Category Archives: Alpine Coach

Rolling the Dice

We’ve been without wheels since the Spyder came up with a dead cylinder Sunday afternoon. I detailed my diagnostic process in the last post. The new ignition coil module was supposed to come in on Wednesday, but when I checked with Valley Motorsports in Eugene, they told me the part wouldn’t be there until Thursday between 11am and 1pm.

Donna talked to our neighbor, Mickey, and found out that he and his wife were going to Roseburg Thursday morning. They said they could drop me off at Enterprise Rental Car in Roseburg. I called and reserved a car for pick-up Thursday morning.

I picked up the car around 9:30am and headed north – it was about an hour drive to Eugene. I had checked a map of the city and had a plan. First I stopped at Costco where I bought a few items including a new camp chair. It’s a folding director’s chair with a folding side table – not something I could easily carry on the Spyder, so I took advantage of having a car.

Next I went to the west side of town and checked out the Walmart. I wanted to see what the overnight parking situation looked like and I also needed to pick up aluminum drip pan liners for the Weber Q. From there I went to the Elks’ Lodge to see what it looked like for an overnight spot. The west side Elks’ Lodge is a no go for RV parking. The lot is tight and shared with several other businesses. I was hoping to find a place to dry camp Monday night so we could be close to Source Engineering in Veneta, Oregon where we have an appointment Tuesday morning.

After a quick stop for lunch at Taco Time, I found Valley Motorsports at 12:30pm. They said they would call when the part came in and I hadn’t heard from them yet. I checked at the parts counter and was told the day’s parts shipment had just arrived and was being checked in. I was going to sit in the waiting area and read a book while they did that, but a guy came out with my part after about three minutes!

I was 99% sure the ignition coil was the culprit for the lack of spark in the rear cylinder, but there was a small chance that it could be a fault in the Engine Control Module (ECM) which sends a signal to the coil pack. I couldn’t test for this signal without the proprietary B.U.D.S. computer program that’s only found at Can-Am dealers. Ignition components are not returnable once they’ve been installed. I rolled the dice and paid for the $170 coil pack.

An hour later, I was back at Timber Valley SKP Park and got to work. Mickey stopped by and offered to follow me to Roseburg when I returned the rental car. I told him that with any luck we’ll use the Spyder to get back from the rental car agency.

Well, my luck ran out on me and my roll of the dice was a loser. The coil pack didn’t fix the problem. I have no choice now but to take it to a dealer where they can interrogate the ECM and run through the diagnostic protocol to see why the rear ignition coil isn’t receving a signal. I know the primary voltage and grounds are good and the coil is new, so it must be a loss of signal to fire the coil that is the root of the problem. I took Mickey up on the offer to pick me up at the rental agency in Roseburg.

I have a coil pack for sale!

We’ve extended our stay here until Monday. Tomorrow morning I’ll drive the coach to Les Schwab in Sutherlin and have the tires replaced. Monday we’ll move to Richardson Park Campground on Fern Ridge Lake, just north of Veneta. After we have the work performed at Source Engineering on Tuesday, we’ll head north. Our original plan was to go to the coast, but now that’s changed.

We plan to get to my oldest daughter, Alana’s house in Arlington, Washington by the end of the week. From there, I can have the Spyder transported to the dealer in Mount Vernon and we’ll hang out in Alana’s driveway until it’s fixed. Sometimes the best laid plans go awry.

The days here have been warm – in the mid-80s until yesterday. Yesterday, the high was in the low 70s and a few rain drops fell in the afternoon. It rained overnight and showers continue today off and on. I need to bicycle into town at some point to pick up a general delivery package at the post office. We’ll be mostly homebound until we get the Spyder repaired. We’d hoped to check out some of the wineries and other sights around here, but that’ll have to wait until next time.

No post is complete without a dinner plate photo. On Tuesday, Donna prepared tortilla-crusted tilapia. This time she served it over a smear of avocado puree on the plate before she added the fish and salsa. She served corn with cilantro on the side.

Tortilla-crusted tilapia

Little Fish and Big Trouble

I mentioned in my last post that the upcoming weekend was a “free fishing weekend” in Oregon. So on Saturday morning, Donna and I loaded the tackle box and our fishing poles and rode the Spyder up to Cooper Creek Reservoir – about four miles away from Timber Valley SKP Park just east of Sutherlin.

The west end of the lake was crowded with fisherman – they had a youth fishing event scheduled there. So we went to the east end of the lake where we had scouted out another fishing access point. There were only a few people there. We didn’t have much luck. We spent about an hour and a half there and I only caught two small bluegill that I released. Meanwhile, Donna was skunked.

In the afternoon, Donna took the Spyder to the grocery store in town and bought a few things. She made salmon cakes for dinner, but she used a different recipe. This recipe was a little more involved than what she usually makes – it included capers plus chopped red peppers and red onion sauteed in butter versus the usual mayonnaise. She served an arugula salad on the side with the apple cider dressing we bought the day before at the farmers’ market. Tasty!

Salmon cake plate

On Sunday morning, after I watched the Moto GP race from Mugello, Italy, we went back to the reservoir and tried the west end this time – it wasn’t nearly as crowded as the day before. Even though it was free fishing weekend, we still had to pay $4/day to park at the reservoir. The Cooper Creek Reservoir is a long, narrow body of water stretching west to east then southeast. It’s large enough for water skiing and we saw a water skier and few people tubing behind powerboats.

