I planned to make the first entry from Mesa but here we are
in Fontana, California. We will be here longer than we thought we would be so I
decided to tell you all about the trip down here and what we have been doing.
We went as far as Swift Current on Oct 9. Our travel insurance didn’t begin until the
10th so it was just a way to get a jump on the next day. There were quite a few rigs in the park but
the water was already off. There was
even someone still living in a tent!
On the 10th we crossed the border. Any fruit, meat or vegetables? Ever been arrested or finger printed? Dalton had to explain to the man how I had been finger printed when I worked for
the federal government years ago to get security clearance for my work. This must have been impressive since after
that he told us to be on our way. So we
waited for 2 other cars for about 3 minutes and then were through in under 1
minute. We think this might be some kind
of record.
The trip from there on was cold and rainy until nearly Las
Vegas. It was so cold over night in
Great Falls (Montana) that Dalton used the engine warmer to ensure that the
diesel would start easily in the morning.
(It did.) We ran through an awful rain storm in Utah. That was combined with the heavy traffic
around Salt Lake City that seemed to go on forever. That is one large and spread out urban area! When we got to Las Vegas it was about 78
F. It was the first time that we had
seen warm summer-like weather.
As we drove from Las Vegas to Fontana (NE of Los Angeles),
Dalton noticed how the motorhome seemed to be running hot. When we arrived it was 92 F. I guess the motorhome had a reason to be hot.
We went through some lovely scenery from Las Vegas to
Fontana. I got some nice pictures of the
red cliff near St George which is on the southern border with Arizona. There was other nice scenery from there into California
but my camera battery died so I had to wait to recharge it that night.
Now we are camped in the Alfateers parking lot. For those of you who don’t know, we have an
Alfa motorhome and this service place is the Mecca for parts and service since
the company stopped making Alfas. The
employees bought the place along with all the parts. It is a wonderful facility. They know the meaning of customer
service. We have 30W power in the
parking lot and access to water and wifi. There are spaces for 5 units to be
plugged in and a 6th unit usually sits along the curb in front of
the 5. That is where we were Sunday
night. Today they began work on our Alfa
and when we got back from our day out, our Alfa was in one of the 5 spots, plugged
in to the electricity, levelled, with slides out. I only wished they had turned on the AC. It
was 97 F inside!! (about 92 F outside.) Luckily the frig was on so the food was
OK. We sat outside and chatted with the other Alfa owners while the AC cooled
the place down.
Rather than sit in the parking lot all day, we drove about
an hour south to Temecula which is a wine area.
You all know what winos we are.
The first winery we stopped at was Europa Village. We sat outside on a
patio that was misted around the edges with a fine water spray. It was very comfortable. Casey was welcome on the patio and was served
a nice bowl of fresh water. Dalton and I
were served by a nice young man named Patrick (Hi Patrick!) who was attentive
and knowledgeable. Patrick found us a
box to begin our wine collection for the day. It was a very pleasant place to taste
wines. If you are in the area, stop by
to see Patrick. We decided that life was
pretty good as sat there sipping.
We went on to a couple of other wineries to pick up a little more wine. We bypassed some because
there was no outside area to sit with Casey. At Bel Vino Winery, they had picnic tables so Dalton ran in and out with
our wine to taste. At Van Roekel Winery, Casey was welcomed right into the
building. We had our tasting while he
sat at our feet. As well as the wine, we
got some cheese and crackers there as well as a little magnet that says “Age
gets better with wine”. I have to agree!
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