My Midlife Crisis Chronicles

We left Redwood City around 1:00 pm on May 1, 2020, with no real plan in place. Everything was closed, even the casinos we usually relied on to boondock back in our hometown area. The nice part about the shelter in place order was the low traffic. We were able to drive through San Francisco on a Friday with zero traffic jams. We made good RV time and arrived in Folsom earlier than expected.

We had made an appointment for the dogs to get their annual vaccinations and Louie’s check up for the next day but were able to get in that same day. While we waited in the parking lot for the dogs, we discussed options and what our next move might be. We knew we had to be in Sacramento Monday AM for some service work on Reva Mae so we didn’t want to go far.

Calvin had recently purchased the acreage behind Folsom Care Center, so I contacted him and he was happy to let us squat on his property for a few days. What a great little place! It was sooo good to see my “family” again, especially after the emotional roller coaster we had just finished riding. We were hidden behind the facility with a fenced in yard and water, safe from everything for a few days and only steps away from so many people I love so dearly!
While I couldn’t visit inside the facility, I was able to see my loved ones and just feel safe in their circle again. We spent the weekend cleaning up Reva Mae, grocery shopping, switching out salt water fishing gear from our storage for fresh water stuff, and figuring out what to do until our Lake Tahoe reservation on May 4th.

Mike’s fishing buddy, Allen, is a master mechanic and was able to squeeze us in to do some work on Reva. We had had that coolant in the power steering fluid issue just before my last work assignment and while a few mechanics I called said it should be ok, we wanted to make sure it gotten take care of properly before heading out. We had also cracked a water line when trying to remove the water filter in the wet bay. Allen flushed the power steering fluid and fixed our water line in just a couple of hours and we were set to go. Thank you, Allen!
We decided we would boondock at Union Valley Reservoir for a few days. It was on the way to Tahoe and a beautiful lake. While campgrounds and casinos were closed, BLM land was open and we knew several BLM areas at UVR we could fit so we headed up the mountain.

Union Valley Reservoir is about 20 miles NE of Placerville. It is a 2,890 acre lake that covers a little over 4.5 miles. I LOVE UVR! It is a clear mountain lake that is fed by snow melt. The water is as clear as Lake Tahoe with the wonderful pine trees surrounding it as well. It sits at an elevation of 4, 870 feet. The major difference is swimming is tolerable at UVR. Lake Tahoe is so cold all year long it’s hard to stay in the water for very long. It also sits in the El Dorado National Forest with free BLM camping land around it-Tahoe is pricey!
Let me clarify-BLM=Bureau of Land Management. Boondocking or dispersed camping is free and allowed in many BLM areas. There are various time restrictions and location restrictions, but a google search will generally clarify things for anyone looking to camp this way. Here is the information for dispersed camping at Union Valley Reservoir. https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev7_018795.pdf.

I wish you could smell the air there. It was so fresh and piney, clean. We found a spot in a pull out/overflow parking area just outside of the boat launch area that would fit our needs. While it was just a gravel parking area, the easy access to the launch meant we would not have to break down all of Mike’s fishing gear on his kayak every day. He could just put the wheels on and pull it down to the water. When he was done fishing, I would drive Yeep down to the dock. Mike would sit in the back hatch and hold the front of the yak while I pulled it up the hill-easy peasey.

Our Lake Tahoe reservations got cancelled due to Covid, so we decided we’d stick around UVR awhile, especially since Louie was going to need some lump biopsies completed. We also realized shortly after arriving that we had made a very rookie mistake. While we had filled up with water at Calvin’s place, it never occurred to us that Allen would need to run the water to repair the crack in the water line-we only had around 1/3 a tank of water, and our gray was 2/3 full when we arrived. Oops! We had filled up with fuel just outside of Placerville, but hadn’t even checked the tanks. The station even had a dump and water on site-like I said rookie mistake.

We stretched the water we had by cooking easy meals with few dishes and taking cold military showers. Not the end of the world but definitely a learning point; always check tanks, especially when you have an opportunity to empty/top them off!
Since we were needing water, we drove Reva back down to Folsom for Louie’s biopsies. We knew at that point our Tahoe reservation was cancelled and our next stop at Lake Pyramid was not looking good either due to Covid outbreaks there. So, we took the opportunity to do some laundry at the laundromat, and pick up extra supplies at Walmart. Mike emptied the tanks and refilled Reva with water and we headed back to our spot at UVR. We had made it 8 days with about 30 gallons of water onboard. It was nice to have a full 100 gallons available again. Red Hawk Station on Highway 50 has an easy access RV dump and water for a $10 fee.
We had some early hot spring days up at UVR which was nice for kayaking, but lousy for fishing. The warm weather triggered a mass hatching of flies and bugs and the fish were feasting on easy meals all day. The entire time we were there, Mike only caught a few fish. There were some folks catching fish, but most of them were using live bait.

Mike is a sport fisherman. We only eat the white meat-cod, halibut, sea bass, etc. He doesn’t feel right using live bait for fish he isn’t keeping. He explained it to me like this: When you use live bait, you use something the fish eats naturally. They see it, they swallow it. The hook is deep inside them and you can’t get it out without killing them many times. When you use artificial bait, the fish tastes this odd thing they see and then they try to spit it out. That’s how you hook them in the mouth. You can get them off without harming them usually. He likes the chase and loves fish. He hates to see when people keep trophy fish. He’d never do that. He says if they lived that long, to get that big, they deserve to live out their lives. He rarely even gets pictures outside of the net. He wants to do as little harm as possible.

We took Louie and Kiya out on the kayaks for the first time. They did really well! Peddling is still tough for me and hurts my back-I’m really out of shape after working 2 assignments in a row. We did get to a little cove and I walked around with the dogs for a bit while Mike did some fishing. There was nice little waterfall/creek feeding into the lake at the cove and I enjoyed sitting on the rocks, listening to the rushing water and watching the dogs chase frogs. They had a ball! We’re looking forward to kayaking with them on our travels this summer and they learned well that day.

Our friends Wendy and Kevin and their son, Kevin Jr came up and introduced us to Bassi Falls at UVR. OMG! I’m so in love with this place. It’s so beautiful. Giant, smooth gray rocks that have been made smooth from centuries of water flowing over them. Naturally occurring pools of varying depths to dip your feet in, or your whole body as Kiya found out. She ran into a pool that was really deep, went completely under for a second in the ice cold, crystal clear snow melt. The pools are small, with rocks all around. She was able to quickly get her feet on the edge and I lifted her out by the scruff of her neck. None worse for the wear. It was a warm day so I’m sure she felt good as she dried off in the hot sun and explored this amazing little area.

Bassi falls is located on a 4.5 mile trail that I hear is quite lovely with places along the hike to stop and take a dip in the many little pools on the way. We cheated today. We drove up a logging road and parked within a ½ mile of the base of the waterfall. Lots of people park along this logging road and you need to drive slowly and look ahead-there are some serious dips in spots. Yeep did great! And we only had to walk that ½ mile to see this little piece of paradise.
The waterfall falls 129 feet and the sound of it is amazing-so strong! The day we went-a weekend-there were a lot of people visiting but it didn’t feel crowded.

While some brave souls were climbing up to the top of the waterfall, this grandma stayed safely at the base and explored. There are a lot of giant rocks to climb on and explore. We had a great time. This would be an amazing spot to spend escaping the summer valley heat. I could see myself here all day with a book and a picnic. I’m so grateful Kevin and Wendy knew about this gem and shared it with us! Next time, I’m definitely doing the full hike and spending a few hours in the hot, summer sun at Bassi Falls.

Louie’s biopsies came back and 2 out of 3 were good….the last one was possible cancer. My poor pups. Kiya went through a full month of antibiotics and ultimately a toe amputation while we were in the Bay area. We thought she had traumatized a nail, but after a month of meds the vets decided it was most likely cancer as well. She had just finally recovered from her amputation and they could both run and play. No meds, no stitches, no cones. We were going to have a great summer.

It’s hard to know how much to do, how far to go for our fur babies. With Kiya, we had choices. If it was a localized cancer, the treatment would be amputation and she would most likely go on to live a long, healthy life. If it was the more unlikely spreading cancer, chemo, radiation, etc. would be needed to give her one more year. The diagnostics ($3700) cost more than the amputation ($3200) so we just amputated. Knowing for certain if it was or was not cancer and the type of cancer would not change our course of treatment. She’s pretty young (soon to be 7) and very healthy. If she does only have a year left, we’ll know soon enough. In the meantime, I’m going to give her one hell of a great summer. (I really think it was a traumatized nail myself)

Now we’ve got our precious lil Lou Dog in a similar situation. Lou Lou, Louie B, Bubba Lou, Louicious, Loucifer….he’s been our best bud for 9 years. Shit! We were pretty much in the same situation. Just remove the lump, do biopsies, do nothing? What to do? The other lumps were just fatty tumors. We opted to have the questionable lump removed and again, no biopsy. We’re going to ASSUME it was localized precancerous cells and give these dogs the best summer ever. It sucks knowing they’re getting older, knowing we’re all getting older…. Another justification for this life, not that I need one. In the past couple of months, I’ve seen so many friends and classmates pass away. Every month it seems is a reminder to LIVE.

UVR is located in the El Dorado National Forest and managed by SMUD-Sacramento Municipal Utilities Department. The SMUD employees are always up there during the week, checking lines and working on the reservoirs. We got to know the guys pretty well, visiting with them while they cleaned up the lake. We knew we were well over our 10 day BLM camping limit, but with Covid, we really didn’t have a lot of options. We could go to a KOA nearby, which is right off the highway, with no amenities, packed full of people, and charges nearly $80/night-not my idea of social distancing. The SMUD guys didn’t care that we stayed on-extenuating circumstances and all.

So, we scheduled Louie’s surgery and hunkered down at UVR a little longer. What a great place to be “stuck”. The weather turned colder and we had several days of rain and even one day of snow, just before I had to drive down the mountain to take Lou Dog in for surgery.

The SMUD crews were busy checking lines after the storm, trimming trees, and cleaning up the lake. It was fascinating to watch them. They had guys in boats lassoing giant tree stumps and dragging them to shore. Another guy with an excavator would load the debris into dump trucks and it’d be hauled away.
Another guy was hanging from a helicopter. The chopper would set him in a tree, then return with equipment on the line for him to trim it. These guys are called “Dope on a Rope” Talk about an exciting job~ No one tells you about these jobs when you visit the high school counselor’s office. It was fun to learn and visit with these guys.

Mike stayed with Reva and Kiya and I drove Lou back to Folsom for surgery. The weather had cleared and the roads were fine. I was able to get some laundry and shopping done, along with new tires on Yeep while I waited for him. He did great and we headed back up to UVR without a problem. We could remove stitches in 10 days and get on with our summer.

