Day 10: We're in Chowchilla!

OK, I've lost track. I'm behind on my blogging. I don't really know what day it is unless I look it up. My photos are in disarray. But here's the thing. It's been raining. Almost every day since we left home. Not all the time. Not most of the day yesterday. But a lot. And we're in California. Think drought. Except it's not all that dry anymore. And, I know, it's a good thing. We passed a sign today -- large red letters -- "PRAY FOR RAIN". It's serious, I know. So I'm being selfish when I wish it wouldn't rain so much. But there you have it. I'm glad for the farmers. And the people of California in general. Even the ones with swimming pools. But I have been thinking that just a teensy bit of sunshine would be nice.

AND, as it happens, we are in Chowchilla tonight, and although the day began with a rainstorm, there is actually a sunset to behold. Imagine! Yes, Toto, there really is a California.

We left Clear Lake yesterday -- scattered rain showers, of course -- and, I have to say, we left a bit sadly. H definitely wanted to stay longer. After all, he found his first geocache here!! Yay! Just down the road from our RV park, at the front of a unique B&B where guests sleep in railway cars.

Hayden's first geocache find! Unique, for sure, but a cache!

He really liked it there, and so did I. So did all of us. There is nothing like, as I have said before, a summer resort area in the winter time. You get a feel for the bones of a place without all the mad boaters and wild partygoers, without all the shouting and too much beer, without the trinket sellers and sashayers. We didn't get to delve in too deep -- okay, not deeply at all -- in fact, all we had was a shallow, skim-the-surface kind of impression -- but Clear Lake has a nice easy-going feel to it. A lot of funky mobile home parks, a lot of vineyards, lots of stilted docks yearning out into the water -- reminding me of the Bayou, even though I've never been there. You know, we just liked it. It's a place where you could spend some good time.

Clear Lake

Dock on Clear Lake

More docks on Clear Lake

Fishing

But onward and southward. So we took Highway 20 east over to the I-5, through rolling hills with acres of seriously burned out trees from wildfires past, scattered ranches and on to Sacramento. Big mistake, Sacramento. If you have a few days, Sacramento is definitely worth a stop, and we did that once in the past when we did some great birding, saw the Old Town, had a nice walk along the American River. But for a one-nighter -- bad decision. The freeway traffic is unbelievably horrendous. Even at one o'clock in the afternoon it was bumper to bumper on our route to the Cal-Expo RV Park, which is a gravel parking lot with hookups, (and hot showers, I have to admit)-- so, great if you like that sort of thing, but absolutely no charm or personality. And it rained. Enough said.

We headed out this morning -- traffic wasn't quite so bad, but still thick and fast. We didn't like it, again. Headed south on the 99, through Stockton, Modesto and Merced. I guess everybody knows this, but you get the sense that people here do an awful lot of shopping driving -- lots of malls and crowded freeways with just a smattering of farmland --vineyards, orchards, feedlots -- on that route. The highway seems to have been repaved in many places, so the potholes are fewer, which is good. But, oh my. A lot of small towns that look beat up and defeated, signs from farmers demanding water justice, no birds at all -- it's a little unsettling.

Water!

For the past few days we have been trying to connect with Time-Warner Cable to arrange for wifi in Palm Springs. A big company, right? Unbelievably difficult to buy what they're selling. If anyone needed proof that the Trump is right when he talks about America falling apart, this would be a good one. Took A & H three days of tag teaming, on the phone and on the internet, talking to several people, some of whom did not speak English very well, none of whom were actually in Palm Springs, to buy service for a month. And every rep they talked to had a different story about what was possible. Incredibly frustrating. But amazing that a corporation that large could be running so poorly on the ground. Makes ya wonder. Finally, today, they ended up talking to two different guys, one in Texas, one in Colorado, and were able to order the service. We'll see what we get. But, c'mon . . .

Chowchilla is about half-way between Sacramento and Bakersfield. When we pulled in, the sun began to shine. There are birds here, and palm trees, and an actual sunset. We're smiling.

Our first genuine California sunset -- in Chowchilla.