We left Redwood City around 1:00 pm on May 1, 2020, with no real plan in place. Everything was closed, even the casinos we usually relied on to boondock back in our hometown area. The nice part about the shelter in place order was the low traffic. We were able to drive through San Francisco on a Friday with zero traffic jams. We made good RV time and arrived in Folsom earlier than expected.
We had made an appointment for the dogs to get their annual vaccinations and Louie’s check up for the next day but were able to get in that same day. While we waited in the parking lot for the dogs, we discussed options and what our next move might be. We knew we had to be in Sacramento Monday AM for some service work on Reva Mae so we didn’t want to go far.
Calvin had recently purchased the acreage behind Folsom Care Center, so I contacted him and he was happy to let us squat on his property for a few days. What a great little place! It was sooo good to see my “family” again, especially after the emotional roller coaster we had just finished riding. We were hidden behind the facility with a fenced in yard and water, safe from everything for a few days and only steps away from so many people I love so dearly!
While I couldn’t visit inside the facility, I was able to see my loved ones and just feel safe in their circle again. We spent the weekend cleaning up Reva Mae, grocery shopping, switching out salt water fishing gear from our storage for fresh water stuff, and figuring out what to do until our Lake Tahoe reservation on May 4th.
Mike’s fishing buddy, Allen, is a master mechanic and was able to squeeze us in to do some work on Reva. We had had that coolant in the power steering fluid issue just before my last work assignment and while a few mechanics I called said it should be ok, we wanted to make sure it gotten take care of properly before heading out. We had also cracked a water line when trying to remove the water filter in the wet bay. Allen flushed the power steering fluid and fixed our water line in just a couple of hours and we were set to go. Thank you, Allen!
We decided we would boondock at Union Valley Reservoir for a few days. It was on the way to Tahoe and a beautiful lake. While campgrounds and casinos were closed, BLM land was open and we knew several BLM areas at UVR we could fit so we headed up the mountain.
Union Valley Reservoir is about 20 miles NE of Placerville. It is a 2,890 acre lake that covers a little over 4.5 miles. I LOVE UVR! It is a clear mountain lake that is fed by snow melt. The water is as clear as Lake Tahoe with the wonderful pine trees surrounding it as well. It sits at an elevation of 4, 870 feet. The major difference is swimming is tolerable at UVR. Lake Tahoe is so cold all year long it’s hard to stay in the water for very long. It also sits in the El Dorado National Forest with free BLM camping land around it-Tahoe is pricey!
Let me clarify-BLM=Bureau of Land Management. Boondocking or dispersed camping is free and allowed in many BLM areas. There are various time restrictions and location restrictions, but a google search will generally clarify things for anyone looking to camp this way. Here is the information for dispersed camping at Union Valley Reservoir. https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev7_018795.pdf.
I wish you could smell the air there. It was so fresh and piney, clean. We found a spot in a pull out/overflow parking area just outside of the boat launch area that would fit our needs. While it was just a gravel parking area, the easy access to the launch meant we would not have to break down all of Mike’s fishing gear on his kayak every day. He could just put the wheels on and pull it down to the water. When he was done fishing, I would drive Yeep down to the dock. Mike would sit in the back hatch and hold the front of the yak while I pulled it up the hill-easy peasey.
Our Lake Tahoe reservations got cancelled due to Covid, so we decided we’d stick around UVR awhile, especially since Louie was going to need some lump biopsies completed. We also realized shortly after arriving that we had made a very rookie mistake. While we had filled up with water at Calvin’s place, it never occurred to us that Allen would need to run the water to repair the crack in the water line-we only had around 1/3 a tank of water, and our gray was 2/3 full when we arrived. Oops! We had filled up with fuel just outside of Placerville, but hadn’t even checked the tanks. The station even had a dump and water on site-like I said rookie mistake.
We stretched the water we had by cooking easy meals with few dishes and taking cold military showers. Not the end of the world but definitely a learning point; always check tanks, especially when you have an opportunity to empty/top them off!
Since we were needing water, we drove Reva back down to Folsom for Louie’s biopsies. We knew at that point our Tahoe reservation was cancelled and our next stop at Lake Pyramid was not looking good either due to Covid outbreaks there. So, we took the opportunity to do some laundry at the laundromat, and pick up extra supplies at Walmart. Mike emptied the tanks and refilled Reva with water and we headed back to our spot at UVR. We had made it 8 days with about 30 gallons of water onboard. It was nice to have a full 100 gallons available again. Red Hawk Station on Highway 50 has an easy access RV dump and water for a $10 fee.
We had some early hot spring days up at UVR which was nice for kayaking, but lousy for fishing. The warm weather triggered a mass hatching of flies and bugs and the fish were feasting on easy meals all day. The entire time we were there, Mike only caught a few fish. There were some folks catching fish, but most of them were using live bait.