West end of Cooper Creek Reservoir

Once again, the fishing wasn’t too hot and we were both skunked. We only saw a couple of fish caught although a dozen or so people were fishing.

Donna fishing for fish

When we came home, Donna hit the ice cream social at the park – she had a coupon for a free scoop of ice cream. After she came home, I fired up the Spyder to run an errand and trouble struck. It was only running on one cylinder. I did a cursory check, then decided to leave it for Monday morning. It was hot out in the direct sun and I didn’t feel like getting too involved with it.

The afternoon temperatures have reached the low 80s for the last few days and we run the air conditioners in the coach in the afternoon. Donna made a simple dish for dinner last night – spaghetti squash topped with beef ragu and shaved parmesan.

Beef ragu over spaghetti squash

This morning, I got to work on the Spyder. The first step, as always, was to peel the onion. To do anything mechanical on the Spyder, body panels have to come off. In this case, I had to remove seven panels with numerous fasteners. It’s tedious work.

An internal combustion gasoline engine needs a few things in order to work – you need fuel and air in the proper ratio, compression and a spark for ignition at the right time. For some reason, one of the cylinders wasn’t getting fuel or spark. To get to the spark plugs, I had to remove the air box. Everything is packaged so tightly on the Spyder, this job is easier said than done. After about an hour, I could finally pull the spark plugs.

I grounded the spark plugs and cranked the starter to see if I was getting a spark. No spark on the rear cylinder, good spark on the front one. I switched the plugs in the leads and tried again. No spark in the rear cylinder. This told me it wasn’t a problem with the spark plug. Next I switched the ignition wires at the coil and cranked the engine again. Still no spark in the rear cylinder. This told me the ignition wires weren’t the problem.

Without the specialty diagnostic equipment to check further, I relied on deductive reasoning. The ignition coil is a dual-coil unit. Both coils get primary voltage from the same source. Since one coil worked, it’s not a primary voltage problem. Since the ignition wires and the spark plugs were good, it left the coil as the most likely culprit. It’s possible that a fault in the engine control module could be preventing the rear coil from receiving a signal, but I don’t think that’s it. I’m putting my money on a bad ignition coil.

I checked around and the nearest dealer is in Eugene – about 60 miles away. I had them order a new coil assembly for $170. I found one for half that on Ebay, but it was sold “as-is” with no warranty and no returns. I didn’t trust it and I also didn’t know how long it would take to get. The dealer can get one in two days. I’ll have to rent a car and drive up to Eugene to fetch it. I put the plugs back in, the airbox on and reassembled most of the body work leaving off only what I need to access the ignition coil assembly. I spent a total of about two and half hours at this point.

Meanwhile Donna went out on her road bike for about an hour. After lunch, she went back out again on her beater bike – I call it that because it’s a rigid frame mountain bike she bought used for $25 – to town for a few items at the grocery store. When she returned, I commandeered the bike and rode to town. I stopped at the Les Schwab tire center to inquire about new tires for the coach. Our tires don’t have much wear after 40,000 miles, but they’re aging out. Our tires were manufactured in 2013 and after six years they’re beginning to show some checking – small cracks – in the sidewalls on at least two of the tires. I was hoping to get seven years out of them, but I won’t push it.

At Les Schwab, I asked Jeremy at the counter for a quote on replacement tires and I also wanted to know the DOT date codes on them. The Department of Transportation requires date codes on all passenger car and truck tires. The codes indicate the calendar week and year of manufacture. He called their warehouse and they had six Toyo M154 295/75 x 22.5 tires with DOT codes of 1419. This means they were made calendar week 14 of 2019 – two months ago. We were good to go.

I wanted to replace the tires here in Oregon because there’s no state sales tax here. On a $3,200 tire bill, that means a significant savings. I ordered the tires and we’ll have them installed on Saturday – oh, I should mention that we extended our stay here in Timber Valley SKP Park until Monday, June 10th.

The forecast calls for a couple more warm days, then much cooler on Thursday and Friday with a chance of rain on Friday. Hopefully I’ll have the Spyder project done by then and dry weather when I take to the coach to Les Schwab on Saturday.

*Just so you know, if you use this  link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

No Camping in the Campground

We pulled out of Rolling Hills RV Park around 10am on Wednesday and headed north on I-5 from Corning, California. We intended to go to Lake Shastina to boondock on BLM land at a free campground there. The terrain soon changed after we passed through Red Bluff as we left the Sacramento Valley and started climbing. We drove past Shasta Lake which appears to be at full capacity – no more drought conditions here!

We climbed a series of summits ranging from 3,000 to 4,000 feet above sea level – some of them were 6% grades. Along the way, Donna researched a bit and found some depressing news. Lake Shastina campground had been closed to overnight camping in August of 2017. We only spent one night there before and were looking forward to spending several days there this time. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “The Lake Shastina campground, with no camp host or enforcement, was closed indefinitely last week after it had turned into a party pad for young locals.”

I also read that overnight restrictions were strictly enforced. This raises a question in my mind. If you can vigorously enforce a “no camping” restriction on public land, then why can’t you enforce alcohol restrictions instead of locking everyone out? Maybe it has something to do with the development of high-end housing nearby in the Lake Shastina community. Sounds like someone has the local powers-that-be in their pocket. No camping in the campground – what?

