We stayed at the Petaluma Elks Lodge #901 for a couple of nights to visit Don's aunt and uncle in Santa Rosa. The Santa Rosa Fairgrounds, closer to their home, had an event going on and we couldn't get in there. After we left, some friends reminded us that they live about 10 miles from Santa Rosa and we're welcome to park at their place. So now we have another option when we return.
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| From RV Sites |
Many Elks Lodges provide RV parking, and the donation $, usually set by the lodge, helps support their community activities as well as providing comfortable places to park. We often have meals at the lodges, and always meet friendly folks who can offer great advice about things to do and see in their area. Some only allow you to park in their parking lot, but others provide partial or full hookups (water, electric, sewer), as does this one. There was even a grassy area in back of the RVs where Shadow enjoyed rolling on his back.
The primary reason for coming here was to visit Della and Gene McKamey. Aunt Della is Don's late Mother's sister.
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| From Friends & Family |
She fed us royally while we were there, including some traditional Swedish potato dumplings, called Kroppkakor, filled with salt pork and allspice. They were yummy! The next night she cooked the abalone that Don's nephew John raised in his aqua culture farm near Santa Cruz, and had saved in the freezer for us. It was the first time I'd eaten this delicacy in many years, and Della really knows how to cook them -- what a treat!
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| From Santa Rosa and Petaluma |
We had lunch with Della and Gene at Dempsey's beside the Petaluma River in the historic part of town. More photos are in the web album.
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| From Santa Rosa and Petaluma |
Driving further north in California, we spent a night in McCloud at Dance Country RV Park, a nice, quiet place near Mt. Shasta.
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| From RV Sites |
After a brief visit with Don Moore, a friend of mine from the Montana Owners Club who lives in Mt. Shasta City, we enjoyed an authentic Mexican dinner at Casa Ramos and a drive out to Lake Siskiyou and around the area. The weather here is beautiful in the summer, but I wouldn't want to spend a winter here in the high country where lots of white stuff falls out of the sky. Remnants of last winter's snowfall are still on top of Mt. Shasta in August!
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| From RV Sites |
Leaving California behind for now, we drove to Phoenix, Oregon, near Medford, to visit our good friend Sandy Baleria. Her husband, Dave, suddenly passed away a year and a half ago. She established the Dave Baleria Center for Victory Over Grief (http://victoryovergrief.homestead.com/), through which she helps others, as well as herself, deal with the loss of a spouse. Dave's mother Billie Raney, joined us as Sandy treated us to a wonderful Chinese dinner.
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| From Friends & Family |
We stayed overnight in the same park where Sandy now lives in her 5th wheel.
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| From RV Sites |
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| From RV Sites |
It's beside a creek where there are places to sit and watch the water flow by.
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| From RV Sites |
On that peaceful note, I'll close out this post and save our other adventures for my next entry.
We are so glad you saw Sandy. She's looking good in the picture (as are you guys). How did you like Dance Country RV Park? We've passed it a few times, but always stayed somewhere else further down the road.
ReplyDeleteWe love that coutnry around Mt. Shasta, McCloud, even Weed!
Sharon and Don,
ReplyDeleteGreat following your blog. Now that I've caught up I can do it as you make entries. Funny you stayed at the park in Chimicum - we have friends who live there in the summer in a park model and in Palm Desert in the winter. We could have actually been there at the same time and never met one another!!
Thanks for sharing your adventures.
Tryna