Back in Sacramento

Update for Monday, 6/18 (yesterday):
I got an early start hoping for an early arrival since I will have so much to do, emptying everything from the car, bringing it in, and putting it away. It was a 3 hour drive and I pulled in around 11:00 a.m. I notice I'm waking up much earlier than usual and suppose it is due to the time zones I've gone through. Even this morning I woke up at 5 a.m., which would be 8 o'clock in NY.

Traffic was heavy, but extremely so in downtown Sac. I needed to change lanes to make my turn off I-5, and a car driving in that lane sped up rather than let me in. The traffic is as bad as that around Chicago, but the drivers here are less polite, in my opinion. I got home without a hitch but the letdown that began when I left Crater Lake reached a peak today. I fought the urge to cry although a few tears fell.

As soon as it gets a bit cooler and the commute traffic dies down, I plan to go to Costco and buy a fan or two. All my windows are the jalousie type, and at least half the cranks are either missing or non-operational. Several thorough searches of the front seats, under and behind, has not turned up my MiFi, so I don't have internet. I planned to drive out to my favorite Verizon store today but it's just too damn hot!! Ten o'clock tomorrow morning should still be fairly cool, although it's only cool in the shade.

(I bought Lady a new bed at Costco, the cushy type she likes. She never did care for her orthopedic type bed - she thinks she's too young for anything "orthopedic".)

I haven't added up all my figures yet, but the trip odometer set as I was pulling away from the house in NY now reads 4032.8. That is about the same as the trip east, so I've driven well over 8000 miles in two months. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. To those who again tell me I should go slower and stop and smell the roses, I can say the cost of lodging prohibits that. It is double or over the cost of most commercial RV parks.

I love the northern midwest, from Michigan to Montana, but I'm talking about the northern parts of those states, but the place that absolutely blows me away, this year as well as last, is Crater Lake. I'd love to live close to it, but I really don't think I would like to live in Oregon year around.

My car is so filthy and I know I should take Bounce sheets to the front of it before going through a car wash. I found that Windex seems to melt away most of the bugs on the windshield.

Today, Tuesday 6/10:
I'm back from the Verizon store and the proud owner of a NEW MiFi - 4G no less. In chatting with the salesman about my lack of connectivity (my own fault for leaving and losing devices), he told me that the land line phone I have can be put into an RV and taken on the road, or carried along in the car and plugged in from place to place. It is a small box with a short antenna and plugs into the wall, and connects with my land line base phone holder. That would come in handy if I get another RV of some sort, although with my track record I would hesitate in carrying the phone system in and out of motels.

I'm thinking seriously about finding something I can travel and sleep in before my next cross country trip, so I have about a year to find a suitable vehicle. I am a little worried that for what I want to pay for a used model anything, I might run into problems with repairs, maintenance, etc. A teardrop trailer would be fine for me but I wouldn't pull it with my Highlander - it might work for a short trip but not over all the mountain ranges and the number of miles I travel.

That means a trailer or anything I'd have to pull would require a replacement for my Highlander and I'm not eager to do that. That leaves a Class B or very small Class C: The B's I've seen, even used, are still expensive. That would be my preference though because of being able to park almost anywhere. Suggestions during the coming year will be gratefully considered, but I'm looking to start seriously searching in late fall/early winter, when there seem to be more on the market.

Carolyn, whom I met when I was in Kalispell, travels in her van which she has adeptly modified to accommodate living and sleeping in. As she mentioned though, she wishes she could stand straight up. I think that would be even more of a concern to me - I now use a tent with 6' center height because I had trouble getting in and out of my old tent.

I've put away a lot of things from my car but still have a way to go. After lunch I'm going to take a nice nap on the couch however. I had a wonderful night's sleep on my own perfect mattress last night, but still woke up at 5 a.m.

My daughter brought the two girls over yesterday evening to visit, and she helped me bring a lot of things in. She also used her good, young eyes to look for the MiFi, and since she didn't find it I'm satisfied it is lost for good.