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designs on paper). Worn out, we went toour respective abodes to shower and hitthe sack. Another day full of fun!

Day 66: Saturday, June 8Breakfast was at Margo & Daves hotelagain. How nice of them! From there werode in separate cars to the Mystery Spot,a world famous (so they say) attraction.

This location is said to defy gravity.Though it was all illusions it was

still a lot of fun. Admission is $5,

reservations are recommended and costan additional $1, plus they dont tell youabout the $5 for parking until youre signedup. But it was stilla lot of fun.

From there we drove to a flea market whileDave & Margo had other plans. We gotsome very good bargains here. A guy waseven calling out, Free stuff. Everything isfree!and it was!

Next stop was the annual Car Show innearby Capitola, CA. Set up on thedowntown streets, parking was hard to

find; took us about a half-hour. It wasworth it. Saw some super Californiacustoms and got to speak to an owner atlength. Cooool.

We spent the rest of the evening planningseveral more days of our trip.

Day 67: Sunday, June 9We enjoyed breakfast again with Dave &Margo at their motel. They then joined usin Sunday worship at St. Stephens

Lutheran Church in Capitola/Santa Cruz.This is another congregation that hasgoals that emulate Christs call throughseveral projects like Habitat For Humanity,a housing project for seniors, summercamps for kids, and others.

Following worship we drove in separatecars to Henry Cowell Redwoods StatePark north of Santa Cruz near the Scotts

Valley area. We thought yesterdaysexcursion to Big Basin was interesting buttodays hike through Henry Cowell wasspectacular; the redwoods were amazing.If you only have time to see one forest ofredwood sequoias, make it the woods atHenry Cowell Redwoods State Park.

Yellow line is height of an adult. Tree is over 250 ft.

(left) Sally stands inside hole in base of tree. Hole is 10

ft in diameter and (right) goes up 20 f t within tree.

Adjacent to the forest is a private park withmany diversions: steam and dieselexcursion train rides ($26-$28 dependingupon the trains routes). There was a

juggler with a free show and a chainsawartist who demonstrated his craft at makingfigures from tree stumps.

We found that some restaurants closedearly on Sunday so we missed lunch aChubbys, a highly recommended 1950sthemed eatery. Instead we discovered aMexican food spot with reasonable mealsthat were unusually tasty. Dave & Margodrove back to their motel while wescoured a church-operated thrift storeThen we joined them for several roundsof playing the card game May I.

Day 68: Monday, June 10We left Santa Cruz this morning andheaded south to the Monterey Bay area

just an hour or so drive. We planned tocamp 3 nights at what we thought was atraditional (Monterey) county RV parkWe were surprised at what we foundChris thought the location was adjacento the famous Laguna Seca auto racetrack but we were surprised to find theRV park within the raceway. There areactually three RV parks here, two withutilities (power & water) and one without

utilities. The race track runs tangent toone end of the campground complex.

View from our campsite at Laguna Seca Raceway

After setting up and eating lunch, wespent the next 2.5 hours driving andlooking, mostly hiking, around the racetrack.

The Skip Barber Racing School is on thegrounds and students learn to drive alkinds of cars from Mazda 3s to Lexussedans to Porsche sports cars. Othefolks were attending a motorcycle racingschool to improve thei r b ikesperformance skills and their individuadriving skills. Chris took lots of photos as

Sweet red 1951 Nash Rambler CustomConvertible with 305 cu.in. Pontiac V8

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then on to Laguna Seca. It wasamazing how much lower in temp itwas back at camp about 20-30 milesfrom the Pinnacles.

Our campsite at Laguna Seca Raceway

Day 70: Wednesday, June 12Chris hubcap pancakes filled us formost of the day giving us the fuelnecessary to spend about five hourstouring along the 17-Mile Drive. Thisprivate toll road was once a topic on a

previous California trip, but we felt thatalmost $10 was too much to pay todrive along a road for sightseeing.Some 3-5 years later we decided tospend the kids inheritance andsplurge the $9.75 to fulfill our traveldream. (Is this getting dramatic or what?!)

We were actually unsure what toexpect driving through high-classresidential neighborhoods but we nowhave a glimpse as to what the Rich &Famous get to look at each daybefore driving to their jobs at Walmart.

This tourist drive is spectacular withcontinuing views of the Pacific Ocean,hills, mountains, vistas at every turn.There are plentiful turnouts where youcan itch your shutter-finger and shootsphotos that are guaranteed to dazzleyour home photo album and impress

your friends along with providingbodacious memories. We both agree,this IS a must-see if youre within 50 orso miles of the Monterey area.

Finding the guarded entry (& payment)gate is a bit challenging, but after thatthe signage is quite good, but takeyour time and stop often to take thosememory photos.

