Wednesday 28 February Day 41

Out Elks Modesto @ 49643 miles @ 9:55 (temp 53).  Off road for gas at the Flying J at Hwy 5 & Hwy 12 @ 10:45 @ 49686 miles. Filled gas, 51.741 USG @ $ 2.899/gal., also filled propane tank as we are using a lot due to cold weather.  Out gas stop at 11:15 heading for Willows & to Nancy’s Airport Café for lunch.  Arrived 1:15 @ 49804 miles and away after a nice lunch at 2:40.  We would have been away 10 minutes or so earlier except Sheila opened the fridge door & a small bowl with soup in it fell out onto Sheila and the floor. After clean up we got away and arrived Red Bluff Elks at 49850 miles at 3:30, temp reading 54 F. We went into the lodge, paid our nights stay - $15.00 for 30 amp power & water but as usual we aren’t hooking up the water. Back at the RV we put the Arial up & checked out TV. We got one annoying bit of news. A big storm expected from tonight to Saturday. They have Wi-Fi in the lodge but I can’t get it in the RV so over to the lodge to try. I got more details & emailed Adeline & Michael about it.  Hopefully I will be posting soon from the Oregon side. We do have our US phone so we can keep in touch when we can't get to WiFi.

 Also I checked the hwy cams for the mountains and as of tonight they show snow on the side of the road but the road shows clear & black. 

Distance traveled – 207 miles, on road time – 3 hrs 40 min’s

Tuesday 27 February Day 40

We got up sort of early, a bit after 8, well Sheila was a longer “bit” but we got away  at 9:15 @ 49305 miles. We went straight up hwy 395 to hwy 58 which goes west to connect with Hwy 99.  Right at the intersection we could see in the distance something that looked almost like a lake but there were structures here & there so it’s not water.  Too far away to tell but I was guessing it might have been a field of solar panels, who knows?  It is new as it wasn’t there last year.  Going along hwy 58 we had to go over a hill or two and the clouds were right down to ground level plus it drizzled a little.  The temp dropped as we went up and into the cloud and eventually dropped to 33 F.  As we came off the hill & down into the valley about 50 miles east of Bakersfield it warmed up to the high 40's and eventually hit 52 F.  We turned north on Hwy 99 at 11:30 @ 49513 miles.  We pulled off the hwy at a Subway for lunch @ 12:50 @ 49520 miles and back on the hwy @ 1:20.  The original plan for the day was to hopefully make the Elks in Modesto but with a  backup of Viking RV on hwy 99, well, we passed the exit for that one at 1:30 so onwards to the Elks in Modesto, pulled in at 3:35 @ 49643 miles. It was nice & warm outside when we got here and we are currently in the lounge enjoying a drink, (Sheila had hers bought for her, mine too but I just had a coke).  After we relax in here for a bit it’s back to the RV set it up, they have 30 amp power & water at each site but we’re fine on water and as with last night I don’t want to chance a frozen hose. Not because in might burst the hose, but because how do you coil up a hose full of ice for storage? Then we will make supper.  See what we can get on TV with our antennae and if nothing watch the DVD Sheila bought at GVP’s White Elephant Sale—“The First Season of Barney Miller.”

Distance traveled - 338 miles, on road time - 5 hrs 45 min's

Monday 26 February Day 39

We got up, stored, put away, and generally got stuff in order to travel.  Judy delivered 2 boxes with a total of 10 of her wonderful stuffed eggs, they are earmarked for lunch.  We pulled out of our spot with the RV to take it up where we could get the car hooked up, out site 963 at 11:35 @ 49227 miles and away GVP @ 11:50. Off to the gas stop.  Arrived at the Pilot stn on Hwy 395 at 1:15 @ 49293 miles, topped up gas and away at 1:30 PM. We arrived at Adelanto RV Park at 1:55 @ 49305 miles, a total of 78 miles for today.  We had lunch and relaxed.  The wind is gusting quite high here, (25 mph), and rocking the RV a bit.  Getting here we came over a pass  at 4100+ feet so it could get quite cold tonight, I’m glad we opted to do a campground.  I also didn’t connect the water hose so I didn’t have to deal with a possible frozen water hose in the morning.  Sheila washed the tile part of the floors in the afternoon and judging by the water, they needed it! My reaction was that if you couldn’t tell they were dirty by looking at them, why bother to wash them at all. The town of Adelanto where we are is a good size growing town near the end of the 395 hwy. It is about a dozen miles from the 215 hwy into LA so it may be one of the bedroom communities for LA.  The RV park is quite nice with full facilities, (power – 30 & 50 amp), as well as cable TV, WiFi, water & sewer and nice pull through sites.

Distance travelled – 78 miles, on road time – 1 hr 55 min’s

Sunday 25 February Day 38

We got up to clear skies & sun.   It was 50 F at 08:45, 58 F at 10:00, and 70 F at 1 PM when we got back to the RV from WVB.  It was a good day for the last game; I got some good shots.  When we got up to 12 each side in one pool we split into 2 pools and I announced that Sheila & I were leaving tomorrow.  Lots of people came around to wish us well; shake hands with lots of “see you next year”.  They are a good bunch of friendly people here.  Back at the RV I did some prep stuff for moving tomorrow and had lunch then went over to Larry & Judy’s for a few hands of Bridge.  We are going up to the Sunday evening Bridge game in case they are short & need extra bodies.  We have lots of time for moving preparation so can afford to play, check out is noon I think.. We were needed at Bridge and came in second out of 6 couples and won $4.00.  After Bridge we went over to Winco for some last minute supplies & stuff Sheila wants to bring home.  Our plan for tomorrow is to get to the big Pilot Gas Station & truck stop at the junction of hwy’s 395 & 215.  It’s about an hour & a half away and we plan to see if we can stay there overnight. So with a short first day we don’t need to rush leaving GVP.  After I checked the weather forecast and it will be close to freezing at night in the gas stop area we will probably go to an RV park ½ hour up the road that has full service and pull-through’s.  It’s not a real problem unhooking the car just a nuisance when we aren’t using the car.    Our second night is hopefully the Modesto ELKS which has Wi-Fi.

