Diane’s wearing his favorite coat because she’s cold, too. It was 29 when I got up this morning. That was outside. Inside it was a numbing 39. You’d think that smart people would leave a heater running through the night, right. Well, I’ve read too many stories about those things catching on fire. As for the propane furnace, they kill people in the night, too. So, we just let thing go natural and deal with it. Besides, once everyone is up the furnace warms it up quickly. That’s true unless you’re me, and you get up 3 hours before Diane, and you really do not want to turn the furnace on until she gets up. That’s not because I’m afraid, honest. It’s because it’s the kind thing to do. The furnace is noisy.
The drive from Highway 101 to I-5 was without incident. We did it at 55 mph most of the way and the bus performed perfectly. Not once on this trip has it overheated. Though I haven’t previously mentioned that issue, it’s been on my mind every step of the way.
We got to Armitage Park in Coburg around noonish. Since we are only staying one night, and we were in a pull-thru, there was no need to unshackle the car from the bus. For some odd reason we may never understand, I did it anyway. We had no plans to go anywhere so it’s perplexing that my mind allowed me to do that. Now I’ll have to put it all back together in the morning.
Max got to play in the dog run for a while and made a couple of new friends. Since I forgot to take my phone with me, a punishable error, I didn’t get any photos. Trust me when I say he got in a few zoomies that he’s been missing since last summer.
We don’t have a view of the southern sky so no satellite connection tonight. We do, however, have access to Netflix, and the Dish DVR for recorded shows. So, we watched old stuff, had a simple supper, then went to bed, anticipating our early arrival home tomorrow.
When I got up this morning it was about 3 degrees outside and maybe 22 inside. I was astounded that our pipes (hose) didn’t freeze up. I could only attribute that miracle to my inability to read the thermometer properly. Actually, that’s just a lie, one of many I will make this day. It was probably closer to 30 degrees. Still, it was this cold . . .
Max didn’t care. He happily donned his gay apparel and escorted me around the campground. He was excited to be here because he heard something about this being bear country. Cougars, too. He loves new things to smell.
Speaking of smells, it’s always as great finish to our morning walks when we open the bus door and are greeted by the wonderful smell of freshly brewed coffee. It’s pretty awesome.
Today we visited a couple of Florence Thrift stores, as well as their Goodwill Store. The big purchases were a couple of squishy toys for Max. He loves it when we do that. It’s fun to take him shopping, too, so he can pick the toys he wants, but he stayed home this trip. On a thrift store trip in Tucson Diane ventured out alone while Max and I stayed home and rested. When she returned, she said she got a couple of new ‘friends’ for Max as she set here plastic bags on the floor. She left the room and Max got down from wherever he was sitting and stuck his nose in the bag containing many items and pulled out his gifts, one at a time, and decided it was play time. I may have mentioned this previously, but it was amazing enough to mention it again. He knew which items were his.
Amazing.
We’ve both been wanting as good seafood meal to commemorate our trip but the chosen venue on the wharf was serving only chowder because their coolers were on the fritz. So, we went looking for a replacement and settled on the Krab Shack.
On the way inside you could tell right away that it wasn’t a restaurant because there was a sign “This isn’t a restaurant” on the door. I returned to Diane to discuss our options, and we decided to buy some crab and make our own Louies.
I returned to the Shack and bought half a pound of fresh Dungeness crab. I would have bought a whole pound, but figured at $60/lb., half would do just fine. And it did.
The rest of the day was building the salad so we could park ourselves in front of the TV and watch a Noovie, or two, to finish the day. Or maybe another couple episodes of really old NCIS episodes. Whatever we did, it was relaxing.
We drove to Florence with no mishaps the, following the GPS, we drove a few miles beyond the city to the RV Park located in the country somewhere. It was one of those moments where you feel like you’ve accomplished your goal, then you pass it by, looking over your shoulder as it fades away into the distance. You want to reach back and grab it so it won’t get away. But it does, and you must move on down the road.
Eventually, we made it to Mercer Lake Road, and were rewarded with a sign leading to the elks park. It’s like a surprise because just when you think it’s never going to reveal itself, there it is. We pulled into the area, stopped to check in, and Hayden came to meet us and get it done so we could park.
The park has nearly 50 sites and there were very few in use so getting a spot wasn’t a problem. That’s good because it’s first come first served. As it turned out, #19 was open and it was about 50 feet across the parking lot from the office. An added benefit was it has sewer. Not many of them do. That was a good thing because we needed to dump.
