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!

Day 47 – Sacramento, CA

This RV Park has a number of good features, but the best for me is that there is lots of room to roam in on our walks.  There are places where the grass is really nice, a lake where you can observe ducks and geese, and lots of vacant cabins and other structures that invite exploration.  This morning, Don and I found a large doghouse down by the lake, which turned out to be unoccupied.  I didn’t go in, but I checked it out thoroughly from the doorway.  The people I meet are all nice, and I even score a treat every now and then.  Can’t knock it!

We got rolling on our sightseeing excursion before noon, which meant that the first thing we had to do was get something for their lunch.  I had the foresight to have mine before we left, but they wanted to be different.  After their visit to a downtown Subway, we went directly to a place called Sutter’s Fort, which is located in a mixed business/residential area not too far from the State Capitol.  Geri and Don pleaded with the lady who was selling the admission tickets to allow me to accompany them on their tour, but she was adamant that the State of California didn’t want any dogs, even very well-mannered Golden Retrievers, wandering around their Fort.  So, I stayed in the truck while they toured.  When they returned, they were good enough to tell me some of what they had learned about the place.  This guy, John Sutter, was an immigrant from Germany, though he considered himself Swiss.  He had failed in business in Germany, so he left his wife and kids to fend off his creditors, and sailed off to America.  By a very circuitous route, he wound up in California, where he wrangled a land grant from the Mexican Governor, and founded a settlement in the middle of what would be California.  He did pretty good until gold was discovered in his sawmill, and it was pretty much downhill for him after that.  Does this make any sense?  You find what amounts to a ton of gold on your property and you wind up broke?  What a Yo-Yo!  But they said that the reconstruction of the Fort was well done and interesting. 

Inside the Fort - looks big!

A room in the Fort

After a brief stop to get a pic of an old mansion, we got on the highway and headed for Folsom, which Don had been planning to do all along.  There was something there he has been itching to see for years.  After a couple of stops at visitor centers for data accumulation, we arrived at his goal; the first hydroelectric power plant built in the United States, which went into operation in 1895.  I’m sure that many of my readers are green with envy at our ability to visit this shrine of engineering, but I can only say that it’s there for all of us to visit, you just have to do it!  Don spent close to an hour in the Powerhouse identifying all of the archaic machinery, figuring out the control systems, and marveling at the massive construction of the whole thing.  He was obviously in Engineering Nirvana, while Geri and I took a nice walk on the grounds of the State Park.  The views of the American River were particularly pleasant.

The Temple of Early Hydroelectric Power

Two of the Ancient Generators

Greatly Revered Generator Governor

We then did a tour of some of the very attractive old homes in Folsom, many of them spectacular.  Their downtown area is undergoing a major renovation, so we stayed out of that part of town, but the rest is quite nice.  Our next target was Folsom Prison, which apparently was made famous by a country singer named Cash.  We got there too late to visit the museum, but got a pic of the famous entrance and guard tower of the place.  Geri and Don asked the gate guard how many prisoners they had there, and he said about 3900.  Don asked if they had room for Lindsay Lohan, but the guard said she had too much money to qualify for Folsom. 

Shoot a man in Reno - go to jail in California?

So, we headed home to West Sacramento, and Geri took me for a very pleasant stroll around the grounds, during which I encountered a gentleman who had the odor of dog treats about him.  I politely enquired as to the availability of a treat, and he stated that though he often carried them, he didn’t have any with him at the moment.  I let him know that we would be glad to accompany him to his rig, where he undoubtedly had some stored, and he agreed.  Nice treat, well worth the effort. 

When we got back, Don cooked up some salmon and tortellini, resulting in some very nice plates for me.  A little TV, work on the blog, and a fairly early bedtime.  We’re on the road again tomorrow, heading west to Vallejo.  I’ll be reporting from there tomorrow!  See ya then!

Day 46 – Sacramento, CA

You need to understand that when I don’t have anything to report in the blog, it doesn’t mean that I slept all day, and that I didn’t get fed or get any treats, or go for any walks; it really means that I wasn’t involved in anything that I thought you’d be interested in, or would find cute or funny.  Like yesterday, when it was raining in the morning and Don took me for a walk that was just long enough for me to attend to some necessities, and none of us left the rig until the afternoon, when Geri and Don did some shopping and money machine operations.  It was just a blah, uninteresting day. 

