Campbell, California

Thursday, September 8 we finally made it to Campbell, CA. around 7PM. Campbell is a town of approximately 40 thousand people, not nearly as large as San Jose and some of the other cities in the area; however, it is plenty big enough. In fact, one of the problems we had was determining when we left one town and entered another. Matt, our son and his wife, Shannon live in a section of Campbell within walking distance of the old section of town with many interesting shops and plenty of fine restaurants. We really enjoyed walking to town and dining outside. In the evenings, it was nice to be outside eating and people watching. On Sundays, Campbell blocks off the main street in the old section of town and has a farmers/craft market. The fresh vegetables looked really tasty and the flowers were beautiful. In addition to all the vegetables, flowers and crafts; there were musicians playing throughout the market. You would not believe how many people were at the farmers market.

It reminded us of the Fourth of July parade in Southport, NC. On Monday after a leisurely morning we met Matt and Shannon at Google for lunch. This is always something we look forward to when we visit here. On Tuesday we enjoyed the morning and then a leisurely lunch in downtown Campbell before we left to meet Matt and Shannon at Google for our trip to San Francisco to see a baseball game between the Giants and San Diego Padres. Gypsy really liked Campbell for several reasons; one is that Shannon would play with her and take her on walks, another is that there is a large fenced in yard in back of Matt and Shannon's apartment where she could run wild. Also there was a large dog park very close that provided a great opportunity for her to play with other dogs. For us,probably one of the things we liked most about Campbell, at least the part close to Matt and Shannon's apartment, was how laid back it seemed to be. No one seemed to be in any big hurry like the other places in California we have been. Of course there is the food and we did not miss any opportunities to try what Campbell had to offer, from the sidewalk cafes downtown to the ever famous donut house, "Psycho Donuts". Our time with Matt and Shannon was only nine days and we must say it was a very fast nine days. Like we have always heard, when you are having fun time flies and it surely flew while we were in Campbell...

This was one of our favorite restaurants in Old Campbell. Sonoma Roasted Chicken... However, they had several super specials each day which seemed to lure us back several times.

Another one of our downfalls... Donuts and more donuts... Alaska and Canada was Gigantic cinnamon buns, then to Portland, Oregon to "Voo Doo" donuts and on to Campbell for more DONUTS...

Nothing here looks tempting???

The farmers market in Campbell has to be one of the most beautiful farm markets we have ever been too. The colors of all the different vegetables were so eye-catching we just wanted to sample all of them.

Raspberries anyone

What about some fresh Garbanzo beans?

More nice vegetables

Peppers

Several more pictures of the farmers market

Nice Carrots

Linda likes purple so these flowers made the blog

They even had several kinds of eggs... These are quail eggs

These are just a couple kinds of squash at the market

A couple of Gypsy's "boy" friends she met at the park

From fishing in Alaska to baseball in San Francisco... As Linda said "its tough, but somebody has to do it"

Pictures from AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants

After doing this for over 160 times a year, ever wonder what these guys are talking about this time of the year???

A couple shots of McCovey Bay behind the right field fence

Linda and I are getting desperate, we will try to find a job anywhere...

Somebody along the way told us to go to California you had to have a good reason. We think we have two GREAT reasons!

On to California

Back roads through Oregon and we love it. Lots of countryside and small towns and not nearly as crowded as around the big cities and interstate highways. Driving is much more pleasurable and more relaxing. Although some of these roads are narrow with little if any shoulders, we like these back country roads with all the scenery and little towns. As we traveled through Oregon on our way to California, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit Crater Lake. We had heard so many stories about the uniqueness and beauty of Crater Lake we just had to check it out ourselves. You know what? Everything we heard and more is true. It is one of those places you have to see. Not only the lake; but, all the surrounding landscape and the drive up to the lake is breathtaking. After spending several hours enjoying Crater Lake we decided to go down towards California or at least get a good start. We made it as far as Bend, OR. where we spent the night in one of our favorite campgrounds, Walmart. After a good night’s rest, we were eager to get on the road for the last 525 miles to Campbell, CA. where our son and daughter-in-law live, or at least put a good dent into it. You have to realize that we have gotten used to traveling less than 300 miles a day and sometimes not even close to 300 miles in a day. However, we would give it a good shot and see how far we could get. All the scenery, stopping to eat, stretching breaks and another big mountain called Mount Shasta, made us begin to realize we may not make Campbell today. Not only did we not make Campbell, we didn’t even make 300 miles. We only made it to Redding, CA. where we, you guessed it, stayed at Walmart for the night. Coming into California on Interstate 5, the first thing you see is Mount Shasta. Another giant volcanic mountain covered with snow.

