Leaving Australia….the first few weeks
Day 1: Jodie, Pete & Taco – Los Angeles, Nov 2020
Finally, we all land in Los Angeles, 7-months later than originally planned.. Given there were only about 20 people total on our United Airlines flight (a covid upside!), we were relatively well rested.
Our little mate Taco had taken a separate Air New Zealand flight and was ready to join us about six hours after we landed.
First item on our schedule was a little retail therapy after being denied it for months back home
After months of restrictions back home with over 100 days of lock-down, and having only been allowed a max of two suitcases each to bring with us, we were keen to hit the shops ASAP! Even better that the US has more flexibility in allowing dogs in to shop with you.
Still one more Winter before Summer…
So I am not a Winter person, in fact I believe I have self-diagnosed SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) which is described as;A mood disorder characterised by depression that occurs at the same time every year.Seasonal affective disorder occurs in climates where there is less sunlight at certain times of the year.Symptoms include fatigue, depression, hopelessness and social withdrawal. [Sources: Mayo Clinic ]
I actually said my farewell to Melbourne Winter back in 2019 so imagine my delight (/S) when I found myself still stuck in Melbourne in June/Jul/Aug 2020!
When we finally did leave Oz, we arrived in California at the beginning of….you guessed it…Winter – Oh Joy!
I needn’t have despaired though, California Winter is sunny, mild days and cool nights on the countdown to Christmas and then crisp, cold but sunny days with freezing but clear nights. A stark contrast to Melbourne which can be a continual cycle of dreary, windy, cold and rainy days that seem to last a month or two longer than seems fair.
As we had a number of tasks to work through before we could head to Cabo, we were kindly given a room at Pete’s brother’s family home in Placerville about an hour north of Sacramento in CA.
In the end, we stayed about two months which I felt perhaps stretched their generosity a little – “you’re family” they would say whenever I felt the desire to reassure them that we were, in fact, going to leave soon…
In between buying cars, transporting and storing our RV, setting up bank accounts, cell #’s, insurance etc., we did manage to spend some quality time exploring our neighborhood.
Placerville is a lovely part of North California and is actually at the foot of the climb to Lake Tahoe ski fields.
We introduced Taco to snow for the first time as well as risked life and limb visiting the National Park where warning signs were visible everywhere advising you to be careful of bears and mountain lions in their natural habitat!
Heavenly Ski Resort Lake Tahoe Dec 2020 
Taco’s first snow sighting 
Should we be worried?? 
Bloody cold but oh so magical…
Although we had a great day ‘frolicking’ in the snow and drinking in spectacular scenery, reality hit when I received a text from the State of California reminding me that freedom of movement was temporarily restricted and that people were encouraged to stay at home. Probably explains why there was literally no-one around.
California had just gone into it’s toughest lock-down to-date in an attempt to stem the rising tide of covid infections and masks were mandatory as well as cancellation of all in-room and curb-side dining.