Today was a travel day; some travel days are interesting and reportable, others are kind of a drag.  Today, I must say, had some interesting moments.  First, the weather this morning was the best we have seen since arriving in the Reno area.  The skies were clear, except for some clouds over the mountains, which are called the Sierra Nevadas.  Our walk was very pleasant, and Don took some pics of our walking route.  We encountered a tiny white poodle that I had met on a previous excursion with Geri, and she remembered me and showered me with kisses.  I always like that, though it’s a bit embarrassing.  We met a gentleman with an older dog, older than me, and I determined that he was packing treats in a pocket.  I sat at attention in front of him, and was duly rewarded.  A very successful walk from every respect.

Mount Rose in the clouds

Look at that grass!

One of my admirers

We rolled out of this very pleasant Park around eleven, with Geri and Don debating the need for fueling before leaving Nevada.  Don was not inclined to stop for fuel, while Geri pushed for buying cheaper in Nevada.  Don was driving, so he won.  We hadn’t gone very far, just into Reno, when Don announced that we had an emergency requiring a stop alongside the road.  Geri and I were initially alarmed, until Don pointed out that one of his rear view mirrors was threatening to fall out of its enclosure.  We pulled over briefly, Don retrieved the mirror, and we were underway again. 

We’ve been over this mountain route before, and it truly is a beautiful ride.  The only problem today is that there’s a lot of construction going on, resulting in slow, one lane rides in many places.  But the scenery is gorgeous, and I sat up and took in a lot of it.  We stopped in a rest area to stretch our legs, and Don found a display of an old hydraulic monitor that had been used in the late 1800’s for placer mining of gold in the neighborhood.  He pointed out the adjacent hillside that was seamed with vertical ridges, that had been hydraulically mined.  He loves this stuff, having been a gold miner himself many years ago.  Geri and I listened with feigned interest; we don’t want to get the guy mad, he is the driver. 

Typical I-80 scene

We rolled on down the mountains, with Don using all of the braking systems that the rig provides; its kind of fun to watch, all the button pushing and switch flipping that he has to go through.  But I know that it’s important to keep our downhill speed under control and keep us safe.  We finally reached the flat land of the Great Central Valley of California, and a brief conflict ensued between Geri and Don; we could take the short route through Sacramento proper (Geri’s concept), or we could avoid downtown Sacramento altogether by taking the I-80 bypass (Don’s preference); the driver won again.

We pulled into the West Sacramento KOA a little after two, got set up for living, and Don did a repair job on his rear view mirror.  While Don was hooking up the water, he met the people in the rig next door and got big kisses from their friendly Pit Bull, Belle.  I haven’t met her yet, but I hope she likes me as much.  Geri took me for a really good walk down to the river; the weather is very pleasant, and there are a lot of great areas for walking near the Park.  We won’t be here too long, but I think we’ll have a good time!

Day 45 - Sparks, NV

Gotta pass on the blog tonight, had another nothing day.  Travel tomorrow, will catch up with you then.  Don't worry, be happy!

Day 44 – Sparks, NV

I have to say that I didn’t sleep too well last night.  There were big thunder noises most of the time, and they made it hard to sleep.  Some of them were so loud that they scared me, and I had to wake Don up so that he could tell me that it was OK, and that we were safe.  I wasn’t as scared after that, but it was still hard to sleep.

We all got up a little later than usual, which is OK, ‘cause we really don’t have anything we had to do today until later in the afternoon, when David (Craig) is supposed to show up.  The rain was letting up, and Don got me over to the dog run for my morning rituals, followed by breakfast.  By ten, it had stopped raining and Don took me out for a long walk down to the lake, where we met some nice dogs, including a beautiful Greyhound.  After lunch, we got into the truck for a shopping excursion to the Sam’s Club in Reno.  When we returned, we saw Craig (David)’s coach parked just down the road from us, and we went to greet him.  I was so happy to see him that I started running, forgetting that Don was on the other end of the leash; he tried hard not to slow me down too much. 

Don took me out for a short walk, and when we got back, Geri fixed my dinner.  I was wondering whether they were planning another visit to their friendly money machines, but, no, they went out to dinner with David (Craig) to one of his favorite places, which just happened to be across the parking lot from the Chinese place where they ate last night.  When they got back, they said they were really impressed with the food and the service.  So, for readers of the blog, when in Sparks be sure to eat at the Vista Grill, or, for Chinese food, the Fortune Palace!  Don’t try to eat at both of them the same night, though. 

