I knew I was leaving too early. People told me I was leaving too early. But winter is just way too long. It cuts into the primo travel time when you have to wait until April to hit the road. And when you have a distance to travel to "start" your vacation, it's time to hit the road in March. Right? Maybe not.
The drive from Redding, CA to Salem, OR took 10 hours of nerve-racking driving in snow and ice and slush. I hate driving in that in the coach, especially towing. But let me start at the beginning ....
It had been so long (the end of October 2017) since I actually moved/drove the coach anywhere, I was a little apprehensive that I would miss or forget something, but all was well. Everything traveled nicely and my spreadsheets (you know there are always spreadsheets involved) were great checklists.
It feels good to be back behind the wheel on the road.
My first stop was Sacramento for my annual Freightliner service. Heading to Alaska I want to know nothing I can control is amiss. The nice service tech also hooked up my hose for me so I can fill my tires from my engine air compressor from now on. Good.
Not wanting to miss a sightseeing opportunity, I made a list for Sacramento. Unfortunately, my "window" was 7am to 10am and nothing opened until 10am. I did make a stop at the Blue Diamond Growers Visitor Center. Blue Diamond Growers is the world's largest tree nut processing and
marketing company. The corporation was founded in 1910, making it over
100 years old. The visitor's center provides tasting and shopping, along
with video's and information on how they produce their products, but no actual tour.
My next stop was the Libby Fruit and Vegetable Cannery. The Libby McNeill and Libby Fruit and Vegetable Cannery is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in Sacramento. Built in 1912, the
complex is comprised of nine separate brick buildings. They were the
first cannery with "iced" shipments and were the first to mechanically
compress meat into their patented tapered tins. The company no longer occupies this building; it is the IT department for Davis University.
And there is usually a bridge to see ....
The Tower Bridge is among several locations listed in the National
Registry for Historical Places in Sacramento. It was constructed between
1934 and 1936 and carried the main line of the Sacramento Northern
Railway across the American River. Today it is a fully functional bridge
for normal car traffic.
I stopped at Sutter's Fort -- not open until 10am, but there was a group of adults and children exiting the fort and the ranger said they has spent the night. They were all dressed in period costumes. It must have been a great experience.
I drove around the Capital Mall looking for the Moon Tree (This 120-foot redwood was planted in Capitol Park in 1976 after it traveled to space and back on the Apollo 14 mission.) but there was no place to park to go see unless I wanted to park in the structure for $12 ... not.
Old Sacramento reminded me of Knott's Berry Farm...wooden street and photo op and all ...
Fun place to visit ... after 10am.
Sacramento will definitely be added to the list for a return trip.
Back on the road headed (I thought) to Lassen Volcanic National Park. I should have known when my GPS tells me to turn on something called Concal Road it was not a good idea. Apparently, I was going to the center of Lassen Forest .... not an RV ready road. So, I needed to turn around and tried to do it at a trailhead parking lot. I would have made it except for the pile of snow. I should call it a pile of ice and rocks. Since it was solid and I didn't know if there was a larger rock involved, I opted not to try to "plow" through it. I had to drive the coach off the road a bit to get straight enough to disconnect the Jeep; get out; disconnect the Jeep; back up; reconnect the Jeep ... no problem except for the mud and then back on the road, retracing my route back to I-5. I spent the night at a rest stop in Redding, CA. There was a storm with heavy rain and 30+ mph wind. Even sitting between two semis I was getting battered.
I woke up to learn the road to Lassen Volcanic National Park just closed. It was raining here; snowing there. I can turn "left" and explore the Whiskeytown National Park, but that is an outdoor activity .... or go on to Lava Beds National Park. I head up I-5 to road warnings that chains are required 50 miles north of Redding. Yep, too early to hit the road heading north. :) Let me just summarize the next 10 hours and 400 miles as a type of hell. I did drive it, without chains, but my nerves were toast by the time I got to the campground. Interestingly, the worse of it was the 60 miles by Grants Pass, rather than Mt. Shasta, although that was pretty bad.
I finally arrive at the campground, pull into my site; its dark and raining and cold. The site they assigned me is too short to leave my Jeep attached, so I have to unhook and move it. It is currently sitting in the road. It won't start. The battery is dead. Fellow RVers are a group of the nicest people you can know. I knocked on a couple of doors and had a jump and offers of help.
I am here for the next three weeks for some service on my coach, see my son and daughter-in-law and do my annual doctor visits (since I can't do them in California). My son left for Belgium the day I arrived. My luck still holds. :)
I have to empty my refrigerator to leave the coach, so currently, aside from the normal condiments, there were some carrots, onions and a container of yogurt. I took the opportunity to charge the Jeep battery and drove to the local fast food, got a salad, and went to bed.
What surprises will today hold?
And then onto Longview, WA to stop in a quilt shop or two in Vancouver. 
