Hanging in Pismo for a few more days...

It was time for some post rally R&R, rest and relaxation, and some down time after our extended rally! 
We stayed on at Pismo Coast Village RV Park although we needed to move to a different site. We felt lucky that they accommodated us at a very busy time, right over Thanksgiving. 

the Pismo Coast Village clam
all decked out for Thanksgiving

Michael completed the paperwork for the rally. 

I caught up with the laundry. And a few blog posts.

We enjoyed our beach walks and runs, the sunshine, and pleasant temperatures. 

For a couple of days the tides were so high at new moon that most of the beach became a lake and impassable in several areas.

We walked along the board walk and along the pier instead. We watched the surfers catching waves, eventually. There seemed to be a lot of bobbing on boards while waiting for exactly the right wave.  One morning I counted over 4 dozen surfers north of the pier and another 2 dozen south of the pier.

The Xmas tree at the end of the pier was set up over the weekend, fenced off and awaiting the lighting ceremony.

Pismo pier Xmas light Xmas tree

There is more construction going on at the pier. The diagrams show fancy new improvements, benches, parking lot, and a corner with a playground featuring a whale.

We enjoyed sunsets over the ocean.

We sat outside and read books! One day we carried our chairs to the dunes at the RV Park and sat and read.
And watched the graceful pelicans splashing about in the creek then flying off in formation over the ocean. An egret was stalking whatever it was after in the bushes right below us.

In the evenings, I got my fill of Hallmark Xmas movies (Michael was a good sport!).

I saw this perfect ad for socks and think I will add them to my Xmas wishlist😊

The days passed pleasantly as we relaxed and enjoyed our alone time. A cold front blew in the last two days of our stay bringing rain and cool temperatures. It was raining so hard that we thought we were back in the Pacific NorthWET! The only difference is that there were periods of sunshine in between the systems.
We had a quiet Thanksgiving Day, just the two of us, and had two last walks to the beach. 
The clouds tonight at sunset were quite spectacular.



Then we prepared for our departure early Friday morning for the three-day trek to the Arizonian RV Resort in Gold Canyon, Arizona.
I suspect Michael planned it that way so that we would be driving in order to stay out of the stores on Black Friday. 

SoCal Pismo Rally

We moved from Oceano to Pismo Coast Village on Monday the 11th, a few days ahead of the start of the SoCal Rally scheduled for November 15-18th. This was our first time hosting a rally and the venue we chose to be hosts had a special significance for us. It is almost five years exactly to the day that as new Alpine owners we arrived in Pismo Beach for the SoCal rally held here in 2014. 
We bought the Alpine in Virginia in October and drove cross-country to our first Alpine Coach event. Pismo has long been a favorite destination so when Michael went online to research the Alpine Coach Association and discovered that there was a rally scheduled in mid-November, we took it as a sign that we needed to attend. Apparently we filled the last spot when we signed up in late October! It took us 23 days to drive from Virginia to Pismo Beach, including a few touring stops along the way. (The SoCal Alpine Rally: November 14-18,2014)

And now, on the anniversary of our first SoCal rally, we were the hosts preparing for the arrival of 25 coaches and 52 attendees. It had taken a year to lay the groundwork and prepare everything.  We are grateful to have had the help and guidance of our co-hosts, the Collinses, who were the previous hosts. As hosts, we knew we were going to be rather busy all week organizing and preparing for each day's events.

Because Pismo is such a lovely spot, when we sent out registration forms for the 4-day rally, we encouraged folks to "Come early and Stay late."  Seven coaches arrived two days ahead of the rally. And so, the pre-rally fun and socializing began. It was good to connect with folks we had not seen in a while. Most of us gathered for dinner at Ada's Fish House, a brand new restaurant. The food received rave revues. 
The following day, eleven more coaches arrived, and the pre-rally fun and socializing continued. 

On Friday, the start of the rally, the remaining coaches pulled in and set up. Our coaches looked pretty spectacular all parked together. 
All of us gathered at the club house for the first Happy Hour, followed by a clam chowder dinner (or chili) catered by Pismo's famous Splash Cafe. 

Saturday was a busy day, starting with breakfast in the Club House at 8AM. As hosts, we provided the breakfast and set everything up ahead of time. In addition to the usual Continental fare of eggs, bagels, Costco muffins, yogurt and fruit, this time we also made oatmeal. It turned out to be a welcome hit. 

In the early afternoon, Chuck offered to lead a craft project. Several ladies joined the glue-gun fun to assemble a Thanksgiving Turkey ornament. 

Later, the guys gathered outside for a Gearhead session, led by our technical gurus Mike and Sandy.  There were a couple of new Alpine owners at the rally who no doubt benefited from advice and help, much like we did five years ago as new Alpine owners.

