Linda slept in and after two-hour coffee, she was ready to go around 11:30. We left Pit River Casino in Burney and continued west on CA 299 toward I-5.
From our Mountain Pass Directory, we knew there was a pass on Hwy 299 just west of Burney. Having the knowledge of the grades on both sides of the pass is always a big help. This was a pass to be cautious with, but we knew it wouldn't pose too much trouble.
Linda handled it beautifully while I sat buckled into my Lambright chair and got some work done while we had a cell signal.
Quickly, I was reminded we were in California as they had one lane of the road closed in several spots. Let's see, they had a mile of road closed for a 30-foot section of repair. They had a couple miles closed for a roadside mower. And they can't just control traffic with a couple of flag people and radios .... nope, they have a pilot car you have to follow to get you from one end to the other because we are all apparently too stupid to do it on our own. In true California fashion, everything was overly dramatic. If we had somewhere to be fast, it would have been aggravating, but we didn't, so it was just comical.
For what it's worth, I was born in California, but I was raised in Kentucky so just about everything "California" seems over the top to my simple upbringing. I don't mean to offend our California friends, but holy cow I don't understand some of the things they do here. :)
Eventually, we made it to Sacramento where we exited the interstate and made our way to Julietta Winery after a 225-mile drive. This was another winery in our Harvest Hosts directory as were several others a little farther south in the Stockton area.
The winery was closed today, but we called yesterday and the owner, Craig, said we were welcome to park there tonight. When we arrived, he had just finished up working on the roof of the tasting room, so he came over and showed us where to park.
Once we got set up, we walked over to say "thank you" and take some photos of their place.
While we were walking around, Craig's wife, Julie pulled in with bags of decorations to get ready for this weekend's Halloween party. We all chatted for awhile as we watched the hummingbirds, other birds, and rabbits.
We were quite willing to buy some wine and hinted at that, but they never mentioned it and apparently didn't expect to sell us any on their day off. When they had some friends arrive, we got out of their way and went back to the rig to have our dinner.
Really nice folks. Thanks again Craig & Julie for welcoming us on a day you were closed.
Oh yeah, we had temps in the 80s and I got to put on shorts (comfortably) for the first time in a long time, so that was another positive. Many of you may recall that one of my goals when we started full-timing was to never wear long pants again. Well, that didn't quite work out. :)
And that was pretty much it for our day. Tomorrow we continue south with plans to spend a few days exploring Pinnacles National Park and the central coast.
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We have seen condors each time we have visited Pinnacles...I hope you are as fortunate. JoanneG
Posted by: JoanneG | Thursday, October 25, 2018 at 08:12 PM
Construction seems to be the biggest problem to anyone that drives anywhere but California does go over the top.
When Towing in California you are limited to 55 MPH in many places while cars and trucks fly by you at 70 MPH. That is actually more of a hazard.
Be Safe and Enjoy wearing your shorts again.
It's about time.
Posted by: Rick Rousseau | Friday, October 26, 2018 at 08:53 AM
It’s why road construction is so expensive in CA. Everything has to be 4x safety so people can’t sue everyone involved in the project because they didn’t follow common sense.
Posted by: Tom | Saturday, October 27, 2018 at 11:22 PM