Sunshine Here We Come

The Christmas holiday is over! Time to put everything away and head out for warmer weather. As we have done in the past, we will try to keep the blog updated, but it is often difficult to find the time to write. Usually one of us will get things started, then the other edits and/or makes additions so it really becomes a joint effort. This explanation is for the number of people who have asked.

One of the bitter pills we had to swallow before we could hit the road was the fact that we needed all new brakes on the motorhome. We had been noticing some squeaks and squeals for quite a while but it reached the point that Tim couldn't ignore them any longer. After going into shock over the first estimate we received from Murray Chevrolet in Gresham, Tim called his favorite mechanic, Mike who was in Hemet. Mike told us that we were being robbed and to find another shop to do the work. Ultimately we found a wonderful place, Pritchard's Truck Repair, right down the road from from our house. They did all the same work for several thousand dollars less than Murray had quoted. It is really nice to deal with honest people.

We left the Portland area on Monday, December 28, with Diane's sister, Joyce and her husband, Jim leading the way to our first stop at Seven Feathers RV Resort in Canyonville, OR. It still remains one of our favorite stops and we keep saying that, sometime, we are going to spend more than one night there. We had a great meal at the casino and even came out a little ahead this time playing the slot machines.

After hearing the Tuesday weather forecast for the Siskiyou Mountain pass we decided that we needed to leave early in the morning to get through before the snows came. By the time we got to Medford and saw snow alongside the highway, we were a little concerned about our timing. However we decided to push on through and made it through with little difficulty. We heard that later in the afternoon, the pass on I-5 was closed and/or required chains to get through. We also found out that it had snowed in Portland and paralyzed the city for a short while.

We stopped once again at the Durango RV Resort in Red Bluff, which is quickly becoming an addition to our favorites list. It was a bit rainy there, but not too cold. We had originally planned to stay here for two days for some Pegs and Jokers games. Good friends, Dave and Barb Schwartz, were going to drive up from Roseville, CA and join us for a few days. Regrettably Dave got sick and they weren't able to come after all. So, we just pushed forward although we did have quite a few games with Joyce and Jim. Fortunately no one was keeping an accurate record of the wins and losses of the boys versus the girls..

On the way through the central California valley we were amazed at the number of Oregon Duck cars that passed us on their way to the Rose Bowl game. All were decked out in full yellow and green paraphenalia. Even though we are devout Beaver fans, we are Duck supporters when it comes to bowl game participation. We regretted that we didn't have at least one sign for our RV to indicate our support.

We were shocked at how low the water level was in Shasta Lake. It could easily be called Shasta Pond. We were also surprised at the amount of good California acreage that normally would be producing crops that lay vacant. The only thing that was vertical were the signs that announced, "Congress Created This Dust Bowl". Since these fields would normally be planted with produce, it can only mean significantly higher prices to come in the grocery stores for the items we routinely take for granted. The lack of water here is very serious. Although we enjoy the warm, dry climate, we will ultimately pay the price for the rainless days.

We made a stopover night in Patterson, CA at the Kit Fox RV Park which we are pleased to announce now has cable TV -- all 12 channels of it. This park has the highest price per night with the fewest amenities we have encountered anywhere. Its location is the only thing that keeps us coming back as it fits well into our 200 to 250 mile per day driving range. It is also one of the few parks with a Starbucks for Tim within walking distance.

Another 250 miles brought us back to the Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield, CA for New Year's Eve. The orange trees were loaded with fruit and we picked a pretty good size load to bring with us. Since J&J are heading off in a different direction we played a last game of Jokers with them and we all turned in early. Edison, CA doesn't seem like a prime New Year's Eve spot so we were asleep by 10:30 p.m. We didn't even hear any fireworks, for which the dog was grateful. We did have a beautiful view of the "once in a blue moon" as it came over the mountains.

Tim's goal for the following day was to make it to the Golden Village Palms in Hemet in time for the Rose Bowl game on New Year's Day. We bid adieu to Joyce and Jim who were now on their way to Needles, CA and we were on the road at 8:15 a.m. and made it here by 12:30. It is such a gorgeous park and coming back is just like moving back to your old neighborhood. Good friends Mike and Judy Dougherty were on hand to greet us and hosted a wonderful Rose Bowl party with all manner of great food. Regrettably the Ducks didn't make such a good showing in the football game. Oh well, maybe next year the Beavers will be playing there.

On Saturday morning Diane returned to her beloved sand volleyball while Tim hit the pool. In both cases it was as though we had finished playing yesterday and the games resumed today. The weather was excellent, in the high seventies. As we were getting ourselves organized and unpacked, we received a call from friends, Ron and Sandy Mountain, who had been at the Rose Bowl game. They informed us that they were coming over to Hemet to stay for awhile and were on their way. They arrived about 2:00 and are parked just two spots away from us.

We enjoyed a quick happy hour, then Diane made a dinner of salad and lasagne- New Orleans style, garlic bread and apple crunch cake for dessert. The dinner was one that we will talk about for a number of years. Let's just say that the RV microwave, which does not have a working LCD display, is not like our home microwave.

We will write more sometime in the next few days.