Karma/Buddy - Reno, NV

Our aforementioned neighbor is friendly but not “pushy” like some we have encountered. On some occasions, it really isn’t safe to go outside at all because the “neighbor” will come around their rig or just happen to come by on the roadway to chat us up. This neighbor has a male lab mix, Buddy, that gets along very well with Karma. So, we have on occasion gone over to the fenced dog area together and let them chase each other. Karma got a little too friendly with Buddy this morning and was mounting him (a first for her, at least in our presence). The owner said, “You know dogs they’re all bi-sexual”.

Snow - Reno, NV

It’s a bit cooler here in Reno than we would like. Alas, we have no control over the weather. This morning, our neighbor was up very early (5am) and noticed some snow on their “porch”. EGADS – SNOW! We didn’t sign on for snow and cold. Boots is wearing long pants and Ruthi will not concede to the cooler weather yet. Remember, if Ruthi is wearing long pants (socks and shoes other than flip-flops are optional) she thinks it’s winter. Winter in April is totally unacceptable!

BRRR - Donner Pass

We travelled over the Donner Pass (about 5,000 ft) in the Sierras today driving from Sacramento, CA to Reno, NV. We arranged to get a later start as we thought there was a possibility of snow in the higher elevations. When we left it was a nice 56⁰ with a light breeze. The temperature kept dropping and finally settled on 34⁰ at the pass – BRRR. We did experience blowing snow crystals at the very top but nothing was sticking to the ground or even making the highway wet except for a few spots. Down the East side into Reno the temperature climbed back to mid-fiftys but the wind had picked up considerable – gale force to us but probably just blustery to others.

City Similarities - Sacramento, CA

Sacramento, CA is a lot like Minneapolis/St Paul MN. Both have lovely Springs and Falls – weather wise and horrible off-seasons (Summer for Sacramento and Winter for Minneapolis/St Paul). There is a lot of big trees and green belts throughout both city areas. Bike trails and a lot of bikeways on the side of the main roads.

Hot Flashes - Sacramento, CA

Today we experienced mid-spring in Sacramento, CA. It was like the city was going through menopause. Hot Flashes – first it was sunny and hot, heating more and more; then Cold Chills - abruptly it was cool with winds rocking the RV; then Hot Flashes again; and then back to the Cold Chills. Hard to determine just exactly what weather was happening around us and how to dress for it. Nothing drastic just really menopause in nature and humorous! Like when we went through it back in our late 40s/50s.

"Jacks" - San Martin, CA

We had a little catch in our giddy-up this morning. Yesterday, as Ruthi was preparing some of the items for leaving today, she discovered a problem with the rear right stabilizer “jack”. Jack is a misnomer as it is not designed nor built to “jack” up anything. The sole purpose is to steady the RV in the right rear corner. There is a twin mechanism on the rear left to secure that end. FYI: the front end is supported by REAL jacks that raises/lowers the front (left and right) for leveling and positioning for hitching up to the Ford.

Anyway, back to the problem, the mechanism is really a very long screw that draws or lowers the supporting shaft. At the end of the very long screw is a smaller screw that is positioned through a support and bolted with washers and a nut (no, not one of us, even though we qualify as nutty). Ruthi, in a moment of extra attention to this mechanism, had lubricated both sides to eliminate the irritating squeak. It seems that the only thing holding the nut and associated washers on that side was the road GUNK. Oiling that away caused the nut and washers to loosen and fall to the ground. In effect this made not only the mechanism non-workable it also made it difficult to store the long screw and associated shaft like they are normally (up under the rear of the RV).

So now what, we can’t drive with it hanging and if we don’t get it fixed we will be a little more jiggly than normal at our next campground. Of course, it’s too late to call someone locally. Besides we have discovered that while most local guys can be good there is no re-course if they are not and you are hundreds of miles down the road. We have started depending on the various Camping Worlds across America for things we can schedule or like the water leak fix they had caused that wasn’t discovered until a few days later. As soon as we could this morning, we called to see if they could fit us in. The service manager and Ruthi really thought it would be a simple fix/replace job. The location would only really add a few miles to the overall day. Our path would be adjusted but not by much.

