|
| |
|
click to enlarge    |
Sacramento Tour Yesterday I had an emergency call at 4am to drive a friend down To U of Davis Hospital in Sacramento. I used the day while waiting to find out the prognosis to tour Sacramento and surrounds.. Mostly it was an auto/RV kind of day. I’ve been driving Art’s Dodge 2500 Cummins. What a dream luxo-tow-er. (It get’s a real 17mpg at 75mph empty and about 12mpg towing heavy and hard. It has a beefed up trans, a power chip and lots of gauges plus all the amenities… …close to 500hp and 750lb torque w/30lbs boost when you stomp it. By manually shifting the overdrive I can get six speeds forward by locking and unlocking the torque converter. I alternate listening to NPR and a six-pac of CD’s I cruised out East Hwy 50 to Lincoln Park to exchange hugs w/Rodney’s sister. As usual she wasn’t there so I left a note and went further on out to the Sunrise Auto Recycling complex. I don’t know if you’ve ever been there or heard of it? It’s a huge area with a junk yard and outlet for just about every vehicle on the planet - including boats and RV’s. And lots of other specialty places as well. I stopped at Dodge truck, SAAB and Subaru yards to chase parts for some of my ‘fleet of ‘oldies but goodies. Came back into the City stopping by the hospital to check on things. They were still testing so I decided to drive out along the river. The first thing I discovered was a great vacant area just across the river in W.SAC from Old Town. I parked on the levee and walked along the shoreline. Only a few fishermen there – otherwise it was deserted with beautiful views and wilderness walking distance from the Capitol. And oh, I walked up on the Amtrak Bridge, too. What a great place to photograph the trains – head on! Next I drove ‘way-out’ West SAC to the border to a place called the “LightHouse” which sells everything in automotive lighting – including the truck LED’s which I’m getting for my motor home. I’m always exploring waterways and haven’t seen much of the inland ship channel. It’s not all that accessible. But right across the street I saw trailers next to the water and went to investigate. The first place is Sacramento’s KOA. Next door I found A neat mobile home park called Valhalla – and one home for sale right on the channel with a small dock. ($70K.) Stopped in at the “49er” Truck Stop for lunch. I love to shop in these places, too. And read all the car and truck books. I found some neat vehicles for sale too. For example, how about a pristine 1972 Jeep Wagoneer with only 56,000 miles for $2,500.? Back into the city I decided to drive South down Jefferson on the West side of the river. It took me to River Road and down about 10 miles into Clarksville where I turned around.I crossed the river (on the first bridge south of SAC) and explored the marina and RV Park, bar and bait shop at Freeport. This place is billed as the ‘Gateway to the Delta’ – which it is. It’s 24 more miles across. The farmlands into Isle Vista which is a place I like a lot. Everywhere I stop I talk to whoever’s hanging around and find out the local happenings. Basically I explore lifestyles and in this case, riverboat living. It was 5-1/2 years ago when we took three days to drive 350 miles throughout the 1,000 miles of the Delta looking for a spot for out trailer and boat. The trouble is that the river floods and few places are atop the levees. So we never found ‘our spot’. It’s also hot, windy and foggy much of the year there. As a last resort we came up to Clearlake and landed on this great space. What we eventually figured out is that the “delay” was all about waiting for the guy to vacate this spot so we could find it… a divine outcome. The interesting thing about going back – for the first time in the five years really, is to see it from the eyes that have now enjoy’d Clear Lake in so many ways. The result: We made the right decision. And it makes living here even more of a grateful experience. I did discover that it’s still possible to live there – certainly on the water. But it costs a lot more than even here. The park closest to Sacramento – only about five miles down River, is $600/mo – actually $150/wk. The boat slips are $4.00/ft. But they’re rebuilding the docks with new sewer hook ups for full time house boating. I’m not sure what happens when the high water comes though. Back into W.Sac I wandered around and found some really neat old tree covered trailer parks with open spaces for about $400./mo which is not bad for a city (San Francisco is $550 and up). But they’re there. I always go into the back where the storage lots are. That’s where I found the Airstream we bought (and then sold). This time I found a 1990 Komfort fifth wheel with a rare upper living room. It’s tempting. I did the brochures for Komfort when this model was introduced. It’s also when the “basement model’s” were taking off. No trip to Sacramento is complete w/o the obligatory tour of Old Town. It turns out I had not brought a camera along in the rush. All afternoon I looked for post cards and there were none to be found. Old Town did not disappoint. So these are all I have to put with this story. It was raining and grey most of the day anyway so I promised myself to go back in the spring, bring along a friend, and do the photography. The day ended with a drive through downtown and around the Capitol. No Christmas tree though but nicely lit. And downtown was closed off for - don’t know what for sure but there was a protest to bring home the troops. Maybe it was the opening of shopping days. Whatever. I got back to the hospital just as they were releasing Art. We stopped at Betty’s on the ‘5’ just past Road 8. I had chicken friend steak. I also discovered they are selling “BeeCaps” which is a blend of four bee products. It felt like that was the real reason I stopped. We got home about 9pm. 19 hours & about 350 miles. Driving is great pleasure! What a day! And none of it planned. Today and tomorrow I’m playing ‘catch-up’ here. Archive: Below is the Fall slide show continuuing.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
