Driving down highway 101 through northern California we stopped for the night at a Lazy Boy's Furniture Store parking lot in Ukiah. Within walking distance was Wal-Mart, Applebees and other shopping. Then we exited highway 101 to highway 128, a shortcut to Fairfield. The road goes through beautiful vineyards in a part of California few people see. But the road is narrow with many steep curves so we drove slowly and enjoyed the scenery. There were curves so narrow and sharp we had to stop when meeting another vehicle. But any back road is better than interstate highways.

Fairfield, California - Come enjoy our city, tour our factories, spend your money, but pardner, get out of town before sundown.

Just before noon we arrived at Jelly Belly Candy Company and parked the motorhomes in the RV section of their large parking lot. We toured the plant, tried some samples and were each given a free bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans. The guided walking plant tour through the plant takes about 40 minutes. (No cameras allowed.)  We learned it takes as long as 20 days to create each Jelly Belly, the original gourmet jelly bean. Their seconds or reject, called Belly Flops, are sold in two pound bags and of course we bought some. They make over 150 different flavors of candies. Interesting artwork and portraits made from Jelly Bellys grace the visitors center and plant.

Nearby the Stonehouse Olive Oil Company offers samples of their oils. Some people like to go wine or beer tasting, but this is one of the few places you can do olive oil tasting. After several samples we selected a few bottles to buy. Just down the road we stopped at Thompson Candy Company. Guests are not allowed in the plant but they have a viewing area and displays on the history of chocolate. We sampled several mouth-watering chocolates then purchased several pounds ($9.99 a pound) of various chocolates called "Chocolate Casualties" - pieces that were broken and could not be sold in their gourmet boxes. 

Since we only had one day in Fairfield we did not tour Suisun Bay Soap Company where many fragrances of soap and lotion are manufactured or the Budweiser Brewery where excellent guided tours are given along with taste tests. By late afternoon we were back at our motorhomes in the Jelly Belly RV parking lot. There are no campgrounds in Fairfield so we asked if we could spend the night in their parking lot. They were closing business for the day and we would be gone before they opened the next morning. We were told we had to leave because RVs can not stay overnight in Fairfield. Nearby was a Wal*Mart with a big open side lot, but "No Over Night Parking" signs were placed every few feet. Wal*Mart management told us the city of Fairfield bans overnight parking of RVs in the entire city. OK, Fairfield wanted us to visit their city and spend our money, then get out of town. Don called Camping World and they told him we could spend the night there. So we boondocked in their parking lot but it wasn't free. We spent $80 in their store.

Friends, Jim and Patty Hammond, traveled fulltime before building a house in Lincoln, California, near Sacramento. During their fulltiming days we traveled with them 158 days and were sad to see them go of the road. We parked in a large paved parking lot at Thunder Valley Casino near their home and they showed us around the large Dell Webb community where they live. Patty fixed a delicious dinner for the four of us and we certainly enjoyed being with Jim and Patty again.

That night we received word Norm and Gloria's mother was in quickly failing health in Kentucky. Gloria decided to fly from Sacramento to Louisville the next morning and the three of us would follow in the motorhomes. After Gloria left we met Jim and Patty again for one last short visit. Jim drove us around the area sightseeing and we stopped at Trader Joe's, an organic food store. But they are "known" for selling Charles Shaw labeled red and white wines also known as Two Buck Chuck because it sells for $1.99 a bottle. Linda selected three cases (36 bottles) but it was not all for us, we bought eighteen bottles for our friend Rich Emond.

We had planned to spend more time with Jim and Patty and give Don and Gloria the opportunity to tour Sacramento. But that afternoon we pointed the motorhomes east and hit the road traveling on interstate 80, something we seldom do because we hate interstates. This was the second time this year we had to high-tail it from California to Kentucky for Norm's parents.

Our original plan to was travel the loneliest road in America, highway US 50, with a stop in Delta, Utah, our home Coast to Coast Park. In Nebraska we were going to head north to Minnesota to visit Norm's oldest son's family and then to Michigan to meet Rich and Diane Emond and have our motorhome serviced. Instead we drove 283 miles the first afternoon and stayed in a Flying J / McDonalds parking lot in Winnemucca, Nevada. The next day we stopped at Little America, Wyoming after driving 505 miles. Then we drove 478 miles to Limon, Colorado and parked behind a Conoco service station. Our next day was 429 miles to a rest area in Kansas, then 498 miles to a Flying J near Evansville, Indiana, and finally 120 miles to a city park in Vine Grove, Kentucky. Our idea of fulltime traveling is not to drive from morning to night on interstate highways and spend nights in parking lots, but sometimes we don't have a choice.

We'll mention only a couple of events from our hasty travels. Denver's highways are under construction and we were heading south on I-25, wanting to turn east on I-70. Driving slowly and carefully watching signs we never saw a sign pointing to I-70 East. (There is none.) We did see a sign showing an exit to I-70 Grand Junction / Limon and we knew Grand Junction was west, a direction we did not want to go. But where the heck or what the heck is Limon? By the time Linda saw Limon was a very small town in eastern Colorado we had passed the exit. Colorado should have a sign that says "I-70 East" instead of a sign that says "Limon" because most people traveling across this great country have never heard of Limon, but they do know east and west. The next exit couple of exits were closed due to construction so we ended up driving to the southern outskirts of Denver and circling back on another road under construction.

The other item we want to mention is the great rest areas in Kansas. They are not only clean but have a parking area for RVs with fresh water and a dump station. In one of the rest areas we saw a colorful double rainbow.

In Kentucky we camped in a nice clean city park campground in Vine Grove. It was conveniently located four miles from Norm's parents nursing home. We helped Norm's father celebrate his 94th birthday and helped take care of his mother. We had a pleasant visit from Rich and Diane Emond (Roaming America) who were traveling from northern Indiana to Tennessee. As you may know we have been friends of the Emonds nearly five years and we have met on the road many times. Last year we traveled together to three rallies and spent two months together in the Canadian Maritimes. It was very nice to spend time with them again and Rich picked up his Two Buck Chuck wine.