Trip from Hell

July 25, 2013, Thursday Day 55

It was not the trip to hell, as the place we were going to, Penn Valley, to visit Jacque and Lynn, is quite pleasant.  It was the getting there that was the hell part.

We started out at 7 in the morning as we wanted to make it in one day, about an 11 hour drive, which is not too bad for just driving the truck down the road.  First thing, Sharon forgot her rings so we turned around not far from the park and went back and got the rings.  It would be hell to not have any rings for those four days.  We also selected a route that was down highway 95 as it put us further to the west than going down 55 through Boise.  Well as it turned out this was the first nail in the coffin.  95 was not as straight as we had expected so it still had a lot of twists and turns.  We told ourselves that we would stop at the first fast food place that we came to for breakfast.  After we got out of the mountains and through a number of very small towns at 25 MPH, none with fast food, we saw a very friendly bill board advertising McDonald's, just what we ordered, so we drove and drove and drove and then saw another similar sign and we drove and drove, and drove, no McDonald's is sight.  Finally around 10:30 we needed a restroom break and stopped at a gas station that had a co-located Subway.  Have you ever had a Subway breakfast, they serve them all day?  I would not recommend it, but that's what we had.

A few miles down the road we encountered our next nail in the coffin.  Road Work, very extensive Road Work, they had removed the entire road and were building it back from scratch, from the bottom up.  It was dirt and well watered.  It was a no lane road with a flag man, looked like he had been there for weeks and the cars were backing up behind us, we were first in line, a good thing.  Noticing a little activity up the road we were encouraged but it turned out to be only the water truck, making things just a little more muddy.  Finally the pilot truck appeared and we didn't think the line of cars behind it would ever quit, but finally it did and it was our turn.  We made it through to the other side, with 16 layers of mud on the truck, but now it was going to be smooth sailing.

I had a fuel strategy, I knew the price of diesel in Idaho, I figured that Oregon would be similar to California and I knew I did not want to buy diesel in California, so we opted for Nevada.  As we were getting close to Reno we spotted a gas spot with reasonable prices, $3.90 credit and $3.85 cash.  I wanted to pay cash and attempted to do so from the pump outside.  I thought I had gotten instructions from the attendant on the inside, which was to pump my gas and then come in and pay cash.  Well, to get the pump turned on I used a credit card, pumped my diesel and went inside to pay cash.  I was informed that I had already used my credit card and the cash option was not available.  I had a little discussion but it was a no win situation and the credit price was not all that bad, I had paid more.

We ran into Highway 80 at Minnamuca, Nevada and this was the highway wer we counting on for more smooth sailing on to Penn Valley, great.  As we got closer to Reno we began to see highway message boards flashing information that said highway 80 was closed at exit 1 on the California border.  Not knowing exactly what that meant we kept trucking along until we got closer and closer to exit 1.  Trucks parked everywhere and very slow traffic.  We were stopped long enough to talk to a trucker that told us there was a mud slide just past the state line and they were turning around the traffic and heading it back toward Reno.  Another nail in the coffin.  I got on the phone to Lynn for him to help me with an alternate route.  He came up with heading back to Reno, then to Carson City, around Lake Tahoe, taking highway 50 toward Sacramento, then back over to 80.  It was a little after 5 and that's what we did.  He said it would take us about three hours from Tahoe to get to their house.  That was a bit optimistic.  It was kind of a white knuckle drive through the beautiful Tahoe area.  Sometime we will have to go back through there when we can enjoy it, because we definitely did not enjoy it this time.

To make a long story longer we successfully navigated ourselves around Tahoe, up Highway 50 to Highway 80 and then through the back woods, in the dark of night, to Penn Valley at a little after 10 PM California time.  We were greeted by our hosts, with smiley faces, in that they were happy to see us as were we to see them.  I said all I wanted was a cracker and some Whiskey, Lynn had a fresh bottle of Bushmill and I was a happy camper.  We sat around a little while then we found our beds.  The end.

Reservations for Ten

July 24, 2013, Wednesday, Day 54

I started out with golf at Tamarack, golfing with Eddie and Margaret, we had a tee time at 10 AM and got there a little early and were able to get out on the course a little earlier also.  Eddie and Margaret had coupons for half off left over from last year.  Last year the course was in horrible condition and after Eddie and Margaret had played one hole, with the fairways roped off due to the extra wet conditions of the fairways, they returned to the pro shop for a refund, rain check, what ever.  The person in the pro shop denied their request and Eddie had to call a higher up in the organization to get his request granted.  Today the course was in excellent condition and Margaret took full advantage, as she shot her lowest round of the year.  I did not.








In the evening we had Reservations for Ten at our camp site for Happy Hour, beginning at five and grilling beginning at six.  Everyone was in attendance, Sharon and I, Marcia and Franz, Margaret and Eddie, Helen and Jim and Nancy and Al.  We had a wide variety of burgers and buns including English Muffins and cheese burgers and really piled high cheese burgers and I had my traditional green chili cheese burger, cooked to perfection.  A good time was had by all and I think and we broke up around 10.  We're old you know. 

Al on Skis - Water

July 23, 2013, Tuesday day 53

Last evening Al convinced Eddie that he could drive Al's boat while Al water skied.  Al's regular boat driver, Nancy, Al's wife, is on the injured reserve with shoulder problems and can't quite handle the boat to the degree that Al needs when skiing.   Neither could Eddie, but it was only his first time and I'm sure he will learn with time.

We were skiing at a smaller lake just above Payette Lake, Little Payette Lake.  A beautiful setting and when we got there the water was like glass.  Al put on all his best stuff, barefooting, front wards and back wards, shoe skiing, and on the slalom ski.  He did not do his specialty, wake boarding as he did not have his wake board skis on board.  Al skis from a boom located in the middle of the boat as it is easier for him to get up doing his foot thing.  The slalom is done from the traditional long rope.

In the evening Sharon and I went with Eddie and Margaret for Sushi at the Sushi house in McCall, after Happy Hour.  The Sushi was quite good as was the cold Saki.

STAX

July 22, 2013, Monday day 52

Today started with a frozen fruit smoothie, picked up a new batch of frozen fruit from Riddley's the other night, that coupled with some small oranges, makes for a refreshing early morning drink your breakfast.

We have been on our trip now for 52 days and it is time for another hair cut.  I brought my stylist with me on the trip so I could get the finest Hair Cut in town.  And this one was a deluxe, complete with eye brow trim.  I tried to get an in process picture but I failed due to not enough memory, so you will just have to do with an after shot.

Lunch was at STAX, a new sandwich place in town from what was here last year, similar to the Early Evening Bread Company, but, we think, better.  There was more seating available both inside and out and the people that ran the place were more than accommodating and very friendly.  I had the Ruben on Rye and Sharon had the Turkey with Cranberry Cream Cheese, both were just great, their bread is home made early that morning, and we will surely go back again.  The decorations inside the store were very nice looking.















In the afternoon we had a tee time at Jug Mountain, Eddie, Al and me.  Today there was less wind than usual and made playing conditions very favorable.  Once we got past a slow foursome on the 5th tee box it was smooth sailing.  We played at our own pace, not worrying about people in front or people in back, and we finished the round in four hours.  Shot my best round in a long time.

After golf I went back to the park and picked up Sharon and she and I went back to Jug for dinner.  As I have said earlier they have a very nice restaurant and a nice evening view.  I had the nightly special, Chicken Fried Steak, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and veggies, Sharon had the fish and chips.  Since Sharon had already had happy hour back at the RV, I enjoyed a Jameson's.