We were very lucky, on
our drive from Lake Havasu to Salem we had beautiful weather, no rain and some wind here and there. We left Lake Havasu heading towards Edwards Air Force Base, at the entrance the first thing we saw was a NASA airplane which brought back memories of 747's taking off from there with the shuttle piggyback. Edwards main mission is flight testing, named after Capt. Glen Edwards, who, after combat service, was a test pilot there for 5 years before crashing one of the planes near the base. Since the 50's almost all of the new military aircraft has been tested there. It is best known for Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier and the Space Shuttles landing there during inclement weather in Florida. I just about jumped out of my skin shortly after arriving here, there was a HUGE boom and until I figured out what it was I was a bit nervous. It was a small FamCamp but nicely laid out, e-z pull in for Gary. (that is always a good thing)
We left (early for us) for our drive to Santa Nella, Ca. which is best known for Anderson's split pea restaurant. The people there were very helpful, they gave us two spots to pull in diagonally and a third spot for the car. There was a geo cache across the street that we picked up, located right next to an In and Out. Gary really twisted my arm to have dinner while there, I hate to say this but I was very disappointed, the patty was very thin and Gary's French fries weren't hot. An employee came around to see "how everything was" so I told her. Gary was aghast! On PBS that night Folk music was featured including Kingston Trio and Brother's Four. It brought back memories of our youth and a concert we went to in Salem a couple of years ago, both groups were there (not the originals), but they sounded so much like them. We stayed there two nights, we were way ahead of schedule, we needed to be in Davis by the 10th. Behind the park was a canal with a road we could take Luci out off leash. We walked over 2 1/2 miles, just as we were getting close to the park, Luci found something dead and furry to roll in. Argh. We have an outside sprayer so Miss stinky Luci got a bath outside with cold water. I love traveling with dogs.
Our next stop was supposed to be Travis AFB near Sacramento so we could be close to Davis for an early morning appointment for the coach. We are still "tweeking" and we also needed to sign papers for the LaMesa in Tucson. It seems that the paperwork for out of state purchase with no sales tax was missed. Al in Tucson must have been CIA because he lured us there with a fill up. We came in on fumes to get the most diesel we could, the tank has taken us all the way to Salem. Well back to Travis, it seems if you have a pet you can only have a rig 36ft or shorter, the larger spots don't allow animals. No plan B so we had to figure out where to spend the night, we are always a bit "cranky" when we arrive in our new spot. We ended up a Yolo County Fairgrounds in Woodland, they advertised a RV park. Well it was just a parking lot with hook-up's, I thought to myself cheap. Ha! it was $35.00, oh well we'd have killed each other if we had to go any farther. As it turns out, Woodland is a cool town. We drove into town for dinner, found a much needed (surprise) brew pub. After dinner we wanted to pick-up a gc and stumbled upon a cool place. As I've said before geo cacheing takes you to places you would normally not go (and someplaces you don't want to go). It was called Reiff's retro Automobile and Gas station. The owner bought an ordinary ranch house in an ordinary ranch house area and decided why don't I put some gas pumps out front. The first thing we saw was an airplane crashed on the roof, a 58 Oldsmobile crashed into the garage, vintage gas tanks out front, a faux 50's diner and all kinds of memorabilia. Well we couldn't find the g.c. but decided to come back the next day with the camera and look again. We went into Historic Woodland downtown for another g.c. What a cool area, the downtown area is thriving, no empty store fronts or antique stores. We found a tricky g.c. then went back to crash. My brother called, he full-time RV'd for about 3 years before moving to Honolulu, he says he is living vicariously through my blog and had stayed at the same park on the Colorado River.
We made it to Davis Monday morning for the tweeking. It was there all day so off we went, first to Costco to spend our AMEX cash back coupon. We did go back to Reiff's, still didn't find the g.c. We had the dog with us so we had to find a dog friendly restaurant with a patio, We found the Burger Saloon, it was a nice day to sit outside we enjoyed our lunch, Gary got a sandwich with VERY hot, hot sauce (on the side). Our son-in-law Micah loves hot food, we asked if they sold bottles, they didn't but gave us a couple of to go cups. We picked up the coach about 5, a nice time to drive back to Woodland, they finished the work we needed and filled up the tank.
Tuesday we headed north on I-5. The rice paddies and ponds north of Sacramento we rain laden, filled with Canada geese and other birds. Still no rain, we drove through the Siskiyou's in beautiful sunshine. Gary is loving the diesel pusher (RV jargon) it climbed those hills with no problem. After a stop at 7 Feathers Casino for lunch hit the freeway again. We spent the night in a RV park in Eugene. One of those parks that will make the " don't go back" list. Between the trees and tight corners things got a bit tense.
Wednesday we pushed on to Salem (60 miles) Another bug popped up on the trip, an engine light came on, Gary called Freightliner, they said no emergency, so when we got to Salem we had it fixed. We took off for the day, visiting our neighbor Edie, a 92 year old ball of fire, she lived in the neighborhood when we moved in 35 years ago. You'll never has a better neighbor. Then we decided to surprise daughter Leah, she moved back to Salem from Germany a couple of weeks before we left town. She was surprised! It is amazing how much her 4 kids have grown in six months, they are ages from almost 9 (the twins) almost 7 and 5. Cute kids. We settled into HeeHee Illahee RV park in north Salem about 7 after picked up the coach.
Originally we were supposed to be in Salem the 14th, instead we arrived on the 12th. I played pinochle with friends for years, they were playing cards that night so I decided to surprise them. One of the gals had texted me to see if we were in town yet, I lied, not until Friday, then I surprised them. It was great to see them, they quit playing cards and we visited until about 10, after I went to Carols house and chatted until midnight. On my drive back to the coach it started to rain, yep we are back in Oregon.
Friday we had lot of errands to take care of, including a service on the Jeep and an informative visit to the DMV, a long story I won't get into. My girlfriend Charlotte came to the coach for happy hour then we went to dinner. What an exhaustive day! Great so see family and friends again.
It's been a wild week but had lots of fun on our journey back to Salem.
TTFN
Pam and Gary
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