the California foothills....

We love the foothills! Grass Valley really spoke to us and we have now been on the east side for a few weeks in Jackson & loving it here too. Not overwhelmed with the Jackson Rancheria campground...but it is convenient, clean, & they have free laundry & 2 hot tubs! Neither of our internet connections worked & the park's wifi was really awful the first 10 days we were here & really stressing us out but the last couple of days it's been great. The campground has a parking lot set up on a cement slab with a picnic table & full hook ups, including cable TV (which I haven't had in about 6 weeks)!  There is some nice spacing between the rigs BUT we have had a few issues with our neighbors...the "LOUD" family & people that leave their dogs tied up outside to bark at every passerby...I think this is the hardest thing about RVing...inconsiderate neighbors, but we always have the ability to move, so it's really not soooo bad! 


We worked a lot the first week we were here, and had to be in Tahoe for a few days, and Sacramento another day.  The main reason for our Tahoe visit was the Slow Rollers Bike Parade to kick off the Amgen Bike Tour starting in South Lake Tahoe.  We were lucky that the snow finally stopped & we had a sunny day. We met at the brewery to gussy up our bikes & hook up with friends - Gary, Steve, Robert, Carol, Richard, Matt, Daniel & Virginia. 

While in Sacramento we finally made it out to the Lockdown Brewery, which has become a Sacramento Hash favorite - we have been hearing & reading about this place for a long time & it was fun that our friend Matt was working behind the bar!.

Finally made it to Lockdown Brewery!

This last weekend Bill got to really experience his 3 day work week, with 4 real days off! We lounged at the pool on the first nice day we've had, went wine tasting in Plymouth, spent the day in Volcano & just took it easy. Loved wine tasting over here...it's free, just like the good ol days in Napa & everything is super close, with friendly people & good wine! My favorite was our day in Volcano...a sleepy little town of about 100 residents. They boast two "hotels" which house 2 of the highlights we had read about - the Whiskey Flats Saloon & the Union Pub. We had drinks at the former & lunch at the latter...we also ended up back at the Pub later in the afternoon when we heard good music playing on the patio & enjoyed some fabulous tempura. The surprise was a little wine bar owned by a wine maker...we stopped by early in the afternoon & were told they were going to have a latin jazz band playing later. By the time we left the Pub the 2nd time, I was pretty tanked & ready to head home but Bill (aka eXceSs) shouted "I'm not done yet!" So off we went to the wine bar in search of more fun! We sauntered in to be met with music that was anything BUT latin jazz ...seems they didn't show up so one of the employees got together with another guy & the two of them, one on guitar & one on harmonica, were the entertainment! And they were pretty darn good...Bill ordered a beer & we sat down by the pot belly stove. We noticed a group gathering out in front on the patio so we went outside to hang out & met the friendliest folks - we sat down at one of the comfy seats & just hung out there with all the locals who were wandering by & stopping to chat. The owner brought me a full glass of his port, on the house, which was so delish I had to have another! We had such a great time, I can see us settling down in a place like this, somewhere down the road...