Mike is a sport fisherman. We only eat the white meat-cod, halibut, sea bass, etc. He doesn’t feel right using live bait for fish he isn’t keeping. He explained it to me like this: When you use live bait, you use something the fish eats naturally. They see it, they swallow it. The hook is deep inside them and you can’t get it out without killing them many times. When you use artificial bait, the fish tastes this odd thing they see and then they try to spit it out. That’s how you hook them in the mouth. You can get them off without harming them usually. He likes the chase and loves fish. He hates to see when people keep trophy fish. He’d never do that. He says if they lived that long, to get that big, they deserve to live out their lives. He rarely even gets pictures outside of the net. He wants to do as little harm as possible.
We took Louie and Kiya out on the kayaks for the first time. They did really well! Peddling is still tough for me and hurts my back-I’m really out of shape after working 2 assignments in a row. We did get to a little cove and I walked around with the dogs for a bit while Mike did some fishing. There was nice little waterfall/creek feeding into the lake at the cove and I enjoyed sitting on the rocks, listening to the rushing water and watching the dogs chase frogs. They had a ball! We’re looking forward to kayaking with them on our travels this summer and they learned well that day.
Our friends Wendy and Kevin and their son, Kevin Jr came up and introduced us to Bassi Falls at UVR. OMG! I’m so in love with this place. It’s so beautiful. Giant, smooth gray rocks that have been made smooth from centuries of water flowing over them. Naturally occurring pools of varying depths to dip your feet in, or your whole body as Kiya found out. She ran into a pool that was really deep, went completely under for a second in the ice cold, crystal clear snow melt. The pools are small, with rocks all around. She was able to quickly get her feet on the edge and I lifted her out by the scruff of her neck. None worse for the wear. It was a warm day so I’m sure she felt good as she dried off in the hot sun and explored this amazing little area.
Bassi falls is located on a 4.5 mile trail that I hear is quite lovely with places along the hike to stop and take a dip in the many little pools on the way. We cheated today. We drove up a logging road and parked within a ½ mile of the base of the waterfall. Lots of people park along this logging road and you need to drive slowly and look ahead-there are some serious dips in spots. Yeep did great! And we only had to walk that ½ mile to see this little piece of paradise.
The waterfall falls 129 feet and the sound of it is amazing-so strong! The day we went-a weekend-there were a lot of people visiting but it didn’t feel crowded.
While some brave souls were climbing up to the top of the waterfall, this grandma stayed safely at the base and explored. There are a lot of giant rocks to climb on and explore. We had a great time. This would be an amazing spot to spend escaping the summer valley heat. I could see myself here all day with a book and a picnic. I’m so grateful Kevin and Wendy knew about this gem and shared it with us! Next time, I’m definitely doing the full hike and spending a few hours in the hot, summer sun at Bassi Falls.
Louie’s biopsies came back and 2 out of 3 were good….the last one was possible cancer. My poor pups. Kiya went through a full month of antibiotics and ultimately a toe amputation while we were in the Bay area. We thought she had traumatized a nail, but after a month of meds the vets decided it was most likely cancer as well. She had just finally recovered from her amputation and they could both run and play. No meds, no stitches, no cones. We were going to have a great summer.
It’s hard to know how much to do, how far to go for our fur babies. With Kiya, we had choices. If it was a localized cancer, the treatment would be amputation and she would most likely go on to live a long, healthy life. If it was the more unlikely spreading cancer, chemo, radiation, etc. would be needed to give her one more year. The diagnostics ($3700) cost more than the amputation ($3200) so we just amputated. Knowing for certain if it was or was not cancer and the type of cancer would not change our course of treatment. She’s pretty young (soon to be 7) and very healthy. If she does only have a year left, we’ll know soon enough. In the meantime, I’m going to give her one hell of a great summer. (I really think it was a traumatized nail myself)
Now we’ve got our precious lil Lou Dog in a similar situation. Lou Lou, Louie B, Bubba Lou, Louicious, Loucifer….he’s been our best bud for 9 years. Shit! We were pretty much in the same situation. Just remove the lump, do biopsies, do nothing? What to do? The other lumps were just fatty tumors. We opted to have the questionable lump removed and again, no biopsy. We’re going to ASSUME it was localized precancerous cells and give these dogs the best summer ever. It sucks knowing they’re getting older, knowing we’re all getting older…. Another justification for this life, not that I need one. In the past couple of months, I’ve seen so many friends and classmates pass away. Every month it seems is a reminder to LIVE.