It seemed nothing could top our daysdriving tour but Sally pulled a rabbitout of her hat by treating us both to

dinner at Famous Daves BBQ in

Salinas, after which we took a testdrive in a Mazda CX-5 cross-overcompact SUV. It seems a potentialcompetitor (in diesel form) to VWwhen we look at a replacement for ourcurrent Jetta TDI. (The Daves sign says,If it can walk or fly, well Barbeque it!)

Tonight is our last night at the Laguna

Seca Raceways campground. Wehave thoroughly enjoyed our stayhere, even though we both agree wecant nail down the exact reason forour enthusiasm for this campground.The weather is very nice, the grounds& facilities clean, the neighbors areterrific, but it just manages to bespecial to us for some reason(s).Maybe well figure out its allure afterwe leave.

Day 71: Thursday, June 13

We were a bit sad to leave our site atLeguna Seca (La-goo-na Say-ka); itwas a nice place to camp. Wedrecommend it to others. Gianna, asecond-grader camping with hergrandparents, was intrigued by ourtrailer and asked to watch Sally fold itdown. Delva, her grandma, broughther by our site yesterday to takepho t os and we had a n i ceconversation. Today grandma Delva

PART 1 Inevitably I get emails from readerswho are exploring the RV lifestyle for the firsttime or who are looking to upgrade theicurrent rig. And two big questions that are atthe forefront are: 1) which trailer or RV should buy, and 2) what vehicle should I get to pull atrailer. Wow, those are two questions thatll getyou behind the 8-ball. Advising someone onwhat to buy is almost an instant way to losefriends and find yourselfpermanentlyoff theirChristmas card list.

The first issue determines the seconddecision; the RV will dictate your choice of

pull-vehicle. And understand that Im givingyou my philosophy & thought process. Youneed take that and throw it in the pile with all ofYOUR considerations & input from othersSalesmen agree that RV buying is usually animpulse decision; they want to get you to buy

now without going home to think about it. Buy whayou need, not what you want. Your goal, in myopinion, is to buy for the type of camping YOU want todo, not to have a rig thats the envy of your neighbors.Many folks over-buy and regret it later.

Before you even walk onto any sales lot sit down overseveral evenings (weeks or months even) and makeseveral lists: !Where will you take your RV? Keep it aone park all season? Go away for 1-2 weeks? Becomea full-timer? !How fardo you plan to drive per year inyour RV? 750 miles? 2,500 miles? 7,500 miles? !Howmany will be in your party? All adults? Children, too?How big & tall are all the occupants?

Next is whether you want a self-contained motorhomeor pull-vehicle & trailer. There are advantages to each.

Ask owners of each persuasion for their thoughtsEveryone Ive met has learned to pull, park & back-up atrailer. You can, too. Others prefer to be able to move

around while driving, so a Class B, C or A makes senseif thats a must. Theres also no disconnecting neededbut set-up at camp takes about the same for both.Trailers have the advantages of: !costing less to buyand operate, !saving your site while youre away fromcamp, !you also dont have to drive a big rig to eachattraction near your campground if you have a trailer

just drive the car and leave the trailer parked in your site.

Before buying anything always: A) search online articlesreviews, & forums for ratings and reviews of the brandyoure considering, and, B) talk to owners of that brand& model. Last night I spoke to a couple who bought atrailer in January. Theyve been plagued with problemsever since, like having the roofing material peel backwhile driving the second month! Even with a warranty it

may not be easy sailing: driving the rig to a factorydealer, delays of weeks/months for parts, getting thefactory to agree to some repairs. The list can get long &tiring. So do your homework on what you want, thebrand & model you want. Research the dealer, too.

Next, look online & at the dealers lot for the floor planthat best meets yourneeds. Are there other floor plansby your selected manufacturer? Will they modify a floorplan to your needs? If so, at what cost? Will your newunit have: A/C, heat, sink, toilet, shower, water heater,stove, oven, microwave, refrigerator, windows, shadescurtains, cabinets, storage, gray & black holding tanks?Make a written list for everything. (Part 2 in next issue!)

Pull-Vehicle

SelectingtheRigh

tTrailer&

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accompanied Gianna to watch Sally do hermagic.

Driving north we spent several hours inCalifornia traffic when Chris saw a highway

sign for Auto Museum. We decided to getoff at that exit and follow the signs. About 5miles away we found the Blackhawk AutoMuseum. Wed never heard of it. Locatedin a shopping center we didnt expectmuch. Winding passed the shoppes wecame upon a 3-story building of fantasticarchitecture. We couldnt guess whattheyd want for admission. Holy moly, just$7 for seniors! It was like a palace insidewith all high-end cars like youd see at thePebble Beach Cors de Elegance. Ferraris,Maseratis, Rolls Royce, concept cars from

Chrysler and Alfa Romeo, old Jaguars.

