Behind U.S. Government high security facility

Let's see, we had left Carson City Nevada and headed for Winters California. The object of all this travel is that we are heading for a Montana owners rally at Lake Siskiyou near Mt. Shasta California and then more of the same rally but moving into Oregon. Winters was just another stop in the process of getting there.

The RV park was a nice park and to make things even better our friend Steve (fellow MOCer) was there at the same time so we got to spend some time with him again. We backed up to the river set up and had a very enjoyable stay except for two things. It got up over 100 degrees for all the time we where there and our air conditioning quit working on the last day. It got real hot inside the rig and it only cooled down to the high 60s during the night. This could take some time to get fixed as the factory that makes and stores the parts we need burnt to the ground last month. Why us?

The campground was located about 11 miles west of Winters up in the hills and was at the base of a large dam with a huge lake behind it. A little freaky thinking about all that water just above where you are camping.

We drove around the area checking it all out and went to the top of the dam and shot this looking down. Check out the road on the other side of the river with the fence on both sides of it; more on this later.

Standing in the campground you can see how close the dam is to our camp.

We went for a hike one day up an old dirt road that went north out of the park. We never did reach the top before it was time to turn around. On the way back we decided to check out the secure area behind the gate that lead to the base of the dam. A narrow road with a high fence with barb wire on top at both sides. This is the area we looked at from above. Well there's no going down that road with this gate and fence there!

A look at the sign indicated that it was a good idea to stay on this side, don't want to mess with "property of the United States", or should we?

Hold it, what's this, another secret security type of lock, must be armed so don't touch it. Looks like a heavy duty lock. Oh, look if you squeeze that little purple thing the gate will unlock. I don't see anyone around so should we try it?

Jackie, what are you doing on that side of the fence, you could get into big trouble with the secret service. I am going to tell on you.

Okay I will walk down there, but only to see what's at the base of the dam and then we have to run like H__L to get the gate locked again.

Very interesting security.

The main road cuts right through the campground and from the bridge that crosses the river you can get a nice shot of Steve's and our rigs backed up to the water.

The day before we left we took a trip into town to visit this factory. So eat your hearts out, or should I say eat all the Jelly Belly's you want. The tour was interesting and fun and we got to see most of the factory with millions and millions of these little treats being made and packaged. We had to wear paper Jelly Belly hats so we didn't get hair into the candy making process. We picked up some extra hats for all the kids. And we know how much Deanna likes those little Jelly Bellys, so we got her a surprise. Our friend Steve is a real Jelly Belly nut -- he bought a whole case of Belly Flops (the rejects)!

If you are a real fan of Jelly Belly's you can get just about anything you want with the logo on it. This is just one side of the gift store between tours.

A shot looking up in the gift area. (Of course they wouldn't let us take pictures on the tour - might give away trade secrets!)

We departed Winters and headed north again for one last stop before the rally. At Orland California we took the time to get the rig and truck all cleaned up so we could pull into the rally with a little pride. I think it only took an hour to get all the bugs off of the front.

Jackie found a little old man about 190 years old who had a large yard that he turned into a garden and was selling lots of fresh vegies right out of his yard. We got a bag of artichokes for a dollar, a bag of potatoes for a dollar and some onions for the same price.

We pulled out the next morning and made our way to Lake Siskiyou, set up the rig and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening conversing with old (and new) friends. A nice fire after dark and more to come over the next two + weeks. (We'll have some pictures of this on this next blog, but suffice it to say for now that the weather is perfect and we're having a ball!)


To be continued...