March 29, 2013: Day 88 - Good Friday

It was a beautiful day - I went for a run in Bingaman's neighborhood this AM before going in to Auburn for work.  I had lunch with Nicole Artim of RCI and dinner with Jessica Eskelson, two clients. I had VW starter troubles when I got to Jessica's house, so Mike came and gave me a jump and I carried on to attend the Good Friday service at Sierra Pines.  Not so good news was the need for another jump after the service, so I drove it to Grant's Bear River Auto Tech shop and Mike picked me up there.

March 28, 2013: Day 87 - Auburn work day

 

I got my teeth cleaned while in town, and visited with Mom T.  Mike is cranking at work.  We stopped for dinner at Auburn Chevy's tonight - Mike is developing the same head cold I had last week. Bummer!

March 27, 2013: Day 86 - Ron and Gay's house

Today we moved the MH to Auburn Gold Country Fairgrounds for the day while we worked, attended the memorial service for Jeanette ( Sassy) - Chris Boykin's mom and visited with Mom T.  At the end of the work day, we moved the MH out to Rona and Gay Bingaman's house out beyond Wolf Road for a few days.  It is very quiet and nice - thanks Ron and Gay for sharing!

March 26, 2013: Day 85 - Dinner with Kelly

We dropped the MH off at Camping World early this AM, then went on up to Auburn for the work day.  I had lunch with Connie, Barb W and Barb C  at El  Agave before they all went to a movie.  Mike's turn for an afternoon massage, then we picked up the MH and drove to Kelly's house where we made dinner and ate together with Kelly and Glenda.  Linguini and Clams.  Yum!

March 25, 2013: Day 84 - Water Heater repairs

Last night we discovered that our water heater was in need of repairs, so today we made arrangements to drop it off tomorrow.  We rode bikes over to visit with dad in the AM before heading up to Auburn for work.  I had a massage in the late afternoon, then hooked up with Mike for a ride back to Cal Expo where we made an easy soup and salad dinner and packed to move again in the morning.

March 24, 2013: Day 83 - Bike ride and Dinner with Connie

Today we drove over to visit with Dad this AM, but he was sleepy, so didn't stay long.  We worked for a while, had lunch, then took a nice bike ride on the Am River Bike trail down to Old Sacramento and back - 15 mikes round trip.  Very nice.  After a break and clean-up, we went to Connie's house for a simple but delicious soup and salad dinner.

Mike in Old Town at Delta King

Denise at confluence of Sac and American Rivers

March 23, 2013: Day 82 - Moved to Cal Expo

Today Mike went up to Auburn to pick up the bikes form getting their spring tune-up at Bicycle Emporium.  I went to Sacramento to visit with Dad.  We hooked up about 2:00 at Cal Expo where we will stay for a few nights.  We took the bikes out on the American River Bike Trail for a short bike ride in the afternoon, then got a good hot shower and baked fish for dinner.

Mar. 19 - 22, 2013: Day 78 - 81 - Thunder Valley

We stayed in the Thunder Valley parking lot and used Roseville as our base for the week.  We went to Auburn every day except Wednesday to work and visit with Mom T.  We had dinner out at Chevy's one night and cooked in the rest. 

Mar. 18, 2013: Day 77 - Happy Birthday Mike

 

Today we packed up and moved out of New Hogan and went to Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln where we celebrated Mike's birthday with a trip to REI and Whole Foods where we got what we needed for a delicious grilled steak dinner.

 

                                                         Happy Birthday, my love!

March 16, 2013: Day 75: New Melones

Today we had Katrinas for breakfast, went by the Auburn farmer's market, visited with Mom T then Dad D and had Ethiopian lunch at Abyssinia near Dad's house before hitting the road south to Calaveras county and New Melones Reservoir.  We are scouting for a comfortable place to spend June and August as camp hosts.  We found a beautiful park administered by the US Dept of the Interior.  THe sites were large and spread out, the water was huge and pretty, the sky was clear, big and open to the stars, but the internet reception from our extended service Verizon coverage was inadequate to support us at work at home.  Dang!

We had a delicious fresh fish dinner from our trip to farmers market this AM, then took a walk under the beautiful stars before calling it a day.

March 17, 2013: Day 76 - New Hogan Reservoir

This morning we visited with Kay and Larry - the current New Melones camp hosts who are checking out tomorrow.  This was their first camp host experience - they have been here since December, but have "Hitch Itch" - and are looking forward to traveling on. We got a tour of the oher campground - again, very nice, but we have decided not so follow through on this park.


So we drove away after lunch on our way to meet Alicia and her crew taking care of US Army Corp of Engineers' New Hogan Reservoir.

 

They want to add on a 3rd camp post to give the everyone some flexibility. We told her we were only available for three weeks in June and August, and that was OK with her, so we're in. The internet was better, not perfect, but we can manage for three weeks since the park is much closer to town than was New Melones. 

