Tuesday, November 25, '08

Slept well in Redding. We were up with the chickens (8:00 is early for us!) to re-torque exhaust parts and get through Sacremento before rush hour. It's almost fun to go hunting for gasoline again! the prices are all substantially under $2.00 everywhere you turn!

The trip was practically balmy compared to the weather we'd left behind. Mid 60's are a lot like much of the summer in western Washington this year!

We arrived in Tracy around 3:00 and made a bee-line to the weekly Tracy afternoon jam session. What fun to walk in on my dear ol' brother unannounced.

Many of the usual suspects were there and in fine fettle. Additionally a few newbies have joined in and broadened the musical menu.

As always the first set is gospel, the second set is mostly C&W. I'd have loved to dive in and take a second part, or 8 bars of an instrumental break, but without preparations I let my caution rule my bravado. Enjoying old acquaintances' performances hearing some new folks too made a most enjoyable afternoon.

Dinner is always an event after the jam. What a fine group of folk. The warmth and caring that the group holds for each other is a joy to see and feel. Souls are nourished as well as bodies, and all are fulfilled by the fellowship.

More music after dinner. What fun! Ted and I are working up music involving his easy skills on vocals and guitar, with me scrambling along on the upright bass. Lots of stumbles, often some good sounding stuff too. That's the fun in learning -- you can see yourself getting better by bounds!

Monday, November 24, '08

This morning we left Canyonville with an exhaust pipe serenade. We clattered and putted down I-5 untill we found a really good muffler shop. You know - the kind of a place where they make the part they need and weld it in - instead of finding a part in a catalog and clamping it in with something made for clamping something else. A true craftsman in a muffler shop in Grant's Pass (Custom Mufflers) made quick work of the new-fangled gasket-less ball and socket couplings. When he was done the pipes sported good ol' double flanges and donut gaskets like the ones that were invented near hundred years ago and lasted lifetimes.

The trip to Redding, CA was lots better! Fog and clouds gave way to sunshine and snowcaps. The weather is about 15 degrees warmer, and I'm glad to crawl under the rig to re-torque the headers before breakfast. Warm and snug, we're well wined and dined. Good days to come!!

Sunday, November 23, '08

This morning a friend of Chuck's troubleshot and repaired the connections at the back of the headers. The fix on the RV was quick and the RV was quiet. Off we went for Canyonville.

Quick. Quiet. Not permanent! By the time we got to Canyonville, the ol' girl was in heat again!

Good dinner with good friends. Ed and Verlene Smith met us for such delicacies as Ceasar salads, fish and chips, and many assorted guilty pleasures off the desert menu. Great fun with coffee and tales of grandkids until cobwebs filled our heads. We all slept like we were blessed. We were!

Saturday November 22,'08

Today started our grand adventure for the fall, winter and spring. As many of you know, the plans include (among other things) Thanksgiving in California, Christmas in Scottsdale, Mid January should find us touring Mexico for 2 months.

Luckily the whole adventure has extra lay-over days! We used the first one - on day one!

We left Olympia bound for Canyonville, OR. Fifty miles into the day the RV engine became a seven-cylinder wonder. -as in We wonder how far this thing will go! We returned to Olympia and the folks that had most recently worked on the rig. They found a wire (laying on an exhaust pipe) melted and shorted. The fix took less than two hours, but that found us in Olympia 4 hours late to leave.

About eighty miles later (in Kelso, WA) the brand-new exhaust system disassembled! Imagine the sound of a Farmall Tractor in Heat!!

So this day ends in Portland with a wonderful visit with Anna's relatives; Leona, Chuck, Vicki, Debbie and her two charming kids Brooke and Cody. What a wonderful afternoon, dinner, evening and breakfast We should've planned to do that in the first place!!!!