Mount Shasta is located at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California and at 14,179 feet is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California. Mount Shasta has an estimated volume of 85 cubic miles which makes it the most voluminous stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. On past Mount Shasta and a good ways into California, we saw enough fruit trees, all kinds of vegetables, grapevines, almonds, pistachios, you name it and we saw it growing and being harvested. There was plenty to feed a large army, in fact, several large armies. There were miles and miles of beautiful farm lands that seemed to never end. Oh no!!! We are approaching San Francisco and San Jose, it’s around 5PM and the traffic is nothing like back home in Bolivia, NC. After negotiating our way in and out, fast and slow (sometimes stopped) we finally made it to Matt and Shannon’s house around 7PM.

Some other interesting places driving through Oregon.

Linda and Gypsy think we need a trailer to pull behind the "Fox"

The "Fox" is hooked up and ready

This is one of the little stores where we stopped to get some refreshment... We really like these little stores, you never know what you may find.

This little store had many beautiful flowers hanging everywhere

More pictures of Crater Lake. Crater Lake is located in Klamath County, approximately 60 miles northwest of the county seat of Klamath Falls, and about 80 miles northeast of the city of Medford. The lake is 5 by 6 miles across with an average depth of 1,148 feet. Its maximum depth has been measured at 1,949 feet, which fluctuates slightly as the weather changes. On the basis of maximum depth, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States, the second deepest in North America, after Great Slave Lake in Canada, and the ninth deepest lake in the world (Lake Baikal is the deepest).

A couple more pictures of Crater Lake

This is what we have been looking for??? More interstate...

Love these California Highways...Can we add another lane or two???

Mount Shasta as we approach...

Special Report

When you are in Southern California what do you do? We have been fishing, to ballgames, toured the Queen Mary, eaten at about every type restaurant, walked along the streets of Long Beach,driven through downtown Los Angeles etc., etc. Nothing left to do, or is there??? Linda found an ad for a place called Disneyland so we decided why not. Even though we both know that Mickey and Minnie live in Florida at a place called Disney World we decided to check this place out… So Linda, Gypsy, and I all jumped in the camper early in the morning and off to Disneyland we go.

Fifteen miles from our campsite and we were in the Disneyland parking lot. Hurry up we have a tram to catch! Let the kid come out and the fun begin, so we did…

From the parking lot to the tram the anticipation continued to grow. Linda and I were wondering how much alike would Disneyland and Disney World be. Gypsy was thinking have Mom and Dad lost it, what the heck is this thing and where does it go???

Finally we are off that "whatever". Where did all these people come from? I wish they would just leave me alone! Yes, of course I am a show dog!

Gypsy is thinking "I think I have found a home for the day."

My new friends

Getting ready to make our entrance and join all the other kids...

Main Street USA...

Cinderella's castle at the end of Main Street

Linda in front of
Cinderella's castle

You never know who you may meet at a place like this... These are some pictures from around the park

Linda in front of Tom Sawyer's Island

From these pictures you can see the theme in the park is HALLOWEEN...

Some other characters we ran into around the park

This is a California moose, much different than the ones we saw in Alaska...

Pictures from "Its a Small World"

Parade Time: This was one our favorite things, Mickey's night parade.

More pictures of Mickey's night parade

After the parade we hurried over to Disney California Adventure, which is another theme park, to watch the "World of Color" which is a water, light, and fire intertwine with Disney storytelling to create a magnificent nighttime spectacular.

And here she is: The Queen of both Disneyland and Disney World -- Minnie Mouse