'19/#16 Made It!

With almost 2400 miles of road under our tires we have arrived in Petaluma California. We have seen some awesome things along the way and have tried to share them with everyone following. This is why we live this RV life. The KOA we will be at for the summer looks like it is a really nice campground and promises to be busy all through the season. So far everyone we have met is friendly and that should make for a good team here at the park.

The trip from Nevada was relatively uneventful. There were some pretty good grades to ascend and descend but the truck handled it like a champ. Crossing the Sierra-Nevada mountains we went from about 4000 feet above sea level to over 7000 feet and back down to below 1000 feet with several grades of over 5%. If you have ever towed a trailer in the mountains you know that 5% while not much in a car or truck becomes more difficult with several thousand pounds of trailer behind you. It can be taxing on your vehicle. The engine will be straining going up and your brakes can get hot and fade on the way down. We have close to 18,000 lbs of trailer and over 7000 lbs of truck to get up and down the mountains so it is important to have the proper vehicle for the task and that it is in good shape. Again, uneventful because of the right equipment kept in good condition.

Day one in Petaluma was just getting everything set up since this will be home for the next six months. Being a vacation type campground we can't make it too much like home. To keep with the aesthetics of the park we must keep our rig looking like it will be moving out any day. Nothing to indicate that we are long term residents. Mary will have to keep her plants to a minimum. It can't start looking like a plant nursery. No trailer skirting, no hard piping for the sewer, and nothing looking like we are setting up for a summer long party. No problem. We try to keep things at a minimalist level. The less stuff we have, the less stuff we have to pack to move.

We don't start our work camping jobs until Monday so we will start exploring the area around our home in Petaluma because....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary