Hi friends, our last episode concluded
on Wednesday, September 5th when we finally arrived back
in California, stopping at the Redding, California Elks Lodge and
meeting up with our great friends Peggy and Vernon Bullock. Thursday
was a chores day for us. We left the coach about noon and drove
south to Anderson, about ten miles, to get our mail from the UPS
Service Center where we had asked to have it forwarded. We first
wanted to get lunch and we had identified a Chinese place that had
great Yelp ratings, however, when we found the place it was closed.
We went to another Chinese place, also with high ratings, and found
it to be a small take out place, kind of like a Chinese version of a
taquaria. We finally settled on a place called Peacock Chinese which
was right off the freeway in Anderson. It was a nice enough place
with good service. The food was plentiful and not overly expensive
and was good, just not great. It lacked a bit of flavor.
After lunch we went to the UPS center,
only to find it still closed for lunch. We went out and located a
geocache near the center, and by the time we got back it was open.
We got our mail, which came by UPS, and we also got a package from
Amazon with our Folger's low acid coffee that is getting hard to find
in stores. We ordered it from Amazon, never thinking that Amazon now
uses the U.S. Postal Service for a lot of it's deliveries, not just
UPS. Fortunately for us, someone in the UPS Service Center must have
seen the name and looked and their computer to see that we also had a
UPS package delivered that same day. They accepted the mail package,
even though they probably shouldn't have. Even the clerk in the
service center was surprised that the two packages had been sitting
on the shelf side by side. After we had our mail we drove back up to
Redding and did a badly needed Costco run. With our summer travels
we had pretty much exhausted our supply of meat in the freezer. The
one thing we didn't need, surprisingly, was vodka. We still have one
full case from the stock that we took on board before we left Las
Vegas back in June. After Costco we went back to the coach and
unloaded everything and got it all packaged up and put away, most of
it in the freezer.
By the time we were done it was late
afternoon and we decided to just stay in for the rest of the day.
About 5:00 we had the Bullock's over for cocktails and then we did a
BBQ for the four of us. Jackie and the Bullock's all had lamb chops
which we had bought today at Costco and I had a nice rib eye steak
since I don't care for lamb. We had a great meal and talked until
about 8:00 when they went back to their coach and we watched some TV.
Friday, September 7th, we
woke up to find that the winds had shifted and were now coming out of
the north, carrying all the smoke from the wildfire burning just 20
miles or so north of Redding. This is the fire that is burning up
the canyon through which the Sacramento River, Interstate 5 and the
main railroad line all run north and south. The freeway was closed
in both directions on Wednesday when the fire started, only a couple
of hours after we had passed through the area. When I first woke up
this morning I got dressed to go for my morning walk, but when I went
outside I could barely see across the parking lot because of the
smoke. The smell was overwhelming and you could even taste the ash
in the air. I decided to skip my walk. About noon we went out with
Peggy and Vernon to do lunch at a little Mexican place across the
river that they liked. The food was OK, but not outstanding. Peggy
and Vernon had some errands to run, so after lunch Jackie and I did a
Walmart run and then went back to the coach to hide out from the
smoke.
We had already made plans to go to
visit Peggy's son Matt, and his wife Roxanne, for dinner, so around
5:00 we left and drove to their house. The winds had shifted a
little and the smoke had cleared a little bit, but it was still
pretty ugly out. They live about five miles north of the Elks Lodge,
just outside the city limits. They have a very nice house and quite
a bit of property. The wildfire that ravaged the area around, and
the fringes of, Redding about four weeks ago, had caused Matt and
Roxanne to be evacuated from their house for a few days. Fortunately
the fire stayed quite a ways south, so they didn't have any damage in
their area. We were originally going to have hamburgers on the BBQ
at Matt's, but Peggy and Jackie got to playing cards with Roxanne,
Matt's daughter Trinity, and Roxanne's son Carver, and time got away
from them. Matt ended up calling Round Table for pizza and we all
had pizza for dinner. We stayed until about 8:30 and then drove back
to the Elk's lodge. We watched a little TV and then went to bed.
Saturday, September 8th, the
Bullock's came over for lunch because we had almost a full pizza left
from last night's dinner. We warmed it up and all had pizza for
lunch. After lunch the four of us went out to do an hour or so of
driving around some of the area burned last month during the Carr
fire, which devastated a huge area. This fire burned over 225
thousand acres, much of it inside of Redding or in nearby suburbs.
