Day 5 of the trip.

May 12, 2011

Day 5 – After the 4:00 am train whistled we went back to sleep until 6:00.  Woke to the sun shining and a blue sky!  Wanted to get an early start so we pulled out of the KOA and headed to California via Hwy 80.  At around 9:30 we pulled into a rest area with a mountain view and it was snow cover beauty.  The rest stop picnic tables were nestled amongst the pines.  We sat at a table with our cereal bowls and cereal and enjoyed the view.  Shortly after sitting down a Hummer pulled in next to us with a car hauler with Ferrari decals. Also, were the words “Scuderia Experience”.  Well, of course Bob wanted to find out if that really was the car being transported so he saw the driver come out of the Hummer and went to talk to him. The guy opened the trailer and there was a F430 Scuderia!. Later, Bob googled it to check the price.  Around 275,000!  Oh, and his car hauler had a big screen TV.  Who has time for TV when working on the car?

Before we got underway I asked Bob about our route.  I had been looking over the map and decided we should re-route since I thought we could cut-off quite a few miles if we cut over from Sacramento to Healdsburg instead of going down to San Francisco and then back up.  My one contribution to the navigation on the trip – since I haven’t participated in the behind the wheel it was the least I could do!

We had a magnificent trip through Nappa Valley and Sonoma.  We arrived in Healdsburg at 1:15 and parked on a road Connie, Katie and I had parked on for a morning run, right outside a Vineyard.  We called Mary around 2:15 to make sure she had arrived and she said come on up!  The RV made it up with no problem – Bob locked it into first gear and climbed up the hill.  Mary was in meetings with “her people” in the driveway – landscaping types, so of course Bob had to give them the air horns – several times.  We met Mary’s handyman, Francis, who had mowed the field next to the driveway so that is where we set up “camp” with the motor home.

Since Mary was busy with appointments we decided to go for a run with Buck and hopefully tire Buck out before we introduced him to Mary’s house.  The run was great, met quite a few of Mary’s neighbors as they drove by and waved.  One stopped to say hello thinking I was Mary.  We finished the run – and yes Buck wanted to pull me faster up Mary’s hill, which took me 2 minutes, 38 seconds-

After our run Mary joined us down at the pool.  Buck ran around the pool sprinting lap after lap. Until he spotted Mary’s pool cleaning contraption.  He walked down the steps into the pool where Bob and Mary were standing.  Then he decided he needed to check-out the moving hoses on the cleaner.  So, thinking the water was the same depth across he lunged toward the hoses only to discover there was now deep water beneath him.  Once he got to the other side of the pool he decided that was enough for swimming!   I decided I better try out the pool since Mary said we were the first in for this season.  It was a bit chilly, but an avid swimmer like James and Anne would say it was perfect for doing a workout.  I did get Buck into the pool but only to the step.  He didn’t want to join me.  In fact he cried when I was doing a few laps – Bob thinks he was worried about me!  After the swim we changed for dinner and drove into town to eat at Baci.  Our meal was delicious, as well as the red wine Mary choose.  The night was beautiful and the night air was just beginning to cool as we walked back to the car.  As we headed back to Mary’s, Cousin Jerry called to comment on “American Idol”.  Since he was an hour ahead of us he knew the results but wouldn’t tell us.  American Idol is one show Mary watches so we decided to watch before we called it a night.  I grabbed my unfinished glass of wine and we headed into the TV room, Mary carrying the Chocolate biscotti for dessert.  After the show Bob & I went to the RV to get Buck and our night bags because we were sleeping in one of  Mary’s guest  bedrooms – Mary said the sun rise is wonderful.  Bob and Buck had since started dreaming as I finished up writing the days events.