Coach Serviced and Officially take off Today

Election Day I did leave the kid's house in Brentwood and passed through the Delta area and stopped at Isleton, CA. They have an old Main Street, but with so many closed and unused building it is only of small interest. They started life with many Chinese to help build the area. One of the oldest Chinese buildings in California and is in process of renovation.
My main stop was Rocklin Mercedes to have the oil changed and vitals checked before leaving. It is difficult to justify a $200+ oil change but it is Mercedes and keeps the warranty in force. The big plus is they always wash your car when completed and since my car is a 25' motorhome it is an affordable wash. These guys make sure the car is clean when it leaves and they even got last season's bugs off the front!!
Camping World opens shortly (spent the night here - heavy freeway traffic, but the price is right) and will get the oil changed in the generator. Why not do it myself, you may ask? (Well not if you know me well.) I don't get dirty and they dispose of the used oil. By the way - where does all the 'used' oil go? Some land fill? Doubtful! Then they must recycle it, but that implies re-use, but to whom. And that means a sale to someone so the used oil that the shop charges us to empty and replace with new oil (12 quarts for the MB) must sell it to a re-cycler, right? Why do we not share the profit of our old oil? Sorry, forgot where I was.
Should be able to leave around 9am to head East, through Truckee, past Reno and into the Northern Nevada desert.
More later

Last Day before Expedition

Tomorrow maybe the California primary (I have mailed mine in! - VOTE!!), but I will be heading out for my long awaited USA exploration expedition. I prefer to call it an expedition as I will be exploring more than traveling from place to place and going as fast as possible between points.
This year I have given myself the mandate (or permission) of moving slower, staying longer and really 'seeing' what there is out there. The photos are of course a high priority, but I want to wait more for a better lighting condition and observe the flora and fauna in more detail and longer than last year's Alaska trip (Never did see elk or moose on the trip). That was what - about 5 months, 16000 miles and almost 2T of photo files.
I will check my stores today - last run to Trader Joe's, Costco was yesterday and spend my last night with kids and family.
I'll be going to Rocklin, CA to have the Mercedes dealer there give the coach an oil change and final check and then next door to the Camping World for the same treatment for the onboard generator. Then it's out of this 100+ heat and into the desert of Nevada (that must be cooler, right!!) before turning North in Wells, NV. I am hoping that will be the extent of my Interstate highway travel for most of this trip. I have wanted to travel on the less known US highways that go across this country and be able to go slower (about 55 to 60MPH is the best fuel economy for this coach of mine) and not worry about getting tailgated by a semi.
I found a book published by Moon called "Road Trip USA - Cross-country adventures on America's two-lane highways" by Jamie Jensen. Perfect! It seems well organized and though a bit economic in all the places covered along the roads (which is understandable to allow for a book one could lift) it gives a good overview and some interesting 'off the beaten path' highlights I'll be anxious to see. My next reference 'book' is Stone Road Press' "Your Guide to the National Parks" by Michael Joseph Oswald. It is a beautiful book with all 58 National Parks and though it is geared for the hiker it does and more in depth coverage of the sights in each park than just the Park Service guides. This covers my 'raison d'etre' for this journey, but of course I'll get all the info available at each Park and Landmark I visit.
My apps on my Apple include: "Field Trip" and "History Here" for places to see along the way. "Allstays Camp & RV Guide" along with "Passport America" for campsites along the way, though there will be a few Walmart stops as well. Some extra info on "REI National Parks" as well and of course "Gas Buddy" to find fuel deals. And of course, "Dark Sky" for weather. If you have others, give a shout out.
Hope you all have a wonderful summer doing what helps you de-stress and relax and energize.

Looking for new places to go this summer.

Summer + Trip Shaping Up

Now that the home front is stabilized I plan to leave on June 7th.
You may ask where to this time? Well it was Europe via Semester at Sea and traveling on my own two years ago; last year it was North to Alaska. This year I'm going North but only within the US of A. It's the anniversary of the National Park Service and That will be my prime motive for this excursion.
Since I've moved up to the California Delta area by being in Brentwood (Yes all you Hollywood types - there is a real Brentwood, CA, not just a local area of LA) I'm half way North in California. One of my first missions will be to visit the twosome of Grand Tetons and Yellowstone NP BEFORE the summer rush! Wish me luck. I can promise that I will not try to help bison calves or walk OFF the charted path to get photos (really!!)
I begin to get back into a weekly?? blog this summer as I explore our great north heading east along US 2.
Here's a couple of shots from this last weekend visiting my nephew and family at Northstar in Truckee, CA. Beautiful weather and great clouds, yeh!