Nearly 1,100 homes were destroyed, along with dozens of business and
hundreds of out buildings. In addition, eight people lost their
lives as a result of the fire. We toured just a small area to the
northwest of the Elks Lodge and saw hundreds of burned homes. After
looking at some of the fire damage we stopped at a grocery store so
Peggy could get a few things. We then went back to the RV park and
relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. The Bullock's came over about
5:00 for cocktails and their daughter Katie also came to visit. We
talked and then Jackie served a nice dinner of chili relleno
casserole. We had a great dinner and a nice visit. They left around
7:30 and we just watched some TV until bedtime.
Sunday, September 9th, I
went out and got the Sunday paper and we relaxed for the morning.
Peggy and Vernon left the Elks around 9:00 to go out on an outing
with their kids somewhere in Northern Nevada. We were going to go
out today and do our laundry, but the winds shifted again overnight
and the smoke was thick in the air. We decided to just stay in all
day and stay out of the smoke. We played some games, watched some
movies on TV and just had a relaxing day. Monday was another moving
day. We were packed up and on the road about 10:00, heading about
175 miles south to Carmichael, a suburb of Sacramento. The smoke was
thick again this morning and driving south on Interstate 5 we didn't
get out from under the smoke until we were nearly 100 miles south of
Redding. We also noted on the Internet that the Highway Patrol
finally opened Interstate 5 north of Redding, with one lane north and
one lane south. This 40 mile stretch had been closed since last
Wednesday when the Delta fire started. We arrived at the Carmichael
Elks Lodge around 1:30 and found that they had lots of sites open.
We got parked, signed in and set up, then just relaxed for the rest
of the day. It was hot, mid-nineties, but no smoke! Yea!
Tuesday, September 11th,
Patriot's Day, a day we will all remember in sad detail. We went out
after lunch and did our laundry. After everything was done we went
home and put everything away, then left again around 5:00 and drove
to nearby Folsom and the Cliff House of Folsom restaurant. We went
there to meet with one of Jackie's old friends, Kathy Yarbourgh and
her husband Bill. Jackie was great friends with Kathy back in the
80's when they both worked in the Coachella Valley. Jackie has also
known Kathy's daughter Julie since she was little. Julie, her
significant 
other Kevin, and their daughter Bella Bliss also came to
dinner. We got there a little early and started a cocktail before
the other five arrived. We had a great dinner and spent a couple of
hours talking and catching up. We usually try to stop any time we
are going up and down through California, but because of our travels
back east last summer we were last here in July of 2016. After
dinner we found our way back home in the dark, no easy feat in a
strange city, watched a little TV and then went to bed.
Wednesday, September 12th,
we went out after lunch and did few geocaches, getting four new
finds, including a milestone, find number 9,300. After caching we
went back to the coach, cleaned up a little, and then drove over to
our friend's Curt and Sharon Minard. They live only about a mile
from the Elks in Carmichael. They invited us to dinner and also
invited some other mutual friends, Dave and Karen Van Egdon. Both of
these couples are RVing friends that we met through Peggy and Vernon
Bullock. They all belong to a Central California RV club, the Gold
Panners. We had cocktails and talked for a while. Sharon served
some great snacks, and then a wonderful meal of lasagna and salad.
We had a wonderful time catching up with these folks, who we also had
last seen almost two years ago, although we do keep up with both
couples through social media. We talked after dinner until about
8:30, when we went back to the coach and watched some TV before going
to bed. Another great evening with friends. Thursday we decided to
just have a stay at home day. Did a few chores and just relaxed.
Friday, September 14th,
another travel day. We left Carmichael about 10:00 and started south
towards Fresno, about 175 miles. Although the weather was great, the
rough California freeways and the very heavy traffic, especially big
trucks, made it a long and stressful trip. Nonetheless, we made it
safely to the Fresno Elks Lodge about 1:30 and got parked. We had
made reservations and it was a good thing because the only open spot
was the one reserved for us. As soon as we got plugged in and the
basic set up done we left and went to a nearby Mexican restaurant,
Plaza Ventana, for a late lunch. The food was pretty good, with only
a couple minor complaints. After we ate we went back to the Elks and
finished getting set up for our four night stay here. After getting
set up we just relaxed for the rest of the day. We are here
primarily to visit with Jackie's second cousin Stephanie Kopf and her
family, another of our regular Central California stops.
Saturday, September 15th, we
left the RV park about noon and drove to a nearby In N Out burger
restaurant for lunch. It has been three months since we had one of
our favorite lunches, so we really enjoyed it. Oddly, when we pulled
into the In N Out, one of several in Fresno, there was a big, gray
Prevost bus parked on the street and the only writing on it was “In
N Out USA” in orange letters. We thought maybe it was the owner of
the chain, a young woman who is the granddaughter of the founders, or
maybe an inspection team from the corporate office in Los Angeles. I
asked one of the young clerks inside when I picked up my food, but he
wasn't aware of any official visitors. Come to find out, it was a
bus full of what appeared to be Japanese tourists who had been eating
in the restaurant. Since we didn't realize it until they left, we
weren't able to ask any of them, although they all seemed to only be
speaking in Japanese. I guess we will be left wondering.
