SUMMARY OF TRAVELS

This will be my last posting until next December.  My life at home isn't that exciting to post a blog, only when we are traveling.

 

We traveled 8507 miles and spent $2975.00 in diesel fuel. We didn't go to as many places as usual because of the high cost of diesel.  The most we paid was $4.19 per  gal, the least, 3.42 in NV. Our average was around $4.00 per gallon. We stayed in place a lot more than usual. The furthest south we went was Phoenix. We did take a fast side trip driving the truck only to Texas to attend the funeral of an uncle. We drove 2000 miles on that trip, so our total was really only 6507 miles.

 

We went to a few areas  that we had never been before, Yosemite National Park, Iselton, CA, Lake Tahoe and Genoa, Nevada. If you have never been to Yosemite or Lake Tahoe, try and take a vacation there. They are both very beautiful.   It is always fun to see new places.  That's what traveling is all about.

 

We belong to a lot of travel clubs so our nightly rate isn't very much. Most of the time our nightly rate (in order)  was -0-10-4-16-0-0. For 5 months we spent $1168.  The last 10 days we were in public places that weren't in our camping organizations, so our nightly rates were high, $37 and $33 per night. For those 10 days we spent $447.00.  Quite a difference when you belong to organizations.

 

We had a lot of fun meeting new and old friends, exploring,  relaxing and enjoying the sun.

 

Hope you enjoyed the blog as much as I liked posting our travels for our family and friends to see.

 

Until next year...........

HOME

We left Minden, Nevada on Tues, May 7th. We were planning on leaving Monday, after the Cowboy festival, but found out that some friends of ours that we had met a few years earlier had just bought a house in Fallon, NV. It was only about 60 miles away so we went to visit them and see their new house. They are not going to be RVing anymore. We will miss seeing them at different parks.

The first day we got to Weed, CA, about 50 miles from the Oregon border. This time of year, the Siskiyou Mountains are good, no snow. Last night we got to Albany, OR. This has always been our first park on the way down and our last on the way up. Weather has been perfect.

 

By the time most of you read this, we will be home. I wasn't really looking forward to going home. I  do miss family and friends, but I really enjoy traveling.  By the time we leave, Denny is always anxious to get home, 5.5 months is enough for him. I could stay out longer.   Once we actually got started for home, I was getting anxious to get there too.

 

I will probably one more blog to tell our total mileage and expenses. Diesel is the most expensive.

 

Hope to see you all soon

RAW MEAT, ANYONE?

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, we were in Lake Tahoe to visit friends, Bob and Lou. We had spent time with them at Parker, AZ for the last 2 years. They live in Lake Tahoe. They are a great couple, married for 45 years. She is 80, he is 70. She was a cougar, long before it became a popular name for older women marrying younger men. Go Lou!

 

We had known for a few years that Bob eats only raw food, nothing cooked. We usually see him eating raw vegetables and fruits. We went out to dinner with them 3 times during the 10 days we spent with them. We always wondered how he got his protein. He doesn't eat any diary or beans because  they are processed.  He does eat raw nuts. When we went out to eat he ordered RAW steak twice and once RAW trout. The waitpersons always did a double take and said they would ask the cook if that was allowed. Sure enough, it was. I was surprised,  I thought a restaurant would be afraid of being sued if they got sick.  It  was  a  little strange seeing him eat the fillets. . No salt or pepper because that is processed. He got his steaks, trout  and raw veggies. He also eats raw chicken and  eggs. I'm glad I didn't see him eat an egg. I have heard of people eating only raw food before, but I  had never thought of raw meat, chicken or eggs!

 

He hasn't eaten anything cooked for 25 years. He is the healthiest person I know, certainly for his age and even for  much younger people. At Parker, he runs on the beach in the mornings carrying 2- 15 pound weights. He doesn't take any prescriptions, he hasn't had a physical since 1975. He is never sick. They were very athletic when they were younger, mountain biking, hiking, cross country skiing and kayaking, which they still do.  Just hearing all their stories made us feel very tired.  They are still very active, much more than we are.   He must be doing something right, but I can't imagine doing it myself.

