Aug 26th to 28th - Oakhurst

Aug 26th - Wed - Oakhurst
When we left Isleton we had to put air in one of the 5th wheel tires. When we arrived here, it was low again so we knew we had to do something but had just not figured out what. Keeping in mind that most of this small town is hills, the chance of pulling our rig into a tire shop is slim. Luckily, a neighbor had a heavy duty bottle jack which he was happy to let us use. Unfortunately, he was leaving today so we got up early to put on the spare so we could get the leaky tire fixed. The tire shop put THREE plugs into tiny holes and there were more holes so Terry ordered a new tire. It was the front tire so don’t know how it could have gotten holes without the back tire being affected.
A trip to the grocery store used up the rest of the morning and then we got to work on a project that has been waiting for time and a picnic table. We needed the picnic table so we could spray glue maps of the US and Canada to a folding cardboard backing. Then we took different color highlighters and marked our routes for each year. Of course, even though we had roads highlighted on two atlases, we could not remember exactly which line belonged to which trip so I had to constantly refer to my blog and the job took a long time.
We went to the nearer casino to take advantage of a $8.99 steak & seafood buffet which turned out to be just OK. We also entered a free senior slot tournament. At first Terry was quickly building points but didn’t end up with enough to win anything. The slot machines took some money before we left.

Aug 27th - Thurs - Oakhurst
I spent time on the computer this morning and then put a picnic lunch together. We drove to Bass Lake, took the road on the non-public-access side of the lake and then returned to the side with many federal day-use areas. Stopped at one and enjoyed our lunch in the shade as it was still hot today. The lake is beautiful and had lots of boats pulling skiers and tubes. Didn’t go swimming as the boat wakes were churning up lots of sand near the shore.
Continued driving after lunch and then turned around and came back to town. We stopped at a liquidation type place on the way back and bought a few items that we just couldn’t live without. Also picked up the new tire for the 5th wheel.
Our neighbors Dennis & Ginger went to Yosemite today and returned shortly after we finished dinner. They came over and we spent the rest of the evening with them. There is a fire in Yosemite (planned burn got away!) so the fantastic view from Glacier Point was obscured by smoke. I showed them our pictures so they could see what it really looks like. Ginger did get a great picture of the sun in the middle of clouds of smoke.

Aug 28th - Fri - Oakhurst
We took our coffee next door and chatted with Dennis & Ginger as they got ready to leave this morning. Then we drove south to Fresno (48 miles) and bought a bottle jack so we can change a tire on the 5th wheel without building a ramp or borrowing a jack from a neighbor. The hills are really dried out everywhere. A lot of farmers work up a dirt strip beside the road to serve as a fire break should some idiot throw out a cigarette. Water really makes a difference as there were also some HUGE vineyards & orchards.
We had to pass the Table Mountain Casino on our way back so we stopped for the special senior price on the buffet - need some exercise after all the food lately!! Ended up spending several hours on the slot machines (very hot again so the AC is wonderful) and came out $5 ahead. BBQ dinner and then inside to watch TV & read.