A few treats, some work with Don on the blog, and so to bed.  Hope they turn down the thunder tonight.  G’nite!

Day 43 – Sparks, NV

Rain sure puts a damper on our activities; our walks are delayed, frequently shortened, we don’t do any touring.  That’s the way it was this morning; Don had to take me over to the dog walk area so that I could relieve myself before I could even retrieve the phony paper, and we had to do it fast ‘cause of the rain.  Unfortunately, there was a couple with two Westies in the walk already, and the two little dogs made it very plain that they wanted me dead.  You know, I’m really used to that sort of thing, it happens so frequently.  I think it’s called Small Dog Complex; many small dogs would like to be real dogs, like me, and it drives them crazy when they see a big handsome dog.  Anyway, the couple apologized for their behavior, and said they would leave so we could have some peace and quiet while I finished my business.  Don told them that we wouldn’t be long, and that they didn’t have to leave.  I did what I had to do, and we left the area with the Terriers still hurling imprecations at me. 

When the rain let up a bit, Geri and Don drove me over to the lake, where there is a grassy area and walkway along the water.  I got to do a little running and rolling, but it started to come down again more heavily, and we had to get back in the truck and head for home.  We had lunch, they read the Sunday paper, and I napped.  After a few hours, they got restless, got in the truck, and departed for who knows where.  They were back in a couple of hours, and they told me about the store they went to, called Scheel’s.  They said it was the biggest sporting goods store they had ever seen.  It was so big, it even had a Ferris Wheel inside it!  They spent a couple of hours wandering around in it, but didn’t buy anything.  Geri took me for a really good walk down to the lake and part way around it.  I got to chase some birds and do some rolling, and I felt really good.  I had dinner when we got home, and laid down to watch some TV.  They decided to go out to dinner, which was OK with me. 

They didn’t get back until almost nine, and I was getting a little worried about them.  Turns out, they had found a really good Chinese restaurant and had indulged themselves in a luxuriant feast.  They had a big bag of leftovers with them, but they didn’t offer me any.  They had also gone back to the same money machines they had gone to last night, and were apparently satisfied with the results. 

So, I got some treats, we watched one of Geri’s shows, I think it’s called Disgusting Housewives, worked on the blog, and fell into bed.  Hope the weather’s better tomorrow!

Day 42 – Sparks, NV

Don, bless his heart, hauled me over to Pioneer Park for another run and roll session before we left.  To show my thanks, I made him follow me all the way to the top of the hill, then took off running like the wind down the hill and over to the playground area, with him trudging along behind yelling for me to wait.  I found a good rolling spot, and went into a veritable orgy of rolling until he almost caught up with me, and then I took off running again.  We did a full lap around the park that way, and I think he was glad to place me back in the truck and head for home. 

We got underway at our usual eleven, heading down I-80 southwestward.  Don pointed out the course of the Humboldt River as we went along, and told us how the river was the thing that sustained the early settlers along the California Trail.  The river finally disappears into the desert, leaving about a forty mile gap before the trail reaches the Truckee River, which meant that the oxen pulling the wagons didn’t have any water to drink or much to eat for three or four days.  I imagine they got a little fussy about that. 

We got to our RV Park in Sparks about two, and the big clouds that we had seen for the last hour started dripping rain on us.  Don had given me a serious lecture while we were waiting for Geri to get us registered, about how the grass next to the site was not really grass, and the people that ran the Park didn’t want it peed on by dogs or anyone else.  So, while Don was getting the rig set up, Geri took me over to the peeing place, which wasn’t far away at all.  I think I can handle this. 

They had some work to do on the rig, cleaning one of the exhaust fans and defrosting one side of the freezer.  This kept them occupied until dinner time, which resulted in a meal of leftover seafood pasta; I’ve got to admit, though, that the plates were superb.  They took off to find some money processing machines, leaving me to have a much needed nap.  They came back just a couple of hours later, apparently having had a good time; at least, they were very nice to me.  But, then, they always are.

I don’t know how long we’re going to be here, but I think we’ll all have a good time.  It’s a very pretty Park, and I’m sure Don will find me a place to run and roll in the morning.  I just hope it doesn’t rain too much!  I’ll give you a report on all of these things tomorrow!  Bye, bye for now.