The Red Writer rolls out for a spring shakedown

   OLEMA, Calif. - After a long rainy winter, The Red Writer rolled out last weekend for a three-day shakedown cruise.
     In a little over two weeks, Adm. Fox and I will be pulling out of Point Richmond to head into the Southwest: Cottonwood, Sedona and Flagstaff, Arizona, followed by Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The Red Writer at rest at Olema Campground

     Five months in storage didn't seem to phase any of the systems on The Red Writer. All still operated fine, though my skills at packing need tuneup.
     When I got to the Olema campground what had been a neatly arranged trailer interior looked like a room from Animal House. I suppose I took a few turns too quickly and/or hit the brakes a little to enthusiastically.
     Olema is close to Point Reyes, a fabulous national seashore. One afternoon we headed out with

Sylvia, Deb and elk friends at Pt. Reyes, CA

Brickyard Landing amigos John and Deb Connolly in search of a herd of elk that wanders near the ocean. We found them, not 100 yards off the country road leading to the beach trails.
     Jaysus, those animals are huge.
     Now the serious packing begins for my long-looping cross-country trip this summer that gets underway after Adm. Fox flies home from Santa Fe.
     My plans (written in Jello) call for a trip across the Deep South, then up into Tennessee, North Carolina and eventually the Finger Lakes and the Northeast.
     More later on all that.

Might not look like elk country, but it is