February 28 (Friday) – March 2 (Sunday), 2025
Rio Vista is a 1.5-hour drive from Sacramento, located right on the mighty Sacramento River. I met up with my dear friends, Joan and Kevin, who own a nifty Bambi Airstream that is both comfortable and attractive. Since it’s an RV with a hitch, it has a very different layout than my Class B motorhome.
We had dinner at The Point, a restaurant at the marina where we stayed. On Sunday morning, Kevin prepared delicious blueberry pancakes and fruit. We spent over an hour discussing tips for living in an RV, and their suggestions were incredibly helpful.
I picked up the RV on Friday morning, and Rob, the owner, went over all the functions with me again. I drove it around the area with him as a passenger to refresh my memory on RV operations. He kindly allowed me to store my car at his house, which saved me from needing transport to and from home in Rocklin. After a 45-minute drive home, I spent the rest of the day packing.
I planned to depart at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning but quickly learned a major lesson: allow much more time than expected to prepare for departure. We finally left at 1 p.m., which is unusual for me. I found this time misjudgment to be consistent throughout the trip.
Our drive to Rio Vista was pleasant and problem-free. The GPS took us on a beautiful detour because of some confusing road closures. Our drive back to Sacramento was quicker since I planned the route more carefully. However, I again miscalculated the time needed to unload and put everything away; even cleaning the interior took longer than anticipated.
Since the entire trip occurred over the weekend, I didn’t need to hook up to water, electricity, or sewer. The batteries handled all of my needs. Rob graciously dumped the grey and black water for me since there was very little. On my big trip, I will need to do this myself, and I will comment on it then.
**Lessons Learned:**
1. Allow much more time than expected.
2. Get used to more noise than in a car.
3. Don’t rely entirely on Google or Apple Maps.
4. Expect unplanned side trips and embrace them.
**Conclusions:**
1. More work is involved in reality than in anticipation.
2. The sense of joy, freedom, surrender, and being in the moment is similar to other forms of travel but feels more intense due to the focus required for safe driving.
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**Add to Packing List:**
**Condiments:**
– Ketchup
– Mayo
– Horseradish
– Butter
– Jam
– Salt and pepper
– Ramen
– Saran wrap
– Clorox spray
– Sandwich, quart, and gallon plastic bags
**Outdoors:**
– Large rubberized mat for dust, rain, and mud
– Container for dogs
– Steps into the RV (2 for the front door, 1 for the side door, and 1 for the back door)
– Several towels for wet dogs, spills, etc.
– Bucket with a lid
– Fishing pole and tackle box