Almost Trailside: A True Story (8 page)

L
ovelock, Nevada is Pershing County’s seat, located 93 miles east of Reno on Interstate 80 with a population of 2500 residents. Lovelock lies in a meadow valley between mountain ranges, known as Big Meadows because of abundant grass and water. Lovelock has earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places
.

R
eno, Nevada located in the northwestern part of the state at the edge of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, is the Washoe County seat with a population of 225,000 in 109.5 square miles. A historical stop for the Fist Transcontinental Railroad between Sacramento, California and Salt Lake City, Utah brought the town into being in 1868. Reno is known as “The Biggest Little City in the World” famous for its casinos. The beautiful Truckee River flows through the middle of the town and is its principal source of drinking water. Tourism fostered by recreation, casinos, conferences, special events, and vacationers along with mining, fishing, and discovery of surrounding areas continues to grow the famous city
.

C
learlake is a city in Lake County, California located north of the famous Napa Valley wine-growing region, comprising 10.5 square miles with 15,000 residents. The city rests along the shore of Clear Lake, a natural fresh water lake 19 miles long by 8 miles wide. Clear Lake is believed to be one of the oldest lakes in North America situated at the base of the beautiful extinct volcano Mount Konocti (woman mountain) so named by the Pomo Indians who first inhabited the area. Fishing and recreation have made Clear Lake an oasis for its residents and visitors, alike
.

We did some fishing, swimming, and boating on the beautiful lake and investigated its creeks. The boys caught blue-belly lizards in the tall grass. Every night we cooked our meal on the barbecue and marveled at the clarity and abundance of the stars and Milky Way. It was the perfect ending to the perfect vacation, before heading back to the real world in Silicon Valley.

For the majority of thirty memorable days, the little travel trailer pulled like a dream through hundred of miles and all types of roads. It was easy to manage but very small inside. Nevertheless, we enjoyed visiting our family and friends, traveling through the various states, and the beauty of being out in nature. It was the best vacation ever and a great experience of discovery for all of us, especially for the boys.

Chapter V

M
onths later in mid February, 1981, Tommy came home from work one night and announced at the dinner table that a co-worker of his had a real nice travel trailer he was selling. Tommy wanted to look at it and if it was any good, he wanted to purchase it.

We agreed that our little travel trailer was too small for our family even though we had some wonderful memories of our thirty day vacation in it from the previous summer.

Tommy proposed that we sell the little travel trailer and put the money toward this newer larger travel trailer with a real bathroom, shower, and tub. If any more money was needed to buy it, he would just do a side job or two.

The plan sounded reasonable since we wanted to do more camping, with the beautiful
Santa Cruz Mountains, Felton
, and
San Lorenzo River
so nearby.

S
anta Cruz, California is the largest city and county seat of Santa Cruz County, with a population of 63,000 comprising nearly 16 square miles. It is situated at the northern edge of Monterey Bay about 72 miles south of San Francisco. It is known for its moderate climate, beautiful coastal shoreline, surfing, fishing, and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, an ocean side amusement park operating continuously since 1907. In 1769 the Spanish explorer Don Gaspar de Portola discovered the area. When he came upon the beautiful flowing river, he named it San Lorenzo in honor of Saint Lawrence. He called the rolling hills above the river Santa Cruz, which means holy cross. The San Lorenzo River drains a large watershed in Santa Cruz County, flowing 29.3 miles before emptying into the Pacific Ocean at Monterey Bay. In 1791, Father Fermin de Lasuen established a mission at Santa Cruz, the twelfth mission to be founded in California. In 1841 a mill was erected on Zayante Creek near where it enters the San Lorenzo River in the Santa Cruz Mountains. This was the first power sawmill in California. While building the mill, a single gold nugget worth $32,000 was found. In comparison, the nugget that set off the California gold rush, six years later, was no larger than the size of one’s little finger nail. By 1850 this area known as Felton became the hub of the logging industry. A significant number of buildings in San Francisco were built using the redwood and limestone products from Felton. In 1855 gold was again discovered along Zayante Creek in what is known today as Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. They say that gold is still present in the areas creeks but it is too costly to extract
.

Saturday afternoon, we went to look at the travel trailer; a nearly new 1979 Layton, twenty-four foot, with a full kitchen, refrigerator, forced air heating, full bathroom, dining table with lots of seating, and plenty of room to walk around. It even had an awning. It was perfect. We put one hundred dollars down so Tommy’s friend would hold it for us.

