550 Miles, L.A. Hell, and We Are in Sister's Backyard

Very quiet night at Chiriaco Summit.  Good coffee at the Gas Station before we left this morning at 6:30 am.  The last time I drove through L.A. area was around 1996, give or take a year or two.  As I get older and older the more I don't want to drive through large cities...and you can't get much bigger size ways than L.A,

 

By 9:15 we were on I-5 headed north on the Grapevine.  By the time we got over the pass and at the split for Highway 99 and I-5 traffic thinned out.  Did not have any problems driving through L.A. other than it is long, and traffic was getting worse and worse the further west we traveled.  Gas just as before we hit the Grapevine was $85 for 16 gallons...we just paid $50 for 17 gallons at Quartzsite.  Go figure.

 

Traffic got thick as we got to Tracy area due to San Francisco traffic headed east, but it was not too bad.  Stopped in Lodi for another Van Wash at Blue Beacon...same price as it was in Casa Grande a few days earlier.  So many bugs, especially moths and butterflies splattered all over the window and front of the van.  Made it Sacramento around 5 pm, and had a few splattered bugs after just 40 miles of travel...it is what it is.  Nice to be back in Sacramento...

Phase One - 170 LONG MILES

 

So WHY is 170 miles "LONG MILES"????  Easy question, not so easy answer.

Got up at 7:30 am.  A little after 8 I went over, with nearly our last load of stuff, and brought the motorhome, with car in tow, back to the Condo.  By 9:30 or so, we were on the road.  I had accomplished just about everything I wanted to do before we left, working on it a day at a time for the last month.  (Not every day, but just about every day the past week.)  At our old storage place, they had RV Wash Stations, and that was nice...otherwise, parking it right out our back door is ideal.  But after 6 months, it needed a wash, so over to the Blue Beacon on I-75 near San Antonio Florida we went.  With the Flying J next door, we got her washed, got gas, got the waste tanks emptied, and it was already noon!  South a few mile to a rest area and it was time for a quick lunch.  Then it was 3+ hours of busy highway driving over to the Cracker Barrel.  Remember, it is Spring Break here, and Snow Bird Season, so it is busy.

About 90 minutes after arriving at Cracker Barrel and we got nearly everything "in its place" for the trip.  Got dinner to go from Cracker Barrel, and here it is just after 7 pm and we are nearly ready to crash!  Will spend much of tomorrow with Marcia's brother Dean and wife Caryl, and then Thursday we start the long trip out to California.

Almost forgot...Indy was very very possessive the past few days, snuggled up to me on the couch a lot, would not let me out of her sight if she could control things.  When I went to get the motorhome this morning she moaned and groaned...like we were going to leave her or something!  Told her we would be seeing Sandy, Arny, Mom and Patti, along with her cousin Parker and neighbor Jack...she would tilt her head as if she was thinking about it.  I think she is going to LOVE being back in the backyard again...

Head em' up, Move 'em out! (after a family day on Saturday)

 

I guess we were not the only ones heading out on Sunday.  This view above is on I-5, headed south around Los Banos, about due west of Fresno.  The cars heading the other way are coming out of the LA area...it was never ending.

We had our own traffic jam...this was taken near Santa Nella, home of Anderson's Split Pea Soup Restaurant.  Highway 33 and then highway 152 each flood the Interstate with people coming from the Sierras or from the Monterey/Santa Cruz area.  Add a couple of fender benders, and we crawled along for 20-25 minutes traveling just 5 or 6 miles.  Other than that, our south-bound lanes went along smooth, yet a bit crowded at times.  Always nice to see some guy try and fit between a truck and another car, just to reach out and pound on the car yelling at them to let him in, all the while we have backed off to where he could EASILY pull in right behind the car and go along his merry way.  (ps: his wife did not look too happy about it all)

We got off from Sandy and Arny's right at 8:00 am, and we headed down I-5 because they have a Beacon Truck Wash near west Lodi, to clean nearly 4 months of tree cra#...I mean 'stuff' off the motorhome.  Getting there around 9 am we did not have to wait except for the truck in the bay getting cleaned.  Had I pulled over to the middle or right bay we would have been done even faster...but once committed I was where I was because you just can't backup pulling a car with all four wheels down on the ground.  $49, which included a wash and Rain-X, and we were on our way to the Flying J next door to spend a mint and a half on 20 gallons of gas.  Well, one more fill up tomorrow and we will be in Arizona where the price will drop $1.20 per gallon or more.