We pressed on to Yreka, California where we stayed at a Walmart several years ago – I wrote about that in this post. I wrote about how we ran into Clarke and Elaine Hockwald (Whatsnewell) at that time. We arrived at Walmart and were foiled again. Apparently, Yreka has banned overnight parking. We regrouped and went to the Rain Rock Casino which opened in the last year or so on the east side of I-5 in Yreka. There we were welcome to dry camp overnight.

After a quiet night at the casino, we were back on the road 10:30am Thursday. Our new destination was Sutherlin, Oregon. We stayed on I-5 and hit the Oregon Border just before mile marker 797. That’s right – I-5 traverses the length of California from the Mexico border to Oregon – nearly 800 miles! About four miles into Oregon, we crossed Siskiyou Pass at 4,315 feet above sea level – the highest point on I-5.

After climbing the steep grade up Siskiyou Pass, we had a six-mile steep downgrade, descending 2,300 feet in that distance. The Interstate through southern Oregon is in the Siskiyou mountain range and has several steep climbs and descents. It’s only two lanes for the most part and I had to stay aware of slow trucks climbing ahead of us and fast moving cars coming from behind. I tried to judge the closing speeds so I could maintain momentum and pass the trucks which were only going about 30-35 mph while we maintained 50mph. I was able to shoot gaps in the car traffic which was moving at closer to 70mph.

We found the Timber Valley SKP Park in Sutherlin. This park is only open to members of the Escapees club – we’re members. We booked a week on full hook-ups for a bargain rate of $132. At check-in, the clerk suggested site 10 – she said it was large and had good satellite reception. We walked over to look at the site.

Site 10 is about 50 feet wide with a concrete pad in the center and a garden shed in the back. The rear of the site is bordered by Cooper Creek, making the rear boundary irregular. The depth of the site varies from about 50 feet to 75 feet. We agreed it was a great site for us. Walking back to the office, I noticed a Nexus class A diesel coach that checked in just ahead of us. They had disconnected the car they towed behind it. As we approached, the guy put the coach in gear and reversed with a bang into the car! I don’t know what he was thinking – maybe he thought he was in drive, not reverse. I guess he’ll have two insurance claims!

We dropped the trailer on one side of the concrete pad and set up the coach on the other side. It’s a nice site with lots of room.

Timber Valley SKP park site 10

In the evening, our neighbor in site 9 came over and introduced himself. His name is Mickey Thompson – I said, “That’s a famous name.” He said, “Yeah, he has all the fame and money, I have the good looks.”

We also had a visit from the Welcome Wagon here at the SKP park. Sandy gave us a few local brochures and a couple of gifts – two fabric coasters hand made by park members.

Donna grilled shrimp, bok choy and a medley of asparagus, baby bella mushrooms and peppers for dinner.

Shrimp and veggie plate

When we stayed here a couple of years ago, we dry-camped for one night only. At that time, we found wildlife in the park – wild turkeys and jack rabbits. They’re still in the area and I was told that bobcats and bears have been seen in the park at night. Donna was surprised to see a deer lying out in front of the clubhouse in the late afternoon.

This morning, Donna and I took the Spyder out and explored. We found a Visitor Center that was loaded with information and free maps of the western states. I like paper maps – most of ours were several years old though. I gathered a handful of new maps to replace them. We also found a small farmers’ market. However, fresh produce won’t be available here for another month or so, unlike northern California where the farmers’ market had plenty of local produce. We did pick up a jar of homemade apple cider vinaigrette after tasting a bit at the market.

We also took a ride out to Cooper Reservoir to check out fishing spots. This coming weekend is free fishing weekend in Oregon – no license required. The reservoir was stocked with 2,000 legal size trout last week. I think we’ll give it a try if I can figure out how to haul our fishing poles on the Spyder.

The weather is beautiful – afternoon highs near 80 degrees, clear skies and overnight lows in the 50s. The forecast calls for more of the same in the coming week. I’m thinking we might want to extend our stay beyond a week. I have an appointment to get some work done on the coach near Eugene on the 11th. So, we need to stay in this area until then.

I have a rack of babyback ribs on the Traeger wood pellet-fired smoker grill as I type this. We bought the ribs at the store in town and they weren’t trimmed very well. After removing the membrane from the underside of the ribs, I had to trim a fat cap from the meaty side – about a quarter-pound of fat. It’s all good now though and I’m looking forward to tonight’s dinner.

*Just so you know, if you use this  link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Birthday Girls

We didn’t do anything exciting on Sunday. I watched a couple of races on TV and other than a trip to the grocery store, I had a lazy day. The day was cool – the high temperature was only 65 degrees – but it ended with a spectacular sunset.

Sunset at Rolling Hills RV park Sunday evening

Monday was Memorial Day. This is a day where we honor those who’ve given all in service to our country. Last year we went to a memorial service in Kentucky at the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This year we went to a service at Sunset Hills Cemetery in Corning. The service was hosted by the Tehama County Veterans and the local American Legion. Boy Scout and Cub Scout troops participated along with the Corning High School band. I was impressed by the band – they were quite good!

Huge flag flying from a firetruck ladder
Memorial service

Memorial Day is much more than beer and barbeque. Donna and I try to respect the meaning of the holiday.