 

 

 

We had a nice Indian Curry stir fry to celebrate St. Patricks day:)

March 13 - 15, 2013: Day 72 - 74 Busy season

We were comfortable working in the Auburn area and at home at Auburn Gold Country RV Park.  The hot tub at night was lovely.  One night we met John who is a telecommuter with his wife, working at home in their 5th wheel, staying in the park for a few months.  We told him about camp hosting in Oregon.  Another night we met a couple who work Renaissance Faire's year round.  They told us about Quartzsite - a good place to stay in the winter months in Arizona - hopefully next year.

March 12, 2013: Day 71 - Fritz' Birthday

First thing today we moved out of our driveway perch at Jenny's house and checked in at Auburn Gold Country RV Park.

March 12 - the annual remembrance for Mike's brother Fritz.  We honor him by eating McDonalds - his favorite. We got take out cheeseburgers and shared a meal with Mom T at Auburn Ravine Terrace.

Mar.10, 2013: Day 69 - Visiting with friends

I went to chuch this morning and learned about the RV group oppportunities Karavaners and

Espapees from the Caudles.

 

 

 

 After lunch, we met up with Rich and Dollie and went to Naggiar Winery to pick up and taste.  it was a beautiful sprin-like day in California.  Daylight savings time!

Then for dinner, we walked across the stree to Boykins and had a delicious corned beef and cabbage dinner and good conversation.

Mar. 9, 2013: Day 68 - Dinner at Connie's house

Today we went to brunch at Katrina's, then to work at Depoe Bay in Auburn before going to visit with Mom T in Auburn and Dad in Sacramento.  Connie hosted the family tonight at her house because her brother Dave and his wife Diane were visiting from Toronto.

Mar. 8, 2013: Day 67 - Dad Tomczak's Birthday

Today we had lunch with Dean at La Provence.

 

Then home to make traditional Polish Sausage and Sauerkraut dinner in honer of Dad Tomczak on his birthday.

 

Mom ate the whole thing!

March 7, 2013: Day 66 - Car repairs

We dropped off the Jeep at Auburn Autohaus to get some much needed TLC.

Mar. 5, 2013 - Day 64: up to Auburn

I dropped in on dad before 9AM on the way from Cal Expo to Auburn - good thing, too, because he was having trouble getting some fruit for an after breakfast treat. I found a big bowl of oranges in the kitchen and peeled and fed him one which made him happy.

Then off to park the MH in Jenny and Pat's upper driveway for a few days. They were kind enough to offer to share some of their space.

I had lunch with Laurie and Bob Broughan at Max's in Auburn and then worked in the afternoon.

Tonight was a PEO meeting at Barb C's house. Good to see some friends after two months being away.

Mar. 4, 2013: Day 63 - CalExpo.

We moved from Kelly's house this AM to CalExpo RV Park where we could get hook ups and a shower. Also, it is a 5 minute drive to dad's place. We went to visit him mid morning but he was sleeping. Connie was there and we firmed up dinner plans for tonight. Then we went to lunch, and to see Mom Tomczak before a couple hours of work this afternoon. We stopped in to see Dad Dempsey and caught him awake for a short bit good visit. Then to The Absynnia for an Ethopian dinner with Connie tonight.    

Mar. 3, 2013: Day 62. Visiting dad and mom

Today we checked in with dad and mom.

                                   Dad was looking and feeling good at his place, The Palms.

Mom left her Auburn Ravine Terrace lunch but ate the Taco Bell taco we brought for her. 

Shelly, the activities director was showing off her new hat.

I spent the next few hours at storage trying to reduce and re-organize my clothes, then back to Kelly's house where Mike cooked us a delicious Jambalya dinner.

March 2, 2013: Day 61 - back in NorCal

There is joy in the journey so we stopped for rest, food and work when we felt like it and finished the 625 mike trip from Cape Lookout State Park to Rocklin CA at 5:00PM this afternoon - 19 hours total travel time for the 625 mile trip.

Mount Shasta from the road.

 

We parked MH in Kelly's cup-de-sac and drove the Jeep to check the mail and go to storage before going out to dinner at Auburn Alehouse with Kelly and Glenda.

March 1, 2013: Day 60 - checking out of Cape Lookout

Today was moving day for three of the four camp hosts. Howard and Elna Green were going to Devil's Lake Stata Park in Lincoln City. Daun and Linda Dreyer were moving across the street into Howard and Elna's vacated spot and we were returning to our California roots.

We said goodby to ranger Travis and learned he has applied for a park transfer so may not be here when we get back in May.

We said good-by to the other hosts and promised to keep on touch. It was very nostalgic for me. It was a fun month and I'm glad we will be returning.