Hayden is a character, and we got along great. He’s a retired Army Sgt Major. He said the job of managing the park was his first trip off the mountain in the last 20 years where he lived on a farm with his wife. He said he didn’t have to leave the ranch because his wife did all the shopping. With his new job for the elks, he said dealing with people is a newly acquired skill since he sold the ranch and moved down to sea level. He’s a great guy and reminds me a lot of our friend Larry, right down to the mustache.
Another added benefit it space #19 is that it has a southern exposure which means we have access to the Dish satellites. That’s very good because it was out intention to watch the super bowl this afternoon. So, the first thing I did, after getting the bus hooked up, was dial up the satellite and get it connected. It did all that and the reception was excellent.
Diane chose to cook since I’ve been driving a lot lately and she figured it would be a nice break for me. It was indeed. She made us ham, sweet potatoes, green beans, and cherry turnovers. It was pretty awesome.
Just before we sat down to eat, Diane paused the Dish just as the pre-game festivities started. That way we could sit and watch it together. It was paused for about 30 minutes and was working really well through the festivities, and through most of the 1st quarter of the game before it just froze. It was very perplexing. None of the remote buttons worked and I eventually had to restart the Dish receiver. That was the only way to get it going again. Start over.
Thankfully, the picture came back and we had missed about one quarter. When it froze the Eagles were up 7-0. When it came back it was 17-0. All we missed was another TD and a FG by the Eagles. We were surprised that KC hadn’t scored yet. Then, after watching their offense get pushed around by the Eagles it was evident why they hadn’t.
In the end, we were happy the Eagles won. It was more fun to watch than many of the previous SB games because there was a lot of scoring. Most of the old games were all about defense and kinda got boring when no one scored. Since we were rooting for the Eagles, this game was right up our ally.
After the game I took Max for a long walk in the woods. He was very appreciative. We walked all over the place until my feet got cold enough that I couldn’t feel them. I suspect Max’s feet were numb, too, so we went back to the bus.
That was the day. It was a good one. We will be here for two nights to recover from all the arduous driving we’ve been doing. Jennifer, our daughter, has been following us and sent a text that “… we’re only 2 hours away so why is it taking so long to get home?” She added that”…we could have driven down and had dinner with you.” Funny girl.
Everybody back home has been concerned about the knock I took on my noggin and questioned my ability to drive safely since the accident. But I’m doing just fine. Diane has confidence in me to get us home safely, so that’s what I plan to do,
It was another nice drive up Highway 101 then it got bad for the last 15 miles or so. We had to leave the highway and finish the transit on really narrow roads. Fortunately, the was very little traffic so that wasn’t a concern. I just slowed down and went slow. That made everyone happy.
Alas, we finally made it to our destination safely and got parked nicely on the second try. The first try almost added a palm tree to the things I’ve run into over the years.
For lunch, we pulled off the road about an hour from journey’s end and had PB&J sandwiches again. That used up the remaining bread. It was getting old and making it go away was a blessing. Half my sandwich was a heel, which I like. The exact location for our stop was Nesika Beach, in the Gold Beach area.
There are very few happy campers in the park, so we are not crowded at all. It’s pretty much empty, actually. It’s a little bit scary out there in the dark.
Not much to share here other than the fact it took a long time to get here on the little wiggly road the GPS chose.
I took Max for a long walk this morning and didn’t get a drop of rain on me. Now that we’re almost ready to wrap things up here in Eureka, it’s raining again but it’s OK. I’m almost immune to getting wet and worrying about it. The key word here is “almost”. I’m not a fan of having rain pouring off a roof, down my neck. Makes me very cold just thinking about it.
The trip up Hwy 101 was very nice and actually beautiful. The sky was clear, it didn’t rain and traffic was sparse. Pretty much a perfect travel day. We got to our evening stop between 2-3 pm and Max was excited to be parked. While I worked on setting things up, Diane tethered him to the picnic table and when I gave him an option to get in the bus he just laid down. That’s “no” in Max’s language. I understand. It was very pretty out and he’s been couped up for a few hours.
About halfway here we stopped at a Rest Area and made PB&J sandwiches. I also ate two carrots. It was a good lunch. Eating lite like that made it easy to plan for a big supper in town.
After a brief search we settled on Catalyst Seafood. I dished up Max’s dinner then we headed down to the restaurant. It was a good choice. Diane had fish and chips and I had a crab salad with a bowl of chowder.
