All is Well

We drove back down to Junction City, OR, today to pick up our motorhome.  The slight crack  near the bedroom slide has been successfully repaired, and we now have another year's warranty in case the crack reappears.

Fragrant flower bed at the Santiam rest area along I-5 south.

We had a great weather day today, mid-70s, with our overnight temperature predicted to be 52.  As much as we've had "no summer" in this area, I far prefer the weather we've had compared to the heat and humidity that has plagued the rest of the country. 

Last Friday night Dave and I had the privilege of babysitting our granddaughter, Sophie, in our home while her parents went out for dinner.  This was our first time babysitting her and she managed to stay awake during the couple of hours that she was here.

Sophie the rugby player. 

Then on Wednesday I went down to Tigard to go clothes stopping with Sophie and Kiersten.  Little Sophie needed a few items and Kiersten found her some things at a very nice consignment store in the Sellwood District.  I managed to get home just as the Portland traffic was getting bad.  It's a good feeling to get out of the traffic and cross the river back into Washington!

Happy Sophie--three months old.

We really don't live this close to Mt. Hood, but this is the view we get when we drive east on Vancouver's Highway 14--that is, when the mountain is "out"!

Maxie and Stretch

What do Alaska, snowbirding, women RVers,  mini-dachshunds, and mysteries have in common?  Answer:  Fiction books by Alaskan author, Sue Henry.  I just finished reading #4 in the Maxie McNabb Series of books about 60-something RVer Maxie and her faithful dog, Stretch. This book features Maxie at home in Homer, Alaska, forgoing her snowbird travels this year.  As always, the books are a quick, cozy read, with Maxie landing in the middle of a mystery to solve.  The first three books in the series are The Serpents Trail, The Tooth of Time, and The Refuge.  The books don't have to be read in order, but they are more enjoyable that way.

Sue Henry has also written 13 books in her Jessie Arnold series, featuring Alaskan woman dog-sledder, Jessie Arnold.  I enjoy reading that series, too, even though it doesn't contain anything about RVs.  In the books, Jessie lives near Wasilla, Alaska, the town now known to the whole world as being the hometown of Sarah Palin.

I had two options for reading this book.  A paperback version was waiting for me at my local library, and a library electronic version was loaded onto my Nook e-reader.  I started reading the paperback and soon switched to reading on the Nook because the print was bigger and I didn't have to try and hold the paperback book open.  Not all the books I want to read are available from the library, e-book collection, so unless I want to buy each book (I don't!), I will continue getting the physical books from our local library.

At home here in Vancouver, Washington, Dave and I woke up to almost three inches of snow this morning.  The low temperature the next two nights is predicted to get down to 18 degrees.  Dave shoveled our driveway and a path out back to our shop, and the snow is already starting to melt. 

Back yard

Front yard

We had to make a trip into Portland this afternoon to pick up our motorhome.  The refrigerator was being repaired, we thought, but evidently not, since the repair place couldn't get Norcold to agree to replace the expensive cooling unit without the motorhome being inside at 70 degrees for 24 hours.  Not going to happen in Portland in the winter.  Arggh! 

It's been snowing very heavily for the last two hours, and with the cold temperature predicted for tonight, it won't be pretty in the morning.  Well, it might be pretty, but it won't be good driving conditions.  I think we'll stay home!

Odds and Ends

Welcome to two new sets of blog followers, Kathy and Robert and brand new bloggers, Nancy and Joe.  Click on their names to read their blogs.

Dave and I are sitting at DeMartini in Grass Valley, CA, in our "office" (the conference room).  Inside the building we can use their speedy wifi but we can't get it in the RV parking spot. 

They have put a call into  Fleetwood to authorize further repairs to our motorhome's bedroom slide.  In addition, the windshield wipers are getting a new motor installed. 

I don't have any new pictures, so I've included a few more pictures that I took in Old Sacramento on Sunday and a couple more Yosemite pictures.  You might have noticed that I like to take pictures of signs!

I don't know what the building in the background is, but it was impressive and had a path down to a dock along the Sacramento River.  Delta King is a 1927 riverboat that traveled between Sacramento and San Francisco.  It is now permanently docked at Old Sacramento and is a restaurant and hotel.

Below is a picture of the rockslide on Highway 140 leading to Yosemite.  It happened in mid-summer, 2006 and they haven't figured out a way to fix it yet.  They are thinking about tunneling through it.  In the meantime  there's a temporary detour across the Merced River.

We visited the famous Ahwahnee Hotel at Yosemite.  We wanted to have lunch there, but we decided not to when we saw that even a sandwich cost over $20.  We were amused to see that the Ahwahnee's outdoor swimming pool was heated and available for their guests to use, even though there was snow on the ground. 

