FALL VACATION 2011 - 9/7/11

Wednesday – 9/7/11:  Destination Redding

I spend the morning trying to get the internet working so that I can finish yesterday’s blog.  It’s exasperating and I have to settle for only getting one photo into the blog.  I’m hoping tonight will be easier.

We leave Casa de Frutta campground after breakfast.  Fred has raisin bran cereal and I eat a banana nut VitaTop.  Yes, I’m still living under the illusion that I will be able to stay on my Weight Watcher’s Points Plus program on this vacation.

Before leaving the area we decide to check out Casa de Frutta.  It’s one of those mega roadside curio places that must have started out as a humble little fruit stand way back when.  It has spread much like the American waistline and now encompasses Casa de Sweet Shop, Casa de Motel, Casa de Restaurant, Casa de Campground and of course, the mother of them all, Casa de Frutta.   If you are searching for fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, candy, jars of pickled things, popcorn or even candied sunflower seeds, this is the place to be.  Fred is thrilled that they have his favorite pinkish colored peanut patties like the kind they make in Texas (take my word for it, and don’t tell Fred, but they are gawd awful). 

We head down the road and take the onramp to Highway 152 East.  Jill, our loyal GPS scout, immediately insists we make a u-turn.  Of course that’s not possible if you are driving an RV that is pulling a VW van and you’re 45-feet long en masse.  While I try to unfold a real paper map, Fred tries to find an off ramp so we can regroup.  Admittedly reading maps is not one of my specialties, but I tell him I’m pretty sure we’re heading east if we are on Highway 152.  Are we on highway 152?  That’s the big question.  It doesn’t help any that Jill keeps piping up every few minutes with her annoying “recalculating” accusation, implying that we don’t know what we are doing.

We decide she wants to take us on the “faster time” route and we seem to want to be on the “shorter distance” route.  Has anyone ever figured out the difference in the two?  If so, please let me know.

We continue along Highway 152 toward I-5.  We roll and sway beneath a clear blue sky.  “Not a cloud in the sky,” as my dad would say.  The California Aquaduct flows beside us and keeps us company for many miles. 

We stop for lunch at a Taco Bell, stressing over finding a parking spot.   An actual security guard appears out of nowhere (Fred claims he must have been sleeping in the shade of one of the parking lot trees) and chases us away.  He insists we park over by the frontage road.  No problem. 

We resume our journey listening to 50’s music on Sirius radio.  Oldies but goodies like “Green Onions” by Booker T & The MG’s, “He’s So Fine” by The Chiffons, and “Please Mr. Custer” (did we ALL hate this song or was it just me?)

We pass the town of Zamora.  I tell Fred it sounds like a distant far away town in some exotic country.  “Where do you come from?”  “Oh, I was born and raised in Zamora.”  “My, what language do they speak in that village?”  “English, it’s in Yolo County, California.”  The Yolo County officials estimated its 2005 population at 61 and predicted it would have a population of 99 by 2025.  Now THAT’S an interesting projection.

We pass mile upon mile of olive trees, and even more miles of sunflower fields.  The landscape then turns into corn rows and once again the ubiquitous grape vineyards.

We drive past the little town of Willow with no distinguishing features.  We pass a billboard that says “Pet Day Care so you can both be lucky dogs.” 

We reach our final destination of the day:  Premier RV Resort just north of Redding.  Fortunately the sun is now low in the sky and the many trees in the campground provide us ample shade.  We are tired and ready to heat up some leftovers for dinner.  Nothing fancy tonight.  End of day three.