Last Day Sad Day

Jim on the ATV

Every one is sad, it's our last day of vacation and tomorrow we will head back home.  I'm a little bit sad, but I had so much fun that I can't say that I'm really all that sad. Sure, it would be great if we could just keep on going,  I kinda miss my own yard and all the toys I left back home and I can't wait to have a professional grooming again. But, I know that Kathe is already planning the next trip! In our eight weeks away we have seen oceans, mountains, lakes, forests and lots of great things. Can't be sad about that now, can we?

Today, our last day here in Pismo Beach Jim went for an ATV ride on the sand in Pismo, and he had a great time. Get out the Advil, because tomorrow it might not seem like it was such a great idea to bounce around for two hours on the sand.  Kathe spent the day sitting in the sun visiting with her girl friend who was knitting while Kathe finally finished her needle point project.

Laetitia Vineyards

Yesterday, Kathe and Jim discovered a great local winery, Laetitia, where every Pinot Noir they tasted was excellent.  Guess that will be the souvenir that they bring home from this trip.

We had a great campfire both nights here with our Komfort Kruiser friends but tonight they all went to dinner at a restaurant in Arroyo Grande. Layla and I sat with everyone while the sun went down during happy hour.



Kathe, Jim and I love to travel and really can't wait for the next adventure in our RV.  

At the Beach

The dunes are really fun

Sorry I didn't post anything last night.  I was having too much fun visiting with my friends here in Pismo Beach.  My BDF, Layla is here with her people and a whole lot of my people best friends are here too.  I have been going from lap to lap getting as much loving as possible and it's been really fun. I have a lot of really great people friends!

This is our last stop on this trip and we are camping at the Pismo Dunes RV Resort.  There is lots of things to explore here including about one million holes in the dirt that smell like squirrel.  Layla and I have been sticking our noses in all the holes hoping that something will pop out, but so far no luck.

As far as I can tell, all the humans here are just eating, drinking and laughing.  Guess that makes them happy, but I prefer walking the dunes and sinking my paws into the sand.  It's best in the early morning when the sand is cool and there are fewer people around.  Kathe and I went up to watch the sunset tonight, but there were so many other people and dogs that we didn't stay long.  Sunrise is so much better,  I hope I can get her up early enough tomorrow to watch it.

I'm inside now,even though the party is still going strong outside.  Some idiot is shooting off fireworks and you know how I feel about that.  I came inside and got my thunder shirt on and took a calming pill and as soon as I finish writing this I'm going straight under the bed for the rest of the night.

DEJA VU

Donner Pass

Tedious familiarity.  We are back in Los Banos KOA.  I think we are even in the same site. It wasn't great when we stayed here in June, and it's still not great.  At least we stopped driving for a while!  We left Truckee this morning around 10 AM, but we didn't get here until after 4 PM.  There are fires in the Sacramento area and Google re-routed us away from the I-5 to the 99 for part of the way.  This added time to the drive but avoided the fires. We were all hot and tired by the time we got into our campsite.

The first 50 miles or so was all downhill!  We were at over 7000 feet in the Truckee area and we traveled down to an altitude of less than 1000.  There were 5%, 6%, and 7% grades down, down, downhill, past trees, trees, and more trees!  My furry ears were  popping!

We are going to miss the trees!

We had a few minor disasters along the way. First, a huge bump on the freeway caused the wine cooler to pop off the wall again.  This time with three full bottles of wine flying across the room. The cooler landed with a bang on the counter top and two bottles of white landed unbroken in the kitchen sink.  A bottle of red rolled under the counter and got wedged under the slide out but was also unbroken.  The only casualty was my ceramic water bowl.  It got chipped by the wine bottles and spilled water all over the place.

And then, the guides on the slide out in the bedroom broke again and Jim had to jack up the slide and replace the glides.  Wish that wouldn't happen, it's so dangerous to fix.  Jim got it back in working order once again.  And one of the windows in the bedroom wouldn't lock this morning.  It's a good thing Jim knows how to fix these things!

Well, everything is fixed now and even the wine cooler is working again, so  it's time to relax and have a long cool drink of water and a couple of dog biscuits. Now that's a happy hour!

Dining in Donner Pass

Jax's at the Tracks

We woke up this morning to clear blue skies and a cool nip in the air.  It was a beautiful day for exploring Truckee.  I got all my exploring done early when I took Kathe all around the resort. There are sites here for sale as well as the nightly rentals, but everything is so close together I don't think we will stay here again. Especially since Jim had to rewash the whole passenger side of the coach when the sprinklers sprayer all the way up past the windows.  Boy, was he upset! (swear words, again)  He got all the water spots off, but now the skies are looking cloudy.  I'm keeping my paws crossed that it doesn't rain tonight.

The Donner Memorial

Kathe and Jim went exploring in historic old town Truckee this afternoon.  All the old brick buildings are restored and there are all kinds of shops and restaurants down the main street.  They had lunch in a place that Kathe had seen on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives, called Jax's at the Tracks.

Jax's is a 1948 Kullman Diner that was built in Newark, NJ and  shipped here from West Chester, PA in 1995. The owner spent over a million dollars to restore it.  It's the only authentic East Coast Diner on the West Coast. The lunch was delicious.  Jim said it was the best Rubin sandwich he ever ate, and Kathe had the crab cake eggs Benedict with a homemade English muffin just like Guy Fieri recommended on TV.

After lunch Kathe and Jim went to the Donner Memorial State Park which has recently opened a new Museum and Visitors Center.  In addition to the exhibit on the Donner Party and the Emigrant Trail there were exhibits about the native Washoe people, and the Chinese who built the railroad through the Donner Pass.

Tomorrow will be another long drive all the way to Santa Nella.

Into California

Brown is the new green

We crossed the border into California this afternoon.  We drove over 200 miles on Interstate 80 across the state of Nevada we pulled into Coachland RV Park in Truckee. The drive was an easy one but the scenery wasn't so great.  Lots of sagebrush and sand, and nothing else to see for miles and miles.  At least this highway was 2 lanes in either direction so we didn't have to pull over the let cars pass us like we had to do yesterday on the 95.  Let's just say, brown is the new green in Nevada, everything is so dry.

We listened to a Clive Cussler audio book yesterday and today to help pass the time on these long driving days.  Only trouble was that today Dirk Pitt was underwater about to run out of air and his ship was about to be rammed by the bad guys just when we pulled into camp.  Now I'll have to wait two whole days to see if he makes it out alive.

The view from the Dog Park

Coachland RV Resort is really nice, but the sites are really close together,  We can practically touch our neighbor's slide out.  But, there are lots of large, beautiful Sugar, Ponderosa, and Lodge pole pines throughout the park.  And the doggie area is out on the edge of the forest.  It smells so fresh and the wind is whispering through the trees, it's really very nice.  We are going to take a break from driving and stay here for two nights.

I'm glad we are in the trees tonight, because I get a little sad thinking about the fact that we are heading south now and will be back home soon.  I'm not too sad, we still have a whole week left and more places to explore!

Lucky in Winnemucky

The long and boring drive

We arrived safely in Winnemucca, Nevada late this afternoon.  As I predicted it was a long boring drive through Idaho, Oregon and into Nevada.  We were very lucky as an 18 wheeler carrying a load of hay had a rear tire blow out right before our eyes.  The trucker was traveling in the opposite direction facing us. We saw some smoke and then the tire blew and flew across the highway in front of us. Luckily, Jim swerved a little and avoided hitting any big pieces.  Still the best driver ever!

There's not much to say about the drive, there were a few small towns with some very large farms along the way, but mostly everything out there looked hot and dry for the whole 237 miles.  It's been over 100 degrees all day, so I'm glad Jim kept the air conditioning running.

The dog wash

We were pleasantly surprised at the changes made here at the RV Park.  We stayed at this park a couple of years ago and I don't think it was a KOA then.  Well, they have really cleaned the place up, moved most of the old trailers out, and moved the tenting area into the back of the park.  They also added a second dog park and a very cool dog wash area.  Good thing I got a bath in McCall or I would have to take a bath out in front of God and everybody. A poor German Shepard was headed in that direction tonight!

After we got settled in Kathe and Jim made a quick trip to one of the casinos in town.  Kathe left all of her money there, but Jim brought home 3 extra dollars! Not too lucky, but they had some fun. They got home just as the dark clouds moved in and now we are starting to hear some rain drops on the roof.  I hope that helps to cool thing off tomorrow.  We will head to Truckee, California tomorrow for two nights.

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday we were having so much fun in McCall that I forgot to write my blog.  So I will try to catch you up tonight.

The one in the back does all the work

Kathe and Jim rented kayaks yesterday morning with Darlene and Richard and went up to Payette River for a little adventure. The river was so calm and peaceful and there were lots of beautiful trees all along both banks. They paddled up the river for about an hour and had a lot of laughs. There were people of all ages on paddle boards, canoes and kayaks on the river. Then after the kayak trip they went to North Shore and found a picnic cove to enjoy lunch on the banks of the river.

Later that day they went to Darlene and Richard's condo for a delicious dinner and to play cards.  It was our last night in McCall and we've have such fun with our friends that it was hard for Kathe and Jim to say goodbye.  In fact they didn't say goodbye until almost midnight so I couldn't get Kathe to turn on the computer for me last night!  All she wanted to do was hop into bed!

Payette River

Today we left McCall really early (10 AM) and headed down to Caldwell, Idaho to the Ambassador RV Resort.  We wanted to get here early enough to visit with our friends from Los Angeles who moved here three years ago. Bob and Carol now live in Meridian, a town about 15 minutes down the road from this RV Park.

Since they had never seen our motor home I gave them a tour and showed them how to make all my toys squeak. I sat in Carol's lap while the people were talking and catching up on all the news.  By the time they left I was ready for my nap, so I didn't mind that they didn't take me out to dinner with them.

We are only here in Caldwell for one night and must get up early again tomorrow for the long, boring drive to Winnamucca, Nevada.