Day 1: From the Ocean to the Sierra

Whoo-hoo! We are back on the road for real RV travel, for the first time since 2010. While we don't quite have our chops yet--and we certainly aren't used to traveling with a #*$&ing puppy--but we are very excited to be on Day 1 of a 49-day (or so) adventure.

We finally left after 9AM (with the intention of leaving at 8). Kept forgetting to do things. Then we had to stop right away for propane ($44 worth! We were on fumes!) and diesel at Mid-Valley (a mere 8 miles from home). Then we made it less than 16 miles to the Sand City Shopping area--still in town, really--when we decided we'd better stop for some better chew toys. Puppy was beside himself in the RV. The previous trip we had had him in a crate (he's happily crate-trained). But that was 2 months ago when he FIT into the "medium size" crate that fit under the RV's dinette table. He has outgrown that crate, and the proper size crate won't fit into our "medium size" RV.

We put his home bed under the dinette, and Nick's doggie rug up on the dinette seat. He appreciated each of those things for mere minutes. Then we gave him an Antlerz ($20!) and he was happy for many hours on the floor. We're still working with him to "back up" when he tries to get in the cab when we're underway. Some success in keeping his 70+ pound body off the driver, but the passenger is in trouble.

Thank goodness we brought tug toys with us to help burn off energy at rest stops. But speaking of rest stops, we made probably our worst rest stop ever today. We were going off of the "Next Exit" book and saw that one exit had our favorite fast food (we were on I-5 without any scenic rest stops where we could picnic) and diesel. We should've kept going. Suffice it to say, there was an armed security guard outside the restaurant. One had to request to be buzzed into the bathrooms after ordering. Yikes. So we took turns going in. I was first, and when I came out, I saw the security guard intently watching Lisa and Bago doing training/playing with tug toy. I sidled up to him and said, "Now, that's OUR security guard." He nodded approvingly and said, "He's very well-trained." Yes he is. I had fun showing off his training while  Lisa went inside for her chicken sandwich. But we will forever scratch off that Stockton exit....

We made it to Truckee, as planned, with a little bit of puppy drama (there is a bite now missing of the awful shag carpet--fellow View/Navion owners will know of what I speak when I say "awful shag." It's the one thing I rue every time we get in the coach.)

Puppy has decided that camping is AWESOME when we stay in places with thousands of pine cones to play with and lots of grass and fun smells and people walking by with their dogs--great doggie TV! He also had his first experience with snow (albeit OLD, dirty snow) at the rest stop at Donner Summit. Fun, Mom! But it's not sand! He really thought it was sand. He kept digging into it, sniffing it, catching snow balls, and really trying to figure out what it was. Very cute.

Tomorrow we cross Nevada on US 50--the Loneliest Road. We have done this road E-W, but tomorrow will be our first time W-E. Lots of mountains to go up and down. Target is Cave Lake State Park--a lovely spot near Great Basin National Park. Life is good.