It doesn’t get much better than this. River side site, electric and water hookups, kayak launching from the site, herons and geese and tons of birds, plus river otters! I will admit there is road noise in this campground, and you can see cars clearly on Highway 128, right across the river. Small price to pay, in my book.
Though we could have run the AC this weekend, the temperatures were just about perfect, so no need. Richard went on a nice long bike ride Saturday and, with the help of the cell signal booster, I got a whole lot of work done. No complaining here. I got to stare at the river birds and play music and feel better about things that were starting to get ahead of me.
I almost felt too lazy to get my boat in the water in the afternoon, but man, am I glad I fought the sloth and launched! First off, it was a gorgeous day and the river was alive with all kinds of birdsong. And goose honking. And goose butts, which always amuse me. I went downstream this time and made it all the way down to the actual “lake” part of Lake Solano. I never had known what that was, but really it’s just a widening of Putah Creek to the point that there is no current and it looks lakeish.
Once I got away from the campground, cell service came back. I’d been looking pretty carefully along the shoreline to see if I could spot an otter, because this just seemed like the kind of place they would live. As luck would have it, once I’d reached my farthest point from the campground, Richard texted me to say he was looking right at an adorable family of otters directly in front of our camp site. I wanted to tell him to keep them occupied while I paddled as fast as I could back his way. Short of throwing them fish we didn’t have, I wasn’t under the impression there was anything he could do.
By the time I got all the way back, they had moved on, but I wasn’t ready to give up. Otter spotting determination runs strong in my blood. I went upstream, past the campground by just a bit, and there they were, frolicking by the bank! I parked myself against the opposite shore and just stared at them playing in the water for a good long time. Not a single picture came out, but I did get some videos and grabbed still frame shots from them. Even so, none of the footage captures the adorableness of an otter head popping out of the water with a full open mouth fishy chew.
I could even see their cute little chompy teeth as they yum yummed, then blooped back under water. I think there were four and at least two of them seemed pretty little. Omigosh, what a good day!
For a county park, this is a pretty sweet spot. For some reason, there are peacocks wandering around. That brought repeated comments from us, referencing the “A Story” couple in Extreme RVs, “Who has a peacock near their RV? Me! I do!” We were entertained every time we said it.
The bathrooms are rustic, but the toilets flush and water comes out of the tap if you push the little button a couple times. There is even a shower, but it’s the kind that makes me glad Dory has a shower. I didn’t get in to Winters this time, but Richard says there was a “carnitas festival” happening. I have a little regret about not finding out more there.
Fun place. I’ll book again and remind myself I won’t be guaranteed another otter sighting. But I’ll bet we’ll get peacocks and herons.
Total miles: 54.5, 17.2 mpg, 2 hours with Friday traffic. Site 25. Electric & water. Good solar, river side. Good dump on site. LTE for Verizon, really spotty ATT – either no service or 1 bar of 5g. Just a little outside the campground, there was LTE.