Heading to Santa Cruz with stops along the way

Today is Xmas eve eve. We have spent two nights at an unexpectedly beautiful KOA campsite - Costanoa.

Our site is in view of the ocean - a short walk down a hill and across the highway if we wanted to walk on the beach - but no dogs allowed  - so we walked the beautiful grounds of this place, essentially a full destination resort set on a hill over the Pacific among eucalyptus trees.

The place has horses, a garden, a fine dining (high-price) restaurant, a general store, a charming ranch house, hotel and more. Our site cost $66 once taxes and fees were added to the posted price of $50.

On Sunday, we hit the road around noon, after doing laundry. I spent some time at the Grace Hudson Art Museum, a lovely small museum and home of this California artist. The collection on view was of her paintings done in Hawaii in early 1900's, mostly of people. She is best known for her paintings of the Pomo Indians. The museum also houses a collection of baskets.  I had a tour of the early Craftsman style  house where she lived with her husband, (the collector) and painted.

Then it was time to move on. As we drove south the sun came out, the sky cleared and the scenery was green and gold. The first view of the Golden Gate bridge against the blue sky was awe inspiring. We decided to head for Rte 1, and drive along the coast. Such a beautiful area. In several places the view was total fog, others, rolling ocean.

As we started to look for an RV park, we soon discovered that they are not on every corner as they have been during the early parts of our trip. Many State Park camps are closed for the season, or closed due to drought. Several were just too expensive. Heading to Santa Cruz, it was getting dark and foggy on the Coast Road, so this KOA, was a perfect stopping place.

I was very happy to be stopped for the night, and in a place so warm and mild (though rainy) that we opened the camper door to let in the soft air. To celebrate I cooked an awesome pork, white bean and sweet potato stew in the pressure cooker, using many of the groceries I brought from home. In the morning, we decided to spend the day here, enjoying the sun and the view, and taking some time to reorganize and plan our next moves. Also, taking advantage of the wi-fi service to catch up with the world outside.

Today we move on again ... where will we go? To quote Q - "we'll see."