A RELAXING DAY WITH NEW FRIENDS NEAR NAPA, CALIFORNIA

Note: Today’s photos are of the craziest place we’ve ever taken Scoopy – a hayfield behind a tobacco barn in the backwoods of Kentucky – inspired by a visit to our new friends, Ellen and Alex.  Hover your cursor for a caption on each.

Just before we came to Napa, we received an email from a reader with a very specific and unusual question: “One thing I haven't been able to track down on the internet is the interior height of the 2001-2003 Travel Supremes. Do you happen to know the height of yours?”

I DIDN’T know, but of course it was easy to measure it, so I sent off the answer.  That resulted in a flurry of emails between us and Ellen and Alex, two Napa-area residents who are in the throes of finding the right RV for their upcoming full-timing life.  When we arrived in Napa, we invited them over to see Scoopy, and spent a fun afternoon talking RV talk last Tuesday.

That led to an invitation to visit them at their home in the hills between the Napa and Sonoma Valleys for lunch and a hike.  Today was the day – and it was really something special.  

Alex sent very specific directions that included phrases like “one lane bridge” and “go slow here” or “bumpy, keep to the right”.  He included an occasional aside: “Would a motorhome fit through here?” or “Could we get a motorhome past this?”  Hmmmm.  With his written directions and our new GPS, we set off.

We made a quick stop at the Napa Farmer’s Market for smoked olive oil, something I haven’t seen elsewhere and really like to have around (ever since we were introduced to it during our last stay in Napa a few months ago).  After that, we followed the orders of our GPS, heading north to the Oakville Grade and up into the hills, passing vineyards left and right. 

Soon the road became more winding, and more narrow.  We crossed a one lane bridge, climbed, descended, climbed again.  Where part of the outside lane had slide into the streambed, the road became single-lane as we passed the missing pavement.  Climbing, winding, descending, with big trees arching over the road – Alex’s question of “could a motorhome do this” was often in our conversation.

“Turn right” said the GPS… then, “navigate off-road”.   We missed the driveway on our first pass, because Odel didn’t believe it was really a road.  Finally, though, we pulled up in front of Ellen’s and Alex’s house, high above Dry Creek Valley, shaded by giant oaks.  Their friendly greeting was followed by a look around their house… then they said they had a hike for us, and they weren’t kidding!  Up, up, up we went to the top of the ridge. 

On one side, we had a view into the Napa Valley and the endless ridges beyond.  On the other, the Sonoma Valley and a long, long view all the way to the tiny towers of the Golden Gate Bridge poking out of a puddle of gray fog.  We, on the other hand, were in warm sunshine, on top of the world… blue sky, a fantastic view, and excellent company and conversation.

Our hike was followed by lunch al fresco, in the shade of an oak, listening to the acorns plop onto the ground… and of course more talk of rigs, full-timing, and everyone’s favorite towns and campgrounds.  So relaxed was I on this delightful afternoon that I didn’t even take pictures! 

Our discussion of whether or not it would be wise to bring a big rig to their property (answer: not wise) got me thinking about some of the places we’ve taken Scoopy – the craziest being into the back, back, backwoods of Kentucky during our first year.  A girlfriend of mine had moved “back to the land”, and we went to visit.  As I wrote of today’s adventure, I dug back through my photos to relive that experience – it was far and away Scoopy’s greatest off-road adventure, and definitely NOT WISE.

Ellen and Alex, thanks for a wonderful afternoon.  We’ll see you on the road one day!

GEARING UP FOR A TECHNOLOGICAL LEAP, IN NAPA

We’ve been at Skyline Wilderness Park for a week, mostly doing “regular” stuff: hiking the beautiful trails through the oak-covered hillsides, a round of golf for Odel, a little browsing and shopping for me, a trip to the Farmer’s Market, reading a couple of the books Margaret and Jeff passed along to me when we were at Collier Memorial State Park a couple of weeks ago.