After we got back, I took Max for an extra-long walk because he deserved it. We made a circuit of the A loop stopped about a hundred times to analyze the bouquet of odors assaulting his nostrils. He’s very serious about things his nose tells him.
Here’s the view from Harris Beach State Park Space #20. It’s very stunning. There’s even a southern exposure so Dish works perfectly.
Here’s something fun. Did I mention that the light fixture in the bedroom leaks? Yup, when it rains, it drips. One more thing to fix one of these days. It’s a 12VDC light so I’m not too concerned about it. I think I know how the water’s getting in but I’m not going to investigate it until we get home.
Another interesting bit of info is that I’m pretty sure I cracked a rib this morning when I sneezed. For some reason I tried to suppress it and I was bent a little in the wrong direction. Consequently, when the sneeze happened anyway, I was subjected to an extremely painful stab in my back, left side. The pain actually went all the way around, under my left arm and across my chest. It was explosive. Since then, I cannot take a deep breath without recreating the pain. Neither can I blow my nose, or cough without severe pain. If I’m not careful about how I move my arm, like reach for something quickly, it feels like something is not connected properly and I get the pain again. In between those bouts of pain there is no pain, and I forget that it will happen again if I’m not careful. And, I always forget that it’s going to hurt again. I need a chiropractor. Until then, I’m just going to do a lot of sucking in my breath from the pain when I forget. I don’t know, yet, if I can lay down without moaning a little.
Time to stop so I will leave you with our first Oregon sunset since last summer.
It’s been a long harrowing day on Highway 101. We left Willits around 1000 and made our first stop in town at the local Les Schwab to have the RV tires first pumped up a little. Actually, they needed to be pumped a lot. Most tires had 65-70 psi, and we needed them to be 90. My assigned Les Schwab tire jockey fixed us right up in about 5 minutes, then we were on our way.
It was raining when we started but it quickly turned to snow mixed with rain. As we progressed, the mixture of snow to rain turned to mostly snow, then only snow. Thankfully, the roads remained clear so there was no problem on the road. I kept the speed at 55 because 101 is a wiggly road so even though the speed limit for most of the trip was 65, but I stuck with 55 anyway. That made both Diane and me happy.
Putting more air in the tires made a big difference in how the bus handled. Steering was much easier and we didn’t jump around as much as it has up to this point in time. Should have done that years ago.
We got to Eureka around 1432 hours and parked in space #1. After getting it all hooked up, I went in and paid for 2 nights as directed. When I got back to the bus Diane told me that she’d made a big mistake because she already had a reservation for Tugman State Park for the 8th. That means I would have had to drive nearly 5 hours on Saturday. So, we reverted to 1 night and plan to spend tomorrow night in Harris State Park in Brookings. That was the original plan.
We’re staying home this evening. Diane thought about getting dinner at KFC but the one she found only got 2 stars and she won’t eat at anyplace that has 3.5 or lower. We have food so will cook this evening. I think it’s going to be ham, baked potatoes, and some sort of vegetable. Probably beans.
It appears that I’m going to survive my fall. For a while there I’m sure Diane wondered if the damage was permanent. The damage to my glasses is certainly permanent. I do have a spare set of spectacles thanks to Jennifer. The only drawback to using the spares is they were calibrated for computer use. Therefore, distance vision, though a little fuzzy, is better than having the glasses fall off my face at a critical moment. So, we’re going with them. Besides, Diane said she like them better than the bent glasses because they don’t make my face look mean.
We’re heading north, finally, up Highway 101, west of the snow. The snow was a concern because neither of us wants to be driving in that stuff. I do have chains for the bus, which I purchased years ago in the event the road rules dictated that travelers must carry traction devices. Well, I’ve got them, but I have no intention of ever installing them. My plan, if I’m ever in a situation where chains are required, I’d simply turn everything off, hand my keys to some lucky devil, and catch a ride home. I know, that’s a tad radical, and I probably wouldn’t do that, but it’s an option.
Thankfully, though it’s a little chilly outside, it’s a cloudless sky. The sun is shining all over the place. Quite different from the typhoon welcome we got yesterday. That was miserable. My fuzzy shirt is still dripping from that episode.
Thinking back on that fall, both of us are a little bewildered because when I’ve fallen in the past, my knees always took a hit. Like lots of skid marks and sometimes bloody spots. This time, I had on new jeans and there wasn’t a mark on them from the fall. I studied the area where I fell for a long time. The spot where I hit the ground was evident by the dried blood.
At the time, I had Max with me, and he was attached to the long cable tether we use when he is out alone. That’s not ideal for walking him because it doesn’t retract. I figure that had something to do with the mishap, too. So, bear with me and see if this makes sense.
