From Bear River Casino March 17th

From  Bear River Casino/Hotel Fortuna, Northern California south of Eureka.

With my departure from the Cummins dealership in Bakersfield, the saga wasn’t over. I had made the turn entered the freeway and almost had a full head of steam when there was a loud bang and, in my mirror, I could see and object flying off into the distance, there to be trampled by any of a variety of semi tractors and cars. Not even knowing whether this was me but suspecting the worst, I pulled over and got out. Sure enough, the forward driver’s side compartment door was missing. It had self-released (opened) and either caught the wind or been hit by a passing vehicle. In any case, the door was missing. Twice, I circled the route using off-ramps and on-ramps until I finally found it, still recognizable on one side as a hatch but quite messed up on the inside. I had to wait about 15 minutes before there was a gap in the traffic so I could run out and retrieve the door. Then, to add insult to injury a pickup towing a trailer ran over the door right in front of me. The door now sits as a guest inside another storage compartment and the aperture is covered with some plastic screening and Gorilla Tape that I found at a nearby Lowe’s store. Insurance People, both ICBC and my Global Warranty (peace of mind – bumper to bumper security!) denied the claim, though ICBC did call me back to say that because of my longstanding loyalty, they would support a claim but charge me an equivalent amount in premiums over the next few years. I guess if the total repair runs into thousands, this might be worthwhile but not if it is for only a thousand or two. Along with my flu-like cough that I picked up in the desert, I reckon that that is now three strikes for this expedition, so I should be good to go.

 

I couldn’t resist the urge to visit the coast and look at 33’ waves (mentioned in the last report). The weather has improved, winds have died down and my casino trip is now in full swing. From Bakersfield, I went north to Lemoore, home of the Tachi Palace Casino (N36 14.214 W119 45.396), a Vegas-like place with hotel and Convention Centre along with the actual casino. There I spent three nights in their well lit, paved parking area, visited almost every 15 minutes by a security cart or shuttle driver wanting to know how they could be helpful. I did check out the regular Monday buffet and, while the price was right, the buffet was mediocre. Closed for the next few days, I had no further reason to go inside. This is an excellent stopping place, though, for Northbound campers and not far from a Lowe’s store for sourcing duct and Gorilla tape for making RV repairs. I have discovered an excellent website called, appropriately “Casino Camper.com”. It lists RV friendly casinos, gives the location a bit of commentary and allows site members to add their blurb. I am now a member and shall contribute my two cents worth on each casino that I visit.

 

Over to I-5 from Tachi and a long haul up central California. I decided to circumnavigate the San Francisco Bay area, brave freeway traffic and stay on mostly flat roads. That means (for those who follow) highways 12, I-80, 37 and 101. The traffic, indeed, was terrible but only once I reached 101 north of the cities. Then, all of a sudden, as the clock rang 5, everybody was gone, presumably having better things to do than experience freeway gridlock. The next casino in my GPS was Coyote Valley (N39 15.127 W123 12.426), not far from Willits, a destination of some renown whereat I was snowed in to the Safeway parking lot on a previous voyage. No such trouble this year as temps are very summery, even at night. Coyote Valley is a casino that had planned to rebuild years ago but never quite managed to get into the blueprint or out of the tent stage. Being an Indian Casino, maybe this is natural but the charm of the tents (Cover-Alls) was more reminiscent of the plow-truck sand repositories on Roger’s pass than a true Teepee. Added to that, the parking lot entry was filled with huge potholes, so I had to be quite cautious. Once there, I set up in the back 40 on a relatively flat dirt lot. Because of its location at the end of a hectic day on busy roads this casino falls into the “any port in a storm” category. Not everything was negative, however. They had a brand new service station with truck sized RV diesel pumps, at which I was the first customer – ever! Diesel was also the cheapest anywhere in California at $2.06/gal.

 

What I thought was to be a short haul over to the coast to my next stop, the Bear River Casino (40 37.711 124 12.390), south of Eureka at Loleta, turned out to be longer than one might think due to winding, slow roads. Perhaps the most scenic part of my trip, I would recommend this road to anyone as it passes along the mighty Eel River Valley, over a summit or two and through several Giant Redwood groves. Bear River Casino is quite modern and the only downsides, so far, would be that:

·         the parking lots are sloped at about 3%, more gradient than the airbag-levellers on the coach can accommodate but still not enough to turf me out of bed and:

·         Security check-in takes place on arrival, then one takes one’s approval notice to Player’s Club desk, shows ID again, gets a Players Club Card and returns to Security for a final signature.

This is an unnecessarily complex system invented by employees concentrating on Security and Marketing aspects of the job, not by anyone with an inkling of good, common sense

 

Next morning, I rolled myself out of bed to discover that the parking lot tilt hadn’t been too severe after all. Fog and a light drizzle were the first signs of a coastal climate – rather pleasant for one who hasn’t seen many clouds at all in the last few months and useful for clearing off grasshopper remains from the windshield. Dinner at the Bear River Casino was good as it was prime rib night but they didn’t offer a buffet. I might just stay over an extra day to visit the Loleta Cheese factory, not as world-famous as the Tillamook one further north but, I’m told, one can get good bargains on “seconds” (well made but poorly cut pieces). For this side-trip, I have to unhook the Jeep, taking care not to run myself over in the process as it is on a downslope.

 

Bear River is a good location from which to set off and explore the rest of the coast. One passes into Oregon after half a day, not that that makes any difference as the roads are equally serpentine and the views just as impressive (once the fog lifts).