Monday was also birthday girl day. It was Donna’s birthday and also my youngest daughter, Shauna’s, birthday. We celebrated with dinner at Timbers – the steakhouse in the Rolling Hills Casino. It’s probably the best restaurant in the area. Donna enjoyed a braised lamb shank while I went for the 14-ounce prime rib cut. We shared a nice bottle of sangiovese with dinner.

Fabulous at 59 birthday girl

We were hanging out after dinner when Donna met a woman walking her dogs by our site. Her name was Carol and they hit it off. They had a glass of wine together and talked while I puffed a cigar. Carol has property she’s developing into a resort in Canby, Oregon. She invited us to stay at the property – we might take her up on it as we’re heading into Oregon soon.

Today I need to pick up some packages at the post office. I also need to organize the trailer. We’ll be pulling out of here tomorrow and plan to head up to Lake Shastina for a few days of boondocking on the lake.

We’ve had a few late afternoon showers along with a passing overnight shower or two. Today is forecast to be much warmer – mid-80s. The warmer temperatures should hold up for the rest of the week. Lake Shastina should be a few degrees cooler. We’re at an elevation of only around 250 feet above sea level here – Lake Shastina is close to 3,000 feet above sea level.

Oh Hail!

The Rolling Hills RV Park is only a few miles from downtown Corning. The city has a population of about 7,500 people and the town itself is quite compact. We rode the Spyder into town on Thursday and our first stop was the Olive Pit. This is a familiar place for us – I usually make a stop there any time we pass through this area. The Olive Pit, as you can imagine, specializes in olives. They have every type of olive including some unusual combinations. I sampled the blue cheese-jalapeno stuffed olives this time and they were great! They also have a good selection of wines and craft beers.

Donna bought some lime gose beer. Gose is an unusual beer that has gained popularity lately. It’s slightly sour and salty and very refreshing on a warm afternoon. It’s usually brewed to a relatively low strength with the ABV under 5%. I chose a couple of sour beers as well – a nectarine saison and a sour IPA.

We made a stop at the post office where Donna had a general delivery package sent by her sister, Linda. It was an assortment of olive oils and balsamic vinegars from Tarpon Springs, Florida – a birthday present for Donna. On the way out of town, we made a quick stop for a photo op at the giant olive on the city limit at the intersection of South Avenue and Hall Road.

It even has a toothpick

Back at the RV park, Donna prepared a dish called saucy chicken. She sliced chicken breasts lengthwise – she uses the Spyderco Sentoku chef’s knife I bought for her to do this. It works like a charm on slicing chores like this. She marinated the chicken in a garlic-soy marinade and browned it in a pan, then a sauce with white wine, chicken broth, lemon juice, mustard and thyme. It was a bit of a complicated dish. It was tasty and she served it with sweet potato mash made with Greek yogurt.

Saucy chicken, sweet potato mash and asparagus

On Friday morning, we rode the Spyder through Corning and went northeast through the small town of Tehama where we crossed the Sacramento River. We followed CA99 north until we found Bianchi Orchards. We were there to learn something about walnuts and of course purchase some of them.

This walnut tree outside the Bianchi barn/store is over 100 years old

A barn on the property has been converted into a store/gift shop. We learned that more than a dozen English walnut varieties are grown in the area. California has more than 40 varieties in total but the most popular are Chandler, Hartley and Howard.

Chandler walnuts were developed by the University of California – Davis in 1978. The Chandler variety is the most popular and produces a large, well-sealed nut. The meat is a golden honey color. They are very uniform in color with a thin skin on the meat. Some people say they are on the bland side, but I found them to be creamy without any of the bitterness sometimes found in darker walnut meats.

California produces 98% of the walnuts consumed in the USA – 40% of the world’s consumption! The area from Tehama to Red Bluff is mostly walnut orchards, although we did see some pistachio groves as well.

Inside the Bianchi store, they have an interesting countertop/bar. It’s made from a flat-sawn walnut tree trunk. The finish on it is beautiful and somehow they managed to preserve the bark.

Walnut bar – note the bark on the edge
Beautiful surface
Walnut countertop at the back of the bar includes a walnut backsplash

We bought a three-pound bag of shelled Chandler walnuts for $15 – a deal!

Back at the park, I was sitting outside after dinner reading a book and puffing a cigar. I felt the wind pick up and when I looked up, I saw large, dark clouds approaching. No rain was in the forecast but it felt like rain was imminent. I looked at the Radar Express app on my phone. We were being straddled by two storm cells!

Our location straddled by two cells

I quickly covered the Spyder, moved the chairs and table into the trailer and stayed in the trailer to finish my cigar. Within minutes, I heard sharp strikes on the roof of the trailer. We had hail! It was the size of large blueberries with some of the hail more like cherry size.

Hail outside the trailer

This wasn’t in the forecast, but I was glad I checked the radar app and got things put away.

Saturday morning we rode the Spyder back to Chico for the farmers’ market. In the past, we found some of the best produce and unbelievably low prices at this farmers’ market. Donna found the best looking baby bok choy we’ve ever seen and a large bundle was only $2.00!