Not only were we camped near the boat launch, we were also directly across from an established campground- West Point Campground. It’s a small area with about 8 spaces and a vault toilet. Because of Covid, it was closed for camping. It was great area to let the dogs run around. Mike and I also had lots of fun playing “Lava Logs” every day. Yes, we are 50 and 55 years old-ssshhhh.
There were tons of downed trees near one another that just begged to be walked upon. We were like Olympic gymnasts hopping all over those logs, from one point to another. It just naturally turned into a Hot Lava game-don’t let your feet touch the ground, it’s hot lava! LOL! So grateful for this life and this time together.

As I said, the fishing was only marginal for Mike and the dogs couldn’t swim any longer now that Lou had stitches, so we found other ways to entertain ourselves-thus Lava Logs.

I spent a lot of time while Mike was fishing catching up this blog. I needed to go in order, that’s my own little hang up -and I had a couple of entries to write before I could write about this Covid thing. And I needed to get all of that out so I could let it go. To those of you who took the time to read it, thank you. I know it was long, and went on and on, but now I think I can let it go and move on.
Mike and I spent a lot of time walking around the forest looking at different fungi and plants. We were hoping to find some morel mushrooms-no luck. We did find a lot of interesting looking things and identified them through some FB groups Mike had joined. They have groups for everything, don’t they?!

We had really thought we’d take off early Friday morning before the Memorial weekend rush, but we forgot what day it was and when we woke up around 0900, it was already getting busy. We were at the epi center of what looked likely to be a big party. Well, our little world was bustling around us, time to have some fun and people watch!

We decided we’d stick around for the entertainment until Tuesday and then move along. Because established campgrounds were still closed and boon docking was allowed at UVR, there were people EVERYWHERE! Kids on little motorcycles, speed boats, campers parked 3 deep in each and every little pull out around the lake. People brought boats and loaded them up and took off to find their own piece of privacy with boat in camping sites. It was fun to see all of the different people and situations. I felt like I was sharing my home with them lol!

Tent camping isn’t easy. We watched couples arguing and cranky kids. Half the crowd was gone by Saturday night and most all had left by Sunday afternoon. There were only a few RV’s left by Monday morning and by Monday afternoon, all was peaceful again. It was a beautiful, warm weekend.

We spent 19 days in total boondocking at Union Valley Reservoir. It was nice to use the time to heal myself mentally and purge everything I had been feeling from the last assignment. I took the dogs around the dam for one last walk and took in the beauty and smells that I had enjoyed for nearly 3 weeks. Thank you, Union Valley Reservoir. You were just what the doctor ordered. It was time to go. Time to find a place to heal my body and get moving again now that my mind was free.

Of course, we had to figure out where exactly to go. Lake Tahoe was not going to open any time soon and the Paiute tribe had a Covid outbreak at Pyramid so our May plans were a complete wash. Using Campendium app I found several areas we could boondock around Flaming Gorge. We had confirmed reservations there on June 9, 2020, for 2 weeks. There wasn’t a lot of interesting stops between UVR and the Gorge for us. So, we decided we would stop in Carson City, get some supplies, dump the tanks, get some water and head to the Gorge for some more boondocking.
Next stop Flaming Gorge, Utah!

We arrived at Trailer Villa RV park on February 15, 2020, a Saturday. When I was setting up this assignment, Trailer Villa was the only RV park in a huge radius that had any openings for a long term spot. It was pricey! $2000/month plus electricity!
It sits overlooking a bay, but has no bay access. So, while we got a nice view, the water was not directly available to us. There are a lot of great areas to fish nearby and kayak though, so all good.

Trailer Villa RV park is clean and has a nice convenience store adjacent to the property for little items. We managed to get a nice pull through spot right across from one of the dog park areas. There was also a nice laundry room and shower house right there. We used the laundry room-still have to get the washing machine hoisted out to get repaired-but never did peak inside the shower house.

We got to park next to this sexy Newell diesel pusher. For those of you who aren’t part of the RV world, Newell and Prevost are THE motorhomes of all motorhomes. Some of these models can sell for over $2 million dollars. I love every inch of my Reva Mae and I could never be comfortable driving something that expensive (or even remotely afford it) but damn that was a beautiful rig to get to see close up. Even the headlights are sexy on that baby! I never got to meet the owners. Mike did. Guy said he was in town for some races and was from Oregon. Had a Tiffin at first, then got the Newell.
We had arrived on President’s Day weekend-an observed holiday for this company-so we had a few days to check out our new home area and get acclimated.

Bedwell Bayfront Park could be seen from our RV at Trailer Villa and was an easy walk or short drive to the entrance. This will be a great fall back place to hike with the dogs if I can’t get out. There are so many places in the Bay area I couldn’t wait to explore. Mike was born and raised in the east Bay-Fremont, but he knew little about this area so we were both excited to check out all it had to offer.

The park is 160 acres of trails that used to be a landfill. The landfill was closed in 1980 and now it is a park with a great trail system and a nature reserve. There are easy, flat hikes around the perimeter along with steep trails shooting off from the main loop. The views were fantastic. We had arrived toward the end of winter when the flowers are blooming and the grass is so green. We were both excited to see what this assignment and this location might bring!
Driving the other direction from the RV park, we found we were very close to the Redwood City Port. There were also nice walking trails along the harbor, a marina with the neatest ships, and a Google office. There was also a sailing school where young, eager beings learned to sail. Mike and I sat and watched a race one sunny afternoon. There were great places here the dogs could run and fetch and lots of walking.

Having done some weekend exploring and settling in, I started work at a facility in Mountain View, CA, just about 12 miles from the RV park on Tuesday.
The facility was experiencing some staffing issues, relying heavily on agency nurses and thus having some issues with documentation and carrying out orders. The team was young and hungry to get their facility up and running smoothly. It was going to be an exciting time but also fun!
My first week there, the DON who had 2 weeks left to work, called off for the entire week. She did come to work the second week and it was obvious while a kind person, she was in over her head and immensely overwhelmed. Floor staff were working doubles and insane overtime to cover vacancies and there were more resignations coming in due to the instability. The facility was in a vicious cycle that not even 2 agencies could help staff. We put out calls and got a third agency to help staff the facility.

After the DON left at the end of my second week, it was time to really get busy. If I was going to make an impact on this facility, I was going to have to put some hours in right off the bat.
Micah had been the Administrator for just a few months. He had worked his way up through the company starting in marketing and learning the ropes under the AIT program. This was his first building and his desire to not only succeed, but become a top facility was infectious and kept me going many days when I thought I could go no more. I will forever count him as a dear friend and I hope nothing but good things for him going forward. He is so deserving! With a wife and 4 children, I’m not sure the last time he has slept. Especially these days.

