Raven’s RV
The ongoing education and adventures of two rank newbie RVers

Down here in Redding, it’s full-blown Christmas. Trees are blinking, giant reindeer loom over the Sears parking lot and the stores are either selling off their stock of cards at 50% or otherwise wheeling and dealing. The retail staff look tired.

I had forgotten about houses with decorations, too, then went Whoah! at the sight of one such location, glowing cheerfully with enough holiday bling to rival the best in Silicon Valley, where they really do go for broke. :)

Interestingly, the Trinity side of Buckhorn Summit was still half frozen with thick hoar frost as we crossed it this early afternoon, but the Shasta side was sunny and bright. It’s much, much warmer down here in Redding and we’re taking advantage of the flat-rate electricity with the heat turned on full blast :: grin ::

Our mission today was to shop and stock; we seem to be averaging about once ever 5-6 weeks, which is quite fine. I am not fond of shopping.

We were literally on the brink of running out of propane — again. With our little extra canister, we took almost 18 gallons. Then we hit the recycling center, Kragen’s, Cost Plus World Market, the bank, and Panda Express in quick succession. Pleasantly fed, I then shopped for a month’s dry goods (and more fruit than usual — I am trying!) at Food Maxx (ooh! Tunafish for 59 cents! Buy LOTS!), followed by Target and Walgreen’s where I finally achieved my goal of finding toothpaste for $1–with a free travel-sized extra, too.

Then I got to have fun watching Don turn our storage space into a Tardis. ;)

Tomorrow, it will be laundry, our traditional run around Dollar Tree for silly gifts, a hunt for a new house battery(*), and Home Depot for some pipe insulation, and maybe Food Maxx again and Wal-Mart for a few things I couldn’t get anywhere else. Then we’ll feed Harvey at $1.59 a gallon :: shock :: and go see what it’s like to live in an RV in the snow. ;)

This has been a very cost effective trip! Not only did we get money back on the recycling, the RV park handed us a card with tickets for a free overnight and a second overnight at 20% off. It was a laugh-out-loud funny card, too. :)

(*) If it turns out we need one. It might be our charging, too.

Last night was far and away the coldest night I’ve experienced up here. The heater didn’t seem to be doing its thing (it worked, but couldn’t win)…and then there was no water for a shower. Our sewer and water hoses had frozen.

I went to bed with my feet like blocks of ice. This was not a happy feeling. Don reminded me that I could actually use the water in the tanks to shower, so then I did. Yay for backup systems!

Don spent a good chunk of the night putting impromptu insulation on the hoses and fixing stuff. Eventually, around dawn, he got water flowing again, after braving the (literally) freezing fog.

The world was white and crisp with frost, even at ten o’clock. It took a good while for everything, icicles included, to thaw out.

I am starting to get chilblains. I haven’t had those since I left England, either.

But oh…isn’t it beautiful?