Democracy in Action

Spent this very rainy day (it rained all night and alllll day) in the State Capitol. The morning was supposed to be training, but a legislative schedule change made the day much more interesting. The 300-400 of us trooped over from our training area to the Capitol to sit in on the Judiciary Committee's hearing for HR 5--the Assembly's bill to strike down Prop 8. We got to hear testimony for and against, and then almost an hour of public comment--pro and con. While there were a number of illogical and purely emotional statements on both sides, it was really clear that the Yes on 8 folks have no rational arguments. None. The Bible isn't an argument. "The will of the people" (a.k.a. tyranny of the majority) isn't an argument. And my favorite--"the legislature has more important things to be doing now" (a reference to our pathetically stalled state budget). How is that an argument? Oh, let's not deal with a civil rights issue right now. Too inconvenient. Maybe next year. Yeah, right. Sorry...our typical humor is missing on this topic.

The good news is that no one thinks that our marriage will be struck down (nor those of the other 18,000 folks). The issue at hand now is whether a simple majority vote can alter the fundamental rights of other citizens. We think that the legislature will do the right thing and pass HR-5 and SR-7 (identical bills to strike down Prop 8) and that the Supreme Court (on March 5) will also uphold their ruling from May of last year. But, boy, it's frustrating to have people voting, debating, and arguing about our very lives.

OK, end soapbox rant. We did play tourist a bit after our lobbying visit to Senator Maldonado's chief of staff (the senator was locked up--literally--in a senate session re: the budget)--

Here's Lisa waiting for her meeting with the Governator:


We were struck by how ordinary citizens can just truck around the Capitol building. Our group was everywhere, there were school groups lined up outside Ahnold's office for a tour, etc., etc. I mean, we the people DO own the building, but still, it's cool that it's so open and available for citizens. Got a few patriotic warm fuzzies.....

And the historic dome--very pretty (but not so much on the iPhone. I didn't carry my good camera out in the rain today):



Didn't do any other sightseeing after we were done at 2PM--too rainy. Our campground is flooded. Poor Nick is dying to chase a ball, but he has to turn into a labrador to do that here in the deep and wide puddles!

Off to Napa tomorrow AND the promise of sunshine (or at least just plain cloudy)--

Wind and Rain and Hail and . . .

We postponed our scheduled departure by a day to miss the "high wind warnings" (50 mpg gusts) of Sunday. Left this morning (Monday) during low winds (20 mpg!), but steady downpour. This rig handles like a trooper. We sit high enough that we're out of all the spray coming off the cars and we're heavy enough to not hydroplane. (We saw a bunch of solo spin-outs of cars and kept our speed slow but steady.)

Reached Sacramento by noon and attended the equality rally all afternoon. Saw famous and infamous alike--politicians ducked out of the all-weekend budget sessions to speak, entertainers (Margaret Cho and Wanda Sykes), Gloria Allred--one of the lawyers who won last year's Supreme Court case, etc., etc., etc. Cold and rainy, but we ended up getting a sun break towards the end. Brrr.


Here's my favorite sign: (to all you non-Californians, we passed one proposition imposing all kinds of humanitarian rules on chicken farmers and another proposition that wrote discrimination into our Constitution):


Spent the rest of the sort-of-sunny afternoon looking for an RV parking space for tomorrow, Tuesday (a work day), where we can leave Nick and go to do the actual lobbying work we need to do all day tomorrow. In our campground tonight, JUST got hooked up and Nick walked, then it began to HAIL like crazy. Glad we're safely inside and off the road. You can tell it was an Alaskan cold front....



Eager to do the lobbying and further the cause of restoring our Constitution to equal protection for all citizens, but also very excited to get out of the city and over to Napa, Sonoma, and the coast and some real camping this week. Weather forecast has been revised to bring sun on Wed-Sat!

Nick Likes the New Ride

Took Nick on an in-town errand to the DMV the other day. He adopted his November-learned position on the dinette bench seat behind the driver. Settled right in. We were only out for a little over an hour. He was very confused about the short ride....



Well, we're off this weekend for a week around rainy Northern California--Sacramento, Napa, Santa Rosa (the Charles Schulz museum!), and the coast.

Iowa to CA or Bust: 2300 Miles

Visual overview of the trip:

Mason City, Iowa
(Home of "The Music Man" author)


[no photos in Kansas City, KS]

Oklahoma City, OK
National Monument at sunset


A close-up on the awe-inspiring message carved into the stone gate:



The chain link fence tributes:






The chair memorial--one chair for each victim, inscribed with the name


[no photos in Albuquerque]

Arizona: Route 66 and Petrified Forest National Park

It's Getting Real-er

Airplane tickets to Iowa purchased.
Wire transfer instructions and insurance in process.
Starting to contemplate long-johns and snow.
We're really doing this!

