But first I had to drive 610 miles northbound to Sacramento in the summer heat.
I chose to break it up into 4 short driving days with plenty of down time at some point in each day.
I got off to a good start - the first driving day was hot, but went off without a hitch.
- efficient packing to road readiness allowed time for a short swim in the Wilderness Lakes adult only pool after the jeep was hitched up before I left at 10:45 AM.
- lunch date with Elvita, my new Spanish speaking friend, at a shopping plaza area near her home in Corona ( I always look for the Best Buy/Ross/etc big box store parking lots when I'm towing the Jeep because it is easy to park, and usually has an anchor restaurant nearby) a short hour drive north on a new travel path to Camarillo.
- I went to a HUGE RV salvage and parts store - StarDeck Industries in Corona - after lunch. The very attractive lady behind the counter gave me some hubcap schooling which helped me find the right hubcap for MT ( to replace the one that got away on my road trip back from Phoenix this past March.).
- interesting and relatively low traffic drive to Camarillo taking a new path through Pasadena instead of LA because I was starting from Wilderness Lakes in Menifee.
- Early evening arrival at the really comfortable street parking near Roger and Michal's house in Camarillo.
This really comfortable bedroom has been a frequent stop for us when traveling between Sacramento and San Diego
This time we gave Roger a break from cooking and went out for pizza dinner where we toasted Mike and baseball and over a pitcher of beer and good conversation.
Day 2 took me as far north as Atascadero. I decided to stop there while looking at Google Maps this morning and was reminded it was 335 miles to my ultimate destination in San Jose, and that is just too far for me to drive in one day. California wildfires were in evidence from Hwy 101 oday
I arrived with no incident at about 4:30 and was planning to have a leisurely evening, listening to the Giants and getting organized in the Jeep and with my travel bags - I'm still working on the unpack from Mexico and repack for trip north to Oregon.
Instead, I had what could have been a serious accident during the set up process at the Atascadero Elks Lodge RV parking. I was doing one thing ( plugging in the utilities)
and thinking about the next thing
(going to pay for my spot and have a beer in the Elks Club lounge).
Thirty minutes later as I was sitting with a group of friendly strangers, one of who was also learning Spanish, a couple entered the brightly lit lounge and asked if anyone owned a Southwind. I do! They told me I had water troubles in my rig. I jumped up , ran out of the place and back to MT to see what was the matter. I had carelessly attached the hose that brings in fresh city water from the water spicket at my site to the black water tank flush nozzle rather than the fresh water tank nozzle on the Motorhome. My internal holding tanks (which thank goodness were empty and had been very recently power washed out by a mobile service man while I was staying in Wildetness Lakes) had filled up completely when I turned the water on and left for the lounge. They had flooded out onto the floor inside
and were dripping from the edges of the tanks underneath onto the ground. The neighbors saw the problem, turned off the water at the source and came looking for the silly Southwind owner in the bar. Operator error created a mess and I spent the rest of the daylight hours sopping up water from the floor and carpet with towels. I got the carpet so it didn't squish when I walked in the wet spots before I gave up for the night.
Two lessons learned:
1: tape off the black water tank flush nozzle so that won't happen again ( because to say "only think about one thing at a time" is like asking me to become right handed - not gonna happen!)
2: Slow down and check your work - this Southwind is my home, and if anything bad happenes to it for ANY reason that would be another life changing moment. I've had enough of those lately - no more for a while please!
Day 3 took me from Atascadero to San Jose Elks RV park where I plugged in electric (but no water) opened up the slides and windows, turned on a floor fan and crossed my fingers that everything would dry out in the 100 heat while I went to visit with Kelly, Jim, Pat and Tom for 24 hours. Lucky for me it did dry out. I'm waiting to see if the wood underneath stays odor free - we are in a heat wave, so I'm optimistic!
Pat cooked us a feast for dinner and we enjoyed catching up on family news, and sharing stories of my trip - I pulled out to display and tell the stories behind the experience of buying the trinkets that I brought back from Mexico to share with family and friends. Kelly is a role model when it comes to shopping, so I thought she would enjoy seeing all the goodies and getting to choose one for herself. She did enjoy the experience, but was teased when she learned that no, it was not an "all you can eat" shopping spree, but a one trinket per person limit. She actually got two items ( because Jim declined - saying he enjoyed the presentation show and that was gift enough) the large colorful hair clamps which I had earmarked for Kelly, too, and the small Hennequen turtle which I had placed no value on but learned that others saw it completely differently.
After the shopping spree, we watched Pride and Prejudice - the older, extra long movie with a young and handsome Colin Firth as Mr Darcy.
Day 4 drive started late in the afternoon. I went to church with Pat in the AM and had some more visit time with all until 2:00. Then I returned to MT (aka: the Motorhome) to take advantage of the electricity ( and related air conditioning - did I mention it is HOT?) to finish packing the suitcase for a 10 day car camping vacation once I get to Auburn. Once I left San José I had my final drive through San Jose and over the Altamont Pass and arrived three hours later at sunset at Thunder Valley
where Mike and I have parked numerous times before for a night or two while getting organized for the next thing. This time I was not visited by Thunder Valley security at all. Sometimes they come by and give a free parking pass good for up to four nights.
I was only staying one night. Tomorrow is the first day of the car camping vacation. My current road trip from San Diego to Sacramento is over, and except for the near disaster with the mini flood, the trip was smooth sailing.
Buen viaje esta verdad otra vez!
Safe travels is true once again!
Sure glad for those neighbors (bar-goers)! Think what if not. Happy to hear your travels.
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