Weekender Speak

I'm so pleased to report the forecasters were wrong. YEAH! Today turned out to be sunny and in the mid-60s. It's not Florida beach weather, but it'll definitely work.

This beautiful day was perfect for watching the weekenders come in. This campground is very popular and the campers were backed up waiting for their turn to check in and move to their sites. Then, the real fun began.

We call it "Weekender Speak".

We could hear it all around the park this afternoon. A loud voice pierced the quiet. "I said LEFT! No, LEFT!!!!!!" Moments later, another clash: "WHAT? WHAT? HUH?" Then, "That's GOOD!"

Walking through the park, we watched families setting up for the first weekend of the season. "Do we have electricity?" chimed one lady as she snapped up her pop up. "Where does this thing go?" asked another camper. "I THOUGHT I packed that, but now I'm not sure," proclaimed another.

For us, it was a bit like hearing a foreign language in our native land. Once upon a time we may have talked that way. But, these days, we back up the moose with nary a word. Setting up is second nature. And, thankfully, we have everything with us, so we never worry about what we did or didn't pack. But, for these weekenders, this is part of the drill, especially on the first weekend of the summer.

The weekender exchange that was the most telling was heard throughout the campground. It went something like this.

"Wait."

"WAIT!"

"I SAID WAIT!!!!"

Crunch.

What a way to start a holiday weekend. Have a good one!

It Never Rains

One of the things we loved about living in Northern California was how dependable the weather was. Each year, the rainy season ran from Halloween to Tax Day. Between April 15th and October 31st you could plan any outdoor activity with no worries about the weather. There was never a need for a back up plan, because it never, ever rained.

So, when it came time to schedule our first return visit to the Bay Area, it was easy to decide when we would arrive. May is one of the best months to visit here. October is the other. These are the months when the sun shines, the temperature is warm, but not too warm, and the wind almost never blows. And, rain? Forget about it.

What has it done since we arrived May 1st? It's been cold and breezy. And, it has rained! It rained on us in Pleasanton, Morgan Hill, Napa and on the way today to Fort Bragg. The forecast in this lovely coastal town this holiday weekend is down right chilly.

So, it's cold and nasty in Northern California in May. Things good be worse.

We could be working.

Nappin' in Napa

We're back!

We left the pack of dogs park in Pleasanton last Wednesday and headed south to Morgan Hill to a relatively dog-free park. The purpose of our trip was to catch up with our Winnebago club, and to serve as co-wagonmasters for the weekend.

The four days flew by. We reconnected with old friends and met new ones. We ate. We drank. We laughed. A lot. And, for three mornings in a row, we got up waaaaay too early to make and serve breakfast for a mob of 40.

That last part just about did me in.

Yesterday was the biggest day. We did the breakfast thing, again. Then we did a little introduction to geocaching and took 20 or so of our Winnie friends on a little geocaching hike where we picked up five caches and hooked at least that many new cachers. It was lots of fun. After dinner Paul and I led a very fun and interactive game for the night's entertainment. By the end of the night everyone was exhausted...from laughing so hard. That's such a wonderful sound, to hear 40 of your friends laughing together. It was such a pleasure to make it happen.

This morning we were up early again to put out the customary "get away breakfast". Before long we were all packing up and our friends hit the road. The "so longs" were hard, but we were so grateful to have a few days to play with our Winnie friends. These good folks have a special place in our hearts. They were there on the very first night when we had our very first Winnie. And, we've been friends since. We look forward to seeing them down the road, whenever that may be.

Just after 11 this morning, we got our sleep-deprived selves on the road and headed north 100 miles or so to the wonderful little town of Napa and found our home for the next four nights at the sweet little Napa Valley Expo. Once we were set up, I made a bee-line for the shower and the bed, and enjoyed a much-deserved 2 1/2 hour nap. With that, I was rested, refreshed and ready for a few days of fun all on our own.

Tomorrow is the dentist, and maybe a haircut. But, after that, we plan to enjoy a bit of exploration in this little town that's one of our favorites. And, yes, we plan to visit a winery or two.

Cheers.

