Day 48 – Vallejo, CA

For a travel day, not bad.  Don and I had a fun walk at our Sacramento park, including a good sitdown talk, where we traded some ideas about the blog, and some exploration of places we hadn’t looked into before.  We got on the road a little before eleven, and made a fuel stop at a high-priced mini-truck stop in Dixon.  It was a very short run to Vallejo, and we pulled into the very familiar Tradewinds RV Park just after noon.  The office staff had left for lunch, but the site board was marked to show where we were to pull in, so we parked the coach and got set up.  Don was happy to grab the TV satellite on the first try! 

Time for lunch, then a little nap time for Geri.  When we were all back in the land of the living, it was into the truck to head out for some shopping.  Don was delayed by getting into a conversation with a fellow camper who needed to tell him about the great deal he got on a Southwind 34 footer, which he bought for $16K from a guy whose wife had died aboard the rig.  It was only five or six years old, with low mileage, and Don complimented him on making a very good buy.  He also noted that the guy was wearing a USS Missouri Memorial T-shirt, and asked if he had been to the memorial recently; well, that unleashed a story.  This gentleman had been a crew member on the Big Mo in the late Eighties, and was rightly very proud of his experience and service on the ship.  Don was impressed with the very responsible position that the man had held, but was a little less impressed with the guy’s tattoos, which he felt compelled to display and explain the meaning of in explicit detail.  Don seized the opportunity to express his gratitude to the gentleman for his years of service in the defense of the country, sealed with a hearty handshake.  I got the impression that Don was really pleased to meet him. 

We headed over toward Benicia, Don’s old home town, and pulled up in front of Jerry Nolan’s house.  Jerry is an old friend, who was best buds with Don’s Mom and travelled with her a lot.  Geri went in and came out with a tiny bundle of fur, who I recognized as Lena, Jerry’s MaltiPoo housemate.  Looked to me like we were going to be partners on an afternoon walk.  Sure enough, we headed down to the Marina, where we like to go walking ‘cause it has such nice grassy areas.  I have admit that I tried to ignore Lena, just out of petty jealousy, but she is so sweet that I finally had to recognize her existence.  Don was in charge of minding her on leash, and she was very sprightly, keeping up with me and Geri very well, except when she had to stop to do an olfactory investigation of something.  At one point, I ran ahead and found a shady area of grass with a delicious odor, and I launched into an exuberant roll; unfortunately, I didn’t gauge my rolling area properly, and wound up writhing and rolling on the concrete sidewalk.  Geri and Don got a laugh out of that.  Lena, shortly afterward, discovered a splendid smell in the grass and did her own exhibition of rolling, causing me to investigate what she had found; it was a splendid treat to the nose!  I immediately dove in and took over the spot, rolling in a paroxysm of pleasure while she watched.  I was grateful to her for finding such a fine location. 

After the walk, we took Lena home to Jerry and rolled down the hill to Safeway for some needed shopping.  Don and I spent some time talking while Geri was in the store, and I learned that I would be staying at Jerry and Lena’s house tomorrow while Don and Geri were at his High School Reunion.  Sounds OK to me!  We returned to Vallejo and the coach, where I got my dinner, Geri and Don had theirs, and Geri and I did a walk around the RV Park.  We all tried to get to bed early, ‘cause tomorrow is going to be a very full day, with the Reunion and all.  You can be sure that I’ll debrief both of them tomorrow night about their experiences, so that I can provide you with a full report.  See ya then!