October 9, 2012

Sycamore Grove Campground

Mendocino National Forest, Red Bluff, CA

We had a great night’s sleep-no trains, cars, trucks to keep us awake.  I’m really starting to appreciate these out of the way places.  It was nice to sleep in-that is until Pumpkin (one of our cats) let us know he wanted his breakfast by alternating nipping at whatever body part was not under the cover and purring in our ears.  We decided to try and ignore him so he went to his plan B which is chasing our other cat Annie from one end of the rig to the other.  Our cats are a continuous source of entertainment for us.  Pumpkin will chase Annie one minute and the next he could be sitting side by side with her looking out the window.  We finally took pity on Annie and got up and filled the cat bowls.  We used to continuously fill the bowls all day but noticed the cats had no self-control and were getting plump so now we only give them one cupful a day.  

I spent the morning researching where we are going next.  We want to spend a couple of days in San Francisco.  Monte has never been there and it had been over thirty-five years since I was there.  The places that are really close to the city are way out of our budget and most of the places that are in our budget that are fairly close don’t have very good reviews.  I did find a couple of places within 1 hour that accept Passport America and are going to do further research on those later in the week. 

While I was doing my research Monte was doing his own research on-line trying to find which station has the least expensive gas in our area.  He found one station offering diesel for $4.23 gal.  But when he arrived there found out that price was for cash only.  Since he wanted to fill both his truck tank and auxiliary tank that combined is over 60 gallons, he didn’t have that much cash on him.  But he found and filled up at a station a couple of blocks away that was selling diesel at $4.25 gal and accepted credit cards. 

We had lunch when Monte returned from the gas station and set out in my car because I also needed gas and a few items from Walmart that the GPS showed less than 5 miles away.  Before we got to the park exit Monte received a call that changed our plans. 

When we were had visited the Camping World in Junction City, Oregon, Monte had eyed a truck horn.  Aside from the loud horn, the benefit of adding this type of air horn is that it comes with a larger air tank than our truck already has.   The air tank is used for the pak brake which aids the exhaust brake especially on mountain roads.  The Air horn kit in Camping World was on clearance for $175 (with an added benefit that Oregon does not have sales tax).  BUT since we have had some unexpected expenses, Monte did not buy the air horn kit.  AND had regrets.  When we got to Chinook RV Resort Monte called the Junction City Camping World to see if the air horn kit was still available and if they would be willing to ship it to him.  The clerk he spoke to took Monte’s phone number and said he would call back.  He never did and Monte didn’t pursue the matter.  He again regretted not getting the air horn kit when we traveled from Klamath to Red Bluff because his air tank kept getting depleted while driving through the mountains.    So when Monte went on-line and saw there was a Camping World in Redding, just 30 minutes away from our location, he called the store to inquire if they could get the air horn kit from the Junction City store.  The call we received that changed our plans for the day was from the Redding store.  They had the same air horn kit and, although their kit was not on clearance, offered it to Monte at the clearance price.  So we drove to Redding and purchased the air horn kit. 

On the way back we stopped at Walmart for a few grocery items.  Back home I broiled a piece of salmon for Monte and made a salad for myself as I do not like fish.  We relaxed by watching a couple hours of TV and then went to sleep.