Sep 6, 2012 - RIP Paul

As we were getting ready to leave Winchester, TN today, my sister Laura called me with the awful news that her husband, Paul, died suddenly of a massive heart attack while at work. JC got me to Nashville where I have caught a plane for Gilroy, CA where my sister lives. Paul would have been 59 on November 1st. He is survived by my sister, Laura, 2 children and 1 grandchild. Less than a month ago, Paul lost his father. Needless to say, the shock and sadness is just overwhelming. Paul was very talented with his hands. It seems like he could...

Jun 8, 2012 - San Juan Bautista, CA

Yesterday we made our mid-morning departure from the East Shore RV Park and headed west then north on I-210 (or as they say out here, “the 210”). As we headed north and merged onto I-5 we climbed from sea level to over 4000 feet before dropping back down to about 1500 feet into the San Joaquin Valley. A good deal of I-5 was not in good shape as we bounced our way through the valley among millions of acres of fruits and nuts. It was interesting to see the miles and miles of irrigation and the careful water management that goes into the...

May 2, 2012 - Gilroy, CA

Sorry it’s been a few days. Our drive to Gilroy yesterday (Tuesday) was pleasant and uneventful (and we LOVE that). Driving north on Highway 101 for about 160 miles, we saw hundreds of acres of lettuce, strawberries and broccoli along the way. The hills to the distance were blanketed in green (unlike our brown ones back home). Today, we left the dogs in the rig and drove about 60 miles north to San Mateo, to see our Son-In-Law Jim’s parents. Along the way, we saw a blimp do a 180 degree turn just above us on the highway. Their neighborhood...

Jul 29, 2011 - Gilroy Garlic Festival

Friday's adventure begins in Gilroy, CA ... Home of the world-famous Garlic Festival! After a 2 1/2 hour drive from Woodland we arrived in Gilroy and were directed into a very large field being sprayed with water to keep the dust down since the weather was very hot and dry(that was a very good idea). A 10 min. walk and we were at the festival. There were lots of booths set up selling a variety of food and drinks. There were games and rides for the kids. Lots of tents set up with picnic tables underneath. There were bales of hay under every...

Sep 15, 2010 - Gilroy, California

We left the castle and continued up the coast, enroute to Gilroy (Garlic Capital of the world, apparently). We rode some pretty winding trails, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I had to stop a couple of times, just to catch my breath and regain my equilibrium. It was a very dizzy afternoon. Once we left Hwy 1 and hit the 101, it got very busy and traffic was pretty heavy, but it was all fast moving. We arrived in Gilroy's and Turkey was busy trying to find some fresh garlic (Phewwwwwy) We'll let you know how that turned out, tomorrow.

Sep 14, 2010 - Meet up with Mom and Dad in Gilroy, CA

I left a message on Mom and Dad's cell phone and sent them an email before going to dinner with Auntie Bev, Mom's sister. I knew they had an appointment in Los Banos yesterday for some repairs of their 5th wheel trailer. Depending on how long the repairs would take, I thought I might make contact and see them somewhere along the way, since Los Banos is on my way home. I got a call from them in mid-afternoon....the trailer was done and they were staying in an RV park in Gilroy overnight while contemplating the next destination. Gilroy was on...

Jul 16, 2010 - Gilroy and heading north

We got in to Gilroy after the RV park office closed so I had to wait until 8 this morning to pay. We would have left earlier. It was an easy drive to Oakland but then the fun began. The Redwood Highway (101) is a bear. 6 and 7 percent hills and curve after curve. What a workout when you don't have power steering. We made Eureka mid afternoon and thought we would go on up to Crescent City to spend the night. At Crescent City I saw that Grants Pass was only another 75 miles so I decided to do that to. Big mistake. The 75 miles took 3 hours....

Apr 1, 2010 - Casa de Frutas in the Garlic Capital

The last few days have been really low key, so I'll tell you about the place where we stayed. When we lived in San Jose there was a place that we used to drive by when we went inland called Casa de Frutas. It started many years ago as a fruit and vegetable stand by the side of a 2 lane road. The road got bigger (it is now the last road over the mountains to the central valley for about 100 miles), and so did the fruit stand. We had never stopped there as we were always ready to be home by the time we got there, so when we found out they had...

Jan 30, 2010 - Coyote Lake County Park

It was time to TEST THE SYSTEMS (and the operators). So, we hooked up the VUE to the RV and headed out to Gilroy and found the neatest little county park. Right beside Coyote Lake with 73 camp sites and lots of wildlife. We took some short hikes between rain showers and saw herds of Mule deer, wild turkeys, a coyote, a couple of wild boar, and a lot of waterfowl and other birds. Lin and the kids came out to visit Friday and rode bikes all over the campground. It was great!

May 12, 2009 - Goldsmith Seeds

If you love flowers, you will love the pictures I am adding today. We visited the "Field Of Dreams" garden in Gilroy, CA. It is a public garden display by Goldsmith Seeds. They are one of the largest wholesale breeders of hybrid flower seed in the world. Goldsmith Seeds has earned more than 30 international awards for their hybrid seeds. What you see in the "Field Of Dreams" are thousands of experimental flowers. Because they are experimental, many are one of a kind and can not be found anywhere else in the world. They have over 6 acres...

Aug 13, 2008 - Gilroy, CA to Orland, CA

We are on the road again. The summer went pretty fast. June was Switzerland and the riverboat trip down the Rhine. July was Mexico. Then, Mom had her liver surgery. The tumor was successfully removed, getting all of it and removing only a slice of her liver. She is doing well all things considered. A little bad news...we had our first 'oh, no' of the trip. A gas pump cement pole jumped out and bit us and we didn't even get out of Gilroy. Two panels are damaged pretty severely. A good thing is that the panels damaged are stationary and are...

Jun 11, 2008 - Over the mountain and closer to the Pacific Ocean

June 11, 2008 – Gilroy. California – OK, we didn’t drive a lot today considering where we have traveled from and where we are, we decided to make an easy day, stay at a RV park named Gilroy Garlic USA RV Park. When you travel and you don’t know a lot about the park, you can be in for positive, neutral or negative surprises. The Garlic Park is really nice and the staff equally so. We have a great site and a relaxing day. FINALLY a Wal-Mart, Camping World, Nob Hill Grocery Store, all in one day of traveling and then shopping, it had to happen...