Repairs Complete...and now onward we go.

Tues. March 10th:

We found out that our Explorer had 2 electronic sensors go out at the same time. The dealership had 1 in stock but had to get the second sent from Sacramento. That meant that they couldn't finish the entire job until Thursday morning. Oh well.

After leaving our car at Harper Motors, we drove the motorhome to the Samoa Cookhouse in the small town of Samoa, just west of Eureka and almost into the Pacific Ocean. The Samoa Cookhouse is pictured above and they serve wonderful meals. The management allows RV's to park, free of charge, in their large lot and stay overnight. We did that after eating a great dinner at the Cookhouse.

Wed., March 11th:

We drove back into Eureka and went to McDonald's to get a cup of coffee and read the newspaper. We had the whole day to kill. We went back again to the dealership and parked there. While we waited we had our "home" with us so we fixed our lunch, read our books, and played Gin Rummy. For tonight we decided to go to a genuine RV park about 2 miles from the auto dealership. It was a nice place with full hook-ups.

Thurs. March 12th:

The needed part arrived late this morning. They got the job done as quickly as possible for us and we were finally on our way. We wanted to get as far south as we could without driving into the dead of night. We headed toward the town of Ukiah. It was a long drive since part of it takes you through the Redwood forests along Highway 101. When you get to Richardson Grove State Park area you drive right through the forest of those giant trees. I'd be hard pressed to find a more beautiful place in all of California. The trees are awe inspiring.

We pressed on even though those trees begged us to stop and take a closer look. Been there, done that...so we kept on driving. We got down close to Ukiah and discovered an Indian Casino north of town. It was in the Redwood Valley and it was the Coyote Valley Casino. They offered free overnight parking for RVer's. Another bargain! It was 7:40 pm by the time we got down there so we decided to go into the casino for a sandwich for dinner. We stopped at the Player's desk and registered for a Player's Club card hoping to get a discount on the food. No discount for that, but with our registration we each got $10.00 free play at the slot machines. OK....I'm up for "free play" anytime. I don't risk any of my own money at casino's. I have bad luck with that. We ordered a hamburger first and after eating we sat down at 2 slot machines. We played the 5 cent machines and it only took about 20 minutes and we were out of the $10.00 free play. I only got a pay out of $2.25 but that was still free money back to me. Bruce, who has much better luck than I, kept his winnings a secret until we got back to the RV. That turkey got $40.00 in pay out from his machine. Yippee! I took that from him and put it into our reserve fund. So for no investment of our own we walked away with $42.25. Plus a free night's parking! Love those casinos!!

Friday the 13th:

We planned on a long drive today so we set our alarm for "oh-dark-thirty". It was still dark when we pulled out of the casino lot but within 20 to 25 minutes dawn was arriving. In that part of California, Hwy. 101 takes you through gently rolling mountains (or large hills) and past many vinyards. All in all, a wonderful drive, especially in the early hours of the morning when there is little traffic.

We wanted to bypass the San Francisco bay area completely so we needed to cut over from Hwy. 101 to I-80 around San Pablo Bay. Then we got on I-80 eastbound until we connected with CA Hwy.12 to Interstate 5 southbound. Finally, we were back where we needed to be...I-5 southbound. A long detour just to get past the snow covered mountains on the Oregon/California border.

We eventually got to the Flying J Truck stop north of Bakersfield, CA in the late afternoon. We took eastbound Hwy. 46 from I-5 to CA-99 for this. We fueled up the motorhome and then drove to the rear of the truck area and parked it for the night. Another free spot !! We'll sleep here tonight and then drive on to Fort Mohave, Arizona where we will stay at a membership park for the next 2 nights. Diesel price: $1.95

"Praise the Lord" Alert for those interested:

The Bible teaches us to give thanks in all of our circumstances. Note that it says "in" our circumstances and not "for" our circumstances. I am very thankful at the moment. Of course I'm not thankful "for" our car breaking down and it costing us $864.00 but I am totally thankful "in" the circumstance that it broke down in Crescent City where we got an easy tow to Eureka. It could have broken down in the middle of the Arizona or New Mexico desert and that would have cost us a whole bunch of money to be towed into a large town for repairs. So...P.T.L.