Three Days worth

Blog Monday, March 14, 2005 and Tuesday, March 15, 2005 with a bit of Wednesday, too...

The word for the day Monday was WIND. We left El Cajon at 8:40 and had to stop at Carol’s place of work to pick up Aleene’s camera. She left it in the car Sunday night and fortunately Carol found it and called with directions to Mitchell International. It was right on the way north on I-15; so no biggie. Even with the MH we did the traffic with no problem. Once on the highway we cleared SD and got within 60 miles of LA and the wind started blowing out of the east. I would say gusts to 45 mph. Try holding this dude on the road when you have a setting current blowing on your starboard quarter. The good news is that the traffic was not bad any time. The worst was the just south of the I-10 juncture when the wind was blowing dust so bad that the traffic had to slow down due to visibility. These Caleefornians sure put up with a lot of stuff to live out here….

The wind was with us all the way to I-10 then got behind us for fifty miles and then off the starboard quarter again as we headed north on I-210…through Pasadena. By this time you are climbing and then going north on I-5 things got really hairy in the mountains. I was fighting the wheel each time we would cross a canyon or come down a mountain. The MH handles the hills very well. I am amazed that we have continued to average about 9 mpg up hill or down. That V-10 showed me something today.

We did have a scare when our awning came dislodged as we approached I-10. I pulled over and we secured it again, but it was all out of alignment, but it was too windy to readjust there and continued to be too windy when we stopped for lunch and fuel at Lebec…in the mountains on the south end of San Joaquin valley. Once in the valley things settled down, but I had had it, so we stopped at 4:00 south of our original destination. But that is ok…after a good night’s rest we plan on getting on the road by seven Tuesday and get to Mt. Shasta about 450 miles north. We should be there by 4:00.

Oh yes, we got the awning straightened out and properly stowed. Aleene and I are quite a team as long as I run up and down the ladder like a monkey.

Tuesday

Today was what you would call boring. 430 miles up the San Joaquin Valley…well almost all those miles in the valley…about 350 in the valley…which is a spectacle in itself. The last 80 miles were in the mountains…the Cascades, actually. But boring is good after the wind on Monday. This part of California is not like the rest, of course. It looks like Oregon…which to us is a good thing. We are in Weed, CA for the evening at the base of Mt. Shasta…a snow covered ghost to our east. Very impressive.

Most camp grounds, if they do allow dogs, do not permit aggressive breeds specifically excluding Rotweilers and Dobermen. Well, here in the mountains of California…where good old boys live in run down trailers in an RV park, they have them. One jumped out at me while I was hooking up; liked to wet my pants. It was on a leash Anyway, Rose and I made it out to the doggie area…a bulldozed expansion to the park…without incident. We have just over 300 miles left for Wednesday.

Wednesday

Just a quick note to mention that we did get into our spot at Champoeg State Park at about 2:30 PDT. Had a very wet trip north, but with out incident…more or less. I drug my behind going into a gas station in OR and popped the end caps off my rear bumper which is where I house the long sanitary hose. Before I could retrieve them a truck ran over one and contorted it out of shape. No big deal, but dragging bottom is one of the characteristics of the MH that is not good. Too much sticks out after the rear wheels which gets me into trouble.

Gas by the way was $1.77 in Texas (once), $2.38 in California (once) and $2.19 down the road in OR. So factor that into the price where you are. I have found out that most pumps automatically shut off at $75. That is nice to know if you walk away and the hose pops out of the tank and does not turn off…besides the explosive hazard.

Brendon and Tru picked us up at the park and we went to dinner at our favorite Mexican spot in Newberg. Amy gets home from conferences at 8:30. She has conferences again tomorrow (Aleene and I Truman sit) and then is off Friday and all next week. So we are looking forward to a nice time with the Connelly family here in Newberg.

Rose is standing up to the two kitties. She tries to go up to them to make friends, but they will have none of it. It will take a day or two, but they will come around. They have before.

I had to break to tell Tru a bed time story. He loves my rendition of the stories of Pertilote the hen, Chauntacleer the rooster, Reynard the fox and Ursus the bear. They get mixed in with Rosie the dog and other selected animals. Tonight he heard about Reynard chasing the Road Runner in the Arizona desert…beep, beep. He is so much fun to tell stories to.

That’s it for tonight…more details tomorrow. Brendon has me WiFied and we are ready to go.