August 11, 2012

Yea! California bound! We’re on our way home.

Thursday the last of our fixit list were taken care of. We were in the starting blocks early Friday morning and made it all the way to Red Bluff and Durango RV Resort. This is a very nice, new, clean park right on 5. Wide, long sites with lots of pull-throughs. Temps were blistering at over 100 degrees so the air conditioning got a work out.

It’s 6:45 am and Courtneys are already on their way to the Sacramento area to visit some friends. We’re heading to Ahwahnee where they will join us tomorrow. Forecast for today is over 100 degrees for the next few days.

Ahwahnee is just a few miles from Yosemite if you could go over the hills. By road it’s about 1 ½ hours to the valley floor. The road to our RV park, Sierra Meadows, winds and climbs for several miles and includes a hairpin turn that required use of the entire road. Since no one was on the road it wasn’t a problem. The park is set in a stand of oak trees and across the street is a golf course (Sierra Meadows Golf Course). A sign on the road says to check in at the golf course for the park so Rob drove the RV a few feet down the road to the course. It was very evident immediately that there was no room for the RV in their parking lot. After taking a look around we decided to go right on out and back to the park. It wasn’t any easier to tell where to go in the park. So we drove in the main entrance and straight up a slight hill to a chain across a road that continued up into the hills. At that point Rob decided to drive the car back to course to see what was what. When he came back he decided it was imperative that he back all the way down the hill to the street, about 100 yards. It wasn’t really a problem since the road was pretty straight. Getting into any of the sites was not an easy exercise either. It required a little jockeying to get in. Once in we were set and found, even with all the trees, we did have satellite. Wifi was also available, although we seemed to get kicked off after a using it for a short while. The heat continued into the night well into the 90’s if not over 100.

The park itself is pretty rustic with only basic amenities, water, electric and sewer. We were lucky to have one of the few picnic tables around. Oak and pine trees are everywhere. For the birding enthusiasts there were lots of Acorn Woodpeckers and California Quail, a few Scrub Jays, and a White Breasted Nuthatch or two.

August 12, 2012

This morning we ventured over to our new golf club at River Creek Golf Course. This is a nine hole course a few miles back down the road. It’s owned by a good friend of ours, Dr. Steve Michel and managed by his son, Scott. We have a tee time for tomorrow morning early.

Courtneys arrived in the afternoon after visiting friends in the Sacramento area yesterday. They pulled into the site right next to us. Did I mention that this park is completely empty except for a park host?? Sandy’s been following the Olympics so it was imperative that they have satellite coverage. This had Don jockeying back and forth in the site checking for coverage. Not satisfied he pulled forward into an adjacent site and tried again. Still not satisfied he moved from site to site checking for coverage. Ultimately, he ended up back where he started and after a little more jockeying, finally found the spot they needed for satellite coverage.

Still sweltering, yet we had our afternoon cocktail hour in the shade of a huge oak tree. Followed by a delicious planked salmon dinner.

August 13

Up early for an 8:08  tee time. Rob, Don and I got to the course before 8 and were able to tee off immediately. We were advised to go ahead because the men’s group was to follow us and they were incredibly slow (this from the man in the pro shop). The course is very pretty, dotted with oak trees, huge boulders, a couple of water features with fountains, and a dry stream bed running through. We had planned to play the course twice to get in 18, but by the end of nine we were all dripping wet so we packed it in. Scott was kind enough to comp our round so we weren’t out anything.

After a quick lunch, we decided to take a run over to Yosemite. Neither the Courtneys nor the Browns had been there for more years than we could remember. Seems we weren’t alone in our plan. Cars and people everywhere. We stopped a couple of times to gaze at nature’s wonder and take some pictures then headed for the Ahwahnee Hotel. No place within reasonable walking distance to park and we had Dusty in the car so Rob let us off and went to park. Don, Sandy and I went in to take a look at the hotel. Absolutely beautiful. A very old hotel that’s been kept up as it was built. I found a postcard for Rowan and mailed it in an antique post box. We wandered outside to look for Rob who was nowhere to be found. My plan to summon him by phone was squelched as there was no cell service right by the hotel. As I walked further away I acquired some bars and was able to connect. Just as it began to ring I saw Rob pulling up to pick us up. Lots of people were obviously hiking and picknicking in various areas. One parking lot was almost completely filled with rental RVs. Cruise America must have done a landslide business this summer. Having seen some incredible sites we headed home. From the valley floor to the rv park is about 1 ½ hours.

Half Dome was almost invisible due to a heavy haze from a nearby forest fire. Still awe inspiring tho'.

Cocktail hour was still incredibly hot. We moved inside Brown’s abode in triple unit air conditioning.

August 14

Today was a day to relax and catch up on things we’ve neglected. Courtneys used the day to pack up their coach and get it ready for storage. They head all the way home tomorrow while we will head to Wine Country RV in Paso Robles.