Northern California/Southern Oregon Adventures

Hello again, welcome back. Our last chapter concluded on Wednesday, July 8^th, when we departed Santa Maria, California after two weeks visiting family, and headed north to meet with dear friends we regard as family in Mineral, California. We are making three short, two day stops before heading to Mineral to be with Peggy Bullock and her family. The first stop, on Wednesday, was near Coalinga, California, just off I-5 a hundred miles north of Bakersfield. After getting set up at the Almond Tree Oasis RV Park we just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Thursday, July 9^th, we went out after lunch to do some exploring and geocaching. We drove to the little town of Coalinga, about six miles west of the RV park for our first search. We ended up doing a DNF for that one. The town has a population of around 17,000 and was incorporated in 1906. It is the site of both the Pleasant Valley State Prison and the Coalinga State Hospital, a maximum security mental hospital. The town's name has an interesting history. In 1888 the Southern Pacific Railroad established a coaling station at the site of the current town. These existed to provide coal and water for the steam locomotives of the time. The railroad named the station “Coaling Station A” and several signs were posted along the track approaching the station which read “CoalingA” as an abbreviation. The next year a post office was established and the postmaster submitted the name “Coalinga” for the town. We had to DNF the one cache which was actually located in town, but we spent the next 90 minutes driving north and then east out of town searching for caches. The current big economic drivers in the area are agriculture and oil. There are miles and miles of oil fields surrounding the town. There are also a number of VERY large feed lot operations. We have never seen that many cows in one place. Altogether we got five new finds with the one DNF and never saw another soul except those in vehicles passing by. Great hobby for social distancing. After caching we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Friday, July 10^th, we were on the road again by 9:30, heading north 162 miles on I-5 to an RV park near Lodi, California. We got in the park around 12:30 and were parked and set up by 2:00. We decided to go out for a late lunch/early dinner and ended up going to the Denny's across the street. Although the park has a Lodi address it is about 12 miles west of town in an area dominated by truck stops and motels. Of course, Denny's was only doing take out, so we got our dinners to go and went back to the coach and ate. We spent the rest of the day in the coach relaxing and doing some administrative chores.

Saturday, July 11^th, we did laundry at the RV park in the morning. We wanted to do laundry before we went up to Mineral because we wouldn't be able to do it during the week we are up there. Not too many laundromats in a town of 123. After lunch we went out to do some shopping, stopping at Walmart and Sally's Beauty for supplies. We also got a couple of geocaches just because we could. After our errands we went back to the coach and relaxed inside and out of the heat for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Sunday I got the Sunday paper and we relaxed in the morning. After lunch we went out to do some geocaching despite the 100 degree plus temps. We were able to get a dozen caches with no DNFs in a couple of hours. After caching we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Monday, July 13^th, we had another travel day. Today was another 164 mile trip north on I-5 to Red Bluff California. Normally when we pass through Red Bluff we stay at the Elks Lodge, but because it was so hot we wanted to have a 50 amp site so we could run both air conditioners. The lodge only has 30 amp sites. We got into the Durango RV Resort, which is very nice and got parked and set up for our one night stay. After we got parked we went out and had a late lunch at a nice deli in town, then did a Walmart run for a couple of things. After we got back to the coach we just relaxed for the rest of the day and evening. Tuesday was our final travel day. Today's tri

p was only 42 miles from Red Bluff to Mineral where Peggy lives. Jackie drove the car because the trip to Mineral goes from near sea level to 5,000 feet elevation pretty quickly and we have had problems with overheating on the coach trying to tow up here in the past. Today the coach got hot, but not into the caution zone, so it was OK. We got an early start and beat the worst of the heat. We got checked into the Mineral Lodge RV park, parked the coach and did our set up. After we got set up we had a quick lunch and drove over to Peggy's house, which is only a mile down the road. We spent the entire day with Peggy, whom we had not seen since she left Yuma in early April. Jackie and Peggy made a chili relleno casserole for dinner and we had a very nice relaxing visit. We left around 8:30 and went back to our coach. We watched a little TV and went to bed.

Wednesday, July 15^th, I spent a couple of hours in the morning trying to find a spot between the trees where I could get a signal for the satellite TV. However, just like last year, there are just too many trees in this park and they are too big. So, like last year, we will get by with watching recorded shows. One good thing is that with the Covid thing going on none of the normal replacement weekly network comedies or dramas are on. It is all game shows and repeats, so we won't miss much. We went over to Peggy's about noon and had left overs for lunch. We spent the rest of the day at her house. The girls played cards and I did some travel planning and meditating. We did some steaks on the BBQ for dinner and about 8:00 we headed back to the coach and spent the rest of the night watching TV.

