California here we come!

We decided to leave the SKP park a day early since rain is forecast and we have 900 miles to go to our next destination.

I learned a valuable lesson as I drove the car to the dumpsters before hooking up.  We like to put the trash on the hood of the car as we tend to forget it if we put it inside the car.  The smell is unpleasant.  There was water on the windshield and without thinking I hit the wipers.

 

Whooosh!  The trash bag went up and followed the arc of the wiper blade until it did a dismount on the left side, spilling garbage all over the road.  It could have been worse; the other bag was about 20 pounds of cat doo-doo from the litter genie.  If that split…well, I don’t want to even think about it.

Lesson two learned that morning was when I picked up all the trash, put it back in the bag and placed it once more on top of the hood.  Then I jumped in to drive the rest of the way to the trash bins, but I couldn’t see.  There was this big white bag of junk blocking my view.  Note to self…put this bag on the passenger side of the car and away from the wipers.

Feeling confident the worst was behind me I started to hook the car to the motorhome when Left Brain let me know that my closet door just fell off.  Thankfully, George always hides next to the bed and no cats were harmed in this latest mishap.

one down...one to go

I started out the day by driving about 100 miles over a little more than a two and half hour period….up through the mountain range.  Lots of going up the hill with the trucks at very slow speeds with the flashers going. The terrain is starting to look much different now.

At noon we found a spot for gassing up at $2.99 a gallon and Left Brain took the wheel.  He feels ready and I’m getting much more comfortable with driving, but really needed a break.  Soon we crested 4310 feet, the highest elevation on I-5.  It’s all downhill from here.

When we needed a place to park for the night we were looking for a pull through and inexpensive.  I had to chuckle at the reviews I noticed about the park we chose.  One said “keep driving” and the other just said “Deliverance”.  Well, I take these with a grain of salt and the price was right, so onward we went.

When we pulled in I could almost hear the banjos beginning to tune up….and then I went inside this charming establishment.

The owner obligingly put his cigarette down in the tin can with a notch cut out to hold it while he registered me.  Normal rate is $35, but with Passport America it’s $17.50 and may still be overpriced at that.  I told him I wanted a level pull through and he said they are all the same.  When I countered him that the ones when we first pulled up looked pretty slanted he just said “whatever one you want darling”.  My eyes were starting to burn from all the cigarette smoke and I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

As I left the office the two others sitting on the porch (no banjos in sight yet, but I don’t think they were far away) commented on our motorhome with “Nice rig”.  Granted, there were a lot of Halloween decorations, but I don’t think that’s what made this place look scary.

Once safely ensconced in my RV I turned to Left Brain and told him that if he had said I had a pretty mouth we’d have to leave quickly.  Note to Marti:  this place made the one in Las Vegas look like an oasis.

I hauled the fallen door out of the bedroom into our spacious living room and accessed the damage.  Left Brain unscrewed the remaining part of the door and we reassembled it with some glue and then I put straps on both ends while the glue sets up.  No way is this going to be enough to support the weight, so we’ll leave it off until we can buy some mending plates to fortify it further.

The cats are in their “traveling tubes” which consist of a mere 15 feet of tunnel, so we’re all roughing it during these next few travel days.  Unless we find an area we want to explore more, we plan to just use casinos or whatever cheap lodging we can find along the way until we arrive at our destination.

Why does my shadow look so much slimmer than I really am?

Once again, the car battery was totally flat out dead.  My new little charger didn't do a thing to it.  Left Brain put the trickle charger on it overnight, but perhaps because of the thunderstorm it prevented it from working properly.

We lost the TV due to the storm.  The cell signal was so low that internet was not possible, so about 8:30 PM we went to bed out of boredom.

Long Live the Queen of Creepy Campgrounds

Talking Turkey

Gracie is getting very good at walking in the leash now.  As soon as she sees her harness and leash she starts meowing and spinning.  I really wonder if she has some dog in her.

That's when we saw the huge jackrabbits.  She didn't try to go near them which is good, because they looked larger than she is.  Of course, with a cat in the hand I had no camera.

But, I did manage to get a photo of the six turkeys that came walking through the yards later that day to prove that they really do exist.  I probably could have gotten closer since they showed no fear, but those are some really big birds and I was more afraid of them than they were of me.

Thanksgiving must be coming....I'm developing a craving for some turkey and mashed potatoes.

Long Live the Queen of Dumb Clucks

Covered Bridges

There are a series of covered bridges in the area, and since the weather was nice we went in search of the one nearest to us.

When cars went over it the wooden boards all shook and rattled and made quite a noise.

It was fun to see some of these unusual landmarks that seem to be disappearing all too quickly from our landscape.

Long Live the Queen

Fish stories

On one of our trips into Roseburg we stopped to see the fish viewing area.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but this was pretty cool.

They have build a series of fish ladders with small pools for them to rest in before attempting the next jump as they make their way upstream to spawn.  There are windows in an underground viewing area, but with the condensation on the windows, the photos didn't look like much...so I'll spare you those.

This time of year it's primarily the Chinook salmon making the journey.  We met this guy hanging out in the large pool waiting for the last big leap.

We hung around for a while to see what he'd do, but fish viewing is a lot like watching laundry spin and after a while we gave up and left him to his own devices.

Long Live the Fisher Queen

Life at Timber Valley

These were our first visitors while in the Timber Valley SKP Park.  There were four of them, but this was the only one that didn't turn out blurry.  I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be photographing deer as they were such a common occurrence in our old house.

Then I heard the sound of....what is that?  Turkeys? Yup....unfortunately I was without the camera at that point, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  

The cats are very happy to have the complete set up again since we booked to stay here for a week.

They have all 42 feet of the tunnel, the tent and their little beds in place.  

We have a huge site with a nice concrete patio so unless it's continually rainy I will be setting up our good chairs to enjoy some downtime while here.  An awning would be nice...but we still need to get that fixed.

This morning we took the car back to the Honda dealer and have regained our ability to use the windshield squirter when we hit icky roads and weather.  That's a relief.  I've had fears of suddenly not being able to see if mud is splashed up on us with the inability to clean the windshield.

The portable battery charger has been plugged in for its 36 hours required, so we should be good to go with it as well.

Left Brain starts his new meds today and the pharmacist warned him it could cause dizziness, so I'm still the primary driver.

I saw this traffic warning on Facebook and just had to share it.

Long Live the Queen