We took off, Friday evening, after finishing up my last day in Quincy, and headed for the coast. We made it to Santa Nella, CA, known for Anderson's split pea restaurant with it's dutch windmill, and a nice state park by the name of San Luis Creek. We got in a little after dark and set up camp for the night. We went to sleep to the sounds of the coyotes howling in the distance.
Saturday morning was sunny and warm. It was a perfect beginning of our "vacation." I say vacation because as of then, I still didn't have an assignment inked. We had been holding out for an Alaskan assignment and my recruiter was pressing to get me an interview. But with no real prospects, we were on a scheduled break from the rat race. I was a little stressed at first, but I knew that things would eventually work out. So off we were for Monterey. But first I stopped to see my parents' grave site at the San Joaquin Veteran's Memorial Cemetery. It has been several years since Susan and I have been there and were happy to see that it was even more beautiful than it was the last time.
Monterey was cool. It has also been a while since we've been to the beach and we just had to stay there a couple days. The dogs got there first taste of the ocean (OMG it was funny to watch) and we got to walk on the beach at sunset. Sunday we went to the Monterey Aquarium and hung out down town. 
It was on to Grass Valley, CA and DeMartini RV for some long-needed maintenance which took the better part of two days and then we were heading for our home, Missoula, Montana.
Our friend's Kay and Terry were kind enough to host us for more than a week. We were plugged in and enjoying the Missoula life. We ate at some of our favorite restaurants, saw some of our friends and family, including Tom, Susan's brother. He hosted us for Hong Kong Chef Chinese and the Amazing Race, and then we were off for Glacier National Park and Libby!
See, during these two weeks I was offered two permanent positions in AK, but no traveling ones. I did 5 days of fill-in work at Community Medical Center (my former employer) and had to start looking for jobs in other states. I just missed an Orthopedics job in Salinas, CA (next to Monterey), but got the SNF job in Libby.
So with some direction we were free to roam around the state, and we did! We went to Glacier for a day, hung out in Kalispell for part of the day, went into the Kootenai National Forest and camped in the Cabinet Mountains. Libby is in Northwestern Montana and is arguably the most beautiful part of the state. The mountains are huge and the rivers are wild. This is grizzly country and is a mecca for hiking, biking and kayaking!
So here we are, ready to start the next leg of our Grand Adventure. Spring is here and summer is on the way. This may not be Alaska, but it's not far off...
