Shaking the Jello

We left the Merced area this morning with plans to take our usual route - on down 99S to Hwy 58, then east on Hwy 40 to Mojave.

The Merced River at the edge of the RV Park was pretty placid this morning. Forry said he saw a couple of people out there fishing this morning when he got up.

The RV sites here are pretty treed, so no satellite reception. I'm standing by the river bank. The RV in the site in front of me left extremely early this morning.

Today's run was more of the same of yesterday's most of the day. Lots and lots of orchards and lots and lots of vineyards. We did notice one large orchard where the trees were being cut down, but more that had new little trees started in them. There are also many new vineyards started.

As we drove along, we noticed ONE sign that said Highway 58 was closed due to the mud slides of last week. There was no other information about detours or alternative routes. I checked on the internet and found an article in this morning's Los Angeles Times saying it would be closed at least until next week. I tried calling the California DOT and only got a recording. The man at AAA knew it was closed, but wasn't sure where they were re-routing traffic.

Finally, I called the fellow at Sierra Trails RV Park in Mojave where we had planned to spend the night. He said that traffic was being sent down I-5 to Highway 138 and across to Highway 14. So that's the way we went. As we went south, the country changed from vineyards and orchards to pastures and hilly country.

I hadn't asked if Hwy 138 was okay to take an RV on, so I was pleased to see lots of trucks heading up that way into the Tehachapi Mountains. I wished I had counted them, we met several hundred.

We caught a glimpse of Lake Quail off to the north and saw several fishermen.

We even began to see some Joshua trees. I had read somewhere recently that the drought has been very hard on them and these looked a bit tough. Some of the ones we saw later in the Antelope Valley were quite a bit greener looking.

When you go our usual route over Tehachapi Pass, you see many, many big wind turbines. When we went today's way over Tejon Pass, we saw lots of solar panel "farms." The area is a hot bed for California's Clean Energy programs.

It was almost dark when we arrived at Sierra Trails. I was sure glad I still had some kraut ranzas from the MCA sale left to heat up for supper.

We Just Keep Driving Along

We continued south on I-5 today through the heart of California's farm country.  In spite of the drought conditions, there are many crops being raised. The first part of the trip took us through recently harvested rice fields. From the looks of the stubble, it looks to have been a very good crop.

And we saw orchards, lots and lots of orchards! I still say California should follow the example of many Washington and Oregon farmers and put signs on the fields telling us what they are raising! (Please forgive the dirty windows of the coach!)

 

Flying J/Pilot fuel stations are few and far between on this stretch of I-5. We finally came on one near Dunnigan. It was really busy! The trucks were three and four deep waiting to fuel. Diesel was $2.679 a gallon.

A ways south of the truck stop and Sacramento, we turned off onto Hwy 99S. Now we started to see more and more vineyards along with the orchards. We also went by the Blue Diamond plant - I know that many of those trees we saw must be their almonds!

Just past Merced, we pulled into the Merced River RV Park. This is another park we often stop at right along the river. The woman who checked me in said they had had a very good summer and were still having busy weekends, but today there were many pull-through sites available.

Old Orchard RV Park

We have been stopping at Old Orchard RV Park in Orland, California for seven years as we have traveled south. It has a rather unique layout, with the sites arranged in a circle. Traffic entering goes around the outside of the circle, and departing traffic has a one-way route inside the circle. That makes all of the 62 sites basically pull-throughs. The rest rooms and laundry are located in the center of the circle along with what is left of the
orchard.

The park has gradually getting sadder and sadder looking. The man who ran it had a stoke about four years ago and was still in the hospital when we stopped. He passed away two years ago and his widow has been running the place with the occasional help of her daughter.

There was one other over-nighter here when we checked in last night. They left early this morning and no one else has stopped by today. Such a contrast to Seven Feathers where we saw 50-60 rigs coming and going every day.
 

There are maybe a dozen or so permanent RV residents on the other side of the circle. Forry thinks there are less of them than there were when we were here last year.

As predicted, today was spent resting up. We did unhook Toad II and drive the 13 miles back north to the Safeway store we passed yesterday. It was a very much needed trip at the smallest Safeway I have seen (though one of the clerks told me the "one in Chico is smaller.").

On to California

We reluctantly packed up this morning ready to leave Seven Feathers RV Resort -

The resort is beautifully landscaped with birch trees and rhododendron bushes.

It is one of the prettiest and nicest places we regularly stop -

It was a drizzly, foggy day as we headed south on I-5 through Oregon's beautiful mountains -

We crossed into the almost instantly drier California. About four miles into the state, you're channeled into an Inspection Station along the freeway. A uniformed officer came up to the driver's window and asked whether we had fruit or plants to declare. When we said no, we were waved on our way (good thing we'd eaten our last apples last night...).

We were quite amazed to see how far the level of Shasta Lake has dropped due to the drought -

It's a good thing these are floating docks. They used to be up there at the level of the trees!

We drove more hours today then we probably should have. Forry is really tired tonight, so we will stay at Old Orchard RV Park in Orland, California tonight and tomorrow. We drove the same distance last year, but we're a year older and Forry's still recovering from his back surgery last summer.

A Rest Day at Seven Feathers

It was a lovely day today at Seven Feathers. Yesterday's heat was gone with an overcast sky instead. Forry was not in the mood to hit the hot tub, so basically we stayed in the RV.

It was almost as interesting this morning to see the Park empty out as it was to watch it fill up yesterday afternoon. Then this afternoon, the whole process started again. It would be fun to work in the office just to see the numbers in and out every day.