Had we not got the RV washed, we might have missed much of the traffic...at least our side was not as busy as the northbound side.

It took Indy a good couple of hours to calm down and get back into the groove of travel.  She sure snapped out of it when I stopped at the truck wash, gas station and the two rest areas that I took her out for a walk and sniff.  Above she is at the RV Park trying to figure out where other dogs are barking from, and trying to catch sight of all dog walkers...mostly very large dogs.  If you look behind her you can see oranges on the tree/bush.  We are just a bit early to pick oranges to take with us, but I found a couple that were ripe and Marcia enjoyed one of them immensely. 

And at 4:35 I snapped this picture of the sun going down...wow, it sure gets dark early now days.

Family Day

Saturday turned out to be a family day, besides a packing up day getting ready to "Head em' up, Move 'em out".

Back Row L-R: Roger, Charlene, Bob, Mom, Me, Indy with Patti and Sandy down front

My brothers Bob and Roger both dropped by around the same time for quick (too quick) visit.  Arny took this picture, Marcia was still in the motorhome.  Bob brought along his 'friend' Charlene, which gave us all a chance to meet her, except mom who met her a few months ago.  Roger's wife was driving up from the LA area and did not make it.  My older brother Jim and his wife Carol were in Texas where they live.

Sure was a good day for mom based on that smile!

Felton, California

At Daybreak (Christian) Camp, Felton CA

We pulled out of my sister’s house about 9:45…Sandy was at work, and we said our goodbyes last night, but Arny was there to see us off, help guide me down the wooden ramps needed so that we don’t bottom out on the driveway, and his biggest task was to lure Bubba into the motorhome because as soon as he came outside of the house, around the corner and off the far end of the backyard he went.  I took along the leash just in case…but Uncle Arny successfully lured him into the motorhome, and off we went.  Above you can see us safely snuggled in along the RV parking area of the Daybreak Camp that my cousin Rich and his wife Marci are the Executive Directors of.  RV electrical plug, and water, no sewer, but we will be gone by Friday, so sewer is not needed.

Lodi California (yes, “Stuck in Lodi” by Creedence Clearwater Revival) is only 50 minutes from my sister’s house, nearly all Interstate travel.  It took us 75 minutes to get there because Caltrans was repairing a section of the Interstate about 15 miles north of Lodi along I-5.  We were headed to Flying J where we filled up with Propane, emptied our waste tanks, and filled up with gas.  The GPS tried to take me over to Franklin Blvd. around Lambert Road…but stubborn me said, “That seems like a long way around….” not knowing that there was road work ahead.  Just past the Lambert exit I see the sign…and there is no where to turn now.  Took 20 minutes to go 5 miles…another lesson learned.  At 12:30 we were back on I-5…yes, an hour stop because we also needed a RV Wash at the Blue Beacon next to Flying J…lots of Elm Tree blossoms all over the motorhome.  As usual, they did a good job.  From there, we drove right to Felton, arriving at 3:15, 15 minutes later than we told Rich and Marci’s youngest son Devin…who was waiting for us at the “back pasture” to let us in.

    

Daybreak Camp, a non-denominational Christian Camp, is real pretty…although we have not taken a tour yet...that should come tomorrow.  In the picture to the left is an open lawn, very large swimming pool to the far left behind those trees, a covered pavilion area where they typically have crafts, and one of the cabins to the right.  In the picture to the right, I is the dining hall and kitchen.  The campground can sleep just shy of 200 people, more if there are RVs and tents.  Rich said that for the kids camps, they have around 110 volunteers for around 140 kids, so they can handle around 250 in total.  They are not open to the public for general camping, it is for non-profit groups.  Each year Daybreak has four different camps, one for young kids, another for older kids, another for youth, and a family camp.  Churches also use the campground, especially during the summer when each week there is something going on...but it can be used all year around, something that Rich and Marci and working on.