Baby bok choy

Saturday evening, Donna lightly coated the fresh bok choy with sesame oil, then salted and peppered it and put it on the grill. Likewise, she prepared some baby bella mushrooms from the farmers’ market by lightly coating them with olive oil. After cooking the mushrooms she added a light dash of salt and pepper. By the way, I find the name baby bella confusing. These small mushrooms are called portabella – but they’re known as portobello when they’re full sized. They’re also known as cremini when small. They are full of nutrients and all I know for sure is these were delicious! Donna served leftover pork tenderloin kabobs over brown basmati rice with the fresh take from the market.

Outstanding mushrooms and bok choy

Rain showers developed again after dark Saturday night. We had showers off and on throughout the night and into this morning. We stayed indoors all morning – I watched the Formula One race from Monaco. I have the Indy 500 on the tube now.

The skies are supposed to clear this afternoon although it’ll remain cool – around 70 degrees. Tomorrow should be warmer for Memorial Day. We’ll pay our respects to those that sacrificed all while serving our country. Tomorrow is also Donna’s birthday – which coincides with my youngest daughter, Shauna’s birthday. We have dinner reservations at Timbers to celebrate tomorrow night.

Yoyos and Trees in Chico

The weatherman’s promise held true and we had mostly clear skies on Wednesday. The official high temperature here in Corning was 79 degrees. After a couple of wet, rainy days we wanted to get out and do something. So, how about a trip to the National Yoyo Museum? That’s right, there’s a yoyo museum in Chico.

We rode the Spyder out of Rolling Hills RV Park a little past 10am. It’s about a 30-mile ride to downtown Chico – we took a backroad route to CA32 which took us right into town. We parked the Spyder on Broadway between 2nd and 3rd Streets and took a walk through the area. There are numerous restaurants and cafes in the area and some cool shops. Chico is home to the California State University – Chico campus. The vibe downtown is trendy, youthful and fun.

I thought there was a Wednesday farmers’ market nearby – there used to be a few years ago. We walked by the farmers’ market lot and found out it’s Thursday and Saturday. We’ll go back on Saturday to check it out.

We walked back to 3rd and Broadway and found the Bird in Hand shop – that’s where the National Yoyo Museum is located. The museum is nothing more than a handful of display cabinets and a flat-screen video loop of competitors. The displays had memorabilia from national championships dating from the 1930s to 2017. I had no idea that yoyo championship competition was a thing.

Museum in the rear of Bird in Hand
Photo in upper right of this diaplay is from the National Championship in San Diego from the year 1956 – the year I was born
They had jacket patches from championships all the way up to 2017
Donna with the world’s largest yoyo – it weighs over 200 pounds

The video was running on a loop and it showed competitors in different categories strutting their stuff. These guys were like magicians making their yoyo’s float through the air and creating complex geometric shapes with the string – all while the yoyo kept spinning and they were able to reel it back in without touching anything but the string. I guess it’s kind of like hoop dancing – you don’t think much about hula hoops until you see someone who knows what they’re doing perform. These guys and gals with their yoyos were unbelievable.

The Bird in Hand shop is a rather unique toy and game store. It has the feel of a circa 1960 toy store. Lots of stuff there that you probably wouldn’t find anywhere else.

While we were in Chico, we went into the Broadway Heights building and had lunch upstairs at a restaurant with the same name. I ordered a 10″ brick oven-fired pizza while Donna had a salad bowl with wild salmon cakes with a Thai vinaigrette. The food was very good and we left with a slice of lemon-ginger cheese cake baked by our waitress, Dawn. She’s worked there for 17 years and it’s obvious that she loves her job. She bakes all the desserts for the restaurant.

The wind had really picked up and the ride home was rocked by a few gusts that were over 30mph. The Spyder is really stable, but the crosswind on CA32 had me weaving a bit in a couple of places where there were large, open fields with nothing to block the wind.

I should mention some of the trees in the area. The city of Chico itself has what they call an urban forest. The city was designated as a “Tree City USA” by the National Arbor Day Foundation. Trees on public right of ways in Chico date back to the 1870s when General John Bidwell founded the city.

Outside of town, there are large groves – mostly almonds. As we headed back toward Corning to the west, we rode through a few vineyards and walnut groves. As you get closer to Orland or Corning, the groves change to olive trees. Olive and nut farming and production are big business around here.

Donna whipped up a teriyaki baste and put together kabobs with pork tenderloin pieces, pineapple, portobello mushrooms, onions and cherry tomatoes. She grilled these on the Weber Q. She also sliced a Mexican gray squash – a summer squash similar to zucchini – and grilled it. My kabobs were served over white rice with the squash on the side – Donna opted for no rice.

Pork teriyaki kabobs over rice with Mexican gray squash

After a warm, sunny day, a few clouds rolled in before sundown. I thought we might get an unexpected rain shower as the dark clouds passed overhead. But it stayed dry and cleared up again right after sunset.

Clouds at sunset

I don’t have a plan for today and that’s okay. We’ll definitely hit the farmers’ market on Saturday. We’ll see what else comes up.

*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

A Couple of Oddities

The rain is lingering here in northern California longer than expected. We had rain showers off and on all day yesterday. It’s windy this morning and rain is forecast later this morning – possibly a thunderstorm with small hail this afternoon. The forecast high for today is only 63 degrees. If the weather guessers are right, starting tomorrow we’ll have a completely different weather picture. The forecast calls for a high of 80 degrees and no precipitation.

We didn’t do much yesterday – Donna went grocery shopping in Corning and then out for a bike ride. I made a run into town for a few things in between rain showers. I figured while I was hanging around this morning, I would write a short post about a couple of oddities we came across recently.