After lunch we went out and did a
couple hours of geocaching, getting ten new finds, and one DNF,
before deciding to stop. This is an active caching area with lots of
caches, but most of the ones we got were by one caching team and they
were all very clever and interesting caches. Although we really are
about the numbers, we do like when a cache owner puts some thought
into the design and placement of a cache. After we were done with
caching we did a Walmart run. The closest Walmart to the Elks was a
Supercenter, but it was one of the most uninviting Walmart's we have
been to in a long time. A smaller than usual building made it very
crowded because of the size it was organized completely differently.
Finally, it had way more than it's fair share of what we call “Wall
Martians”, the odd looking people you occasionally run across when
shopping. We got our stuff, then went back to the coach and relaxed
for the rest of the day.
Sunday, September 16th, I
went out and got the local Sunday paper and we had our normal,
relaxing Sunday morning. After lunch we went out and did a few
geocaches, getting six new finds. About 3:00 or so we drove over to
Ron and Stephanie's house. They had driven down to Malibu yesterday
for a family wedding, which was the reason we didn't visit them
yesterday. They drove back today and texted us that they were now
home. Home is different from where it was almost two years ago when
we were here to visit. They moved from the rental house they had
lived in for a number of years and finally got their own house in a
brand new subdivision in a county area about five miles south
Monday, September 17th, we
had mostly a stay at home day. Stephanie, who works two hours a day
over the lunch period at Maddie's school, came by the coach after she
got off work. She and Jackie sat around for an hour or so talking
and then decided that we needed to go to Sam's Club. Stephanie
doesn't have a membership, but she could in on ours, so we drove to
the Sam's Club which is only a few miles north of the Elks. We spent
an hour or so in Sam's, getting most of the stuff that we hadn't been
able to get at Costco last week. We then drove back to the coach and
Jackie and Stephanie sat and talked for another hour or so.
Stephanie left around 5:00 and we just relaxed for the remainder of
the evening.
Tuesday, September 18th,
another travel day. We were packed up and on the road about 10:00,
heading southwest to Santa Maria and the Elks lodge there. The trip
was about 174 miles, much the same as the last one, but the roads
were generally better and there wasn't as much traffic. All in all
it was a pretty smooth drive. We arrived at the Santa Maria Elks
about 1:30 and got parked in one of their full hookup spots. Full
hookup, 50 amp sites are $25, quite the bargain considering what we
have been paying at regular RV parks lately. Regular readers will
know that the reason we come to the Central Coast so often is that
Jackie's Aunt Donna, who is 93, lives in nearby Pismo Beach with her
grandson Corey. Donna is Jackie's last relative from that generation
and she has always been very close to her. We got set up and had
expected that Corey was going to come over, along with John Perez,
another of Jackie's younger cousins, who is visiting with Corey for a
few days. John and Jackie are also quite close. However, Corey
called and said that some things had come up and that they would not
be coming over today and would see us tomorrow when we go over there.
We had dinner and then relaxed with the TV for the rest of the
evening. We are going to be here in Santa Maria for nine days, the
longest we have been anywhere since Gillette, Wyoming back in July.
Wednesday, September 19th,
we left the coach around 2:30 and drove to the Santa Maria KFC to
pick up a bucket of chicken for dinner at Donna's tonight. The KFC
in south Santa Maria is the only one in the area. We then drove over
to Pismo Beach and met Corey and John at Scotty's bar, Corey's
hangout when he gets time off from caring for Donna. We had one
drink and talked, then drove up to the house. Jackie's cousin Judy,
who goes by Pia, was already at the house. Pia lives in Grover
Beach, the next town south of Pismo. We all sat around and talked,
catching up since we last saw most of the group back in May. We
haven't seen John for over a year. Pia didn't stay long and left
before we had dinner. About 6:30 we warmed up the chicken and
fixings and had a nice dinner. We left about 8:30 and headed back to
the Elks, watched a little TV and then went to bed.
Thursday, September 20th, we
left the coach after lunch and went out to do some geocaching,
getting seven new finds and two DNFs in a little under two hours.
About 3:00 we drove to Pismo and Donna's house where we had another
nice visit. Donna, Corey and John were there. Pia had said she
would try to come over, but she never did. We left about 4:30, drove
back to the Elks and then just relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Friday we went out after lunch and did a Walmart run. After Walmart
we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the day doing a few
chores and relaxing.
