The Heat Wave is Ending

Today was cooler, only in the 80’s, no more setting record highs in California which has made it a real chore trying to get the pumpkin lot set up. Thankfully it is a bit different than the Christmas Tree lot. For Christmas, we start fast and end slow. On the pumpkin lot, we start slow and end fast. What I mean is we do our most business the first few weeks selling the trees, but with pumpkins we sell most of them the closer we get to Halloween.

Today, we also received many calls to set up field trips for children. This is going to be the highlight of this entire adventure. We schedule classes to come to the Pumpkin Patch and we entertain them with the maze/fort, the animals and the pumpkin painting. The only charge is $1.50 for the miniature pumpkin that they paint.

We also got another shipment of pumpkins, our specialty ones. These are so fantastic, now to learn all the names of them before the kids get here.












We took loads of pictures today and uploaded more photos of the Pumpkin Patch on our Picasa Web Albums, be sure to check them out.

Been trying to get the merchandise booth together and Jerry is losing it already.







Will make it 30 more days?

Working the Pumpkin Patch

Well we made it to the Pumpkin Patch, even though the California highway bumps, holes and just plain terrible roads tried really hard to keep us from getting here. Thank goodness we chose to do our final drive into the lot on a Sunday, otherwise the traffic would have been unbearable. As it was, the traffic for a Sunday was more than we expected but not too bad.


The lot location is in between some businesses and residential homes, not a bad area at all. We are setting up the Pumpkin Patch for our opening day on Friday the 1st. Pumpkins have been delivered...


Now we need to get these scarecrows stuffed and new heads put on them, situate the cut-outs figures...


Then, we have to decorate, create a maze with the hay bundles (still not delivered), pick up the animals, and tie up the cornstalks on the posts.



And, all the other fun stuff to make this the best damn Pumpkin Patch in Saratoga.

That last statement may be a little over the top but we are planning on having some fun.

Cache Creek Casino Resort

14455 Highway 16
Brooks, CA 95606
(888) 772-2243


They do not have an RV Park but they welcome RVers to stay in lot B overnight if you choose. It is located past the gas station next to the employee parking. We had planned just to hang out for the day so we did not stay overnight but security was very kind and said we were welcomed to stay and they even offered shuttle service to the casino.

They have a special going on for new club card members, by joining their club, you receive $25 food credit, together we had $50 to spend at any of the restaurants, we chose to eat at the Canyon Café and it was excellent.


With appetizers, drinks and both meals our bill was paid in full and the only out of pocket expense was for the tip. We always try something new and different when we eat out, so we tried Springtime Rolls and Spiced Pork Rolls as our appetizers. They were fresh and the sauces that came with them were spicy but tasty. The spice never burned our lips, only added a kick to the sauce, just the way we love it.


My main course was Shrimp Ranchero, the sauce was tantalizing, spicy yet smooth. The shrimps were big that when you bit into a piece, it crunched with flavor. Jerry ordered the Chicken Fajitas that included all the fixings. The chicken was blackened and gave it a great flavor, the guacamole was fresh and the avocados burst with flavor in every bite.


Another reward they offer club card members is mailing coupons to enjoy other gifts at the casino, including cash. Once we get our mail, we will check it out to see if we will be returning. If we do, we do plan to boondock overnight here.

What a Strange Driving Day

Since we had some time to spare, we decided to take another detour and head to the Jackson Rancheria Casino in Jackson, California. It was sort of on our way and since we had been wanting to go to for a few years we thought we would take the drive.


Instead of taking US-50 W, we needed to take NV-88 to CA-88 to the casino.


The road was beautiful but was a long and winding road that seemed as if we would never reach our destination, but we did…finally!


We have been traveling without reservations our entire time full-timing and have never had any problems getting into a park, but that all changed today. When we pulled up, after a very tiring drive, not in miles but in road conditions, we were relieved. But instead of being graciously welcomed...


