This was a nice weekend in wine country and a break from the pummeling rain. In fact, we weren’t too sure we wanted to go until the weather reports started to show a general chilling out. Speaking of chilly, it hit freezing temperatures overnight. But really, the excitement came as we were packing up to leave and I doused a good portion of Dory’s interior with a Daily Dose of Dense Nutrition®. More on that later.
We stayed at this park once before, in the very same site, on a double date. We officially like it. It’s not too far away and has lots of fun things to do. Saturday I actually got on my pretty blue bike and Richard and I rode into Calistoga. It’s about a six mile ride each way if you head over to the Silverado Trail. That is, by far, a more pleasant way for bikers to go than staying on Hwy 29 because there are fewer cars and a nice, wide shoulder. Everything is quite lush at the moment and the rivers were flowing full throttle. Nice. In Calistoga, we got to window shop a little and have lunch in a great Thai place: the Thai Kitchen. Then we grabbed an eclair to share from Bella Bakery. The skies were iffy, so we decided to head back, but it didn’t end up raining on us.
There was still enough light that we decided to check out the trail on the other side of the river from our campsite. One thing to be careful about in February: this campground is lousy with Poison Oak that hasn’t yet put out leaves. This can make it hard to spot, but I’ve had enough horrible encounters with this plant, that I’m pretty sure I could find it blindfolded. And yes, it can mess you up with just its evil little spiky twigs.
Sunday we slept in and got moving reluctantly. There was a LOT of condensation this weekend because of the low temperatures and the fact that we refuse to suck out our cozy warm air with the Fantastic Fan. I have a towel dedicated to window condensation wiping, but the side walls were pretty damp as well. Once I’d showered and was ready to run the fan, it cleared up fast and we were ready to start packing up.
There are only a few things I can say I do consistently for my health. Daily, no excuses, yoga/stretching is one thing, even in Dory. Drinking a “superfood” protein shake every day is the other. I can’t prove that the shakes are saving my life, but I believe they are, and I know the science is pretty sound on the power of belief. So in that sense, drinking a chocolate flavored protein shake loaded with seven thousand exotic ingredients is probably actually saving my life. I did enough of a background check on the company to be reasonably sure that they are not made from people, and they taste pretty good, so there you go. Every morning, I put a cup of milk, a scoop or packet of powder, a bunch of ice, and water into a large shaker bottle. Typically, I am still drinking my shake at school when my first morning groups of students come to work with me. They now know me and my shake routine well enough that they often call out: “CLOSE THE LID MRS. LEVENBERG!!” any time I am about to re-shake the contents. This is because they have seen me get covered in fountains of brown, antioxidant laden liquid more than once. My later groups only know that occasionally Mrs. Levenberg smells chocolaty and has damp clothing.
This weekend’s excitement came right as I was pouring miniature, trailer sized, ice cubes into my shaker bottle, already filled with milk and dark brown powder. The spread of the spill could not have been more comprehensive if I’d intentionally aimed it to do the most damage. It covered the counter, stove, and sink before the majority gushed over the edge, tsunami like, and spilled onto the seat cushions below. Yes, the Techimpex was also in the path of the flood. There was maybe one second of full, terror stricken, paralysis before I started flinging every towel we had at the catastrophe. The coffee machine received triage priority as moistened blends of Camu-Camu, Spirulina, and Yacun Root, slowly seeped into the cushions. As soon as one towel was saturated, I threw it outside, where Richard also had quickly decided to strategically locate himself during my non-verbal stage. Soon, the majority of the powder, both wet and dry, had been scooped up and ejected out the door. Then it was just a matter of washing and wiping, and wiping, and wiping. Time is difficult to perceive in times of crisis, but it must have taken us an hour to deal with the mess. I will need to steam clean the cushions to fully evacuate the smell, but the towels have all been washed and appear unscathed. We still don’t know the status of the coffee machine because Richard wants it to fully dry before testing. One good thing is that the shake powder is sweetened with Stevia extract rather than sugar and nothing seems to have retained any sticky residue. At least it was not syrup. Also, I’m assuming that running that much dietary fiber through the washing machine can only improve its plumbing circulation. I’m pretty sure that’s how that works.
When we were finally ready to pull out, I was…. wait for it….. a bit shaken. I also had not had any breakfast. So we went and dumped tanks at the nearby RV park (no dump at Bothe Napa) and headed to get some lunch at Dean and Deluca. There is no RV parking there, so we found a spot nearby and Richard grabbed some sandwiches and treats to go. It was a short drive home and we got her in the garage just before it started to rain. All in all, lovely weekend, and it is nice to know I am married to someone who will not yell at me when I fairly predictably create a disaster of phytonutrients inside Dory. New rule: all shake related activities must take place outside.
Total miles: 66.7, 1 hour 48 min, 16.0 mpg. Site 11. LTE for Verizon and spotty 4g for ATT. There was a little solar, but not much. Site 7 might get better sun.
