LAKE OF THE SPRINGS TO RUSSIAN RIVER 10/19-20/2011

We completely enjoyed our stay at Lake of the Springs Thousand Trails Preserve near Yuba City, CA these last 2 weeks.  While here, we have entertained special guests like those pictured below and a skunk and a few feral cats.

 We also went to church with and spent most of the sabbath with Helen and her family at their house about an hour's drive from our place.  Helen is one of the daughters of some of our dear friends from Medford from our own child rearing years.  Now Helen and her great husband, Tyler, are raising their own crew.  Thanks Helen for a wonderful day and the introduction to some great cowboy chili and cowboy caviar!!

 We also spent most days walking, exercising, internetting,and reading.  Ann paid bills and Wayne got half of the trailer waxed, after first using rubbing compound to remove the road grime and oxidized paint from this last couple years of traveling.  The other half will have to wait until another place where we have good weather and a little time not visiting people and places.

 We hated to leave our little sanctuary on top of the hill (see the picture below) on October 19th, but we were anxious to get on our horse to head to Russian River Thousand Trails Preserve near Cloverdale, CA.  There we will be able to spend some time with our #2 son's family.  Good times comin'!

 October 19th, we stopped in Marysville, CA to resupply on food and fuel, then drove on to Clear Lake, CA where we spent the night in Camp Wal-Mart.  While there we parked next to and visited with a couple that now live in Anaheim, but were from Argentina.  They are a married couple that competes in Tango competitions.  They were fascinating to visit with and swap "On The Road" stories.
That evening we were also approached by a young man asking for assistance in getting something to eat.  He obviously wanted money, but we gave him food.  We were severely disappointed when we watched him walk away and throw the food on the ground about 25 yards from our trailer.  I guess he must not have been very hungry, eh?  Frustrating, but the food we gave him was his to do with as he decided best for his situation.
The next morning as we were driving towards Cloverdale, we noticed huge English Walnut orchards along the road.  We came to a place where the trees were discharging their load of fruit onto the roadside side of the fence.  We spent an hour or so harvesting that which was going to waste.  We did not go into the orchard, but harvested that which was between the fence and the road.

 Our bounteous was two buckets of walnuts ready to preserve for the winter.  We remembered that about this time last year, a little south of here, we were blessed with the same type of opportunity that provided walnuts for us for the next couple months.  We felt blessed!

 Since our #3 son has begun preparing to shoot a film about a shale pit where he will be using a tractor and since we have been helping him find one, we have seen more tractors than we ever thought existed.  You know the drill...... you don't notice any black Chevy trucks on the road until you buy one...then you see them everywhere!
The tractor he will use in the film, he has nic-named, "BIG BERTHA". Well today as we drove we saw Big Birtha's MAMA!!  This beautiful work of man was parked along the side the road and it made us think of Bertha, so we had to stop and take a picture!!

 Finally, after a leisurely, stopping a lot, drive, we arrived at Russian River Thousand Trails Preserve about 2:00 PM.  We found a spot, set up camp and sat out our chairs. We read and watched the passers by for a couple hours before we even unhitched and set up the trailer.  You can see our walnuts by the chairs.  We spread them out on the picnic table and two TV trays to dry some in the fading afternoon sun.

 So, here we are and here we will stay, in space A-14, for the next two weeks.  During this time we will spend a lot of time with our nearby residing  #2 son's family and their four children, attend a couple soccer games, do Halloween with them, celebrate Ann's 75th birthday and play with grand kids.  Maybe we might even get the rest of the trailer waxed?????  Here through Nov. 3 or so.