Coloma RV (5)

River plus rain, with a little reconnaissance thrown in, makes for a really romantic respite. The four day Presidents’ weekend timed nicely with Valentine’s Day this year. It also meant we were able to take our time Friday for the drive up. We had a whole plan that involved searching out backroads to see how feasible it is to avoid highway driving. All systems were go and the route was entered into Apple Car Play as we hit the road. Then my phone blew up with texts from teachers just discovering that educators can now schedule appointments for the COVID vaccine, and that everyone should log on like RIGHT NOW before they’re all taken. So it’s really hard to pay attention to driving with all that going on and somehow the navigation had gotten into a mode where it wasn’t actually giving me directions. So I pulled off and drove into some random residential neighborhood so we could sort through all the texts and restart the navigation. We sat there a few minutes until the guy with the leaf blower across the street started shooting debris our way. I’m still learning the user interface in the car, but I kind of figured out what I’d done and we did a Take Two.

With all the excitement, we figured we’d earned a lunch stop at Brannan Island. Also, we wanted to know if they (and their dump station) were open. They are, it is, and we had a nice lunch under blue skies. It was a long drive, but a relaxing one, taking back roads up to the Marshall Gold Discovery site. This is the 5th time we’ve been to this RV park and it was one of the best sites. We pulled in just in time to do a Caravan Mover View Maneuver for optimal window positioning, get our patio area and awning set up, and sit back to listen as the gentle drizzle began hitting the roof. It’s one of my favorite things to listen to the sounds of a water feature and rain feature from under shelter. Even nicer once it got chilly, was to move inside where there is also a heater.

Richard got in a bike ride on the only blue sky day and I got in some work while watching the river and admiring a cute Retro in the site next to us. Blue Apron was on the menu for the evening and all was delicious and cozy. Our second full day included a fact finding mission to a state park I’ve never booked: Folsom Lake Peninsula. The single reason for this omission of a state park close by: the look of the eight mile zigzaggy road that takes you out there. On a map, it looks intimidating for a trailer, but for an unencumbered Passport, no problem. We drove Richard and his bike out to the start of it and played leap frog for maybe six miles. It turns out I was right to be suspicious, but not for the reasons I thought. It is a well maintained road which is mostly wide enough for two cars to pass if they are careful. There are sections where it is single car width, but I think you’d have enough visible forewarning to be able to pull over before the tight spots. But for biking, it is not ideal. The grade is pretty steep, with long climbs and long descents. Richard is a badass when it comes to climbing, but he is not fond of clutching at the brakes around endless turns for an extended time. So that gives us a hmm. Oh also, there are cows that just wander into the road. And turkeys. So be careful.

We checked out the sites in the loops that are open, and surveyed the general set up of the campground. We weren’t so impressed that we’d be looking forward to that drive on a Friday after work. It’s doable for sure, even with a trailer, but that would be a long eight miles. If the reservoir levels were high, there were four or five sites that seemed like they might be nice and conceivably close enough to the boat launch to get in a paddle. But in drought, the water is waaaaaaay over yonder and not much more than a distant backdrop. So… maybe? I mean, it could be fun so I’ll put that in my back pocket now that I know what’s involved in getting there.

From the afternoon on, through Sunday night and all Monday morning, we got rain for real. It was an extremely pleasant way to spend a long Valentine’s weekend. I won’t even bother reporting out travel data though. Both there and back, we took a side trip to Brannan Island and kept to back roads a lot. So what could have been a three hour trip, took more like four. Richard wants to note that he really hates the dump at Coloma but equally loves the dump at Brannan Island. It’s the little things in life, yanno? Meanwhile, I have learned several new buttons in both Google and Apple Maps, and have discovered that english muffins, with ham and cheese, for one minute in the microwave, are the best things ever.