I lifted the dumpster lid with my left hand and deposited two bags of trash with my right. I remember that part. Then I turned to my right and took a step with my right foot. At this point Max found something interesting to my right and lunged that direction. I took another step with my left foot that ended close to the blue bumper. When I tried to keep up with my right foot the bumper was in the way and caused me to go down on my left side but somehow my knees didn’t hit the ground. They must have encountered the white bumper, and the remainder of the impact was absorbed by my right arm which should have caused me to roll left. But, considering the size of the blood spot, I must have laid there a while before getting up. Diane said I was gone about 1/2 hour, and the dumpster was only a couple of minutes away. I obviously did not tuck and roll like I’ve been trained to do.
It’s still very confusing and the mystery remains about why my pants didn’t get dirty. Not even one littler speck to commemorate the event.
Therefore, I proclaim that for some reason I was saved from catastrophic damage at the last second and time stopped for a bit.
Simple as that. Then I got up and went back to the RV, but I have no memory of that trip. My first semi-sentient moment was in the bathroom when Diane was cleaning me up and I suggested she take a photo to document this event. These memories were fleeting as was the trip to the hospital. I recall part of the trip and by the time we got to the first doctor I feel that I was aware of my surroundings just fine. It was weird but it didn’t bother me at all. Also, the pouring rain washed away all the evidence I left in the parking lot as if nothing happened at all.
The doctor wanted to keep me for observation in case something else happened, but we had places to be, so we talked him out of it
Now, about Mendocino County. That’s where Willits is located, our next destination.
The trip very nice, rolling through hundreds of acres of vineyards. It’s very peaceful and easy on the eyes after all the high desert sand. It was nice to be surrounded by fields of green grass interspersed by all those grapevines so perfectly lined up and so well-tended.
It rained a bit toward the end of the 2-hour trip which we drove non-stop. We found the RV Park easily and we were the first people to show up this day. Others arrived later, but the park is practically empty. It’s a very nice park and it’s a little sad we’ll be here for only one night.
After getting everything set up, we left Max in charge of the TV remote and headed into town for something to eat. The chosen destination was Lumberjacks Restaurant. It’s apparently a chain restaurant and it was really good. Diane had a hamburger, and I had a chicken-fried steak. Here’s the only photo taken inside the restaurant.
Diane took this to show everyone how well my eye is looking. I’m mending quite well, and it should be invisible by the time we get back home in Oregon.
The weather looks pretty good so it’s on to Eureka tomorrow.
Today was difficult for a number of reasons but the most obvious one was my injuries from the recent face plant.
Highway 12 most of the way through the Sacramento Delta area. Lots of water everywhere.
Rained most of the way but retained the gullywasher for when we were hooking up at EOJ..
Glasses suffered in the face plant and won’t stay on my face. Especially when it’s pouring rain.
We got all set then a guy from the lodge came along and said we have to have something under the jacks so we pulled the slides in and lifted the jacks. Then I put the rubber dodads I purchased in San Diego for just that purpose. Technically, the jacks are off the ground but not centered very well on the pads.
Yesterday, Diane asked me to get her cereal. and fiber. So I did, and stacked them up by her elbow. She didn’t know it was there so guess what happened. Yup. It all came tumbling down.
In her defense, she was neck deep in her plans that changed due to my face plant in the parking lot. We lost one day on the road. So far.
The village of Petaluma lives on Highway 101 about 100 miles from our current location. That’s a reasonable drive for a day on the road. I know, some of you guys don’t get off the road until you reach the final destination no matter how far it is. Right, Doug?
We used to do that all the time when we wore younger people’s clothes. I think that’s something like a refrain from a Billy Joel song.
Diane’s calculating our next step after reviewing the weather on points north. What she saw totally rules out travel on I-5 through the Siskiyou Pass, so we are going west from Lodi to Highway 101. I may have mentioned that as a possibility yesterday. Today it’s a firm decision.
It’s 1035 now and we must check out of here by 1100 so I need to go outside and unplug everything.
NOTICE: There’s a long pause here caused by the need to visit the Emergency Room.
OK. Change of plans. At this time, it is 1908 hours and it’s been a very busy day. If you can do basic math you will see that it’s been about 8.5 hours since my last entry. So, “what,” you may ask, “happened to make it a busy day?” “Well,” I could respond, “Jerrie fell down and broke his crown and bled all over the parking lot. It could have been worse, but a healthy young nurse provided the help that he got.” Yup,
Here’s what happened.