The first was in Sparks. We went to Great Basin Brewery Friday afternoon for happy hour and had an early dinner and a couple of cold ones. Great Basin has three locations in the area – the Sparks Brewery and Pub, another brewery and pub in Reno and a third location that’s a bottling facility. Great Basin is the oldest currently operating brewery in Nevada. The Sparks location is the headquarters and it opened in 1993.

Sparks and Reno are joined – they aren’t two distinct cities anymore. If you travel westbound from Sparks on Prater Way, once you pass under I-80, it becomes 4th Street and you’re in Reno. When I was a kid back in the 1960s, I came through here on a summer vacation with my grandparents. I remember Sparks being a small town a couple of miles outside of Reno back then. But I digress.

Back to the story at Great Basin. When we left the pub, Donna noticed something odd at the fence by the parking lot. Two bicycles were locked together through the fence, one on each side. The strange thing was the lack of wheels. One bicycle was a road bike and both wheels were missing. The other was a mountain bike and the front wheel was missing.

I took a closer look and could see the remaining rear wheel on the mountain bike had a conventional axle with nuts fixing it in place. The drop-outs for the missing wheels appeared to be quick-release type – no tools required.

Where are the wheels?

We concluded that one of two things occurred here. Either the owners of the bikes removed the wheels and took them wherever they went – we didn’t see anyone with bicycle wheels in the pub. Or, a thief saw a target of opportunity. Since the frames were locked together, he or she simply released the skewers on the quick release axles and took the wheels. We’ll never know.

We came across another odd thing here at Rolling Hills RV Park. We’re in Corning, California in the upper Sacramento Valley. This part of the valley is relatively flat with gently rolling hills. Around the Rolling Hills facility are open fields with native grasses, the casino, an equestrian center and a golf course.

While we were walking through the RV park to check out the sites, we came upon two birds. I immediately recognized them as chukars. But here’s the thing, chuckars don’t belong here. I’ve only found chukars on steep, rocky canyon walls. Their native habitat is actually in the middle east and Asia. But they’ve been successfully introduced in the western states – California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and Utah. They’re mostly confined to the rocky steep walls of canyons where they find security and feed on cheatgrass. Most often, water can be found close by.

A pair of chukar in the weeds
They’re watching me watch them

So, what are chukars doing in this fairly flat region? I can only guess that they’re escapees from a game farm, but I’ll probably never know.

There are also plenty of California quail around here, but that’s not unusual.

Last evening, in-between rain showers, Donna grilled shrimp skewers and a new-to-me side dish. It was a portobello mushroom with pesto, prosciutto and mozzarella cheese. It was a treat. She also picked up some fresh corn on the cob. It seems really early for fresh corn, but there it was. The white corn wasn’t the sweetest but it was good.

Grilled shrimp, portobello mushroom and corn

We’ll hang out today and wait for the weather to improve before we start exploring the area. Donna plans to put on a pot of lentil stew – perfect for a rainy day.

*Just so you know, if you use this  link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Snowy Donner Summit

I continued to monitor conditions over Donner Summit via the live webcam provided by Caltrans and NDOT. Our decision to not go on Thursday was a good one. The conditions weren’t good and Friday wasn’t any better. I watched as snowplows worked to clear the road and snow piled up on the shoulders.

On Saturday morning though, our window of opportunity to travel west on I-80 looked good. The webcam showed the Interstate clear and dry. Winds were only 15-20 mph but expected to gust higher in the afternoon. Snow was also supposed to return later in the afternoon. We pulled out of Sparks Marina RV Park round 9:30am. I wanted to get over the summit around noon when the temperature would be warmer, but still beat the gusty winds and snow in the forecast.

We planned to top off the fuel tank before leaving the Reno/Sparks area so we could enter California with a full tank of fuel – fuel costs are higher in California. At first I thought about hitting the Maverick station by the RV park, but I decided against it as I didn’t want to get trapped in their lot if too many cars were there. I filled the tank at the TA Travel Center near I-80 at McCarran Boulevard.

We headed west on I-80 and crossed the summit at 7,239 feet above sea level around 12:15pm on a dry road. There was plenty snow all around though. On the steep slopes near the pass, we saw signs of avalanche damage. Tall trees we’re piled on the slopes like a box of spilled match sticks.

Donna snapped this photo through her window near Donner Summit

We left I-80 at Yuba Pass and hit CA20 westbound through the Tahoe National Forest south of Lake Spaulding. This is a two-lane highway with reasonably smooth pavement for the most part. The area is heavily forested with towering Ponderosa pines trees lining the road.

We hit a few twisty bits and road construction in a couple of places, but traffic was light on this route and it was very scenic. As we dropped through the foothills near Grass Valley, we encountered farm land and finally cattle country. Near Yuba City, we drove through flooded rice fields.

We made a shortcut through farmland on Woodruff Lane which took us to CA70 northbound. Our original plan was to boondock somewhere along this route, but we decided to press on through Oroville. CA70 eventually merged with CA99 and took us through Chico. About 12 miles north of Chico, we turned west on CR-A9 near the Abbey of New Clairvaux – a winery we visited when we were here three years ago.