 

While we were there, they planned our days to see all the sights. We saw a lot more of the Lake Tahoe area than if we had been there by ourselves and doing the regular tourist thing.  It took a lot of preparation and  we really appreciated it.

 

Out geocaching with Bob and Lou. We didn't find it!

 

 

 

Out for a steep hike. I couldn't keep up with them.

 

 

Their house in Lake Tahoe.

 

 

 

Genoa Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival

May 3rd thru the 5th

Our  friends  from  Lake  Tahoe   go to this festival every year,  so  we decided  to  join  them.  It is Old Time Cowboy Music, not country music, like you hear today. It isn't my type of music, but Denny grew up with it.   It was  more  interesting than  I thought.  Genoa started out as a trading post for pioneers  on the Emigrant Trail.  It is the oldest town in Nevada. I love history so that part was interesting to me. I had never heard Cowboy Poetry,  but  it  was very good.   There  were  a lot of  REAL cowboys there, not just dressing the part.  Of course, we also did some caching. We don't do sightseeing without caching along the way.

 

There were a lot of street musicians. The man on the right was playing spoons.

 

 

 

There were a lot of people dressing in the era. Can you imagine wearing all those clothes on hot days.

 

 

There was a civil war reenactment. Amazing to see how life was back then

 

Imagine living like this!

 

 

I thought this was so cute. I don't think kids play tug of war anymore. I remember playing it as a child. This was part of the muzzle loaders reenactment.

 

 

 

 

Besides the civil war reenactment, there was also the muzzle loaders, showing how life was in the 1840's and 50's.

 

This is an original building in Genoa.

 

 

 

They used to call bars "thirst parlors".  No mincing of words then, exactly what it is.

 

 

This is an original building

 

 

We were looking for a geocache in this pine tree. I have never seen blooms like this

 

 

 

All of the pine cones turn into the above lavender blooms. Anybody know what kind this is?  Never did find the cache

 

 

 

This is  the historic Pink House. When it was built, pink was the popular color of 1855.  Good looking couple in front, but they don't look like cowboys

 

 

 

More Lake Tahoe

Here are pictures of Lake Tahoe. I'm only downloading a few so I don't bore you. The area is so beautiful, I was taking pictures every time we stopped.  Hard to decide  what to show you.

 

 

 

 

 

Saw this house along the shore. The roof is glass. How do they keep it clean?

 

 

We took a hike to the shoreline from Emerald Bay. We saw this large home at the bottom. A rich family wanted a summer home there. There is no road so all the materials had to come in by boat. It was built in 1863. Amazing.

 

 

The side wings of the home have grass roofs.

 

 

Notice the details on the eaves. Also the detail of the chimney.

 

This island is in front of the mansion. The lady of the house built the little room at the top because she wanted to have tea there in the mornings. Money can buy you anything!

 

 

 

Notice how clear the water is.

 

 

 

A lot of sandy beaches. I wasn't expecting that.

 

 

I picked out the best, but I have  so many more

 

 

 

TRUCKEE/ LAKE TAHOE

April 25 - May 2nd

We were so busy in Truckee and lake Tahoe that I didn't have time to update my blog. I was tired every day  from sightseeing  and geocaching.  We visited friends that we had met at Parker, AZ for the last 2 winters. Their home is Lake Tahoe. They had everyday planned to show us the area and geocache. They are avid cachers.  We stayed  in Truckee. It is the closest RV Resort to Lake Tahoe, 17 miles away. 

 

I took so many pictures and it was hard to decide what to show you.  First they took us to Donner State park. To get here we went over Donner Pass. If you remember your history, you know what happened at Donner Pass. I won't go into the details. Amazing story.

