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

We’re in the parking lot of Camping World in Fairfield, and this is an offline blog entry, i.e. I’m writing it on the Linux equivalent of Notepad and will post it up next time we get online. We can “see” internet from the Days Inn nearby, but alas it’s too weak a signal to connect. Too bad. I like wild wireless signals — you never know where they might lead. ;)

Anyway, we left Lodi this morning for a brief gallop around the wine country. Mostly, we’re going because we can, but there’s a practical reason too: each set of improvements made needs a test drive, and it’s also good to keep the vehicle running. When we get back I think (I hope!) we’re going to establish residency in Lodi, and then do frequent short trips over the coming months. You never know, Raven’s Quest (at least the Bay Area edition) might get finished.

Camping World is a dangerous place, and we’re going to have to restrict our visits there. You go in for one item and come out with a dozen. We’ve tried a few things out, realized we want something different, and are using the rejected pieces elsewhere. To date, nothing we have bought has gone to waste.

Case in point: the drawer organizer we have doesn’t work, so we’ve got one designed for RV drawers (not standard size, funnily enough) and will use the other organizer elsewhere.

You know, this is my first trip, apart from the brief test drive, in the RV as an actual passenger! Disappointment at leaving the bike behind is quickly replaced by the amusing experience of being in here. I’m up high, so I see things I’d otherwise miss. It’s a never-ending live picture show, a stream of fascinating glimpses into other people’s lives: a little old lady in a nursing home, sitting in her wheelchair pinned up against the glass door. An airplane coming in to land at some airfield or other. Windmills, the changing quilt of fields–some ploughed, some growing, some still full of golden but used-up corn. This mode of travel has much to be said for it.

While we were preparing to leave, our neighbor wandered over to say hello and asked who was riding “the Harley” and who got to drive the rig. Turns out he and his missis are on the way to Baja California for the winter. It never occurred to me to go to Mexico in an RV, but I suppose one could. I told him that my project for the winter was to learn how to drive the rig. I didn’t tell him that I have yet to get a class C licence, and though I passed my driving test half a lifetime ago I have never really been a driver, just a rider.

We were in the store for over an hour. It’s a much bigger place than in San Martin, and even had books, though I plan to check most of them out of the library before buying. There were even self-published books, so I guess I could sell a few if I decided to self-publish a book about RVing. I came out with an armful of freebie RVing magazines, too. With the clocks going back, it’s dark already at five, so we’ve given up on trying to get up to Calistoga tonight. We’re either going to sleep at the rest area on I-80, or find an RV park in Vallejo. It’s just off the freeway, so shouldn’t be too hard.

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