Day 16 Jan 29 Tuesday

Today is Breakfast Club day, so we are up & off about 8:00 to “The Good Egg” restaurant in San Jacinto at Menlo Ave.  We had breakfast & then checked out the location of Sheila’s massage parlour for her afternoon appointment.  It was just up San Jacinto Blvd across from Emilio’s Restaurant.  Then home, so I could get out for W.V.B.  Sheila wanted to play this afternoon, so she decided to catch a nap to make up for the two hrs. of sleep she missed because of the early start, (7:25) this morning.  I played till the usual end time of noon, then back to the rig where I changed so as to get to the ticket line-up for the Canada Day Party coming up on the 11 February.  I got 5 tickets on an 8 person table, for us, Fred & Sally and Wendy. They will probably sell the others to someone because there are always more people who want to go than there are tickets.  After getting tickets, I went to watch Sheila in the afternoon, 1-3 pm WVB game.  Then she went out for her 4:00 pm massage appt. She’s trying it out because after a couple of days playing WVB she noticed her neck & shoulders were a bit stiff and it hurt to do shoulder checks while driving & turn her head to follow the ball while playing WVB.  When she mentioned this to some other WVB players, a one of them suggested massage as a way to relax the neck and recommended the Oasis Day Spa & a masseuse named Brandon. She had planned to just do a 30 min. session for her neck & shoulders only for $30 but when she booked the appt., was strongly encouraged to make it a whole body hour appt. for $45 to totally stimulate her circulation to combat her inflammation, stiffness & soreness.  She’s really glad she did as she’s never had a massage before and really enjoyed it—especially in her hands & feet!  Brandon said it will probably take a day or so for the benefits of the massage to take effect and the soreness to go away, so we shall have to wait & see if it was worth the money spent.  One thing is certain; she does not want to have to give WVB or driving!  While she was out I checked the Propane level & discovered the tank was almost empty, I went up to the office & ordered a delivery, fortunately the truck is due on Thursday, so it shouldn’t be a problem.  Even if we run out of gas most everything can be done by electricity.  When Sheila returned about 5:30, we made supper and spent the evening watching TV & doing the usual blog, journal & housework tasks.

Day 15 Jan 28 Monday

Well, I got up at 7:30 so I could be at the internet store to get my equipment to get good, fast WiFi in the RV.  Only flaw was I arrived a few minutes before 8 to discover they didn’t open until 9 AM.  Well, I do need to get a new battery in my watch and I could stop at a bank for a US cash injection to my wallet so I did and got back to the internet store at 8:45.  There were already 5 people in line. They had 3 servers so it didn’t take long to get my equipment & head home. Then the fun began. I had two boxes about 5 lines and mysterious places to plug them into. I followed directions as best I could, I got it all hooked up & nothing!  I changed the hook ups to a more logical, (to me), arrangement, still nothing, so I phoned the help line number that was pointed out to me before I left the store, (did they suspect I didn’t know my way around computer wires & hook-ups very well?).  The lady on the other end got my name etc & looked the system up on her computer.  She said there were some things that needed changing at her end. Then we did a shut down & restart of my computer and all the equipment I had. After a wait we powered up and it all worked. I actually had all the wires in the right places on my end. So now I’m back to full power internet all the time.  All this took from 7:30ish to after 12 noon sometime. Sheila had gone up for volley ball while I wrestled with the computer connections. We relaxed, and then headed over to the “Taste of the Valley” event in the clubhouse where they had restaurants & businesses from Hemet with samples of food & information on the services they provide. It started at 2 PM and we arrived back at the RV around 3:30 or so. We were full of food samples and got some good info on several RV related items.  I made up a hamburger helper for supper because we had the ground beef not frozen & wanted to us it. We had a small bit of it then put it in the fridge for another day. Sheila went out to the 99 cent store then when she returned I headed out to the Monday crib games starting about 7 PM. I had one really bad game & that put me out of contention for any prize.  Basically you get your $1.00 admission back with a few extra bucks. Hopefully, someday I will win some money back.  Then it was back to the RV for the night.  

