Pappy Smith's Adventure Continues

Drove from Iowa to Columbus Ohio yesterday. Great drive with no weather issues.  Spent the night at Tony and Krista Chicken Alfredo for dinner. After dinner played a new board game they had.  Great to be with family. Got up this morning and drove home. Unloaded my car and put most of the gear away.  Turned on water and no water. The regulator was bad so replaced it. Turned on water and the pipe was broken. Back to store for parts for repair. Fixed broken pipe turned water on now leaking out side. Have my work cut out for me tomorrow. My wine collection! ! Still good to be home! Good bye till my next journey! Good night God Bless

Great day of driving.  Drove 688 miles today. The weather was great to drive in. No snow and  very sunny. Will be in Columbus tomorrow if no weather issues. Took a couple pictures of the sunrise.  Thank god for a safe journey so far! Good night God Bless

Started out about 6:30am. Started out to be a beautiful morning. Beautiful sunrise. The temperature really fluctuated quite a bit on my drive the lowest temp my car recorded was 0. I do believe it could of been below 0 thus morning. The temp when I got into Nebraska was 40°. The  issue was the the wind. Wind gust between 40-50 mph. Alot of blowing across the roads made for very slight k conditions.  Over a hundred miles of driving in some serious road conditions.  Made it to Sydney Nebraska for the night. If the weather cooperates should be in to Illinois tomorrow. Wish I could post all my picture that I've taken. Pictures to follow. Good night God Bless

Got on the road around 6 am. The weather when I left was 34°. Driving thru Donner Pass the temp dropped to 8°. The drive was dry and clear.  On Donner Pass drifts along the road 8-10 ft. Got off at Wendover driving thru town looking for hotel and get pulled over.  Officer said I was doing 50 in a 35. Cited me for a 40 in a 35. 150$ fine. I've been pretty good about watching my speed. This sucked!! At hotel unwinding for my drive tomorrow. Picture coming Calling it a night. Good night God Bless 

Spent my last days around the Sonoma area wineries! Stopped at Dry Creek Winery! They have some very good wines so I bought a few bottles. Stopped at Unti Winery also very good wines and bought a couple bottles.Stopped at 1 more and bought a bottle. That's the last of my wine buying in California. I also stopped at Russian River Brewery. Had lunch and a couple beers and bought a couple beers to bring home. Oh was going to stop at Raymond Burr Winery but there were closed. Back at camp started packing up. Everything is pretty much loaded and ready to go. I even have the camped hitched and ready to go. Looking forward to coming home. Not sure if I took any pictures today. If I did will post. Good night God Bless

Got up this morning and the temp was 31°. Heavy frost on car windshield.  Hung out in camper till about 10:30. Temp was mid 40s. Headed out from campground and rode to Santa Rosa. This was a very nice ride slightly rolling to hilly. Rode 14 miles then rode back. Temp was mid 50s when done. 28 total miles today and felt great. When I got back unloaded the car and cleaned it out for the drive home starting Friday. Tomorrow plan on driving to Sonoma to hit some wineries before I leave on Friday. This has been a great experience for me. Next trip a my gear back on my bike. More miles covered and a simpler journey. Considering doing the Maine to Florida all along the East Coast. Not sure if this year or next. Have alot going this year so next should work. Trimmed my beard for my return home. Just showered and doing my last load of laundry on the road. Looking forward to coming home. I have a lot to do the next couple months. Best part of my trip this time was meeting up with my old neig

Drove to Napa Valle tiday t ok do some wind and beer tasting. Rode my bike around Napa to get in a few miles.Stopped in at Oxbow there is a micro brew there. Tasted a fee beers there. Might stop and pick some up on the way home if there open. After that went across th ed street to a wine tasting I think Gustuv was the name. Had a very good Chardonnay!  Bought a bottle. Stop at a place in town that cuts hair and they wanted 45$ later! Wait till I get home to trim every thing up. Headed back to camp and stopped at Domaine Carneros winery. There I had the meat tray with olives and an assortment of wines. Bought 4 bottles there! Wil have 2 cases time I come home! There is some great wine here. Only took a couple pictures today. Wil l post and call it a night Good night God Bless