We strapped up the screw/shaft with bungee cords and a Velcro strap to keep it from dragging on the pavement sending sparks up to our RV. We hook up and drive out of the park which happens to be on the West side of CA 101. We are heading North and need to get up on the overpass and merge into the flow of traffic, always tricky with 45 foot of rig. As we look North, we see billowing BLACK smoke. It takes us a while, but soon we discover it is a semi wrecked in the South-bound lane just slightly North of our exit. It that bad??? What does it mean for us getting to Camping World quickly??? Traffic is stopped in both directions but cars are exiting the North-bound lane at our exit and then re-entering the highway. Because of the long on-ramp provided it puts traffic well away from the fire, smoke and fumes. Whew, it won’t slow us down and we can see the driver with CHP officers watching the flames. There was only the cab and no load.

We finally get to Camping World at 9:30 and begin our sitting exercises until they can fit us in or someone cancels. At 11:30 we get lucky. Not only has the 11 appointment decided not to get the work done there (and he leaves) and the 11:30 has made a fueling mistake, like we have in the past, of putting gasoline into his diesel engine. OPPS! So, his bad fortune turns out to be our good fortune. The technician and Ruthi review what the problem is and in less than 30 minutes he has corrected the problem and advised us on a future choice if and when these “jacks” finally do cease to be functional/repairable.

Full Time RVer Community - San Juan Bautista, CA

We seem to be meeting other full-time RVers that were at Santee for this past winter, as were we. First, we met the giant Alaska malemute, Bruno, who weighed in at 180 pounds across the lane at Oceano, CA. They had been at Santee Lakes - both Karma and I rememeber meeting Bruno - hard not to rememeber 180 pounds of hair and dog.

Now, directly next door, are a couple originally from Ohio, who were also at Santee Lakes this past winter. Our world is getting smaller and smaller!

Satellite Access - San Juan Bautista, CA

We have a roof mounted satellite that can be automatically reset and positioned for access each time we park in a new location. This is very handy and speeds up the set up process. Sometimes, like yesterday, we are foiled by the surrounding area. I n this case there is a light pole that is exactly in line between the dish and satellite.

Therefore, we needed to bring out the manual dish and positioned it. For some reason the compass was having a hard time settling on due North. Since that is a key ingredient to successfully positioning the manual dish, it took a little time to finally fine the right spot both on the ground and in the sky. In the process, Ruthi accidently killed a black caterpillar. There are a lot of them both here in San Juan Bautista and Oceano. Guess we need to make amends and look up what type of butterfly/moth they become.

Alaskan Plates - San Juan Bautista, CA

You will notice that we are changing the naming convention from just location to a topic-location.

Today, we were driving North on California route 101 from Oceano to San Martin and were passed by an auto with Alaska plates. We flashed our brights and waved to the driver who responded in kind. In all of our travels over the past 2, almost 3 years, we have never seen an Alaskan plate on another vehicle on the road. We have seen RVs (like in Phoenix) from Alaska in the same campground but not this. Kinda brought a tear to our eyes (not really, just kidding).

Road Trip Update - Acton, CA

We left Santee mid-morning with the temperature at 80⁰. Here’s an interesting aside: the temperature was also 80⁰ when we arrived back at the start of November. Most of the winter was much cooler and a lot of rain. As we drove North towards LA the temp started rising and capped at 93⁰. When we finally got to Acton it was at 83⁰. We hate setting up in hot temperatures; so we do the minimum and wait for the shade before completing hook-ups.

We had diesel mileage per gallon at 11.7 after 5 months of in town driving. Just towing 170 miles to Acton reduced that to 11.2. With the price at $4.399, this summer’s tour will be pricey!

Store seen along the way:
Thrift shop “One Man’s Trash”