After watching an all-day “Mail Call” marathon, tonight we’re watching R. Lee Ermey’s Lock ‘N’ Load on the History Channel. This is the premier of Ermey’s new show and the first episode is all about MACHINE GUNS! The second is all about Artillery . . .

First Episode: Gunny checks out the rapid fire, lead spitting destruction of the machine gun. From an authentic hand cranking 1890’s Gatling Gun to one of the fastest machine guns on the planet today–the Mini Gun–Gunny rat a tat tats his way through machine gun history while high-speed photography captures the exploding targets in incredible slow motion.

Second Episode: Gunny takes a journey through the history of cannons and field artillery and shoots off everything from Revolutionary War-era cannonballs to the futuristic shells of NLOS-C — a fully automated piece of artillery that’s so new the Army’s still testing it. Other featured artillery includes Civil War cannons and the Pack 75 Howitzer, a World War II cannon used in the Battle of the Bulge.

We saw Gunny at the NRA in April but didn’t get to speak with him. Next time, we will.

We’re both happy that the Gunny has a new show. So far (at 50 minutes into the second hour) we’ve been highly entertained by Lock ‘N’ Load.

If I were to assess a five-star rating to the GARMIN nüvi 205W GPS unit that we took on our vacation, I would give it a 3½ star rating. Our vacation route took us a distance of over 700 miles, starting from Carson, California (where we picked up the 24 foot travel trailer).

Our first stop was in Buellton, north of Santa Barbara. After exiting US Highway 101, the GPS gave us flawless directions to our first waypoint. Yours truly, made a wrong turn off the highway, but the GPS recalculated and we were quickly on a bee line for the RV park.

The next morning we continued northbound on 101 to San Luis Obispo where we made a left turn to head over to the coastline at Morro Bay. I had the GPS programmed to take us to the RV park at Morro Dunes. When we got there, the GPS wanted me to overshoot the campground entrance by only a couple hundred yards, but it wasn’t exactly at the entrance like the night before. We pulled into the park and backed the trailer into our assigned spot.

The weather at the beach was cold. (Where is that global warming when you need it?) After walking around the area, Damsel decided she needed some sweatpants or something since all she had with her were dresses and shorts. “No problem,” I said, “we can look up shopping on the GPS.” I confidently loaded a shopping>sporting goods ‘point of interest’ into the destination queue and off we went.

We headed down a frontage road by State Route 1. The GPS kept telling us to turn left, which was impossible due to the seven-foot chain link fence between the frontage road and the highway. When we were finally able to go left, the GPS directed us into a housing tract and pronounced arriving at destination in front of a house on a cul de sac (*FROWN*).

It was at this point, Damsel says that I started arguing with the female voice - a habit that continued the rest of the vacation until I finally muted the bitch voice function. During the misguided adventure, we passed a surf shop and stopped there to get the garment for Damsel on our way back to the RV park.

The next morning, we went into town to get some things and to refuel. I used the map function just to know where the main drags were - they’re highlighted differently than side streets. That worked out pretty well - we got our stuff and fueled up all in the same place. Back at the campground, we hitched up the trailer and headed up SR 1 toward Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey. An Arduous haul with the rig, for sure, but the scenery is breathtaking and well worth the drive. The map in the GPS display showed the bends in the road before we got there - that was pretty cool.

Heading for the next RV park, in Aromas, California, near Hwy 101 again, the GPS got us to the wrong place - my fault - I entered the wrong address and it correctly took us there. When I entered the correct address, then it took us to the wrong place, about ¾ mile south of the real place it turns out. I called the RV park on the wireless and got verbal directions. I presume it’s an error in the map database since Google Earth also showed me the same (wrong) place.

To make a long story even longer, I could describe the rest of our drive in detail, but the GPS acted as advertised, guiding us to a supermarket, to get gas, to the next campground in Paso Robles, and the last day to our home in southwestern L.A. County.

Overall I’m pleased with the new toy. I will have to assume there are bugs in the database here and there, and plan accordingly when we take our next drive to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in mid-September.

From Eric Allie:

Morpheus and Trinity seem disenchanted. No word from Neo, however.

Mentioned in yesterday’s post, the low-hanging fog at Morro Bay gathers around the top of the rock. I took this photo from the beach just across from the RV park where we stayed. Click on the image to enlarge.

Three of the four nights we camped in the 24 foot travel trailer, we had a ‘pull-thru’ campsite - that is you can drive your rig into the campsite without the necessity of backing it up. The one night where we had to back the trailer into the campsite was at Morro Dunes RV Park. The campground was absolutely full and the stalls were adequate, but small. Thanks to guidance from Damsel, we got the rig backed in, unhitched and hooked up to the utilities without incident.

The campground, itself, was right across the road from the dunes with the beach just beyond. Just to the south of the campground was the famous Morro Rock. Often, the tops of the stacks at the power plant (seen in the photo above the trailer) and the top of the rock were obscured by low-hanging fog. We enjoyed our stay there a lot, despite the chilly, foggy beach weather.

This morning, we woke up in Paso Robles, California. This was the nicest of the RV Parks we camped this trip. Paso Robles is surrounded by vineyards, and is considered one of the premier locations for wineries. We passed this interesting winery, Red Cedar Vineyards, which had this unusual fountain. A huge (20 foot tall) display of bunches of grapes with water cascading down to tiered pools. Click on the image to enlarge.

This is one of the original missions built along El Camino Real in California. It is near Paso Robles along US Hwy 101 in central California. We’re camping about seven miles south of the mission tonight. Hot - 99°. Air conditioner on.

We drove up to the Monterey area on California State Route 1. It’s arguably some of the most beautiful coastline in the world. Click to enlarge.

On our way out of Buellton this morning, we drove through Solvang, California, which is a Danish-American enclave in the Santa Ynez Valley. Just outside of Solvang, we stopped at Mission Santa Inés, one of the original El Camino Real missions. The mission has had a face lift or two, but still retains it’s original early nineteenth century charm.

Santa Inés was the site where a Spanish soldier assaulted a Chumash Indian which led to an uprising that secularized the missions in the area. Most of the Indians returned to their tribal sites in the hills, although a few stayed on.

From Wikipedia:

The original bell structure (erected in 1817) collapsed in 1911 and was reconstructed out of reinforced concrete in 1948. The campanile has been compared by architectural historian Rexford Newcomb to the one that originally abutted the façade of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel.

Tonight, we’re camping at Morro Bay, just a quarter mile from the famous rock. Tomorrow, Big Sur and the Monterey Peninsula.

We picked up our travel trailer this afternoon and are now camped in Buellton, California. I took this photo of the coastline approaching Gaviota, not far from the Ronald Reagan Ranch. Tomorrow, we will be touring Santa Ynez Valley before heading up to San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay.