NUTS

Well, I guess this is the end of another adventure for me. We are in Coalinga where they grow lots of almonds and pistachios. It's our last stop on the I-5. We usually stay here even though it's not so great. It's the only RV park before we start our transition to the 101 and get back home. They have new management here at the Almond Tree RV Park and it's improved a little since we stayed here last  December, the sites are level now and have nice new gravel instead of the muddy ruts of the past. They still have a long way to go before they get the Good Sam seal of approval! Or mine!

So ends a great couple of months in our motor home. None of us are too anxious to get back home to reality, but every good thing must come to an end sometime. I'm just happy that we are spending the next 3 nights at the beach in Oceano before we actually have to go home.

Remember some of the great times my humans had; wine tasting, whale watching, catching fish, boat rides, fresh crab dinners, black cod and homemade cioppino, exploring tide pools, bike riding, hiking, waterfalls, farmers markets, fresh peaches and cherries, bald eagles flying right over our campsite, and wonderful shared alfresco dinners every night.

I'm already planning and looking forward to next summer and another Adventure!

ANOTHER LONG DAY

Here we are at the Flag City RV Resort in Lodi California. It was another long drive on the I-5, bumpy and hot for about 5 hours. We don't usually like to drive that far, but we have to if we want to make Oceano, CA by Friday.

Our scenery today was mostly the varied agriculture of California. We passed lots of nuts, fruit, olives, grapes, and corn growing on both sides of the freeway. The most interesting fields were the sunflowers and the rice patties along the Sacramento river. We also saw some beautiful purple flowers that will become eggplants.  The sunflowers were almost all dried, but here is a picture of the rice growing in large fields in water from the river.

It was a little busy driving through the city of Sacramento where the freeway was 4 lanes of traffic, but things calmed down a bit once we got out of the city. Then it was back to sharing the 2 lanes with the big rigs.

Another long drive tomorrow to Coalinga and the ugly Almond Tree Resort, thank goodness we are only staying one night. It's not my favorite park by any means, but there isn't much to choose from on the I-5. Can't wait till we hit the beach on Friday.

THE LONG WAY HOME

Once they turn the coach south, it's the beginning of the end of the vacation. We have a few days left, but we have to spend them driving 200 miles a day in order to meet our commitment to be in Oceano for the weekend.

We drove today for a good 4 hours uphill and downhill and downhill and uphill on the Interstate. There were several long 5% and 6 % grades and lots of big rigs sharing the road with us.

It was 108 degrees when we arrived here at Mountain Gate RV Resort, just outside of Redding, California.  We are between Mount Shasta and Shasta Lake. We've never camped here before, but it's right off the highway and convenient. It's really warm and very dry with golden hills and green trees all around us. Earlier we saw a Mama Doe and three fawns in the "playground" area just munching on the dry grass. I took a picture but it looks like a funny 4 headed animal they are all so close together on the hillside.

Tomorrow we will drive another 200 miles for another one night stand in Lodi, California.

NOTHING HONEY

Today we did absolutely nothing. It's the hottest day yet here in Canyonville.

Kathe's tablet died last week and she's been waiting to get near a town with a Costco or a Walmart Superstore to get a new one. Today was the day they set out to find one. First they went to Costco in Roseburg, but they were sold out. They had better luck at the Walmart, they bought the I Pad, but ended up spending about an hour there shopping. Talk about shopping, they also hit the Dollar Tree, Home Depot, Petco, and Albertsons before they returned home to me.

By then it was 4:00 and the day was shot! Now it's time to eat dinner and take another nap before bedtime.

Tomorrow we head back to California, darn! We'll be in Reading tomorrow for one hot night, it's 108 there today.

LAZY SUNDAY

Nothing much to do here in Canyonville if you don't go into the casino. We sleep late, take long walks, eat, nap and eat again, then take another walk, and nap until it's time to go to bed! Sounds delightful to me. It's still a vacation.

This morning Kathe and Jim picked a bunch of wild blackberries here at the Resort. Kathe has been trying to find ripe berries everyplace we go, but this is the first time she found some. They picked and froze a bunch for a cobbler or pie, so she's a happy camper.

After lunch today Jim and Kathe decided to find a local winery and taste some wine.

