October 20, 2013-Well we have been blessed with sunny skies and dry roads since our departure on October 16th with little delay at the US border and a smiling face welcoming us to beginning our 2013/2014 Snowbird season. To date our travels have been uneventful other than seeing Bill & Marilyn (from Tecolote) and Bill & Patricia Clarke who were with us last season. We had Happy Hour with the Clarke’s at the Walmart in Woodburn, Oregon. With the leaves turning a vast array of colours we are well into fall and the scenery has been stunning, particularly through Oregon and our decent along Mount Shasta. We did have a short detour as we met with a representative of Forest River RV in Dallas, great meeting with look forward to positive results of a Strategic Alliance.
Sylvia has joined us again on the trek south, she will depart from San Diego on the 28th of October she is really enjoying herself. As a result of our delay on day 2 we stayed in Weed, CA at the only RV Park in town, great view of Mount Shasta at a reasonable price. On Thursday as we left the mountains we really got into the heat starting in Redding. The drive to Modesto on the I-5 was busy as always, and making the transfer to Hwy 99 in Sacramento at 1:30 on a Friday afternoon certainly kept my attention, hard to believe this roadway was engineered! We arrived in one piece, no worse for wear about 3pm at Terry & Lee’s house, the wonderful hosts they are dinner was on the BBQ and cold beverages were consumed after a long day on the road.
Yesterday we spent all day installing our new racks, SUP and Kayak carriers and new watercraft on the roof of the Van. I am impressed with the Thule Roof Racks, much better than the Yakima we had previously. Today we have some minor adjustments to make then out for dinner. Tomorrow we continue our southward journey, eventually to a visit at the Joshua Tree National Forest.
**You are often warned about buying gas in Mexico; it is suggested that somehow from time to time the attendant may rip you off. On this trip at the Shell Station in Ashland, Oregon we got burned. As we turned off the I-5 we had the choice of 2 gas stations, a 76 or a Shell. As we recalled the posted the same price for Regular gas, ($3.69 per gallon?). So far we had paid anywhere from $3.27 to $3.99 per gallon so this did not seem out of line. In Oregon they pump the gas, just like Mexico. We selected the Shell as we had been here before, filled up and departed. It was only the next day that we discovered they had charged us $4.49 per gallon!!! WOW!!
Did you know?
Modesto (Spanish for “modest”), officially the City of Modesto, is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California. Modesto is located in the Central Valley area of Northern California, 90 miles north of Fresno, 92 miles east of San Francisco, 68 miles south of the state capital of Sacramento, 66 miles west of Yosemite National Park, and 24 miles south of Stockton.
Modesto, originally a stop on the railroad connecting Sacramento to Los Angeles, was founded in 1870 and was to be named for William C. Ralston, financier of many projects in early California. Interesting enough, he declined the suggestion and a Spanish-speaking railroad worker at the naming ceremony said that Ralston was “Muy modesto” (very modest). Hence, the town was named Modesto.
Modesto was immortalized in the 1973 George Lucas film American Graffiti. The award winning film captured the spirit of “cruising” and friendship on 10th and 11th Streets in 1962 and led to the revival of 1950’s nostalgia that included the TV show Happy Days and the other spin-offs. Ron Howard, Harrison Ford and Richard Dreyfuss starred in the film. The soundtrack was a huge success. Director George Lucas is a native of Modesto, graduating from Downey High School in 1962.