First day away from work - Nov. 16th 2016

Well, we did it.  We drove away from El Dorado County, with no intentions of returning other than for family/friends visits.  We left Placerville at about 0830, and headed west. 

Butt shot

Our destination for today was Sea Cliff State Beach in Aptos, CA. 

The Tin Tent Two and the tow vehicle ran perfectly, and stopped well too!  It was a beautiful day to drive thru the Sacramento and northern parts of the Central Valley and over to the coast. 

We checked into the campground and found our space and then proceeded to back in, and level up.  These spots are great, paved and with grass in between AND full hook ups.  The pictures wont do it justice, but imagine backing your trailer against the beach.  With only a walkway between you and the water.  NICE.

Truth be told it took me a few extra times to get the TTT into the spot correctly, but there were only a few people watching, so, no news reel at 1100.

Glenda was in heaven.  We walked down the beach and then back the other way.  We cooked dinner, ate, and then took another walk at night along the beach.  Here are a few of our pictures.

Afternoon view out our windows

 

going to be a nice sunset.

Grand Design Owners Nor Cal Rally Oct. 27th thru 30th.

We last left our intrepid travelers returning from a Dry Camping excursion at Bodega Bay.  Soon after that trip, we embarked on our first ever RV owners rally.  Now, this wasn't your every day group of RV'ers, no, This is for the owners of Grand Design RV's only.  And this particular rally was a regional gathering as opposed to the manufacturers rally at the factory in Indiana.  The owners of Grand Design Rv's, of which there are several types and many models, have developed an online forum to discuss their interests, ask questions, and plan get togethers like a regional rally.  It started as a small discussion online, was iniatiated by one of the owners, and then grew by leaps and bounds to be the largest regional rally ever.

The group over took the Durango RV Resort in Red Bluff CA,  They literally booked them solid for those 4 days.

Glenda and I had gotten our reservation in early, but not early enough to get one of the prime spots around the fountain.  But our space was REALLY NICE!.  This was the opposite of dry camping.. we had full hookups including cable TV.  And NO sand....

Space 112

We arrived on Thursday afternoon and were lead to our spot by a nice older guy in a golf cart.  (nice retirement job, I'm thinking.)  we unhitched and hooked up, popped out and leveled up.  And then began meeting our neighbors.


The weather could have cooperated a little bit better, we had light rain that first night, so not too much was happening that evening, but it was fun to watch the park fill up with GD RV's.


The next morning was the start of many seminars and talks by other owners.  Because of the rain, we gathered in a large tent. 

Grand Design had sent several of their corporate officers to kick off the rally and they made everyone feel great.  They also gave away a ton of stuff which is always a good start.    A solar panel, a set of shocks absorbers, a set of new Torklift steps, and some other great gifts.   We had a talk from a solar panel company  ZAMP SOLAR, the company that supplies many of the major components in our RV's, Lippert Components, and a Suspension outfit that I can't remember the name of.  And that was  only the main ones, there were also talks given by a local vet about travelling with your pets, a couple that have been full timing for 15 years.  (That was eye opening.)  There was plenty of time each afternoon to walk around the park and visit with the other owners, many of whom would invite you right into their RV and offer a beer or glass of wine. 

2 of the 4 units that were on display from Happy Daze RV

The momentum was also on display, and see those solar panels??  They were still producing enough power to charge the battery.. amazing.

That was really the best part of the whole weekend, meeting other like minded folks and then getting to see inside their trailers and 5th wheels some of the upgrades and modifications they have made.


On SAT there was a potluck lunch.  The rain stopped that morning and afternoon long enough for us to have that lunch outside and then get a group picture.   One of the owners took that picture with his drone. 

 There is also a cool flyby video showing just about the whole campground, full of GD units.

In line for lunch

Another of the planned activities was a show and tell of sorts, of the modifications that you may have made to your 5th wheel.  You gave your site mumber and a brief description to the organizer who put that on a big poster board so all the other guests could see and decide if they wanted to walk around the camp and stop by your space so you could show off your  project.  So, I put down my battery box solution, and our stacked washer/dryer installation.  That turned out to be fun, because you know how much I like to talk,,, and people would come by to see and have me explain what I'd done.... fun.
A local Grand Design dealer was also onsite with several of their repair technicians to take care of many minor issues that the owners had.  I actually had them seal a leak around the kitchen window, seal the shower door, fix a piece of molding that had popped off the wall and a light switch that was loose.  All for free and done onsite immediately.  Two guys came in and whipped thru the repairs and then went on to the next trailer.  It was all warranty stuff for me, but many of the other guests had trailers that were way out of warranty, and that didn't matter in the least.  Grand Design  had them do all the repairs in the whole group.  And did I mention, all for free?

sealing the window leak

Shower door leak

While people were walking around  each others rigs, someone pointed out to me that I had the dreaded grease on my wheels.  This is a known issue, and was talked about in length by the Lippert Components rep..  So having discovered the grease, I made contact with the GD folks at the rally and they assured me it would be taken care of .   My next post will explore this in detail.

Bodega Bay Oct. 19th thru 24th

For the last 7 years  or so, we have made an annual trek to Doran Beach Campground at Bodega Bay with 3 other couples that somehow molded into what we call the Fall Follies.  So this year was no different,,,, except that we now camp in the Solitude 5th wheel instead of the previous 24 ft. travel trailer.  That is pretty different.
This trip is dry camping, meaning there are no hookup's for power, water or sewer or cable TV.  Oh my, how will we ever survive?? :-)

But it was the first time we dry camped in the Solitude, so we needed to see how long we could go before the tanks were full and the battery was dead.  Which was good practice, in a mostly controlled environment.  And truth be told, we do have a little Honda Generator, and there is potable water at the campground that you fill your tank with, so really, how hard is it? :-)

We arrived Wed. afternoon, met up with 2 of the other couples and went off to dinner in Bodega Bay.  We ate at the Fishetarian on the Lucas Wharf. We all highly recommend this little establishment.  Great food and drink.

The following day was spent mostly around camp, on the beach, kayaking in the bay and hanging around the campfire.

Piper likes the beach

On Friday though, we all drove into Santa Rosa to look at travel trailers for Whitey and Diane.  Apparently, we got them all excited at the previous nights campfire...  New trailers are in several families future..
That was a fun little excursion.  I of course had the most fun, because I was in no way shape or form going to spent any money,, so I was having a great time.  It really is fun to watch others get ready to drop a pound of flesh on a new toy!

Let's Buy a new Trailer

Saturday was the hiking day, or really it was more of a walk, but still way fun.  Scott Garrett and I paddled from the campground across the channel to the rock jetty, pulled the kayaks up to dry land and met those who drove over to Bodega Head.  Then we walked the north trail to the overlook of Horseshoe Cove.  Along the way we introduced the Johnson's to Geo caching!  Found 2 caches along the trail.

Breakfast at the Mancuse Caboose

The Sausage King

Sunday was relax day.   A couple kites were flown, many walks were accomplished, lots of stories were told, and of course there was a campfire at night.
Monday was go back home day, or in our case, back to where we were previously parked.


I had to put in a day or 2 of work, on Tuesday and Wednesday, but on Thursday of that week, we had reservations to attend the Nor Cal Grand Design Owners Rally in Red Bluff.
See next post for that story.