Feb. 28, 2013:Day 59 - Home Sweet Home

We went into town this morning for breakfast and to the library for important Internet and phone call access. We grabbed a burrito for lunch at the food cart and went back to thank to do our last day of amp host work.

Mid week rainy low turnover gave us only one yurt to clean, but we cleaned #48 as well - the one we stayed in.  Petty funny. We have developed a pretty good sense of the yurts after cleaning for a month, but an even deeper understanding after sleeping in one for two nights.  They are great for keeping warm and dry at night - a step up from tent camping - but we are getting soft in our advancing years and enjoy the comforts of the motor home - especially at night when you gotta go:)

Two yurts takes less than an hour so we made the last drive in town and had a short time to kill before picking up the motor home - all spiffed up and watertight.  When we got back it was almost dark. We took a quick walk to look at the ocean and learned from ranger Travis that a sneaker wave crested over the top of the dune and dumped water onto the park side during the day yesterday. Crazy!

Then I went around and said goodby to each of the other camp host couples before going onto put thongs away from the shprt road teip and ,aking dinner.

 

Here are Don and Judy Schindler who are staying on for another month in their current job.

and here are Howard and Elna Green - they have been camp hosing since he retired in 1999.

 

Feb 27, 2013: Day 58 - final beach cleanup

Today Mike went in to town. It was his filing day and he needed to be sure of Internet reception. The signal at the yurt was less reliable than it was at out host site (or was it the weather- pretty rainy last night and today). I suited up and took a pail, grabber stick and trash bag and had a two hour walk along the beach. The tide was coming in and there wasn't quite enough beach - I had to scramble up on the rocks a couple times. Exciting!  I found another Japanese artifact - this time an in-tact water bottle with green algae growing on it. 

 

 

When I was finished playing chase with the tide I went up and over the dune and walked back along the closed campsite loop to the yurt for the rest of the rainy afternoon.

 

Mike came back at dark and we went out to eat at the Schooner (on the restaurant side this time - it was a nice restaurant)  since we cannot cook on the yurt and it would have been hard and wet to cook outside. 

Feb.26, 2013:Day 57 - getting a new roof

Today we drove the motor home in to Tillamook RV for our (pre-approved by StateFarm) appointment to get a new roof.  We've been hoping for this since then we took it in on Feb 5 to get the roof sealed and learned that a small tear on the roof which had been patched previously by Camping World and was now failing. 

We had breakfast at The Fern then went to the library for today's long work session. Mike's project has a March 1 due date and is keeping him focused. I had two client phone calls and plenty of computer work. We went to Fred Meyer at days end to send a fax, then got a not so good pizza for dinner in town before going back to Cape Lookout. But where to sleep since the motor home is in Tillamook?

  Yesterday we made arrangements with the rangers to occupy an un-rented yurt. So we went to the rental kiosk, opened up the locked cabinet with our worker key and selected yurt 48 which was available for the next two nights. Cozy!

Here is a view of the campground from out beach access.

And a view of the ocean and Netarts Bay from the beach access

Feb. 25, 2013: Day 56 - no assignment

Today was wet and cold as usual. Perfect for being indoors with lots of business work to do.  There was low occupancy and turnover in the yurts and cabins today and we did not get a cleaning asignment.

I went to visit with Daun and Linda to chat for a few minutes - the hosts have been pretty independent, I think it is due to the old and rain - and I like checking in occasionally.  We learned about the need for a de-humidifier from this couple, and I did not take it seriously until after the big storm last Friday.  I was making the motor home road ready to go in to town for propane when I discovered the windows had been seeping condensation onto the mattress and curtains on the top bunk and everything was on the verge of molding.

Later in the afternoon, I took a nice long beach clean-up walk, Tee weather was pretty nice, not too windy, so it was pleasant.  Evert day there is more to lick up at the high tide line.

 

 

 

Today there wah this pices of dock - too heavy to carry back., but I let the rangers know and they will bring out a vehicle when they can to take it to the tsunami dump bin in he day use parking lot,

Feb. 24, 2013: Day 55 - Red Carpet Day

Today we did business work in the morning and had a tasty Sundy brunch at home, then spent a couple hours cleaning three cabins. We have a pretty good system going - I get the bathroom and the floors while Mike gets the kitchen, furniture, bar-b-q and outdoors. Teamwork!

  Then off we went to the small community of Netarts (about six miles north toward Tillamook at the north end of Netarts Bay) and The Schooner - the same bar and restaurant where we watched the Super Bowl on our first Sumday at Cape Lookout.

Today the draw was the Academy Awards. The Academy did not "stumble" when picking Jennifer Lawrence as best actress. It is always fun to see the good and the bad outfits, interviews and speeches. We got a comfy couch by the big screen and sat there for the whole thing. A couple beers, an appetizer, fried oyster salad and homemade crab cakes spread over five hours with no hassles from the staff and occasional co-watchers. Netarts is a beautiful, but small. community.