 

 

This is our campground. Notice the tall pole to the left of the truck. It measures the snow level. This park is open year round, but the area has a LOT of snow. Never stayed where they measure the snow. YIKES

 

 

This was a statue to all the Emigrants that passed here on the way to the coast of CA. Notice the height of the statue.  It is the level of snow that year.  Never before or since have they had that much snow. The state park is where the Donner Party  built their winter cabins. The statue is 30' high

 

 

This is a snowshoe for a horse. Never thought of that before. It is very, very heavy. Imagine the weight of 4 of these.

 

Views of Donner Lake

 

 

 

Beautiful overview. This lake is small compared to Lake Tahoe.

 

 

This is an overpass from Truckee to Lake Tahoe. It is heated in the winter so there is no ice buildup. Think of the cost, this bridge is about 10 miles long.

 

 

 

We took a hike along the Truckee River ( geocaching along the way, of course). This was used to get across the river in the 1800's. Notice the rope along the top.  Kind of scary looking

 

 

 

THE DELTA

We came to the Delta area of Iselton, CA. on April 18th.  It is a little northwest of Stockton.  It is a maze of tributaries of the San Joaquin River.  There has been alot of flooding in past years because the land  has a lower elevation than the river.  The roads are just berms built up to protect the land.  As you drive down a road, the river is lower on one side. The land on the opposite side is lower than the river by quite a bit. Our park has an elevation of 32'.  The road is at 92' and the river is 86'.  Doesn't take much for flooding.  We have spent the last week geocaching, wine tasting  and sightseeing. We have never been to this area.

 

These are pictures trying to show you the differences of the road, river and campground.

 

In the first one, I am standing on the road looking down to the water. 92' elevation.

 

 

I'm standing in the campground looking up to the road.

 

 

This one I'm on the road looking down into the campground. Can't really tell in the picture, but this is quite a steep hill going out of the campground.

 

 

 

This view is from the restaurant (which doesn't open until May 1st, darn) down the river

 

 

 

Looking at the Delta

 

 

 

These are typical of the narrow roads along the Delta

 

 

 

There are more wineries in this area and Lodi than in Napa.  We went to 5 out of 88. One did a very informative thing. They listed all the grapes and how they were grown. They are all different. From the road, grapes look like grapes, all the same, but they aren't. Up close you can see the differences of how they are grown

 

 

 

We took a long scenic drive along the Delta. Closest town to us is Iselton. Founded in the mid 1800's with a population of 2000 people

 

 

 

The next town is Locke, the oldest Chinese town in CA. Founded in the erly 1800's, at one time, was exclusively Chinese. Now only 12 of the 200 people here are Chinese.

 

 

 

Our drive took us along a lot of very fertile farmland and in the middle of nowhere, a huge mansion. It was built in 1904. We couldn't go inside becuase it was closed for a wedding. Beautiful  grounds for the big day.

 

 

 

After looking back at this, it sounds like a history and geography lesson I'm giving you. Sorry about that. I just like  people to see the areas we have been at.

 

Onto Lake Tahoe tomorrow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures of Bass Lake

We traveled to Iselton, CA yesterday. It is 13 miles west of  Lodi, CA, just north of Stockton. There are a maze of tributaries of the San Joaquin River, covering about 100 miles. it is called the Delta. More about the area later.

I mentioned on my last blog that my Internet connection wasn't very good, but it is back to normal here. I think it was because we were up in the mountains and trees at 3500'.  I couldn't send pictures, but here are a few of the lake and area we stayed at

 

This is an overview of Oakhust, the closest town to where we stayed. Great little town of about 13,000 people. If the weather is good, we will definitely come here again next year. Felt so at home. Could be because it is the first time we have seen anything but desert for a long time. By the end of out travels, we miss the green of trees and mountains.  

 

 

 

This is an Airstream trailer. I'm showing it because we have never seen one with a slide out. I love them, they are so retro looking, but so small inside without any slides. We were amazed.

 

 

Views of  Bass Lake. Not sure how big, but it looks  huge. Lots of boating and kayaking.

 

 

 

The pictures I took were on a cloudy days, but most times there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I took these out geocaching. We had just found a cache hidden in some rocks.