Photos through the windscreen
Red Bluff, California: DT and I were up early
this morning, anxious to begin our trip south. He ran and I processed emergency
Sunday book orders - worried that my wonderful customers would not receive their
precious packages before Christmas. Speaking of
The Camping Journal
- I opened a new RV Log Book for our use Friday to record our 2010
travels. Good luck to us!
We followed I-5 south and felt we were in our own personal little Rose Parade. I
can't count the number of travelers (all of them passing us on the freeway!)
that honked and waved at us, flashed us an "O" sign or gave us thumbs-up or
fist-pump of some-sort. I have developed a good parade wave! (I still feel
people are very disappointed to not see
Athletic Director Mike Bellotti - or some other famous Duck - behind the wheel.)
Anyway, not a lot of other excitement today - as we drove about 350 miles (at
55-60 mph), stopping only twice. My Driver is amazing. We did see a great Jimmy
Buffett-inspired California license plate: FINZ RGT. Love that!
Here are a few photos - taken through the front windscreen of the Magna
Peregrinus:
Mystic clouds hang in a valley just north of Grants Pass,
Oregon. The view from the freeway into this valley is nearly almost
stunning, but today - so pretty with foggy clouds cloaking the valley.
This area is richly historical and
the place names are fascinating - Jump Off Joe
Creek, Indian Mary Park, Merlin, Hugo and Umpqua Joe
Trail. I think we need to explore this area more.
Goodbye, Dear Oregon.
Goodbye smooth roads.
Goodbye No Sales Tax.
Goodbye to service station attendants.
Hello California.
At the California Agriculture Inspection Station, an agent boarded the
Magna Peregrinus to look-over our lemons, limes and oranges. Mexican
citrus is carrying scale these days, but we had the proper stickers on our
fruit and were released without worrying about our cocktail garnishes.
Later, I snapped this photo of Mt. Shasta:
Really.
Trust me.
There is a mountain under there somewhere.
And don't get me started on all the jokes I could write about a POT of gold
at the end of a rainbow in Weed, okay?
Especially when the next billboard proclaims: ENJOY WEED.
It's not even fair, is it?
It was dark when we pulled into a new RV Park in Red Bluff. Too late for
photos, so check back tomorrow for my review - but trust me, the place is
loaded with all the "amenities" we RVer's love and they gave us a site over
100-feet long, so we didn't even have to unhitch the Honda. Love that.
We settled-in for a quiet and early evening after such a long day on the
road. I prepared a very easy and delicious dinner - using pre-made
ricotta-parmesan tortellini. I boiled a half cup of sherry with a stem of
fresh rosemary in a skillet until it was reduced by half and let it cool
while we relaxed. Then I strained the sherry into a bowl and discarded the
rosemary. In the same skillet I sautéed about a cup of sliced shitake
mushrooms with two cloves of (organic, grown by a family friend) garlic and
black pepper in olive oil. When the mushrooms were soft, I tossed-in the
infused sherry, added about 4 Tablespoons of cream and poured the sauce over
the boiled tortellini. I garnished the dish with freshly grated parmesan.
Absolutely delicious - and RV gourmet all the way!
The accompanying salad had four
ingredients: romaine lettuce, roma tomatoes, olive oil and black pepper.
You don't need to use sherry - white wine or chicken/veggie
stock would be fine. Any mushroom would be fine. You don't need to infuse
the wine/sherry with rosemary. I'm just telling you what I did for my Poor
Old Driver tonight.
Speaking of old... when we checked-in to the RV park tonight, the clerk,
Debbie,
asked if we could qualify for a discount by being a member of AAA or
senior citizens. We are not members of AAA, so I asked how old you had to be
to qualify as a senior citizen. Debbie never answered my question and was too unsure of my wrinkles
and grey hair to actually ask for ID.
Saved $3.80.
Until my next update, I remain, your senior citizen correspondent.
RV Park:
Durango RV Resort
- Red Bluff, California. We have a full-service, 50-amp paved pull-through.
The place looks amazing - though it is on the interstate. I will head out
with my camera tomorrow, so check-back then for photos.