May 15, 2023 (Mon)
Noon Thunder Valley Casino Resort, Lincoln, CA
You wouldn’t think it would take that long for us to decamp from a parking lot, but you probably underestimate our laziness. Plus, it’s a challenge to do things when we have to turn on the generator to get electricity. We do not, however, feel at all shy about firing it up, since there are a dozen nearby trucks idling with their generators going.
Fun fact: We’re near a railroad! And every time they reach an intersection, they blow their horn! The train driver (are they still called “engineers”?) sure likes to make noise. All our windows are open, because we’re trying not to turn into baked human beans inside Harvey, so we can enjoy every decibel of the train action.
This might help explain why we’re moving a bit slowly….
Everything has a place to be stored in Harvey (this is usually stored in the microwave)
When we plug today’s route into our phones, we are cheerfully informed that there is a “flood risk.” Apparently, all that snow (from the last time we came through) is now melting and We Are Doomed. We’re not too worried, because we have swim suits, and with the weather as hot as it is, we’d be delighted to have a nice cold dip.
2:30 pm Turlock, CA
In Oregon, if you’re not on an Interstate, you are driving on a two-lane blacktop through rolling hills and lovely countryside. In California even the side roads are four-lane freeways full of trucks (so many trucks!). It makes for efficient, although boring, travel.
We stop at Donnelly Park, which promises lots of geese and boy, it delivers! There are geese everywhere! We see one family with goslings (we think it’s a Mom and Dad, but we don’t know the social structure for geese—maybe it’s two Dads?), and another family with teenage geese (surly and resentful that they have to eat bugs).
Gini enjoys some soup and a baked potato at the park
Where we’re from, you do not even think about feeding geese, because they’ll beat you up and then poop on you, so Robert doesn’t share any of his left-over pizza with them, nor does he taunt them with it (“Ha ha! I’m not eating bugs!”).
Sullen teenage geese reluctantly cross the road with their parents, while pretending they’re not related
Our caution is justified when suddenly all the geese take off in one direction as though Macy’s was having a sale on Goose down comforters. One minute they are all milling around pecking at the ground, the next they are zooming over to the nearby lake. Robert heads over to see what the fuss is about, and finds that there are some swans who recently arrived?
We decide that we don’t want to hang around for the rest of the gang war and head back to Harvey and get back on the road.
4:50 pm Sequoia RV Park, Dunlap, CA
Not that it hasn’t been fun delving into the various and sundry atrocities that our representatives in the U.S. Government inflicted on Native peoples, but today we’re not staying at a Tribal Casino, Sure, we’re staying on land stolen from the Natives, but who isn’t?
The real reason is that this is our last night before we head into the California Autoharp Gathering (CAG), where we’ll be dry camping (boondocking) for a week. That means we want to make sure that our black water tank is empty and our water tank is full and our batteries are all the way charged.
The only Casino anywhere around (an hour north) was another parking lot, and we’ve seen plenty of those.
Which is how we ended up here at this RV Park, which features self-check-in (“Pick a spot! Venmo us the money!”) and full hook-ups. As it turns out, this RV park is practically on top of where we need to be tomorrow—just six minutes away from CAG, so our travel time tomorrow will be easy-peasy!
Immediately, Robert makes a new friend—the local cream-colored cat that inspects our RV for mice and rodents (we pass the inspection). Robert names him “Shameless,” because he’s shameless about getting his head scratched.
“Robert, we already have a cat!”
Frankie update
Speaking of cats, here’s the latest on Frankie (the cat place seems to employ at least a half-dozen young women, because every update has come from a different phone number):
“Hi! Here’s some photos of Frankie! He is such a sweetheart! All he wants is some pets, super cute. He’s having a blast!”
Frankie is also being shameless
Map
Monday Travel
Gini & Robert
Harvey Staff
"Everything has a place to be stored in Harvey (this is usually stored in the microwave)"
I thought Robert's red shoes went in the microwave.