So, the same week we lost our alternator in Elko, NV, we arrived in Sacramento late, late Friday evening only to be shut down again. We had a crack in our windshield that had been growing ever longer with every snowstorm. Finally, it got to proportions of length we had to have it fixed (DOT will fine commercial trucks for windshield cracks longer then 4″ in length, even if they aren’t blocking your view).
We had been telling our dispatcher for a week and a half about this crack, but somehow they just wouldn’t slow us down enough to have it fixed. So with the expectation of going to Kenworth Saturday morning to have a new window installed, we slept in that morning and arrived at their door with the first serviceperson to pull in their drive. When you operate on central time, the 2-hour time difference makes waiting for things to open huge and I am impatient (just in case you didn’t know!). At Kenworth’s Service Department, I was greeted by a very pleasant man and was feeling quite lucky to be the first one through his door. However, he hands me a map and then informs me, windows are replaced at their bodyshop just a couple of miles away and oh, by the way, they don’t open until Monday at 8am. 8AM!!!!!!! We had to wait another 2 days without pay to get this crack in our windshield fixed???? Arghhhh!
So what does one do when one isn’t making money? Spend it of course! After Kevin woke from his night’s sleep we rented a car and headed for the hills. Actually it was more like streams and farmland. We wandered down to Rio Vista, a little village south of the city, where we knew of some folks that were working on their sailboat, readying to set sail after the birth of their adorable daughter, Ouest (french for west and pronounced the same).
Winding down little country roads, following our GPS, our route followed ill-maintained roads with little or no shoulder and cracks in several places, making one wonder if they were going to slide off into the water someday soon. Eventually we came upon a little sign that said, “Rio Vista” that way… of course our GPS pointed us in the opposite direction. So what did we do? Of course, we followed our GPS! We were pretty certain it must be a short-cut. 
Continuing down this little narrow road, flanked by vineyards, orchards and water we finally came upon another sign for Rio Vista pointing to a ferry-boat. Consulting our GPS… yes, we did indeed have to cross to get to our little destination. I was still digging about for change when the ferry-boat operator comes to my window which I roll down to explain we have nothing smaller then a $20, and oh by the way, how much is this ride anyway, when he proffers a doggie biscuit to Harley and shakes his head to indicate it was free. I still wasn’t sure if he meant the doggie-bone or the ride but we drove off and no one came after us so I assumed it must have been the ride. Amazing!
We spent the night in Rio Vista at one of two hotels in town. We had dinner at a local restaurant that looked as if it had been a fancy restaurant in it’s hey-day. The food was average but it was fun to eat out with a view of the river (albeit a dark view) and just enjoy the eating without the work involved.
The next morning we met Pat, Ali and little O at their boat. Let me tell you a little about this amazing couple. We first started following their blog, Bumfuzzle, way back when they knew very little about sailing or conventional sailing life. However, they refused to believe they couldn’t do it and set off on a catamaran to sail around the world with just 8 hours of sailing lessons.
They were/are a young, successful, up-and-coming yuppy couple that decided to leave their suburbia life in search of something richer and more meaningful. There were lots of people that told them they couldn’t do it, shook their heads in disbelief and offered lots of unwanted advice but in spite of their innocence and naivety, they ventured out and WOW!, do they have stories to tell.
If you’re interested in living vicariously through them and better yet, getting inspired, you can read of all their adventures on their blog. After sailing around the world and visiting lots of countries most of us only dream about, they set off on a road trip through the America’s and eventually through Europe. They are now getting ready for another adventure on their new mono-hull sail-boat, again named “Bumfuzzle”.
The last 3 pictures were on our return trip via Benicia and a visit to the mothball Naval fleet. Unfortunately we didn’t get close enough to get any good photos but we did get to a park that had some forgotten boats that made for good photos.
