Mariposa became more heavily populated in the mid 1800s when gold was discovered here. The museum is home to many artifacts, including a collection of interesting letters- titled Dear Charlie- that were written by a young man who came here from Boston to Strike It Rich, and wrote of his adventures to his buddy back in Boston.
We moved to Carson City where we spent the night in a casino parking lot, a first for us. In the morning we met with friends Margie and Crys for breakfast before moving further north. The only picture I took was of the casino where we ate, because we actually got lost in there trying to find our way out. Eventually we made it out and hit the road. Technically, I know that everything has to be stowed before we move anywhere, and yesterday I was reminded of how important that actually is. When we stopped for lunch, the coffee pot was on the floor and its contents were spewed all over everything. It took a bit to clean it all up. Apparently though, that wasn't enough of a reminder for me because when we stopped later in the day, the fruit was all over the floor. I had taken it out of the sink, where it travels, to clean up the coffee. Hmmm, hopefully I've got it figured out now.
Dozer is slowly acclimating to all the changes for him. He is still trying to find some spots to sit where he won't be in our way and/or get stepped on.
We didn't bring his huge automatic feeder, so he is re-learning to beg us for food. He eats so fast that he chokes on it ( you would think that after 12 years with us, he would know that there will always be food!) so we have been using his food ball to feed him. There are holes in the ball and he has to bat it around for pieces to fall out, which they do- one at a time. Keeps him from choking and serves as entertainment for him at the same time. We have also managed to change his feeding times to 6:30 am and 6 pm instead of 5 pm and 4 am.
We hadn't decided whether Dozer would be better off traveling in the truck or the camper so I rode with him in the camper for a short distance to see what happened. What I discovered sent us to the internet searching for a solution. The camper rocks a lot. Too much. So we found a Lance dealer in Reno that was willing to order the stabilizers we need. They were shipped overnight to him and we picked them up.
When we left Reno we had no destination in mind. We have a basic route we plan on taking and we figured we'd just drive and see how far we get. We got to Oregon, where we spent the night on BLM (Federal ) land
. We pulled about a half mile off the main highway and just pulled over for the night. Once we were set up and relaxing, we looked and saw what we though was an approaching squall line, or fog, coming from the Cascade Mountains.
We were glad we were off the road. The squall line turned out to be a dust storm that blew through, cutting visibility substantially. It was a fun storm to watch, since we didn’t have to drive in it!
The next day was completely clear- a beautiful day. We both thoroughly enjoyed our night on the BLM land. We were the only people for as far as the eye could see, and it was so peaceful, not to mention, free! We couldn’t have made it down this road with the trailer and its exactly the reason we decided to make this trip in a truck camper.We are about 2 days from the Canadian border and are trying to make sure the rig is functioning the way we want before we cross. Shipping anything we might need to Canada or Alaska would be pretty pricy! We already have another issue to address.
The air compressor isn't working and will need to be fixed before we go much further. We bit the bullet and reserved a campground near the border where we can have the part shipped. It’s been ordered and should be there Wednesday. In the meantime, Paul has installed the stabilizers and we will determine tomorrow if they are enough of a solution. If they aren't, then we’ll have to have some new sway bars shipped to us in Idaho, and that will delay us another few days.
Good plan to get all the bugs our before crossing the border.
ReplyDeleteI have slung a small gear net below my kitchen cupboard to stash produce in--works well.
Linda, that's a great idea- I'll have to see if we have some hanging room!
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to use us if you need a part shipped. Or use us for whatever.
ReplyDeleteDid you ride in the camper after the sway bars were installed? It'd be interesting to note the difference. Having this camper will definitely open a whole new world to this Alaska trip than it would have been in your 5th wheel. It'll be interesting to hear how you feel about the big rig versus the little rig when you return.
ReplyDeleteToni, thanks for the offer!
ReplyDeleteJeri, we added something called Stableloads that kick in before the air springs on the truck. They helped a LOT, but not ENOUGH to satisfy the driver, so we have ordered larger sway bars and they will be shipped to our next destination, in Coeur D Alene, ID. The combination should do the trick. its only money :)