They found a small winery in Canyonville called Falk Estates that was open today. It's been hard to find wineries that are open during the pandemic but they have found a few on the trip in Washington and Oregon. The Falk family bought a ranch in 1960 which has grown to more than 500 acres. In 1914 the family decided to plant a nine acre vineyard, and in 2016 they had their first harvest. The family works together to make wine. Last year, just as their tasting room was completed, it burned down. Tasting is now done in the living room of their beautiful ranch home along a creek. Here are a couple of pictures of the deck and outdoor areas. They enjoyed the unique wines and came home with 6 bottles.

COVERED BRIDGES

Looking for something to do in Canyonville, Oregon? Kathe found that there are several covered bridges in this area, so thanks to Google Maps, they had something to do today besides go shopping! There are supposed to be 50 covered bridges remaining in the state of Oregon, so they were happy to find two within a few miles of Canyonville.

The Neal Lane Bridge or The South Myrtle Creek Bridge is one of the shortest covered bridges in Oregon. The wooden bridge is just 42 feet long and the narrow windows make it appear even shorter. Kathe and Jim drove over it in the jeep and noted that it is 12'3" high and can only accommodate a load of 3 tons. Better not try this in a motor home. The bridge was built sometime in the 1930's.

The Horse Creek Bridge was built in 1930 and is 105 feet long. You can no longer drive across this bridge but Kathe and Jim walked across it to the city park on the other side of the creek. This bridge was dissembled and moved here from Lane county in 1990. The original purpose of a covered bridge is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather.

There is a 30 mile loop in the area of Cottage Grove, Oregon where there are many more covered bridges, but those will have to wait until the next Oregon trip.

SEVEN FEATHERS

A great, but curvy drive from Diamond Lake to the I-5 in Roseburg, Oregon. We are on our way south and it was nice to spend almost the whole morning in the pine trees. We won't see those big trees again for a while, and I'll miss my chipmunks.

We arrived at Seven Feathers RV Resort, in Cayonville, Oregon, one of the best RV resorts in North America according to Good Sam. It really is beautiful, with every amenity a camper could want. Only problem is with Covid all bets are off. Kathe and Jim usually come here to gamble at the huge casino, but not this time. They will just have to find something else to do. Speaking of which, without Kathe and Warren, my humans don't seem to know what to do with themselves. It's hard to write a blog when there is nothing to write about.

First thing Jim did when we got here this afternoon was to get a haircut. He got scalped! Really, now Kathe and Jim look alike with the shortest hair I have ever seen.  I just hope they don't take me for a haircut until we get home, I don't want to look like a bald Chihuahua.

Good news today, Gianni is home and doing well and is looking forward to next years trip!

TWO MORE FALLS

It was drizzling and 59 degrees this morning. Good thing they went for the boat ride yesterday because today the lake was choppy and looked very cold. What to do today? Jim wanted to go for a bike ride and Kathe wanted to go for a hike to a waterfall. Jim said they could probably do both. Me, I stayed home watching the chipmunks prepare for winter. From the looks of things, I think it's going to be a cold one.

First up was Watson Falls, which is about 17 miles from Diamond Lake. Watson Falls is a 272 foot waterfall on Watson Creek, a tributary of the Clearwater Lake. The trail was a little over 1/2 mile out and back, but it was a very steep uphill climb. Watson Falls is the 3rd highest waterfall in Oregon, and it drops over a wall of basalt, crashing into a slope of moss and vine maples.

Next it was a trip to Toketee Lake and the hike up to Toketee Falls. It's one of the most famous waterfalls in Oregon, and there were a lot of hikers on the 0.8 mile trail. The sign said the

trail was strenuous, with 97 stair steps up and 125 down. What it didn't say was that all of those steps, up and down were just to see the falls. Then, to get back down you had to climb the stairs up and down again. The view was breathless, in more ways than one! The falls are two tiered, a 28 foot upper tier plunges into a pool, followed by an 85 foot plunge into a larger pool. Beautiful!

Oh, and when they got back after all this hiking, Jim went for an 11 mile bike ride around the lake. Now, he's wondering why he's so tired?