Day 14 Jan 27 Sunday

We got up to nice sunny weather – again – OK I’ll stop saying how nice it is here – soon.  We went up for water volleyball and our usual hot tub session.  Then, after showering I got on the scales, with just shorts & S/S T-shirt.  I was 205 lbs or 93 KG.  Back at the RV I phoned the park Cablevision supplier about getting internet right to the RV.  It costs a bit, (in the range of 1 to 2 $ a day), but considering I do all my banking & pay bills over the internet I really need it to be easily accessible. I can go to the cable company’s local store & pick the connection equipment up rather than pay for a technician to come out & install it.  How hard can it be? That question will be answered in the next blog or two.  Sheila went to watch the afternoon competitive water volleyball game while I phoned about the internet connection. I was on the phone a long time burning up minutes but with buying a 1 year time card I sometimes get extra bonus minutes on top of the 800 minutes we get at renewal time so all we do is build up minutes.  Phone calls just deduct each minute no matter where you are calling, a minute is a minute.  The US cell system is way superior to any of ours.  I did use the office computer to do email today and to delete junk & non relevant emails.  Sheila is preparing a Chef’s salad for supper & then we are off to the Pegs & Jokers game at the clubhouse.  It probably has different rules from what we know so we will see if we want to keep playing it because it runs at the same time as Sunday Party Bridge, & we can only do one. 

OK, it’s not too different so we may play it alternating with Bridge, time will tell. After the game we went to the clubhouse computers to look up a day spa that was recommended to Sheila by one of the W.V.B. players.  Playing WVB is starting to wear on her neck & shoulder muscles and her neck is stiff and a bit sore.  She even has the name of a masseuse that is highly recommended.  After that, we came back to the RV for the rest of the evening & spent our time on the usual things—this blog, Sheila’s food & activity diaries & watching TV.

Day 13 Jan 26 Saturday

Up to a reasonably warm day, 60 F around 9:00 and climbing to 70 by noon under clear blue sky’s and no wind.  Up for the usual W.V.B. game although I seem to be disimproving.  I am having more trouble hitting the ball over the net. When I hit it from the middle or back row it often hits the net, sometimes a front row person gets it over, but often it just hits the water.  It’s still lots of fun.  Today they have music at the cabana & a Mex restaurant serving food.  We got a cpl of tacos, (2 for $3.00), choice of beef, pork or chicken.  Also today is the “Human Foosball” game.  They have a set up built with handles on pipes to hold onto and everyone has to work together to slide the pipes left or right to get at the ball and kick it forward or back depending on which direction your team is going.  It did look like fun but was very energetic. They were also playing W.V.B. in 2 pools from about 1:00 pm onwards.  Sheila watched the Foosball and the water volleyball; I got the computer & went up to the clubhouse computer room to try to get onto the internet.  It was still slow, (possibly because it’s Saturday and a lot of people may be online), but I got on and was able to check emails, post blogs, check my bank balances and pay any bills that would come due at the end of the month.  I going to have to look into getting a dedicated line as it took a lot of time to get on line and get stuff done. Sheila came over and sent an email from her email site. Then we went over to the Elks at 5 PM for their fundraiser-- a spud night with all the trimmings for $8.00 each.  It seemed a bit pricey but as it was for a good cause & there was entertainment, we decided to go.  It turned out to be a great dinner!  The baked potatos were huge & perfectly baked—the skin was crispy & flavourful and in addition to butter, sour cream, shredded cheese & bacon bits, there two kinds of hot cheese sauce & chilli.  Also, they had a lettuce salad, plus 4 other salads—coleslaw, a pea/corn salad which was really flavourful, a layered vegetable salad and a salad containing chicken & tortilla chips; sweet buns and 5 different kinds of cakes!  All of “the extras” were made & donated by the ladies in the Elks auxiliary and boy can those ladies ever cook!  Dinner was a real feast!  The entertainment, a local  trombone group of 10 players was only so-so, ( they were obviously amateurs), but the food made up for it!  A nice evening.  We left to come home around 7 PM, then just puttered around in the RV doing blogs etc. and trying to find something on TV we both wanted to watch.  We finally found a show on Discovery channel about the Moonshiners in the Appalachian Mountains which Sheila found very interesting and I thought was barely OK but watched as there was nothing else on.  I stopped watching the show after an hour and went to bed around 10 pm but Sheila watched it till it ended at 11 pm.