Thursday, July 16^th, we left the coach about 10:30, picked up Peggy and drove to the Chester/Lake Almanor area, about 30 miles southeast. Chester is a small town of about2,100 located on the south shore of Lake Almanor. The lake is a 1.3 million acre foot reservoir which was created in 1914 by the construction of the Canyon Dam by theGreat Western Power company. The dam has a hydroelectric generating station and is now owned by Pacific Gas and Electric. We had lunch at a nice place we have been beforecalled Plumas Pines Resort. They have a big deck overlooking the west shore of the lake. We had a very nice lunch. After lunch we did a little bit of caching, getting one new find and two DNFs. We decided it was too hot to cache in the woods, which requires a lot more time and energy than urban caching. We stopped at a hardware store and then the grocery store, which was the actual reason for coming to Chester today. Mineral has only a small general store without much merchandise. After shopping we went back to Mineral. We dropped Peggy off and went back to the coach for a couple hours of rest. About 5:00 we went back to Peggy's and had cocktails on the deck. We didn't have any dinner as we were all still full from lunch. We stayed until about 7:00 when we went back to the coach and relaxed with the TV the rest of the night.

Friday, July 17^th, we went over to Peggy's house about 2:00 to spend the afternoon. Peggy's oldest son Larry and his girlfriend Karen were there, having driven up from their place near Sacramento. They are up for the weekend. We sat around and talked for a couple of hours. About 5:00 Larry's daughter Tara arrived, also here for the weekend. We had cocktails and then about 6:30 we all had a nice dinner with ham, a Chinese chicken salad that Jackie made, and scalloped potatoes. We stayed until a little after 7:00 when we went back to our coach. We spent the rest of the evening with the TV. Saturday we went over to Peggy's house around 1:30 or so. We would have gone a little earlier, but we were having problems at the RV park with the electric. Because the park is full this weekend, and the 30 amp power is iffy at best, the voltage kept dropping below the 104 volt threshold at which our protective device cuts the power to the RV. It does this because low voltage can damage motors and electrical devices. I had to run the generator for a while to charge the batteries up enough that the charger would not kick off the power. This park has really crappy power. Peggy's other son, Matt and his wife Roxanne, had come up for the day and we had a great time visiting with the family. Another long time friend of Peggy's had also come up for the day. For dinner Larry cooked up three racks of baby backs and we had those with beans and some more of Jackie's chicken salad. We had a very nice dinner, visited until about 7:00 and then went back to our coach. We spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Sunday, July 19^th, we went over to Peggy's around 2:00 and spent the afternoon with her. Today was pretty quiet as we were the only one's there besides Peggy. We did some burgers on the grill for dinner. We left around 8:00 or so, went back to our coach and watched some TV until bedtime. Monday, our last full day here in Mineral. Today, around noon, the phones went dead. No cell service and no internet. This added to no satellite makes us feel pretty cut off. We went over to Peggy's around 11:30 and had lunch with her, mostly leftovers. We spent the day with her, visiting and helping her with some minor chores to close down the house. She is going with us when we leave tomorrow and will be with us for a month as we go up into Oregon. We did get her satellite TV at the house working and I found that a fire about 40 miles east of Mineral was the cause of the phone outage. For dinner we had some chili Colorado that I had been cooking in the crockpot all day. We left about 7:00 and went back to our coach where we watched some TV and went to bed.

Tuesday, July 21^st, a travel day. When we woke up we still had no phone service, so also no internet or TV. We packed up the coach and by 10:00 we were on our way down the mountain. About a third of the way down the hill we came into range of the cell towers in the Sacramento River Valley and we got cell service back. Yea! It was only about a 75 mile trip from Mineral to the Elks Lodge in Redding, California and we arrived about 12:30. We were shocked when we pulled into the Lodge parking lot and saw there were NO RVs in the lot. We have never had a problem getting a spot at the Redding Lodge (they don't take reservations), but we have also never come in and found it completely empty. Before we unhooked the car and parked we even called the lodge to confirm the RV park was available. The phone message said the lodge was closed, but the RV was open and gave info on how to register and pay. We picked a spot and got the coach parked and set up. After we got set up, including satellite TV again, we just relaxed for the rest of the day. We did do some cleaning after spending a week in the dirt. Although Peggy came down the hill today also, she stayed on the other side of town where she keeps her coach parked. No sense in moving for three days.

