OFF TO CHICO...
The process of breaking down camp seems a little easier today, even hitching"Edna" was easier for Perry! Practice makes perfect as they say.....pretty uneventful four hour trip to Chico. Gracie (our Aussie) whined for the first hour eventually settling in. There are always a lot of big rigs on interstate 5 and we happened to get stuck behind one with reflector mudflaps....blinding! After several miles, we eventually passed and because of the big rigs, we opted to take route 99 (mostly a 2 lane highway). A much slower and less stressful option. Both dogs were antsy and of course as we're still getting used to pulling this long fifth-wheel behind us, we had to make a bathroom and water stop. It's not an easy process trying to pull off the highway with a long truck and fifth wheel, but as luck would have it, we found the perfect place to pull off in a small town called Live Oak. We found a little burger restaurant and sat at a nearby park to eat and within minutes were surrounded by children getting out of school. At this point I'm getting anxious to move on to Chico! Thank goodness for GPS as it helped guide us through hundreds of acres of almond groves, tree lined streets and eventually to our destination for the next two weeks at Almond Tree RV park.
Beautiful landscaping caught my eye as we first drove in but so did the "older" people hunched over, grey hair and canes with many playing card games. " Please God, I'm not THERE yet, am I?" Ewww boy.....my new RV life?! We are fortunate enough to take on this journey at a so called "younger" age. Thankful to my husband who retired from the U.S Navy after 22 years and working hard for twelve more years for a non-profit organization. He deserves this time enjoying life and seeing the U.S.! We set up camp and anxious to see my youngest who is currently "busy" with fraternity activities! No problem...I'm patient and we're here for two weeks to enjoy " parents weekend" and next week is "Dad's weekend" for the fraternity.I was so happy to see Brandon our first night, and with school and frat activities I was beyond delighted to do his laundry the next day ( I didn't know he had SO many clothes). Quiet night, peaceful park.....good night's sleep!
It took Perry a couple of hours to hook up the cable....too much football not to be missed! He lay aside the frustration so we could walk to a coffee shop half a mile down the road and take pleasure in some tasty lattes We discussed needing food because granola bars wouldn't sustain us for long. Our refrigerator is one third the size of our old one, we had to be careful not to overbuy. It's not easy when you know your hungry college aged son will be looking for home cooked meals. With the dogs nestled in their crates we headed to the grocery store. Afterwards, Brandon invited us to see his apartment, to meet his roommates, and oh yes to pick up all his dirty laundry which was pretty much everything he owned! The boys were off to a fraternity party and us "ol" folk returned to our "home" to watch the movie "RV" with Robin Williams. There were so many hilarious scenes we could relate to. In an RV and fifth wheel, there are three different hook ups, the shower, the sink and the toilet (2 grey hoses and 1 black....well you can guess what hose is what). When we first got our instruction on "Edna:, the first thing the guy asked was "have you owned an RV?", we answered "no". " Have you rented an RV?" We had to be honest, and once again "no"! He laughed and we could only imagine what he was thinking! Unlike Robin Williams, Perry had no problems connecting hoses. Entertaining movie!
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
We left the RV park heading for Lassen National Park but before getting there, we stopped at a little (not much happening) town of Chester. We needed to exercise the dogs and first we stopped at an old coffee house where retired locals hang out. I overheard a conversation with an older couple and the young girl at the counter. The couple had lived in Newberg, Oregon and the gentleman was from Pendleton, Oregon. After settling in California, they expressed their dislike for Oregon because of the lack of sunshine. I became a part of the conversation and added "my husband gets tired of California because it's so expensive". The woman, " there "is no perfect place" in our journey for "retirement shangri-la", this resonated with me. We took our coffee and dogs to the local park and let them off their leashes. Gracie wanted to play fetch with a tree branch and at one point while we were playing tug of-war, she latched onto my sweatshirt giving it a good "rip"! They were tired from the car trip up to Mount Lassen. We climbed in elevation and the temperatures were dropping. The pine trees were big and dense and soon we were at the park entrance.
One of the benefits of being retired military is free entrance to all national parks. In the visitors center we saw bear and mountain lion sighting warnings for the hiking trails. I was relieved knowing the dogs weren't allowed on the trails in a national park. Climbing the mountain, we stopped at sulfur mud pots that were boiling like a witch's brew. (It is Halloween month). I was fascinated by them because the rain runoff goes deep into the earth where the heat of the earth forces the mud back up to the surface. The sulfur smell was so strong we had to move on and see more of this historic volcano. The last time it erupted was 1915.....not that long ago for an active volcano! We kept climbing and it was hard for me to take in the entire beauty of this volcano because of the sheer drop off. The summit was 8500' and knowing Perry has dealt with vertigo issues in the past had me a little concerned. I'm afraid of heights and there was NO way I'd be taking over the drive! After an hour and a half stressful (but beautiful) drive, we desperately needed lunch. I'd say more Perry since faced with windy mountain roads that could rattle any drivers nerves. We came across the ONLY food for miles at a little family operated restaurant called JJ's cafe located in the small town of Old Station . I'm sure I've mentioned before that some small towns are not for me as sweet as they can be but Old Station assured me that this was the case. We took our lunch to a nearby stream where we talked to a young family from Texas and enjoyed watching our dogs play in the stream. It was a long, fun day and all Perry wanted was a nice cold beer. After returning once again to the RV park, wouldn't you know, there was a tap room right down the street that would satisfy his thirst.
At the end of the day, we settled into our heated recliners and settled in the for the night watching our fuzzy connected cable tv. It reminded me of when I was young and there were knobs you could adjust to get a clearer picture (yes, I'm dating myself)! Modern technology has me spoiled.
With SO much more to tell........please come back to read my next blog about Anxiety and Grandma Pretzel!
One of the benefits of being retired military is free entrance to all national parks. In the visitors center we saw bear and mountain lion sighting warnings for the hiking trails. I was relieved knowing the dogs weren't allowed on the trails in a national park. Climbing the mountain, we stopped at sulfur mud pots that were boiling like a witch's brew. (It is Halloween month). I was fascinated by them because the rain runoff goes deep into the earth where the heat of the earth forces the mud back up to the surface. The sulfur smell was so strong we had to move on and see more of this historic volcano. The last time it erupted was 1915.....not that long ago for an active volcano! We kept climbing and it was hard for me to take in the entire beauty of this volcano because of the sheer drop off. The summit was 8500' and knowing Perry has dealt with vertigo issues in the past had me a little concerned. I'm afraid of heights and there was NO way I'd be taking over the drive! After an hour and a half stressful (but beautiful) drive, we desperately needed lunch. I'd say more Perry since faced with windy mountain roads that could rattle any drivers nerves. We came across the ONLY food for miles at a little family operated restaurant called JJ's cafe located in the small town of Old Station . I'm sure I've mentioned before that some small towns are not for me as sweet as they can be but Old Station assured me that this was the case. We took our lunch to a nearby stream where we talked to a young family from Texas and enjoyed watching our dogs play in the stream. It was a long, fun day and all Perry wanted was a nice cold beer. After returning once again to the RV park, wouldn't you know, there was a tap room right down the street that would satisfy his thirst.
At the end of the day, we settled into our heated recliners and settled in the for the night watching our fuzzy connected cable tv. It reminded me of when I was young and there were knobs you could adjust to get a clearer picture (yes, I'm dating myself)! Modern technology has me spoiled.
With SO much more to tell........please come back to read my next blog about Anxiety and Grandma Pretzel!
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