Day 12 Jan 25 Friday

I got up to clear blue sky & sunshine, still cool in the mornings, (54 F at 9:15), but it warms up fast and is forecast to be over 70 F, usually around noonish.   Actual temps were 62 F at 10:00, 72 F @ 12:30.  After our usual morning W.V.B. we had lunch at the RV.  Then Sheila went up for the 1 pm W.V.B. game while I went out to check on tonight entertainment etc. at the Elks. I got a cpl grocery items on route home. Then went up to watch the PM WVB game till it was time for this Friday’s Wine & Cheese Welcome get together which was held in the sun on the patio by the pool Because one of the RV groups had reserved the ballroom.  We met up & sat with Larry & Judy.  After that ended, we came back home to get changed for tonight’s dinner/dance at the Elks.  Got there about 5:15 and got the menu to order and saw one thing that I had to ask the waitress about:  a 6 ounce Flat Iron Steak was $13.00, a 16 ounce bone in steak was $15.00.  According to the waitress, (and Sheila), the Flat Iron Steak is more flavourful and is more tender but the waitress thought the 16 ounce steak was a better deal, I did too so I had that, (it came with baked potato, green beans, butter & sour cream).  I actually had to get a doggie bag for a small portion of it & that was after giving Sheila a small slice.  Sheila had the $10.00 ‘petite filet’ steak but wasn’t impressed with it because it was over cooked, (well done rather than the medium), and quite dry.  We had nice table of 7 and they were pleasant company.  We left a bit before 9:00, despite the entertainment, Ambrose being really good, as I was tired.  Ambrose is a C&W singer with a very good voice who uses soundtracks to accompany himself.  He sang a varied selection of C/W, Rock n’ Roll and other popular songs—lots of danceable tunes.   We stopped at Stater Bros on route home as we needed more cereal and Sheila hadn’t put it on my list to get earlier. I find I go to bed earlier down here because I get up to start the furnace and have my coffee & breakfast before going up for the 10 am WVB game.  Sheila stays up much later tidying, watching TV, recording her walking & other physical activity for the day and then, of course, sleeps later and doesn’t get to WVB until 11:00 AM or later.

Day 11 Jan 24 Thursday

Day 11 Jan 24 Thursday

We arose to warmer weather, 54 F at 9:10 and 72 F by noon.  We also had our auxiliary propane heater on all night so it was nice & warm in the morning.  We went up to the pools, had a good W.V.B. game and then came home for a late lunch.  After lunch, we decided to go to an afternoon  movie as it was seniors cheap Thursday, ($7.20 each – it’s gone up a lot over the last few years, we used to get in for about $4.00 or less).  We went to UPSIDE, I wasn’t thrilled with it to start but by the end I quite liked it.   Afterwards, back at the RV Park Sheila started 2 loads of laundry in the new machines they installed in the laundry room while I made supper.  One good thing is that the machines take credit cards now, so no fiddling with coins or having to buy a prepaid card which you couldn’t cash in if you didn’t use it all before you left.  After, supper, we went over to the pool where they were playing a night volleyball game, and Sheila transferred our wash into the dryers.

They had quite a set up for WVB.  The ball was quite large, (2+ ft. in diameter), almost transparent and had small lights in it which flickered as it flew back & forth across the net on which they  had hung green lights and most of the players were wearing lighted, glowing cords around their neck, some had dressed up a bit even with lighted hats.  It was a very striking scene!  They had coffee, hot chocolate and fancy cakes & nibbles for after the game, plus a propane fire by the refreshment area. It looked like fun so I signed myself up for the next one on Feb 17.  Sheila thinks she would find it too cold, even though the pool water is quite warm.  As by now it was close to 7 PM we went in the clubhouse to play the Thursday night Mexican Train Domino’s till after 9 pm.  Then we picked up the laundry that Sheila had done and were finally home around 9:30.  Both of us were quite tired.  It had been a busy day!

Day 10 Jan 23 Wed

NOTE TO ALL, BECAUSE OF WiFi CONNECTION PROBLEMS I WILL BE POSTING 2 OR MORE DAYS AT A TIME.