I’ve been focused on technology, though.  First, I’ve been learning the ins and outs of the Garmin 255WT GPS that Odel gave to me for an early birthday present.  We had borrowed a similar GPS to guide us though a day of errands in unfamiliar territory while in Washington, and I’d researched them since then, ultimately deciding it would be too frivolous a purchase – so it made a great birthday present.  What I’ve learned so far: don’t throw away the maps!

The big project, though, is replacing our still-working but VERY worn, 4 year old Toshiba laptop.  I am a touch typist, but Odel is a hunter-pecker, and he can’t find the vowels any longer - they wore off.

I wanted to do this in Oregon – no sales tax there – but the planned release of Windows 7 meant that retailers had let their stock run down to the bitter end.  Only the least popular units were still in stock and available for sale, so we’ve babied our current computer along, day by day.

It’s scariest problem:  with increasing frequency, our cursor freezes in place while the screen fades slowly, relentlessly to gray.  Sometimes a sharp whack on the side of the screen awakens it (for awhile); sometimes a readjustment to the angle of the screen solves the problem.  Gripping the screen edge one day to adjust the angle (with rising panic – was this to be the day it died??), I realized that pinching the frame in specific places seems to be the solution.  This is my low-tech fix – which has worked for several weeks, thankfully. 

So, time to retire the old technology and move on.   We’re not only moving from one computer to another – always a challege for me - but migrating from Windows XP (which I understand) to Windows 7 (all new to me) – a big, and time consuming, leap.  I spent many, many hours online this week, picking the brains of our “virtual” community.   With help from Rick (Rick and Paulette’s RV Travels), the Geeks on Tour, and the online forums of the Escapees RV Club, I finally feel confident about our upcoming purchase, with a very thorough checklist for setting up the new computer and migrating from here to there .  This is the ARRRGH side of technology. Wish us luck!

A HO-HUM TRAVEL DAY FROM REDDING TO NAPA, CALIFORNIA

Nothing exciting about our travels yesterday – and that often is a GOOD thing.  A perfect travel day is one that has NO unpleasant surprises (mechanical or otherwise), but has dynamite scenery… not the case when driving the freeways from Redding, California, down the Sacramento River valley, taking the I-505 cut-off to I-80 and joining the heavy, reckless traffic to be found heading west.  We know this drive well – too well - and I was not filled with anticipation of good things to come!

The hills were brown, baked and dried at the end of the long, hot summer.  We pulled into the Flying J truck plaza in Corning, filled the diesel tank ($190), and rolled on down the road, into the smog of the Sacramento/Bay area urban sprawl.   

We were relieved to exit the freeway on CA Hwy 12, winding through the vineyard-covered rolling hills towards Napa.  The ocean’s breeze, tentative though it was, thinned the smog.  We were headed to the Napa Elks Lodge, so I gave them my usual “do you have sites available?” phone call.

Bad news – they were full!  On to Plan B: I called Skyline Wilderness Park (click here to read our review).  Yes, they had two sites left, one with full hookups, the other water and 30 amp electric.  We were five miles away, but the two sites were still available when we arrived and, after trying first one, then the other, we finally settled into the FHU site and paid for four days.  Thus ended our uninspiring travels for the day.

The Napa Elks Lodge (click here to read our review) is Odel’s favorite place to stay in Napa.  It has great amenities, lovely sites, and a good price - $20 for FHU, including cable TV.  Skyline Wilderness Park is my favorite campground.  Though it is more rustic (by far) and costs more ($25 – senior rate - for a FHU site, and no cable TV) , the campground is located in a HUGE regional park with miles of hiking trails, deer, wild turkeys, giant oak trees, a huge native plant garden… amenities I appreciate.  Either campground works for us.

This morning we awoke in the quiet, foggy park, had a big breakfast, and took off on a hike.  What an excellent antidote to yesterday’s boring drive!