On Friday afternoon, our smart phone just up and died. Craig had planned on replacing it in a few months, but not this soon. But since it is both our phone and Internet hot spot, we cannot live without a phone. Thus, our first stop on Saturday was at a Verizon store in Sacramento. The purchase and switch-over went smoothly, but delayed our departure. We now have an LG G6.
Given that the day was bright and sunny, and the first rain on the Shasta Mountain pass was predicted for Sunday, we decided to try to push all the way to Medford, OR. 357 miles is a bit farther than we like to drive in a day, but having dry roads going over a mountain was worth it.
Craig does most of the driving, but I take the wheel from time to time to give him a break. We have the switch-over drill down pat, and usually change seats at an on-off exit, or a rest stop without shutting down. We also pack sandwiches so we don't have to stop to eat, and of course having the bathroom accessable is a perk of driving a motorhome.
But we still try to stay under 300 miles in one day.
Background: One of the mysterious design elements of Alfa motorhomes is the scoop on the bottom of the front. Some say it improves air flow for better mileage, but since no other make has such a thing, I doubt its effectiveness. Ours was broken when we bought the Alfa. We had it fixed, only to break it again shortly after. It was fixed again, and the image on the right is what it looked like last fall before we had it fixed for a third time. I wanted to have it cut off. We have seen other Alfas that have, but Craig wanted to keep it. When we were at our Alfa repair place this winter, we had it fixed again, as you see at left.
Everything was going fine until it was time to stop for fuel.
The entrance to the gas station was had a deep gutter. Scrape went the scoop. I was driving and stopped quickly. We were hung up. Craig had to disconnect the Jeep so we could back up and get unstuck. Fortunately the only damage to the scoop was a few little chips on the edge. But it was stressful, and a bit of a delay.
Aside from that the drive was relatively easy with light traffic, and beautiful scenery. Everything was green, green, green.
It is always amazing when the first snow covered peak is seen when driving north.
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| Mt. Shasta |
We arrived, safe and sound, in Medford at aabout 6 PM. But, getting a new gas cap key didn't work out. First, the shop was closed on Sunday, so we had to stay an extra night. No big deal, but the price of the park we were at was a bit higher than I like.
Then, on Monday morning, Craig found out they could not copy the key. We have only had the one key for the last five years, but someone on the Alfa Yahoo group had posted they had gotten their gas cap key copied at that place. If we lose it, we will have to replace the gas cap door. So we better not lose it!
Back to the weather: when we left Lodi CA, we were still warm enough to go jacketless. I tossed a sweater on the couch, just in case it was cold as we drove north, but didn't need it for the rest of the day. It was cool in Medford OR on Sunday, and finally started to rain Sunday night. On Monday we headed east on Oregon Hwy 62. Our route took us just north of Crater Lake.
We were surprised to see some scattered snow along the roadside, but as we went higher it got deeper, and the rain became a light snow.
The Alfa did well, and so did her driver. 😺
The road itself was wet, but not icy. It was also pretty straight with fairly easy curves and gradual up and down grades. Not bad at all.
Once over the Cascade Summit (5925'), the snow dwindled and the rain became more sporatic.
We are now tucked in at Cascade Meadows RV Resort, in La Pine.
The 50 amp, pull-through gravel spaces are in a wide, flat, open, grassy area which gives us excellent sattelite reception. With the Passport America discount, the cost was $31 per night. (note: I include the cost for the benefit of other RVers.)
Oh, and about the post title. Its 46°F now, with a predicted overnight low of 29°F.
BRRR!
[From Craig] Merikay asked me to say a bit more about the new phone. I researched phones a bit Friday night. I wanted a phone that could use an SD memory card, which eliminated the Google Pixel. Among Samsung phones, I would want the "latest and greatest" S8, but a Verizon phone rep said that they weren't available in Sacramento stores. Which pretty much left us with the LG G6, despite the fact that the one that just died was an LG G4.
When we arrived at the store just as it opened, they told me that the Samsung S8 had just arrived during the night. I looked at the S8 and G6, and held both. The S8 was actually narrower, and looked amazing with the wrap-around screen edges that Samsung has been offering for several models. Hard choice, but I had to choose a phone! Merikay stayed in the coach, so I couldn't ask her.
I chose the G6 because its screen comes all the way to the edge but not around it, and the S8's wraparound looks sexy but distorts a full-screen image. And the S8 costs about $100 more.
Today I went to buy a bottle of wine for some soup that I'll make soon. I couldn't resist the brand shown below.