Up & off to water volley ball.  Then a quick lunch and over to the clubhouse for the noon Hand & Foot game.  Of course the rules are different from what we play with the Roamers on our club outings & games days.  I like our rules better but I may try once more, it runs ever week on Wednesdays at 1 PM.  We finished about 3 or so and then went out in the car to try to find Sheila a nail place.  After no luck headed back home for supper.  Sheila phoned one place & found they could take her at 5:30 PM so she gave me instructions on what to make for supp & that she’d be back a bit after 6:15.  I fried up the fish, made steamed zucchini & a sort of instant rice type side dish, (which took longer than anything else).  And I had it ready for her. Well, knowing Sheila, I pushed the time up & had it ready about 6:55; she arrived home about 7:15. Not totally her fault, the shop was running late, but…. Anyway after supper we just relaxed in the RV.  I turned on the TV to the weather channel and they were doing several stories of people who had got stranded or lost and how they survived until found--some did not survive.  It was interesting as they had a survival expert explaining how they could have fared better and gave tips on surviving in similar circumstances; some I knew or was aware of, others were new so it was an interesting show.  Sheila found it very interesting also.

Day 9 Jan 22 Tues

Today is Breakfast Group day.  It used to be “Bike to Breakfast” but with increases in ages plus, more importantly,3 major increases in traffic on the streets we have to ride on to get to the breakfast restaurants, (a different one each week), everyone drives there by car now.  They have specials at the restaurants so breakfast is not expensive, for example today there were about 6 choices, all $6.99, add in coffee & you are still under $10.00.  I went by myself because Sheila is going to a Ladies luncheon and swim suit event. I don’t know if they have models for the swim suits, but I don’t think so as none of the husbands were going.  When Sheila comes back I am going out to see if there is another internet company better than the one GVP provides.  I’m going to investigate the internet rental company, Spectrum, that, I’m told can put a full strength signal right to my RV that I won’t have to share with hundreds of other users.  It depends on cost of course.

Sheila’s back to share her account of the Ladies Luncheon.  H-e-r-e-s  Sheila!

“It was a great luncheon!  Much more fun than the other one or two I’ve attended.  The theme was swimsuits and beach wear.  Glossy’s--the famous swim suit shop in Palm Springs, had brought a large selection of their swimsuits, tops & cover-ups, summer dresses and one type of very comfortable slip-on sandals for luncheon attendees to try on and purchase if they wished.  Swimsuits were only $29.99, (no matter what the original price was—sometimes a hundred $ or more), sundresses & tops- $7.99 and the sandals $8.99.  The activity room off the Billiards hall was set up as a large communal fitting room for the ladies with 3 full length mirrors.  Doors opened at 10:00 am.  As we entered the ballroom and surrendered our $15.00  we were given 4 tickets for the door prize drawings, (there were about 20 in all!), plus 10 green tickets which we could use to play one or all 3 of the arcade games spread around the room to earn more tickets for the door prizes.  In addition, if you wished, you could buy 10 tickets/$5.00 for the 25/25/25/25 draw at the end of the luncheon ie. all of the money collected was divided into 4 jackpots and then raffled off.  Since about 120 ladies attended, I think they would have been good jackpots.

After our shopping & playing time,  “Lunch was served”  by men, most of them husbands of the ladies who planned & organized this event.  Lunch was pulled pork, rice, a soft, slightly sweet bun and the most delicious, layered iced lemon cake I’ve ever tasted!  Then came the “piece de resistance”--a short fashion show by 5 of the men who had run the games & served the food.  They modelled some outlandish swimming costumes which had been ‘whipped up” by some o the ladies, to humorous commentary.  The draws for the door prizes started just before lunch and finished just after.  I was lucky & won one.  It came in a bag which was taped shut, but to my delight when I opened it at my table; I found a 10 pack of mini bottles of Fireball Whiskey with accompanying drink recipes.  A great prize as far as I was concerned!  It almost made up for not winning one of the 25/25/25/25 jackpots!  A great party—great food & fun activities.  Oh yes, I forgot to mention, I bought a pair of their sandals and one of the best fitting, most slimming & most comfortable swimsuits I’ve ever had—I can’t wait to wear it in the pool tomorrow.

When I looked at the original price tag I just about fainted—I paid $30.00 for a $174.00 suit!!