We drove through Corning and stopped at the Rolling Hills Casino. We had reservations to stay at their RV park beginning on Sunday, May 19th. We were a day early and knew the park was full on Saturday night. But, they also have a truck stop on the property next to the RV park and we knew we could dry camp for the night there. By this time it was raining.

We found a fairly level spot on the lot and set up. We popped out the bedroom slides but opted to leave the living room slide retracted. A few other RVs were there along with some tractor-trailer rigs when we arrived around 2:30pm. Soon several other RVs arrived and parked by us. A woman pulling an older travel trailer with a a late model Mercedes SUV parked next to us. I was in the trailer when she came over and asked me if I had a spare battery. I asked her what kind of battery? She said the battery for her trailer had fallen off and she had no electricity in the trailer.

I didn’t have a battery to lend her. Later she asked me if I thought she could hook up to her car battery for power. I told her I didn’t think it was a good idea. Car batteries are not intended for deep-cycle use and she would have bigger problems by morning. She wanted to run an electric heater all night. I told her she would have a dead car battery by morning and be stuck. I guess she opted for extra blankets because we didn’t hear from her again.

This morning we had to wait until noon to check in. We found a long pull-through gravel site and set up in site 18 – and didn’t have to drop the trailer. We’ll stay through the Memorial Day weekend and celebrate Donna’s birthday on the 27th. We did that here in 2016 and found the steakhouse in the casino was very good.

This morning, I checked the Donner Summit webcam again. It was snowing and the road was covered with packed snow. We made the right call to cross when we did. Rain showers continued to pass through here most of the day. The temperature is cool with a high of only 60 degrees. Tomorrow should be warmer – 70 degrees and dry. We may have a few showers again on Tuesday but the long-term forecast looks great with highs in the upper 70s to 80 degrees and overnight lows in the high 50s. We plan to stay here for 10 days.

Taking a Pass

We started the week with pickleball at the Evelyn Mount Community Center Monday morning. There were a few unfamiliar faces there and the level of play was very high. The way they rotate players on the courts is a little different – sometimes it results in the same pair playing together for multiple games. Also, some of the players on Monday wanted to play against specific people, so they were re-arranging the order of paddles waiting to play. No one did this to gain a wait time advantage – if they wanted a particular group to play together, they went to the back of the queue.

It was warm on Monday and I worked up a pretty good sweat before we were done at 11:45am. On the ride home, we made a stop at Winco Foods – one of my favorite grocery stores. We only needed a few things and I found an IPA from one of my favorite breweries – 10 Barrel Brewing from Bend, Oregon.

10 Barrel Brewing Apocalypse IPA

They also had fresh sushi made onsite – something I hadn’t seen at any other Winco store we’ve shopped at. We picked up some for lunch and it was excellent.

On Monday night, Donna prepared fish for dinner. She made walnut-crusted tilapia which she served with coconut-cauliflower risotto and green beans. You might recall a meal I described last week that was similar but it was tortilla-crusted tilapia.

Walnut-crusted tilapia

Tuesday was basically a repeat of Monday. We played pickleball all morning and returned to Sparks Marina RV Park. We really like this park – it’s level, very clean and well-maintained and it’s quiet – it also has the best wifi of any park we’ve stayed at. It’s a little on the pricey side though – more than we usually want to pay. I should mention the pickleball at Evelyn Mount Community Center costs one dollar per person each day. The weird rotation on Tuesday had me paired up with the same guy for four games in a row – we played well together and won all four games, so I shouldn’t complain. Donna was partnered with the same guy for three games.

Tuesday evening Donna prepared another favorite meal. It was pizza chicken – that’s not a typo, I don’t mean chicken pizza. Pizza chicken is a dish that uses flat, thin slices of chicken breast in place of pizza dough. She tops it with the marinara sauce, pepperoni slices, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. When it comes out of the oven, she tops it with kalamata olives, chopped red onion and pepperoncini.

Pizza chicken

It’s a tasty dish and avoids using dough – Donna keeps flour and sugar out of her meals. She served the pizza chicken on top of roasted spaghetti squash.

I packed a few things in the trailer in advance of our departure on Thursday. Tuesday night we had a change in he weather. We woke to rain drops Wednesday morning – I had covered the Spyder the night before and had the Weber Q grill, Donna’s bike and folding chairs packed away. The rain put the kabosh on going to play pickleball. We would’ve been soaked on the Spyder.

The rain cleared away by noon but the wind really picked up. It was so gusty that I retracted the window awnings! Then I had a special weather advisory appear on my Radar Express phone app. It warned of a series of storms from the Pacific crossing California and into Nevada. Snow was expected on the mountain passes along with strong gusty winds. Travel advisories warned against crossing the Sierra Nevada range in high profile vehicles – high profile is defined as anything over nine feet tall. We’re over 12 feet tall.

I looked at the Donner Pass webcam provided by Caltrans and NDOT. The road was dry and clear Wednesday afternoon, but I took the advisory seriously. We didn’t need to be anywhere, so I went to the office and extended our stay until Saturday. The forecast called for snow and high winds by Thursday morning with the gusty winds continuing through Friday. Saturday promises a break in the weather before another storm comes through Saturday night and Sunday. The new plan is to make a dash over the pass and into California on Saturday morning.

Wednesday evening Donna made another favorite dish – flank steak stir fry with broccoli, mushrooms and scallions over rice. Simple and yummy!

