November 10 to 16, 2013 ; Antioch, California to Laughlin, Nevada

Sunday ; Oakland and San Jose, California

Sunny and warm today, except for the smog around Oakland. We drove over 330 km. / 200 miles today to view two truck campers for sale, almost all of it on congested freeways. On our way home we were passed by a red Ferrari convertible, with a woman in the driver's seat, long blonde hair blowing out behind her. How California !

We left our RV park this morning and headed west then south beside San Francisco Bay, through Berkeley to Oakland. We viewed the first of the two campers we were here to see, then headed south to San Jose < humming "Do You Know The Way To San Jose ?" >. We met the second truck camper's owner / seller in Morgan Hill, just south of San Jose. We viewed the second truck camper for sale, spending much more time at the second than the first.

Back in the bedroom community / suburb of Morgan Hill we had a very late lunch at Burger King, refilled our five gallon water jug at Safeway, then drove across the street to ... WOO-HOO ... Trader Joe's where we spent almost a hundred dollars on impulse purchases of gourmet / exotic / specialty food items. We drove the hundred or so miles back to our RV park in rush hour traffic, although, quite frankly, it always seems to be rush hour traffic on the California freeways. I'm very grateful we've never had to live in this kind of high population area. What a crappy way to live !

We connected to the RV park's cable TV system and watched Amazing Race in the evening ... as we ate Trader Joe's products for supper.

Monday ; Remembrance Day in Canada, Veterans Day in U.S.

LEST WE FORGET !

Antioch to SKP Park of the Sierras near Coarsegold, California

This morning we prepared for departure, hitched up, and left the Contra Costa Fairgrounds RV Park in Antioch, once again heading west then south along San Francisco Bay, then east, all on a succession of congested Interstate freeways. At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month ... we observed Remembrance Day with a minute of silence as we drove, followed by Joanne reciting the poem In Flanders Fields, learned by all Canadian school children at a young age.

For me, Remembrance Day is mostly an opportunity to remember and honour my father, a veteran of World War II. And ... somewhat in his honour, we stopped to browse at a Bass Pro Shops, an incredibly huge outdoors store, similar to Cabela's. My father used to love spending cold winter evenings browsing for fishing tackle in his Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops mail order catalogues. I bought myself a very small Christmas gift ( to me from Joanne ... HA HA HA ) at Bass Pro Shops.

When we reached Hwy. 99 we turned south, shortly thereafter refilling with diesel at Flying J in Ripon. We stopped to have lunch and buy a few items at a Wal-Mart in Turlock. Never again in Turlock ! We weren't even out of the truck when a security guard showed up and began to hassle us about how long did we intend to park our big rig in their parking lot. About an hour or so, as long as it takes to spend some of our money which will pay your salary, a*****e ! The store itself was the dirtiest and most disorganized Wal-Mart we've been to. And we've been to a LOT of 
Wal-Marts ... in three countries ! I picked up a package of Q-Tips ... and found that there was ... puke ... or something ... all over it. And now it was on my hand ! The last straw for me was being asked at the checkout for photo ID before my credit card was acceptable. **** you ! ! ! Must be a tough neighbourhood !

We continued south on Hwy. 99, then east on Hwy. 145, then north on Hwy. 41 up into the Sierra Nevada Mountains and ... SKP Park Sierra near Coarsegold. Bo recognized it as we arrived, and promptly went berserk in anticipation of the daily dog parties that take place in the dog park. We quickly registered and while I went to park the rig in our assigned site, Joanne took Bo to the daily dog party, already almost over for today.

I parked the rig and walked back to the dog park, meeting and chatting with old friends and new ... as did Bo !

Tuesday ; After eleven days of driving, I deserved to sleep in this morning.

After getting a late start to the day we went to the Chukchansi Casino buffet restaurant for lunch. WOO-HOO ! ! ! My favourite casino buffet restaurant. After stuffing our faces we drove north to the town of Oakhurst to do a bit of shopping. While Joanne went into Vons to buy some groceries I went to O'Reilly's Auto Parts to buy what I need to do an oil change tomorrow. We returned home and took Bo to the daily dog party at the dog park. He was SOOOOO pleased ! He LOOOOOVES the SKP Park Sierra daily dog parties.

In the evening I went to the clubhouse and got quite a bit of online work done.

Wednesday ; Sunny and mild, a nice day.

This morning Joanne did a lot of laundry. I worked in the clubhouse, on the computer and the phone, making arrangements to see four more truck campers over the next week. After lunch
I went to the Pole Barn, this RV park's maintenance garage, and did truck maintenance. 
I changed the oil and filter, changed the fuel filter, and lubricated the eight grease zerks in the front end steering and suspension. I cleaned the battery terminals, and did a thorough inspection, discovering a brake hose with a "blister". UH-OH ... better get that changed ! Nice catch, Daniel ! Might have saved our lives, finding that one !

