Travelogue

El CapitanThe first few days of our arrivals on the West Coast are always a bit tedious – taking the motorhome out of storage, unpacking, food shopping etc. However, this one was a bit rougher than most.

As a result of a Michelin tire recall, we had arranged to drop the motorhome off at a local truck repair shop to have all our tires replaced. We thought this was just great – all new tires (worth about $1,700) for free.

However, when changing the tires, the mechanic noticed that our front left rotor was cracked. Herb also found that the front ball joints were worn. After much deliberation, we decided to let them go ahead and redo our brake system and ball joints, and guess what…the bill was $1,700, the same as our free tires. We urged them to complete the job as soon as they could, because we were heading down to San Francisco that evening to see Andrew and Celeste’s new apartment and then leaving for Yosemite early the next morning.

This was a big step for Herb, because when the motorhome was stored in our backyard, he did all the work on it himself, and has always been hesitant to trust anyone else. I helped persuade him that he shouldn't have to do all these repairs himself, and that we should spend our time on the West Coast having fun, not rolling around in the dirt under an RV.

As promised, the motorhome was ready at 5:00. We tucked it back into our campsite and drove down to San Francisco for the evening. Andrew and Celeste’s new apartment was adorable – so cozy and neat. They were absolutely loving it. They cooked us a wonderful dinner and then afterwards we walked around their neighborhood, stopping at their favorite ice cream shop. San Francisco is a really great place to be young and in love – and I think Andrew and Celeste were enjoying it too.

Lazy Daze with Half DomeThe next morning we set off for Yosemite, hoping to get there by mid-afternoon – enough time to maybe get in a run or bike ride around the Valley. However, that was not to be. It wasn’t too long into our drive that Herb realized that the motorhome was pulling really hard to the left, so bad that we started googling alignment places. We were lucky enough to find Hewitt Alinement Service in Stockton, that was able to take us immediately. After two hours, we were back on the road again and hoping to still make it before sunset. Herb said the motorhome was tracking better than it had in years.

Less than an hour later, as we approached the town of Oakdale, Herb thought he felt the motorhome pulling to the right a bit. “Do you smell anything?” he asked. I rolled down the window and was greeted with the dreaded smell of burning breaks. We quickly pulled over and Herb used his temperature sensor to confirm that indeed our front right brakes were off the charts hot.

After an angry phone call to the place that redid our brake system, and the offer of using a tow service to bring our vehicle somewhere, Herb decided to just do it himself. He jacked up the motorhome, took off the tire, and saw, as he expected, that the calipers were stuck, causing the brakes to overheat. The calipers were the only part that wasn’t replaced in our brake system repair job.

We continued on to Yosemite, hoping that the calipers would cooperate, and we could safely navigate the steep roads down into the Valley. What should have been a pleasant and scenic four and a half to five hour drive had turned into a 10 hour odyssey. We limped into the Valley near 10:00 pm, exhausted and stressed. The worst part was, we didn’t know what to do next to ensure that the motorhome would be safe for us to travel through mountain passes.

Since we had 10 days where we didn’t have to move the motorhome, we decided to put it out of our minds for now and just have a good time with the boys, who would be arriving tomorrow night.

If I remember correctly, Herb had a gin and tonic after we pulled into our campsite. Actually, I think he might have had two.
 

Description

The Petaluma KOA is an award winning camping resort located within an hour’s drive of San Francisco, Napa and Sonoma Valley Wineries, giant redwoods, and Sonoma County and California Coastal Beaches. It is considered to be the RV resort in the San Francisco Bay area.

On its 70 acres, there are 312 spacious RV sites, 32 camping cabins, and 10 Wine Country lodges.

Other amenities include:
• Guided tours of San Francisco (from May through October)
• Huge heated pool and spa
• Inflatable waterslide
• Rock climbing wall
• Huge playground
• Petting zoo
• Karaoke
• Hayrides and live weekend entertainment

The campground is open all year.