We quickly dove into the licensed nurse staffing issues. We contracted with a third agency to help lessen the burden and Micah looked at wages to ensure his rates were market compatible. We looked at shifts, the floor staff structure with the work flow, and then starting cleaning and tearing apart offices and nurse’s stations. (EVERY building I have EVER been in needed a thorough cleaning and organization of the nurse’s station and offices! Nurses are hoarders and can really be pigs-no offense. At one facility I found a dozen burritos in a bag that had been in the cupboard so long it no longer oozed or stank…true story) Quality staff deserve a quality area to work-and need to be held accountable to keep it that way-did I mention nurses are hoarders?
I penciled out a new hierarchy and work flow pattern for the floor and created a schedule that could be easily replicated (4/2) and allow consistent staffing on all the units. Micah and I also actively recruited and interviewed nurses, hiring the best candidates we could find. We were hiring 3-4 nurses each week and getting them started on the 2 week orientation process as quickly as we could.
Through this all, I was falling a little more in love with a small group of long term residents who hung together in the hallway I walked down several times a day. Raul, Glenda, and Ed became very special to me. They could break up the seriousness of my day as I walked by interacting with them. Glenda always gets her hair done in cute braids in different ways. Raul loves it when I “sing” his name like the old Yahoo commercials-“Raauuulllll” He loves to compliment me and tell me how beautiful I am. Ed enjoys a good joke and loves to make me feel appreciated. While I didn’t get a lot of time to bond with many residents, this trio was my family. They gave me the diversions I needed several times a day to get through the long hours rebuilding the facility structure.
I was still filling holes with recent resignations and barely limping by. In a nursing home, the Director of Staff Development is often the DON’s right hand-especially when there is no Assistant DON. Well our DSD had an urgent medical issue that took her out about 3-4 weeks into my assignment. Micah was a blessing. Stepping up to help with areas that he knew little about but learned quickly. It was highly stressful. But we were making progress. I was working long hours and trying to get multiple systems in place. Mike was minding the dogs and taking care of our home. He had been watching the news, while I was a bit oblivious to all that was starting to happen around me.
I had heard of the corona virus. I had seen blips of what was happening in Italy. But it was too late or I was too tired to watch the news after my long days. Like so many of you, it was so distant, I didn’t think much of it. I had worked during H1N1 scares, swine flu scares, you name it. This won’t be that much different, right?
Suddenly, I was getting little bits with dinner-they’ve cancelled an NHL Sharks game, the NBA is postponing games….at work, my officemate and case manager, Wen is updating me on things he’s read and seen about this “thing”. A random death with no underlying causes, New York is starting to blow up a little…..hmmm?!
Wen and I start wearing masks-both of us has a bit of a cough-it’s full allergy season in the Bay area but maybe we should be cautious. We’re hearing more and more about PPE shortages-check inventory-NO N95 masks, well ok, other supplies are pretty good. This isn’t airborne anyway. Keep working on these systems, gotta fix this building yet!
At this point, staff are becoming more aware of the world around us as well. They want masks-we’re told no masks can be issued unless the staff has some type of symptoms-supplies are too short. We are reusing masks in paper bags for those that have allergy type symptoms. The panic is building.
One day we’re notified no visitors unless they are essential for the care of the resident-families who assist with feeding, home health aides, etc. We notify everyone and start screening.
Then just as soon we get that implemented, we’ve got daily calls with the county to update on PPE, cases, infection control practices, and the like. Next minute, the NBA has cancelled the season, we’ve been instructed to close and lock our doors to ALL visitors. What is going on? Can this be real?
Nursing homes are unique birds. Many residents have no visitors at all. Either they have no family, or they’ve been just left behind. But those that do have visitors, have fiercely dedicated visitors. Family that is involved, is usually ALL IN. Some come every meal to help encourage their loved one to eat. The dedication is amazing. Telling those family members they could not come back was so difficult. There were too many questions that could not be answered. When can I see mom again? How long will this go on? Who will feed her like I do? Can I just feed her? Please? One son was so distraught he told Micah to “call me when he dies.” He was certain his father would not eat without him being there every meal. Please keep them safe, please. We vowed to do our best to keep them safe from this invisible monster somehow. I will never forget the eyes and the looks and the fear and the panic. By this time the Seattle nursing home was on every newscast and the numbers dying was mounting both there and in New York.
I had one staff, an older aide-must have been in her 70’s. She wanted a mask. I asked her if she had symptoms-remember at this point we’re only allowed masks if we have symptoms-no, but you have to give me a mask. I can’t give you a mask unless you have symptoms. Trying to lead her, what are your symptoms? She was petrified. She said I saw on the news 3 people went to a concert, 2 did not have masks. The only one who lived had a mask. She told me I was killing her. I was just following orders and trying to preserve our supplies. (I gave her a mask. I couldn’t face the utter terror in her eyes and not give her a mask-if anyone asks, you have a cough!)
One night a local nursing home made the news. They had an outbreak-multiple cases. Another facility just down the street has a case. Santa Clara county now has the highest number of corona virus cases in California. I’ve brought my husband to the epicenter of the outbreak. We are a couple of weeks behind New York and body bags are piling up there. Oh, my dear God. This building is not staffed correctly yet, we’re using so much registry, I have to teach them so many things about infection control. There isn’t a DSD right now……okay buckle down. We can do this.
I’m responsible for all the residents in a 101 bed facility with about 68 long term, highly immunocompromised residents and 30 or so residents receiving short term rehab. That’s one of my faults. As a DON, I’m always responsible for everything. I believe that to my core and no amount of rationalization can remove that feeling from my very soul. If something happens, it is MY fault. Maybe that’s why I’ve been successful? Maybe it’s why I can only do this a few months at a time now. I don’t know. I just know it’s an important part of my fiber that I need to share if readers will get any idea of what my Covid 19 experience felt like to me. It’s not right or wrong or more or less, it just is…. It is my truth.
The Bay area shut down before California as a whole did. Going to the grocery store that last time was so surreal. Entire aisles were wiped clear. There were no eggs, no rice, no pasta, no flour, no sugar, no soups…..it was as if we had been dropped into an episode of The Walking Dead overnight. The sight alone was frightening.
98. I’ve got 98 residents to keep safe. 98. That was our census when this really started steam rolling through our lives.
We did so much training and educating and documenting on infection control over those first few days. Just as we thought we might have a minute to breathe, we received a call from an MD office. A patient who was in for a routine visit, the MD opted to test her for Corona Virus as a precaution, just wanted to let us know. We laughed a little and decided this would be good practice for infection control and isolation should a real scare ever come. We placed the patient on isolation and gave out all the training and education again on caring for this person.
March 21, 2020, we got the call. The patient had tested positive. Holy Crap! It was a Saturday. I met Micah at the facility and we got on the first of what seemed to be hundreds of corporate calls, family calls, staff calls and meetings. If we thought we had had long days up to that point, we were sadly mistaken. In a flash, 12-14 hours would have gone by. There was so much going on. A call from California Department of Public Health, a corporate call, a CDC directive, staff calling off….again.
With the help of the corporate office, we had put together what I thought was a great plan to announce that we had a positive patient, along with plans to care for that individual. Positive cases need to have dedicated care givers who do not interact with other staff or residents. If you recall, we were already challenged with staff and training new staff as quickly as we could.
When we announced to our staff, I knew there would be a certain level of panic and I knew already they would want masks. We got permission from corporate staff to give out surgical masks to those who wanted them. They’d have to reuse them, but we had to give them something. I knew several were close to walking out as it was, now with a positive case in house, we could not go in to this announcement without masks as an option, even if it wasn’t recommended by CDC then. In the end, I think this move may have saved some lives. Our staff were masking for the most part on March 21, weeks before it was recommended.
Because our positive patient had been asymptomatic and been in our facility for over a week prior to testing, walking all over and visiting with everyone, all staff and residents were considered to be potentially exposed. This designation allowed all staff to continue to mask and we masked all residents as well. We were screened and had temperatures taken twice daily. I really think this early potential exposure saved us. I still believe in masking in public places today.
We still lost several nurses and aides after the announcement. Even if they didn’t have to work with the infected resident, the thought, the potential for exposure was just too great for them. One young woman had JUST started. She was just off her orientation. It was her first job as a nurse. She lived with her parents and her grandparents. She had come to me several times prior, in tears. Her family had thought her risks, their risks were too high for her to work right now. Once they learned we had a positive resident, they forced her to quit. I understand, but it was still hard.
As a leader during this time, I think these were some of the hardest conversations to have with staff. We had to stay strong and help our staff stay strong. We could point out what we “knew” as truth regarding the virus. All the while, the news and the “truth” is changing faster than any of us can keep up.
This young lady would come to me and ask me if I was sure she would be safe. Yes, wash your hands and don’t touch your face. It’s not airborne-CDC says we’re all safe if we follow these practices. We have an obligation to our patients. You can do this. Educate your family and give them reassurances.
Another nurse had a one month old baby in her home. She never missed a shift. But she often had tears in her eyes, uncertain if she was doing the right thing, if she could really protect her family and work still. We had to be their rock, their voice of reason, all the while hearing the same uncertainties, they were hearing all day, every day.
Our day would be going somewhat smoothly, and then we’d get a call from CDPH or CDC or corporate or whomever, changing what we had just changed or implemented. Another news story of a healthy nurse or doctor dying. Another level of quarantine being implemented. How the fuck could I tell them yes, you’re safe? I know for certainty you are safe, when it changed every other minute? Doubt crept in often. I’m grateful for Micah and for Cindy, our rehab director. The 3 of us did our best to keep emotions hidden and keep the staff moving forward. We supported one another during the myriad of calls and changes and each had our points of breaking down. It was good to have people we could be people with-not just leaders.
A few tears and a few deep breaths and a refocus on what we could control. PPE supply was very short. We got 2 partial boxes of N95’s when we learned our patient was positive. Even with contingency use-reusing/storing/etc. -we were going to need supplies. As strong individuals, we could not sit back and just wait and rely on corporate to meet our needs. They had dozens of buildings to supply.
The county had set up systems to help get needed supplies to buildings and Micah worked on procuring as much as he could through those channels. Cindy and her supportive family found N95 mask overseas and ordered early. Groups making cloth masks popped overnight and we got on their lists for donations.
I began looking for possible alternatives. I found those silly tubular neck masks the fisherman use were plentiful and could be purchase relatively cheaply in bulk. We ordered 90 for our residents. It was something to protect them at least and conserved our medical masks for staff. Raul loved having a mask with a face on it!
We ordered disposable rain ponchos. We bought disposable kitchen aprons to use for residents who had infectious stool to preserve our small supply of disposable gowns for possible Covid cases-around this time it became Covid, no longer corona virus. Micah bought out Home Depot for painter’s overalls. We were really getting creative to keep supplies available to protect our staff.
Wen got the Chinese hook up started and through his wife was able to procure PPE from the Chinese community-so grateful for them.
Meanwhile, in house, we got our first few PUI cases. What is a PUI? Person Under Investigation. What that means is someone who had symptoms of potential Covid. When one of those cases developed, we had A LOT of work to do.
One resident who experienced a cough or a fever could put half a dozen residents on isolation. In the early days, if a resident developed a possible symptom, the roommates and anyone who shared a bathroom with that individual were all placed on isolation.
Once isolated, the county was notified of all the names of these residents, along with all the staff who worked with that resident when symptoms developed. Fortunately, Micah was able to get Teresa from another facility to help out as acting DSD. I would have drowned in paperwork and tears without Teresa. Thank you, Teresa for all of your help and support!
The county would send a nurse out to test the symptomatic PUI patient and we would receive results in 2-3 days. Meanwhile this resident and all of the roommates/bathroom sharers etc., would be required to stay on isolation and had to be cared for by dedicated staff-which could not include the dedicated staff caring for our Covid positive patient. More dedicated staff, more shifting around an already fragile staffing model. Digging and begging for staff.
I lost another nurse when I assigned him to the PUI cases. He wasn’t prepared for it. Probably my fault. I could have done better, but it was last minute and all I had. When he saw the assignment sheet, he walked out. He was petrified. He came back after a couple days off. He was remorseful and admitted he just wasn’t mentally prepared to work these cases. With our staffing issues we gladly took him back. Several days later he came to my office, visibly shaken. He was in the Reserves and had gotten orders. He was getting called up to work Covid. First thought was about karma. Then I looked at this beautiful, frightened human shaking in my office and the leader in me gave me all the pep talk I could muster. We’re medical professionals. Don’t think about what you can’t control. You need to think of what you can control. You can practice excellent infection control. You can take recommended vitamins and supplements. You can educate others. You can do this. You will be ok. It’s hard to see grown men so fearful. So unnerving.
I held my breath for each of those PUI cases. We had several over the next couple of weeks. We had to move patients, deep clean rooms, reassign staff, all the while we were still training and working with registry as we built the facility back up.
Each PUI sent my anxiety through the roof. Numbers were growing statewide. Santa Clara county was still number one-NOT a good number one. The news was inundated with Covid. Social media was inundated with Covid.
In the evening I was messaging with nurses I knew from all over-Iowa, SoCal, NorCal, sharing ideas and best practices and reconnecting with some I hadn’t heard from in years. I would come home, strip off my clothes, shower and then hold my husband and my dogs, often breaking down from the exhaustion of it.
I hated that. I didn’t want Mike to have to always hold me up. He was here, in this RV all day with no human contact, but the television that spouted Covid all day and night. I didn’t want to be one more thing on his mind. I didn’t want to be weak, for him, for my staff, for anyone. But damn, the tears came so easily.
I didn’t sleep much those days. I would have nightmares. I would research things we COULD do. I ordered a ton of plastic glad ware containers for better storage of our used N95’s one night after watching a video on FB. I would share ideas with fellow nurses all over. I would read AFL’s-those are All Facilities Letters-directives from the state health department and try to think of how we could meet the latest rules.
Eight days after our resident was confirmed positive, I wrote this on my FB feed,
Everything is moving so fast
Yet time is going so slow
And what I remember as normal
Seems so very, very long ago
Eight days. Most of everything I wrote, all 6 pages up to this point happened inside of those eight days. It was so very surreal. We, Micah, our team and I had lived what felt like months of experiences inside of eight damn days.
I remember those days, lying exhausted in bed and unable to sleep wishing I could just wake up from all of this. How can this be happening? Make it stop.
Each day felt like a week or more. So much was happening, there was so much to be done. So much new information and new directives to process. Each day was at least a week, but flew by in minutes. So surreal.
And through it all, more and more stories of healthy individuals coming down with the virus, healthcare workers dying, Santa Clara county numbers growing.
Maybe two weeks in we got somewhat numb. We had had multiple PUI cases and they were all negative. The county was giving new directives which reduced how much isolation a PUI and exposed roommates would receive-very conflicting data. They were also sending letters letting us know we could not refuse admissions for lack of testing. Funny, every resident we had to send to an essential MD appointment had to be tested prior to the appointment. However, I was not able to insist on testing for residents prior to admission to a nursing home full of highly susceptible elderly individuals? At one point, they sent a letter indicating we may be forced to take positive Covid cases.
Micah had been pretty rock strong through all of this, but this one nearly brought him to a breaking point. We sat in my office. He, Wen, and I and talked it out. I assured Micah we would NOT accept any Covid pts. We had worked too hard to protect Raul, Glenda, Ed and all the other long term residents to be forced to allow this deadly virus in our building. We were still caring for our positive patient and we hadn’t spread it, but it was tough and it was mentally exhausting knowing we were “sleeping with the enemy” every night and hoping we didn’t have one little slip of infection control that could kill most of our population.
Our facility was a union building-for all staff except nurses. I had already planned it out in my head when I saw the AFL indicating we may be forced to take Covid positive patients. I would grab the union aide rep, myself-who had nothing to lose-and one particular outspoken family member I had gotten quite close to and we would notify the media. I would NOT knowingly let this virus in without a fight. How dare they even think of using these people’s home to house infected people. I could not do that. I would not do that. Yet another thing to fear and prepare to battle against. Exhausting.
Meanwhile the media is talking about how easily this virus is spread and how long it lingers on surfaces, and more deadly cases among healthcare worker make the headlines. As I drive to work each day, I see the Home Depot parking lot packed. I pass landscape trucks and beer trucks, and read about people bitching that they can’t fish on social media. I see people breaking the shelter in place orders everywhere I look. I see them finding loopholes-fucking loopholes that may kill my patients. My anger is growing. I’m doing EVERYTHING I can, everything I can think of. This virus is a silent killer of the elderly. It could be anywhere and these people could be spreading it. One staff member makes one mistake at a gas station and I could lose my whole building. Who fucking cares about fishing you selfish pricks!? I’m living my truth at this point and I really don’t care about anyone else’s truth. I CANNOT lose these people. I cannot be a headline. I am not a villain. I love these people and I’m doing all I can.
It was somewhere around this time-a few more days in-maybe weeks-who knows-that we decided to offer groceries for our staff. I had people out searching for eggs, flour, etc. Every time they went to a store, our residents were endangered. We created sign up sheets and offered chicken breasts, eggs, flour, etc. to help our staff and keep them from going out. We preached every day to do all they could do to keep our little cocoon safe. Our residents were not to be feared, they were quarantined. It was the world outside that was a gross danger for them, and for us and our families.
Mike was so awesome. He understood the enormity of the task I had. He never complained. He often held me while I cried and went on and on about the landscapers and the beer trucks. He had opportunities to fish-safely-with friends. I knew he would be in his kayak and would be safe. He wouldn’t go. He knew there was always a chance he could bring it home and pass it to me and it could kill my patients. He stayed home and he supported me.
One day he went to the little convenience store, all masked up. As was normal practice, prior to going, he always asks if I need anything. My usual response is, “a diet coke” and ¾ of the time he forgets it. It’s our long standing joke. He, of course, forgot this time as well. Jokingly, I told him he’d better bring one to my funeral. Something I had said hundreds of times before as a joke, just hit wrong.
While remote, I knew there was somewhat of a chance Mike or I could contract this thing and end up as a headline-one of those rare cases that didn’t make it. I was working right down the hall from it 50-60 hours a week. I broke down…again.
Mike and I don’t pray. I’m agnostic and he is an atheist. We do believe in gratitude and the need to recognize it in our lives. So, each night at dinner we take a minute to reflect on our day and express our gratitude for all of our blessing. It’s like a prayer, but not, that I say every night at dinner. As we bowed our heads that night, my lips quivered and I tried so very hard to just breathe through it and speak and the words would not come out. My body wretched with silent sobs as I squeezed my eyes tighter trying to hold back the pain. I just couldn’t. Quietly Mike spoke, “we’d like to take a minute to reflect on our day….” It was a very powerful moment.
Quietly over the next few days, I made sure he knew where all the passwords and bank account information were located. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t petrified that I would die or he would die. I just needed him to know where things were….in case.
Our central supply manager had just lost her husband. She had driven him to the hospital for cardiac symptoms. She had to drop him at the door. She never saw him alive again. As I understand it, he contracted Covid while hospitalized with the cardiac condition and died. They had just gotten married in December. She buried him weeks later with a maximum of 10 attendees. She dropped him at the ED and never saw him alive again. This is America. How does this happen?
News was leaking out that wasn’t widely shared. Half of the entire Kaiser San Jose hospital was Covid positive. More nursing homes were being affected. Santa Clara county is still number 1. Will it ever end? What will our fate be? What will the fate of my residents be?
We had a nice lull for a minute. No new PUI cases. Staff were stabilizing. We had brought out blue tooth speakers and were playing music at the stations, trying to inject some fun, some levity to our situation. We worked hard during those weeks to finalize a master schedule and get systems stabilized. We were beginning to feel like old pros. Some of the directives coming out we had already implemented.
We had stopped all nebulizer treatments and changed to inhalers to reduce aerosol transmissions. We had taken it steps further and eliminated all the eye drops, inhalers, and nasal sprays we safely could stop or decrease. Anything to keep hands off faces. We were feeling pretty good.
Ed’s transport drivers came one day and as usual went through the screening process. One of them had a fever just over 100. Our system worked. The screener refused to let him past the desk and we notified all parties. We’re good. We’ve got this.
Until we received a call that Ed was being sent to the hospital from the dialysis center. He had become suddenly ill and they believed he had Covid pneumonia. My Ed? Not my Ed! I had done everything I could possibly think of to keep him and Glenda and Raul safe. I had failed. Please fight Ed. I’m so so sorry. I should have done more. I didn’t keep him safe. It was probably THE MOST painful, gut wrenching feeling as a nurse that I have ever had. I’m exhausted-mentally and physically. I’ve lost weight, I’m not sleeping well and my patient may have Covid despite all we did. Had we gotten lax? Where was the breach? He could have gotten it at the dialysis center. How can I keep my dialysis residents safe? Was Ed always masked when he visited at a social distance with Glenda and Raul? How many more? Who’s next?
We got the call a day or two later. Ed had died. We were still awaiting test results. I sat in my office and sobbed. Wen broke social distancing and hugged me. He knew I felt responsible for Ed. I was defeated. Everything we had worked for was to protect Ed and I failed. I wasn’t much of a leader that day.
As I drove home, I called my friend and coworker, Lisa who was a regional nurse with the company. I’ve no doubt I sounded like a huge mess. Lisa talked me down. She helped me refocus on what I could do and what an impossible task we nursing home staff were charged with trying to accomplish. How do you keep the ultra-vulnerable safe from a potentially invisible killer? Lisa was often my voice of reason. As a nurse she understood the challenges we faced and since she wasn’t on the front lines at that point, she could separate the emotions and craziness better. I’ll be forever grateful for her.
Of course, once I got home and Mike saw my face, the tears came again. I felt so very responsible for Ed. My whole, entire mission was to keep them safe. I had failed I had failed and Ed had died. Alone. He was all alone. My friend died alone. And it was my fault. Not really, but my heart could not let that go.
I received a text from one of my LVN’s that night, Rachelle, that helped me more than she will ever know. She had seen my tear stained face and felt compelled to reach out to me that evening. While I don’t have her exact words, she said something like I don’t know exactly what caused you to have so very much pain and I wish I could say something to take it away but when I saw your face today it confirmed what I already knew, how much you care and I thank you so much for that. Rachelle may never know how very much her words meant to me that night. The support of Mike and all the staff at the facility-Micah, Cindy, Susan who made me hot lemon tea with ginseng and lemon grass every day to stay safe, Wen, Cesar, Rachelle, Teresa-that’s what helped me get through this. They will forever be my family.
During the weeks the panic was growing, I thought often of leaving. Mike doesn’t have the best lungs. His sisters have both had cancer and he was a smoker for many years. We had started this life to LIVE. We had grandbabies to see. We had no debt. We didn’t need the money. We could be far away from everyone in the desert in a couple of hours and be free from all of this.
We both knew we couldn’t do that. I had made a commitment and I could not leave these people. Neither of us would be able to live with a choice to run. Even though I put him at risk every day that I worked. Just breathe, practice good infection control and keep going. That was all there was to do. With the focus from the media and nothing else on social media, this virus consumed every waking moment of our lives.
When I heard Ed had tested negative, I could not believe it! Post mortem tests were completed as well and he was negative. That extremely heavy weight was lifted. I didn’t have to live with this failure any longer. I had still lost a friend, who had died so sadly alone, but not because I could not keep him safe.
We used Ed’s death as a wake up call. We reinvested our efforts to practice and coach extreme, quality infection control. We could not be caught sleeping. We need to be ever diligent and aware of all the potential risks.
I turned 50 on April 10, 2020. It felt like it was months after our patient had tested positive for Covid but in reality, it was just a few weeks later. While we had planned a big party out of town, clamming and crabbing at the ocean, I spent it at work, hair graying, contact lenses put away for now-shouldn’t touch eyes, no make-up-gets the mask dirty. Not exactly how I had wanted to ring in the big 5-0.
The staff went out of their way to make my day special! We had cake, a surprise happy birthday serenade, and the rehab department gave me a fresh N95 mask. Susan, the Dietary Manager gave me eggs and some flour. It was one of the most special birthdays of my life. These simple things we take for granted so often were truly appreciated and I had genuine gratitude for the love around me that day.

