DOH!! #4

 7:50 am - Friday - February 12th - Sparks, NV - 31° F, 100% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north.....clear skies today with a forecast high of 52° F.  On this date in 2013 we were courtesy parking in front of the home of our dear friends the Garlands in Palmetto Bay, FL......↴

The day was cold and wet, and we had 415 miles to cover before dusk.....about 8 hours of driving.....a long, long, long day for us, but we needed to stay ahead of the winter storm which was going to descend upon central Oregon.  We were out of our RV site near Oakridge, OR at 8 am, and on our way over Willamette Pass with an elevation of near 5,000'......

.....as we gained elevation we began to see snow on the ground, and it began to rain....not hard, just a slow, steady drizzle.....

.....as we neared the pass the rain turned to snow, but again, not thick, or hard, but there.....

.....we were over the pass before 9 am, and descended to around 4,200' where we pretty much remained the rest of the day.  It stopped raining for most of the Oregon part of our drive. As we exited the Cascade mountains we began to see bigger views, and flatter land.......

....when the rain did return, it was coming down pretty hard at times, but our air operated windshield wipers worked faithfully to clear the water from our windshield.....

....eventually we entered California again for the first time since March of 2012.  The terrain was covered in snow, but the roads were clear, and free of ice.....

....we were in California for about 3 hours, but eventually entered Nevada somewhere south of Susanville, CA.....

.....as we travelled through towns in California we saw gas and diesel prices over $1 higher than in Oregon, or Nevada.  By 4:15 pm we were pulling into an old haunt of ours.....Sparks Marina RV Park....we stayed here for 7 weeks back in November/December of 2014 while we worked the Peak Season at the Amazon fulfillment center in Fernley, NV.  I had made a reservation in advance, and I'm glad we did....this place is almost full!

It was nice driving without the trailer these past two days......hills are easier to climb, and I don't have to down shift as often.  We actually cruised along at 65 mph for much of the day where speed limits allowed it, and the big Detroit Diesel performed flawlessly all day long

Now, back to Wednesday evening when we arrived at the RV park in Oakridge, OR....I told you there was a story to tell about that, and here goes.  We arrived at Casey's RV Park around 7 pm.....it was pitch dark, as one might surmise, being that we were way out in the boondocks.  As we entered the park TLE told me I needed to turn left at the second street, so I did.  Within 60 seconds we found ourselves at a dead end on a very, very narrow, curvy street.....that would have been the 4th DOH! of the day.  Now, in the pitch dark, I had to back out of that dead end about 100 yards around a sharp bend in the road.  What had happened is we inadvertently entered the mobile home section of the park, which is very cramped...we should have turned right when we turned left.

TLE exited Newell with a walkie talky and a flashlight to help me back up.  There were no street lights, and did I say it was PITCH BLACK?  As I began to back I also began to turn so I could get around the corner, and as I did so my right front bumper struck a parked car on its left rear quarter panel and bumper.  I immediately pulled forward, stopped, and turned off the Newell to go out and introduce myself to the owner of the car I had hit.  Thankfully Bonnie was very gracious, and the damage was quite minor, but it was so embarrassing.  I suggested we finish backing out of their street, and head to our site, and while TLE set up for the night I would walk back to her home with my insurance information, which I did.  We exchanged our information, and I was back at the coach by 7:30 pm.....what a crazy day it was!  This is the first accident I've had since the late 90's.  This is precisely why I hate arriving at an unknown destination after dark!  Anyway, all is well....we had zero damage to our 200 pound bumper....just injured pride.

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