Trip Report: Dec 4~10, 2010

[renodesertfox]

We were plannin on leavin our AO on Sunday 12-5, but found out that a major deluge of rain :(was headed for Napa Valley so we cut it quick and left early Saturday 12-4 at 9AM. 4 1/2 hours via I-80 and California Hwy 12/128 and we were there! The Napa Valley State Park was open but in the self-serve mode and we drove right in to campsite #1 which has become our favorite site. It's the furthermost from the bathroom and all the other 54 sites and also the furthermost from the main little road that goes through the camping area. Saturday evening about 7 PM after we had pitched camp the rain started! We had also pitched our camo tarps(still searchin for camo rope) :rolleyes:over our campsite. The largest tarp we have is 12x20, providing shelter for not only the sleeping quarters of our Kodiak Canvas Cabin Wall Tent but also over the front porch area which is our cooking/outdoor dining-room and also over another 8 feet in front of the dining-room towards the fire-ring so that we can have a fire while it's raining and not get wet! Anyway, it rained all Saturday night, all day and night on Sunday too! It wasn't just a light drizzle either, I mean, it poured and poured! Reminding me of visiting my children up in Minnesota where once it rained the entire time I was there! I know there are a few great campateers here that would prefer to stand-up outside their tents when they want to stand-up, but in the rain, we are so happy with this canvas tent!:D

I will add more as time allows and photos too, so stay tuned, this is a great idea that another campateer suggested that there is a place for trip reports.:cool:

[renodesertfox]

It rains there alot!

So it rained and rained! We read books, I'm re-reading Mark Twain...which I haven't read since high school. We played checkers, chess, cribbage, Scrabble, watched the rain...

Here's the inside of our Cabana which we use for storage. It keeps the junk out of the tent and the Cabana also acts like a second tent to add more privacy to our site. Thanks for lookin' more to come!

[renodesertfox]

A Peek Inside

Okay, enough of the rain...well not exactly! The only day it didn't rain was Tuesday and that day we decided to see the Sonoma Coast and search for open campgrounds right on the coast. We did find quite a few campgrounds but most were closed. We found one that was still open that had a great view of the ocean and there wasn't anyone camping there at the moment. Next year that's where we are going for sure!

On Monday it drizzled, same with Wed, Thurs, and Friday...normally it takes us a couple of hours to strike camp and drive away but with another constant heavy drizzle it took us almost three hours. We kept at it and slowly everything we brought, purchased was packed. I think we did very good, considering the rain, my medical condition(left knee still hasn't been fixed-still using just a brace) and titanium rods in my spine. At least we're still tent camping!

[renodesertfox]

Campin in Wine Country

So it rained...btw it's rainin in Reno as I chat...and a person/s can only stay couped up so long. Monday we decided to try a couple of wine tastins at a couple of wineries, heck we did it on almost every day we were there. We ate out too at some nice little places...we kept our cookin simple this time. Desert Rose had food frozen from earlier meals the week before we left, so it was basically just re-heatin what we already had. Hey y'll thanks for lookin....soon I have a few more pics to share here and then get busy with the gallery again!

Oh yeah....here's one winery where we tasted wine and we liked it so much that we became members of their wine club.

[Bigdog57]

Cool! You had fun despite the weather....

Check your local Harbor Freight and Tractor Supply for the camo rope. I've bought it at one of those two "Men's Toy Stores".

[renodesertfox]

Thanks Dawg! I checked it out! Yep, there's a harbor freight store here and they got camo rope. Gonna get me some!

[renodesertfox]

Just before the rain started this was our campsite's basic pitch, it gives a better look as to what we keep in the cooking area. This isn't bear country, the only wild bear in the entire state of California is seen on the state flag. We aren't concerned about little critters because all dry foods are in air-tight containers. After each meal's clean-up is done, I just walk a small plastic grocery sack to the campground's garbage area and throw it away. I have seen other campers wait until the end of their trip to throw away all their trash...I think that's an open invitation to smaller rodents. I like walkin out the trash after every meal, cause it gives me a little private time to be in the woods! Then we're off to taste more wineries.....