The other “gift” we all received that day was that our patient who had tested positive for Covid and had been in our facility for just over a month, safely went home. We were no longer “sleeping with the enemy” Now all we had to do was keep our cocoon safe. One less huge risk factor gone. Great Birthday!
We had interviewed and hired a DON who was supposed to start just after my birthday. I would complete my assignment around April 22nd. We could see the light at the end of the tunnel and it looked like we ALL-my staff, my residents, and my husband-were going to get through this intact, alive, albeit a little more battle scarred.
The DON was a no-call, no-show. Who does that? Why? She made it through one week of off site orientation and never came back. She text her recruiter and said she didn’t think she could make a difference and only a nurse would understand. This was a highly educated-working on her doctorate-nurse in her late 50’s to early 60’s. Damn it, I am a nurse and I do not understand. She had us all snowed. I was certain she was going to provide the leadership this young team needed.
I agreed to stay on until May 1, 2020. Our site rental was up on the 1st, so we had a place to live until then, I might as well continue to work.
Through this 10 week nightmare, we had managed to hire and retain 14 nurses. We hired some of the most amazing young minds. We used our last agency nurse on April 11, 2020. As I completed the May schedule, there were no vacancies-and NO registry. We had a small on call nurse pool trained and ready. The building was cleaner than it had been in years, and we had kept Covid out.
My last day was so tough for me. I had met and loved so many wonderful people. We had gone through something together that only we could ever understand. I get it when old military men don’t talk about the war. You just can’t explain your truth to those who never experienced. It. Being with them all of those weeks, drawing strength from one another, was what got us all through it. While Mike knew A LOT, he could never know what we felt on those front lines.
We did not face what the ICU nurses faced. We did not face what New York City faced. It was different. It was not more. It was not less either. Each of us, throughout the world, have lived a different Covid truth these past few months. Some hardly affected at all, some profoundly affected.