And finally, I have a quote to share with you:

"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered."

--G. K. Chesterton
    English author & mystery novelist (1874 - 1936)

Plans

On Monday we are again heading south to California.  We will go to our favorite RV repair shop, DeMartini in Grass Valley to have our bedroom slide looked at again.  It works better than before but it's still not quite right.  After the repairs we hope to spend a few weeks in Pismo Beach.

We plan to make a trip to Yosemite National Park before our repair appointment on January 19.  There's a fairgrounds in Mariposa where we can park the motorhome and then take day trips to Yosemite Valley, weather permitting, of course.

The weather here in Vancouver, Washington is predicted to turn cold and snowy next week, so we're glad to be heading south for a few weeks!

I'll Be Home for Christmas

Other than a problem with our windshield wipers, which Dave was able to fix by hitting them with a hammer, we made it home to Vancouver, Washington with no problems.  Believe it or not, the hammer solution was given to Dave by an RV dealer.  It worked and the wipers performed flawlessly the rest of the way home.  Of course, the wipers never malfunction unless it's raining.  Rain was predicted, but we had several stretches of blue sky and no rain.  The rain held off at home until we were almost done unloading the motorhome.

When we get back in town, we usually stop at a Fred Meyer store so that Dave can disconnect the car and put gas in the motorhome.  The first thing I do is take the car to a car wash.  It badly needed a wash today.  Then I pick up our mail if the post office is open, which it wasn't today.  I returned our library books and picked up a few new holds, although the majority of our holds were suspended while we were gone.

Dave found an unpleasant surprise waiting for him at home when he got there.  Some big tree branches had fallen onto the spot where he parks the motorhome.  We think that it happened during a big wind storm yesterday.  If the motorhome had been parked in its usual spot, its roof may have been damaged. 

Now that I'm home, reality is setting in quickly.   I need to do all those Christmas preparations that I have avoided all month--Christmas cards, food preparation, baking, shopping, etc.  'Tis the season!

Cornish Christmas in Grass Valley, CA

We need to finish up the repairs on the motorhome on Monday, so we are staying in Grass Valley at DeMartini RV for the weekend.

This area is known as the "Gold Country", and is a very nice place to spend a few days.  During this Christmas season, there are lots of activities to choose from.  I blogged about attending "Victorian Christmas" in Nevada City on Wednesday night. 

Friday night we attended "Cornish Christmas" in Grass Valley.  A few streets were blocked off, vendors set up booths, and there were lots of craft booths and food booths to choose from.  Musicians entertained the crowd.  It was a mild night, so we didn't even get cold. 

Cornish Choir performing at the Union Steps

The Cornish Choir was established in 1876

Among the activities for children were pony rides and go-cart rides.

For dinner, we stopped in at Marshall's Pasties so that I could order a traditional pastie, food brought to the mining area of Grass Valley by early Cornish settlers from Cornwall, England.  My small beef pastie was a "flakey baked delicacy, rolled and crimped by hand, and filled with fresh vegetables, including potatoes, onions, and parsley. "  Very tasty!

My partially eaten Cornish pastie

To get a little more exercise, we also walked on some of the streets that weren't blocked off for the festival.  The Christmas lights were festive!

Where was Lady Luck Tonight?

Tonight we stopped at Rolling Hills Casino RV Park in Corning, California.  I used up my free $5 slot play, and an additional $5, and won nothing.  My gambling leanings are over, done, kaput.

We stopped at this casino in honor and remembrance of our friends, Margie and Bruce.  Margie wrote about stopping here to eat at their wonderful buffet.  It was, indeed, a fine buffet.  We happened to be here on one of the senior 1/2 price buffet days (Tuesdays and Thursdays).  After signing up for the free Shasta Club Card, which also included $5 of free slot play, we paid a total of $14.95 for the two of us to eat at the buffet, non-alcoholic drinks included. 

Parked at Rolling Hills Casino RV Park

Margie and Bruce sometimes stayed for free in the dry camping area, but we decided to pay $25 and stay in the full-hookup area.  This area uses self-registration, which went smoothly.  It's a very short walk from both RV areas to the casino, unlike Seven Feathers Casino, where we had to take a shuttle bus. 

Siskiyou Summit on I-5

Our drive today from Canyonville, OR  to Corning, CA went very smoothly.  We saw some beautiful, snowy scenery but all the roads were clear. 

Scenery along I-5 South

Mount Shasta

Houseboats at Lake Shasta

Tomorrow morning we have a short drive of less than 100 miles to Grass Valley, CA, where we have an appointment at DiMartini RV on Thursday morning.  Our bedroom slide didn't ever get fixed properly, so they are going to attempt to fix it.  As long as we could get the motorhome there by the end of this year, Fleetwood agreed to extend the warranty on the motorhome. 

