Christmas 2009 Roadtrip Part 2

Once the evening tour of the Hearst Castle was completed at around 8:30 pm, the lovely maidens determined they would not be up for a 3 - 4 hour drive to their planned destination somewhere in the hills outside of Santa Barbara, so they opted to find a campground somewhere in their present vicinity. After driving and hunting for a place to park for at least 2 hours anyway, they found a county campground near San Luis Obispo.

The next morning the maidens meandered through the hills of the northern southern California coast area until they arrived at Solvang, a cute Bavarian style village, complete with tudor style architecture and konditoreis (for those of you not used to German lingo, that means bakeries). Of course, the lovely maidens needed to make sure the pastries were fit for consumption, so they ordered a few specimens. That evening after dinner, they each had one of the pastries they had previously purchased. When the same pastry that Raisa ate that resembled one of the pastries Joanne bought, but turned up missing, it was determined that Raisa had mistakenly eaten Joanne's pastry.

That night they camped at Rancho Oso, a Thousand Trails campground in the hills outside of Santa Barbara (northern southern California). The ranger told them that every campsite had a view, but since they arrived after dark, they were curious as to what the view was. Maybe the ocean, they wondered? The light of the morning revealed they had a view of brown mountains.

The next day was a highlight for both of the maidens as they toured the Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. Ronald Reagan is one of Joanne's heros, since she remembers the double digit inflation and interest rates that were part of the Carter administration fame, and how Ronald Reagan brought the American economy back to life. He cut taxes across the board, which gave employers incentive to hire more employees, which created more taxpayers, which increased tax revenues. She also admires Reagan's love for God, his positive outlook, his belief in the American spirit, and his undying determination and successful efforts to end the stranglehold the communist regime held on Europe and Asia. It was a joy for Joanne to relive those times while touring the museum, and to learn about the history of Ronald Reagan, from his infancy. Part of the Berlin wall is at the museum, as well as President Reagan's grave, at which they paid their respects. During the Christmas season, they have a display of Christmas trees that are decorated for each country that President Reagan visited while in office. They were very beautiful.

Air Force One is also housed at the museum. This is the actual plane that President Reagan used. The maidens were able to tour the plane, but no pictures were allowed inside the plane. They were surprised at the small size of the plane, which is about the size of a plane with 3 seats on one side of the aisle, and 2 seats on the other side. They were impressed that on every flight, President Reagan insisted that a cake be in the galley in case someone on board was celebrating a birthday. It was hard for the maidens to leave the museum, they enjoyed it so much, and they were the last ones out the door.

That night they traveled another hour to reach their campground destination of Solodad Canyon, CA. As they were stopped (after dark) at a grocery store, Joanne noticed some liquid leaking under the motor home, but it was impossible to tell what it was in the dark, so in the morning, when they were stopped to fill the gas tank, they discovered it was coolant. So Joanne poured water into the radiator reservoir, thinking it would automatically transfer into the radiator (isn't that what a reservoir is for?!), and went on their way. They did not get a mile down the road before there was a hissing noise, and Raisa exclaimed, "You better pull over!" So she did.

Fortunately, Raisa had roadside assistance service as part of her car insurance policy, and called for help. While they were waiting for help, (and the radiator to cool off), they played a game of what Joanne calls Farkle, and Raisa calls Greed. It was the only time they had the time to play a game.

The mechanic that assisted the lovely maidens appeared about 45 minutes later, after the radiator had cooled, filled the radiator with water, and determined that the water pump was leaking. Hummm, wasn't that the part Joanne just had replaced a week earlier? Since it was the day before Christmas, businesses were starting to close to prepare for the holiday, so the maidens found it necessary to backtrack a few miles to find an Auto Zone store to get some Stop Leak, as recommended by the mechanic. He put it in the radiator, and after running the engine for a few minutes, the leak stopped. The maidens were glad that did the trick, since they had about a 5 hour trip ahead of them to get to Las Vegas.

To be continued...