Michele preparing the "tea"

The ladies, in the meantime, gathered for a Ladies' Tea, a custom started by Michele Collins at the previous Pismo rally. 
The "T" in tea should be taken loosely since it's really an excuse to sip a fancy liqueur-champagne concoction!  

mystery packages

To add to the fun, we also had a gift exchange which featured a few funny and interesting items, several coveted enough to be stolen away.  

what will it be....

this tissue box holder was a favorite

That evening all of us attended Oceano's Melodrama to watch Drac in the Saddle Again  - a comedy set in the wild west about the villain, Count Dracula. The play was followed  by a Musical Revue in which the hilarious Fan Dance, danced by 4 males, had us in stitches.

After Sunday's breakfast in the Club House, everyone had a free day to explore the area or simply chill and visit, until Happy Hour.  Most folks opted to go to dinner after that, the rest were happy to hang at the Club House and played games.

Monday morning we all gathered at the Club House again for a catered breakfast by Rock and Roll Diner, followed by a general SoCal meeting during which a new roster of Board members was voted in. Without our combined volunteering there would be no club. 

a scrumptious catered breakfast

The afternoon was free until we all gathered back at the Club House again for Happy Hour and a Potluck dinner. 

Tuesday morning Michael and I picked up a goodbye treat that is pretty popular in Pismo, their Old West Cinnamon Rolls. Folks wandered into the Club House to pick up their treat and say final goodbyes. 
And so ended another successful rally in "Pismodise", filled with camaraderie, eating (of course), and a good bit of advising and fixing by the guys. 

Other rally group activities included walking in the mornings after breakfast.

We lucked out with Pismo perfect weather and warm temperatures over the weekend. However, the perfect weather created calm conditions with little to no wind. Each coach received a kite and we had hoped we could fly them on the beach. A few folks did assemble their kites and attempted to get them airborne.

The golfers played a game on the nearby course. 
Many walked to the Monarch Butterfly Grove to watch the butterflies which are in town for the winter. 

photo taken by Kathy through the docent's telescope 

Those who enjoy games gathered to play card games and Mexican Train.

And several of us gathered in the late afternoon to watch yet another perfect Pismo day come to a close. Sunsets are always a marvelous phenomenon.

When the rally ended, except for two couples and us who stayed on for a few more days, everyone else headed off. We continued the post-rally socializing. 
We drove to Morrow Bay to stroll around the quaint town, enjoyed watching the resident sea otters, went on a bay cruise, and had an early dinner at Tognazzini's on the dock. 

a sea otter mother with her new little one 

Morro Rock (and me)

who says guys don't like to chat!

Michael at the helm 

unafraid of people, this sea otter was cracking clamshells open
by hitting them against the boat

And so the rally we had been working on for the past year came to an end. It involved a lot of work and preparation and we were glad to do our part. We have been SoCal members for 5 years and have attended many rallies.

While we stayed on at Pismo Coast Village, several of our friends moved on to the Santa Maria Elks to participate in their Friday "Barbecue your own meal." We joined them for this popular weekly event. It was quite entertaining.
We picked up our main course, which for the two of us was salmon and swordfish, and walked over to the barbecue area. There is an entire building dedicated to several barbecue pits covered with grates with separate areas for meat, chicken, and fish. We placed our fish in the baskets provided and were instructed to cook the fish for 7 minutes per side.

tending our fish over the blazing wood fire

these slabs of meat are the most popular

Once our main course was ready, we proceeded back to the banquet room to add the rest of the meal to our plates: salad, baked potato, fries, beans, and a dinner roll. 

Several of us lingerers from the Alpine rally group enjoyed the meal together before parting ways, they to return home and we stay for a few more days at Pismo Coast Village. 

Heading back south again

By now the route between Washington and California was becoming routine for Jeep. First stop was Bend, Oregon, to spend a few days with family and Mom. We were there over Halloween, and Fox Hollow where Mom lives was decorated for the festivities.

From Bend we continued on to Grass Valley, California for a couple of nights to visit Michael's brother. This visit he was able to spend time with both brothers as Anthony was here from Malta.  

the 3 Weitz boys

From Grass Valley it was another day's drive to the Johnsons where we spent a night in our home on wheels before heading to the coast. 

We spent a few nights at the Elks in Oceano before checking in at Pismo Coast Village to host the Alpine SoCal rally. 

it's always a pretty drive along the coast

Walks and runs along the beach have also become a standard but enjoyable routine for us. 
 
The mural that was in progress several months ago is now completed and looks very realistic. It was fun to watch it in progress and see the final product. 

On the 11th we moved to Pismo Coast Village which gave us a few days to finalize rally preparations. 



We continued our daily beach walks and runs and enjoyed the sunsets from the beach. 

The monarch butterflies were wintering in Pismo too and we set off on the trail to see them.   

once the temperatures were warm enough, the butterflies became
more active

Once our co-hosts, the Collinses, arrived, it was all hands on deck in preparation for welcoming our rally friends. It was going to be a busy but fun weekend.