Caravan Phase 1 complete

September 15, 2009
United Trails Campground, Hirschdale, CA

Note: As always, click on any picture to enlarge.

We began our adventure with the Monacos in Motion caravan on September 10th. We've been pretty busy, so I'm behind on the Blog (again) but will try to keep up as the remaining two phases progress. The caravan is called "Wines, Mines & More", as we'll tour California mining country, visit and learn about wine country, and have a few other side trips added in for variety.

This caravan is a little different from a lot of tours, since we're not moving our coaches frequently, or far, during the two weeks. We started near Truckee, CA, near Lake Tahoe and the Nevada border at 5,840 feet elevation. We've been positively surprised that we weren't more affected by the elevation on this trip, since we both have felt it in the past. After six nights here, we'll move (tomorrow) to the CalExpo RV Park right in Sacramento for five nights, then the Napa County Fairgrounds for six nights. Each segment of the trip has several days of touring followed by a free day for catching up.

On Day 1, we had a "meet and greet" and orientation meeting with the other eight couples on the trip followed by a wine tasting at a local retailer. After we returned to the park, we had a catered BBQ dinner. I bought some wine at the retailer (we'd visited their other shop in Sausalito a few years ago with our friends Linda and Wendell), so we had a nice Zinfandel with dinner. Since nothing is ever simple these days, the store clerk managed to lock the keys to the rental car (they only give you one key) in the trunk when he put the wine in. Fortunately a call to our roadside assistance folks got us unlocked and on our way within 35 minutes. [Reminder to self: keep them on speed-dial on the cell phone.]

Day 2 dawned bright and cool, and we carpooled into Truckee (truh-key') for a tour. We had a guide from the local historical society who showed us around the local museum (which was the jail until the 1960s) followed by a walking tour of the historic district (love the 1959 Nash Metropolitan, imported from England), ending up at the restored Truckee Hotel (love the commodes with the sink built in). After a quick lunch, we headed out to the Donner State Park and memorial, just outside town. There, we learned about the mistakes and misfortune of the Donner Party who were trapped in the snows during the winter of 1846-47. They were led astray by their guide, and by their inexperience and stubbornness. [Note to self: think twice before taking a "short-cut".] Dinner was decidedly more upbeat, with a very nice meal (with wine pairings) at Moody's Bistro in Old Truckee.

Clouds threatened on Day 3, and we actually got a few raindrops during the day, but nothing to disrupt our plans. This area gets 5 inches of rain and 9 feet of snow annually. We're fortunate to be here before winter sets in. We started the day with a pancake breakfast prepared by several of the couples on the trip with us. The next event for the day was a boat tour of Lake Tahoe, from Tahoe City on the northwest shore to Emerald Bay on the southwest. We had great seats inside the cabin (out of the breeze and sprinkles) and had a nice cruise with lunch. When we got back to the park, we had a great view of a double rainbow during "happy hour", followed by a soup and salad dinner prepared by other participants, and we polished off the leftovers from the BBQ as well.

Day 4 was a long one. We left early (8:30 is early for us) and did a circumnavigation of Lake Tahoe. We made three stops on the western shore: Pine Lodge (aka the Hellman-Ehrman Mansion), the Tallac Historic site (Baldwin, Pope, and Heller estates), and the Taylor Creek NFS Visitor's Center (ranger talk on the geology and ecosystems in place). Similar to some of the places we've visited on the east coast (like Newport, RI), this is an area where the wealthy acquired large tracts of land and built expansive (and expensive) "summer houses" where they could escape the heat. In this case, it was mostly people with mining, timber, and railroad interests from Sacramento/San Francisco. Fortunately, many of these estates were deeded to or purchased by the California State Park system in the 1960s, and have been preserved and restored. After the Taylor Creek stop, which featured an interesting glass-walled peek at the underwater environment of the creek, we finished the circle around the lake, through the Nevada side and back to California, with a stop for dinner in Kings Beach, on the northern shore.

On Day 5, we headed off to the "old west" mining town of Virginia City, in Nevada just south of Reno. It was a very nice drive through varied terrain, from the forested areas where we're staying to the high (6,200 feet elevation) desert in Nevada. We started the tour with a presentation on Samuel Clemens' time in the area, where he worked on the local newspaper and (according to one of three versions of the story) first took the name "Mark Twain". They had what appeared to be an older edition of Tom Sawyer on display, illustrated by Norman Rockwell. After a nice lunch at a local burger joint, we had time to take both the trolley and train narrated tours. We poked around a bit more before heading back to the coach for a rest before dinner (sushi - yum!) in Truckee.

