JOURNAL ENTRY

WEDNESDAY 
April 26th, 2017 

 Woke up to this view today and to the sound of something hitting the roof of the rig. I thought it was a nut from a squirrel but soon it sounded like tons of little somethings were falling on us. Then it dawned on me... it was rain!

The air here is full of moisture. I've gotten used to being in the dry desert air. My skin has adjusted, and now, I feel like I'm in a tropical rainforest (exagerrating a little... but you get the point.) I know that for us to have this gorgeous green in the West, we must have the rain. 

Back home, friends keep talking about the amount of rain we've had in Washington. In Portland, we've had the second wettest winter in more than 75 years. That's a lot of rain! And I, personally, welcome it. When it's winter & cold enough in the mountains- that wonderful rain is making snow. For me, that means skiing! Skiing is a passion of mine and our family spends as much time up in the mountains as possible. And now, with this rig, we will be able to drive up, ski, and stay in the parking lots at ski resorts. SO excited!

 We all spent a good chunk of the morning relaxing. It's been a busy last few days... and we all needed some chill time to regroup. I guess we finally left Lake Shasta around noon- an hour after campground checkout hour. Oops! Then, as we headed north, Steve realized we'd left the stablizer jack at the site. Another oops. We'd already been on the road for a while, so I started to calculate the gas/$ it would take to go back and get it, plus added in the value of time. The question was... was it worth going back to get it or should we just leave it for someone to find? In the end, Steve turned around and we headed back to get it. 

After our u-turn, we headed back up north towards Weed. Yes, it is called weed & I can only imagine what a killing they make on the t-shirts and souvenirs they sell there. Our mission was to find potable water, so we kept on truckin'. (FYI- The water at our Lake Shasta campground had tasted kind of rusty so that's why we didn't fill our tanks there.)

Mr. Adventure is very friendly & stopped by an RV park near Weed and asked if he could fill our tank with water. The folks were super nice and didn't even charge us a fee. That was awesome! 

After filling up with water, gas, and restocking the fridge with food, we headed east along Highway 97. The volcanic lands are beautiful... the red rocks, green brush, pine trees, and open space.

Love traveling on the weekdays... roads aren't crowded and we often feel like we are the only ones out here.

We checked out gazetteer to figure out a good stopping point... and after checking the Oregon State Parks website, realized that Collier State Park was not yet open for the season. That news urged us to continue heading north past Klamath Falls. 

A rainbow!

As we drove past the Upper Klamath Lake, both Steve and I said to each other that it reminded us our trip to Alaska back in 2007. So beautiful...

Our drive brought us right along the lakeshore, then into the high desert again with the pines and volcanic rock and soil.

 And ultimately, we pulled in to LaPine State Park (just south of Sunriver, OR.) Years ago, when the kids were super little we camped there in our first trailer. There were so many mosquitoes at that time and I remember being so happy to get out of there.

Tonight, I was so happy to be there with no mosquitoes and barely any other people. That's another reason I love travel during the weekdays... it's rare to find crowds and noise.

We scored an awesome campsite (with full hookups) and super clean bathrooms and free showers! Yay! The beginning of camping season means many pluses! And, since Steve is a disabled vet, we also get free camping! Score score score!

And Alex felt he scored with dinner tonight. He fell in love with instant garlic mashed potatoes, Stove Top stuffing, and barbecue chicken & salad. So easy and so tasty!

Today was definitely another long day, but so beautiful! We will be staying here for a few days & hope to get Sierra back on her bike! ♡

STEVE'S DREAM

Ever since I've known Steve, he has been talking about the Mercedes-Benz Unimog and the Pinzgauer... they are high-mobility all-terrain military utility vehicles. A couple of times over the years, we have spotted these rare finds and Steve has drooled and tried to school me on their history, and has gone over all the reasons he loves them. So, when he discovered that an import dealer for these type of vehicles was near us, we had to go. I went to Vallejo to humor and support him... and I must say, it was a really cool experience.

The pictures below show what was on the lot at Expedition Imports. The massive Hellgeth Custom camper is listed for $225k. Holy moly! You could literally go anywhere with this!

 And I thought the Pinzgauers were big... 

they look small next to it!

And check out this beast! 

Alex totally wanted us to buy it & said we could drive him to school. I could put my Excursion in the back of it! H U G E! Can you imagine this driving down the river road?

 After climbing in and out of the vehicles, we spotted something else in their garage. And we learned that this importer has a contract to buy the current Swiss Military GE230 G-Wagons that are being exchanged for new ones in Switzerland. 

Steve and I both knew what would happen next. Enter checkbook for deposit, and now we just have to wait for the shipping container to arrive in the States! And then make sure all checks out upon arrival. If things are a go, it is ours. Steve is super excited, we all are really, and we can tow this behind us on future expeditions or take it on its own adventure.

The picture below shows the body-style of what we will receive. Just have to put in a forward facing seat and belts for the kids for safety.

 There is a canvas top for it as well, and room for the dogs

And below, is a picture of the rig that we have a hold on... 

it is now in the shipping container on its way to California.