Guess what we did?

Well, it's semi-official. Today, I put a deposit on an RV. Haven't seen it in person, much less driven it, but it's the one we want. Fuel-efficient diesel. Leather interior (the better to keep up with dog hair). Lots of neat accessories. 2009. And a good deal. Here she is. We pick her up on, no less, my birthday at the end of the month. Yes, northern Iowa in January. I'm a classy gal. Lisa has spent her birthday in Paris, on a Caribbean cruise, at a 5-star hotel in Carmel Highlands, etc. But me? Gimme Iowa in the winter! But I digress. Here she is:











I'll skip the photos of the bathroom, but suffice to say that there's a toilet and shower behind the door you see in photo above. There's a nice vanity/sink OUTSIDE the bathroom, between that closed door and the fridge, which is nice. And above the cab, instead of a bed, there is storage and the TV, since we didn't need a bed up there. We were going to go with the non-cabover model (the Navion iQ), but learned that that extra storage and HEADROOM makes all the difference in the world.

November 2008: Reflections on the Latest Trip (6400 Miles)

Time for brain droppings....

We returned the rig today. They found one tiny scratch (needs paint) and another dark spot on the awning arm (fixed by polishing). Ah, the difference between renting a new vehicle that they hope to sell one day and a 10-year-old workhorse (our Rialta last summer) that is intended only for renting. They're persnickety! We think one of the (many) trees we clipped in World Golf Village, in Morgan City, and our own home street may have been the culprit. Frankly, it's amazing there aren't more scratches. We had a time with the height. But it was fun.

Other random thoughts:

Remember that 5th grade math story problem that involved a bridge clearance and a truck that didn't fit underneath? (The solution was for the truck to let air out of its tires.) Well, we saw this problem for real in the real world. Almost literally ran into the stuck truck, whose cherry-picker crane-like rig had smashed into the overpass. Whoops. That would've added insult to injury.

Louisiana roads are now on our "worst roads" list. We realized we've driven through 21 states this year, and Louisiana takes the cake. Where else can the rough road actually make screws fall out of the A/C and cabinets?

Southern New Mexico just blew us away--we had no idea of the beauty around Alamagordo and environs. Must go back that way.

Our next trip won't involve a rental return date. There were a number of times on this trip that we said, "If we had time, we'd do X, Y, or Z." I'm thinking of the time in Eunice, LA, when every single person asked if we were in town for "the concert." Turns out there was a big Cajun music concert at this cool-looking Liberty Theater. Given that there were a number of things in that area that we couldn't do on Sat. or Sun., we could've stayed over Sat. night for the concert, hung out on Sunday, and then got our boudin and cafe sampling done on Monday!

Turn around when you pass something interesting, no matter how hard it seems in a big vehicle. We were so sorry to not get some Louisiana satsumas (we kept seeing the fruit-laden trees, but only a few road-side stands that we blew by) nor any New Mexico chile braids or pinon nuts. Gotta work on the fast stop or the quick turnaround for roadside stands.

People sure are nice. From the many folks on the View/Navion Yahoo! Group who gave us route advice, hot water heater fixes, boondocking strategy, and RV purchasing tips to the nice folks in Needles, CA, who invited us into their Thanksgiving feast. Wish we could've stayed around for Friday's turkey soup. Everyone was asked to bring a favorite vegetable (with broccoli mysteriously banned. Someone was "allergic." Right.) and then the leftover turkey was to be simmered in stock and served up Friday. Bet it was good. At any rate, if you start doubting humanity, hit the road. Nice folks everywhere. Can't forget the Florida Ford dealership who squeezed us in and gave us an oil change and safety check before we headed back, or the nice couple who gave us a tour of their Navion iQ and invited us to stay for cake. On and on....

And finally, we have to say how much we enjoyed seeing so many members of our families. Normally, we think of them as so far away. Living in California--with everyone else in the family in Central or Eastern time zones--makes us feel just millions of miles away. On this trip, we either pulled into their driveways (the Cason parents and the Ishams) or met up (with the Crawley parents) at a lovely location. It was as if no time had passed. We thank the Crawley clan for making time for us as we traveled back from Florida.

Think that's it for this trip's random thoughts.