October 11, 2012

Sycamore Grove Campground

Mendocino NF, Red Bluff, CA

It was a lazy day.  We lounged around in the morning.  I made lunch and then we decided to take a ride into town.  First we stopped at the Discovery Center to find out what happened to the mouse Monte moved from one snake tank to another tank.  We spoke to Bobbie, who works at the center.  She informed us that the snake ate the mouse.  That news made Monte feel better.  (For info on mouse see previous entry).

Our next stop was at AAA which is located on the same street as the entrance to the campground.  We picked up the California & Nevada CampBook and the Southern California TourBook Guide as well as a map of California.  I have been doing research on our next location.  Originally I was looking for areas just outside of San Francisco. But Monte informed me he really wasn’t interested in going there and since I have already been to San Francisco I have shifted my research to more natural settings.  Unfortunately most of the National Forests that we would have liked to explore in northern California either cannot accommodate our size rig or are closed for the season.  So I am concentrating of areas more south. 

We stopped in a sporting goods store because we have been looking to buy new backpacks.  The backpacks that we have been using were very inexpensive and not really geared for actual backpacking.  They are bulky and not comfortable.  We ended up buying Outdoor hydration backpacks that were on sale.  The bladder holds 2 liters of water and is designed to stay cold for up to four hours.   Prior to use, the bladder can either be placed in the freezer empty or filled with water and placed in the refrigerator.  We hope to try them out on Saturday weather permitting.    

After picking up a few items in the supermarket we returned home and sat outside for a short time until the wind picked up suddenly and we ran inside to close windows to try to prevent dirt from entering the rig.  Too late.  Everything was covered in a fine layer of dust.

We had a salad for dinner and took a walk on the same trail we had taken the night before only reversing the order and starting where we had come out of the trail and exiting where we had started the trail the previous night.   As we neared the end of the trail, the wind started picking up and the temperature dropped and I was glad I had worn a long sleeve shirt.

 It had been a nice day.  I’m not sure what we are going to do tomorrow-we might just let the day unfold and see where it takes us.   While there is some planning required in this nomadic lifestyle, (where we are going next factoring in cost of gas to get there and cost of the site) the beauty of our lifestyle now is that most of the time we can do whatever our moods dictate.