Wednesday, July 22^nd, we had a day of shopping. We left the coach about 10:00 and drove to Costco. We wanted to get started before it got too hot. We did our Costco shopping and also met Peggy there. Our primary purpose was to stock up on vodka because when we leave here on Friday we are going into Oregon for a month and the liquor laws up there are such that spirits like vodka are twice the price as they can only be sold in state sanctioned liquor stores and have heavy taxes. After Costco we stopped at Bath and Beauty Works so Jackie could get a couple things. After that we stopped at In N Out for lunch, then went to Walmart for some supplies. In the course of our shopping something very exciting happened; we got a phone call from the Escapee's Park in Pahrump advising us that we had come to the top of the list and they had a lot for us to consider. They gave us the lot number and price, but we told them we would have to wait until we got home to look at our map and videos of the park to see if it was a lot we wanted to be in. You can turn down lots that come available twice without losing your spot on top of the list, but if you turn down a third you go back to the bottom of the list.

We got our shopping done and hurried home to put everything away. We then sat and looked at the videos we had of the site, which some friends of our provided to us a year and half ago when we got on the waiting list. We also checked the map to see where the site was located. It is in the middle of the park, just three spaces down from the clubhouse and laundry. There are no trees around it, so no satellite issues. Our “shed mate” is someone we know, though not well, but enough to know she is a nice person. She also has her lot decorated very nicely. By way of explanation, there are large wood framed storage sheds between every two lots. Each lot has half the shed, hence the term shed mate. In addition to being a clean lot in a good location it was pretty inexpensive at just under $11,000 for the initial lease price. The base price is $10K plus the cost of any improvements previous owners had put in. In this case the only improvements were to the shed with the addition of a window, full electric connections, and insulation. The expensive improvements are when they add concrete slabs around the property and extensive landscaping of the small yard. This lot is a clean slate, which after we talked for a while decided was a good thing as it meant we could make it our own as opposed to getting and paying for someone else's idea of a nice lot. After significant discussion we agreed that we should accept the lot, called the park and told them we were in. I immediately put a check in the mail for the lease and we should get a call in a few days that we are now members. Yea!! It is really surprising that only two days ago Jackie called and learned we were number three on the list. I think what that means is that two people declined to accept the lot putting us up next. That doesn't mean they didn't like the lot necessarily, we have learned that people often are not quite ready to commit when they get to the top of the list, or they really want a lot with more improvements. Regardless, we now have a place to call our own, or will soon. We still plan to be in Pahrump on September 9^th, about six weeks from now, but now instead of our usual RV park we will have our own spot in the Escapees.

