Day 1 Friday March 11
Well we got up early and finished packing the motor home. Poor Japan with the tsunami. Started up the motor home and headed up the driveway. Made the turn onto Lakeway (whew, Judy said I was close to the rock wall and the street sign). We headed to Les Schwab to have them check the air in the tires. Well, a few blocks from the store, the “low air” warning light came on. Went in to ask about getting the tire air checked. Tried to move the motor home and the air pressure was not enough to release the brakes. Rats!!! Called the truck repair place, they came and hit the control valve and it was fixed. I decided to replace it as it was probably the 13 year old original. Off we went finally, an hour and a half late start. Went I-5 south. We stopped for the night near Eugene at Shamrock RV park next to the Willamette River space C-2. Nice warm 66 degrees with mostly sunny. Daffys and crocus blooming. Drove 269 miles today.
Day 2 Saturday March 12
We left Eugene and headed South again on I-5. The Siskiyou Pass did not have any snow and the weather was on and off rain with temperature in the mid-40s. Mt Shasta was out in the sun except for the top which was cloudy. No snow next to the freeway anywhere along the route. We spent the night at Red Bluff RV park space 6. Drove 340 miles today.
Day 3 Sunday March 13
We had a nice drive today from Red Bluff to Kingsburg. Took I-5 through Sacramento, then cutting East over to US 99 South just past Stockton. Road was really rough in places and in others the surface had been redone. We spent the night in Riverland RV Resort which is along the King River space A16. The place has a nice big pond with about a half mile trail around it which we walked after dinner. Drove 331 miles today
Day 4 Monday March 14
Left the RV park and headed south on 99. Not as much traffic as Sunday which was nice. Drove through Bakersfield then went on to highway 58. In Barstow, we stopped at the Diamond Pacific Lapidary Company factory. We got a nice tour of the plant which was fun. Drove to the Shady Lane RV park to spend the night. A couple of strange brothers ran the place. After setting up we went East of town to do a little rock hounding, Lots of agate and chert, but most of it was fractured or full of holes. It felt good to get out walking in the bush again. Temperature in the 70’s, ahhh. Drove 220 miles today.
Day 5, Tuesday March 15 (Happy Ides)
We left Barstow, heading North on I-15 for a few exits, then took a cut off road to I-40. Road to Needles was sometimes good and sometimes bad. Not too much traffic. From Needles, took 95 south to Blythe, CA. The first half of the road of the 93 mile road was bad with lots of trucks on a single lane each way with very few places to pull off or pass. At Blythe, we took I-10 East to Quartzite, AZ were we went to Desert Gardens (?) RV park. Not many trees, lots of gravel camping spots, and no list of rules. I guess they must think the people coming here are very good or maybe they know the will not follow the rules. Met Tom Pearson , wife, mother-in-law and Joe who had a place about 100 yards from our spot. Agreed to meet in the morning to go to a gold claim site and look for rocks. Drove 261 miles today.
Day 6 Wednesday March 16
We left the motorhome at 7 am with Tom et al, and headed out East about 7 miles taking the exit and heading south. We searched around the area we thought was the claim. We found some interesting rocks. Most of the stuff there was fractured white quartz, quartzite, and sandstone. Further up the road we went to an abandoned gold mine. 
We walked around the shafts and diggings and picked up a few rocks. It was getting hot so we drove back to town and went to the local rock club. They have lots of members and were teaching a faceting class. Left there and stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few things. Cooled down from 90’s after dinner with a light breeze.
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