[renodesertfox]

More rain meant more tarps, seen here from our jeep. Thanks for looking! Next time you go on a campout, it would be great if you helped fill in these pages with your story and your photos, it's just a thought!

[nearlywild]

How do you get the pictures to be so big instead of the attachments?

[renodesertfox]

Big Pics

I use a secondary free photo-sharing site called "Photobucket." Actually I have two photo-sharing sites that I use. In my signature block at the bottom of each post I answer etc., there is a link to my Flickr page. There anyone can view what I'm doing photographically on a day to day basis. However, when trying to link a photo from Flickr back to CF all Flickr does is give me a linking code and what I have found out is that most people won't follow a link(because it takes too much time), they just want to see the photo. So....

The other site that I use is Photobucket. Once I've uploaded a photo to Photobucket I click on the photo in "bucket" and that gives a larger image. Then I scroll over to the the sizes and choose 1024pixels as my largest size. For photobucket that is their largest size(x-large). Then I right click on the copy image link(img code). Then in another tab I go to CF and type my chat. When I want to insert the image I go up to CF panel a pic the yellow box with a mountain display on it. I left click that little mountain. A new dialogue box appears and asks me to insert the "Img code". I place my cursor in the space and right click, scroll down to where a sub-dialogue box appears and left click on paste. Viola! The image link is inserted. Before I say okay to insert image I proof-read the link code in the box I just pasted. The only letters that should appear in that box are http://and your link. If there are any letters before of after the link that you selected appearing in that box your image won't be seen. Sometimes, I have to delete the letters[Img] before the http:// and after the link. Then I say okay. Then your image appears in your post. Sometimes if it takes too long and CF asks you to sign-in again, just go ahead and sign-in again, your place won't be lost....you'll return to where you were before CF asked you to sign-in again. Then when you are finished always preview to make sure the image is there. Once previewed and you like it then select submit and you're all done.

I know it seems like a long process, but after you have done it just 5 times, it won't seem to take that long.

When working on my digital photography and I think I might want to use an image in CF I make a web ready copy of the image at 1024 x 683 pixels and then save that copy in a document folder that I created called Web Ready Pics and place in a sub-folder called CF.

Both Flickr and Photobucket want a person to join their site for about 25 clams. Okay with Flickr I have a pro account. But with Photobucket I do not, I have a free account and have had it for 4 years now. When I save an image for the web in my document"s folder...I've scaled the image down from 24mb to less than 1mb. In photobucket a person gets 100mb free each month. Well my images never exceed 50mb, that's how I am able to have a free photo-sharing site for four years running. If you want to see my stuff in photobucket...look for the name "vegasdesertfox" that's who I was before the move to Reno. Anyway, it's seems daunting, but if stick with it, in a few weeks everyone could be posting large photos. Large photos are easier to view! :D

Also...anyone can scroll down to the Feedback sub-forum at the bottom of the main CF page and there are a few more hints from other campateers too, to help someone trying to link a photo from another site. Of course you can do it all through this site too, but it is a very old interface and really needs to be up-dated. If an image is done with CF technology then click on the small image creates a larger window with a larger image. And that is okay too!

I also water-mark my images and apply my signature and copyright symbol to keep unknown persons from stealing my images too. But that is another subject all-together.

[nearlywild]

OK, thanks. I'm going to try that the next time I post a picture. I already have Photobucket and Flickr accounts.

[renodesertfox]

Re: Trip Report: Dec 4~10, 2010

Glad you asked, because it's good to share how to get stuff done easier. That process I described also works on other forums too, but not on Facebook, immediately. The same small little photo appears on the page you're chatting on, but once the image is clicked on then it'll jump to the largest size that you've selected when you down-load through Photobucket.

[Melissa]

Re: Trip Report: Dec 4~10, 2010

Love your pictures! Not sure I could handle camping for that long (or at all) in the rain. I hate rain. Ha. Love your set up though. I'm really impressed with how you use the tarps. I am enjoying these "trip report" threads. Wish there were more of them. I'll have to remember to take pictures in the future.

As to the bears...oh there are definitely bears in Southern California! We had a campout in April in Cherry Valley and that night 2 cubs and a mama visited the campground. A good reminder to one family to keep the food out of the tents!