Just before I left, someone left a beautiful orchid on my desk No one would confess. There was no card. Finally, as I was leaving and saying good bye to everyone, I learned where it had come from. Bea.
Bea is one of our older restorative aides. She’s a big, beautiful, warm woman who wears a white smock over her uniform every day. As I told her good bye and thanked her for everything, she became tearful. She hadn’t realized I was only interim staff. She said, I had hoped you’d be here forever. I just put the orchid on your desk to make it nice in there. I told her I had been trying to solve the orchid mystery for days and thanked her for it. She said, all these years, you were the first to really care about us. No one had asked me how I was doing every day like you do. Wow. Thank you, Bea. I will miss you.
I am so proud of the team I survived Covid alongside. This is one of the finest groups of people I have ever met. I love all of you and wish you all of the best as you continue to navigate these dark waters. While I may never speak or see some of you again, you will always be a part of what makes up me.
My fear is that media will not shine fairly on nursing homes. We, the staff who care for the old and forgotten, are not villains. We are doing the very best we can in a very uncertain and unstable world. We have not been given a fair chance with this invisible virus. Our patient had no symptoms. Had she not been tested; she could have taken out our whole population without even realizing it. We got lucky she happened to be tested. We are the last to get PPE. We are not able to request testing prior to admitting a patient. We are receiving patients with questionable test results. We live knowing every day the outside world is not taking the precautions we so desperately need them to take so that we can get safely to and from work every day and avoid infecting our residents. I’m not sure what the world expects of nursing homes but the staff are doing all they can to ensure safety. Please show them the same gratitude you’re showing the hospitals and other medical settings. Our patients are the MOST vulnerable.
There is so much more. So many little moments that are burnt into my soul that only a very few could ever understand. I guess I have a little case of PTSD. This journey will not define me, but it will forever be part of me. It has changed me. There are moments of reflection and tears still to this day. I am grateful for it. I think I have a higher level of compassion and a truer sense of what is really important to me. I am grateful for the people who came into my life and my heart through this. And I’m grateful my tour of duty has been completed. I check in often and keep this team close to my heart. They are strong and still Covid free. May they get through this stronger and better than ever. May we all.

We left Mission Bay RV resort making sure we had a tank full of water and one full of propane and empty waste tanks around noon. We weren’t going too far so we took our time getting ready, making sure to take one last, long hot shower before disconnecting and emptying tanks. We enjoyed Mission Bay so much we made reservations for November, December, and January before we left.
It costs around $350 per month to reserve a site; however, they do have a pretty reasonable cancellation policy. Any cancellation within 24 hours or greater costs only a $25 fee; if cancelling at less than 24 hours, cost is one night’s camping fee. Some might consider this steep, but to ensure we have an amazing site during the holidays, it was worth it to us to put out a little over a $1000 in deposits. If it doesn’t work out, I’m only out $75 at most.
Our first travel day was a pretty short one. We drove across highway 8 to Yuma, Arizona and found a spot on BLM land behind the VFW. Here’s a link sharing what the area behind the VFW is like. https://www.campendium.com/yuma-vfw

There are LOTS of boon docking places in Yuma, as well as full hook up campgrounds and seasonal sites for purchase. Yuma is one of the hot spots for the snow birders to spend the winter months. While there were some spaces along the way that looked to be a little more entertaining, I had made arrangements to have our rig serviced near Yuma and the VFW was a good spot for our mechanic to come and work.
I found Mobile RV Maintenance from a fellow Tiffin owner on Facebook. Vince Sheetz is a member of Tiffin Motorhome Owners Group and is often online helping other owner’s trouble shoot and figure things out. While I’ve never met Vince, he’s helped us remotely with little things like when we had to reset our generator breaker, or couldn’t figure out our automatic generator system, and I respect his mechanical knowledge. I strongly recommend finding a group for your particular RV on FB or other social media. The knowledge we have gained from our Tiffin groups has been so very, very valuable!

At any rate, I put out a request on our Tiffin page asking about quality, affordable service in the Yuma area and Vince recommended Mobile RV Maintenance.
Because winter time is the busy time, I scheduled an appointment with Jim about a week before we left Mission Bay. Since we knew we would be boon docking but not quite sure where, Jim requested the VFW BLM land and we obliged.
We arrived on a Saturday afternoon and there were several rigs set up in the back lot. It was nothing special, just a dirt lot near the railroad tracks and a highway. The VFW was closed while we were there but I heard they have some nice dinners and music from time to time.
The lot was level and while there were some areas to drive further back in the land and find some trees, we stayed toward the front on a nice level area so Jim could do his work easily.

Verizon service was great for us and we got local channels via the antenna and good streaming speeds on Sling. All good. We’d hunker down for the weekend and Jim would arrive Monday morning to service Reva Mae.
There is a neat little tunnel under the train, and then another under the highway. I could stand up fully under both of these tunnels, but not much more head clearance than that. Once under the tracks and the highway, the area is wide open for ATV riding, or in my case, hiking around with the dogs.
The campground had several rigs with ATV’s and they would head out in the morning to explore the area and return in the afternoon.
Louie, Kiya and I got to stretch our legs a bit, running off leash in the vast desert, even got lost once and had to use Siri to find our way back. We had a good time! One afternoon I noticed our friend Dolores had posted her location as Yuma! (Dolores and her husband were family friends with my in laws. They camped together as young parents. She’s been full timing with her second husband for a few years now. They spend part of the winter in Yuma, visiting Mexico for dental work, etc.)
I messaged Dolores and we made arrangements to get together and visit. You never know when you’re going to get a chance to see friends! How nice!
Dolores and Larry came by and spent an afternoon with us in the Yuma desert. They recently purchased a home base in Rigby, Idaho and are waiting for the weather to clear to head home for the spring and summer. One day we’ll have to find a spot for a home base as well. But for now, we love not have anything to have to manage.

Jim arrived promptly at 0800 as promised. He comes to your RV-even on BLM land-and completes service right where you’re parked. We had just serviced our generator, so Jim changed Reva’s oil, fuel filter and lubed the chassis. We put our rear jacks up a bit for him, other than that, he had all the safety equipment and proper disposal items. Inside of an hour, we had our service completed and Jim had about 3 more appointments from fellow boon dockers who saw what he was doing and were quite intrigued It was our first engine service and we paid just under $400. From what I’m told, that’s pretty reasonable for a diesel. The web- surfing I did show a low of $480 and prices as high as $700. For the convenience of a mobile service that Jim provides, we will definitely be back. He did an excellent job and showed us the old original fuel filter that had not yet been replaced by the original owners-we got Reva with very low miles. If you’re camping in the area and need his service, here’s Jim’s website: https://www.mobilervmaintenance.com/service. We found him to be a very honest mechanic who did great work. Not something one can always find these days. (Of note, Jim does have a special permit that allows him to do this type of work on BLM land)
One day as we sat around Reva, doing our usual surfing/tv, etc., I heard a knock at the door. We don’t often get visitors! Well, it was Girl Scout cookie season! Those pushers will track you down everywhere! You can run but you cannot hide! A very cute little girl scout had loaded up her wagon with her little sis and her momma and they were peddling their wares at the BLM lot. Of course, I couldn’t say no. Who can? It’s not every day you can get Girl Scout cookies delivered in the desert! What a fun memory we’ll have!

It was windy on the 4th. Very windy! We decided to stick around another day to let it die down a bit. I went into town and got groceries and gas in Yeep. This semi-trailer was blown over right next to the gas station in Yuma where I was getting fuel. We chose to wait it out.

We left February 5th and drove about 270 miles north on US 95 to Hoover Dam Lodge. I found this site again on Campendium. Here’s a link; https://www.campendium.com/hoover-dam-lodge-hotel-casino along with a link to the casino; https://hooverdamlodge.com/

This was a GREAT boon docking space. We found a nice level site near the back of the parking lot, close to a fence. This allowed us to be out of any vehicle pathways AND get all of our slides out! It has a nice sized, overflow parking area and while there we saw probably 4-5 folks with trailers/motorhomes and several semi’s who stopped over for the night. There is trail access to the Historic Railroad trail -it is a climb back up-but I was in pretty good shape when we stayed here. Here is a link; https://www.nps.gov/lake/planyourvisit/hikerr.htm

The trail itself is about 7.5 miles round trip and very level-the hike down to the trail from the Hoover Dam Lodge and Casino is a nice work out. Once on the actual trail, it’s very wide and flat. I met a lot of people of varying degrees of fitness walking the trail over the next 2 days. The views are amazing. I kept trying to take pictures of the mountainsides to share all the amazing colors I was seeing. None of my cameras did justice for what my eyes could see. The weather was perfect and the views amazing on this leisurely 7.5 mile hike. The train tunnels are delightful to walk through. I felt so small. They are just huge. They are 300 feet long and 25 feet in diameter. They were built large to accommodate large sections of the dam and heavy equipment that was being transported via rail. I really enjoyed my 2 days of hiking on this trail. As did Kiya and Louie. There was enough color and water to wash the last few days in the dry desert off of my soul.

Hoover Dam Lodge and Casino is quite the unique place. The location next to the dam was perfect for us and the fact that they allow boon docking for up to several days in their parking lot was definitely a win!
We went in to the casino to check in –“no problem, go ahead and camp in that parking lot” then went off to get our player’s club card. It was my first time ever to have a staff tell us not to bother getting a card. They offered no specials for card members and I really think the guy didn’t want to deal with the hassle of signing someone up.

The place was nearly dead. I realize it was a weekday during February, but still. Very quiet here. There were several different restaurants, each with a different theme -Chinese, Mexican, sports bar, etc. We chose the Big Horn Café for dinner. Food was good, I got a massive burger and fries for $10. Since we weren’t playing at all, we tipped well and headed back to Reva for a quiet evening.

Our friend Tim was meeting us on the 6th at Willow Beach to do some fishing. He had come up a few days prior to boat fish with a friend from the area. Mike called to let him know where we were and see if he was still coming up. Low and behold, Tim was staying AT Hoover Dam Lodge-the very casino we had just had dinner and were parked for the night. His buddy had gotten sick and he checked in here to wait it out until he could meet us at Willow Beach. If only Mike had made the call a little earlier, we could have saved him the hotel costs. We met up at the casino and hung out for the evening in Reva, planning the fishing excursions for the next few days.

