Folsom Lake

I wasn’t sure I should even blog about this weekend, because it was essentially a do nothing sick weekend. But, we noted a few things we want to remember about this place. Consider yourself duly warned that this will be a boring post.

I started feeling a head cold coming on this past Thursday, so I knew it would hit me full force by the weekend. Then the question became whether I wanted to be sick at home or sick in Dory. I figured, at home I would probably still have to write a report, run errands, go shopping, play taxi, and think about how I wasn’t cleaning. In Dory there’d be just the report. Dory won.

We pulled out as early as we could on Friday, but couldn’t avoid traffic or driving in the dark. The place is only about a two hour drive or less, but it took us over three to get there. I wasn’t really nervous about driving in the dark this time for some reason. Maybe it was fewer interchanges, maybe just getting used to it? Or maybe it’s better when it doesn’t come at the end of a 6+ hour drive like it was coming from Ashland. That could be it.

We hitched up in the dark and Richard went full doofus mode and wore his bicycle helmet with the blinding light attached while he unhitched. We got set up pretty quick and I “privatized” the curtains and turned on the heater as soon as we were ready. Sat in my Cookie Monster corner and sipped hot chocolate with Creme de Menthe. Nice.

Since it’s been getting cold out, you know, like under 60, we’ve taken to bringing microwave meals and we like that a lot. Trader Joe’s has some pretty decent options and we pair it with a ready to go salad for minimal fuss. Right after dinner, it was bed time for me. I tend to sleep very soundly in Dory, so I was out fast. Richard is still having some sleep trouble, but he slept really well on the summer trip after a couple of nights. Not sure what’s going on there.

Saturday was full lazy mode for me. Richard went out for a bike ride and did in fact see Folsom Lake. It was about three miles from the campground and we’re not sure if that’s normal or if there would otherwise be a lake next to us except for the drought. I hardly left Dory all day. I did some work, took a nap, and checked out a new gadget.

Dishwashing in Dory is a little awkward, I must say. The sink is very small and the faucet gets in the way when you’re washing plates or larger dishes. And it’s hard to direct the water. First world problems, but still. So I got this pump spray thing that Richard found recommended by the Boat Galley. It’s called an Aquabot and I’m giving it a thumbs up.

We’re conscious of water tank usage (because we absolutely have to shower every day), so finding ways to do dishes with minimal waste water is a good thing. For a set of about a day’s worth of dishes, I used one full bottle (minus a bit because you can’t fill it to the top) to rinse before washing. Then I soaped everything up, and then I used 2 bottles to rinse off the soap. I had to pump it back up to get full pressure maybe 2-3 times per bottle. I’m gonna call it about 1650 ml, which comes out to .44 gallons. All we have to compare with prior trips is our 1-4 tank level indicator light, but it does seem as though we saved water overall here. Normally, if we shower and do dishes, we’re at “3” or “4” after two nights. This time we never went above “2”. We shall continue monitoring, but I really really liked how I could direct the spray jet right on the dishes. Only drawback: the entire kitchen area got a little bit finely sprayed. On balance, not a huge detractor.

The only other thing I really spent my time doing this weekend was figuring out how to store the LED candles while towing. I tried putting them in the microwave with foam padding. Bad idea. They appear to be covered with actual wax on the outside, and now, so is the microwave on the inside. I cleaned that off for a while and on the ride home, they got stowed in the Cookie Monster blanket. I suspect they are now blue and fuzzy. Hmm… I’ll have to keep thinking about that one.

Overall, I have to say, this was a perfectly fine campground to do not much of anything. There is a bike trail right there that takes you to the American River Bike Trail if you fancy a nice ride. The sites are spaced apart generously, there’s plenty of cell signal for getting work done, and there are full hookups (we actually only realized there was a sewer hookup as we were getting ready to leave, making our water consumption useful only in terms of general water conservation). I suppose there’s a lake out there somewhere and I think this place warrants future trips.

Total miles: 99.8, Engine time (with lots of traffic on a Friday evening): 3 hours, 15 min, 17.6 mpg

Site: 52. Nice. Full hookups, nice cell signal