It was a very GOOD Friday!

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7:18 am - Saturday - 45º F, humidity 77%, wind 3 mph out of the south southeast.......partly cloudy skies......forecast high is 72º F in San Jose.

Originally our Jello plan had been to drive 120+ miles up to the Salinas Elks Lodge on Friday, spend a night, and then head another 80+ miles to the Santa Clara Elks Lodge to spend two nights, and visit with a college friend who lives in San Jose.  Based on the Elks online directory of lodges which offer RV facilities across the country there was none in San Jose.......I thought.  Well, I was more than a little edgy about the RV facilities at the Santa Clara Lodge which were very few (8), very tight (I would have to drop the trailer), and on a first come first serve basis on Easter weekend, so I was checking on alternative RV options for San Jose when whilst perusing 'RVParkreviews.com' Thursday evening discovered the Elks Lodge in San Jose did, indeed, offer RV hookups......28 of them to be exact....and right in downtown San Jose!  Well, that changed everything.......without calling the San Jose Lodge (their office was closed Thursday evening) we decided to take a chance and drive directly there on Friday hoping to snag a spot for the Easter weekend.  

I did send off an email to them asking if they had any sites, and if they took reservations hoping to hear from them in route to San Jose Friday morning.  I had finished readying the trailer for VW insertion Thursday afternoon after our return from Santa Barbara, so all we had to do Friday morning was turn over the Detroit Diesel, move over to the dump station to 'dump', and then get on SR-101 northbound......we merged into the #3 lane on SR-101 at 9:36 am precisely and were on our way north.

SR-101 goes way inland past San Luis Obispo and stays to the east of the coastal mountain range all the way to San Jose.  You pass through 150 miles of mostly agricultural areas where crops ranging from wine grapes to lettuce are being grown.  The area is very green from all the rain California has had this year.....in fact it is green everywhere in California....even in the desert this year.  There is only one Rest Area between San Luis Obispo and San Jose, and it is just 45 miles north of SLO....too soon to take a break, so around the 100 mile mark we pulled off the highway in San Lucas and took a brief break in a McDonalds parking lot.  In all the drive to the San Jose Elks Lodge was 187 miles door to door......in fact the freeway exit for Alma Ave., which is where the Elks Lodge is located, ends just across the street from the driveway for the Lodge.  Just as we pulled in to their parking lot I got an email from the Lodge advising they do take reservations.....hahaha.....well, here we are.....hope there are some sites.  As it turned out there was just ONE site available and it was one of their very long back-in sites (about 70' long), but it was a tight back in spot.....all the sites here are back-in and very, very close together......

.....with the help of Glenn, the on site RV host, we were backed into the site within 10 minutes without having to drop the trailer.....it took a little maneuvering, but no small animals, or children were harmed during the process....thank you Glenn!  While this Lodge RV facility is quite cramped, it is right downtown and not far from my friend's home.......perfect!

By the time we had hooked up, paid for three days, and had a bite of a late lunch it was after 3 pm........

.....I took time to respond to a few emails from our boss at Tahoe Valley Campground, and by the time I was finished it was close to 5 pm and time for cocktail hour.....:-)  

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