Still making memories!

by Dan · March 31, 2023

From San Francisco we are heading south with our first stop being at Moro Bay. Although we have been running down the interstate highway Judy decided that we needed to get off and drive down the scenic Pacific Coast Highway also known as the PCH. I figured that we can give it a try and get back on the interstate if it is too bad. Unfortunately access to the PCH is extremely limited and we are driving down one of the crookedest roads I have ever been on for the next 65 miles! I am now comfortable operating a 41 feet long RV while towing a full sized SUV on just about anything. Well, maybe not some of the streets in San Francisco.

Finally found a place to pull over and enjoy the scenery

We are stopping Moro Bay for a few days and this is known for a huge rock called Moro Rock. Evidently it is a well known landmark. I have to admit it was pretty impressive and except for a few shops and eateries it and the beech the rock was the best attraction.

We close up the camper and move inland a little way to the town of Paso Roble and it turns out that this little town has a lot of things to do! On day one we discover a museum that has military airplanes, antique cars and some other interesting things. But the biggest surprise was a sign hanging over the counter in the gift shop that said there was only two seats left in “Beatty’s Biscuit Bomber for the following Saturday! Almost instantly Judy and I agree that we have to sign up for this! The ride will be in a 1944 C-47 twin engine troop transport airplane. I guess I will continue to write about the ride and then come back to the rest of the museum. We arrive in plenty of time, watch the volunteers go through preparing the plane for flight, meet the other passengers, go through the obligatory safety talk and finally we get to board the plane. This plane is a bare bone, tail dragging military transport and I never thought about how much the floor tilted when the plan was not flying and for me it was not comfortable! Once we are airborne it is a different story and all in all it was a rather smooth and quiet flight. The initial plan was to fly west from Paso Roble past Moro Rock out over the Pacific Ocean and finally swing back east to return to the airport. Unfortunately just as we neared the coastline that ever present Pacific fog managed to show up again. I barely got to see the coast as we turned to go inland to a clearer view. As the land disappeared into the fog and the water, I was carried back to 1944 or possibly 1945 when the plane was carrying troops from Britan to the mainland of Europe. I wonder what thoughts a soldier may have had as he watched the plane fly out over water knowing that when it was over land again there would be enemy soldiers and planes shooting at him.

Bare bones accommodations to say the least!

Now back to the museum, they had military airplanes, antique cars and other military artifacts. I don’t think I can describe it so I will just show photos.

This area of California is a very big wine making region and we were lucky enough to go to a winery which is owned by former Penn State football player Gary Eberle. Gary played at Penn State when Joe Paterno was an assistant coach, but I believe he told me that he finished with Joe as head coach. We were too busy enjoying ourselves, so we didn’t get any photos but if you want more info go to their web page at www.eberlewinery.com.

Because we are entering the Christmas season there are displays everywhere but right down the road from Eberly Winery there is a display like nothing I have ever seen. I don’t believe that it is Christmas specific, but it was so beautiful it helped to put us in the spirit of Christmas. The display is called Sensorio and their website is Sensorio Paso Robles | Bruce Munro: Light at Sensorio. I will post one of my photos but to see how large it is go to their website. I believe we were told that at this year’s light display at Longwood Gardens has a similar display.

From Paso Roble we are heading inland again to Porterville, California to spend some time in and around Sequoia National Park. By the time we get done this trip we will have been exposed to so many huge trees! In fact this is the location of General Sherman the largest tree by volume in the world. There may be taller trees but none containing more wood in its trunk.

Lumber jacks living inside the tree trunk in the early 1900.

Not everything in the park is trees there are some really tall rock formation. The biggest one is called Moro Rock. Yes, I know we just left Moro Bay and there was a Moro Rock there but I guess that they had their reasons for the same name.

We were warned about the possible dangers.

From here we are heading inland toward Barstow and working our way eventually to Los Vegas. We stop at Desert Springs RV Park for a few days to see what is in the area. There is a 50’s theme eatery nearby, a recreation of a ghost town and of course Barstow, CA. Barstow was just one more small town and the most interesting part I saw was the photo below. Yes, I know that there are a lot of activities in the area, but nothing was going on the time we were there!

Although it is a restored area, and it has several vendors the ghost town was actually the results to save an actual ghost town! The little town sprang up when silver was discovered and died down almost as quickly when the lode dried up. Touring the town was interesting and well worth the time it took to get there!