BACK ON THE DELTA: A NEW FRIEND AT RIO VISTA'S PARK

MORNING AT DUNSMUIR PARK

We're back on the Delta. We started the morning by packing up our belongings at Cave Springs Motel in Dunsmuir, the most comfort and class at the best bargain price we encountered in our week's rambles. We went back to the city park for a walk along the river trail before starting the drive home, and Amber found some creatures to trail through the underbrush, probably not rabbits from the sound of her baying, but something of interest.

And then onto I-5 where it occurred to me that the verb "to drive" is a general term, much like "to cook" in that it covers many different activities. As cooking includes roasting and grilling and simmering and braising and so forth, so driving includes meandering along winding scenic routes at 30 mph, following pilot cars past road construction sites, puzzling out confusing directions in strange cities, and--today at last and for the first time in a week--getting onto a major freeway and averaging 70 mph. Hooray. It's my favorite type of driving and we were home in four hours.

Amber recognized that we were back on the delta as soon as we turned off I-5 onto Twin Cities Road heading for Locke and Ryde, Isleton, and Rio Vista. It was great to be back to our little cottage. After unloading the car and resting a bit, we went to our favorite city park where we met some new friends, three dachshunds and an energetic terrier mix named Bandito.