California or Bust!!!

When I sat down to write this blog entry, I realized it has almost been a year since my last entry.  Theirs a reason for that, I guess.  My work life took a dramatic turn right after our trip to Hawaii and things got a little turned around.

Shortly after our  arrival back to rain and cold, I went to work knowing my time in investigations was nearing the end.  I knew I had four years and would be returning to the road.  It was no big deal and I had an invisible date circled on my calender for retirement.  That date was June of 2012.  This would work well for my retirement paycheck and I could possibly go without another job.

Then a short time later, I was just cruising the net and decided to check out jobs.  I ran across this position for the state and to make it better, it was in Aberdeen!  Wow, these things don't come around often.  I chose to apply and after resumes, interviews, sleepless nights and much soul searching, I, with Lori's blessing, accepted the job.  I had pretty much given up on the position and finally towards the end of Janurary, I received a call.

My start date was February 1.  I had little time to let the news and decision set in.  I was off to a new adventure and new friends.  It was very difficult to pull the plug and then start a new career all in two weeks time.  So, now you hopefully understand the absence a little.  I was in training for three months and working hard with no time off as I was anew guy.  This was very hard as I had become accustomed to having more time off than work!.  What a life to have to go back to real work hours.

So fast forward and here we are.  Months...well maybe weeks, okay, about two weeks into planning and we were off.  With my limited time off, I had to come up with creative time off 101.  A couple hours from here and 5.2 hours from there, add a holidy (labor day) and I had managed to get a full two weeks off.

Our destination this year was the San Fransisco area and then south towards  Las Vegas.  I only set up the first week as we were still making arrangements to possibly hook up with my brother Craig and his wife Debbie.  This left our trip pretty open so we could adjust for weather and things we wanted to do.

With the trailer packed and the truck ready, we were off on 9-2-2011.  Time on the road was about 2:41PM.  Tonight's destination was Seven Feathers Casino in Canyonville Oregon.  This is a pretty good jump, but by making it that far south, we could make our first destination of Vacaville, CA on Saturday.  I was a bit nervous to be on the road in the afternoon on Labor day.  As we headed south, technology gave us an assist during a rest stop just north of Portland.  I used my phone to check the street maps of Portland and any travel alerts.  Turned out there was problems on both freeways, but I 205 was showing a little less problems going south.  We followed the advice and trusted the GPS to alert of of the exact trouble spots.  We soon found out the GPS was set to route us around problems and it kept trying to have us exit the freeway.  We stayed on and encountered heavy traffic just as we re entered I-5.  As soon as we got on I-5, a semi merged directly in front of us and hit the brakes.  I slammed on the brakes and literally came within inches of striking the trailer.

We picked shorts out and continued.  It was time for dinner and soon a rest area made for our first meal stop on the road. After a quick meal and rest stop, we were off to a much less busy freeway.  We made it to Seven Feathers around 9:30.  The office was closed, but they had a spot for us and within minutes we were set up.  We got settled and headed to the casino.  We were tired, but needed to move around a bit.  We found black jack video machines at the bar and soon a bottle of Pendletons was sighted.  We relaxed a bit and decided to play some cards and dice.  We walked out with enough to cover todays expenses, so we were off to a great start!

We awoke to sun and warming skies in Southern Oregon.  Lori made us a breakfast sandwich and after fuel, we were off and soon entering California.  One situation was brewing quickly as Lori was desperately trying to take charge of the log book in a futile attempt to somehow discredit me.  She knew it would be tough and I reminded her that people remember the good things and to put her evil pen down.  She seemed bent on logging my every trip to the bathroom and then making some sick and uncalled for comments.  It was at this time, I remembered we had forgot her 'special' meds to calm her on our trip.  What did I do?  How do I keep her sedated for the entire trip?  How do I keep her from being committed?  Now you see what I go through on a regular basis.  I only mention this as during packing, one...yes one phone cord was left home.  She was determined to exploit this but quieted when advised it was for her phone.  Enough said!