Willow Beach Campground and RV park is only about 12 miles away from Hoover Dam. It’s down a steep canyon and you will lose cell service. There is just none once you hit a certain point on the drive in to the canyon.
The campground looks brand new. I’ve never seen a cleaner campground. The spaces between sites are good and the concrete is just plain NEW! Each site comes with a stone picnic table and a fire ring and the RV sites have full hook ups. We paid $137 for 5 days with our discounts. From what I recall hearing at check in, the senior discount is even greater-maybe as much as 50%-I couldn’t find information to confirm this searching on line but I do recall thinking, “Next time the reservation will be in Tim’s name-he’s over 65” 😊 Our AAA gave us quite a discount, as will Good Sam’s and some others.

I met several campers during our days at Willow Beach. A lot of snow birds come for months at a time during the winter. The only draw-back is cell service/internet is non- existent. They do have a subscription service for internet for $15/week or $30/month. I bought the week package and it was pretty good-except it was just for one device-there was no way -at least that I could find-to share between devices.
While there was a lot of interesting hiking around, we were once again on restriction-I had over done the desert walking with Lou Dog and his pads were a bit tore up, so short walks and rest. Louie, Kiya, and I just love to go, go, go. Someday I might learn….or we’ll keep up our feast vs famine exercise, who knows?! LOL!
The grounds around the campground are entertaining and the dogs had a great time watching all the bunnies, birds, and bugs around. I would like to do some more in depth hiking on our next trip.

The campground sits about a half mile uphill from the marina and boat launch. While the views overlooking the Colorado river are spectacular, it’s not right ON the water as other reviewers had pointed out. It would be quite a hike down to the water. Or an easy drive.

Tim spent a couple of nights with us and he fished from shore while Mike kayak fished. The timing was off so no real big fish. Apparently Willow Beach is known for large striped bass and trout. It wasn’t in the cards this trip. We would have loved to spend more time here, but it does get booked up quite a ways out. As I mentioned, snow birds like to spend months here in the winter-great price, great views, great weather, full hook ups. Who can blame them?
One thing we did learn was to book extra time for the places we’d like to fish/kayak. We have a big trip coming up this summer-fishing trip of a lifetime, Mike calls it. He will be fishing Lake McConaughy (again), Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, and then some lakes in Montana, I think. We’re planning to book 2 weeks at each of the Great Lakes to hopefully get at least one epic day of fishing at each spot. Weather and the fish can make or break a trip- a fishing trip anyway.
Bonus for staying longer at each site, I get to hike around and explore more and hopefully stay on top of my blogging! All good for me! Week long stays are often discounted at private campgrounds. State parks are already so cheap, how can you not stay a week?

After Tim left, Mike fished another day with only small fish so he broke down his fishing gear and he and I did some kayaking. The Colorado River is a GREAT river to kayak. It’s so beautiful! I’m still getting my endurance up with the peddle kayak and learning so we stayed close to the marina but one day, I’ll be able to get out and explore it more. Just another reason to come back!
We left February 10 and headed to Bakersfield to see our brother in law Mike Whitney. We arranged our route so we could travel across the top of the Mojave National Preserve and drive along Joshua Tree Highway. Did you know Joshua trees are not really trees but rather succulents? They were named by early Mormon settlers who were reminded on Joshua lifting his arms to the heavens when they saw these plants. Now ya know! It was a peaceful drive. Not a lot of traffic and we managed to park Reva along the street by Mike’s home mid- afternoon. We got to catch up a bit and have a nice meal from a local burger joint together before we headed out. Mike wanted to get to the home area (Sacramento) yet that night so we shoved off late afternoon.

Our first issue arose early yet. It was daylight as I recall. We were driving along just fine and suddenly Reva lost all power. Panic-always, still panic when something goes wrong. So scary. Mike was able to steer Reva to an off ramp and we were safely on the shoulder, shut down. After the initial panic, you go into diagnosis mode and looking around. Easy peasy this time-we ran out of DEF. We learned the first half of the gauge lasts forever-those last couple of lights-goes quickly! Fortunately, there was gas station with a convenience store right at the end of the exit ramp. A quick walk to the store and back and we were back on the road. Grateful and relieved! Whew! I will always make sure we have a bottle of DEF on board from here forward.
We drove a while longer and suddenly, a warning light comes on and we lost power, AGAIN! WTF? This time the dashboard showed “low coolant” and was shutting down. We were not so lucky to get fully off of the freeway this time. Mike did get over to the shoulder at the edge of the exit ramp before she shut down. We were very close to a guard rail and it was dark and we were in Stockton. Looking back, we should have just called for help-we have 2 roadside assistance plans. BUT-it sounded like an easy fix-low coolant? Mike slipped between the rail and the RV and went back to see what he could do. Had our RV been struck, he could have been smashed between the rail and the rig. I’ve seen so many videos of similar instances. We were not wise. He got the premixed antifreeze from the basement-antifreeze in RV’s is pink- and added to a reservoir and we were off again. It was risky and stupid, but we were moving again. It only took like a ½ cup he said. Reva is very sensitive to her fluid levels-I guess that’s a good thing.
About 30 minutes down the road, we again got a low coolant warning. We were able to get into a gas station lot safely before powering down and take a good look and do some research. Well, apparently the low coolant indicator can be a bugger and shutting down and restarting the key 3 times can reset. We did that and all was good and we got on our way again.
Finally pulled in to Thunder Valley Casino near Sacramento very late and hit the bed. What an exhausting day! BUT we are safe and all is good-or so we thought!
After a good night’s rest, we got to looking at things and realized what we had THOUGHT was the coolant reservoir, was actually the power steering fluid reservoir. There is no real overflow reservoir for coolant on this diesel pusher. We had added coolant to our power steering fluid. Uh-oh.
I made some calls to mobile and diesel mechanics and got many mixed messages. Mike was able to drain the reservoir and replace with fresh fluid. I got three responses that the amount he added shouldn’t matter and draining the reservoir should be enough. We’re not mechanics, we didn’t know but went with the majority and let it be for now. (We did get the system flushed out and replaced all the fluid as a precaution-we need Reva to be tip top for years to come so we try to do all the recommended maintenance timely)
We spent a few days at Thunder Valley. Hannah came over from Chico and spent a couple of days with us. I miss her so much! I was able to get my hair done by my favorite and long time hairdresser, Sara at Folsom Care Center.
I had also been planning a tattoo for quite some time and was excited to have Kevin Phillips Jr. from Body and Soul complete it for me.
Kevin is a young tattoo apprentice and the son of some good, long term friends of ours, Wendy and Kevin. I had been watching his work grow and improve on the internet and I knew he could do a great job on my tattoo for my Hannah Bees.

He did a watercolor bee on my foot with pink and purple flowers. When Hannah was a little girl, she drove me crazy with “pink and purple, pink and purple” She never had ONE favorite color, always pink and purple. It’s a perfect tattoo for my Bees and he did an amazing job! I cannot wait to watch him grow in his work! Already planning another one with this talented young man. Here is a link to his place and his work. He was so reasonable priced as an apprentice! Won’t be long before he is getting top $. https://www.facebook.com/pg/BodySoulTattoo/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2643745632339308&ref=page_internal.

We saw some friends, traded out some fishing gear at the storage unit, both got our hair done, pedicure and tattoo and quality time with Bees and it was time to head to Redwood City for my next assignment. While I was supposed to be training a DON initially when I accepted the job, she had since resigned. I would be acting DON instead while they searched for a permanent leader. We headed out February 15th to start this new gig in Santa Clara county on February 19th. We’d have a few days to explore the area before starting work on Tuesday and in a few short weeks we’d be off on a great adventure. Only 10 weeks in the Bay area….what could possibly go wrong?

Pyramid Lake is, as I’ve said before, kind of our second home. We’ve been camping here for years and I love the peacefulness of it. My poor Bees has had to celebrate her birthday early or late as opening day for Lahontan cutthroat trout is October 1st every year.

This was the first year we parked Reva Mae on the beach at Lawson’s Landing. We were able to get her level and have amazing lake access right there on the beach. It felt like all the times we used to bring the pick up camper up for a long weekend. At night, and sometimes during the day, the wind can blow fiercely at Pyramid. The lake sounds like the ocean when the wind blows. For me, I’ve always loved being inside a camper during storms. I feel so close to the danger yet so safe at the same time.

Our friend Len came up and spent a night with us before heading to meet the rest of the Fresh n Salty gang at Warrior beach. We had a nice meal at Crosby’s Lodge and enjoyed some time catching up. I love it when friends come to visit!
Len spent one night with us, then Jimmy and Cassie came up for the weekend to fish. Since Warrior Beach was pretty dead, several of the members did make their way over to our beach and spent a day fishing there. Our friends, Ted and Lori from SoCal, made the trek and I was so excited that Ted caught a massive trout right away!

Everyone caught nice trout-even the little guy the hubby took on the back of his kayak. It was nice to spend time with friends! We had a posole and taco feast one night with homemade hot chocolate around the bonfire, then an awesome breakfast with the crew before they headed out. I do love our Blackstone griddle for feeding the masses! Ted manned the morning griddle while Mike took the little man fishing and I think both of them had a great time. Ted makes some good French toast!

Mike and I spent two weeks on the beach, dry camping, then moved into the RV park for a week. It was nice to have hook ups and get the laundry done. We enjoyed some long, hot showers and got Reva’s insides cleaned.

We also got to attend our friend Rick’s 65 birthday party at the RV park. Rick lives at Pyramid Lake full time in an RV. He has such beautiful permanently brown skin and a gorgeous mane of completely white hair. Rick is amazing. He would do anything for anyone and enjoys a simple, quiet life. When we first started out, we came to Pyramid and we were trying to get everything put away. We realized early on that the beloved wash tub we had used for a fire pit for many years of pick-up camping wasn’t going to fit in our RV. Not wanting it to go to waste, Mike gave it to Rick. Every time we come back to the lake; Rick delivers the old wash tub to our campsite for us to use while we’re visiting. Sometimes he even brings us wood. He’s that kind of guy. Love Rick. It was nice to attend his birthday pot luck and meet some of the regulars at the RV park.

I also spent the time putting feelers out and applying for jobs. Often times, facilities aren’t looking for interim directors. They are looking for full time, permanent staff. Who can blame them? That is the ideal situation. I do send my resume and contact information to those looking for permanent staff, letting them know I can help for a few months without involving any staffing agency. So far, I’ve been blessed to find assignments VERY quickly. That’s one of the perks of working in an industry that is not always appealing to many nurses. I love skilled nursing and couldn’t imagine doing anything else, but many cannot handle the negative stigma and the massive regulatory obligations that go along with this type of work.

