Thursday, October 4, 2012

Day 29 - Roseville CA

We did have one pressing chore that needed to get done today and that was get the oil changed in the truck.  There were lots of speedy oil change places near our campground all advertising 30 minute oil change for $22.  This is lovely for a car but the price changes considerably for a truck that takes 15 quarts of oil.  We chose Auburn Autohaus to do the job.  They could take us at 11am and do it for $90.  With a name like Autohaus I was expecting strudel or something but only coffee was evident.  The man running the operation was very outgoing and really seemed to like what he was doing.  We did have to wait about a half hour while they finished up with a Mercedes that was on the only lift capable of holding the truck.  But there were magazines and coffee and a fun collection of model cars to look at while we waited.

Another thing accomplished today was a whale wash to remove all the road krill.  We had managed to accumulate quite a collection of critter carcasses over the last 4,000 miles and it was time to do something about them.  Many campgrounds don't allow you to wash your rig but it is hard to find a car wash big enough.  So you have to take advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself.  I helped by staying out of the way in the shade.







These are the blanks of redwood and burls that Brett purchased earlier in the trip.  They have been continuing to dry out in the basement and should make some lovely objects when he puts them on the lathe.





For those wondering how the red wigglers are doing, the answer is just fine thank you very much.  Their wiggle room is stored in the basement and they are getting most of our food scraps.  Happily, the crop seems to be multiplying.  Here they are enjoying a little of the California "fresh" air.









While I was supervising the washing up I took a closer look at the little landscaping islands that are in the midst of all the pavement at the Gold Country RV Park. 















I revise my previous statements regarding the landscaping.  It is a wonder that they can get any greenery to thrive when most of the area looks like this.  Good for gold mining, not so much for greenage.














It didn't seem quite right to show up at my sister's house mid day and ask her "what's for lunch?".  We didn't have to look too far before we found The Original Mel's Diner.  This is a small chain of restaurants in California.  Mel's diner features prominently in the movie American Graffiti.  There are a lot of photos of actors from the movie displayed on the walls.  Many of the photos are autographed.  I know we said we would not eat at chain restaurants on this trip but if we haven't eaten there before we figure we are going to try it when it sounds interesting.  So there!  The servers were all as cute and perky as could be (this would get on my nerves after a while I think).  We opted for burgers.  Brett chose the original Melburger and I got the San Francisco Melburger which was topped with avocado, bacon and cheese served on sourdough bread.
As my friend Wanda would say, it was handsome.  It was also very good and very large.  I couldn't finish it.  Once fed we headed back to Roseville for one more visit with Louise.  She told us to bring our laundry so we could get caught up on that.  Bless her.  Any time we can avoid a couple hours at the laundromat is time well spent.  Even better when you can spend it with family.










I know that this is a rather poor quality set of photos but I wanted to show this building.  It looks about the size of a small office building but it is one single family home.  This road featured a development full of such homes.  Louise says it is THE high end neighborhood in the area.  I wouldn't be fond of living right next to such a busy street but the draw is the splendid view. 
There are a surprising number of trees in the Sacramento suburbs area.  This "forest" is the view from those luxury homes.  We were staying in Auburn which is about 20 miles from Roseville and at about 1000 feet elevation.  Auburn may see snow in the winter.  Roseville does not.
Louise lives in a very pretty development.  The streets are clean, the lawns are immaculate and green and soft, the houses are all expensive and beautiful and they all look just the same to me.  This is a feature of California suburb housing.  Any particular development will have almost identical homes in it.  I have nightmares about getting lost in such a place, circling endlessly, looking for the way out.  Interestingly that feeling would not be unlike what I felt when we managed to get lost in the new parking garage at the Portland airport.  No matter which turn we took, we could not find the exit.  Obviously, we finally found it but I was not a happy parking garage user at the time.
Our little group enjoyed another fine meal (fillet Mignon no less) and much laughter.  I hated to have the evening come to an end.  It was especially hard to say good bye to Chris who is battling MS.  He wasn't feeling well enough to sit up in his chair today but we did have a chance to chat.  I hope that he is no worse the next time that I am able to see him.
God speed dear sister and brother.  I miss you already.


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