The Dunes – Oceano, CA

We have been to this RV park twice before (in April ’10 & ‘11) on our way to Reno, NV docs and Boots’ son/family. This is the first time we have been here during season. Previously, there were lots of open sites. Now, there are only occasional open sites between the various class As, Bs, Cs, trailers, 5th wheels and tents.

Since we were mostly here as a rest stop we didn’t really check out the adjacent dunes. There aren't any motorized vehicles allowed on the beach so it is quiet. Karma and Ruthi have ventured out to the park area already this trip. The dunes go for about a rolling ½ to ¾ mile to the beach. You can’t see the beach until you crest the second dune. The sand is fine powder and it is slow slogging through - so, they haven’t gone far. Karma encourages Ruthi’s exercise by pooping as far away as Ruthi can throw the ball. You’d think Ruthi would catch on and only do short throws until the pooping event is complete.

Most people leave there flip flops and shoes at the edge of the sand in order to progress better across the dunes. Early and late in the day that works well. But between 10am and 5pm the sand is way too hot to walk bare footed across.
There are over 200 sites and probably 100+ dogs around Karma’s size in the park. We have met only 2 or 3 little dogs (Yorkie, Pug, etc.). the rest are mostly lab mixed with a couple of German shepherds and a Doberman. While the dogs must be leashed in the park, as soon as you get past the open fench entrance to the park you can take them off leash. Karma is not good at recall unless we have a ball. So, letting her run is always an adventure. When Karma senses that Ruthi is all thrown out, she will seek out another human to throw the ball. We have a hundred foot rope lead that we attach to her collar, so we can at least finally corral her if need be.

Anyway, Karma is in heaven here – dogs, beach, ball what more could she want.

Chest Pains – Truckee, CA

Barely out of Reno, Boots was experiencing chest pains and clamminess. We decided that we needed to stop at the local Truckee hospital and have it checked out. First things first – she had an EKG and blood work done. Ruthi, meanwhile, (knowing that nothing medical is quick) was looking around this very touristy town for a place to park the RV (45+ feet) while she and Karma went to the ER to check on Boots. Tricky, tricky, tricky. Ruthi found a place in front of the CHP (California Highway Patrol) and went into their office to check if it was ok. Then Ruthi and Karma walked back to the ER. No, Karma was not allowed in the hospital, but Ruthi tied her to an empty newspaper dispenser in the shade.

Test results said Boots hadn’t had a heart attack and was not having one right now. But they wanted to keep her a little while and continue the blood/EKG tests. So, back to the RV for Ruthi and Karma to find a park for a night (or 2) as close as possible to the hospital. Using RV Park Reviews’ web site, Ruthi found Coachland RV Park about 4 miles north of the hospital. Then Ruthi drove to the park, unhooked the 5th wheel, walked Karma and then went back to the hospital with a bag of all those things Boots needed to spend the night at the hospital.

Boots was having more blood tests and another EKG. Since these tests were indicative of no heart attack, the cardiologist was looking to get us back on the road. He decided that if Boots passed a stress test (ever done one – whew very hard/tiring) she could leave the hospital. SHE PASSED and was discharged at 8:30pm with a RX for Nitro.

So, back to the RV park and a night’s sleep before getting back on the road.

Heat Wave – Reno, NV

Yep, we are still here. The cornea specialist is predicting that we can leave for the central coast of California near the end of the month. The temperatures will be much cooler there.

We have always had less than the needed response from our air conditioner. Even with annual checks and re-assurances from various technicians, the cooling effect wouldn’t last all day nor be low enough to really relieve us from whatever heat was out there. Sometimes it was so bad that we sat outside in the shade to at least get some breezes to cool us.

Knowing that we were in for hot temperatures in July in Reno, we called our Reno RV repair woman. She said that she doesn’t do AC but did have some questions and suggestions. Our thermostat comes with some switches for the fan “high/low” and “auto/constant” along with the temperature adjustment. We would sometimes change the fan speed but had never changed the fan to “constant” – thinking “auto” would work best. She explained that by running the fan constant, the AC wouldn’t freeze up. Air would be constantly flowing over the coils even when the AC was no longer pumping.

What a miracle worker she is. We are now able to keep the inside temperatures at least 20 if not 25 degrees below the scorching outside 90s and even today in the 100s. We could have used this approach a lot of times in our travels over the last 4 years – Simi Valley, CA; Broadus, MT; Rapid City, SD; Marseilles, IL; etc. etc. etc.