Drove to San Francisco today. Stopped before the Golden Gate Bridge to take a few pictures. After that drove over to Fishermans Wharf and walked around fir the day. Had rain first thing this morning then cleared for a bit and started to rain again. On and off the whole day. Still enjoyed my day. Had a late lunch of Dungeness Crab stew. Had shrimp, calamari, and clams. Not sure what else but I could eat it every day. Stopping at another brewery picked up a couple bottles of beer. Tomorrow I hit a few winery's. Look to be heading home on Friday.  Should be back middle of next week. I have really enjoyed myself even thru all the rain but still miss home. Got my senior lifetime pass today for all the National Parks!  I am very happy about this! Post pictures from today. Good night God Bless

Awoken this morning with heavy rain and gusty winds. Was hoping it would settle down so I could pack up the camper. Wind died a bit but kept on raining.  Put on my rain gear and commenced to fold up camper and pack everything away. Pretty good at packing now. Just shove everything in my car. Need to clean out car when the weather breaks. Headed out and rain into alot of flooding along the road ways. Went thru a couple deep places. I think it got up high enough to get into the camper.  All the carpet is wet. Have the heater going to try and dry the floor out. Came across the Golden Gate Bridge.  Stopped and took a couple pictures.  The rain stopped for a bit the came back hard around 3. It's 8:45 and still raining. Probably flooding issues tomorrow. Went to Lagunitas Brewery today. Tried a few beers but I liked the Willett B  A  Stout Whisky aged. Aunt Sally was ok. Got some for the nephew. Had smoked Brisket for lunch. Camp is set till Friday. Not sure what I'm doing after

Drove to Modesto today to visit with our old neighbors!  Got there a little early and found a park for a quick 10 mile ride before going there. The Grants lived 2 doors from us growing up.  I have not seen them in over 40 yrs. I was welcomed like we had never lost touch! I truly enjoyed sitting and talking with Mr & Mrs Grant. They might be old but they are very in touch with the world around them!  I took in a bottle of wine for a welcome. Mrs Grant meet me at the door and welcomed me. Renee was the next one I meet. Quick hugs for all then Mr Grant came in. We sat and talked about all the old neighbors! Michelle and her husband Bill came in next. We sat and talked then had a nice meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy and greenbeans for lunch with the wine I brought and they pulled out a bottle of Biltmore Estate Chenin Blanc. This was a very good wine! Danny came in after work I rode with him to home Depot pick up a few things. Got to relive part of my youth today. I hope to stay in

Arrived in Carmel and windy and rainy! Drove to a state beach. The waves where around 12ft. Talked to a guy there and they are expecting 25-35 ft waves in the morning! Spent a couple hrs watching the waves Went into town and parked. Got on my bike and rode around town even tho it was raining.  Got in 4- 5 miles. Stopped and had lunch at Tommy's Wok. Really good food.  After that rode a little more found a wine tasting. Stopped and did the wine tasting and bought a couple bottles. Need to get a box to keep them in. Should have a case or more time I get home! Drove back to the beach and the waves were starting to get bigger. Glad I'm not camping on the beach. Drove back to campground, showered and did laundry.  Going to visit our old neighbors that I have not seen in 40 yrs! Mr & Mrs Grant are still doing well I hear can't wait to see them. Hope to see Danny, Renee and Michelle also! Calling it a night! Good night God Bless

Drive into Monterey and parked. Weather was b raining on and off. I decided to ride anyway. I got 15 miles in before I stopped to have lunch. I had pasta with clam chowder and shrimp and lobster!!!. This was fabulous!!. So after lunch I  rode a couple more miles before stopping at a couple places for wine tasting. Bought 3 bottles today. 1 for my niece 1 for my daughter and 1 for me. I'm keeping the Pinot Noir Reserve for myself!! I really liked it. Tomorrow there calling fir rain all day. Plan on going to Carmel for the day. If not raining to hard ride a few miles. If the weather don't corporate site see and wine tasting. Some beautiful pictures today will be posting. The weather last night was bad. It was very windy and rainy. Had my little pop up swaying in the wind but no damage. I really enjoy this camper. Beats sleeping in a tent on the ground ! Calling it a night. Good night God Bless