Saturday, March 21, 2020

Well, That Sucks

First let me say that all is well out here in Northern California, at least with our families.

Second, Governor Gavin Newsome has put a "shelter in place" order for the entire state. The order lasts (for now) for a "couple weeks".

So, with reservations on Friday and Saturday, we packed up the unused, new, Lance trailer for the maiden voyage. I had made reservations two months ago to do a "check it out" trip, close to home to find out what, if anything, isn't working in the trailer. Place needed full hookups per the recommendation of Trailer Life magazine. 

The new trailer
With a prior trip check on Wednesday to make sure they were open, we headed out to the Lake Camanche to the Trout Pond camping area. 

Trout Pond
Oh, before I go any further, the "shelter in place" order, what's the difference if you shelter at home or shelter in your home with wheels? I don't see any difference.

OK, a 45 minute drive and we pulled up to the check in at the South Shore (where the Trout Pond is) and as we drove up I noticed the red light/green light on the building was RED. I know enough about Camanche that this was not going to bode well.

As of 5am on Friday morning, Lake Camanche closed. No camping, no fishing, no nada. So why hadn't we been notified? Apparently the girl at the gate did not have either a phone number or an email address for us. We weren't very happy with this especially since SHE was the one who took my reservation.

So we did a y'all can turn around and headed back home to "shelter in place" there. I can see the shack nasties coming already.

Needless to say, my wife was pissed. You see, this was a two fold trip. One to test the trailer and the second to help with the sadness of losing our boy kitty Jasper on Monday.

Jasper
He was only 12 years old, but developed kidney failure (common with cats). We gave him 100 ml of Ringers every day and were able to keep him with us for about a month or so. He finally got to the place where he couldn't walk, wouldn't eat, and his temperature was down to 93 degrees (99 is about normal for a cat) which (according to the vet) isn't life sustaining.

So, not only did the Corona Virus screw up our "check out" trip, but kept a black cloud over our house.

Don't know when I'll get to fish again since Camanche, Amador, and Pardee are all closed until further notice and upcountry doesn't open until the last Saturday in April. Then again, with the last storm and the one starting Monday, most places will be butt deep in snow until June or July. 

I hope you all are well.

Stay tuned.

9 comments:

  1. Mark, sorry about the loss of your friend Jasper.
    It seems like the virus has really changed the way we live. I'm all for common sense precautions but I think they're pushing things to hysteria.

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    1. Thanks Alan. Mis-information breeds chaos which breeds hysteria.

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  2. Mark
    I'm sure you guys are following all the regulations that goes along with this virus---we are pretty much confined to the house. Neither of us want to get this, could prove fatal for our age group. Sorry about Jasper hope you all find a replacement for him soon

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    1. Thanks Bill. We have Sophie (Tortoise shell cat) although she misses her brother terribly we'll all get through it.

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  3. Ouch Mark - sorry for the bad luck. These are clearly some unprecedented times. We had to cancel a trip "home" to Philadelphia as well, ugh.

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  4. I'm sorry about your kitten Mark, but what is happening in the world you have to be very careful with the transfers and it is better to lock yourself in your house, take care of yourself and your family, we will be able to go fishing in another time, a hug.

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  5. Thanks Armando. I hope all is well down your way. Stay safe my friend.

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  6. Just checking in on you to see if all is well. I'm sorry about the loss of your pet and the closures. It is hard to find a place to enjoy recreation right now, I'm sure. Keep the faith that this all will subside by summer. Stay safe, my friend.

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