Flank steak stir fry

This morning I took another look at the live Caltrans-NDOT web cam on Donner Pass. We made the right call. The road was covered with snow and I watched in real time as a minivan slid out of its lane and came to a stop on the shoulder. We don’t need to drive in that slop. I didn’t see any big rigs crossing the pass. The forecast calls for a wintry mix with gusty wind over the pass today.

The temperature here in Sparks is only supposed to reach the upper 50s today and tomorrow. I’m hoping the expected break in the weather on Saturday holds true.

Exploring Reno/Sparks

After I wrote my last post Saturday morning, we headed out on the Spyder. We rode to the Reno Riverfest – a summer kick-off held at Wingfield Park near downtown Reno. Wingfield Park is an island in the Truckee River, which flows right through town, accessible via pedestrian bridges, two on the north side and one on the south. The Riverfest featured a number of events including a kayak competition, several bands on two bandstands, vendor tents and beer gardens.

Entry was free and a sunny Saturday meant huge crowds in the park. The temperature was around 80 degrees.

Pedestrian bridge on the north side over the Truckee River

We watched the kayaks on the south side for a while. The competitors had to paddle upstream through rapids and maneuver through a series of gates. It looked very technical as they had to quickly change direction to get through the course.

Kayak competition

We listened to a guy performing an excellent blues set with just his acoustic guitar and a great voice. He was good!

Great blues set

We didn’t hang around for too long. It was very crowded and Donna had left her I.D. back at the coach, so we couldn’t go into the beer garden. On the way back, we stopped at The Depot Craft Brewery Distillery. We sampled a couple of tasty brews made onsite – they were okay with Donna not having her proof of age. They also have five stills for distilling spirits, but we didn’t try any liquor.

On the way to the Riverfest, Donna spotted a storefront with a sign advertising hand rolled cigars. We made a stop there on the way back. It was Ruiz Cigar Lounge. This is a cigar shop featuring Ruiz cigars – rolled onsite by Marvin Ruiz and also some Ruiz cigars from his family’s factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. Marvin is an interesting and very friendly guy. He moved to Nevada from Nicaragua in 2005. He imports tobacco from his family’s farm and rolls cigars. He learned the trade in Nicaragua, first working at the Padron factory where his father and grandmother also worked at one time. Later he worked for Drew Estate and then Perdomo.

We talked cigars for a while as he showed me his selection and described many of the cigars in the Ruiz line up. I bought one to try, then he surprised us with a treat. He brought out some tobacco leaves and described the different leaves. They were all Nicaraguan from Esteli and Jalapa. He realized I knew a little bit about cigar construction as we discussed different leaf types and methods of rolling the filler.

Then he proceeded to roll a cigar. It was like watching a magician. His movements were quick and precise – he had the filler bunched and rolled in the binder so quickly that there must have some sleight of hand involved. He was almost done with the cigar before I could start snapping photos.

Already rolling the filler bunch with binder leaf
The bunch and binder are hidden by his right hand as he makes a cut with a chaveta – a special type of knife for cigar making
He laid out the wrapper leaf to finish the cigar
Finished cigar – old school style without using any molds

He gave me the Churchill cigar he’d just rolled. How generous is that?!

Off the shelf Ruiz cigar on the right – the shaggy foot Churchill he made for me on the left

I puffed the shaggy foot Churchill after dinner. It was a very nice cigar and I enjoyed it immensely.

On Sunday, Donna rode her beater bike to do some shopping nearby. While she was out, she went to Petco and brought home a surprise for Ozark the cat. Ozark has only been outside of our coach a few times in the four years since she joined us. She likes to sit on the steps behind the screen door or in her window bed to watch the outside world, but she isn’t inclined to go out.

Donna brought home a cat harness and leash. We fit the harness to Ozark and Donna took her out. She seemed to like it. She rolled in the synthetic turf in our site and they took a short walk. I’m wondering if this will encourage Ozark to go out on her own – that wouldn’t be a good thing.

Our site with fake grass at Sparks Marina RV Park
Donna and Ozark exploring

Sunday afternoon, I went back to Ruiz Cigar Lounge and sat with Marvin and shot the breeze while we puffed our cigars. He told me a lot of interesting stories about growing up in Nicaragua as a third-generation cigar roller. Another fellow from Nicaragua came into the lounge – I don’t recall his name – he told me Marvin is a Master Torcedor – a title given to only the most highly skilled cigar rollers. I bought a few more cigars from him.

While we’re back on full hook-ups, Donna is taking advantage by catching up on laundry and preparing some fine dinners. Saturday night she made one of our favorites – chicken enchilada skillet casserole.

Chicken enchilada skillet casserole

Sunday she whipped up coconut cauliflower risotto while I grilled chicken thighs. She served it with steamed spinach.

Grilled chicken thighs with coconut cauliflower risotto and steamed spinach

This morning we returned to the Evelyn Mount Community Center for pickleball. The games we’re all high level and we had fun. We’ll go back again.

The weather here in Sparks, Nevada has been holding up fine. Daily highs are in the upper 70s. It should be cooler Wednesday with a possibility of rain on Thursday. We’re scheduled to depart on Thursday – with any luck we’ll beat the rain. I’m not sure where we’re going next – maybe Susanville, California. I’ll be sure to top off our fuel tank before we enter California – diesel fuel prices are about a dollar less per gallon in Nevada than they are in California.