CA
Merry Christmas y’all
No, they don’t say “y’all” out here in California. But maybe we picked up a little Southern Drawl in Texas? We will be having a quiet Christmas in Patience. We will sit next to our electric fireplace, sip egg nog and open the presents that surround our tiny tree. Then we will sing a few songs … Continue reading
GTW Hop 37: Gilroy, CA, to San Jose, CA
19 miles via US 101 and local streets. Cumulative distance: 6,184 miles. This last hop of the GTW was less than 20 miles and was made simply to move Patience to her winter resting place: the Coyote Valley RV Resort which sits on the border between San Jose and Morgan Hill. I will describe the … Continue reading
GTW Hop 36: San Jose, CA, to Gilroy, CA
31 miles via US 101 and local streets. Cumulative distance: 6,165 miles. I think this dance is called the “South Bay Shuffle:” up to San Jose, down to Gilroy, then, on Sunday, back up to San Jose to complete the GTW. This hop was to retrieve Patience from the RV repair place (after paying a … Continue reading
GTW Hop 35: Morgan Hill, CA, to San Jose, CA
28 miles via US 101 and local streets. Cumulative distance: 6,134 miles. The declaration of the “penultimate” hop turned out to be premature. The park where we spent Sunday and Monday nights – the Uvas Pines RV Park – was unpleasant enough that we decided to return to a different RV park after getting the … Continue reading
GTW Hop 34: Redding, CA, to Morgan Hill, CA
282 miles via I-5, I-505, I-80, I-680 and US 101. Cumulative distance: 6,106 miles. The penultimate hop on the GTW was difficult, but not for the expected reason: the weather. Against all odds and despite the prognostications of the US Weather Service (which predicted a rainy day), the clouds broke shortly before our 10am departure … Continue reading
Slogging to a finish
It rained over 3″ last night in Redding. It was relentless. At times it sounded like Patience was being run through a car wash, complete with rotating brushes that rocked it from side to side. Today we will try to limp/slog/float our way 280 miles south to San Jose, to sit and lick our wounds … Continue reading
GTW Hop 33: Canyonville, OR, to Redding, CA
211 miles via I-5. Cumulative distance: 5,824 miles. This was the reverse of Hop 29, except that we used a different RV park in Redding as a destination. The weather was bad, as usual, but not as bad as I expected. There were some sunny breaks and the wind was tolerable. But once we got … Continue reading
GTW Hop 29: Redding, CA, to Canyonville, OR
219 miles via I-5. Cumulative distance: 5,104 miles. Yes, folks, we have actually made it to Oregon, the last state that we will visit on the GTW. From here to the end it will be a trip down the coast to San Jose. I wish I could be confident that we will arrive safely, but … Continue reading
GTW Hop 28: Sacramento, CA, to Redding, CA
167 miles via CA 160, I-5 and CA 299. Cumulative distance: 4,885 miles All but a handful of these miles were on I-5. This was essentially a trip up California’s central valley on a drab, dreary day. I was impressed with how flat the valley is – it reminded me of Kansas. It is far … Continue reading
Sacramento, CA
I visited Sacramento several times on business in the mid-70s, which is nearly 40 years ago now. Not surprisingly, I hardly recognize the place. But I liked it then and I like it now. It is a clean, medium-sized state capital, similar to Madison, WI, my home town, but with a better climate. We stayed … Continue reading