Saturday 24 February Day 37

Up to clear sky’s & sun but cool, it was 49 F at 9:00, 54 F at 10:00, and 60 F at 12:45.  The WVB game today was a special game with people in costumes, (mostly hats, funny glasses & wigs of coloured hair), plus they arranged us in the pool doing odd games, egg on spoon race in the water, volley ball with a softball sized rubber ball. They set everyone up in each pool and matched the player’s equal numbers male & female, then they had hot chocolate & cookies, sweet cakes, & rolls after.  It was a fun day.  Back to the RV for lunch.  Sheila went out after lunch shopping for canned goods and fruit beverages she wants to take home. I napped and worked on putting a few things away.  We had supper in the RV then Sheila wanted to add her 2 cents worth to some of the blogs so she worked on that.  Then she/we will watch Olympics. 

Friday 23 February Day 36

Still cold but sunny with some cloud and a very light breeze. At 9 AM it was 49 F, then at 10 AM it got to 54 F and when we came back from WVB it was 60 F at 12:45.  Standing in the sun it is very nice & warm in shorts & SS shirt so with the low humidity it is very nice here whereas at the same temp back home I would be cold due to the dampness, (and lack of bright sun). I suddenly realized that with our early departure and driving north we are going to maybe run into cold or freezing weather.  I checked the weather for a few cities that we go through in Oregon & Washington and the overnight lows next week are either just above freezing or only a degree or 2 below freezing.  We will try to find electrical hook-ups for the overnight stops if possible; however, a lot of RV parks close for the winter season! I got my bill for electricity for the month, - $51.00.  It’s a bit higher than previous years but considering the rate goes up each year & this year we used a lot more power running the electric heater, that’s not too bad.  Sheila wanted to go to the Hong Kong Restaurant across the road for lunch and then had supplies she wanted in the 99 Cent store in the same mall.  Lunch at the Hong Kong is quite a good deal.  A large plate of chicken & broccoli is only $7.95 and it comes with soup, an egg roll, and fried or steamed rice.  The Egg Flower soup was delicious!  Sheila brought about 1/3 of her Orange Peel chicken home.  She dropped me at the RV as she wanted to look at a specialty orthotics store in Hemet that is quite close to GVP.  I will work on tire inflation checks.  Got all 6 tires topped up but it is a major rigmarole due to my pump probably wearing out so I have to stop to let it cool down, very time consuming.  Tonight is Mocktails night and it gets a bit cold so we may not last to the end, (it runs 6 to 8 pm).    We got a spot right under one of the tall heaters and were toasty.  It ran out of gas about 7:30 and we did have shopping to do at Winco so we left. At Winco, I got another 2 doz. Cactus Coolers and found Propel, a bottled drink I had found one year that I really liked & then the store that carried it didn’t anymore.  Winco also carried the Martinelli sparkling apple cider for well under $2.00 a btl., I didn’t get any though.  We have got stuff we are bringing home so now the problem is where we keep it that’s out of the way; the car trunk is getting full.  Back home to watch the Olympics.  Canada is currently in third place by gold medal count but is second place by total of all our medals.   

Thursday 22 February Day 35

Up to cold again, 50F @ 9 AM and only 55 F by 10 AM. There was supposed to be a big Charity WVB game for the Police Dog charity starting at 9 AM with a burger bash after on the patio from 11 to 1 PM.  Because of the cold weather the game got moved to 10 AM, ran to 12 noon and then we had our $10.00 burgers which were served in the ballroom as it was quite cool on the patio, specially after having been in the pool.  I went up to try & video Sheila, on her I Phone and may or may not have gotten any.  I had trouble getting the phone to take video, I pushed on the video button but it did not seem to work.  Also yesterday when I had downloaded video I had taken of the game to see how it worked.  I actually managed to figure out how to download from Sheila’s phone and then I found out that unless you hold the phone only one way the videos come out upside down and when you are holding the phone taking the shot there is nothing on the phone to indicate it is upside down.  I was not meant to operate in the modern generation; can I go back to dial phones and video camera’s?  I should revert to being a troglodyte. 

Back to today.  After the Burger lunch we looked at the movies on today & decided on “The Shape of Water”.  I really had no idea what it was about and was pleasantly surprised.  It was set in the cold war era and involved a creature that was found in South America and lived in water. He was humanoid a bit and he was held in a secret government research facility after being captured and brought back by a government agent.  The lead actress, (Sally Hawkins), and main character was a mute girl. She had hearing but couldn’t speak.  She sympathized & connected with the water creature.  There was some violence, Russian spies, and attempts to exploit the creature.  In the end the bad guys got zapped & the good guys survived--I enjoyed it.  Sheila, not as much.  After the movie, we went to Angie’s Diner for supper, then back to GVP for the Mexican Train games night.  We play a total of 10 games, (2 sets of 3 & one set of 4 games), after each set; the 2 people with the 2 lowest scores take a quarter & change tables. So if you win a quarter back once in 3 sets you break even.  Sheila won her quarter back but I lost mine.  We returned to the RV to watch some Olympics before bed.