UVR is located in the El Dorado National Forest and managed by SMUD-Sacramento Municipal Utilities Department. The SMUD employees are always up there during the week, checking lines and working on the reservoirs. We got to know the guys pretty well, visiting with them while they cleaned up the lake. We knew we were well over our 10 day BLM camping limit, but with Covid, we really didn’t have a lot of options. We could go to a KOA nearby, which is right off the highway, with no amenities, packed full of people, and charges nearly $80/night-not my idea of social distancing. The SMUD guys didn’t care that we stayed on-extenuating circumstances and all.
So, we scheduled Louie’s surgery and hunkered down at UVR a little longer. What a great place to be “stuck”. The weather turned colder and we had several days of rain and even one day of snow, just before I had to drive down the mountain to take Lou Dog in for surgery.
The SMUD crews were busy checking lines after the storm, trimming trees, and cleaning up the lake. It was fascinating to watch them. They had guys in boats lassoing giant tree stumps and dragging them to shore. Another guy with an excavator would load the debris into dump trucks and it’d be hauled away.
Another guy was hanging from a helicopter. The chopper would set him in a tree, then return with equipment on the line for him to trim it. These guys are called “Dope on a Rope” Talk about an exciting job~ No one tells you about these jobs when you visit the high school counselor’s office. It was fun to learn and visit with these guys.
Mike stayed with Reva and Kiya and I drove Lou back to Folsom for surgery. The weather had cleared and the roads were fine. I was able to get some laundry and shopping done, along with new tires on Yeep while I waited for him. He did great and we headed back up to UVR without a problem. We could remove stitches in 10 days and get on with our summer.
Not only were we camped near the boat launch, we were also directly across from an established campground- West Point Campground. It’s a small area with about 8 spaces and a vault toilet. Because of Covid, it was closed for camping. It was great area to let the dogs run around. Mike and I also had lots of fun playing “Lava Logs” every day. Yes, we are 50 and 55 years old-ssshhhh.
There were tons of downed trees near one another that just begged to be walked upon. We were like Olympic gymnasts hopping all over those logs, from one point to another. It just naturally turned into a Hot Lava game-don’t let your feet touch the ground, it’s hot lava! LOL! So grateful for this life and this time together.
As I said, the fishing was only marginal for Mike and the dogs couldn’t swim any longer now that Lou had stitches, so we found other ways to entertain ourselves-thus Lava Logs.
I spent a lot of time while Mike was fishing catching up this blog. I needed to go in order, that’s my own little hang up -and I had a couple of entries to write before I could write about this Covid thing. And I needed to get all of that out so I could let it go. To those of you who took the time to read it, thank you. I know it was long, and went on and on, but now I think I can let it go and move on.
Mike and I spent a lot of time walking around the forest looking at different fungi and plants. We were hoping to find some morel mushrooms-no luck. We did find a lot of interesting looking things and identified them through some FB groups Mike had joined. They have groups for everything, don’t they?!
We had really thought we’d take off early Friday morning before the Memorial weekend rush, but we forgot what day it was and when we woke up around 0900, it was already getting busy. We were at the epi center of what looked likely to be a big party. Well, our little world was bustling around us, time to have some fun and people watch!
We decided we’d stick around for the entertainment until Tuesday and then move along. Because established campgrounds were still closed and boon docking was allowed at UVR, there were people EVERYWHERE! Kids on little motorcycles, speed boats, campers parked 3 deep in each and every little pull out around the lake. People brought boats and loaded them up and took off to find their own piece of privacy with boat in camping sites. It was fun to see all of the different people and situations. I felt like I was sharing my home with them lol!
Tent camping isn’t easy. We watched couples arguing and cranky kids. Half the crowd was gone by Saturday night and most all had left by Sunday afternoon. There were only a few RV’s left by Monday morning and by Monday afternoon, all was peaceful again. It was a beautiful, warm weekend.
We spent 19 days in total boondocking at Union Valley Reservoir. It was nice to use the time to heal myself mentally and purge everything I had been feeling from the last assignment. I took the dogs around the dam for one last walk and took in the beauty and smells that I had enjoyed for nearly 3 weeks. Thank you, Union Valley Reservoir. You were just what the doctor ordered. It was time to go. Time to find a place to heal my body and get moving again now that my mind was free.
Of course, we had to figure out where exactly to go. Lake Tahoe was not going to open any time soon and the Paiute tribe had a Covid outbreak at Pyramid so our May plans were a complete wash. Using Campendium app I found several areas we could boondock around Flaming Gorge. We had confirmed reservations there on June 9, 2020, for 2 weeks. There wasn’t a lot of interesting stops between UVR and the Gorge for us. So, we decided we would stop in Carson City, get some supplies, dump the tanks, get some water and head to the Gorge for some more boondocking.
Next stop Flaming Gorge, Utah!
