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 fact, 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.

SOLVANG TOURISTS

After a lazy start this morning, my humans left me home and headed out to join the hundreds of tourists in the Danish village of Solvang. They’ve been there before, so they knew what to look for. Aebleskivers! It’s a Danish dessert, puffy pancakes with raspberry jam and sugar. They stopped at the first place they were serving them, and they were delicious. They gobbled them up so fast that Kathe forgot to take a picture. They had to find them again after lunch for this picture. Needless to say, they really liked them! Lots of shopping followed, including a trip to the Solvang Ace Hardware store. You may be wondering why the hardware so soon on the trip.  Of course, there’s always something that needs fixing on a RV trip, only usually not the first day of a vacation.

First thing that happened on our coach was a latch that was supposed to turn the passenger chair around had a piece snap off. The chair was stuck facing forward. It took Warren and Jim working together to figure out that problem. They got things working again, but we will need to order the part from Tiffin to fix it permanently. Also, the Taylor’s needed a special screw to fix their shower door which was flapping open after the bumpy ride yesterday. That was an easy fix. But wait, it’s only the first day, we have six weeks so I’m sure there will be more things to fix. If you ask me, I think Jim and Warren really like to fix things.

WONDERLAND

We're at our first stop tonight in Buellton, at Flying Flags Resort. They have everything you could want in an outdoor playground.  There are over 700 sites counting the river sites, the wine cottages, the tiki tents, the safari tents and the vintage trailer sites. Only issue for me is the one million kids and half a million doggies running, biking or scooting around every corner. It’s really wild!

Ok, I guess it’s the end of summer and everyone wants to have fun, but in just the last half hour there’s been a scavenger hunt, a bicycle parade, and a baseball game. We can’t wait for quiet time, which is supposed to be 10 o’clock.  

As soon as we arrived, we set up camp and walked over to the Taylor’s rig for cocktails and dinner for the humans. After our doggy dinner Bella and I walked around to get the smells of the land, and to see what the other doggies were doing tonight. 

After the drive today, I’m not the only one who’s ready to call it a night. Tomorrow is another day and after another bowl of chicken, I’m ready to curl up and head to doggie dreamland.

BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Would you believe that I’ve never missed a summer motor home trip in my whole life! In nineteen years, I’ve seen more of the USA than most humans. Oh, the sights and sounds and especially the smells I’ve experienced on the road. I may be a little older this year, but so is everyone else around here. 

While my humans are running around packing up for the trip, I’m doing what I do best. Resting, napping and sleeping. Tomorrow, after breakfast we will be on the road, our first stop will be Solvang and the Flying Flags Resort  

This year might not be as exciting as Alaska was last year, but you can count on one thing, there’s always an adventure awaiting us. We will be driving up the coast to Oregon and Washington, and we plan to spend two whole months with our friends Kathy and Warren and little Bella. Hope you will follow along with us.