Cross Country Road Trip, Days 5-9

Day 5 – April 6, 2011 - Burney, CA

A day of rest and sightseeing. Spent the morning checking out the RV, inflating tires, etc. Found one bike tire with a large hole. In the afternoon, we trekked to Burney Falls to do some hiking and see the neato falls.

Factoid: The RV has been getting around 7.5 mpg, and we fill at about 1/3 tank. So we usually put in around 20-25 gal every ~ 150-200 miles. Gas in WA and OR has been in the $3.65-$3.80 range, and we try to stop at Safeway, Fred Meyer or Costco when we can.

Day 6, April 7 – Destination: Bodega Bay, Ca

Today we met good friends Nancy and Wayne at Bodega Bay, which is just N of San Francisco. Great beach campground. No hookups, so this was a good test for the solar panel. Very windy and cold today, so we ate indoors.

Days 7-8, April 8-9 - Bodega Bay

Great weather and nice beaches. Brought out the bikes and was able to test Kyle's new adaptive trailer with the electric bike conversion. Good fun. On Sat, the bike died going up a steep hill. Turned out to be a blown fuse - too much work for it I guess. We modified Deb’s bike with an electric front wheel hub motor, so getting up hill is way easier when trying to pull that additional 150 lbs (trailer+Kyle). I also got out the kite. Weather on the first day was perfect…warm and mildly breezy. The second day was breezier, but still pretty nice. The solar panel has done a great job recharging the batteries during the day. It seems to be more or less keeping up with the draws, mostly water pump, TV and heater motor. The lights at night draw almost nothing, because I installed LED bulbs. Factoid: GULP! Gas in Calif is a bit on the pricy side, but then, we expected that. The most we paid so far is $4.19 in Novato, CA. $100 to fill up.

Day 9, April 10 / Destination: Morgan Hill, CA

Drove the short distance to Morgan Hill, near San Jose to see Deb's sister Carolyn and husband Gary. Beautiful weather.