OK, enough of that, the master of the blog is back.  OK, it’s only me.  I went out & ordered the accessory part I needed to be able to run my tire inflator pump off a 110 volt AC line.  It’ll arrive in a week, so no problem.   I have also been able to finally find a refillable butane gas burner lighter, a pair for $5.00 at Hemet Trailer Supply store.  I also got a btl of Sta-Bil to put in my gas tank so all is working out.  As it is Tuesday, this is Taco Tuesday & karaoke night at the Elks Lodge so we are off there for supper.  The Taco’s were great as usual, only $1.50 each, plus a delicious lemon cake for a dollar a slice. The Karaoke part was less than the usual reasonable singing, but with some outstandingly good singers.  Mostly people would do slow C.W. stuff that didn’t have a tune and they couldn’t get the phrasing timed right.  However, Sheila saw a singer from previous years that she knew was good and asked him if he was on, he said he would put his name, Howard, on the list plus she spoke with one of the very few other good singers and she was due to sing again later, so we stayed.  After he sang Sinatra’s “My Way”, we left and got home about 8PM.  It’s cool in the evenings still so the furnace needs to be on. It is supposed to warm up this week.

Day 8 Jan 21 Mon

Up for 10 am water volley ball under blue skies but still a bit cool.  It’s a bit cooler than yesterday in the 50’s to low 60’s but with the low humidity that is quite comfortable.  Sheila was still quite stiff from her first day playing WVB yesterday, so she went to find out about the Ladies Luncheon tomorrow and get tickets for some of the shows that are coming to the park in Jan. & Feb. & she didn’t come to WVB until 11:15 am.  After the game and a hot tub session it’s back to the RV for lunch. Then I went out for the items I couldn’t get yesterday.  After I took the computer up to the library where the in house computers are, and fired it up.  Great reception and speed, thank goodness there is nothing wrong with the computer we just aren’t getting a good signal.  After supper, I went to the Monday crib game. It’s a $2.00 entry which they give all back in prizes.  I don’t usually win anything, but sometimes I come close.  Tonight I was only about 10 or so points out of the prize circle.  Back at the RV Sheila, who is not a crib player so doesn’t usually go, found the “TV Land channel that shows all the old shows, so she was happy watching “Mash, Raymond, and Threes Company”.  There was a nice full moon out tonight in a clear sky.

Day 7 Jan 20 Sun

Up to slightly overcast skies, had breakfast and off to water volley ball.  I got there a minute or two early and they were already playing.  I joined a pool and spent the next 2 hours immersed in warm water having fun.  After the game, I sat in the hot tub before having my shower & changing.  On getting back to the RV the outdoor thermometer in the shade said 75 F so weather is great! Had lunch and then went out to get some supplies – a new water supply hose as the old one leaks at the RV end and I couldn’t fix it, plus we need a new porch light bulb and a cpl other things.  I forgot that today was Sunday and some stores were closed so some things will have to wait.  We got back in time to go to the Water Volley Ball Pasta dinner – pasta & sauce, salad, choice of dressing plus olives to add.  Then we have the Sunday night Bridge game in the banquet room, we had 4 tables. I’m still having trouble getting the computer to access the internet; I will have to investigate that.  Home to the RV by 9:45.

Day 6 Jan 19 Sat

It is not a long run into GVP from here so we took our time in the morning.  We finally pulled out at 10:20 at 52437 miles.  The hwys, (215, 15, & 10), had lots of traffic but it wasn’t a difficult drive although I am really glad I did not try it yesterday.  At 52504 miles at 11:45 we pulled into Golden Village Palms and registered for 3 months.  We are in site 693 on Fringe street. We discovered that today they have a “guest appreciation pool party” running from noon to 2 PM.  El Patron restaurant is selling food & drinks, and there is live entertainment, a band.  We just parked in our spot grabbed our chairs & went up to the pool area. Both pools had water volley ball games going and we found a spot in the shade as we are not as tanned as usual. After an enjoyable time we came back to set up the RV.  Got power, water, sewer, TV cable all hooked up, got our tire covers on to protect the tires from the sun, got the awning up, got the sides out.  Relaxation time. Sheila just had to go out to WINCO for something, I passed on the opportunity to join her. We tried to watch TV but reception is weird, we can’t get a clear colour picture but later when we went to another channel it was fine.  I also had trouble getting on the internet and I am behind in my postings.  However we are here, it is warm & nice, hard to complain.

Covered  67 Miles,   on the road 1 hr 25 mins

Day 5 Feb 18, Friday

Day 5 Jan 18  Friday

Out Sun & Fun @ 52241 @ 10:25.  Into Flying J at junction Hwy 215 & 385 at 52437, gas up 2:40 to 3:00.  Too late to head out as it is Friday & we have to drive main highways which will be busy with rush hour traffic.  We decided to stay around the station.  Sheila had asked in the station about a cleared area just outside their entrance but apparently the police regularly ticket people parked there.  Because of our configuration we can’t easily use the truck areas – we can’t back up with the car attached plus we have a slide out on each side – Sheila explained this and they said to go around to the far back end of their lot and there is a non paved area we can park in. Away we went & we are “camped” at Flying J tonight, at 3:10.  We walked up to the station, (Sheila said it was ½ a kilometre on her step counter thing), as they have a Wendy’s here where we can have supper &hopefully get WiFi or at least power for the computer.  Although we are near the 215 hwy I didn’t notice much noise while inside the RV, but lots when I stepped outside, so it shouldn’t be too bad at night.  It’s bright sunshine right now at 4:45 and mild. Yes, we got on the computer, yea.  Came back to the RV & I was really tired so I went to bed at around 8PM.  I woke up a cpl times at night but just stayed in bed till the morning, I did get up around 8:30 next morning to get set for our final day on the road.

Covered  196 miles,    on the road 4 hrs 15 mins. Lots of mountains hwy, curvy roads

2019 trip south Day 4

Day 4 Jan 17

We ran our newish propane heater and it kept the RV nice & warm all night and it uses very little propane compared with the built in propane furnace. (From now on “Propane Heater” means the wall mounted one Les & I put in - no motors or blowers just convection heat - and “Propane Furnace” means the built in one in the RV).  We got up early enough to exit Red Bluff at 9:20 AM, at 51890 miles, a new record for us! The storm seems to have passed, the wind & rain have stopped. Driving from Red Bluff to the Sacramento area the hwy is straight & level & speed limit was 55 mph for vehicles that are towing so I just dialed that in & put it on cruise control and away we went.  We pulled into the Flying J at Hwy 12 & I 5 @ 12:30 and filled up at 52053 miles. Gas filling was 12:30 to 12:40 but we decided to do a Denny’s lunch.  They were short staffed & we didn’t get out till 2 PM, an hour & 20 minutes for lunch – too long when you are on the road. Food was really good and it was relaxing but put us way behind schedule. Sheila wanted to go to a campground with real showers so we skipped Modesto Elks, where I had originally planned to go, & headed for a Passport America place, (Viking RV), cpl hours or so down the road. When we got there at 4:50 & out at 5:00, they were a small, very full place with only one awkward back in spot, plus Sheila checked their showers & the shower room was colder than outside with one big common shower area that you would have to lock yourself into so we opted to go to the other PPA camp – Fun In the Sun, – which we had been to before and we knew was nice.  However we were now losing our daylight so when we got there at 5:50 it was dark.  Very friendly staff and we got a nice spot but did have to take a back-in so had to unhook.  But area was well lit, and we are far enough south that it wasn’t cold outside, so no problem unhooking. In at 52210 miles. They have WiFi so I can catch up on the blog. Today’s weather was fine for driving; some spritz of rain but otherwise just a mix of sun & cloud. Sheila says I should tell people that sometimes there are spelling and grammar mistakes in the blog and that I write “stream of conscious” style, - as I think, is how it comes out.  Sheila does sometimes proofread my entries and catches some errors, but not them all.  She is off in the shower while I blog. 

