Two Weeks in Morgan Hill April 24 to May 8, 2017

Before you dive into this blog, I must warn you that this Grandma has just spent delicious time with our cute little granddaughter, Lauren.  Reading this sweetness may endanger your health…or put a big smile on your face!

We left Visalia on April 24 and headed to San Jose.  We passed the San Luis Reservoir on CA 152 on our route and were pleased to see that the reservoir water level was up to the high water mark…2 million acre feet!  We haven’t seen that in many years!  The reservoir was the fifth largest in California and provided water to about 600,000 acres of farmland and to Silicon Valley.  Last summer it was about 10% full, so its bank full status was amazing.  It was a key piece in the California water management system.  It was filled by pumping water out of the Delta and held water to be released as needed. 

We parked at Coyote Valley RV Park and Resort, which is about 20 minutes from Jill, Bob and Lauren, and a comfortable place to stay while we visit with them.

We took spaghetti dinner to the Kluck’s and were so happy to see them.  Lauren quickly warmed up to us and showed us her bike riding skills…thanks to training wheels.  She rode up and down the sidewalk, with us following behind. 

Tuesday was a day to catch up on our chores.  We drove in to Morgan Hill and passed this unique cell tower.  Kinda clever!  We had had warm weather in Visalia…in the 90’s…but the south bay area was much cooler.  It was delightful to be able to sit outside, after we completed our errands, and read and visited with the neighbors. 

Wednesday, April 26, we ready to go exploring and chose to drive to Henry Coe State Park, east of Morgan Hill and across the bridge at the south end of Anderson Lake.  This 87,000-acre primitive park was located in the Diablo Range (part of the coastal mountains) and quite rugged with high ridges and steep valleys. 

Most of the ridges were 2,000-3,000 feet, although on our hike we didn’t see those elevations!  I found it interesting that in the 1800’s Joaquin Murietta (an infamous villain well known in Visalia’s history!) used an old trail through these mountains to hide the horses he stole.  The park was a private cattle ranch in the first half of the 20^th century and owned by Henry Coe and his family.

We had hoped to see wildflowers but didn’t see many…too late in the season, I think.  We did see many amazing old trees, though.  In the photo I was in front of a huge old valley oak.  Look how green the grass was!  The very rainy winter made these hillsides very happy.  What a beautiful day!

This large manzanita tree had quite a trunk and root complex.

We had a cool and overcast day for our 5-mile hike, finding amazing views around every corner.  We must come here again and find more trails.

Wednesday evening we went to Kluck’s for dinner.  Lauren was showing us her favorite toy puppy…Snuggles, her bed, and her “toy”.  What an imagination that child has!

Friday, April 28, Lauren stayed home from pre-school so we could have a Grandma and Grandpa day.  I had lined up several things for us to do, and the primary event was to make Aunt Becky’s sugar cookies.  (Our entire family LOVES these cooking and I knew they would be a hit!).  I brought special cookie cutters…princess and flower themes…and thought the best place to start would be to practice with play-doh. 

Lauren was quite adept at cracking the eggs to go into the batter. 

Although she didn’t like the mixer noise, she did enjoy licking the beater!  You might have noticed the pigtails.  She told me she wanted “Anna hair”…one of the characters in the movie Frozen.  I’m wayyyyyy out of practice with this hairdo, but I thought she looked cute nonetheless!

The cookie dough went into the freezer overnight.  Saturday morning we put them together.

After a rest we were off to the park…one of her favorite places.  This stop was always on the list when we visited.

Saturday, April 29, was cookie-making morning!   Once the cookie shapes were punched out, baked, and cooled,  I was in charge of the frosting and Lauren was in charge of the decorations.  In the photo, she was practicing her technique.  What fun!

Looks like I was hearing quite a story, doesn’t it?!

Cleaning up!  Like any little kid, Lauren loved to play in the water!

This photo will give you an idea of the lovely cookie decorating we accomplished.

Once the cookies were done, it was time to burn off some of that sugar.  She wanted to show Grandpa how she could scramble into her swing, all by herself!

Jill and Bob were due home around lunchtime on Sunday.  Lauren was ready to see Mommy and Daddy so we had a slow morning.  She showed me how she wrote in her notebook, while Snuggles looked on.  Only four years old, I think she does well with her writing…her name, Jill, Bob, and we worked on Grandma Jan and Grandpa Jerry. 

Another project we completed was getting Jill and Bob’s anniversary present wrapped before they got home.  This was their 6^th anniversary and, traditionally, the gift is something iron.  Perfect!  We got them a cast iron dutch oven!  We might have been more thrilled with the gift than they were, though!  Lauren decided we should hide the gift under her bed, so that’s why Jill is on the floor in Lauren’s bedroom unwrapping the present!

Lauren was very happy to see her mom and dad!  She and Bob have a wonderful relationship, and Lauren likes rough-housing with him.

We left after lunch, glad to get to Abe and recover.  It had been a very busy three days and we were pooped!

Monday, May 1, and Tuesday, May 2, were just as busy!  We drove to Turlock to spend the night with our good friend, Beth Bream.  She moved to Turlock after Dan’s death, to be closer to her three sons.  We always have a great visit, but don’t see each other very often.  As luck would have it, Turlock’s “Dust Bowl Brewing” had recently opened a second, larger facility on the NW side of Turlock.  A perfect place for dinner…thanks, to Uber!  If you think it looks like we were drinking a dark beer, you’re right!  We were toasting with scotch ale…yummy!