Just before noon, the skies were heating up quickly and it showed it was about 95 degrees as we neared Redding, CA.  I found a coffee stop and we ducked off the freeway.  Luck was with us as there was a Subway next door and we were able to sit and enjoy the sun for lunch

Back on the road and it was agin time for a fuel and Potty stop.  We pulled into a Pilot Travel center and waited for one vehicle to pull away from the pump.  They kept screwing around as I was about to whizz myself.  Finally a restroom and relief.  We found a car cord and were back in business for charging phones in the truck.  Vacaville was a short 23 miles away on I-505.  When we pulled into the Vineyard RV park, we went quiet.  It looked old and not very pleasant.  We went in the office and I remembered this park was the one with a new section.  We were set up and ready to vacation in no time.  Other campers next to us were very nice and we were treated to Hors De Ovaries and local wine.  We had a nice visit and settled in for the night. Lots to do and much to see.

WINE COUNTRY

The date, 9-4.  Today, we decided to hit wine country.  We were off and soon driving through the vineyards of Northern California.  First stop was Luna.  Very expensive and classy.  Too much for us.  Lori educated the staff about the Westport Winery and mentioned how she got drunk once off Annie Green Springs.  We were escorted off the property when she asked if their brewery (ya where are those pills when you really need them) was nearby.

Next stop was Silverado and a much more satisfying experience.  Lori found a very nice bottle of Zinfindal.  We enjoyed our journey through the many vineyards, but something  much more important loomed in my head.  Yes, where to eat lunch?  I had an ace in the hole though, several years ago, we traveled this very area on our Goldwing.  I remembered a world famous barbecue pit restaurant in Calistoga.  We found it and had a wonderful lunch.  Ribs and chicken. Lori loved the corn bread so much, she went for seconds.

As we worked our way south, we found the Black Stallion winery.  This vineyard sits on the grounds of an historic Equestrian center. A beautiful fountain and some very good wine highlighted this vinyard.

Our last stop was Castello Di Amorosa  http://www.castellodiamorosa.com/.  We toured the castle and ended up at the tasting room.  Lori and I both tasted as they had many selections.  She found a great Muscat Canelli which is best shared with chocolate.  This was an expensive stop for us and walked out with quite a haul!

The office staff back at the RV park told us we must stop at the olive oil company ad tastee the different offerings in this unique location.  Traffic was extremely heavy in this area and parking was quite the challenge.  I had to 'Talk' to several motorists and finally found a spot to park.  I had to potty real bad but sucked it up and followed Lori into the Olive oil place.  One taste and I was ready to leave.  This place did nothing for either of us.  A struggle to cross the street and I went to a tasting room to use the potty.  As I exited, Lori had a weird stare and she showed me the price of the cheapest wine...$200.00!  We discreetly left with the exception of the lunch revolting.  We cleared the building before the smell hit...  we took some video with my new HD Hero and when we got to the trailer, I went to load it on the computer and found that I had forgot the USB cord to upload the video.  This went viral with Lori and her evil pen again...Women.

VACAVILLE

Today was a goof off day and see some loal sights.  We headed to the Jelly Belly factory in nearby Fairfield.  We got there early and looked around.  It was Sunday so the factory was not operating.  The tour was still very interesting and we learned all bout Jelly Bellies.  Loaded with free samples

We headed to old town and found a great deli for a sandwich and Latte.  We walked through the nearby park and enjoyed the sun and scenery.

Lori told me a place the Munson family always stopped was called the Nut tree.  We stopped into this combination shopping mall and kids place to walk, get a new camera battery and USB cord and get some ice cream.  It was a nice place and Lori explained the changes she had seen since the last time her family visited.


Next stop was the outlet mall.  Have you ever seen a cat in the window start twitching when they see a bird.  This is Lori every time we pass a large shopping center.  I gave in and soon regretted it.  As I rounded the corner, there it stood.  One of natures greatest tributes to commerce.  Here was over one hundred stores covering several square blocks.  Soon the walking was getting to me and my feet were killing me.  Lori marched on from store to store, oblivious of my demise.  To illustrate how much we walked, half way through she bought new shoes!  A quiet evening with barbecue salmon, and all was good.  Some medicine washed it all down and we crowned this another good day.