Merlin and Maya Lynn enjoyed their time here as well, since they had a chance to spend four days relaxing and playing in "doggie day care" at Canine Country Pet Pals, where they had a chauffeured ride each morning and evening and spent each day playing with new friends. We were lucky to find such a good spot for them while we were out touring.

Today is a "free day", which came with a week's worth of suggested recreational activities. Like most of our traveling companions, we used the day to relax, catch up on laundry and "fix-it" items (would you believe the door handle fell off the washer - with clothes still inside?), and get ready for tomorrow's travel (105 miles - mostly downhill).

New Sightings

September 8, 2009
United Trails Campground, Hirschdale, CA

Yesterday was a quiet day spent mostly in the RV park.  Geri did quite a bit of laundry and made dog food.  I spent part of the day helping to tighten a neighbor's tow rig (yes, we're still very sensitized to the Range Rover's "problem"), and part of the day paying bills.  Overall, a very productive day.

Today, we made a shopping run into Reno (nearest Costco and WalMart, about 20 miles east).  No gambling.  When we got back, we made a quick trip to a local "doggy daycare" provider, since we'll need to have the pups looked after while we're out having fun over the next week or so.  We'll need to have them in day care or boarding for a couple of day in each of our locations on this caravan (here, Sacramento, Napa).

When we got back, Geri started dinner (halibut cheeks in vermouth with rice pilaf) and we spent a few minutes with the other caravan folks at "happy hour".  It was mentioned that we'd be well positioned for a fly-over from the space shuttle and space station tonight at 7:44 PM.  We finished dinner and headed out around 7:40, and were able to see the twin spacecraft streaking past from southwest to northeast just as it got dark.  What a wonderful sight!  It took several minutes for them to transit the sky; real fast-movers.

Just as the spacecraft disappeared, we heard a rustling in the brush a few yards away, and saw several deer poke their heads out.  When they saw us standing there, they turned tail and headed back into the trees.  They were still loitering there when I took the trash down to the dumpster, not going too far.  Of course, they were here before we arrived and they'll be here long after we're gone.  Unfortunately, it was already too dark for pictures.

Tomorrow, I'll give the coach a cleaning on the outside; looking forward to that...

Off to the mountains

September 6, 2009
United Trails CG, Hirschdale, CA

Yesterday, we packed up the coach and rental in Sacramento and headed to our next destination, just outside Truckee, CA.  By early afternoon, we were nestled into our space among the pines, enjoying the cooler temperatures.  This park is the jumping off point for the two-week caravan we'll be doing, starting on the 10th.  Several other participants (including the co-leaders and "tailgunners") are already here, so we got a chance to "meet and greet" with the Irwins, Barrons, McCrays, and Hams yesterday.  We were a little concerned that we'd have a tough time getting in early on short notice given the holiday weekend but we worried needlessly as the park is nowhere near full.  In fact, it's pretty empty.  Wonder what's up with that?

In any event, we'll plan to use the next few days to do a thorough cleaning and tackle a few projects around the coach.  It'll be good to have a bit of relaxation before we pick up again with the caravan.

Now we can relax

September 4, 2009
CalExpo, Sacramento, CA

Today was an easy day.  We unloaded a few things from the Range Rover and headed for the body shop that the insurance company arranged.  They'll do some clean-up and break down today so the adjuster can deal with it on Tuesday, after the holiday.  The Enterprise guy showed up and we were off in a rental before we knew it.

Once we were able to breathe a sigh of relief that the Rover was settled (it's almost like one of the family, I suppose), we hit the ATM, the Safeway, and headed back home.  After walking the pups, we set out again. 

First, we stopped at a dog boarding/day care shop near the park to check them out.  When we're back here during the Caravan, we'll have a couple of days where day care or overnight boarding makes sense given our schedule.  We found the shop, Cha Cha's Doggie Daycare, to be something we can work with.  Basically, they've taken an older (i.e., small) residence and made it into a cage-free dog environment.  They even have a web cam so you can check up on your pets!

We then hit the local shopping area and stopped at Best Buy (needed batteries for the FRS radios and ended up with a new set for the price of two batteries) and the bookstore (Geri's tanked up on books for a week or so).  Back home, a beer and a pizza later and we're finally starting to relax. 

Tomorrow, we're heading for Truckee, near Lake Tahoe.  We'll check into the park where the caravan starts a few days early and have a chance to clean the coach, plan some meals, and chill.

Out of the frying pan...