Saturday, September 22nd,
Happy Autumnal Equinox, also known as “Fall.” As of today the
days will be getting shorter until the official beginning of Winter
in December. We left the coach about 11:30 and drove to one of the
movie theaters in Santa Maria to see a matinee. We saw The Spy Who
Dumped Me, with Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon and Mila
Kunis. It was, of course, a comedic farce about a couple of clueless
friends when one of them inadvertently gets hooked up with an
international spy. We like these kinds of movies and we enjoyed this
one. It won't win any Oscar nominations, but it was pretty funny.
After the movies we drove to Arroyo Grande and we both got haircuts.
Jackie gets hers done about once a month, I usually go about six
months between cuts. After we got our hair cuts we stopped in at
Trader Joe's, which was conveniently right next door, and got a few
things for the freezer. We then drove to Donna's and spent a couple
of hours with the family. About 5:30 we headed back to the coach,
had dinner and watched TV until bedtime. Sunday was a stay at home
day. I got the paper in the morning and then spent most of the day
doing office work. The Elks had a Family Day picnic on the grass
field behind our coach, so we listened to the kids playing all day.
Monday, September 24th, we
left the Elks about noon and went to Costco for a few things. We got
gas in the car and then had lunch at the snack bar. We then did our
shopping and returned back to the coach. About 4:00 we left again
and drove to Nipomo for dinner at Jocko's with family. Regular
readers will remember that we call Jocko's the best steakhouse in the
country and we try to come here at least once during each visit. We
met Corey, John and Pia there and the five of us had a cocktail and
then a wonderful dinner. Jackie had her usual lamb chops and I had
my usual rib eye steak. The food was excellent, the visit with
family great, and we had leftovers for lunch tomorrow. After dinner
we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Tuesday, September 25th, we
went out after lunch to do our laundry and run some errands. We got
the laundry done and then stopped at Lowes and Walmart for a few
things before returning to the coach. We unloaded everything into
the coach and then left again to drive to Donna's for a visit. John
had left this morning so it was now down to just Corey and Donna at
the house. We had a cocktail and visited for a while, then left
around 6:00. We stopped at Juan's Cantina in Oceano, a pretty good
local Mexican place, and had a nice dinner. After dinner we went
home, put everything away from our chores this afternoon, and then
relaxed with the TV until bedtime. All of the new TV shows, and
returning shows that we already watch, are starting to record this
week, so we will have a lot of TV to watch. Wednesday we went out
after lunch and stopped at Office Max for a couple things. We then
drove over to Donna's to visit for a couple hours and say our
goodbyes for now. We are leaving Santa Maria in the morning. After
our visit we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the
evening.
Thursday, September 27th, we
were packed up and on the road about 10:30, heading east. Our
ultimate destination is Laughlin, Nevada, about 400 miles east. We
are going there for a five day stay including a rally with one of our
FMCA groups, Beat the Odds. This is a small chapter that only has
two rallies a year, Spring and Fall, both now in Laughlin. As the
name would imply, it is primarily centered around casinos and
gambling. Our first leg, for today, was about 140 miles to
Bakersfield. We arrived at the RV park in Bakersfield around 1:00,
got registered, parked and set up then just relaxed. This is a one
night stay, so we didn't even unhook the car. Friday we were on the
road for stage 2, 150 miles to Newberry Springs, a small town just
east of Barstow. We arrived at the RV park around 1:30, got
registered and parked, only to discover that there was no power to
the pedestal. The maintenance people came and checked, and after
some looking discovered that one of the large fuses for the main
supply to the park had blown. This was something that could only be
fixed by the power company. It was just over 100 degrees and they
had no idea how long it might take to fix, so we got our money back
and backtracked 15 miles to an RV park in Dagget that we have been to
several times before. They had a spot for us, so we got set up and
again just stayed in for the rest of the day.
Saturday, September 29th, we
left Dagget around 9:30 and continued east on the final leg, 170
miles to Laughlin. We arrived at the Riverside RV park just before
1:00, got registered, parked and set up. We will be here for five
days, with the rally actually starting on Monday we have a couple of
free days. After we got set up we just rested for the rest of the
day. Our arrival here in Nevada, our home
state, is pretty close to marking the end of this summer's travels.
When we leave here next Thursday we will be heading to Pahrump for a
two month stay at our “Home” park. Therefore, this also
represents a good place to close out this chapter and get it
published. Until next time remember that your bed is that magical
place where you suddenly remember all the things you need to do. See
ya soon.