Sunday, we took a ride up into the forests and campgrounds nestled in and around the verdant Santa Cruz Mountains to see where we could pull our new travel trailer for camping. The ride was beautiful through the gently curving mountain roads lush with natural foliage, berry bushes, wild mint, and tall stately redwood trees. There were many spots that we could camp.

Within a few weeks we sold our little travel trailer, Tommy did a couple of side jobs, and by mid March we had saved enough money to purchase the new Layton. We decided the following weekend, if the weather was good, we would go out on our first camping trip with our new travel trailer.

All week we washed, cleaned, and stocked the new travel trailer. There was an element of excitement about it, like getting a new toy. Neighbors, family, and friends came over to look at it parked in our driveway. Some nights we sat outside in the trailer with electricity hooked up from an extension cord into our garage. One afternoon, to the delight of the boys, I served them and a few of their friends, lunch in it. It was something fun that we all could enjoy. Tommy and I sat outside in it one night and did a wine toast to our new travel trailer, and to the new adventures and memories we hoped it would bring for our boys and our family.

The plan was to head out on Friday evening after dinner, drive up into the Santa Cruz Mountains, find a place to camp, and return home on Sunday. Our family was anxious to embark on this new camping adventure.

Thursday evening during dinner conversation, Tommy decided he wanted to take the fishing poles. After dinner, Tommy and the boys retreated to the garage to get all of the equipment ready. I was in the master bedroom upstairs that over-looked our new travel trailer parked in the driveway at the front of the house. The window was open a few inches, as always. I could hear Tommy telling the boys how to string the line and tie the hooks for fishing as he set up each pole. I stopped folding the laundry and walked to the window to observe this father and son bonding activity.

Tommy proceeded to show the boys how to cast. He proudly stood in the driveway next to the new travel trailer and had the boys move off to the side so the fishing line wouldn’t catch them. Tommy held the pole with a line and sinker on it back behind him getting ready for the cast. Then, with a quick throw and snap of the wrist, he cast the line out. His cast was meant to land out in the street in front of him. I watched in amazement as the line got caught on the bale of the reel and the sinker promptly swung around Tommy crashing through the top glass window of the travel trailer and shattering it. The line and sinker kept going until it fell down crashing through the lower window breaking the glass out of it, too. You could not have done that if you tried. It was one of those freak accidents that takes the wind right out of your sails, as they say. To me, it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. All Tommy could do was say, “Shit!”

I quickly covered my mouth to hold in the laughter, backed away from the window, and fell back onto our king size bed with several neatly stacked piles of laundry ready to put away. After the laughing jag subsided and I regained my composure, I began to feel sorry for Tommy. I knew the broken windows meant additional work for him.

Before he went to bed that night, Tommy took the broken windows out of the Layton. Friday morning he dropped the frames at a glass shop on his way to work and picked them up on his way home.

Friday evening, when Tommy walked through the door, I could see he was disappointed. His boss had asked him to work overtime on Saturday. The unspoken rule was that you “never turn down overtime”. This meant our camping trip was going to be delayed but that didn’t stop us. We were all too excited not to go ahead with our camping plans even though it would only be for one night instead of two.

After dinner, Tommy installed the new windows in the Layton. It took him much longer than he planned. It was late when he finished and a good thing we didn’t have to drive up into the Santa Cruz Mountains at that time of night.

Saturday evening, when Tommy arrived home from work, dinner was on the table, as usual. We quickly ate our dinner, all too excited to linger. We were anxious to get on the road.

We gave our sweet dog Buffy and cat Beamer extra food and water. Their nice warm beds, each layered with a blanket and quilt in a sturdy wooden apple box, were in the garage. Years earlier, we removed one of the
foundation vent screens so the dog and cat could have access from the garage to the backyard any time they wanted it. We decided not to take Buffy on this trip until we were comfortable using the new travel trailer. We knew she was safe at home and had Beamer to keep her company, but still, we didn’t like leaving her.

The boys packed a few of their favorite toys, some games, books, paper, colored pencils, and crayons for drawing. We brought heavy jackets, and sweat shirts. It would be cool in the forest under the trees. We were looking forward to making a warming campfire. Tommy took a little television, just in case we could get a signal. We were packed and ready to go with all the comforts of home traveling along behind us.