Sunset at Rolling Hills RV Park, Corning, CA

Life's a Journey

An online friend of mine, Pidge, who writes a blog called The Frugal Travelers, recently posted the following picture of a shirt that she bought in Story, Indiana.  I like this shirt!  This could be a logo for me and for my blog.

 

Dave left this morning to go home to officiate his football games.  The officials go out for pizza after their games, so he's all set for food tonight.  Congratulations are in order for Dave because he was recently re-elected by a large majority for another two-year term as secretary-treasurer of the EFOA (Evergreen Football Officials Association) board.  This position requires a big time commitment, so I didn't know whether to hope that he won or that he lost!

I don't mind spending time by myself in the motorhome as long as it's only for a couple of days.  It seems very quiet here without Dave, though!  He will be back tomorrow evening.

Bounder Back Home

Thank you very much to all who left comments wishing Dave a happy birthday.  He was touched that so many of you cared enough to leave a comment.  He won’t get that kind of attention for another whole year, so he is savoring it. 

Our motorhome is finally home from the repair shop.  We took it Junction City on August 31, and today, September 21, we went to pick it up.  The crack under the bedroom slide is all fixed, and a leak from the living room slide is fixed, we hope. 

Now we need to plan a trip for a night or two just to test things out.  We took a lot of things out of the motorhome, including food, while it was being worked on, so now we get to load everything back.  The trip of a night or two will be to test whether we’ve put back everything that we need for a trip. 

We decided not to buy an extended warranty on this motorhome, and our one-year warranty will be up on October 12.  We want to make sure there are no more problems that need to be fixed before that date.  The repair work on the crack comes with a new 1-year warranty, but hopefully we won’t need to get that repaired again.

All is well when our Bounder is back in its spot behind our house, or even better, out on the road with us inside!

Junction City, Oregon

Monday we had to say goodbye to our motorhome for a couple of weeks.  Our Bounder has a small crack underneath the right-hand side of the bedroom slide.  This crack needs to be fixed under warranty, and Guaranty RV Service in Junction City, Oregon is our closest authorized Fleetwood repair shop.

It was raining slightly when we left home at 8 am.  We ran into more rain as we drove south on I-5.  When we got to Junction City, which was about 100 miles from home, the rain had stopped. 

We were glad to see that Guaranty RV Center was booming with business, at least it was booming with repair business.  We saw lots of trailers for sale, but I don’t know how many people were buying. 

The flower pots outside the service center were blooming.

We stopped for gas in Junction City because the price was about ten cents less than in Vancouver.

On the way home we stopped at an overlook of the Willamette River on I-205 just south of Oregon City.

A Sunny Day Means Time to Wash the Motorhome!

As of yesterday, this area officially had 20 continuous days of rain, but today the record starts over again, unless we get some rain before midnight tonight.  Tomorrow the rain is predicted to come back again, but today was a glorious day of sun with temperatures in the high 70s. 

We celebrated the sun by going for a six mile bike ride.  Dave put the bikes on the Honda CRV and we drove to nearby Cottonwood Beach along the Columbia River in Washougal.  We biked around the port area and around the streets of Washougal.  There's a nice dike path at Cottonwood Beach, but it's dirt and I didn't feel like riding on the rough, dirt path today.  The dike path is a multi-use path and we saw some horseriders on the path today as well as quite a few people walking. 

On March 31, 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark established a camp at Cottonwood Beach while they secured provisions for the return trip through the Columbia River Gorge and points east. They remained at Cottonwood Beach for six days, which is the longest period of time the Corps of Discovery camped at any site in Clark County, Washington.

The beach part of this park has been here for a long time, but this area recently became an official park with a sign, and restrooms, and everything.  Originally an RV park was part of the plans, but those plans seem to have been scrapped.  We some some very wide parking spots, which looked kind of like RV sites, but there were no hookups, and the signs clearly said "day-use only". 

The new official area of the dike path at Cottonwood Beach.  There are excellent views of the Columbia River from this path.

Cottonwood trees along the dike path were blowing their cotton, which I am allergic to!

When we got home from the bike ride, there was work to be done.  This is when I am glad I am responsible for the chores INSIDE the motorhome!

Washing the motorhome is a massive job.  To get around it on all sides, Dave backs it out of its parking spot.

The windows were dirty, too.

No spots are allowed to dry on our windows.  Dave sprays windex, then squeeges, then dries the windows.  Yesterday we met with a friend of ours who sells soft-water systems.  He determined that our water has a lot of silica in it, so that while putting in a soft-water system would help, we would still have to deal with spots on the motorhome. 

Thanks to Dave, for the time being we have a nice, clean motorhome!