Mornin'

Q: What happens in the middle of the night in a campground filled with freakishly large show hounds?

A: They bark. Then, they howl.

We're so glad we'll be out of here in the morning.

To The Dogs

We've had an interesting transformation here at the fairgrounds. In the last 24 hours our park has gone to the dogs...literally.

It started quitely. We saw one RV pull in and pull out a pen that soon became home to two monster dogs. Later, we watched three RVs pull in at the same time. It was obvious they were traveling together. They parked in adjacent sites, and they put out pens, too! Sure enough, the pens were soon occupied by the same kind of extra large dogs. Before we knew it, there were dozens of the same big dogs being led around the campground on leashes.

We turned immediately to the internet.

Turns out there's a dog show here this week. The Irish Wolfhound Club of America is hosting its 2010 Specialty. (Whatever that is!) With a few more clicks we learned about this breed we've never seen. According to Wikipedia, they're the size of a small pony, (Yep!) easy going and have a short life span. We're far from experts, of course. Besides, we're cat people anyway. But, an RV park full of these very odd looking beasts is some kind of sight.

Here's hoping they have a very good show.

A Little Shake

One of the hazards of living in California is having to live with earthquakes. During our time as residents here they, quite surprisingly, became a part of everyday life. Thankfully, we never experienced a "big one" while we lived here. But, we did feel little shakers on a fairly regular basis. The cats were the most sensitive to these baby quakes. If we were home when we felt a jolt, we'd see both cats dash for what they had deemed as the safest place in the house: under the bed. There were several evenings when we came home to find our cats in their safety shelter. We always verified what they already knew, that the house had done a little shake while we were away.

As we approached the Golden State on our return as fulltimers, we wondered how the cats would react to a quake now that they've been on the road for nearly a year.

Yesterday, we found out.

We were on the phone with our fellow wagonmasters for next weekend's rally when the moose began to shake. It felt like we were rumbling down the freeway at 60 mph. But, of course, we were standing still. We didn't hear any of the conversation for the next few seconds. It was all over before it really got started, but we had just experienced our first quake in the moose. At magnitude 3.3 on the Richter Scale, it wasn't much, thankfully. But, it still counts!

And, where were the cats? They didn't move an inch! Seems they've adapted so well to life on the move, they no longer notice. And, as far as we're concerned, riding out a little temblor in a motorhome is a whole lot less scary than being in a stick and brick. Bullwinkle just bounced around on his six big ol' tires.

Now that we can check that California "to do" off this list, here's hoping the earth stands still for a good long while.

Meeting Merikay

After our early and busy day yesterday, we were slow to get this day started. As we were finishing our mid-morning breakfast, a car pulled up. Out popped future fulltimer and fellow blogger Merikay. I knew she might be in the neighborhood today to attend an RV show here at the fairgrounds, so it was a very pleasant surprise to see her. It's always fun to meet someone new when you're still in your pajamas!

Over coffee we got to know this fun lady. Her dream to start exploring America's national parks and other scenic wonders is propelling her forward with energy and enthusiasm. Like all of us who go through the process of preparing for life on the road, the details of her great escape have yet to reveal themselves. But, she is eagerly stepping toward the dream. We were honored to be the first fulltiming bloggers she's met in real life. It was a treat to fill in the spaces between each other's words on the screen. Like other future fulltimers we've had the pleasure to meet, she came with several questions, which we were happy to answer. We look forward to following her preparations and meeting her again on the road one day.

With our pajama party behind us, Paul and I got into gear and went to work on a couple of big projects. I continued to work on my weekend rally project. It sounded so quick and easy when I hatched this idea! It's turned into a bit of a monster. Paul took on the task of washing the moose. Four hours later, our Winnie was sparkling clean. (Thanks, Paul!) I made significant progress on my monster project inside, but I still have work to do. (Ugh!)

We topped off the night with dinner out with our friends Cindy and Rick. It has been great to spend time with these good friends. The hour was late when we got home. So, if anyone is expecting to stop by tomorrow morning for a visit, you're perfectly welcome. Chances are you'll find me in my pajamas.