Seeing Good Friends

11/29/04 - Awning Accident
This morning we left River Bend and drove to Rohnert Park (Map) to have lunch with an old friend. unfortunately I forgot to retract the awning that I had extended last night before I left the park and struck a bridge girder with it, causing considerable but not irreparable damage to it. I was very upset about it and even broke into tears feeling that I was not worthy of having such a beautiful coach if I could not take better care of it. My wife was very understanding and supportive however and assured me that we could learn from this experience and move on.

When we got to Rohnert Park I decided I should get some work done rather than going to lunch with our friend Bonnie, which turned out to be a good decision because it took them about two hours to go next door to where we had parked and have lunch at the Red Lobster.

This afternoon we drove up to Ukiah (Map) and checked into the RV Park at the Fairgrounds there. They provided adequate accommodations (no cable TV though) for a very reasonable price.

11/30/04 - A Day of Rest
My wife woke up not feeling well today, so we spent the entire day in our coach (which I think was a first). Our dear Redwood Valley neighbor Susie came with her three kids to visit us for a few minutes. She brought two big boxes of photo mats that I had had shipped to her. There were about 300 mats, backing boards and bags for me to find a place for in the coach. I look forward to mounting some of my prints in them.

We thought that perhaps some other friends from Redwood Valley would come and visit us, but they decided that it was too much trouble to drive the 10 miles from there home. We had been very close until about a year ago when we announced that we were planning on moving to Oregon and buying a coach. After that we hardly heard from them or saw them again. Funny how some people are...

12/1/04 - Lunch with Isa
Our dear friend Isa came to visit us today. She brought gifts and good tidings and had lunch with us. It was great to see her again and know that we still had good friends in the area. She reported that our two cats were both doing fine and that she had some more songs for me to add to the web site I had created for them a couple of years ago.

Tomorrow when we leave here we will use the new Departure Checklist my wife and I have developed. Hopefully it will prevent future accidents and unhappiness.

12/2/04 - Kaiser and A New Mattress
Today we got up early and left the Ukiah Fairgrounds at about 8AM (by far our earliest start so far). We parked the coach in Healdsburg and drove then drove to Kaiser Permenente Hospital in Santa Rosa for some medical checkups. We both have the same doctor so she saw us at the same time. After reviewing medications and a few minor physical complaints, we got our annual flu shots.

After doing a bit of shopping we drove back to the coach, hooked up scout and headed for Novato. We stopped in Petaluma to order a new mattress for our coach. The one we have been using is wonderful but a bit too thick and heavy for the coach, so we will leave it home and use a six inch foam mattress instead. We were able to order it so that my wife has a firmer side and I have a softer side which should work very sell for us both.

We got to the Novato RV Park after dark as usual. Fortunately we had called ahead and made reservations so we had a good spot waiting for us. After we got settled we went to dinner at a favorite mexican restaurant in the area.

Old Windmill in Golden Gate Park

12/3/04 - The City by the Bay
A few years ago we started the tradition of going to San Francisco on (or around) our wedding anniversary. So today we went to the City (Map) and had a good time in Korean town shopping and having a good (very unusual) lunch.

Afterward we spent a couple of hours in Golden Gate Park. I had forgotten how big and beautiful this park is and what a variety of things there are to do. There are many little lakes, places to ride, skate or walk, run the dogs, or even play soccer in addition to the De Young museum, the aquarium and arboretum. We had a fun day and drove back over the Golden Gate Bridge at about sunset.