Our First Anniversary and Saying Goodbye to Family...

I've let way too much time go since my last post...sometimes living life gets in the way of writing about it!

We got our new black tank installed the weekend of October 4th.  It took all day Friday and part of Saturday morning. It was a smelly job, the old tank was gross, and it took until Monday before the odor dissipated.  Total cost was about $1200. Tank, fittings and shipping were about $300 and labor was $900.  You couldn't pay either of us enough to do that job!  Thanks, Dave.

If anyone out there needs a good, honest Mobile RV Tech in the Vacaville/Solano County area, Dave Gelineau at Dave's Mobile Home & RV Repair is the one to call.  Message me in the comments for his number.

October 6th brought our first wedding anniversary.  A year ago, on Wrightsville Beach, under the Oceanic Pier,with sand between our toes, we got married.   It's hard to believe it's already been a year, yet it's been such a full year it sometimes feels that was so long ago.  We celebrated with dinner at Cattleman's...an old favorite of Jack's.

Our repairs done, it was time to leave Vacaville and hit the road.  We had a goodbye dinner at Chevy's Fresh Mex with Jack, Candice, Chanoa, Sienna, Stacey and Brian...Kayla had to cheer and couldn't make it :( so we had a goodbye phone call with her.

A few days before we left, we took a day trip with Robyn and Mel to Old Sacramento. We wandered around town, bought salt water taffy for us, t-shirts for Katie and Jackson, and had lunch and Joe's Crab Shack.   Then, the night before our departure, we had one last backyard BBQ at Melvin and Robyn''s.  We really enjoyed being close to everyone for two months...as Robyn said, we could get used to this.

We miss you all already and are looking forward to spending the holidays with you next year!

We said tearful goodbyes and headed south to Fresno, CA, where we visited Jack's sister Mardell, brother Terry and brother-in-law Bart.  We had a great, all too short visit...spaghetti dinner at Mardell's - a cook-out at Brandon and Michelle's, her son and daughter-in-law - dinner at Kylie's, Mardell's daughter, and Sunday Brunch with Mardell and Bart at Mimi's Cafe.  For some reason...I forgot to take any pictures!

We stayed at Blackstone North RV Park in Fresno.  The sites are paved and level, satellite TV was only so-so, picnic tables were old and cracked, but it was too hot to sit out anyway.  Most of the sites are a good size, but we got the last available site and it was a tiny back-in.  Next time we'll reserve more in advance.  We did meet some nice neighbors.  Jim and Barb were right behind us in their new 2015 Montana. They are full timers, originally from Placerville, CA.  We toured each other's places and they got some decorating idea from us.  Before we left, they had already bought Smart Tiles for their kitchen backsplash!

Melvin and Robyn make very cool lights out of wine bottles and, while we were still in Vacaville, they gave us a beautiful one.  I love the label which says "Por Que, No"  Why Not?  As it happens, we have been carting around two bottles from Richard Childress Winery...Jack liked them because of the racing connection and checkered flag label. They were old enough that the wine was no longer drinkable, so...Robyn and Mel turned them into lights too!  I love them!  Mardell loved the Childress bottles, so we gave her one before we left.  We still have one Childress and my Why Not bottle...don't they look pretty? 

We said some more sad goodbyes in Fresno and hit the road in mid-October.  Next stop...Vegas!