Day 56 (Quincy, CA)

(Quincy, CA): Just outside the metropolis of Quincy California, population 5000. Very nice wooded campsite, concrete patio pad, with a river (inaccessible though) on one side and a really nice bike trail on the other. Now that Boots has a bike from the local bike shop, we are getting in a lot of bike riding around town, back and forth to John’s or just to pick up the Sacramento Bee each morning. In the other direction the bike trail goes to Feather River Community College. They have an equestrian program and the trail goes along beside the horse corral/pen so a nice ride that way as well.

We got a “Walky Dog” attachment for the bike to have Karma run along side without getting in the way. It also helps that she sometimes likes to pull us along.

Well, Karma has recovered from the 14-day 3,600 mile rush to LA. Ginger is a regular in her breakfast (and dinner if we have day-long trips on the agenda). Once we settle in a new RV Park she is right at home looking for the nearest Dog Park. We have found a couple of great parks both in the RV parks and the nearby cities.

What she can’t figure out is why we only stay at the parks for an hour. She keeps looking for Dog Tired Daycare staff to materialize out of the bushes. Though she is totally worn out from chasing, being chased and playing catch; she wants to rest and then go back at it.

With her black coat, she is having a struggle with the high temperatures (90s and 100s). We have found a river/creek that she can explore and get cooled off in. A few more visits and she should be swimming with the best of them.

The big news is - she has fallen in love. The object of her adoration is Boots’ 3, almost 4, year old grandson (Bodhi). She is very gentle with him and he is warming up to her. Bodhi’s prior experiences with dogs were of the outdoor type, not family pet – sleep-in-my-bed, kiss-my-face type. So, he is a little tentative with her.

Karma thinks he is the best thing to come into her life. She wants to sit by him even if he’s not eating. She will drop the ball or Frisbee at his feet over and over again, no matter how many times he asks her to “sit” and then throws it out for her to go get. Karma has finally found her “boy.” Bodhi bought her some treats and a rawhide bone confirming the love goes both ways. He and I are working on practicing having Karma on leash with him thinking he’s in control. If you recall Karma is a little leash adverse so this will be a real test of her love and my strength. Anyway, it is a joy to watch them play.

Quincy is a great little town. We are regulars (along with Bodhi and his parents) at Pangaea for lunch and dinner and the Morning Thunder Cafe for breakfast.

We enjoy reading the small town papers. Here's some information from the “Law and Order” page of Feather River Bulletin :
1) “Trying to Paint Him into A Coroner”; In Quincy at American Valley Aviation, a caller reported that someone placed a rag with turpentine over his air vent while he was in a paint booth.
2) From CHP; Dana Wells, 19, of Quincy was travelling East bound on Highway 70 near Locke Avenue at approximately 22-23 MPH, When Steve Shores, 30, also of Quincy overtook her at a stated speed of 25 MPH. Shores failed to notice he was traveling faster than Wells and struck the rear of her car.
3) “Not Stranded”; In Lake Almanor, a caller reported her husband was out on the lake in an aluminum fishing boat and he was stranded. Information was given to an officer who was enroute back to the lake to assist him. The caller called back to cancel, she advised that her husband wasn’t stranded just fishing.

Day 54 (Minden, NV)

(Minden, NV): We are here for 2 nights of giving money to the casino and gaming commissions. Every casino looks the same. Dark - no natural light, loud, smoky, and takes my money every time. We try think of it like going to the movies - tickets, popcorn, drink, etc.(entertainment). But we could easily just keep betting. Living in Nevada is not going to happen.

Day 53 (Lee Vining, CA)

(Lee Vining, CA):
The first half of today's drive was 'inetersting' - one of those roads where you can see 7 - 10 miles ahead with intriguing landscape. A solar farm, tons of hay bales stacked nest to highway with no sign anywhere of hay fields, and some fairly bleak looking little towns. Also saw what appeared to be burned, ragged stones/small boulders. We later learned this was volcanic rock.

Then we got into mountains and were amazed by the variety of composition(?) - different colors, different kinds of stone.

Passed salt flats, incredible colors in lakes and rivers, and some quaint small towns. But it was too hot to stop plus there were no easy places to pull over in these towns. Temps were in upper 90's so Boots was not a happy camper when stopping was a necessity, which of course is was on several occasions.

About 50 miles before our destination, the temps dropped into upper 70's/low 80's. Lee Vining is a tiny (also quaint) community in the high Sierra Mountains. The RV park is across the highway from Mono Lake - gorgeous, gorgeous blue water.

Unlike the Canadian Rockies, these mountain roads had white lines, shoulders, guard rails, land on the other side of the guard rails, and subtle curves and declines - whew. Of course, we were going so slow we created our own parades.

Day 52 (Victorville, CA)

(Victorville, CA): August 6 The brakes were indeed "shot" and needed to be replaced, which took a little longer than we had planned on. We didn't leave Ventura until about 4 pm and had no idea where we might stay for the night. Looked in on the Camperworld in Castaic but parking lot was filled already. We kept driving and checking for a RV-friendly WalMart. It was really too hot to stop until at least sunset as we would have no electric hook-up and therefore no air conditioning. We wound up on the edge of the Mojave Desert in Victorville CA. It was our first night driving with the RV in tow and our first Wally parking lot stay and (panic!?) there were no other RVs there. In spite of our anxiety about what that might mean, we stayed. And were thrilled to verify that we could put out the slides, run the overhead fans, etc. It was only about an hour before the cool temps of the nighttime desert set in anyway.

Up early to head up 395 through miles and miles of desert. The price of gas was the lowest we have seen in the trip.

Day 51 (Ventura, CA)

(Ventura, CA): We start our trip to Quincy Ca tomorrow. We’ll see how towing affects the numbers. Actually, we'll be making a detour into Ventura to Bill's RV (he appeared regularly on the RV Today TV show). We have various things for them to look at, including the brakes. There were moments of concern on the trip down that they might need work.