Costanoa (4)

Back in the swing of things. Second weekend out, post lock down, and it’s feeling more normal now. I’m even less nervous about crashing to some extent. Richard has moved from phrases like: “Drive safe,” or, “Drive like you do,” to: “If we crash, we crash.” Or like, if he takes his shoes off in the car, he says, “I’ll put them back on when we crash.” Check. We’re ready for it. Oddly, that puts less pressure out there and helps me to relax.

This KOA is the nicest private place I’ve ever been to, but it costs a lot. And there are only some sites that are spaced far enough apart from each other that it feels worth it. I hadn’t previously realized you can reserve those premium sites for an extra (!) fee, but if you do, it’s a very pleasant stay. There are all kinds of amenities, like an on site restaurant that has to go during the pandemic, and live outdoor music. Oh and there is even a roaming cocktail cart that makes the rounds in the afternoons! None of that is cheap either, but I figure, with all the reservations that got cancelled due to shut down, we are coming out way ahead. And given all that has happened this past year, I will never regret splurging on a campsite, especially one with an ocean view.

We pulled over on the way down to catch the sunset and I noted that when I went inside to get my puffy, the view out the BFW was very nice. This is to prove that we are not fully anti BFW people and do notice when it is nice. Still, no regrets on our Dory2 ordering decisions and we can’t wait to get overhead cabinets and dining area lighting back.

I can report on our latest Lola mod: the sliding dining room table! We have really pondered whether we would re-do the Lagun table mount in Dory2. The upsides include having the ability to move the table out of the way enough for me to get in and sit down, plus the ability to lose the pedestal stand and track on the floor, thus opening up the under table space. The downside is that eventually, the table top will tip. It’s just a really big piece of wood for that mount. Even if the material were lighter, it would list at the two pivot points and result in the far side being lower. And even if my Type A “noticing eye” could overlook the unevenness, I was also hesitant to put heavy things on that side. Our solution to that involved putting a support leg at the far corner. But that ended up making me feel trapped just as much as it had felt before the mod. And it was kind of a small pain to lock it all into place securely for travel. So, I wanted to re-think some other solution. Really, all I’m after is making it easier to get in and out of that corner by the fridge. I don’t need 360º rotation, nor do I need the ability to adjust up or down; I just want to shove the top out of the way and the track on the floor doesn’t cut it – especially with two batteries sitting on the base.

Enter a lengthy discussion and investigation into drawer slides. There are many kinds of slides, as it turns out. But with a little thought, a tiny cardboard model, and a couple of phone calls to some online drawer slide guy, we reached a prototype solution. Basically, you take the pedestal receiver mount off the bottom of the table and put it onto a rectangle of something; in this case, a made to order polypropylene cutting board. You mount the inner slide brackets onto that. Then you mount two 90º angle brackets onto the bottom of the table to hang the slide assembly. Et voila! You have a tabletop that can slide away from the middle point by however long the slides are. We decided 16″ was plenty because you will almost run into the far wall in that amount of travel. We also got super heavy duty locking ones so it will stay locked in place in its center position.

Verdict? Love it! It’s a game changer for me and exactly what I will want in Dory2. It is easy to unlock and roll the table top out of the way and easy to pull back once I’ve sat down. When Richard is sitting on the other side, I need to rotate it a bit in order to not cut him in half. We waxed the pedestal in the bottom mount so that it rotates a little easier and that way, I can get up from the table even when he’s sitting there. In fact, I made a point of just getting up and down on any whim I had. Need something from the fridge? I’ll get it! Feel like maybe getting fuzzy socks from the back. Oh no, don’t you move, I got this! Up and down all weekend. Heaven.

Saturday was a glorious day out. The weather was wonderful and Richard got out to do a loop over to Pescadero and back. I got to sag him in Bruce2 and I am enjoying driving that car a lot. I feel that I was unfairly deprived a full month of new car smell, so it was really great to crank the tunes and hit the back roads. We went past Butano State Park on our route and it was very closed. But though I could see some evidence of fire damage, it did not look too bad from the road. I am hopeful that the park can recover. Along the route, we stopped to admire the lighthouse at Pigeon Point and reflect on all the “lighthouses” in my life that have shone so brightly these past four years. It’s a good feeling. We finished the day off with a walk to the beach to watch the sunset, and a Blue Apron for dinner. And for dinner, I made sure I needed to get up and down a lot.

Heading home Sunday, we enjoyed a sandwich at the BFW, against a background of mustard in full bloom, with the lighthouse in the background. Fabulous weekend, happy campers.

Total miles: 75.6, 15.1 mpg, 2 hours 39 min. Site S11 full hookups, premium (expensive) reservable site. Not great cell service for either one of us, but ok LTE down by the ocean. Campground wifi strongest at the restaurant but not useful from site. You have to bring a sewer fitting (like a funnel shaped thingy) in order to dump – like don’t just run the dump hose to the opening.