I was able to secure a 3 month assignment in……La Jolla! Yes! We had made a reservation on Mission Bay before we left the area in September, hoping we’d get a gig and we did! This time we were going to be right on the water AND only 10 miles from work! I fell in love with San Diego on our last trip. I met lasting friends and just enjoy EVERYTHING about San Diego area. It has the best laid back vibe. It’s what I now call my third home!

We left Pyramid Lake on October 22nd. Our 3 week stay there cost us less than $300 in camping fees, which included the week at the park with full hook ups. They have propane available at Crosby’s Lodge so we made sure to fill up before we headed out.

We spent a few days at Red Hawk casino boon docking in their back parking lot as we have before. It’s in a nice location to see old friends from home and switch out things in our storage unit. Because we had over a week before we needed to be in SoCal yet, we divided our time between Red Hawk casino and Thunder Valley casino. Thunder Valley is very level and much more accommodating to RV’ers. Both have great buffets and we make sure to eat at the casinos several times during our stays since we don’t really gamble. Full tanks, a hot spot for WIFI and an 8K generator make boon docking anywhere very comfortable.
We left very late at night on October 31st so that we could beat any city traffic and get to Mission Bay timely. There are huge parking lots right across the street from Mission Bay RV resort that open to public parking at 0400 every day. We timed our trip so that we could get to the parking lot right at 0400. This way we got through LA before all the crazy commuter traffic. Then we slept a few hours until check in and drove across the street to our new home for a while!

When we arrived, we discovered a bit of a major glitch. Mission Bay has some different policies regarding stays. What I had thought was a 3 month reservation, was only a 30 day reservation. At Mission Bay, you are allowed to initially book a 30 day stay. Then ALL new patrons MUST vacate for at least 24 hours. After that, you are allowed to book up to a 90 day stay. This policy helps them vet their patrons and ensures a good stay for all. I get that. BUT, when we arrived and realized we only had 30 days, it was a bit of a concern!
While Mission Bay has pretty good availability in the winter months, December is TOUGH to get a spot if not booked early. There are boats with light parades and lots of special holiday activities on the Bay during the holidays. We were unable to book for December but did get January locked in. We would have to go back to San Diego RV Resort about 10 miles away in La Mesa for December, then return to Mission Bay for January.

I was quite disappointed in the beginning, but I was hopeful I would see my little friend Ivy in La Mesa and maybe do something special for her and her brothers for Christmas. So, I quickly thought of the change as a blessing in disguise. She had been so upset the day we left. It would be good to see her again. Maybe I’d even get a chance to see my dear homeless friend at the train station by the park. Okay, we can handle this. No big deal.
Mission Bay RV park was just a basic parking lot with hook ups, but it is RIGHT on the bay. At one time there had been a mobile home park there as well-owned by the city, I think. There was some type of battle between city/county/state governments and the park had to close. The result was many abandoned trailers left to rot in the sea air.

There is a nice trail that loops around these old homes. In the beginning it was kind of creepy to walk around them. But, after a while of realizing the RV park had good security, it became interesting to look at them and imagine the people who had lived there full time or had them as vacation homes. Some of them had had some amazing landscaping and looked like they were very nice. It was a snapshot in time that had been forgotten.
There is another campground on the bay called Campland. Campland has purchased Mission Bay RV park AND has leased the land where the mobile homes sit. They will be removing all of the trailers and creating additional camping sites.

Campland is more of a family touristy camp ground with ALL of the amenities-arcades, pools, restaurants, marina, rentals, etc. It is quite the place. Whereas Mission Bay RV only has restrooms and a laundry room. I liked Mission Bay better myself. It was quieter and closer to the parks along the Bay. Campers at Mission Bay are allowed to utilize all of the Campland amenities now that they own both campgrounds.
My first day at Mission Bay-having slept very little-the dogs and I walked over 7 miles along the bay. It was so beautiful and amazing!
We had a super-size site for the month of November. We were able to see the Bay but otherwise nothing special. In the winter, these sites run $1240/month plus taxes and fees. Only one vehicle is allowed per site, even if 2 will fit. It’s an extra $125/month to park the added car in the overflow lot.
We did rent another car from Dirt Cheap Car Rentals again. A little Nissan Leaf we affectionately named The Blueberry. If you rent for 3 months, there’s an even better discount so the car was $1125 for 3 months. That’s only $375/month and includes all insurance, taxes and fees with zero deductible. Love that option in San Diego. Monthly car rentals can be so expensive! It got great mileage and was actually pretty roomy. At one point we had 5 people in it. Not too awful for room and the hatch folded down so it was easily to take dogs and haul groceries.

One negative that happened right after we arrived was the washing machine quit working. So weird. I did a load just fine and went to load the second load and nothing! We did do some trouble shooting with a tech from the company via phone but it appears the mother board may need to be replaced. In order to do this, the closet door and all the trim needs to be removed. Then the dryer that sits on top needs to be lifted out and set aside. Once that is done, the washing machine needs to be lifted directly upward about a foot then it can be removed and fixed. It’s like they built the motorhome around the machine. Ugh! Luckily there was on site laundry facilities so we decided to get settled and worry about that later. Definitely not the end of the world.

I started my assignment on November 4th. It was a new company to me and a very unusual building. It was a 59 bed completely skilled facility. All short term rehab, no long term patients and no mediCal residents at all. It was connected to a 20 plus story luxury apartment complex for seniors that served oysters Rockefeller as appetizers for tenants-I know because our clients who lived in the apartments were able to order meals from their homes-fancy shmancy.
I was able to reconnect with the friends I made this past summer and we did a hike around Lake Miramar. Lake Miramar is a reservoir in San Diego that is open to the public for fishing, kayaking, picnicking, etc. It has a nice, level 4.9 mile trail around it that is an easy walk with great scenery. Dogs are welcome. It’s busy on weekends, but was beautiful and a nice place to reconnect with friends.

With the car rental, Mike was free to explore the area while I was at work and found a GREAT spot for our fur babies to get some much needed exercise. Fiesta Island is an amazing peninsula in Mission Bay that has quite the history.
At one point it had been a spot to dump excess dirt, sewer sludge, and a landfill. The area has been designated as a bird species refuge and has a youth aquatic center as well as one of the largest off leash dog parks I’ve ever seen. In addition to the designated dog park, there are tons of areas for the dogs to run off leash and enjoy chasing rabbits and the like. There is an area for speed boats to come in with ramps etc. for water skiers to practice their jumps and tricks. People are allowed to have huge bonfires on the beaches. It’s really a very unique place. We saw people bringing horses and riding around, rowing teams practicing, new shiny campers and old ones that had seen better days. Kite fliers, parasailing, and all sorts of things. We spent many days at Fiesta Island during our time in San Diego. Here’s a link with some great images of the area. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60750-d3531365-Reviews-Fiesta_Island-San_Diego_California.html.

Mike also spent a lot of time at Fast Lane Kayaking and Sailing shop. Buying a Hobie kayak is merely your initial investment. There is ALWAYS some type of upgrade or new piece of gear to be checked out. He was able to get a great deal on a one time used live well from these guys. They sponsor fishing trips where they rent out their Hobie kayaks decked out with equipment, then they sell these kayaks and the equipment at a reduced cost.
During one of Mike’s many window shopping/research trips to Fast Lane he found me a great deal on my own Hobie kayak. I was able to get a 2019 Hobie Compass with an upgraded drive (has forward and reverse options) for a great price! It’s the same color as Mike’s outback, just a bit smaller and MUCH lighter-if you ask me. So, that was my gift to myself-my own kayak. I had no idea how much peddling would take out of me. Since I walk so much, I assumed peddle kayaking would be a piece of cake. It is not. It’s definitely something one has to work up a tolerance and strength to manage and it’s NOT easy on the back. I’m glad I found another exercise outlet I can grow in and enjoy with the hubs. I name EVERYTHING! So….my kayak’s name is……Galileo. Galileo because it’s a Hobie Compass! I do think I’m going to enjoy spending time with Galileo!

I hiked Cowles’ mountain for the first time that November. My new friend, and co-worker, Sara Showalter also loves to hike and was happy to haul my butt up the mountain. We hiked the east side which is around 3 miles I think with an average 11% grade. There are grades of 29% and the total elevation is nearly 900 ft. The summit is 1578 feet-the highest point in San Diego. At the top it’s possible to see San Diego, Tijuana, the ocean; it’s pretty amazing! It is part of Mission Trails Regional Park and there are several challenging hikes on different mountains throughout this park. I hope to complete all 5 peaks one day. The park system has a cool challenge that is drawing to an end. The first 15000 participants who complete all 5 peaks get a certificate and a pin for climbing all of the peaks. Even if I don’t make the first 15,000, I’m hoping to be able to say I climbed them all!

We finished November at Mission Bay celebrating Thanksgiving in a new “empty nest” sort of way. We went to an upscale dine in movie theater in La Jolla, The Lot. The Lot has a hoity toity restaurant attached to the movie theater and serves meals during your cinematic experience. Mike had street tacos-which were not assembled-ever tried putting a taco together in a dark theater- and I had a burger and fries. It was pricey and not very good. However, the recliners were very comfortable and I would definitely recommend it as a movie experience. Just skip the pricey meal! They offer popcorn and “regular” movie food items as well as meals-go for the popcorn. It was odd to not be with family-we had spent last year camped outside our niece’s home in Chico and got to spend a week with Hannah. Not totally awful, but definitely odd and an adventure-not awful at all, just different.

We got a huge rain storm that weekend-unusual amounts of rain for SoCal. While we were fine at Mission Bay RV, the San Diego RV resort we were heading to on December 1st didn’t fare as well.
There’s a little drainage creek that flows behind the RV park. We had enjoyed being backed up to it the previous summer. Well, with the debris in this ditch/creek and the heavy rains, the water came up and overflowed the banks. All of the RV’s that had been parked along this area were destroyed with only moments warning.
We drove through the weekend before we had to move to check out the damage. There were several people there we had met over the summer that lost the only home they had. One gentleman said he had to wade through waist high water to pry open his door to save his 2 dogs. Another lady, Tammy, had been so proud to have her new trailer this past summer. She had lived in a much smaller rig and had upgraded to a large park model. I spoke with her often as I had to pass by her place to walk the dogs. Her trailer was ruined. As were so many more. Our former neighbor, Michelle, had water damage, but not a complete loss. It was so sad. I didn’t see little Ivy’s motorhome anywhere. I learned, after asking around, that her family had just left days before the storm. They had moved in with her grandmother to save money. I was relieved for them, but sad, knowing that day last fall when she cried as I left might very well be the last time I ever saw her. We never know do we?