MMMMM ... I made pickerel fillets for supper, one of my "specialties".

Thursday ; Another sunny, mild day.

This morning I headed out in search of a new brake hose. First stop was Napa in Coarsegold. They didn't have the brake hose I needed, could get it from Sacramento ... tomorrow. I headed to Oakhurst. O'Reilly's Auto Parts didn't have what I needed, could get it from Fresno ... by 3 PM this afternoon. OKAY ! I headed back to SKP Park Sierra. I was sorely tempted to install the brake hose myself in the Pole Barn, but decided to phone some auto repair shops and find out how much it would cost to get it done "professionally". I made arrangements to have it done at Coarsegold Car Care at 3 PM.

After lunch I headed back to Oakhurst, bought some buns and milk at Vons, and picked up the new brake hose at O-Reilly's Auto Parts. I drove back to Coarsegold Car Care. AND ... everything went sour !

It was perversely reassuring to see a simple job go completely sour ... for a "pro". Every time that happens to me, I blame my own ineptitude, thinking ... "it must just be me !" I watched the mechanic do the work, so that I could learn how to do it properly. First thing that happened ... the hold down clip bolt broke while he was trying to remove it. He removed the old brake hose and installed the new one. No problem. He "bled" the brake line to get trapped air out. Then he began to work on drilling the broken bolt shaft out of the bolt hole. He failed, couldn't get the drill bit to go in straight. He decided to drill a new hole, thread it, and install a new bolt. He drilled the new hole, inserted the thread tap, and ... it broke as he tightened it down to cut the threads. < sigh > He tried to remove the protruding shaft of the thread tap using vise grip pliers. He failed, couldn't get the broken shaft out ! He cut off the protruding shaft of the thread tap using a grinding wheel. We both decided "enough is enough". It was almost closing time.

The mechanic was frustrated. Hey ... better you than me, pal ! His boss seemed annoyed. I paid the bill and left. Before we leave tomorrow morning I will try to devise a substitute for the hold down clip, using a very large plastic cable tie. The hold down clip seems to be more "insurance" than "necessity".

At least I won't be hitting the road tomorrow with a brake hose "aneurysm".

Friday ; SKP Park of the Sierras to Tehachapi, California

Sunny and mild most of the day, cold and windy at Tehachapi Summit where we stopped for the night.

This morning while Joanne took care of departure preparations I completed the brake hose replacement job, securing the new brake hose to the rear axle using a very large plastic cable tie. When I saw those jumbo cable ties in a flea market a few years ago, I knew they would be useful some day, somewhere. We hitched up, paid our bill, and left SKP Park of the Sierras.

South on Hwy. 41 to Fresno, then south on Hwy. 99. We stopped at the city of Tulare, to have lunch and buy groceries at Vallarta, our favourite Mexican grocery store ( in America ). At their in store taqueria ( fast food restaurant ) we shared a huge bowl of Caldo de Res ( Beef Soup / Stew ) and a Platillo de Carne Asada con Arroz y Frijoles ( Seasoned Grilled Beef Platter with Rice & Beans ). MMMMM ! And we bought quite a bit of Mexican specialty grocery items. 
WOO-HOO ... pan dulce for breakfast. And bedtime snack. HA HA HA ! By the time we left Tulare it was already 2:30 PM.

More south on Hwy. 99 to Bakersfield. YUCK ... smog ! From both Bakersfield and Los Angeles which is a bit further south. We refilled with diesel at Flying J then headed east on Hwy. 58, up the seemingly endless hill into the Tehachapi Mountains, which act as a barrier to all the smog. The higher up the Tehachapi Pass, the worse the smog. We stopped for the night at Love's, a fuel station similar to Flying J, right at the summit of the Tehachapi Pass. Very cold, very windy. And we know from previous experience that the pollution dissipates immediately after the summit, descending down into the Mojave Desert. The sky becomes clear, the air is desert clean. Tomorrow morning !

Saturday ; Tehachapi, California via Arizona to Laughlin, Nevada

Sunny and warm in the Mojave Desert today.

This morning we departed the Love's and continued heading east on Hwy. 58. Immediately we began the long descent from the Tehachapi Summit down to the Mojave Desert ... and its brilliant sunshine. And temperature in the mid-70's. AHHHHH ! And this season's first glimpses of Joshua Trees and Teddy Bear Cholla Cacti.

At Barstow we got onto Interstate 15 for just a few miles, then onto Interstate 40 heading east. It was a long day of driving across the Mojave ! At Needles, California we crossed the Colorado River into Arizona. We refilled with diesel at Pilot then headed north on Arizona Hwy. 95 to Bullhead City. In Bullhead City we crossed the Colorado River again, this time into Laughlin, Nevada, to the RV parking lot of the Avi Casino.

DSK