 

 After fulfilling one of Steve's dreams, we hit the road for a quick lunch stop and bought some new Lego video games for home and at Uncle Jon's house. The kids don't play the Wii at home much, but now that Sierra is older- she and Alex can have fun Lego adventures together when it's cold and nasty outside at home. 

And speaking of colder weather, we have hit Northern California now. We saw our first sign telling us how far we are from Portland, Oregon & I found myself saying, "Nooooooooo!" I could seriously turn around and would be totally content to travel for months... perhaps even a year or two. 

After refueling and dumping just south of Redding, Steve started his campground search for the night... and he found this great spot on Lake Shasta. The water level is higher than I've ever seen it! We pulled in to this forest campground and found a large private site... and a bonus is electricity and water. Our water tanks were empty by afternoon, so that was super exciting for us to be able to refill. For some reason, it was hard to find a place to refill as we drove north today. 

Here at the lake, you can rent houseboats for 2k-8k a week. Dang! That seems pricey! I think I'll camp and bring my blow up raft.

 After a family walk, all is good and the kids are finally in snoozeland. They were up WAY too late tonight. They went from being tired, to being hyper, to being exhausted, to tears over where Willow was sleeping, to trying to come sleep in our bed, to then back to their beds and to Zzzzz. Phew. Here is to a day of sleeping in! Tomorrow, we may head NE to Lava Beds National Monument or who knows where. All we do know is that we are not ready to trek home yet. I want to squeeze out every last second we can ♡

RELAXING IN SONOMA

I think I laid in bed til after 9:30 today... it was so nice to chill and know that we didn't have to hit the road. Sweet Alex brought me breakfast in bed... a coconut chocolate bar he'd found in the snack cupboard. Just so you know, that makes a fabulous breakfast when paired with a fresh hot cup of coffee.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Our morning was super relaxing. Steve did school with Alex, while I started to open and compare ticket numbers on the Safeway Monopoly pieces to our gameboard. It was quiet time for me and a reminder that I really should be wearing my glasses more often. Lately, I find myself having to read small print under bright light, and then moving text closer and farther away. My eyes in my mid forties are saying, "please help us a little." Okay, I surrender.

I am not a big game player for contests, but I figured that if I didn't open them all then that would mean we would have had the winning ticket for a grand prize. Well, good news... we opened all the ticket stubs. Bad news... we didn't win. I can only imagine the time it must take for folks who coupon all the time. 

In the afternoon, the kids and I joined Katja to pick up Thorston. At his school, there is a large mural on the ground. I love it! I pledge allegiance to the world, to cherish every living thing, to care for earth and sea and air, for peace and freedom everywhere ♡ Truth ♡ Growth Respect ♡

After school, the kids had a blast swinging on Thorston's tire swing and exploring the creek on their property. Sierra was a bit hesitant to walk in the tall grass & Thorston came back to hold her hand and help her. So precious.

The dogs seem happy to have grass to lay on. For weeks, we've been in the desert and it's been sand, dirt, or rocks. And, we think Willow is starting to feel better. Yesterday, she had diarrhea and was very low key. Today she was a bit more active and even barked at the light reflecting in the rig. Hopefully, she will be feeling even better in the morning.

Tomorrow's travels will take us down to Vallejo in the morning to check out some old Swiss Army vehicles that Steve likes... the Unimog and Pinzgauer models. I am not a 'car person', but if Steve wants to go check em out at the dealer we are game for an adventure!

MORE PICTURES FROM DAVE'S

The morning we left Dave's house, we knew getting out of his driveway could be interesting. Steve had to do many turns to point the rig in the opposite direction to get back down the road. Sierra was in tears, scared that Steve would go over the edge and roll down the hillside. The kids and I watched from his cousin's stairs while Steve maneuvered. 

Look at this view!

The dogs were happy to chill on the porch for a while

We think the guys are 2nd cousins?

Thank goodness Steve could back up the rig's end over the hillside as he did multi point turns. I kept imagining a helicopter picking us up and just swinging us around to face the other way.

After many reverses and forwards, Steve did it! 

Then we were off and headed north.

We decided that it would be fun to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge with the kids, so we took a longer route up north to Katja's house on Sunday. We listened to the phone directing us along and next thing we knew, we were driving through part of the city of San Francisco versus the freeway. That was not part of the plan. Somehow the GPS took us a different route. We were the only RV in traffic, but it all ended up being perfect. The kids fell asleep for a while and then woke up right as we were approaching the bridge.

You too, can own one of these little condos for one to two million dollars! Crazy!

We passed through our first tunnel in the rig.

And then saw the Golden Gate Bridge! A bonus was that it was a clear blue day. Other times when I've driven over it, it has been totally covered in fog. Today, I could see the city and Alcatraz.

Steve was happy to be crossing the bridge for the first time in a vehicle versus on a Naval ship!

And, we had to take this picture of course!

The drive into Marin County is always so lovely

Before we headed into Sonoma, we pulled over to feed the dogs dinner and to all do our business. Steve was funny and said he wouldn't leave until we took his picture in this random gazebo.

Welcome to wine country!