After leaving Sacramento, we headed to a Thousand Trails park in Morgan Hill, CA. We left later in the day on Sunday, giving Molly and Diane time to participate in all the sessions they wanted to see at the conference. It took a couple hours to get to Morgan Hill, and we got there just in time to get a spot and hooked up before it was totally dark.
Morgan hill is in a nice area, in that it’s not near any highways, railroad tracks, airport, or other noise generating equipment. The sites all look pretty level, and there are lot’s of tree’s. It has a huge pool, especially compared to the number of available sites in the park. All the sites have water and electric, but none have sewer. They do have a honey wagon service, but it could get old paying $25 every few days to dump the gray tank. I would invest in one of those portable tanks if I planned on staying here longer than just a week.
Internet and cellular services worked fine. I think we were right on the edge of Sprint coverage, and a booster might have helped. The AT&T and Verizon phones worked just fine. We got Satellite TV too, but that is a tough one here for the roof mounted dishes. Not too many spots with the right clearing. The spaces here can be kinda tight too.
We may be spoiled by our experiences with staff at Lake Conroe, Wilderness Lakes, Idyllwild, and even Pio Pico, in that they’ve all had some pretty friendly staff. At Wilderness Lakes, you cannot drive, walk, or ride a bike, and not have one of the staff wave at you when they see you. Even if they’re off scooting around on the golf carts, they’ll throw a wave and a smile at you. Pretty much the same thing at Idyllwild. But, at Morgan Hill, it was hard to even know who the staff were, let alone get a wave, or a smile. Not sure if they’re more seasonal, and just getting worn down by what seems to be a constant state of being filled with campers, or what. Nothing bad really, just not as friendly. All in all, I got most of what I want in a site. Respectful neighbors, electricity, level, some shade, water, and a generally calm atmosphere. Oh, and good Internet for the worker type, and the YouTube watcher.
Enough about the park…
While there, we all went out to dinner one night with a colleague, his wife, and daughters (he has a new tiny one!) We had a fantastic dinner at Maggiano’s in San Jose, CA. The food was very good, and there was lot’s of it. Both families walked away with a couple days worth of leftovers. It was great to see Thao, and spend some non-work time with the families.
Another family outing was off to the Santa Cruz boardwalk. This is like the runway of a larger county fair, with permanent rides, food vendors, and games. We went on dollar hot dog and soda night, so dinner was cheap. You buy tickets for the rides, and this night had some special ticket prices as well. Molly had a great time on some of the rides by herself, a couple with Diane, and then one final “see if we can make him hurl” ride with Dad. Ugh. The ride home was on some twisty roads too. It was all I could do to keep from letting loose of the cheap hot dog and soda. I’m officially too old for such things now. If you’re in the area, it’s a great spot to hang out. There’s no fee to get in, so you have some hooligan’s hanging around that you need to keep an eye out for, but there’s lot’s of families there too, till it gets dark and cold.
Since the boardwalk rides were not quite enough, Molly and Diane also headed out to San Jose to California’s Great America (http://www.cagreatamerica.com/) We had gotten some great tickets from another Fulltime family that was not going to be able to use them. They both had a great time, rode several rides, and spent nearly the whole day there at the park. It sounds like it is similar to Knott’s Berry Farm that is in Southern California, and they do have some affiliation as well. If you’re in the area, and it’s open, it would be some good fun for the kids. Way cheaper than the Disney prices.
Our stay at Morgan Hill ends Sunday, August 12, and we’re booking it down to SoCal that day to stay back at our favorite, Wilderness Lakes in Menifee. We’ve got some appointments lined up before we head east, plus moving Megan into an apartment, and a couple RV projects. Sorry this post is so late, but I’ve been working on those projects, and time has gotten away.
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