Met Some Nice Folks In Yreka

The one thing you can usually count on when you are an RVer, is being able to meet some nice folks.  Oh, we've met our share of cranky-pants people and folks that wouldn't give you a second look to save their life....but by and large the folks you meet in the RV world are genuine, down to earth nice folks.

Bruce and I aren't real outgoing people.  Maybe we're a little shy about just walking up to somebody and starting a conversation, but once we get the ice broken, we could just talk and talk and talk.  We're getting better at the socializing stuff, but we still aren't big "joiners" and so forth.  Baby steps I guess.

Today when we pulled into the Yreka RV Park in Yreka, California I got Annie out for a walk and Bruce went in to register.  We have stayed at this park on 2 other occasions and it is very nice.  As Bruce was leaving, a man happened to be there and he started a conversation about our motorhome and if we liked it.  I walked up with Annie at that time, who was very happy she got out for her potty-walk, and the man introduced himself as Danny.  We talked for a couple of minutes about the motorhome and then I asked him if he wanted to see inside.  He said "yes" quickly.

Danny looked around a bit but it wasn't easy because we were still in the traveling mode with both slides tucked in and 2 dog beds and the dog food bin on the floor and 3 adults now standing in the middle of a tight space.   Bruce asked him if he'd like to come back for a better look once we drove to our site and got everything slid out and in order.  He said "yes" quickly again and asked if he could bring his wife this time.

So we drove the rig over to site F-6 and got everything all settled, hooked up the utilities and made things ship-shape for living once again.  Pretty soon Danny and his wife wandered over from their own motorhome parked 2 rows behind us.  The missus introduced herself as Karen and we began giving her the tour of our Tour. They are interested in the purchase of a DP in the 36 to 40 foot range.  They currently full time in a 32 foot Southwind that they say isn't what they really want.  They enjoyed the tour of our RV home and asked a bunch of pertinent questions.

When the tour was finished, I asked them to have a seat for a while and we really got to talking with them then.  Danny is a retired police officer from California and is now working as a musician.  He likes to travel a circuit and connect with different bands around the country.  They have family spread here and there throughout the states and try to visit them as often as possible.  They will be in the Yreka area for another month as Danny is playing with a band in the area.  They plan to head on out to Texas in a month or so.  Karen has parents in the Sacramento area that are ailing and that is a concern for her, and they visit them often, too.  After an hour or so they said their good-byes and went on back to their RV.  We may never see them again.  That's how it is with most of the folks we meet on the road, but you never know.  Paths can sometimes cross many times.

Here are some pics of this Yreka RV Park  We got here with some daylight to spare so I was able to take a few photos.  The park is fairly new with nice, level spaces that are long enough for our RV plus the car without having to unhitch it.  50 amp service with full hook-ups are available.  There are a total of 102 spaces.  There is a large clubhouse, laundry facility and clean restrooms.  Free coffee is available every morning in the clubhouse.  There is also cable TV at every site and FREE Wi-Fi.  You can get a Good Sam discount, which we did.  The cost for one night was still $36.00.
(click on photo for a larger view)

Tomorrow morning we are continuing our journey south.  We haven't a destination in mind for Thursday night.  We'll wait and see how the day goes. 

Until next time....so long for now!

First Day Out

We left Tumwater at 8:00 am this morning heading for I-5 Uhlmann RV.  Unfortunately, the monitor for the back-up camera had not arrived.  Dang it!  Well, they replaced the other 2 things that had been on the list and we were out of there by 11:00.  Josh at Uhlmann offered to have the monitor shipped to us wherever we were when it came in and we could take it to another dealer for installation.  We declined and said we would just wait until we get back in June.  We go there for our service needs and we'd rather have them install it.  We trust them and their work is good and for a fair price.

Back on the freeway again and traveling about 50 miles south to Woodland.  We pulled into the lot at Dave and LJ's RV Interior Design and were ready to finally get our new blinds installed in the dining area windows.  We had ordered these blinds back in early January and had intended to get them installed on our way back to Tumwater from Pismo Beach.  Well....you know what happened.  That whole motorhome conking out on the freeway...tow truck...motel for a night!   Ewwww.  I don't even want to think about that whole disaster again.  So here we were today...ready for the installation of our new MCD day/night shades.

Here is the "before" view (remember those handy props we rigged up?)

Here is the work in progress:

Here is the daytime blind:

Here is the night time blind and the daytime blind:

We think that Dave and LJ's did a great job for us.  They have a good reputation and worked along with us in ordering the blinds and finally getting them installed.  Nice folks.  When the time comes for any new furnishings or carpet...this is the place we will go. 