This is our last night here in quiet Diamond Lake.  We really enjoyed it here. Tomorrow we head for Canyonville, Oregon for 4 days before starting home to California.

A DAY ON THE WATER

Today was supposed to be the day that everyone was going to go fishing. Warren and Jim reserved a pontoon party boat for the whole day on Diamond Lake. Unfortunately the Taylors had to go home yesterday, but Kathe and Jim decided to take the boat for a private party anyway. They asked me to go with them, but I declined the invitation. It's too hard to sleep on a rocking boat, and I do need my sleep.

It turned out to be a sunny and warm day on the lake. Jim knows his way around boats, so they were off and running in no time at all. He had to get a fishing license and sign a whole bunch of paperwork before they were able to start out on the water. The water was calm and there were very few boats on the lake. Kathe packed a picnic lunch for them and lots of snacks.

Jim caught two very nice size rainbow trout and was hoping for more. Dark clouds started rolling in at about 3:30 so they decide to head back to shore in case it stared to rain.  Most of the day the water was calm, but in the afternoon it was a little choppy so they were glad to call it a day and head for home
.

Right now we are hearing loud thunder off in the distance and hoping that we don't get any lightning or rain this evening.

SAD DAY

This morning before we even had breakfast, Kathy T knocked on our door to tell us that they were going home. Gianni has been very sick these past couple of days and he is in a lot of pain and crying out whenever he is touched. They want to take him back to the Desert as soon as possible and see their vet in Indio. All three of us are upset, but Kathy and Warren have to do what is best for Gianni. We will really miss them and try to carry on by ourselves, but it's just not the same without our friends.

Kathe and Jim just sat around all morning, wondering what to do today. By noon time they decided to take a road trip to Crater Lake which is only a few miles from here. They took some pictures and looked around for a couple of hours before coming back to camp. Crater Lake was as beautiful as always, and even better without so many tourists today.

We still don't have internet or cell service so I'm hoping that I can post the pictures they took today.  Jim took several pictures of the Lake and Vidae Falls.

A NIGHT IN THE DARK

I tried and I tried last night to get on the WIFI but after a few hours of trying, I gave up and went to bed. I don't know what happened, but this afternoon I'm back in business. Too many people blogging.

Yesterday was a day of searching for waterfalls in this area.  There are supposed to be 6 of them. They spent most of the day driving, and they were able to find two of the six. One of them, which was called Lemolo Falls, required a mile hike into the forest. Warren found lots of huckleberries on the hike which helped to keep their energy up for the hike back up and out of the valley.

The second waterfall was a lot easier to find, there was a sign on the highway with an arrow pointing out the forest road. That one was called Clearwater Falls and because it was so well marked there were a lot of other people there. My humans brought a picnic with them so that they were able to stay and enjoy the area before deciding that the other 4 waterfalls will have to wait.

This morning was a bike riding day and they set out for a ride around Diamond Lake. Well, Kathy, Warren, and Jim rode all around the 11 mile bike trail not my Kathe. She rode with them for about 3 miles and then turned around and rode back to the RV. My Kathe is not much of a bike rider, but she had some fun riding back at turtle speed!

I'm not even going to try to blog tonight, it's just too frustrating!

DIAMOND OF THE FIRST WATER

I told you yesterday that I wasn't feeling tip top. I was really quite sick, I didn't even want any treats or dinner or even a drink of water. Kathe got so worried that she called the vet back home and they think I picked up a bug from the lake somewhere in the last couple of days. Now I have to take a terrible tasting pill twice a day. I already feel better--bring on those treats!

We arrived a Diamond Lake RV Resort this afternoon and we are all loving it. Our site is in the pine trees and we are minutes away from a beautiful lake. This is a picture from the front window. There are tons of chipmunks and squirrels running all over the place. Gianni and I are going to work together to catch one of those little buggers. We have 6 whole days to do it.

For the humans there is trout fishing, boating, hiking and lots of Jeep trails. Jim lined up a party boat for Tuesday so there may even be some fish  frying in the future.

Of course the internet is horrible, but Jim put the booster on the roof, otherwise I wouldn't be  able to write this tonight. Phone service is non existent here, but the humans can text and send emails, so its not exactly the end of the world!

And the Lake is beautiful!