Sacramento, CA - Mar. 21 - Apr. 22, 2008

On March 21st we returned from China via San Francisco.  Since our return fell on the Friday before Easter we knew we would be in for a difficult commute - we were right.  The four hour, 80-mile drive made Shanghai traffic seem reasonable - well, almost.  We picked up our car at Ken and Claire's and continued our trek north to Yuba City where we had left our home at Rancho de DeMille (our friend's house).  As fate would have it, an electrical circuit had failed and the power to our home was off for about nine days - the refrigerator and freezer aromas were beyond description - although we found a few choice words at the time.

So, after about 30 hours of sleepless travel, we spent the evening tossing spoiled food and cleaning the refrigerator.  Kathy and Paul, our hostess and host, kindly brought us some potent daiquiris to ease our pain.  The next day we relocated to the Cal Expo RV Park for a month stay, but returned to Kathy and Paul's on Sunday to celebrate Easter.

As mentioned in our last journal entry, Cal Expo RV is basically a parking lot with utilities.  But it has a wonderful location on the 25-mile long American River Parkway and is within walking distance of shopping, dining and entertainment.  We biked, walked or jogged the Parkway nearly every day during our stay.

It was great to be home.  In November 2004, we sold our home in Sacramento and started our 'Cool Journey', but Sacramento will remain 'home' until we settle.  It is one of the few places we don't need a map or GPS to navigate the streets and the only place we may run into friends at the local supermarket.  In spring Sacramento is dressed in her best finery.  The weather is perfect and the azaleas, dogwood, magnolias, tulips and daffodils are in bloom.

We were amazed at the changes in our hometown.  It seems the city had taken a great leap forward during our three-year absence.  The downtown was much more lively and energetic.  The urban living concept really caught on and there are numerous new clubs, restaurants, coffee houses and art galleries.  The Second Saturday Art Event was a total crush of people - there were so many people downtown that several streets had to be closed to traffic.

Our month was spent catching up with many friends and family.  Susan's sister Linda flew in from Denver on her celebratory retirement tour visiting her sons in Sacramento and Las Vegas.  Susan and Linda drove to Vallejo and picked up their sister Judy for a trip up to their childhood home in Napa and lunch among the vineyards in Rutherford.  It was the first time the three had been together for 15 or so years and the opportunity to visit in the warm sunshine of Napa Valley was wonderful. 

Linda and Susan also went to San Andreas to visit Winnie, their step-mom.  They went to their favorite Gold Country town of Sutter Creek for lunch and boutique-ing. 

Susan also had an opportunity to catch up with her book group at their monthly meeting at Lisa's home.  When we started our journey, Lisa and Edward were in China adopting twin boys.  So in addition to having the opportunity to visit with friends, Susan met Andrew and Alexander, two very handsome, happy and energetic boys.

Meanwhile, Bill bought a California fishing license and went wading in the American River, within easy walking distance of the RV Park.  According to his accounts even the dumbest of the fish were too smart for his humble offerings.  He also got together with his fishing buddy Richard for a day of fishing.  Once again, the fish remained oblivious to their efforts.  Ah well, much like golf, it was a nice day for a walk.

We also got together a few times with Bill's sister Ginger and her family.  Chris, Ginger's husband, owns a graphic sign business and he generously made the perfect 'www.CoolJouney.net' sign for the back of our rig.

We both had lunch with Bill's former co-workers at the Water Board.  It was a very nice gathering and included both current and now retired employees of the Water Board.  We were honored by their attendance.   

We did so much and visited with so many friends that we simply can't recount them all.  Too many of these occasions involved food and at our age it is so much easier to put on weight than take it off.  We have determined that we really can't return to Sacramento until we loose 10 pounds each - and frankly, at the rate we are going that could be a long, long time.

On April 23rd we bid a sad farewell to our friends and family and began our long trip to Auburn.  OK, so it is only about 35 miles, but it seemed a long way from 'home'.  Read the next segment for Susan's driver's training in the motorhome!  Will Auburn ever recover??!!