It was only a 103-mile trip to Paicines (pie-scene-us) but it seemed to take a long time because we had to wind through very hilly---some of it quite lovely---terrain. Paicines is a very small town near Hollister, California, and is the gateway to Pinnacles National Park. We stayed in Paicines at the San Benito Thousand Trails RV Preserve 3 1/2 years ago, and that's where we are now.
It's a large, very rural park with lots of large, old trees (mostly oak), not too many campers, and a very serene atmosphere. There's not much to do during our week here, so it will be a nice respite.
It rained all day Friday, so it was definitely a day to play inside. We were able to get a lot of paperwork done. The rain let up Saturday morning and we headed for Salinas so Becky could go to Lenscrafters to get her eyes examined. It's a 40-mile trip if you take the regular roads. But our GPS is so determined to save us mileage that it routed us on a county road that was in absolutely the worst condition of any road we've ever taken---
until we switched out of San Benito County into Monterey County. (Salinas is the county seat.) Then the road was just fine. Altogether, the GPS saved us two whole miles. It definitely was not worth it.
The stop at Lenscrafters stretched out to three hours because Becky had her eyes dilated. I got to drive home, after which I actually raked up five bags full of leaves on our site.
Saturday night I watched football. I was happy, though surprised, that UCLA beat Arizona, and I was disappointed that Utah lost to Arizona State.
Monday was the day we set aside to visit Pinnacles National
Park, the 59th and newest national park. Containing 26,000 acres located along the San
Andreas Fault, the park was designated a national monument in 1908 and not upgraded
to a national park until 2013.
Its rock formations are gigantic and spectacular, having resulted from volcanic explosions 23 million years ago. The pinnacles in the name are the result of erosion over the intervening years. It was a 27-mile trip from our RV park to the parking lot at the base of the 2.2-mile trail up to (and back from) the Bear Gulch Caves. The caves are not really caves; they are just small spaces between the boulders that have cascaded down the mountainside.
At one point I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get through one of the openings. It was a challenging hike (for me, not for Becky) but very rewarding. On that hike, we came across a fellow with a weird thing attached to his back and projecting about two feet above his head. It turned out he was a Google Maps photographer. It’s an interesting park, well worth the trip. And Becky got the 42nd stamp in her National Park Passport book. There are only 17 parks we have not visited.
Tuesday was election day, of course, and, after killing time watching the so-so Tom Cruise film Edge of Tomorrow (aka Live. Die. Repeat.) from the redbox before the polls closed, we watched the returns with relish.
Some weeks ago, I noticed that the "leash" that attached our gas cap to the truck had broken. It was annoying, so on Wednesday we stopped at a wrecking yard in Hollister and I got a new cap with a leash attached. I don't know when I'll install it, but at least I have it. On the way back to our RV park, we noticed that the name of the main highway (California 25) was now "Pinnacles National Park Highway" as it passed through Hollister.
We then stopped for diesel at the Safeway gas station, and, because we had earned so many "points" spending money at Safeway that week, we saved $25.00 on the fill-up. Yea!
That ended our stay in the Paicines area.
Its rock formations are gigantic and spectacular, having resulted from volcanic explosions 23 million years ago. The pinnacles in the name are the result of erosion over the intervening years. It was a 27-mile trip from our RV park to the parking lot at the base of the 2.2-mile trail up to (and back from) the Bear Gulch Caves. The caves are not really caves; they are just small spaces between the boulders that have cascaded down the mountainside.
At one point I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get through one of the openings. It was a challenging hike (for me, not for Becky) but very rewarding. On that hike, we came across a fellow with a weird thing attached to his back and projecting about two feet above his head. It turned out he was a Google Maps photographer. It’s an interesting park, well worth the trip. And Becky got the 42nd stamp in her National Park Passport book. There are only 17 parks we have not visited.
Tuesday was election day, of course, and, after killing time watching the so-so Tom Cruise film Edge of Tomorrow (aka Live. Die. Repeat.) from the redbox before the polls closed, we watched the returns with relish.
Some weeks ago, I noticed that the "leash" that attached our gas cap to the truck had broken. It was annoying, so on Wednesday we stopped at a wrecking yard in Hollister and I got a new cap with a leash attached. I don't know when I'll install it, but at least I have it. On the way back to our RV park, we noticed that the name of the main highway (California 25) was now "Pinnacles National Park Highway" as it passed through Hollister.
We then stopped for diesel at the Safeway gas station, and, because we had earned so many "points" spending money at Safeway that week, we saved $25.00 on the fill-up. Yea!
That ended our stay in the Paicines area.
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