 

   

Yes, I was serious when I said “The back pasture”.  The wooden bridge above is the main road leading into the campgrounds…nothing Rich felt would be good to drive the motorhome over, although I think we are under the gross weight ... why chance it...it is among the top 5% worse bridges in all of California.  The San Lorenzo River runs under the bridge, with the picture to the left looking north, and the picture to the right looking south.  In the first picture showing our motorhome, the river runs just on the other side of the motorhome, close to the bridge.  Little traffic goes over this one lane bridge, but when it does, it has a low rumble like thunder...or like bowling pins being knocked over in a bowling alley.  The County and Caltrans are going to have to replace the bridge soon...the work will have to be done after April and before October because of the spawning fish between October through March.  It is a county bridge, and there are about 20 homes and other establishments the bridge feeds...the camp just happens to be the first property closest to the bridge.  When this work is done, the road we are camping on will have to be used, along with the pasture road (non-paved) to give access to everyone on this side of the bridge.  Once the new bridge is put in, it will be much easier to bring RVs to the campground...but the RV area will be moved away from this road.

Here is a small stand of trees just behind the motorhome, and the river runs on the other side of them.  If I am correct with my trees, the far right is a Coastal Redwood, while the other two are Pine Trees…the barks are different between a Pine and a Redwood.  They have a number of Redwoods here at the Campground, and this whole area is known for its Redwood Trees…with the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park not too far away, as is the Roaring Camp Railroads.  My Great Grandfather once lived in Santa Cruz, and was a conductor for the South Pacific Coast Railroad, later acquired by the Southern Pacific Railroad.  His pocket watch, given to him upon retirement, was given to me by mom and dad when I earned my Masters Degree in Library and Information Sciences.  When my son Michael earned his Masters from University of California (Berkeley), I gave it to him.  The South Pacific Coast Railroad was a narrow gauge steam railroad running between the Santa Cruz Docks (at the time it was the third or fourth busiest docks in the state),  and Alameda, with a ferry connection in Alameda to San Francisco.  Starting out on the Centerville Horse Driven Train in Centerville (Newark), Charles Burdick turned that over to his brother Henry and moved on to the South Pacific Coast Railroad.  So this area has had a large impact on our family…and it is nice to see Richard working at this Church Campground where 'our' (his and my, Rich is just a few years younger than me, his father is my father's older brother) Great-Grandfather was a conductor on a train line that ran right through Felton.   The picture to the right is the road leading to or from the pasture land, which had about a dozen pretty horses boarded there, owned by local residents. 

Not sure of everything we will do over the next three days, but we plan to head to Mariposa on Friday so that we can visit Yosemite National Park.  Marci and Rich's daughter Liz is going to have a baby any day now...so Marci is not here, and Rich is on call to head back to the Placerville area on short notice 'after' the baby is actually born.

Houston–Camp PPL

Wow, what a ride this has been!  We bought our little Isata 10 days ago, drove it to Florida, got it registered, tried to get it looked at by a Ford dealership, which went array, packed it up Thursday and Friday and headed back to Houston, arriving here Sunday afternoon.

We essentially reversed our travel from Houston to Florida….staying at Flying J near Tallahassee (until at 2 a.m. the motorhome next to us still had not turned off its generator so I got up and drove another 30+ miles to a rest area, which worked out great), then to Louisiana where we stayed at the same rest area we stayed at when we left Houston nine days earlier.  Now we sit in the PPL parking lot in one of the four over-night parking places with 30 amp service. 

As we neared Houston we decided to go to a “Blue Beacon” truck wash.  We had cleaned the inside of the motorhome pretty good at one of the rest areas, and I wanted to get the outside washed down.  So here we were behind this US Army Recruiting Truck.  We had a long wait, and I sat there and admired the art work…that is when I saw it.

Do you see it?  Here, let me reverse it so you can read it better….

Why they have the word “Champagne” written on the vehicle this soldier is in is beyond me….tried doing a bit of research while we awaited our turn, but did not turn anything up on that.  Then I go in and pay, and guess what….the poor “real” soldiers are trying to pay for their wash with a US Army credit card, and it is refused.  They tried three different cards, no go….all refused.  The manager looked at them and said, “Give them a complimentary wash…”   Nice going Blue Beacon….you now you have my patronage for a long time now.

As for the bad weather….we did not have anything buy high winds on Sunday in Texas…not the first time, not the last I am sure.  We hope that we don’t hit any bad weather while we are in Arkansas, and as we travel through Oklahoma and Kansas later next week.  I do hope that my friends and family in Arkansas are safe tonight, because is does not look like it is going to be a fun night.