The list goes on. A few cars were wortharound $30K-$50K but most were in thehundreds of thousands up to maybe evena million-dollars per car. It was difficult totake photos as the l ight ing wasexceptional to make these cars lookextremely elegant. The floors were blackceramic tile or marble and the walls alsoblack. Needless to say Sally was a patient

partner while Chris took hundreds ofphotos and was careful to wipe his droolup from the marble flooring for about 2.5+hours. The museum also has an excellentcollection of juke boxes.

Driving further north we took the Benicia-Martinez toll bridge on I-680 and weresurprised by the cost $5 per car, $15for our car and 1-axle trailer. Cash only.G-u-l-p! Im unsure if theres a way toavoid this route but Id check it outbeforehand if I come this way again.

We drove into the Yolo CountyFairgrounds to camp only to find that wedidnt read the camping directory closeenough. The listing did not indicateshowers & toilets, so we had to go toanother park. We found the SolanoCounty Park near Fairfield, CA to be greatwith wild peacocks all over the grounds.

Day 72: Friday, June 14A credo we developed two years agosays, Dont camp near chickens &trains. It may sound like a joke but itmakes good sense: both of them makenoise and wake you up at night. Welladd to that credo peacocks! Last nightscampground, Lake Solano Park, is a

county park with an abundance ofpeacocks that have a pen and nestingestablished in the park. Though I sleptthrough the night, Sally said they werescreeching all night and kept waking herThe park was only $18, but Sally saidshed avoid it next time.

Leaving Lake Solano we drove back toWoodland, Ca to tour Mark Riess GasStation. We were confused when theGPS led us in to a res ident ianeighborhood; we were sure we werelost. Wham! There we were in front of ahouse that looked like a gas station / icecream parlor combo. Mark met us like wewere old friends and gave us a gracious

tour explaining that this was his personaresidence he actually lives here every

day and often has open houses, anannual car show, like a couple hundred

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cars in the street and 750 folks in thestreet and back yard. He gets permissionto close off the street then. This housemakes you feel like youve gone back intime to the 1940s through 1970s. At $7 ahead this is a neat place to spend 30 min.to 1 hr.

We attempted to tour the botanicalgarden at Univ of CA-Davis but parking at

most colleges is a nightmare (permitsreqd) & roads are narrow. After 15minutes we aborted our attempt & droveto Konocti Vista Casino & RV Park onClear Lake near Lakeport, CA. The ratewas around $22 per night (senior) and isa nice location.

Day 73: Saturday, June 15We drove about 17 miles to the town ofHopland to tour the SLC: Solar LivingC e n t e r a n d t h e R e a l G o o d senvironmental store. CA175 was a VERY

winding road up and then down in themountains (see photo at bottom of page). Itreminded us of the Dragons Back inNorth Carolina near Cades Cove. Sallygot close to getting car sick despite myexpert driving.

Arriving at SLC we were impressed withtheir research and practical knowledge of

alternate energy options. The solar grid(much larger than the small systemabove) has been in operation for some

25+ years and cost about $750K, but iscapable of powering 42 non-energy-efficient homes and about 200 newerenergy-efficient households. Chad did agreat job of showing us around andexplaining their gardening systems,watering systems, solar systems &building construction systems such as cobconstruction and hay bale housing. Itsstuff thats worth checking out on theinternet.

Lunch was very good at a corner cafewhere we ate outdoors, then traveledback to our campsite at Konocti Casinowhere we added an extra nights campingso we could attend the Annual CatfishFestival and Blues Concert on FathersDay. Theres a group of about a dozenmen camping here. Theyre doing a great

job of having fun without disturbingothers. Two funny things they have are: A)a Bubba Tub made out of a large

inflatable kiddie pool, and B) a large living

room lounge chair that sits atop a senior-citizen mobile scooter. They ride it alaround the campground. Its a hoot!

Day 74: Sunday, June 16We drove about 20 miles to Lucerne, CAthe Switzerland of California to attendworship at First Lutheran Church oLucerne. The vibrant, older congregationof 21 worshippers invited us to join them

for their Sunday brunch, and wethoroughly enjoyed everyones company.

Driving back to our campground westopped in Lakeport, CA to enjoy thetowns park near the marina overlooking

Clear Lake. Then back to Konocti VistaCasinos RV park where we planned nexweeks activities and called for campsitereservations.

This evening Sally treated me to anevening of live entertainment at the 3rd

Annual Catfish and Blues Festival at the

casino. The meal was good and therewere about a dozen different bluessingers who did a great job of singing oldblues favorites.

Watch for changes in next newsletter!

Sally stands at roads edge looking

down to where road winds down the

mountainside. The small, white mark at

the end of the arrow is the same road

farther down the mountain. Whoa!