I am a little reluctant to admit this, as I am a person who really believes that what you think about and how you choose your thoughts does play a role in your experiences, but I was very anxious about going over the Siskiyous. I really had no reason to be so apprehensive. We had pulled the 5-er over the pass before, so I knew it had the power to do so without a problem. The weather was really great, in the mid to upper 40s and 50s. It was just that damn CAC tube giving me fits. I'm guessing that anyone who has been through a house fire probably is ultra sensitive to the smell of smoke, as well they should be. Who would want to go through that again? I'm still pretty sensitive to any time we blow a breaker, the water heater makes a funny nose or any one of the multiple gauges Kim has set up to monitor the electric input/output goes off, and all because of the time the converter blew due to a short in the water heater - at least that's how I remember it. (To read that story in full, click here The RV Honeymoon Is Over ) And that was four years ago. So it should not be a surprise to anyone who knows me that I'm still bothered by the "what if it happens again" scenario with the CAC tube. I knew there were sections of I-5 in the Siskiyous where I would not want to have to pull over and wait for a tow truck, or even to have Kim be working under the hood, trying to fix it. My mind was going a mile a minute, and although I tried to concentrate on positive thoughts, it was a challenge. What to do? How about a Beach Boys Singalong? Somehow we had managed to leave home without a single CD, but I did have a greatest hits album on my phone. It was a bit tinny sounding, but 30 songs later, and an album of the Swonn Brothers performances from last season on The Voice, got me over the pass.
My other big accomplishment was to head out from Redding with no plans or reservations for the night. We stopped for a late lunch in Phoenix, OR and we decided we would push on to Salem. I called the Phoenix RV Park, where we had stayed 4 years ago, and they had space available. Woo Hoo!
Not much had changed, and you can read the review from 4 years ago here, Phoenix RV Park Review
We had a quiet night there, and headed for home first thing in the morning. We always take I-205 around Portland. It may be a few miles longer, but the drive is so much more pleasant that battling Portland traffic and bridges.
And finally, it was Home Sweet Home!
Confession: Somehow or other, I managed to delete the photos I took the day we got home. This photo was taken this morning (we've been home for 2 weeks now). The grass was much taller, and although you can't really see the garden beds, they were full of weeds. I think that is the worst part of coming home. There is always way more yard work that we want to do. Of course, we really don't want to do any yard work, which is why there is always the discussion about moving going on in our household. But that is a whole 'nuther blog post.
And speaking of blog posts......I will be shifting my blog updates over to my other blog, www.betsysblahblahblog.blogspot.com , until we go camping again. The plan is to get the yard under control, the baskets and flower pots planted with annuals, and the cucumbers and beans planted (the tomato and strawberries are already done), plus the never ending weeding before we head out. This summer, we hope to visit most of the Thousand Trails parks here in Washington and Oregon. We want to check them all out before we decide about renewing our "Zone Membership". I will post my pictures and thoughts about those parks when we visit. Plus I have a few other topics that might be of interest to the RV crowd.
Until then....take care!
