November 8, 2005

November 8, 2005

Coarsegold, California

YEAR 2 DAY 144

 

WOW ... what spectacular scenery. We are a few thousand feet up in the Sierra Nevada foothills, just north of Fresno, just south of Yosemite National Park. Today was cloudy and warm, with just a bit of light rain late in the afternoon and early evening. No jackets required !

This morning after regular morning routines and chores, I went to the office and registered. We were escorted to our assigned site. What a marvellous RV park. It should serve as the model for how RV parks should be developed. SKP Park Of The Sierras is a co-op park covering over 600 acres, with over 250 sites. It's laid out like a contemporary suburban development, with curving, winding streets and cul-de-sacs, unlike most RV parks which are laid out in a pretty boring grid like pattern. Each site, and the entire park, is extensively landscaped, but in a very California style of natural landscaping. No grass, lots of trees, cactus gardens, rock gardens, etc.. Due to the large, irregular shape of the lots, most sites have very limited view of neighbouring rigs. Very, very nice ! Our assigned site includes a lovely, very comfortable, wood garden swing for two.

Once in our site, I hooked up water, power, sewer, and cable TV. I refilled the fresh water tank, and dumped all the holding tanks. We had a bit of a problem getting the slides extended. One of the wood blocks I am using as wedges under the slide slid completely under the slide, and we had difficulty getting it out. I began working on a backlog of chores that will keep me fairly busy for the next few days. After today's preventive maintenance, I opened up the new folding ladder that we purchased at Camping World the other day. It's sturdier than we expected. As a matter of fact, it's more stable than any other ladder I've used. When collapsed, it's about 4 inches square by 7 feet long. Joanne used it to work on cleaning the blue stains on the back of the trailer from yesterday's runaway waste tote. She managed to get the stains scrubbed off. I put away the purchases from the last few days which were still in the truck, fixed a minor problem on the stove, then rearranged the pass through storage compartment to make room for the ladder. While Joanne cleaned up, then made lunch, I went to the clubhouse to find a phone number for the nearest GM dealer. I phoned Vintage GM in Madera, about 30 miles southwest of here, and ordered the OEM battery cable I need.

We had lunch, then I and the animals napped briefly. After napping, we went exploring and grocery shopping. We drove to Coarsegold, about 4 miles away. It's a small town, and I missed the turn into the small grocery store in town, so we decided to keep driving to Oakhurst, a larger town a few more miles away. We did our grocery shopping, and as we exited the grocery store, we were met with an astounding sight. The mountains in front of the grocery store had bright sunshine shining on just the top of them, from the sun setting behind the mountains in the opposite direction. From one side of the mountain over to the other, was a brilliant, full rainbow, which faded from view within a minute or two. On the way back to Coarsegold, we stopped at a local casino resort to take a look. It's a huge casino and resort hotel. Maybe we'll have lunch or dinner there within the next few days.

Back at the trailer, Joanne began working on supper, while I checked out the TV to make sure I found the right network to watch Amazing Race tonight. I got sidetracked watching a show on vehicle repossessions on the Discovery Channel. I composed some e-mail, did today's accounting, and began to work on today's journal entry. We had supper, then while Joanne washed dishes, I walked the dog, then continued working on the laptop while watching TV.

I printed and reconciled the October bank statements while watching the special 2 hour episode of Amazing Race.

DSK