Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Thank You - Interstate 5 in California

Driving an RV means that you sometimes are the parade marshal and have a number of cars behind you, especially on 2 lane roads. We try to be aware and considerate. When possible with “passing lanes” or “turnouts”, we move over so that the parade may “pass us by.” When stopped for road construction we try to allow for all the vehicles behind us to follow the lead car first; thereby ensuring that once we are back on the regular road, they won’t have to try to pass us. Sometimes the cars’ drivers thanks us by flashing their lights or waving a hand (not finger) at us as they pass. More times than not they just pass us and disappear ahead of us.

Yesterday and today are exceptions. We had about 50% of the cars we let get by us on the run down the canyon from Quincy, CA to Oroville, CA, wave or flash their lights in thanks. Then on Interstate 5, trucker after trucker thanked us for letting them know when it was safe to pull back into our lane in front of us. So, we are feeling loved on the highway!

Monday, June 24, 2013

Ducks in the Crosswalk - Marysville, CA

Getting from Quincy to our overnight in Patterson, CA, we pass through Marysville’s downtown section. We were waiting at a particular red light with a city park on our right when up to the crosswalk 2 hungry ducks appear. They are either eating grain left on the pathway and edge of the road or consuming grit for their gullets. Either way, they appear to be getting ready to cross the busy highway as soon as the “WALK” sign is illuminated. So, Boots (the driver at the time) watches carefully and creeps into the intersection being careful that she doesn’t commit duck-icide. Thankfully, the ducks are too focused on their eating to pay any attention to the traffic or wanting to cross the road. So, no “Why did the duck cross the road jokes?” here.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Sunny the Dog – Quincy, CA

The kids have a wonderfully relaxed “floppy” dog named Sunny. He is a German short hair mixed dog, with great marking and a smaller head that is beagle colored. Little seems to faze him. Unlike Karma’s need to “police” all locations and errant animals (rabbits, cats, squirrels, and armadillos) with barks and chases, Sunny just works with each of them to develop a play pattern. Karma and Sunny get along well but have different interests. While Karma will chase the ball again and again, Sunny would rather get the first one and bury it for future play. So, we always start with 2 balls and then after Sunny’s first throw is finished, Karma continues.

We went to pick up the kids (Bodhi 8YO and Tara 4YO) for an afternoon of biking and movies at our RV. We were busy loading the bikes into the back of the truck and hooking up the booster seat for Tara. Then we were getting the kids into the truck and Boots got in the driver seat. She noticed that Sunny was laying down in the passengers’ foot space. He didn’t want to be left behind so he got the best seat he could find. Like Karma, he hates to be left home.