3/27/11 Finally, a partially sunny day here at Park Sierra with no rain!!! And the forecast is for gradually warming dry days in the week ahead, so we are now happier campers. Last Monday night was when we returned to Park Sierra, after spending the weekend at the Fremont Elks. Our intent was to work on cleaning up the backyard at the Santa Clara rental house, and cutting back some of the trees while we had free pickup by the city out in the street. But the weather was so bad, with freezing temps and constant heavy rain, that we couldn't do anything except inspect the place. The tenants might be moving in July, so we will tackle the mess then. The one positive weekend event was having some time to see Elaine's daughter Tarra, and her family who live in Fremont. Can't post any pictures because we hadn't received our camera back from Olympus repair yet. They all are doing fine and look happy and healthy.
Monday we stopped in Fresno to have some recall work done on the RV brakes, which should not have cost us any money. But when they took the wheels off and exposed the rotors, they were very badly cracked. This was probably caused by the sticking calipers which was what the recall was about, but of course, Workhorse won't pay for the damage to the rotors, just what it costs to fix the calipers. So $1189 later, the RV was fixed and we drove to Park Sierra. Our very nice neighbors, David & Brenda Neil, had a delicious dinner waiting for us. It was great to have some visiting time with them. Here is a picture of them on Ken's deck today:

There have been so many social events since we returned to the park that our weight loss program, which was going well in Sacramento, has now stalled. Today we were at a birthday party for Ken Kimpton down at their lot, and we also had dinner there one night too. Here is a picture of Carol Rodely, Carolyn Kimpton, Elaine & Brenda Neil on the Kimpton's deck:

Last night there was a tostada dinner for everyone in the park to celebrate the Volunteers, with homemade cake for dessert. Here is a picture of Elaine with Viv Rogers, our neighbor Jeanne Taylor, & Brenda:

Every Friday there is a big park Happy Hour with "heavy" appetizers so that usually is dinner. And Elaine cooked a big corned beef dinner for some friends this week too. Since it was raining almost every minute, these social events were certainly welcome because it got people out of their rigs where they had been trapped for weeks. And we have been having a wonderful time catching up with the news and doings of friends.
As the weather improves and we can be outside, there are rig projects and other chores on the lot we need to take care of. In mid-April, the main park fund raiser, called Stagecoach Daze, will be held for 4 days. There will be lots of activities and meals, and we will try to do something to help. Ken & Carolyn are handling the auction, so I suspect we will be working on that with them. This 5 1/2 week period of being here is probably the longest time we have ever been here, and we have been members since 2002!
One of our park members took some pictures of Coarsegold Creek, which runs through the park down near the bottom of the property which I will post below. In the summer this creek is nearly dry. Last week it was a raging torrent with a constant roar.
Here is an overview look from the hill above:

Here is the place where members usually drive across in their golf carts: