It's Tuesday evening - and we are parked in the RV lot of the Cher-Ae Heights Casino in Trinidad, CA. It's a couple of miles from the beach we spent time at this afternoon.
I called first to see if I could overnight in their lot, and they said yes, come to the casino and complete the paperwork and then I could stay. They were very friendly when I went in, and now I'm here overnight. They have the usual gaming options, plus a nice, more expensive restaurant and a less expensive over the counter deli restaurant where you can get hot dogs, hamburgers, hot fudge sundaes, things like that.
The RV parking lot is above the Casino, and I am parked facing the ocean, through redwood trees.
At the RV parking lot at Cher-Ae Heights Casino.
The view from The Palms.
Katie and I walked to the edge and I took this photo:
A little cove below the Casino - there is a small sail boat on the left.
A beautiful location.
Unfortunately I'm not a gambler and I'm too frugal now to eat in their restaurant, although it had some good choices. I plan to go over tomorrow before I leave and get a hot fudge sundae. I feel like I ought to purchase something in return for parking here overnight, so I'm going to sacrifice myself on the altar of ice cream and hot fudge.
I'm going to eat in tonight, and have a wine/iced tea with my dinner.
The fog that was coming in at the beach has burned off, and it's a beautiful, warm early evening. I have the windows open, and can't believe I'm in such a beautiful location.
On another subject, I know it's not usual to drive as much as I did on Monday, especially on that narrow, windy coast route, but don't worry about me driving too far. If I'm tired, I have no problem pulling over anywhere that feels safe and either resting, taking a nap, or spending the night. I did the same thing on my first trip to Vacaville. I guess it feels new and exciting and I want to get as many miles behind me as I can at the beginning. Maybe I was a long-haul driver in a previous life. : )
I really enjoy driving this rig. I made myself two CDs from my favorite songs, and play them most of the time. When I get tired of them, I turn on talk radio if I can find a station, and that entertains me.
When I was driving along the beach or through the redwoods, it was such a wonderful feeling to be in that beautiful environment listening to songs like Hallelujah by K.D. Lang, Come Away with Me by Nora Jones or You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban. Included in the mix are Elvis Presley, Billy Rae Cyrus, Sarah Brighton, Enya, Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, The Canadian Tenors and more. All my favorites from CDs I had at home and I copied them to my computer. Then I made two CDs with the best and it ended up being 49 songs. All kinds of music. An on-going constant change-of-pace set of CDs. So I am cruising along, mellowing out on the tunes, drinking my coffee, enjoying the ride.
We also stop a lot. Even if it's just to check out an area, take Katie for a potty walk (or me), stretch our legs, etc. I stopped once for propane (that was interesting - I'll post about that another time), once for gas. I drive into RV parks and State Parks to check them out and check pricing.
I've seen quite a few smaller rigs like The Palms since I've been on the road. I saw another 24' Sunseeker yesterday. It's the first one I've seen on the road. We passed each other a couple of times, with each of us stopping and starting again. We both ended up stopping at the same place, and I went over to see how they liked their Sunseeker, which was a 2011 model 2300. He said they were renting it to find out if they wanted to buy one. It had the down bed and circular dinette, but no couch, and was very nice inside. When they saw mine, I think they liked it better with the kitchen in the rear and the long couch, but if they had those, they would have lost their queen sized down bed.
Today, Tuesday, I've driven 106 miles - completely Highway 101, good, wide lanes, easy driving. I had planned to continue on north after our stop at the beach, but I had checked out this casino before we stopped at the beach, and I thought I might come back for the night if they had free RV parking.
Oh yeah, AND they have free 5-bar wi-fi. Really sweet!
I'll post this tomorrow, Wednesday, since I've already published a really long post today. I'm looking forward to what tomorrow will bring. : )
WEDNESDAY
PS: Late yesterday afternoon, I heard a loud vehicle and looked across the parking lot, and this is what I saw:
The thing was huge, way up off the ground, looked like a tank. They parked all night, all closed up tight, but with three side windows open. Kind of a scary looking vehicle, but they didn't make a peep. I slept like a log last night, and woke up at 9:45 this morning, just as they were leaving. It's 10:30 now and Katie is still in bed. What a lazybones!
From Me and My Dog, on the road headed north, have a great Wednesday, everyone! : )