Covered 320 miles,    on the road too long – close to 7 hours, should have overruled Sheila & stopped at Modesto Elks around 2:30 to 3 PM

Day 3 Jan16

We were nice and warm all night and in the morning it was warm in the rig—not like last night when Sheila’s feet were cold all night!  We slept in and eventually got up and got ready to roll, out Seven Feathers by 10:15 at 51641 miles and off to a gas stop. Off hwy to the Pilot stn at 51708 miles @ 11:35, filled up and away at 11:40 and off to Fred Myers to get my annual phone card with 100 minutes for $99, (& no tax in Oregon).  Off hwy at 51715, did our shopping, had a quick lunch at the Deli in the grocery section, and back on hwy @ 12:40. Over Siskiyou Pass, elevation 4340 ft, according to our GPS.  Up to now the weather has been overcast, no wind, with the odd sprinkle of rain.  We entered Calif @ 1:15 and the weather just got worse & worse.  High winds swirling in every direction, pouring rain that came down the highway in sheets blown by the wind.  Not a fun drive!  When you are a wide as us, you don’t have a lot of room to manoeuvre but I managed not to side swipe anyone.  Sheila was buried in a book which was good; it kept her from getting white knuckled when the RV shifted sideways in the wind.  We did stop at a rest area for 5 minutes so I could change our GPS to take us to the Red Bluff Elks which is about 50 miles closer than Nancy’s Café.  I just wanted to get off the road and out of the storm without making tomorrow’s plan unfeasible. We pulled off the I 5 at 4:05 & were in the RV Park by 4:12.  One plus is that now we have power and might see if we can pick up some TV tonight.  Also so much for planning things before they happen, I just had to mention Nancy’s Airport Café in Willows & jinx myself.  Anyway we went up to the lodge building which is behind the parking lot a cpl hundred feet away.  It was windy and I had to hold the umbrella sideways to stop the rain. We paid for our spot ($15) and got WiFi so we could check stuff out.  I stayed for their supper but Sheila came back to rig. She had leftover food from lunch and she wasn’t thrilled with the menu at the Elks so she returned to the RV. After almost 3 hours battling the wind, rain, poor visibility & lots of trucks on the hwy, I just wanted to sit & have a nice quiet meal. I arrived back at the RV about 6:30.  It is still rainy & windy.  The RV is shaking and quaking as the roof is being bombarded  by small, round spiky things from an over-hanging tree.

Covered 249 miles, on the road 5 hrs

2019 trip south Day 2

DAY 2

Up, up and away - from Kelso Elks RV Park, but not very quickly.  Out at 10:30 at 51383 miles and heading for Portland.  Les Bullis had suggested the 205 bypass route so we tried it.  Entered it at 11 AM, got to the Oregon border, (middle of Columbia River), by 11:10 @ 51427 miles.  It’s a lot better than going through downtown Portland, slightly longer route but worth it.  Our poor GPS got completely bambozzeled and kept trying to get me to take side roads back into Portland.  About 15 or so miles from the end of the 42 mile bypass route it gave up and told me I 5 was straight ahead.  Back on I 5 we headed for our gas stop, in @ 51462 miles @ 11:50, full tank by 12:05 and went to have lunch at the Flying J’s Subway restaurant from 12:05 to, back on road by, 12:35. It’s a nice clear day slight cloud, lots of sun. We’re heading for Seven Feathers Casino dry camp parking lot so we can spend our camping money on their Buffet - $9.99 Mon to Thurs.  We got here at 3:35 at 51640 miles.  Parked near the casino.  I started the generator to investigate if we could pick up WiFi and they have a guest log-in good for 8 hours.  By the way I need the generator because the computer battery is dead, (it said it was good for 5 minutes when I turned it on to check it, and that’s after being plugged in yesterday for hours).  Well, off to the Casino and their $9.99 buffet.  After a mountain of excellent food, I’m stuffed;  lots of variety incl blackberry pie & ice cream with blackberry sauce for topping.  After supper Sheila stayed to play. She came back a bit later to see if I wanted to return to the casino with her because she’d discovered it was Karoke Night in the bar and the people singing--all regulars, with the exception of one, were very good!  She thought they could have been singing professionally!  And, of course, there’s no cover charge on Karoke Night.  I thanked her for coming back for me, but decided I was really tired and just didn’t feel like going out.  I just wanted to relax and eventually go to bed.  Sheila returned to the casino to listen to some more good singers, (she said the highlight for her was an older woman who sounded just like Etta James when she sang “At Last”).  She returned about 10:15 pm.   I  came back to RV to do the blog & post it. 