We were informed without a reservation, we would not get into the park that evening or for the next few days for that matter. We asked about boondocking and he advised us that they frown on it but we could go and park and see if they said anything. Not what we had in mind, so we passed and drove on to our next destination.

It was an additional 90 mile drive to our next destination, after a phone call confirming they had vacancy, which they did we were on our way. To get to this park was another climb through some winding roads so the drive was slow, but we finally arrived and got hooked up.


Our plan was to stay for 4 nights but after a few findings upon hooking up, we decided to stay only one night and move onward to another park.

Read our review below to find out about the Canyon Creek Resort and please check out our Picasa Web Albums for all of our photos.

Canyon Creek Resort

22074 State Highway 128
Winters, CA 95694
(530) 795-4133

This is a membership park, we used our Coast to Coast membership for $10 per night.

The park is located way out of the way and right amongst the mountains which made for no signal for our MiFi and/or our Verizon phone, there was actually no coverage from any of the companies and they did not offer Wifi. Our plan was to drive daily to a few nearby attractions that we were interested in visiting and coming back to our spot. But, because of the location, this was not going to be an easy task, so we changed our reservation for only one night.


With all of that being said, if you are into quiet peaceful nights, fishing (with a California license) in the Putah Creek that runs along the park, and just being with nature, then this is a park for you. They do have all the amenities, laundry, showers and a nice pool and spa. They have activities going on in the lodge and clubhouse all the time and there is also a convenience store and café on the premises.


The water here is awful, so be sure to put on your filter, something Jerry forgot until our first taste…YUCK!

Because of our needs, we would not recommend this park and we will not be returning any time soon.

Reno KOA at Boomtown Hotel & Casino

2100 West Garson Road
Exit 4 off I-80
Verdi, NV 89439
888-562-5698

Work was complete, we wanted to take a play day but due to the construction at the Grand Sierra Resort, we decided to find another RV Park in the area. Just 12 miles down the road was Boomtown Hotel & Casino, they had all you can eat Lobster Buffet and a KOA RV Park right next to it. We played for hours, didn’t win but didn’t lose either. They had some different machines, the casino was huge and was not crowded. The lobster buffet was good, but we both prefer the all you can eat crab buffets.


With our KOA 10% discount card, we paid $39.64 for a FHU back-in site which included cable and Wifi. We were greeted by a great host with great customer service who welcomed us as if we were long lost friends.

The first thing we noticed was the openness around the entire campground. There were a few shade trees scattered about but for the most part it was open. The park was huge with hundreds of sites, most were vacant at this time of the year.



We didn’t use any of the facilities but we checked them all out. The laundry room was attached to the office that had several washer and dryers and a great lounging area with free refreshments.


They also had the showers, restrooms attached to the office and were spacious and very private.


There was a pool and two spas located right outside the office which looked very inviting but we did not utilize them this trip.


After getting hooked up, we walked back to the office and called security from an available phone. Within minutes he arrived and drove us up the hill to the Casino. For the return trip all we had to do was walk outside to the security booth and again they were there within minutes. We loved the shuttle service, the drivers were very prompt and courteous.

We would highly recommend this place and if we are ever in the area again, we would certainly stay here.

Check out our Picasa Web Albums for more photos!

Our Time in Reno

The rest of the drive was fabulous! If you ever have the opportunity to drive “The Loneliest Road in America”, do it. It doesn’t feel like the loneliest road, even though there are very few towns along the way, there is plenty of traffic so not to feel too lonely.


We checked in and got hooked up at the RV Park at Grand Sierra Resort.


We had a great work week! It is always a pleasure working with Scootaround and especially working with Sue Kelly, our Territory Manager. She is one of those people who should be in management, she is respectful, direct and just plain fun to be around. We worked a total of 60 hours in 6 days, but they were mostly easy hours. That is why we really enjoy our time working for them, the hours may be long but it’s not hard work.


