February 2: I was sitting outside last night before the sun went down and a elderly woman came over to chat. I think she was the park welcoming committee. Wanted to know how long I would be staying, where I was from, where I was going. Then proceeded to tell me some of her life’s story. She was 86 years old and had lived in the park for 6 years. She had lived in Trinity most her life but got tired of shoveling so much snow every winter and chopping and hauling wood (but that was why she was in such great shape), so after her second husband died (cancer) sold off and moved. She then went to the park office and got me a handful of brochures of places to go. Very sweet.

I forgot to add a picture of Mt. Shasta yesterday. I live surrounded by mountains but for some reason this one seems so much closer and kind of sticks up out of nowhere. I also forgot to mention that diesel went up $.75 from Oregon to California. I have seen cheaper now but it is still at least $.30+ more.

I took a nice, kind of long shower this morning. It is amazing the difference when you are hooked up to water instead of using the tank. More wasteful, that is for sure. It was another beautiful morning and the day was fine.

I took off before 10:00 and headed down the road. I decided not to go all the way down I5 to Sacramento and took the secondary road through Chico, etc. It was supposed to be 10 minutes longer according to Google maps. Not sure if that was the case, but it was interesting seeing all the fruit and nut trees lining the highway. I stopped in Chico to get a stool to add to my “Fox Landing” stairs as sometimes, depending on where I am parked, it is quite a reach to make the first step.

It took about 4 hours and I was very surprised at the area around where the park is located. It is a huge urban metropolis! I had seen that it was in an ‘urban’ setting but had not idea how huge the area was. There was a ginormous dam. Then the Folsom Prison was right along the road. I didn’t even see any signs saying not to pick up hitchhikers like I have around other prisons. Just lots of barbed wire with houses and condos all around.

I ended up going a bit out of the way as I had put in Folsom Lake State Recreation area, which I think must be huge, instead of the actual campground. After pulling into a parking lot and reconfiguring, I found my way here.

Of course, all the hookup sites were already gone. I got here about 2:20 and check in supposedly is at 2:00 but maybe the others had been lined up waiting. There had been quite a few spots when I checked last night. The ranger told me to go find a spot and come back to register. I large part of the campground was closed off but I found a nice spot in a little circle. The park is really nice. Lots of trees and well kept.

The area behind me is the closed area so I won’t have anyone peering in through the back. There is a group of about 3 men and 1 boy next to me. They have a truck load of wood so have a fire going. Country music playing too. They don’t have a dog though, so Misty is safe.

Since I am dry camping, I don’t know if I will stay more than tonight. I really wanted to stay a couple nights in one place but I don’t really want to run generator in this quiet place, if I don’t have to. Just slapped a mosquito away. Didn’t bring any bug spray. So might have to go inside now.

February 3: I really liked the state park and thought about staying one more night. I walked around this morning and saw the Lake in the distance. Lots of scrubby trees with small leaves on them and also some sort of pine with huge pine cones. A lot of them laying on the ground partially eaten.

I took Misty out for a walk about. She did pretty well on the leash as long as I went where she wanted to go. But when I wanted to go a different direction, she would dig her paws in. She like stalking through the tall grass. I just hope she doesn’t pick up any fleas or ticks.

We left around noon for the short drive to our next destination. After a lot of research I decided to do something I didn’t figure I would ever do – stay at a casino RV Park, Jackson Rancheria Casino. I wanted a place where I could watch the Super Bowl tomorrow and one along the way to Yosemite. I have reservations for Yosemite on Monday and Tuesday.

The drive here was a little hairy. 20+ miles on a narrow, 2 lane road with lots of curves and rolling hills. I kept to the speed limit and slowed around the curves and managed to mostly stay in my lane.

The RV park is actually much nicer than I expected. Not just a bunch of cement pads. There is grass all around and I am backed up to a view of trees, not other RVs. Seems very quiet. Some children here since they have a heated pool year round and a few other family friendly amenities. Mostly the 65+ crowd, though.

I plan on staying here this evening then going to casino tomorrow. They have a shuttle that comes through fairly regularly, of course, to take you there and I think it will also take you to a grocery store.