San Fransisco Day one

We re arranged our day tours as we could not get tickets to Alcatraz till Wednesday.  We extended a day in the area and were glad as there was so much to see.  When we had our tourist briefing in the main office, another great piece of advice was to take the ferry from Vallejo to San Fransisco instead of driving or taking BART.  We headed to the terminal and bought tickets. The hour long ride across the bay was a great way to get the lay of the land and see all the points of interest. 

Soon we were on shore.  I wore jeans today and this would later play into our afternoon.  It was already in the 70's and warming.  We walked a block up and caught the trolly up the hill.  We got off at China Town and walked through the area.  It was a steep climb up the hill to catch another trolly to fishermans warf.  I was already having lets say heating problems in my pants and it was getting a little painful to walk.  As we got off the cable car, there sat a Starbucks calling our name.  A rest and then the beginning of death march 2011.  Straight up the hill as we headed for Giradelli's chocolate factory.  We walked in and Lori gladly took a sample from a tall exquisitely dressed woman...no  guy...no...oh God!  We found a place called Lori's Diner and guess where we ate lunch?  Pretty good though and we sat over looking the bay and Alcatraz.


We walked down to the waterfront and explored the stores, sights and everything there is about Fishermans warf.  With walking came pain, uncomfortable feeling and more pain.  We were an hour or so from our ferry ride back.  We walked the several blocks to catch the Hyde street cable car.  This would take us to the top of the hill and then catch the California line to the ferry terminal.  Simple right?    The Hyde Street loading zone stretched around the block and we were going nowhere fast.  A look at the map and we decided to head to Powell street and hopefully a quicker loading.  Only problem was as I looked at the map, we head this way...oh boy straight up the hill for four blocks and then left for four blocks.  Pushing the limit of my heart and blood pressure, we made it too the street where we turned left.  Son of a &%#$.  The street goes back down and if we had just followed the waterfront, it would have led us to Powell street on a nice level street. Did I mention I am now bleed ing and a transfusion now seems appropriate.  We caught the Cable car and all was better.

As we neared the top of the hill, I saw the other line cross and we exited the cable car.  Guess what?  Directions were from the other route and we were now stranded on the top of the hill looking about 20 blocks from the ferry landing.  Yup,  death march continued and we walked to the pier.  I passed out twice from blood loss, but as we neared, we both fell to the ground and gave thanks for delivering us to our ferry.  As I laid there, a nice lady gave me a dollar!  Did I look that bad?  I sat on the deck and cooled down for the trip back to Vallejo only to remember we had parked about a half mile away from the ferry landing.  Two different aid cars came to check on me as I stumbled and walked wide legged back to the truck whimpering in pain.  Today was a huge success with that asterisk set aside for injuries. Neo Sporin powder and Advil are standard tonight.

San Fransisco Day 2

We got to the ferry in time for a latte and cinnamon roll.  As we exited the ferry, we had 30 minutes to get to the loading area for the boat to Alcatrz.  I had recovered well and thought, it was a fairly short walk to pier 33.  By the time we caught a trolly and walked, it would be tight on time.  We looked, it didnt seem far, so off we went again.  Just kill me now!.  We needed to get to pier 33.  I looked up and we were at pier 3.  My medical condition quickly raised its ugly head and I still had to walk all around Alcatraz.  We got their in time and caught the boat.  Once on the island we were briefed and told the walk to the actual prison was the equivalent of a 13 story buiding climb...God, what I done to deserve this.  Do they have a first aid station at top?  Thankfully the wind was enough to keep the destruction down to a minimum.  We took the self guided audio tour and both had a very enjoyable visit.

Soon it was time to head back.  we were hungry and I remembered seeing a sign for Bubba Gumps at Pier 39.  Thats only 5 piers away! Right...another near mile walk and we found Bubba Gumps was all the way at the end of the pier.  We had one of the best meals ever, bought some shirts and caught a trolly back to the pier for our ferry ride.  The San Fransisco leg of our trip was a great success.  We were sad to leave as we had only taken in a fraction of the city, but we needed to head south.  Join us soon for our Southern exposure continues!