We left Dave and LJ's around 2:00 and were on our way south, yet again.  We drove straight through Portland and down to exit 271 to the town of Woodburn, Oregon.  We are parked for the night at the Walmart there.  We'll get a good night's sleep (I'll be drugged with cold medicine...yippee) and be on our way into California tomorrow.

Until next time.....so long for now!

Rest Is A Weapon

I think it was Jason Bourne from the Bourne Identity that said "rest is a weapon".  We tried to rest a little bit today in order to strengthen our arsenal, but we still had stuff to do.  We are both still fighting this virus and for me, at least, it hasn't gotten any better.  Since we're leaving tomorrow morning, we had to finish with our list of Things To Do Before We Leave.

In the past few days Bruce washed the outside of the MH, especially the windows.  It's nice to be able to see through them clearly when we are beginning a new journey.  They get dirty or buggy soon enough.  Today he also checked all of the batteries to make sure things looked good and the water was topped off.  We filled the water tank because we are planning on dry camping the first 3 nights out if possible.  He also replaced the filter for the heating/air condition system.  Seems there were a few other things he did outside, but I can't remember them.  My mind is a bit foggy from all the cold medications I'm taking. 

I was going to give the inside a thorough cleaning today from top to bottom.  Well, that plan went out the window when I woke up feeling worse than ever.  However, I did clean the bathroom really good and washed 3 loads of clothes in the little Splendide.   Then I enjoyed a nice nap. 

We are driving to I-5 Uhlmann RV tomorrow morning for those final parts to be installed for .....uh....memory is foggy again, but I know we are hoping that the new back-up monitor has arrived for one thing. While we are there we can top off the propane tank so we'll be good to go with that.  We may as well have them check the tire pressure on the MH to make sure it is at a proper weight (level, amount??)...OK, whatever.  How long we are stuck there will depend on if they are able to install the monitor.

Once we get down to Ehrenburg, Arizona in a few days we plan to spend 2 nights there.  I can finish up the whole house cleaning project at that time.  Maybe that dry desert climate will help shoo this virus out of my system.  One can only hope.

Until next time.....so long for now!

Day At The Park Before The Overnighter

In spite of the fact that both Bruce and I are still not feeling great because of the cold/virus, on Saturday the Grands still wanted to come over and play with Grandma and Papa.  They had planned on another overnighter.  OK, that was fine as long as everyone knew we were still a bit under the weather and there could be germs!!

Stephanie brought them over just before lunch.  As soon as we got rid of her, we packed up a simple, quick picnic lunch and headed over to the Tumwater Historic Park not far from our RV.  Although it was a little cool outdoors, the sun was shining and it just felt good to be out.  Annie came along, too, so that made her happy.

(click on any photo for a larger view)

We ate lunch first.  PB and J for the girls.  At least they ate it on our whole wheat bread....with NO complaining.

After lunch the girls played on some of the playground equipment.  Zoey looked at those rings.  They sure looked high off the ground.

After close inspection, she decided to give them a try.  With a little help, she eventually made it across.

Mackenzie, being older and stronger, made it across the line of rings without any problems.

After getting bored with the playground, we decided to take a couple of very short trail walks.  Because we had Annie with us we could not walk for a long ways.  She doesn't have the stamina for it.  Here is one of the trails.

We saw a beautiful Mallard swimming in the pond.

At the end of our trail we could see Interstate 5 ahead and the bridge overcrossing on Capital Blvd. in Tumwater.

After going back to the RV, the girls played with the toys we keep on board.  We always have "issues" with who gets to do what and who is first....who gets to have the doll dressed in pink and who gets stuck with the doll dressed in white, and so on.  About a year ago I devised a little system for selecting who gets to be first, which seems to be working out well.  I got 2 large photo magnet frames and placed a photo of each girl in them.  Then I added the label My First Day to each photo.  When the girls come over we randomly select one of the two frames and it will then be that person's First Day.  We put that photo magnet on the refrigerator door as a reminder.   That means they get to open the door to the RV when we go out, feed Annie her dinner, help make up the bed for themselves by pushing the magic button on the sofa bed, and generally getting to be first with anything that day.  Of course, that also means they have to be first for taking a shower that night, too.  The next morning we switch the photo magnet out and the other Grand gets to be "first".  Not a perfect solution, but one that is working for these 2 anyway.  It helps keep Grandma sane.

We're going to Stephanie and Darin's for dinner tonight and will say our good-byes at that time.  Mondays are busy days for them and we are pulling out of Tumwater early on Tuesday morning.  We've been teaching the Grands how to play dominos and they want us to bring them over for another game or two.  We'll miss them while we are gone, but we will return in late June. 

Until next time.....so long for now!  (cough, cough, hack, hack, sniff, sniff)