Day 3 Jan16

We were nice and warm all night and in the morning it was warm in the rig—not like last night when Sheila’s feet were cold all night!  We slept in and eventually got up and got ready to roll, out Seven Feathers by 10:15 at 51641 miles and off to a gas stop. Off hwy to the Pilot stn at 51708 miles @ 11:35, filled up and away at 11:40 and off to Fred Myers to get my annual phone card with 100 minutes for $99, (& no tax in Oregon).  Off hwy at 51715, did our shopping, had a quick lunch at the Deli in the grocery section of Fred Meyers, and back on hwy @ 12:40. Over Siskiyou Pass, elevation 4340 ft, according to our GPS.  Up to now the weather has been overcast, no wind, with the odd sprinkle of rain.  We entered Calif @ 1:15 and the weather just got worse & worse.  High winds swirling in every direction, pouring rain that came down the highway in sheets blown by the wind.  Not a fun drive!  When you are a wide as us, you don’t have a lot of room to manoeuvre but I managed not to side swipe anyone.  Sheila was buried in a book which was good; it kept her from getting white knuckled when the RV shifted sideways in the wind.  We did stop at a rest area for 5 minutes so I could change our GPS to take us to the Red Bluff Elks which is about 50 miles closer than Nancy’s Café & the Walmart for free parking overnight.  I just wanted to get off the road and out of the storm without making tomorrow’s plan unfeasible.  We pulled off the I 5 at 4:05 & were in the RV Park by 4:12.  One plus is that now we have power and might see if we can pick up some TV tonight.  Also so much for planning things before they happen, I just had to mention Nancy’s Airport Café in Willows & jinx myself.  Anyway we went up to the Elks lodge building which is behind the parking lot a cpl hundred feet away.  It was windy and I had to hold the umbrella sideways to stop the rain. We paid for our spot ($15) and got WiFi so we could check stuff out.  I stayed for their supper but Sheila came back to rig. She had leftover food from lunch and she wasn’t thrilled with the menu at the Elks so she returned to the RV. After almost 3 hours battling the wind, rain, poor visibility & lots of trucks on the hwy, I just wanted to sit & have a nice quiet meal. I arrived back at the RV about 6:30.  It is still rainy & windy.  The RV is shaking and quaking as the roof is being bombarded  by pine cones from an over-hanging tree in addition to the thunder of raindrops

Covered 249 miles, on the road 5 hrs

2019 sun-bird trip to California Day 1

Day 1

We brought the RV home on Saturday to load and get an earlier start on Mon, (maybe). We still ended up loading a bunch of stuff on Monday morning but finally away from Home at 10:45 AM, a record for us.  We decided to try the Aldergrove crossing to see if it was less busy than Pacific Hwy.  Arrived at the border at 11:42@ 51153 Miles. About 10 minutes earlier Sheila told me she had cut up an apple & peeled a mandarin orange!  Why would she believe me when I say, don’t take fruit across the border, it’s not like I know something, - - oh wait, I do!!!  The sign at the US Customs said trucks & RV’s in one line cars in another.  There was one truck in front of us.  Anyway the officers were very pleasant but took the oranges & apple.  They might have left the cut up apple except Sheila put them all in the same container, - - can you say cross contamination?  As punishment I cancelled our planned stop at a US store to get fruit & veggies. Out & cleared by 11:55, so a 12 minute crossing including the fruit seizure. Off down the hwy in clear blue sky & sunshine.  We were making really good time with no sign of a Seattle back-up so I switched the GPS to take us to the Kelso Elks and it showed an arrival time of 4 PM.  We drove straight through.  No big back-ups through Seattle, a cpl of slower sections but no real problems at all.  We arrived  at Kelso Elks at 4:30 PM @ 51383 Miles, so covered, from home 259.4 miles.  Tonight they have pizza night, taco pizza, 3 cold salads and choice of dressings, all good and a hot hamburger chilli/soup dish but not at all spicy, all for $10.00.  We unhooked the car and Sheila went over to the Safeway store next door almost, while I did the blog and ate.   A nice evening.  Sheila arrived from her shopping trip in time to have some of the pizza, salads & soup, (they called it soup but it was more like a stew, nice & thick.

Covered 259.4 miles, total home to Elks time - 5 hrs 45 minutes