How did April fly by so quickly while I wasn’t looking?    One day we are sitting around, looking at the calendar and talking about getting ready to leave - the next day Dave is collapsed on the couch IN THE COACH after having moved everything we need for the next 6 months into the coach.   

It takes us about 3 days to move things over, including items from the refrigerator, the cupboards, the bathroom, and our clothes and then another 2-3 days to make sure we have everything wiped up, covered, unplugged, shut off, and locked up for the summer.  This includes taking all pictures down and put away, covering furniture, and putting black out curtains in the windows that get the most sun during the summer.

The next thing you know, we are looking at a beautiful sunset over the Colorado River before we head into California.   We spent a couple of days in Palm Springs (with heat over 100 each after noon) before going out of the desert and finding some cooler weather.   

One great shock of crossing into California was the see the HIGH fuel prices.  Normally we expect an increase, and fill up before leaving Arizona, but this year it was a HUGE difference.  Of course our coach doesn’t sip diesel - it GULPS it in big quantities.  It helps that we set aside money to cover our summer travel all during the year, and also helps when you don’t really look to closely at the pump as the gallons whirl by.  

Before we knew it, we had traversed I-5 and were into the Siskiyous Mountains.  This is Black Butte north of Mt. Shasta City.  Things were green, the weather was cool and we were able to cross without any problems except a little rain.  It took a few swipes for the windshield wipers to begin clearing the water off of the windshield - after months in storage with no rain (and being covered) they were a little stiff but quickly adapted.

We changed up our normal travel pattern this year and stopped in Medford, Oregon for a few days.  We had gone by the new Jackson County RV Park several times and always commented on how we should stop and see a little of the Medford area.  This year we did it.  And the drawing point - WINES, of course.   The area around Medford is in the Rogue River appellation - and we did find a couple of nice wineries during our short stay.  And there are many more to try during other trips up and down I-5.

For more pictures of our travels north, you might want to look at 2018 Northward Travel

We have had three Tom Turkeys (part of the wild flock that are found at the Timber Valley Co-Op RV Park in Sutherlin, Oregon, giving us quick a display each morning.  To view of snippet of their antics go to:  Turkeys on Parade

We will spend some more time in Sutherlin, maybe visit a couple of our favorite wineries before heading into Washington State for the summer.