I took Max for a walk around the park, all the way around, and returned him home so I could prepare the RV for launch to our next objective. As soon as I opened the door, Diane handed me a couple of bags that required me to transport them to the local dumpster.
Being of sound mind I chose to obey to avoid damage to myself.
Max accompanied me, as usual, and we deposited the bags in the dumpster and I turned to my left as I stepped away, and apparently stubbed my toe against one of the parking barriers strategically located near the dumpster.
As a result of my foot striking the parking bumper, I tumbled forward, knowing that a painful landing was forthcoming.
The landing never happened, as far as I could tell, because my next cognitive memory was of me in the RV getting my face washed by the lovely Diane. Apparently, there was a disturbing amount of blood on the left side of my face that was caused by the landing I don’t remember. Yes, I’m missing approximately 40 minutes of time from the fall until I regained consciousness sitting on the toilet in the RV. Although I was bleeding profusely, I retained enough legitimate wherewithal to ask Diane to take a photo to commemorate this onetime event. She took two of them.
You can tell by my smile that all was not right with my face. At this point, I was unaware of the amount of damage the fall had caused. Why else would I be smiling like that?
My memory skipped a little here and my next coherent memory I was outside listening to Diane and Dianne discuss the best course of action to address this catastrophe; call an ambulance, go to the emergency room, or wait until tomorrow to see how bad it really is. A trip to the emergency room won the discussion.
Not knowing where the hospital may be, Dianne led us to the closest one around. Diane led me inside and introduced me to the intake nurse and said the magic words that gets you to the head of the line. She said, “I think he may have had a stroke that caused him to fall.”
Boom! I was in a wheelchair heading down the hall to get a CT scan. Once that was done I was strapped to a gurney and a nurse pasted electrodes all over my chest then connected wires to them randomly to initiate an EKG. I also got an automatic blood pressure cuff and an oximeter. All of this was connected to the equipment behind my head. I learned that if I took the oximeter off, it made a bunch of noise. So, I left it on.
They put an IV in my left arm and a short while later a young lady appeared to fill six tubs with my blood. She took this manually from my right arm. She was very good, and I let her know she was appreciated.
Then I laid on that gurney for the next 4 hours waiting for more info from the doctor or a nurse passing by. During that time my face took on a different look.
Later in the day I discovered a wound on the inside of my left lower lip. It, too, was caused by my fall, I’m sure.
I found this one with my tongue. I’m guess it would really hurt if I got some citrus juice on it so I’m staying away from the oranges.
Now that I’ve shared all of this, I must report that I’m feeling pretty good, all things considered. So our plans to move to Highway 101 at the coast. are back in motion. We leave tomorrow morning for Petaluma. It’s 84 miles away and is supposed to take about 2 hours.
Actually, we exited Highway 99 at Lodi and drove over to Woodbridge where we checked in to the Lodi Elks Lodge RV Park. Yes, the Lodi Elks Lodge is located in Woodbridge. I was a little confused, too, but got over it.
We planned to stay two nights, but the weather north of us is getting pretty bad so we are changing plans. Chico was in our sites for day after tomorrow, but the weather report for tomorrow will dictate our path.
Other than getting to the Lodi Elks safely, stopping in Turlock for fuel, and getting our holding tanks dumped, nothing has happened. So, let me share some photos I took at the Merced Elks RV Park.
First, the park is situated on somewhere between 20 and 75 acres. That’s as close as I can get by just eyeballing it. It’s a huge piece of property. Max and I walked to the fence line where I took a picture toward the left …
Straight across to the RV’s …
and to the right down the fence line.
Just ahead of us in the last photo are a few olive trees loaded with olives. Sorry I didn’t get a closeup photo for you.
While standing there, just looking around, a little brown chihuahua came running for Max from across the field.
We don’t know what his name is but he and Max acted like they were long lost friends. Since they were both off leash, they took advantage and ran all over the place. I did my best to keep up and wound up over by the orange trees by the laundry room.
The orange trees, 5 of them, are on the other side of those buildings. You’ll just have to use your imagination.
Another photo I got a kick out of was this one …
He likes to spend time outside, so we tether him to the RV. Since we spent so much time in Tucson where he had to walk on similar color-coded rocks, he chose to lay on the cement pad for the power connection. I suspect the pad was nice and warm and much better than laying on the rocks.
I’m struggling for things to add to this, so I just better quit and call it a day.
Temporary Sanity ... 