September 3, 2009
CalExpo, Sacramento, CA

...and into - California?  Well, we only saw a few fires in the distance today, but you'd have thought we were back in Arizona when the temperature topped 105 degrees as we drove down I-5.  We made great progress, leaving Sutherlin, OR aroound 8 AM.  425 miles later, we were fighting rush hour traffic on I-80 in Sacramento, heading for the CalExpo RV Park.  Since it's State Fair time, we were lucky to get the last 50 amp space.  With temperatures like this, 50 amp service is needed to run the A/C.

Geri did a fabulous job in driving the Range Rover the whole way.  We stopped roughly every two hours.  Rest breaks, lunch, fuel, and several phone calls with the insurance claims person.  The pups were confused about why Mom wasn't in her regular seat, but the were pretty good for me.

Once we got plugged in, we looked at each other and said "no cooking tonight"!  On the web to search for restaurants - ooo, there's an Outback very close.  Eat there or take out?  Eat there; no dishes.  Off we went, had a nice meal with a doggie bag, and we're still able to call it an early night.  Tomorrow, we try to get the Rover in the shop...

Is it "wildlife" if they hang out in the RV park?

September 2, 2009
Sutherlin, OR

We stopped for the night at the Escapees Park in Sutherlin, Oregon, as we headed south.  Since we're going to be in the Bay Area for our "Wines, Mines, and More" caravan, it made the most sense to try to have the Range Rover repaired here.  Since the central point for the caravan is Sacramento, that's our destination.  We cut across OR-22 from Hebo (forever known as "the dreaded Hebo") toward Salem, then south on OR-99W to Corvallis, then east to I-5.  After a quick stop in Coburg for fuel, we continued south to Sutherlin.  It's nice to boondock off the highway in a quiet park for a change.

We settled in and had some leftovers (Hi, Marlene) and took the pups out for their evening walk.  We saw several jack-a-lopes (actually just long-eared rabbits), and then came upon a small herd of white-tailed deer grazing right in the park.  There were six of them altogether, and they were hanging out right in the center of the park, grazing on the plants in various RV sites.  One of them started to walk toward us as we approached (Maya Lynn didn't quite know what to do, since her low growl didn't have the desired effect), and I was concerned because that's a sign of familiarity or aggression.  Have you ever seen people flogged by deer on America's Funniest Videos?  Not me, thanks.

Anyway, since the animals didn't seem to care we were there, we finished our walk and headed back to call it an early night.  It was a rough day...

Headline: "At Least Nobody Was Hurt"

September 2, 2009
Sutherlin, OR

Note: Click on any image to enlarge...

Wow, what a day.  We had a serious failure on the tow apparatus today, and all we can say is "thank goodness nobody was hurt".  We were in a small burg called Hebo, Oregon, on US-101 heading south.  The road made a 90 degree turn with one of those yellow diamond signs recommending 20 mph.  I slowed to 15 mph for margin and made the turn nicely, but immediately found a cat crossing the road so we came to a complete stop.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a car on the driver's side and thought "what kind of idiot is passing me here?" to myself.  As I turned to look, it was US!  The Range Rover had come loose from the back of the coach and was gliding toward a house on the other side of the road!  Everything went slow-motion on me at that point.  This can't be.  The safety cables keep the car with us.  The breakaway system applies the brakes.  But, there it is.  How can I stop it?  I can't, of course.  It narrowly missed a pole and a parked car, and comes to rest in a hedge about 8 feet from the front of somebody's house.  Holy crap!

So, we pull over and go figure out what happened and more importantly, what to do.  I call the police and they send a deputy sheriff.  The owner of the house (runs a body shop out back) and I trade info.  The tenant of the house shows up in a tow truck, ready to do some business.  I call the insurance people.  Everyone asks "Are you alright?" over and over.  Well, yes (nobody was hurt) and no (I can't believe this happened).

Once we calm down, several guys stood on the hedge to keep the branches down and I backed out.  We realize that the car has a lot of cosmetic damage but runs fine (well, fine after I take a few broken pieces of trim off and bungee up the rest).  We sit down for a minute and realize that our best move is to make a beeline for the Sacramento area, about 600 miles away, since we'll be in Truckee (60 miles east) and Napa (60 miles west) during our upcoming caravan, so any body shop will have 3+ weeks to fix things.  We hope that'll work out, and set course for I-5.  We stopped for the night at an Escapees Park about 2 hours north of the California/Oregon border, and we'll make the rest of the trek to Sacramento tomorrow.  We hope to get with an adjuster and body shop on Friday.  Not much will happen given the holiday weekend, but at least the process will be started.

What a day!  We're OK and only the hedge and car suffered damage, so we have that to be thankful for.  If you've ever been on US-101, you can imagine what might have happened if it had let loose anywhere else: windy roads could have sent it right into oncoming traffic or over a cliff into the Pacific.  Wow!