Out West Adventure: Part 2--Getting to Chico

Sat. June 1: In the morning Marv took the truck to the local Ford Dealer to find out why we were getting a message saying “Service Advanced Trac”. Chuck dropped me at a hair appointment at Seela David Salon and then went to get Marv. The two guys drove to the canyon to do some hiking while I got my hair done and picked me up when I was finished. We chatted on the deck, waiting for Ford to call, and finally went to a coffee shop with good wraps and salads for lunch. Still no call. Back at the house we did some more sitting and talking while watching the scrub jays flit around the back yard. Finally Marv called Ford and found out that there was a service order on Ford 150s to reset the computer if the message was being flashed. They had done that and just needed to road test it and it would be ready. We hadn’t thought to take our bikes out of the back, not realizing they would have it so long, so we couldn’t even go for a ride in the park. It was finally done about 4:00 and Sandi was due home from work before 5:00 so we never did get to try riding to town on the park bike trails. After she had relaxed a little bit Chuck drove us all to a park in nearby Durham where the area Rotarians, including Chuck’s Paradise Rotary, were having a bar-b-que get-together. We had huge hamburgers with salads and desserts brought by other chapters and had a nice time with the friendly people, including a couple from Williamston, MI! The sun had set by the time we got back to the house and we spent the rest of the evening out on the deck once again in the pleasant seventy degree temperatures. 

On the back deck with Chuck

Our "campsite"

Chuck on the back deck

Thu. May 30: Not realizing how close we were to Chico, where Chuck and Sandi Eppelheimer live, we got up and got going first thing in the morning. After some twisting and turning on hilly roads we dropped out of the foothills into the upper Central Valley of Sacramento. We were again in miles and miles of lush agriculture and, close to Chico, huge flooded rice paddies. Before noon we went to a McDonald’s to do some Internet work and find a place to dump our water and toilet. Then we happened on a nice little park where we ate our picnic before going on to find Chuck and Sandi’s. Their lovely ranch house is on a large corner lot across the street from the mile long Bidwell Park, which has many trees and bike, horse and hiking trails. It leads to Upper Bidwell Park which opens into a large, deep canyon. Going the other way one can go all the way to downtown Chico and the campus of California State University-Chico. We could back our camper into their side yard and set up behind their fence with electricity and water. Furthermore, their converted car port, next to our camper, has a large rec room plus Chuck’s office and a small bathroom with shower for us to use. We spent the rest of the afternoon taking a short drive around with Chuck as our guide, walking in the park, doing two loads of laundry, and just chatting until Sandi got home from her work as a Massage Therapist. We ate Chinese take-out on their deck as the sun set and just talked and caught up on each other until 11:00 bedtime.