ON THE ROAD AGAIN------FINALLY

December 3-13,  2019

We had to leave  on our travels about 1.5 weeks later than usual. Denny had a partial knee replacement on Oct 10th. His last doctors appointment wasn't until a few days before Thanksgiving. The doctor was very pleased how it looked after only 6 weeks and said we would be fine to go. Planned on leaving on Thanksgiving. The day after his doctor appointment,  Joyce, Denny's sister,  passed away. The funeral wasn't til Dec 1st. It was a very sad time, Joyce and Denny were very close. They talked almost everyday.  I had made reservations for our entire time, so I spent a day changing campgrounds and dates.  Couldn't get in some places we usually go to and the Siskiyous, the big Mountain Pass between Oregon and California that is our usual gauge on when we leave was going to have snow. Had to change our itinerary completely for the first 2 weeks.

We left Dec 3rd. Because of the Siskiyous, Denny had to drive much longer days than he likes. He usually drives around 200-250 miles for 4-5 hr drive. Our first day was 395 miles in 7.5 hrs. Exhausted by the time we got to the first campground.  As we were relaxing after setting everything up, the sconces over the couch and table went out. Also the plug in that we use for the coffeepot didn't work. Then the TV went out. Never had so many things go wrong at once. Very frustrating, especially after such a long day. Denny tried everything to find out what was wrong, but to no avail.  I think there was something wrong with the electrical in the park because the next  morning, everything was fine. 

A MYSTERY OF LIFE

On Dec 5th, we got to our first official destination, San Benito RV , a Thousand Trails park.  It is about 100 miles south of San Francisco. We  hadn't been here for many years. After we were there  a few days, we remembered why we had said that we would NEVER be back. SENIORITIS MOMENT when I was figuring out where to go. There are little stickers everywhere on the ground. Even tho we take our shoes off inside, we had those stickers all over the floors. Hard on bare feet, OUCH!  When we were there before, they had a big electrical problem from squirrels eating all the underground wiring. Hard to find a spot. They had it pretty much under control now, but,  you couldn't walk around the park with your head up. There were so many holes from where they were trying to catch the squirrels and gophers. Had to watch where you were going. 

The trees there are very old, large  and the trunks are intertwined with each other

The tree below grew this way along the ground

All of the dirt you see on the grass are the holes that are everywhere. As I said, hard to walk

Pictures we took on the way down 

Views of the are around Hollister, CA, our first stop

It rained the night before and this rainbow appeared. Took the picture from our truck on our way wine tasting

On our way down we always stay at the Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield, CA. There is an orange tree at every site. When they are in season, you can pick as many oranges as you want. Can't get fresher than that. They were so juicy