Tuesday, we stopped at Jason Bream’s (Beth’s middle son) shop in Ceres.  Jason was kind of a “renaissance man”…very creative with ironwork, welding, and creating.  He and Jerry have always “connected”.  In the photo Jerry was showing Jason some creative welding/ironwork we had seen in old Tombstone.

It was fun to wander around Jason’s shop and appreciate all of his “found” items.  Too bad he was so far from the Midwest…he would find all sorts of “treasures” in the old homesteads!

We had a lunch date with Barry and Allison Vail.  Barry was one of our pastors at Christ Lutheran Church in the early 90’s.  We had seen them in Illinois last fall, and knew they had moved to Stockton, CA.  They were also craft beer fans and took us to “Lodi Brewing” in Lodi for lunch.  What fun!  This microbrewery had enough output to sell their bottled beer in the area.

After lunch we went to the Wat Dhammararam Buddhist Temple, in Stockton. 

I’ve taken information from their website, so that you can enjoy their words: 

In early 80’s Southeast Asian Refugees escape war-torn countries. And some resettled in the city of Stockton, California United States of America. We started rebuilding our lives; integrating into American society. It is important for us also to preserve our ancestral cultural heritage as we assimilate into American Society.  Without our culture, we will become lost and confused, like fish out of water. Cambodians were the first of the refugees in Stockton formed an association to raise fund and bought land with a house.  Wat Dhammararam Buddhist Temple Association is organized accordance with the Cambodian culture and custom, the Buddhist rules, and California state law. Honors board and Master Ceremony members maintain flawless discipline, knowledgeable, advising and guiding Buddhist services. Board Members is guide by strict Temple rules, they also helpful, well respect, and courteous.

The temple grounds were open to anyone and we were invited to view the many statues, depicting the life of Buddha.  I know little about Buddhism, but these amazing statues encouraged me to learn more.  As Barry Vail said, “I’m always curious about how people find their way to God.”  Quite a place!  There were many, many more statues!

Wednesday evening, we went to dinner with Jill and Lauren (Bob was off to play roller hockey) at one of Lauren’s favorite spots…”The Old Pasta Place.”  I got a nice photo of Jill, Lauren, and Jerry after dinner around of the fountains outside the restaurant.

Thursday morning, May 3, we had an appointment with a mobile RV washing service to come and wash the bus.  Ordinarily we would do this, but this RV Park would not allow campers to wash their own rigs…a liability issue we decided.  So, you can see how exhausting it was to get this job done!

Once that was completed we were off to Seacliff State Beach in Aptos, by way of Hecker Pass and CA-152 over the Santa Cruz mountains.  Jerry thought he had been on this route on the motorcycle many years ago, but I had never been on this route.  It was an amazing twisty road through big trees…lovely!

We found a quirky little restaurant for lunch and then walked the beach.  A beautiful day!

It was one of those afternoons with sunshine and a gentle on-shore breeze.  Since it was a weekday, there weren’t many people on the beach…mostly moms and kids…so we explored.  We didn’t see seashells or sand dollars here, just rocks.  But I got a great “one-liner”…a rock with a single white line through it. 

The Klucks were having a busy week, so we managed to entertain ourselves, including lovely bike rides along the Coyote Creek Trail.  This shot is pointed east toward the Diablo Range, east of Morgan Hill. 

This was an excellent pave trail that was about 18 miles in length.  There wasn’t a lot to see, but we did skirt the Coyote Creek Golf Course and a radio-controlled model airplane flying area (Santa Clara County Model Aircraft Skypark) near the turn-around point of the ride just before the last crossing under Highway 101 at the south end of the ride.

When we pedaled to the west, we didn’t get quite as far.  Coyote Creek was still at least bank full and the ford across the creek was still flooded!

We were ready for the weekend and our last visit with the Kluck’s.  We watched Lauren and Bob played catch with the Frisbee, swinging, and kicking the soccer ball. 

Lauren is going to be a good athlete, I think!  Lauren was pretty good at catching this open Frisbee.  Her outfit, however, did not suggest that of a Frisbee champ or a soccer player!

We had a lovely afternoon enjoying their patio and backyard!  I could imagine this how life might be if we lived closer together.  The frosting on the cake would have been if Joy had been there, too.

Sunday morning, we went to church at Advent Lutheran Church in Morgan Hill.  We had attended services here last year and knew this congregation to be warm and welcoming.  This would be a congregation we would enjoy if we lived in the area.  During coffee after church we talked to a gentleman a few years older than us.   He was the spitting image of my cousin Doug, and even admitted to be of Swedish heritage.  Small world!

Jill and Lauren came to the bus in the afternoon and we joined them on a trip to Target.  Lauren had some Easter money to spend and she wanted a Moana outfit (her latest Disney cartoon character).  We didn’t find the costume but we found the doll!  Amazing what a new toy will do!

Back to the bus for a visit.  Jerry and Jill talked while Lauren and I played hide and seek.  There just aren’t many places for a grown-up to hide on the bus!  Lauren still found the game intriguing!

Jill forget to put the tri-tip we had brought her into her cooler, so we made a fast trip to San Jose that evening to get the meat into her freezer.  Not all bad…we had one more visit with Lauren and watched her ride her scooter.

Monday, May, 8, it was jacks up as we departed Morgan Hill.  We will be in Anacortes on May 15, and have a few stops to make in between.

May 15 will begin our three-month stay in Anacortes, and we will have many more stories to tell.