Broccoli's for dinner...Really good dinner, but truly great Strawberry Shortcake, it disappeared too fast I didn't get a picture.


June 16  Today Brit has to work and Sophie takes us up to Meditation Mount.  This is a beautiful place on a hill over looking Ojai.  We walk along the paths and just enjoyed the peace and quiet.  We had made plans to catch up with a good friend today so we headed back into town and the OBC, Dana was waiting and we made introductions to Sophie and started having beers and appetizers.  6 plates of appetizers later Brit got off work and joined us.  

Time for a sleep over.   We decide its time to break out the blender and tequila and have a rousing game of Farkle, or two, or three.  Then we migrate on to CATCH PHRASE.  Fun game and great night.














June 17  Travel day.  The girls help us get the Lake House buttoned up and it is with a slightly sad heart we bid them goodby and head down the road to Bakersfield....Yes Bakersfield.  CaptDan took Garry's instructions to heart and when we headed down the grapevine it was in the slow lane with all the trucks traveling at 35MPH.  Its a good 6% downgrade for over 5 miles and at the bottom we cut over to California 99 and roll on into Orange Grove RV park.  Interesting and too bad the oranges are navels and not ready for picking.

June 18  SharkTooth Hill.  Now did any of you know there is a place just outside Bakersfield with a substantial deposit of fossil Shark Teeth and a good chance to find a Megladon Tooth?  Well there is and we had a reservation so we were up at dawn and off to find the staging area.  We drive through Oildale, but you can figure out how that got it's name.  It's building up to be another typical Bakersfield summer day heading to 100.  We make it to the staging area and follow the owner of the property in to the dig site.  He gives us instruction and introduction to the area and turns us loose to pick our area along the front edge of the fossil layer and with pry bar and mallet in hand we begin.  This is not the same as our fossil hunt in Florida, standing chest deep in a creek and scoping up gravel to sift,  this is prying dirt off the edge and checkin for teeth, or other fossils and then repeating that process.  We did find Mako Teeth, and the mineral deposits have turned the teeth a beautiful opal-like color.  By noon we have finish the three bottles of water we brought and are pretty much aware we were not prepared for the day.  So while we hate to pack it in we know this won't be our last fossil hunt and we return home with a nice bag of fossils.  Our spot was left of the blue umbrella.  Next time we bring an umbrella and chairs and a case of water, then we can make it through a day.

June 19   Laundry day!  and we try to keep the Lake House below 75 all day....

June 20  Time to head out again, but first we must wash this rig and the Park has a nice wash station so we take the extra time and give here a light scrubbing.  The sun is already heating up and we know there will be water spots but it looks better then the layer of dust and dirt we have picked up since Arcata.   We take turns on the driving today and find that 99 is actually a better road surface then I5.  Stanislaus County Fair grounds in Turlock is where our day ends and while still blistering hot at least we have some shade and just 4 miles to travel tomorrow.  What a beautiful sunset in Turlock.

June 21  Turn the Lake House over to the service center at Best RV for a little work.  We have been have some trouble with the hydraulics for one and the list we give Romeo sounds fairly light, except we show him a crack that had developed in the nose right below the bed slide.  Its a long story, but its time to turn in an insurance claim and he says we are in for a week of work, so we head to Stockton with a small suitcase and a big ice chest.  We also order the slide toppers and a few other jobs that CaptDan really wants.  The main power plug will be moved to the middle of the unit so he doesn't have so much 50amp cable to run every time we stop.  This had been bothering him since we started and we might as well get it done.  Also we are having a hitch put on the back to hold whatever type of carrier we might want, first wish for me is a bike carrier so my bike can be out of the backroom and I can begin to get that sorted out.  After we get to Stockton we head up to Lodi for my followup Dr. appointment on the Gallbladder surgery....Clean report and the pain has finally let up but I'll still be watching that for a while.

June 22  hanging around the house waiting for the arrival of Robert with Riley and Robin.  This is a great bonus.  My son Robert had decided to pack Riley and Robin up and bring them to California.  He wanted them to have a chance to meet their great g'ma and for her to meet the.  So he flew into Las Vegas from Moline, then drove to his dad's in Silver Springs.  They took off for a few days camping in Modoc County at the Lava Beds Nat'l monument.  My son Chris joined them and they had a great few days.  Now he has called to let us know he headed to Auburn so he could see G'ma today and then wind his way to Stockton, via old Sac...and various other detours for memory blasts.  Robert hadn't been to California with leisure time in over a decade.  He rolls in about 8 and chaos ensues.   Aunt Tina has now met her niece and nephew.   It can be very overwhelming.  Robin becomes best friend with Roya before bedtime....she wants Roya to come to Moline so she can teach her to ride a horse...and they talk unicorn.

June 23  With Roya having to work it feels like we are short one part of the family but we march on and we head out to Lyons for a breakfast.  Lots of laughs.  Spend the day visiting and a great day.  I take the grands over to the park for some sand time and we have lots of fun.  After a great dinner Chris comes over and I realize I have all three of my kids under the same roof for the first time in 8 years.  Yahoo!

June 24  Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk.  Robert and I pack the kids up and head to Santa Cruz.  The kids have no idea what they are heading to until we make the last turn and they see the big dipper.  Are we going to a carnival???  yes.  So we get day passes and the next 7 hrs are a blur.

Robin loves all the rides and is anxious to come back in a year when she is tall enough to go on more rides.  Riley seems to be studying how all the rides work.

June 25  Pool party in Roseville.   I called Glenn and Gwen to let them know that Ethan and Robert had made plans to get together at their house on Saturday and I thought we should just make it a party,  they were in total agreement.  So Ethan and Melanie are there with Rosanna and Luciana.  Adam is there but his kids all had prior commitments.  Daniel shows up with Aiden and Tina and Roya join in.   this is the best day so far.  All the kids just having the best time and meeting all the cousins they didn't know about.  The day goes by much too fast and Robert planned it so he could head back to Nevada from Roseville,  this is the hard part, saying goodby, but the memories of this day will bring smiles to lots of faces for a long time.

June 26  Tinas house gets put back together and when Tina and Roya return from Sacramento they pick up a big dos at Home Depot and we start packing it up.  We manage to fit everything except the old suitcase, which has lost a foot and won't stand up anymore anyway  So tomorrow we will get it off to Moline.

June 27  Check in on the Lake House and see when we really will be heading off, no word yet.  So run to UPS and ship that box and have a little salad and pizza for lunch.  Then we go to Bed Bath & Beyond to find a salt shaker that will keep the salt dry and a few other goodies for our rolling home.

June 28   Romeo calls and it looks like the work is done but the insurance is lagging so we need to give them a little nudge so we can get moving.  Tina decides that today is the day to do her temporary job...Wash the truck, and wow! what a difference to makes.  That truck looks great.  Take Tina and Roya out to Red Robin for dinner and make plans for tomorrow and hope that we see progress in moving on down the road.  There is a trip to Les Schawb on tap for us tomorrow, seems we have another leak, this time it is in the breaks.