NOTE: We have arrived back in the Sacramento area from which we left seven months ago in late April. We are here for the holidays to see family, get some medical issues checked, dance some salsa with our friends, get some repairs on the RV, and to make plans for next year's adventure. We are at Beale AFB and have a nice parking site. Our site has great views of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the sunrises and sunsets are often quite spectacular. It is really nice to visit with our friends and family.
NOTE: Neither Lisa nor I have been sick during our entire adventure up until our stay at Fort Huachuca. The weather turned cold and the rains made being outside pretty miserable. I became very chilled and ended up with a pretty bad bronchial issue. It stayed with me all the way to Beale AFB in California where I say a doctor who put me on antibiotics and steroids. This beat back the issue over a six-day period. Made it hard to exercise and do more of the things we wanted to do. As I have gotten better, Lisa has come down with a cold. Just what we need for the holidays.
November 26th - We woke up at the Lost Dutchman State Park at the base of the Superstition mountains and checked the weather reports for our area and our trip to California on Thursday. Our weather was great but a huge storm was projected over the Tehachapi Mountains with up to 15 inches of snow possible. Even though we had paid for one more day at the state park, we decided that if we planned to get to California, we would have to leave now and drive all the way to Bakersfield; about nine hours away. So, we packed up the trailer, drove to the dump site to dump our tanks (reduce weight for the trip), and headed for Bakersfield. The drive was pretty easy and uneventful. The traffic in the Phoenix area was light and the roads were great. We drove to Quartzite (near the California border) and stopped to fill our fuel tanks. Diesel in Arizona is about a dollar less per gallon than in California. Since we carry 140 gallons of fuel, the savings could be $140 per tank. We drove to the Los Angeles area and then tool the 215/210 highways to I- 15 to Las Vegas. After climbing to the top of the pass, we took Highway 395 to Kramer Junction and then Highway 58 to Bakersfield. We took the Bear Mountain Road exit and drove through the small Town of Arvin to an RV park locate next to highway 99. We stayed here overnight. We did not disconnect the trailer. We simply put the forward landing gear down to take the weight off of the truck and then hooked up shore power. It helped that the site was virtually level. Made leaving in the morning very easy. We drove for about eleven hours this day and we generally do not like to make the trip that long. We also entered the RV park after darkness, which happened for only the second time on our entire trip. The truck worked perfectly for the entire trip to Beale. I could not be more pleased with the truck. It pulls the trailer with ease and the engine breaking system makes going down most grades "foot-brake free".
On November 27, we drove from Bakersfield, California to Beale AFB, near Marysville, CA. We had rain over night, but the day was very nice. We had some rain showers along Interstate 5, but nothing heavy.
On Sunday, we drove to the home of Don and Diana Denault. Don and Diana have been dancing Rueda in our group for many year and It was sure nice to see them again. We rode with them to Placerville where we had tickets for a performance of "The Addams Family" by the local ensemble group. One of our dancers, Jennifer Jackson, is a "flapper ghost" in the show. No one knew that we would be there except Don and Diana and Howard and Kathy. It was sure fun to see everyone again. The play was great and we had a super time. We all went to dinner at a Thai restaurant in Placerville after the Play. Really great to get together with our dancers again. See the photos in the gallery.
While we have been gone, Adri and Larry Clark have been continuing the rueda lessons at their home in Folsom, California. We were able to attend this past Monday and it was a ton of fun. Robert Hawke has stepped up to teach the patterns and everyone is having a great time. Wayne even called a rueda or two and did not embarrass himself. We look forward to dancing with this group while we are here. Adri and Larry are hosting the annual Christmas dance on the 16th; this will be fun. We have had the Christmas party at Larry and Adri's home in Folsom and it was great fun. The food was awesome, the dancing was super, and the opportunity to visit was great. We had a great time and sure appreciate Larry and Adri making the event come to fruition.
We went to Claim Jumpers with Barbara and Barry Lucas and this gave us a great opportunity to get "up-to-speed" with what they have been doing. They have been working hard around their home and getting out to dance on occasion. We stopped by their home and had some great cookies and conversation. We hope to see more of the Lucas' while we are in the Sacramento area.
NOTE: We have been here at Beale AFB for three weeks now and are getting ready for the Christmas season. We are trying to get used to being in one place for a long period of time. We are so used to going to a location and then traveling around to site-see and then moving on to another location that we are having to adjust to staying put. We know that many RVers spend the winter in one location, but we are going to have to adjust to that part of the life-style.
It has been great to our family and be brought up-to-speed on what they have been doing. Will and Alex have been working hard and acquiring another dog named Archer. They already have Abby, so the two dogs have become best friends. Will is not working of Placer County and then doing some contract work on the side. The are both working pretty hard to get established. Mandy and Brandon are working hard too and preparing for the Christmas season on top of that. The kids are all out of school now and Christmas will be upon us shortly.