ITS SO HOT

We’re here in Canyonville, Oregon for the next two nights. It was 105 degrees when we arrived this afternoon and it’s supposed to be even hotter tomorrow.  

The drive was uneventful, lots of cattle ranches and dry grass with oak trees along the 158 miles we traveled. This part of our vacation is not as much fun as we are traveling quickly to the places where we really want to spend more time in Washington and Oregon. 

Seven Feathers Casino has a beautiful RV Resort that’s known as one of the top rated places to stay in all the camping magazines. There almost 200 sites that are beautifully landscaped with native trees and plants. These petunias are planted at every corner for a splash of color.

Tonight the humans are off to the casino for drinks and dinner, and maybe a little gambling. Wish them luck!

HEDGE CREEK FALLS

It’s a beautiful day here at the Mount Shasta KOA. That’s how they answer the phone and it’s true today. It’s 95 degrees, warm enough to need the air conditioning, but the giant pine trees all around keep us in the shade. 

I’ve been walking around sniffing the pine cones and checking for squirrels at least three times a day. I may not walk as far or as fast as I used to but show me that red leash and I’m out the door.

While I was home enjoying the cool tile on the kitchen floor the humans went out exploring.  Not too far from our camp there is a trail to Hedge Creek Falls. There were lots of families out today hiking through the woods to enjoy the pine forest and the water fall. My humans hiked down to the falls where the temperature of the air was at least

10 degrees cooler. Of course the water was extremely cold coming from the mountain snow pack and only the young kids were brave enough to get wet.

After the hike they drove to Lake Shasta for a picnic at a lake side table under the pine trees. 

This last picture is the view from the top of the hill above the Hedge Creek Trail. 

MT SHASTA

I did try out the new lounge chair last night, because I had to share it with my humans.

I don’t have much to say tonight. Our drive today was longer than yesterday. We drove 217 miles mostly on I-5 and without much traffic it was actually a much better drive. Except for the heat. Most of the day it was 105 degrees, but now that we are camped under the giant pine trees it’s starting to cool down. We drove past a lot of agricultural areas, nuts of course, but some vineyards, sunflowers and even rice. 

Sorry, but there is not much to report when you drive all day, but we did pass Lake Shasta on the way. Our campsite is very close to Mount Shasta. I took a short walk around the campground with Kathe and we’re going to explore more tomorrow!

NUT TREE TOWN

It’s so hot very today. There is not even a hint of a breeze. I could stay outside and roast, or I could just stay inside in the air conditioning. So that’s what I did all day today.

The humans used the morning to catch up on errands. First, a trip to Camping World for some essentials and a beautiful new lounge chair. And after that, a shopping trip to Safeway.  When you are on a long voyage like we are, you never know when you will see a good grocery store again.  We wouldn’t want to starve to death!

They decided to investigate Vacaville after lunch this afternoon. There are two interesting areas to explore. Everything is either on Nut Tree Road or Nut Tree Expressway. Guess there are some nuts somewhere, but we haven’t seen any yet. The historic downtown Vacaville is very quiet with beautiful trees, narrow streets, and a beautiful park. Not too many shops, mostly all restaurants and bars there. They were setting up for a concert in the square tonight, live blues music.

The other area they explored was NutTree Plaza. That’s where all the shops like Ultra Beauty, BevMo, and Nordstrom’s Rack are located with about fifty other stores. There were a lot of shoppers out this afternoon. The Kathies did some damage at Home Goods before coming back to camp.

We would all like to sit outside in the shade tonight when it cools down. I claim the new lounge chair!

WHERE’S THE VINEYARD RV PARK

Another long drive today, made even longer by a 25 minute delay in bumper to bumper traffic on the 680. The first part of the drive today along highway 101 was really great with fields of onion, cauliflower, and broccoli for miles and miles.  

I wasn’t very happy about the drive this afternoon at all.  I drove Jim and Kathe crazy screeching for the last hour of the drive. They finally stopped on the side of a freeway ramp for me to do some business and I rode the rest of the way happily under the table. Kathe took some aspirin and turned on all three air conditioners at 3:00 when we finally reached the RV park. I’m still staying under the table.

This place is called the Vineyard RV park, but there’s not a grapevine in sight.  Just a lot of dirt, gravel and a little grass at our spot. There are some nice shade trees, but it’s still way too hot here. Especially when you have to wear a fur coat. 

WINDY DAY

Most of today was spent driving from Buellton to our next stop in Greenfield, CA.  An uneventful drive except for the fact that we needed to stop for fuel at the only Truck Stop between the two areas. Jim was a little worried that we’d run out of fuel before we could find real diesel fuel. Lots of biodiesel around but that’s not what we need. When we approached our fuel stop there was so much construction that we couldn’t cross the 101 at Wellsona Road and had to travel north to the next U- turn. Unfortunately, the Taylor’s missed the turn and had to travel north for a while before they could turn around and make it back to us.

Once together, we drove to our lunch stop near Camp Robert’s and listened to the machine gun practice across the street from the rest stop. We arrived at our destination, Yanks RV Resort at about 3:00. It’s especially windy here all the time and today was no exception. 

It’s so windy that I almost got blown over when I went for a little walk across the street. So windy, in face, that one of our compartment doors came unglued and was bowed out when we arrived. We just got the passenger seat sorted out this morning, and the new part is on its way from Tiffin. Now, Jim and Warren have another project to work on. Get out the wrenches and take the door off, and with a little epoxy to glue it back together it will be fixed. We hope!

AROUND THE TOWN

I’ve done a little exploring around here looking for something exciting to do.  There are no wild animals anywhere near the safari tents. I even looked in the tiki tents, but the wildest thing I’ve seen yet was a pigeon. In my younger days squirrels and bunnies ran from me in fear. Now I can’t even bark loud enough to scare a chihuahua. Guess I better start enjoying my retirement like everyone else around here. 

While I was resting up this afternoon, the humans decided to visit a winery and do some tasting.  Warren selected the Zaca Mesa winery in Los Olivos.  They were just about the only visitors today so they had a very special experience. Sitting outside among the oak trees they tasted several great wines. They were treated to some special wines not listed on the tasting menu and ended up going home with several bottles. After that, they drove to Santa Inez for a quick lunch before heading to El Rancho Market. It’s a very special market and Warren was able to stock up with some gourmet specialties.  

For those who may be wondering, the passenger chair is still not fixed. Warren and Jim are now trying to fabricate something out of metal, wire and gorilla tape.  You will have to wait to see how that turns out.

Right now they have to stop everything and get ready to go out for dinner at the Sideways restaurant. Hopefully there’s a doggie bag in my near future.