Toward evening we got ourselves organized and called the shuttle for a ride to the casino. We were looking forward to the unadvertised rib steak dinner that we have enjoyed for several years. But, many things have changed since last year. The rib steak "special" is now available only on Sundays - and the waitress said it "was really small!" We ended up sharing the regular rib steak dinner.

The restaurant and the casino floor have all been redecorated and things moved around. We hung around for a bit and watched the action, but were back at Auntie Violet in time to watch the last of the Kansas City - Toronto game.

Seven Feathers RV Resort

We discovered Seven Feathers RV Resort near Canyonville, Oregon several years ago when we heard a couple of RVers talking on the CB radio about it. It has become one of our favorite stops on our way south.

We go an early start this morning as we hadn't unhooked Toad II when we stopped. We are in traveling mode, so we don't put all of our stuff out, making it easy to get going in the morning. It was another good traveling day - we only had 172 miles to go, so even with a stop for diesel and a couple of rest area stops we were only on the road for a little over four hours.

I had talked to Edna at Seven Feathers shortly after we left this morning and reserved a pull-through spot near the pool house. When we arrived, there were three rigs at the entry portico ahead of us waiting for the escort to their sites. I'm glad I called. We've never seen the place so busy. The two escort golf carts were going steadily until after dark escorting units to their sites.

We decided to save having our rib steak dinner at the Casino for tomorrow night and warmed kraut ranzas for our dinner instead. We are getting very low on groceries, I think we may have to run into Canyonville tomorrow.

Breakfast Company

Right next to the Woodburn Portland RV Park is a restaurant named Elmer's. This morning we met Daughter Dawn and Todd for breakfast. One of the restaurant's specialties is a German Pancake, similar to the Dutch Babies we make - but not nearly as good. Forry and I had to try it. We seem to like trying something new.

Dawn had an early meeting here in Woodburn and came to meet us afterward, while Todd had a free hour in his schedule as well. I wish I had taken my camera with me as Dawn now has a new cute  short haircut. It was good to visit with them and get caught up on the grandkids activities.

We had debated yesterday whether we should spend one night or two. After our late breakfast, we decided we would stay another night and use today as a rest day.

Back On Our Way

We spent a leisurely morning, slept in, enjoyed the hot breakfast at the motel. About eleven o'clock we checked out and wandered over to Awesome RV.  Casey said the water pump had arrived and was installed. He was in the process of checking our extended warranty to see if he could get the water pump covered. Thankfully, the almost $500 cost was indeed covered!

The service guys had changed the oil and the oil filter; serviced the HydroHot heating system; checked that the air conditioners were working right; tightened the hydraulic hoses; changed out the water pump, fixing the water leak we had; checked the roof for leaks; and a whole bunch of other little stuff. We should be good to go!

We got the paperwork finished, the bill paid, the propane tank topped off and we're ready to roll.(Interestingly enough, it took less than two and one-half gallons of propane. We had topped it off a year ago. We only use it for the burners on the stovetop...) We hooked up Toad II alongside the shop and were on our way a little after one.

It was a beautiful day to drive. The sky was blue with clouds on the far horizon and contrails making "X"s in the sky. We followed I-5 south through Portland with only a couple of slowed areas. We stopped for the night at the Woodburn Portland RV Park where we have stayed before.

Our Best Western "Home"

I guess I should just go ahead and automatically make a reservation at the Best Western Motel next door to Awesome RV when I make an appointment to have Auntie Violet serviced. Seems like there's always a part that needs to be ordered!

This time it is the water pump. We've had a leak off and on all summer. It would stop for a month or so, then just about the time we thought it was okay, it started up again. Today, they actually found that it was just corroded enough to be shot. And of course, it's a different size then the ones they carry in stock. So there's a new one coming from Portland tomorrow.

They are BUSY here! Every bay has a rig in it and they are working on them two deep outside. When I called last month to make an appointment, they told me they were booked through Thanksgiving. But, since we bought it here, they would be glad to take care of us when we came through. We certainly cannot complain about the service we have gotten over the years!

Lunch With Some of Our Favorite People

It was a pretty day today. No sign of the almost sideways rain we had yesterday. It was a nice day for a drive, which is a good thing as we had a date for lunch in Tenino, about 26 miles from here. Daughter Mary Mae had gotten in touch with Sister Roxanne, who recommended a place there called Don Juan's.  MM and Scott drove down with the grandkids from Mount Vernon and Roxy and Rich joined us from their new digs in Olympia.

Don Juan's is a Seahawk haven, a good thing as some of us were almost more interested in today's game than in the food. Even though the Seahawks eventually lost in overtime, it was a fun atmosphere - and the food was very good. Thank you for lunch, Scott. (He said he was buying as he was the only full-time employed person in the bunch...)

I was good to visit with Grandson Varick and Granddaughter Claire about how their school year was going. Claire is doing cross-country this Fall and had a three mile run yesterday in all that nasty rain!

We certainly don't have any little ones in our family any more! I hadn't seen Claire since she got her hair cut before school started. It's really cute!

For some reason, they both seem to take great glee in being taller than we are...

It was a good visit and it was fun to see everyone before we head south (though we did get some hints of a possible Christmas visit.)

This is what we spotted on our way back to Centralia and Midway RV Park.

I have never seen flocks of Alpacas before - you might see at most a half a dozen in a group.

There must have been a couple hundred of them in this large pasture. A sign said it was the American Alpaca Farm. Them looked like they had been recently sheared...