Author Archives: Sparky
GTW Hop 36: San Jose, CA, to Gilroy, CA
31 miles via US 101 and local streets. Cumulative distance: 6,165 miles. I think this dance is called the “South Bay Shuffle:” up to San Jose, down to Gilroy, then, on Sunday, back up to San Jose to complete the GTW. This hop was to retrieve Patience from the RV repair place (after paying a … Continue reading
GTW Hop 35: Morgan Hill, CA, to San Jose, CA
28 miles via US 101 and local streets. Cumulative distance: 6,134 miles. The declaration of the “penultimate” hop turned out to be premature. The park where we spent Sunday and Monday nights – the Uvas Pines RV Park – was unpleasant enough that we decided to return to a different RV park after getting the … Continue reading
GTW Hop 34: Redding, CA, to Morgan Hill, CA
282 miles via I-5, I-505, I-80, I-680 and US 101. Cumulative distance: 6,106 miles. The penultimate hop on the GTW was difficult, but not for the expected reason: the weather. Against all odds and despite the prognostications of the US Weather Service (which predicted a rainy day), the clouds broke shortly before our 10am departure … Continue reading
Slogging to a finish
It rained over 3″ last night in Redding. It was relentless. At times it sounded like Patience was being run through a car wash, complete with rotating brushes that rocked it from side to side. Today we will try to limp/slog/float our way 280 miles south to San Jose, to sit and lick our wounds … Continue reading
GTW Hop 33: Canyonville, OR, to Redding, CA
211 miles via I-5. Cumulative distance: 5,824 miles. This was the reverse of Hop 29, except that we used a different RV park in Redding as a destination. The weather was bad, as usual, but not as bad as I expected. There were some sunny breaks and the wind was tolerable. But once we got … Continue reading
A winning day at the casino
Yes, it’s true: I won money yesterday at Seven Feathers! Nine cents. I was up by more than $70 at one point, but I got greedy and kept playing the slots. I love those penny games (which cost much more than a penny – don’t be fooled). I did have the good sense to quit … Continue reading
GTW Hop 32: North Bend, OR, to Canyonville, OR
100 miles via US 101, OR 42, OR 99 and I-5. Cumulative distance: 5,613 miles. This was not the hop that I wanted to make. I really wanted to see the Oregon coast south of Coos Bay, which is reportedly very striking. But weather intervened. Yet another “Pineapple Express” weather system is going to dump … Continue reading
North Bend/Coos Bay, OR
These two towns are interconnected, sharing Coos Bay waterfront and US 101 as the main drag. There is some activity at the docks, mostly ships being loaded up with logs for shipment to some country that is devoid of trees (Japan?), but most of the docks are abandoned, suggesting that the area’s heyday is long … Continue reading
GTW Hop 31: Tillamook, OR, to North Bend, OR
169 miles via OR 6 and US 101. Cumulative distance: 5,513 miles. The OR 6 portion of this hop was the couple of miles from the Wilson River RV Park into downtown Tillamook; the rest was on US 101. It is a very scenic route, but with a lot of curves and turns. Jett did … Continue reading
Tillamook family
My mother and my sister live in Tillamook, which, of course, is why we were here for Thanksgiving. The dinner was hosted by my sister and was attended by Jett, me, my sister Lois, my brother-in-law Chris, my niece Kim, my nephews Michael and Scott, Michael’s wife Taylor, family friend Stephanie, Stephanie’s son David and … Continue reading