Sacramento, CA - Feb. 12, 2005 - Mar. 27, 2005
We are now in Sacramento again. Susan's knee surgery is scheduled for February 28th. The trailer is in for some needed repairs. The truck will get some service too. Bill is not being repaired on this trip. No pictures are available for this segment of our journey. It is likely we will be here until the middle of March. We will visit some of our friends while we are here and make sure Susan heals completely before moving on.

March 3, 2005
Susan's knee surgery went well. She stayed at a friend's house (many thanks to Claire Fisher) for several days. Claire's house is all on one level and easier to navigate after knee surgery than our multi-level trailer. Today was her first day back in the RV. She is moving around under her own steam (no crutches) and quite pleased with her progress. Overall, the recovery has gone well. She had more pain than she expected, but Bill thinks she was a bit optimistic prior to the surgery anyway.

Tomorrow Bill heads back to Kelseyville, CA to continue his tutoring of his mother's computer skills. It is her 78th birthday. Congratulations to her!

Sacramento Catch-up - by Lazy-Susan

Well, I have been informed that I can no longer continue using my knee surgery as an excuse for lying around doing nothing except making demands on my mate. Actually, I have been walking, biking, hiking, and testing the knee's running capability. The only thing I haven't been able to do is write, drive, clean, laundry, etc. But since we are now in Death Valley, I guess I better do some catching up.

We were in Sacramento for about five weeks taking care of a lot of business and getting things fixed. Fixing things turned out to be quite a challenge. Each time one thing was fixed; a new thing broke - on the truck, the fifth wheel and me. However, as soon as we were all up and running, we ran away.

Our stay in Sacramento was really quite nice. We imposed on Claire's hospitality while the RV was in the shop for four days and while I was recovering from having my knee repaired and couldn't climb stairs. We caught up with friends over dinners and lunches and spent Easter with the DeMille family.

We also caught up with family. Bill ran up to Kelseyville to provide Computer 1-B to his now very eager to learn mother, and I trekked up to the foothills to visit my stepmother, Winnie. Winnie and I visited Daffodil Hill outside the gold mining town of Sutter Creek (in my opinion, the jewel of the Mother Lode). Unfortunately, Daffodil Hill had taken a beating by an unseasonable hailstorm and had closed early. However, Poppy the Peacock was happy to strut his stuff for our entertainment (see the picture section).

We also spent a couple of evenings with Bill's sister and husband, Ginger and Chris. Chris has a business making signs for boats and vehicles, among other things. He made and applied several "www.CoolJourney.net" signs to our RV and truck. They are really cool. Interestingly, when I was visiting Winnie the sign on the tailgate of the truck was spotted. Before I got home Bill received an e-mail recommending places for us to visit in the Gold Country. This may or may not be a blessing! No more stealthy trips to Nordstrom's - or anywhere else.

We left Sacramento on Monday, March 28th and drove right into a rainstorm, followed by hail, then snow. Caltrans was doing what they do well - keeping us safe by sanding the highway, so by the time we reached Carson City our rig was covered in sticky, sandy mud. As we traveled south on Highway 395 we encountered periodic snow, followed by a butterfly storm. Yes, a butterfly (well maybe moths) storm. The result was a muddy, mustard splattered rig. Quite attractive! Actually, the trip was incredibly beautiful and I couldn't stop taking pictures.