IR shot of Golf Course at Northstar

Under a Boat Dock at King's Beach, Lake Tahoe

A Chickadee on feeder

Bye for now

Down on the Farm

Saturday was our trip to the Forrest Farm in San Ramon. It was their annual sheep shearing day with lots of kids and a beautiful day. Only about forty-five minutes from our house in Brentwood, and being from SoCal - that was no time at all to be spending in the car. If this was not a 'Historical' site, I am sure it would be developed as the houses are closing in.

You remember your first haircut?? I was probably about as tense as this sleep, and I know I felt just as 'light' afterwords.

The old homestead. See the housing creep??!

Got to drag the old IR camera out on days like this.

This is what a six year old looks like down on the farm. She hates me taking shots and I was lucky with this one.

She's back to school tomorrow and I'm trying to help out around here.

Hope all enjoyed your weekend!!

Exploring the Delta

Got to go out and check out the neighborhood, right?? Went to see some of the close areas on the Sacramento Delta, like Bethel Island, Jersey Island, then Sherman Island off the CA160 heading North. Rich farmland that is being turned into sub-developments at a fast clip. One day, we will have no land to grow food for those that are living on this land. Sorry, I forgot -- all this land will be underwater in a hundred years or less from Global Warming, so no worries!! This area deserves further discoveries and I look forward to that.
I got out my Tamron 150-600mm to try to get some shots of the birds of the area. Well, I tried, but my hat off to all those who are so good at this. I'll keep trying, though.

I didn't know that up the channel there are two deep water harbors. Sacramento I knew of, but Stockton,CA?? It's right in the heart of the agricultural area and is the fourth largest port in in California. Future trip! As to the fishing, I understand that many of the fish have high levels of Mercury, but that least would be more fun than just drinking the water, eh??

Went as far as Rio Vista, a small quiet town along the Sacramento river.

Future sightseeing with take me to the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield and some more slow explorations of the Delta.

More

Things are come together

This has been an Aries cycle worth remembering.
I have moved out of the townhouse in Oxnard and put it on the rental market, with the hopes of it being snapped up by May 1st. The purpose of this is to allow me to be in the motor home and travel the US for awhile. This has kept me busy for the last few months and now that I have changed my 'base of operations' to the NorCal area of Brentwood, I'll have a whole new landscape to photograph.
Soon new offerings.

Finally got Out!!

My jailers have finally relented and allowed me a bit of freedom - well, after all, it was my birthday and they are not terrible people.
My youngest daughter asked me to come down to LA and spend the day going around a bit. Downtown LA that is, and after parking near the new Broad Museum and seeing a line that wrapped around the block - Saturday!!

 Detail of the front facade of the Broad

 - what was the first thing to interrupt our journeys? You got it - a film crew shooting a explosion of cars near the Library. Happy to say I didn't even pause to look, but went right in to the LA Library. I have lived in and around LA for too many years and I reluctantly admit that I have never been inside this classic landmark.  

The upper rotunda of the LA Library

Went to have a bite of lunch and we heard that the old Clifton's was reopened and stopped by. Hoping for a redo of the classic diner/cafeteria, I was taken aback to find it was made out to look like a jungle and moved on..

Where else to go when downtown LA? Why the old Central Market on Broadway. Now it has amazing new food court booths and just a few of the produce sellers of old. 

You want a meal, a beer, a snack, how about eggs anyway for anytime of day? Got you covered.

Across the street is the fabulous Bradbury Building built in the late 1800's and still standing. Many films have shot here, as attested to by the Greyline/TMC movie tour that was passing through during our visit.

Never have paid any attention to signs.

Since the Broad was out we traveled down the Wilshire and went to see an exhibit of Robert Mapplethorpe at the MOMA. Well worth the visit.

Dug out the Nikon D80 IR converted camera and here are a couple of 'false color' shots from here.

 Great day had by all.
I'll get back into the flow very soon now, I hope. Still more thinks to sort out for the family.
Later