The day was still not over, however. About 5:00 we left the coach and drove a few miles north and west to Peggy's youngest son Matt's house for dinner. Matt, his wife Roxanne and Matt's daughter Trinity were there, as well as Peggy and Belle the dog. Matt and Roxanne have a Siamese cat named Bitters who is very playful and bugs the hell out of Belle, just like our late Benji used to do. Peggy made chicken enchiladas and Jackie made some rice and beans and we had a very nice dinner with the family. We visited for a while and about 7:30 we left and drove back to the Elks Lodge. We spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Thursday, July 23^rd, we left the coach after lunch and went out to do a couple of errands. We had to go to two different grocery stores to find arborio rice, which Jackie needs to make a risotto for tonight. Walmart didn't have any yesterday. We also were able to pick up three quick geocaches just to keep our numbers up. We then went home and relaxed for a while. Peggy and Belle came over around 5:00 and we had cocktails. Jackie was also working to make her risotto, which has shrimp, mushrooms and asparagus in it. Yum! Around 6:30 the three of us had the risotto for dinner and it was great. Peggy stayed and visited until around 7:30 when she went back to her coach. We cleaned up and watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, July 24^th, travel day again. We got up early and were packed up and on the road just before 9:00 a.m. We wanted to get an early start because it is supposed to get hot today and we are going 165 miles North, into Oregon, and there are the Siskiyou Mountains to cross at the California/Oregon border. It turned out to be a pretty uneventful trip, with the coach getting hot by the top of the hill, but not quite to overheating. Once over the hump it was downhill all the way to the Valley of the Rogue State Park between Medford and Grants Pass. We stopped near Medford to get fuel, which is a full dollar a gallon cheaper than California. We had made these reservations back in February, well before there was a full Covid 19 panic and fortunately they kept the reservations active even though they closed down all reservations in April. The park never closed, but they switched to first come, first served. They only opened reservations again less than a month ago. We got settled into our spot and got set up for our week here. Peggy, who is traveling with us for about a month, had arrived before us and was setting up in the site just behind ours. We didn't go anywhere today as we were tired, but did have cocktails at 5:00 and then did some fish on the BBQ for dinner, along with leftover risotto. Peggy left around 7:00 and we just relaxed and watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, July 25^th, Jackie's brother Dennis' birthday. We left the park along with Peggy and drove into Grants Pass to run some errands and do some geocaching. We stopped at Great Clips first and Jackie and I both got haircuts. After that we went to Home Depot so Peggy could get some things, then did some geocaching. It was pretty hot, so we didn't do it for too long. We were able to get three new finds, along with one DNF. After our errands we started back to the park, but on the back roads. We drove through the town of Rogue River and checked out a laundromat and then drove to Gold Hill on the other side of the park north of the freeway and checked out another laundromat. We have to do laundry in a few days and were working on options. We then went back to the coach and relaxed for a while. We had cocktails outside under the trees then Peggy did penne pasta for dinner. We had a great dinner, visited for a bit and then we went back to our coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Sunday, July 26^th, we mostly had a stay at home day. I did drive into Grants Pass and go to the urgent care at the hospital there just to get someone to look at a growth I have on my right ear. It started out as what appeared to be a pimple a few months ago and has gradually gotten bigger and uglier. As I guess I expected, the nurse practitioner who saw me was very non-committal about the growth and just suggested I have a dermatologist look at it. They wrote a referral for a local dermatologist, but since we are leaving in four days I don't see much chance of getting in. After the visit I went back home. Jackie made some BBQ chicken legs for dinner. It was very hot today, so we didn't do much of anything outside. After dinner Peggy went home and we watched TV until bedtime. Monday we left the coach, with Peggy along, about 11:30 and drove into nearby Gold Hill for lunch at a local cafe, Patty's Kitchen. The food was good, if ordinary, and there was lots of it. After lunch we drove into Grants Pass and did some grocery shopping at Winco. After shopping we did two geocaches nearby and then drove back to the park. We stayed in for the rest of the afternoon. Peggy made Salisbury steak for dinner and we had a nice meal. After dinner we went back to our place and watched TV until time for bed.

Tuesday, July 28^th, we went out after lunch and did our laundry in the town of Rogue River. We came back to the coach and put everything away, then relaxed for a while. We had cocktails inside since it is still very hot, then did some pork chops on the BBQ for dinner. After Peggy went back to her coach we watched some TV and went to bed. Wednesday we left the RV park about 11:30 with Peggy and drove to Medford for lunch. We wanted Asian food and we picked out a Chinese place with high Yelp ratings, but when we got there they had a sign up that there was no dine in service. We then found a nearby Thai place with good ratings, Vim Thai, and we went there. The food was very good, as was the service. After lunch we did a few caches, getting two new finds and one DNF. It was too hot to do anything else. We then did a Walmart run for some supplies and then headed back to the coach. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the coach. We did some burgers on the BBQ for dinner. After Peggy left we watched TV and went to bed.

Thursday, July 29^th, our last full day here in Valley of the Rogue. We had a stay at home day. I did a few chores, including spending a half hour outside in the heat putting things away so we can leave tomorrow. For dinner I did some Reuben sandwiches and Peggy made some mac salad. We had a nice dinner, then when Peggy went home we watched some TV and went to bed. Friday was another travel day. We packed up and got out early, just a little after 9:00. We are headed 155 miles north to Coburg, Oregon, for a three day stay before heading to the Oregon Coast for two weeks. The drive was uneventful and we arrived at the Eugene Kamping World right about noon. We got into our spot, parked right next to Peggy who is still traveling with us but left the State Park before us. We are going to do some shopping here and maybe some geocaching the next couple days. It is a little cooler here than it was down south. Coburg is the town where Monaco Coach Corporation, the company that made our coach, used to have it's headquarters. When they went bankrupt the building was sold. The service center that Monaco had here is still in use, but is now run by REV, the Fleetwood RV company that bought the Monaco name, along with all the other RV names. We will be coming to the service center for some work in a couple weeks on our way back home. We got parked and set up and then relaxed for the rest of the day.

It has now been three weeks since we published, so it is time to get this episode closed out and online. Until next time, remember that the grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. Stay safe, see ya soon.