Evicted! (and the $5 Solution)

Parking the trailer at Chuck and Aaron's Sun Valley condo lasted less than 24 hours.  They got a polite email informing them the trailer must move - immediately.  Sensing the condo parking lot was not going to be friendly to our little Chalet, we had already decamped to a nearby Forest Service campground.  Bubbly Kathy, the campground host, was only too happy to have us to replace the noisy family that had just departed the site in a huff.

Ben was anxious to flex his 62-year-old muscles by becoming a lifetime Forest Service Senior pass holder.  For 10 bucks, he got his card.  This now entitled us to a 50% discount on campsites.  The $10 per night campsite was now $5.

We settled in and fluffed up the pillows.  We now have the best of both worlds - long hot showers at the condo, sleeping to the sound of the creek at the campsite.

We have a goal of hiking to Alice Lake on Friday.  Last year it seemed too daunting.  It's 11 miles round-trip with a 1600 foot elevation gain, starting at over 8000 feet.  

We did nothing in SLO to prepare, so this morning we head out early for an easy 6 mile easy hike from our campground.  About mile 4 I develop a blister.  My trusty hiking boots are to blame as I have worn out the lining. This is not a good omen for the Alice Lake ascent!  Back downtown to buy new boots, merino wool socks and to apply TLC to the blister.

But the morning starts out cool and dewy.  A doe nibbled just outside our camper window and gave us a wide-eyed stare before bounding off.  The wildflowers dot our hike with ivory whites and grey to sapphire blues.  

This mushroom was one of the discoveries along our trail.  And bear scat.

I enjoy my $2 book from the SLO Library sale bin and we are looking forward to the USA-Germany Women's Soccer semi-final at 5 PM.  Ben is scouting for bread at Farmer's Market.

We laze about escaping the afternoon heat and Chuck beats Ben by a move in their first backgammon game.

Our camper "house batteries" started making a dreaded beeping sound this morning, indicating battery mayhem.  Ben confirmed this with testing and they are now in the back of the truck, destined for replacement.  Good thing our campsite is only $5 a night, now that we will be spending hundreds on two batteries.  Another sigh.

It Comes In a Box

The trailer vs. camper debate has been decided.  Last camping trip suddenly the Sportsmoible was too old, too funky and too brown.  Ben has always yearned for a truck, so when it dawned on him that my sudden fascination with trailers would necessitate a truck purchase, he was all in.

First I wanted a vintage canned ham trailer.  That was until we looked at one on Craigslist and realized it was too old and too funky.  Being cutely silver and turquoise was not enough.

We immediately settled on a 2005 Chalet pop-up trailer originally owned by folks we know.  It's second owner was quickly overwhelmed by it, so we scooped it up.

As soon as it was parked on Poinsettia, I got busy glamping it up and Ben went truck hunting.  

We settled on a 2011 Nissan Frontier with a generous crew cab and a baby sized bed.  Sportsmoible sold to a fresh -faced UCSB professor who immediately took his wife and toddler beach camping.  Everybody happy!

Those blah RV fabrics had to go.  A sturdy tropical print shower curtain from World Market inspired the decor. Like Scarlet at Tara, my sewing machine whirred into the night and voila!

Now where to take the Chalet on its first adventure?  My high school friend Aaron  provided the answer with an invitation to Sun Valley.  We all know I can't resist Sun Valley!  Now feverish preparation ensued and we took off Friday - first stop Placerville for dinner (salmon fresh from Chris's Alaska trip) with Ben's bros.

First mistake - driving through the  Bay Area on a Friday (all because we wanted to stop at Camping World for RV goodies).  The price was paid with stop and go crawling for hours.  A text promiing peach daiquiris on arrival gave us courage.  We were thankful to finally reach rural Highway 88 for the last scenic leg through the oak and foothill pine woodlands.

We slept in the driveway, but not because we weren't offered the guest room repeatedly - just had to try it out.  

In the morning Chris tightened all our lug nuts for good measure and we headed out to buy boxes of those fabulous peaches from Huston's stand.

Robyn will make short work of them with their Vitamix.

Highway 50 was a beautiful drive.  So good to see the alpine flowers in bloom in spite of the drought.

Nostalgia made us stop at Sorenson's for lunch.  I remember decades ago yearning to eat there after skiing but always considering it too pricy.  Charming cabins, nice people, food ok.

We made it to Eureka Nevada, a one street town, by 7.  The two tiny and depressing RV parks were full so we did as Ben's oldest brother Cort advised and camped at the fairgrounds.  A boisterous wedding party was in full swing, so we chose a corner and unhooked and unfolded our little Chalet.  

The high heat of the day slowly tempered and the sunset over the far range lasted for hours.

We learned the hard way that our cassette toilet was improperly installed by the previous owner's boyfriend.  My flushing soon was evident as water tricked across the trailer floor.  Ben's famous plumber skills were once again employed in a crisis.  I stayed out of the way with my book.  He fixed it! Now we need an RV expert to get the fridge cooling properly.  Sigh.  The Chalet has it's own quirks, and we will surely discover more.