We had a few play nights during our stay, our first night we hung out at the Grand Sierra Casino and won a few jackpots. We ate at the Lodge, claiming to be “The Best Buffet in Reno” that serves crab, shrimp and prime rib nightly, it was really scrumptious. I enjoyed the crab and shrimp, both were served cold but Jerry preferred the prime rib.

Sue was staying at Circus Circus so we went out to dinner with her one night and ate at Smokin' Gecko's BBQ. We had the $9.99 all you can eat BBQ Rib Special and they meat just fell off the bones and the sauce was absolutely out of this world. Now, Sue went back the next day and she said it wasn’t as good.

A funny thing happened after dinner, we went our separate ways and when we tried to use our card from Circus Circus, it would not work. All awhile we continued to play and win some jackpots while looking for the card booth so they could fix it. We finally asked someone where we could find the booth and we found out that we were no longer in Circus Circus. There are 3 casinos connected and when we looked at our tickets, we realized we had been in the other two casinos for awhile now. We were having a great time and finally found our way back to Circus Circus and hailed a cab.

It was a great cab ride, something we always fear, driving late at night in an unfamiliar area but instead we had a very nice cab driver and the taxi was clean and well maintained.

I never even knew there was such a thing as an air race, so the Reno Air Races were our first.


Only one crash, and from what we heard, he was doing fine. Our booth was located right next to the track paramedics and sheriff’s booths so we seen him come in on a gurney and was scratched up but his eyes were open and he was actually sitting up. We are not into the type of races that were going on but it was really fun watching people. What an assortment of characters that come to these events and when we are sitting in a booth all day, we do get some really good views.


It was really a fun week, even though we worked most of it, we still found the time to have some fun, that is what this lifestyle is all about.

RV Park at Grand Sierra Resort

2500 E 2nd Street
Reno, NV 89595
(775) 789-2147


Our site was paid for by our employer but if we had paid ourselves it would have cost us a weekly rate of $154.67, including taxes and 10% AARP discount. The sites were paved and some looked very rough but ours was flat. We had a 40’ back-in but it did not seem deep enough to accommodate a 40 footer.

We worked with Scootaround at the Reno Air Races for most of our stay here which was probably for the best since there was some major construction going on right behind our rig, the daytime noise went on most of the day. The nights were really quiet and it was not extremely lit up so we were able to sleep good.

Using the hotel’s amenities, the pool, the spa and the exercise room was included but we did not take advantage of any of them.


At check-in, they had us sign a waiver due to the water pressure being at 100psi, they were not kidding. When we left the rig for an extended period of time, we turned off our water. When we turned it on, we hardly turned the knob and used our regulator but the pressure in the rig, especially the shower was so hard it just about blew us out of the shower and of course the toilet turned into a bidet, that was sort of nice but…

They had a big laundry facilities that worked very well.


The restrooms and showers were clean and well maintained, the showers had locked individual doors for each one for privacy and safety.



We would recommend this place and if ever in the area, we would stay again.

Another Traveling Day

Sunday traveling is excellent, we did over 300 miles, many of those miles were through some major climbs but the scenery was gorgeous.


Utah has always been one of our favorite states for the best scenery but the roads were quite rough. Once we made it to the border of Nevada all that changed, the roads were very maintained.


Traveling along the “Loneliest Highway” has been such a great drive, we really don’t hit the loneliest part until tomorrow but so far it has been a great road trip. We stopped at the border of Utah and Nevada for gas and heard the sounds of the slot machines in the store…must be in Nevada…oh yea!


Going from one day of sweaters and long pants to shorts and tanks…what a life. The weather has been warm, in the low 80’s and nights are in the 50’s, a big difference from the mountain we were on for the past few months. Looking forward to warming up the inners in the next few days.


Since we got such an early start and we gained an hour going west into Nevada, when we arrived in Ely it was only half past noon so we went to town and visited the few casinos they had. Each of them only had about 20 slots, some we hadn’t played before, so that was fun! We broke even and was hooked up and showered by 4pm at KOA of Ely. Life is grand!


As usual, we have uploaded our many photos to our Picasa Web Albums, check them out!