10/18 Hello Truckee!

Woke up to snow this morning!  Not very much, and melting pretty quickly.  Just a little frosting that disappears soon!

We often get asked about traveling in cold temperatures and risks of freezing any working parts of the trailer.  If you aren't aware, there are tanks beneath the floor of our trailer to contain fresh and dirty water.  The area down there is referred to as the underbelly, and it is kept moderately warm by using the furnace that keeps us warm up above.  A dip below freezing at night is not significant enough to cause us any harm, and we didn't have an outside hose hooked up to the water source here.  That's another point of concern in cold weather, and we did actually once freeze the outside hose and water filter overnight out in the middle of Kansas.  Some campgrounds do have a heated water line to the faucet (not making hot water, just to keep above freezing). And some campers do have heated hoses to supply their trailer/RV.  But we have never had any freeze-ups since that first time, and we have experienced many nights in the 20's.  The water supply is one big reason that many campgrounds are closed over the winter, in areas that are subject to arctic temps.  They have to drain their supply system and keep water out of the pipes until warm weather returns.  This means that restrooms and showers can't be used, either, so regulations usually prohibit them from allowing guests to stay there.

We're heading into California today and thinking about their state laws prohibiting outside fruits and vegetables to enter the state.  A large portion of California produces food, even though that's not what you might picture with the image of California's big cities.  So the laws are intended to prevent transporting diseases, insects, etc., into the agricultural communities.  We have been through the checkpoints before, and never had an issue with any inspections.  It's usually just answering a question from the person at the checkpoint and following the honor system.  There was a time when Bob was driving alone from MN to Truckee, and at the checkpoint he told the guy that yes, he had some fruit in the car.  I don't think that Bob fully understood that when he answered truthfully, that the fruit would become the guard's lunch!

With the trailer, this time might be different.  Would they be checking our refrigerator and cabinets for those pesky oranges?  What else are we supposed to "declare"?  Well, it didn't really matter in the end because there was no person in the booth!  So we still have that to wonder about for a future trip!

We found our way up to Truckee and beyond to Ben and Brita's house!  It's a home they just bought and moved into last winter, so we are excited to visit for the first time!  They have ample parking for our trailer to fit, which is a real treat.  We plan to use the trailer as our guest room, and with a cord running from the garage we can have our own little apartment in the driveway!  So fun to see them!  The boys were in school, and it wasn't long until they would get back home, but we had a little time for the tour of the house.  Then the kids burst in the door and it was all hugs and kisses for awhile!  Ian is 9 and in the 4th grade, and loves sports.  Jack is 7 and in the 2nd grade, and loves Minecraft.  Leo is 4 and in the Transitional Kindergarten class at the same school as his big brothers this year.  He loves just about everything, depending on his mood!

In the evening, we all went to the Alder Creek Center for dinner and meeting some of their friends.  Even though we were all together not too long ago in Montana for the wedding, there is some catching up to do.  The boys had to show and tell us about their rooms and ask us questions about who could sleep in the trailer with us!  We worked it out so Leo and Jack could spend the night out there with us, and Ian would get another night.  I did a little art project with Jack.   Bob got a tutoring session to learn to play Madden Football with Ian and Ben on XBox.  Then out to the trailer for stories and bedtime.  And sweet dreams!