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Posts from the ‘Airstream’ Category

Oct 12

Day 1: San Martin to Los Banos (part one)

As mentioned yesterday, we decided to leave HMB in advance of our planned arrival to Yosemite largely because of maintenance work needed in the Airstream.  We took possession of “Mabel” in early July and have been living full-time with her since.  During this time, we’ve noticed a few issues for follow-up:

  • The monitor panel is not reading properly – specifically the fresh water indicator
  • Our bed is a platform, offering storage underneath.  The bed platform itself is supported with two struts.  One of these locked itself in the extended position and would not close.  We removed it upon locking-up but needed a new one.
  • The over the stove hood fuse seems to be very finicky.  There is a dedicated fuse that has failed four times in the few months of usage.

All of these items are covered under the two-year warranty, but dealing with these issues does present a bit of hassle.  Oh well.

The fresh water monitor and bed struts were fixed, but of course, the repair technician was not able to blow the fuse – even with lots of purposeful effort to do so.  Oh well.

Before I could truly let myself begin enjoying vacation, I did a bit work … a few small things I really wanted to get sent out before I go off the grid.  Kelly and I had lunch at Chili’s, I completed my work, and quickly enough we were on our way towards our camping spot for the night – San Luis Reservoir.

Sep 8

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Traveling Interstate 5

I have a love-hate relationship with interstates.  On the positive, they generally make for quick and efficient traveling.  However, the user experience sucks. Kelly has it about right when she says that interstates look the same in every state.

Boring.

In the world of interstates, consistency of franchise seems to be the objective.  Keep it simple, make it easy, and keep people moving quickly along on their way.  It really doesn’t matter if you are seeking gas stations, truck stops, fast food, or some other ‘chain’ retailer, you’ll find them all sprinkled across the interstates.

Our trip this week contained a lot of interstate miles along I-5.  Anyone traveling north or south through California, Oregon, and Washington will surely be familiar with I-5.

As boring as the interstate drive was, I-5 did have practical considerations.  Today, along with gas, fresh water and (Kelly’s) beef jerky, I took advantage of an RV truck wash.  Both the Airstream and truck needed a bath.

The 30-minute wait queue was longer than I would have preferred, but was worth the wait.  I must say that our truck and trailer combo was freshly washed and looking much better.  This picture was the only one I could secure before the guy below (politely) informed me that there are no cameras allowed.

Perhaps he was grumpy that I did not accept his offer to upgrade the wash to include liquid wax and rain protectant.

Bathtime

Before long we were back on the road and once again underwhelmed with I-5.  Kelly must have noticed I was getting tired (I do all the driving) and before I knew it, she found a cheap overnight option with full hook-ups at the  Woodland County Fairgrounds just outside Davis, CA.  This place is definitely no gem, but at just $20, the price is right.  Temperatures remain in the 90’s and we appreciate the 30-Amp power and it’s ability to run our air conditioning.

As Kelly called ahead to secure a spot, she was told that prison inmates would be in the nearby campsites.  It didn’t immediately occur to me that the abundance of California wildfires require extra support to help with containment efforts.  Inmates to the rescue.

We arrived in time to witness a shift change.  Following a long day on the job, everyone seemed to be anxious to grab some dinner, including these guys below.

I was not aware that serving jail-time qualifies one for fire-line duty.  One of the firefighters told us that these inmates mainly help with backbreaking manual efforts like digging ditches and hauling gear.  It’s crazy hot around here and I imagine these inmates must be hot as hell in their sweet orange jumpsuits.  At least they are out of their jail cells.

Non-violent prisoners walk to the mess hall

Unlike mine, I doubt their dinner included a cold beer.

Speaking of dinner, we had barbecue at a place called Ludy’s Man Street BBQ, which was decent, but not great.  It’s never a good thing when the decor of a restaurant is more interesting than the food itself.  In this case, the decor being a confusing hybrid of southern country motif intermixed with way too much random kitsch.  Envision the ornamentation of TGIFriday gone crazy.  Yes, TGIFriday gone crazy.

The outdoor patio at Ludy’s Main Street BBQ

As for our part, Kelly and I were a bit under-dressed … no fancy cowboy boots or 20 gallon hats to don.  Our flip-flop sandals didn’t quite cut it tonight.  We’re such tourists.

However, I think I might have redeemed myself  (only slightly) with my theme inspired cowboy boot beer mug.  Never-mind that I was drinking surfer-dude Longboard Lager.  If only they had a surfboard mug.

Elegant beer mug

Sep 8

AM Clouds

We’re getting an early start today.  There are a lot of miles to travel as we make our way back towards Half Moon Bay.

Sunrise over the Airstream

Sep 2

On the Road Again – Finally

Having spent the past five weeks living full-time in the Airstream, Kelly and I used the Labor Day holiday as an excuse to hit the road and let the Airstream stretch her legs. We’ve been parked for far too long without a trip and were really excited to get away. Of course, we chose Oregon as our initial destination … southern Oregon to be specific. Odds are good we’ll land someplace near Ashland. We’ll see what happens.

For now, we’re parked in a beautiful place – Brandy Creek campground near Whiskeytown, CA. We’re traveling I-5 in order to make decent time. I also wanted to get our truck/airstream combo weighed which essentially limits us to the interstate where semi-truck mega stop are plentiful. Have yet to weigh our set-up, I was anxious to verify whether or not we are loaded with too much stuff. (UPDATE – we were not … in fact, we had lots of room to spare, but our weight distribution needs some refining).

Brandy Creek is a bit out-of-the-way – about ten miles, but the detour was worth it. There are no hooks-ups, which was fine with us because we needed/wanted to test drive our new Yamaha generator. All went well I happy to report.

There were about 30 total sites, of which about half were taken. Of course, the people next to us thought it would be cool to be loud — too loud I thought. Who decides to wait until 10:30pm to set-up tents? Is the 40 foot RV and the monster generator not enough? Good grief.

Apparently – as you can see in the pictures below – the deer were not annoyed. Food is food and the knuckleheads next to us had seemingly unlimited supplies of bread to toss on the ground. The deer seemed quite satisfied.

 

In addition to its namesake creek, there is a great beach and mountain lake, but I forgot to grab my camera, so no pictures.

Tomorrow we’re off to Oregon.

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