Family Time and then Homeward Bound

Our youngest daughter, Rian, has lived in Sacramento since her freshman year at Sac State back in 2011.  We’ve visited several times in the RV and I can assure you it’s slim pickings for places to camp. We usually ended up far outside of town, fighting traffic whenever we wanted to get together. Until this year we’d always avoided the RV park at the Cal Expo fairgrounds even though it’s only 10 minutes from Rian’s house. Our assumption, and to be fair it was a good one, was that Cal Expo was just an overpriced parking lot. Well yes, but it turned out to be a very convenient overpriced parking lot! I sure wish we’d tried it sooner. It wasn’t any worse than many private RV parks we’ve stayed in and even had a decent sized off-leash play area for Riley. Another plus, it’s right next to the American River trail, where Riley got long walkies and river access.

Riley with his feet in the river, again. Lol. 

We arrived on Thursday, 5/16, and Rog had a hankering for sushi. We had Rian pick the restaurant, love having a local to chauffeur us around. 😊  Her pick, Takumi Izakaya Bar, was most excellent. We opted for the sushi roll platter and made short work of it. The waitress was impressed. Rian’s comment, “We’re professionals.” Lol.

Sushi Magic! We made it disappear. :) 

Friday evening, we visited Rian and took the grand-puppy Floyd on walkies through her neighborhood to Land Park. It’s a beautiful neighborhood, with huge Sycamore trees lining the streets and unique older homes. No cookie cutter subdivision here. I see why she loves it.

Rian and Floyd at Land Park.

Rian and I managed to hit a few garage sales Saturday morning before the weather turned and then we consoled ourselves with an afternoon of thrifting. Rog opted to hang out with Riley in the RV, down time for the boys. Sunday was rainy again, so we went to the movies and saw Avengers: Endgame. Our four days in Sacramento passed way too quickly and we kissed our baby good-bye and headed to St. Helena to visit Rog’s grandma.

Hugs for the puppy-brother.

Grandma Ardys turned 95 last January and is still living on her own in the home she’s occupied for over 60 years. Her house is now surrounded by vineyard and St. Helena is a wine lover’s paradise. Wineries and tasting rooms everywhere and the incessant whistle of the Wine Train as it makes it stops. We avoided the tourist scene and spent our time hanging with Grandma and catching up on chores. Riley was a big help. 

Helper Dog.

Grandma gave up driving this year, so we were her wheels for a few days. Her “honey-do” list for Rog was short, but she did need a new cell phone. We spent some time going over the options with her and she decided on a Jitterbug Smartphone. We took her to Napa to get it and then we spent a fun afternoon getting it set up and teaching Grandma the joys of texting. She liked the voice to text feature and there were some hilarious messages sent before we got it figured out. Lol. Again, our stay passed quickly and it was time to move on to Redding to visit Rog’s mom.

Lunch with Grandma Ardys.

Beautiful koi at the restaurant.

Saying good-bye to Grandma and the vineyards in St. Helena.

It’s always a joy visiting Rog’s mom, Barb, and her partner Ed. We pulled in on Thursday, 5/23, and got set up in the ultimate moochdock, full hook-ups and all the comforts of home! We timed it so we’d be here over Memorial Day weekend. No fighting the traffic or the crowds at the campgrounds, gotta say it was a brilliant move on our part. Lol.

We did get some walking in too. After all the eating out we did over the past week, I have an extra five pounds to lug around. Ugh! We always look forward to the 4-mile round-trip walk to Starbucks. After a double shot of expresso, it always seems faster coming home. Lol.

On the way to Starbucks, a great way to start the day!

This visit we also walked part of the Sacramento River Trail. Barb took us on a 6-mile loop where we saw some of the devastation from last year’s Carr Fire. The fire burned 229,651 acres before it was contained and jumped the Sacramento River threatening the city of Redding. Barb and Ed were evacuated, and while their neighborhood was unharmed, many weren’t so lucky.  Part of the trail ran past a neighborhood where you’d see where one house had been completely destroyed while another right next door was untouched. Wildfire is as arbitrary as it is destructive.

Fire ravaged hillsides border the trail.

Six miles with a break to check out the creek.

Pedestrian bridge across the Sacramento,

Sacramento River.

Saturday we were hanging out in the back yard when the weather took an unexpected turn. We watched as an enormous thunderhead formed – it was one of the most magnificent cloud displays I’ve ever seen. A truly impressive formation with amazing colors that continued to change and evolve as we watched. Just across the valley they had torrential rains, huge hail and high winds, it even generated a tornado warning for the area! Happily, all we got was a marvelous show!

Sitting on the patio watching the clouds. 

We started off with a little rainbow action.

And then it started to get serious.

A perfect vortex.  Cool, but a little creepy.

Rog climbed to the top of the rig for a better view.

Bright white, gold tinted and dark clouds layered.
And it just got more intense....

As the storm passed the colors faded to pink and purple.

Yet again, our stay ended too soon and we said our good-byes and headed north.  It’s about 600 miles from Redding to home so we plan for two nights on the road. We spent Monday evening, 5/27, at Valley of the Rogue State Park just south of Grants Pass, OR.  We’ve stayed here many times in the past. We love the paved Applegate Trail and access to the Rogue River. In addition to the river, Riley had a blast playing in the sprinklers! What a goof, he would like these installed at home please. Lol.

  

What a nut case! We need this at home. Lol.

The Applegate Trail runs right by the campground.

Lots of occupied bird boxes along the trail.
These Swifts were cobalt jewels in the sun.

Our second night was a freebie. The overflow parking area at the French Prairie Rest Stop in Aurora, OR is another repeat stop. We got our favorite spot next to the rose garden too.  It’s a beautiful wooded area and tucked far back from the freeway, so we don’t mind an occasional semi-truck moving through.

Got our favorite spot by the rose garden.

We've stayed at plenty of campgrounds that weren't as nice as this rest stop!

And that brings us home. Yay us!! We pulled in on Wednesday, 5/29, after spending 102 nights on the road. We traveled 4403 miles and stayed at 31 different places. It would be hard to pick a favorite, but the Sedona area, Borrego Springs, Lake Powell, and Alabama Hills are all contenders. We visited two National Parks (Redwoods and Joshua Tree) and five National Monuments (Organ Pipe, Sunset Crater, Wupatki, Rainbow Bridge and Vermilion Cliffs). 

We also found that we have new tenants. Our house sitter, Tafline, had left the Christmas wreath up on the font door and a little Junco thought it was the perfect spot to raise a family. They built a nest and hatched two tiny fledglings on my front door. Tafline was using the back door to avoid disturbing them, but that wasn't going to work with all the unloading we needed to do. So I carefully moved the wreath, nest and all, a few feet away from the door. I got scolded, but Momma bird settled in soon enough.  

Home again and with new tenants. Lol.

We have lots already scheduled to keep us busy at home – delayed maintenance, home improvement projects, lots of yard work, local camping trips, Mariners tickets, a trip back to visit family in Pennsylvania, and three kitties to love up. Oh, and many long overdue play dates with Riley’s Great Dane buddy, Mina. In addition to all of that, we’ll also be busy planning our next big RV trip! No, we’re not done yet this year. We have reservations for the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festival in October! Another bucket list item we’ve wanted to do for years. Hope you’ll join us.