We were fortunate not ALL of the park was flooded and we still had a spot for the month of December-NOT near the creek. We did keep an eye on that creek during our month there. We were in a row we could quickly drive out if needed. Luckily, there weren’t any more flash flood rainfalls during our time there.
While it was a bit more of a commute, Ivy and her family were gone, and a lot of the park was torn up due to the floods, it was kind of nice to be back in La Mesa. It’s really got a small town feel for me. We knew the area so well. Our favorite doughnut shop-Yum Yum Donuts and our favorite Mexican dive restaurant, Cilantro’s were right around the corner. The small, but clean Safeway store was nearby. It was good to be back for a minute. We vowed to have Cilantro’s every Taco Tuesday while we were in La Mesa. Their $1 adobado tacos are DELISH! The carne asada fries are great too!

While Hannah used the holidays to make some extra money, working that holiday pay, we did get a nice surprise when my niece Nicci came down to stay with us a couple of days. Her oldest was helping transport a horse from Tennessee to California and Nicci needed to pick her up in LA for Christmas. So, she and her other 2 girls came down and spent a couple of days with us. It’s always fun to have people over. We had Cilantro tacos and caught up on life. What a nice surprise!
Mike and I took a field trip one weekend while in La Mesa. We drove to Desert View Tower in Jacumba, CA. It was less than an hour from La Mesa and one of those oddities that are awesome to find but not the usual tourist trap. It’s not a destination. Not something one would drive across country to see, yet so interesting that I’m glad we found it.

Desert View Tower is a 70 ft stone tower with a spiraling staircase to the top. Inside the tower is a vast collection of artifacts, antiques, and “junk” to peruse and/or purchase as you round to the top. It was reportedly built between 1920-1928 by the owner of the town, Bert Vaughn and has had many owners over the years. It was used in WWII as a watch tower to ensure Nazi’s didn’t enter the US via Mexico. The border wall can be seen from the tower, as can Palm Springs and the vast desert floor.

The other cool attraction at Desert View Tower is the Boulder Park. For your $6.50 entrance fee, one gets to climb the tower and gets unlimited access to Boulder Park.

During the depression, an out- of -work engineer, W.T.Ratcliffe, sculpted the boulders into faces, and animals, and creatures of lore for reportedly a dollar a day and a jug of wine. The result is a cool, cool area where you can climb and wander through tunnels and trails and find the neatest rock creatures. The Boulder Park really brings out the kid in everyone. Mike and I had a fun time climbing all over the boulders and finding so many different things. What a great day!

We stopped at the Golden Acorn Casino on the way back to La Mesa-you can’t miss it or all of their billboards advertising their current player’s club dinner special. While we were there, the special was a half rack rib dinner for $7.77. That’s a hard deal to beat, so we stopped.
As usual, we had to sign up for a player’s card to get the deal. Bonus was we got $10 in free play for signing up. We played the nickel poker slots for a bit then cashed out-still up about $5.00 each so our meals cost us under $5.00! Food was fast and bountiful-the ribs were smoked which was a nice surprise. Left the waitress a nice tip and headed home.
We moved back to Mission Bay RV park on January 1st. It was nice to be back and so close to work. While we do like La Mesa, the 45 minute commute does get old quickly and the views and the convenience of Mission Bay just can’t be beat. I was able to spend my commutes listening to my nephew, Michael, on his morning radio show. Michael is the cohost of the morning show on 91X. I really enjoyed listening to him while I commuted to work each day. While I did listen every day, those longer 45 minute commutes did go faster with him giving me all the latest news! Not everyone can say that! Thanks Michael Marty Whitney! It was fun to listen to you work! So proud of you!

Our friend Tim Bayus came down to spend a couple of nights with us and go fishing with Mike. As always, Tim loves to try new places so I spent a lot of time finding just the right restaurant. I was so excited; we were going to try the Red Fox Steakhouse and Piano Bar. It looks like quite the funky place and has quite a history. Just what I love to learn more about. Well, we drove all the way over to the location and discovered that it was closed that night. We’ll have to try that another evening when we’re in the area definitely. Here is the website for the restaurant which has history going back to 1642 in England- https://www.redfoxsd.com/. I will be going there this fall if the new location opens as planned. How cool.
Well, we drove around a bit and ended up at Anny’s Fine Burgers. Who doesn’t love a burger? Well, Anny’s has some GIANT specialty burgers and some pretty good wings. I love locally owned restaurants and this appears to be one. We had a huge meal and enjoyed it a lot. Here’s a link to Anny’s website-http://annysfineburger.com/menu/burgers/. Great night.

Mission Bay has a very neat vibe. The park areas that run all along the shoreline are always bustling with interesting people. Lots of families celebrating birthdays, volleyball games, walkers and joggers, young couples lying on the lawns, reading and listening to music. It’s fun to walk around and people watch. We often wandered around on the weekends, just taking it all in. One weekend we came upon this mini van that was completely covered in Christmas themed items and drawings. The owner, walked us around his creation with his parrot on his shoulder. This was his hobby. He said he had gotten it up to 55 mph before but did lose some things off the vehicle. He spends all of his spare time updating and adding to his creation. People do definitely march to the beat of different drums. Who am I to judge? I just enjoyed seeing something not everyone can say they’ve seen. He is quite the artist. Some of the drawings are so intricate, hard to capture in a photo.

Len flew down for the weekend! They had plans to fish La Jolla but the swells and waves were not ideal so the guys spent the weekend fishing the bay. Not what they were hoping for, but at least everyone was safe. I cooked a nice bacon wrapped pork loin on the new smoker our kids got us for Christmas. Great little smoker called Country Smoker, made by Pit Boss. What I like about this smoker as opposed to the Traeger we had at home is that the temp can go higher and you can actually grill on it. Nice little smoker! Thanks kids!

Len took us out for some Asian cuisine and pho during our long weekend together. I tried duck gizzards for the first time. I thought they were pretty good. The waiters did tease Mike and I about our lack of chop stick abilities! I just cannot master those! I recall it was off Balboa avenue but can’t for the life of me recall the name. There are a lot of Asian cuisine restaurants in that area of Balboa avenue. Since Len treated, I don’t have any receipts to go through for the name! Darn it. Another reason to take more pictures and stay caught up on my writing! Well, as long as I’m still learning, I’m still alive right? 😊

Ted and Lori drove all the way from Anaheim just to have dinner with us. It was Ted’s birthday weekend so we pigged out on a Chinese buffet in La Mesa. China Super Buffet was average, not worth a link but worth a mention. It’s a busy place and we were able to put a decent meal together but I wouldn’t go back. It was great to see Ted and Lori and celebrate Ted’s birthday!

My friends and I got together again once I got back to Mission Bay and hiked around Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and Beach. Some of you may have heard of Torrey Pines golf course. It is across the street from the reserve and one can get glimpses of it while hiking around the reserve. It’s a PGA course that has hosted many televised tournaments over the years. Its around $250 to golf a round at the course. Not horrific for a once in a lifetime opportunity

While a lot of people do park at the base of the climb up to Torrey Pines Reserve, it’s one hell of a climb! I highly recommend spending the $20 entrance fee per car-get there EARLY! Parking is limited. The reserve is beautiful and hosts over 300 species of plants, among them the rare Torrey Pine trees that are only found at the reserve and at Santa Rosa island. While most hikes are spent climbing a mountain, for me anyway, then enjoying the downhill stroll after achieving the summit, you walk DOWN first at TP, then UP to get back to your starting point. Almost seems criminal! LOL! It was a beautiful day and the views of the coastline are really so breathtaking. Love spending my days with friends like this.

Here is more information on Torrey Pines State Reserve.://torreypine.org/wp-content/uploads/maps/TorreyPinessSNR-2015.pdf

For my last hike before heading out from our time in San Diego, Sara took me to Iron Mountain which is in San Diego county near a town called Poway. Poway has a rather legendary wrestling program.

Iron Mountain is a 5.8 mile hike that summits at 1500+ feet. While not as steep as Cowles Mountain, it is a longer hike. I LOVED hiking here. There was a really cool tree tunnel to start and end the hike.

It was very foggy the day we went and while we could not see any of the usual landmarks at the summit, we were above the clouds and it was like standing above a sea of white. It was so cool. After I got home that day, I learned that Kobie Bryant had died in a helicopter crash earlier that day, possibly due to weather conditions. It was definitely a unique day weather wise.

Nephew Michael came by with his little boy Quinn after I got home. We had a nice walk around the parks on the Bay and the fellas rode skate boards. Hubby used to be quite the skateboarder. I was relieved no one was injured and loved spending time with little Q. 4 year imaginations delight me. We had a great time at the playground.

Our final excursion was a trip to SeaWorld. While we had friends that were supposed to join us, it didn’t work out so Mike and I went by ourselves. We had gotten a great black Friday deal for all day tickets including a food ticket for $150.00 for both of us. The food ticket allowed us to eat every hour at many of the restaurants around the park. Holy Moses did we take advantage of that, lol! We had burgers, ribs, pasta, pizza, goodies. The park was nearly empty! While there were a few of the larger rides down for winter maintenance, there were plenty of coasters to go on and zero lines. We saw all the shows and had a good time people watching. And definitely filled our bellies-I don’t know if I’ve ever eaten that much in my life!

We had talked about taking a few months off when this contract ended. (I finished work on January 15, 2020) It was nice to have a couple of weeks in Mission Bay without work. However, if we took off a few months now, I’d most likely be working the summer months.

This last assignment was difficult for me. It was an interesting building, all short term rehab. Staffing was extremely difficult. I met many people I will always consider friends! I love that part of the job! But it took a lot out of me. There were several “political” issues that I found myself involved in where I don’t usually have to involve myself during these interim assignments. And while I like to think that I’ve helped each facility become even just a little bit better, this one definitely challenged me.

We did manage to hire staff and get a wound MD and a psych group rounding routinely, so I know in my head the facility was better when I left. My heart was just a bit bruised. I wouldn’t trade the experience though. The staff were so amazing and I have no doubt the nurses I worked with will go on to do some pretty amazing things!

We celebrated my last day of work for my third assignment by going out to eat. Bayside Landing is just around the corner from Mission Bay RV park-a short drive really. I was looking for a good burger near us and boy did we find it! We got wings, a burger with fries and one of the flatbread pizzas to share. While the pizza was just eh, the burger had to be one of the best I’ve ever had.

Everything from the beef, the bacon, and the bun was perfect. Mike agreed. We cannot wait to get back to SD for one of these burgers. However, we STILL haven’t been to the infamous Hodad’s my daughter in law loves so much. Guess we’ll just have to make sure we get back to SD-we’ve already booked November-January 2021! Like I said, SD is now one of our homes.
Anyway, after getting home from our celebration dinner and of course, adding our meal to a FB post, my dear friend Lisa messaged me and asked if I needed another job! The company was needing some help training a DON in the Bay area. Well, they were willing to wait a month so Mike and I decided to take a few weeks traveling up north and begin another assignment in NorCal mid- February. I was able to secure an RV park in Redwood City just about 12 miles from the facility. $2000/month plus electricity-yikes! But we would be able to take the summer off this way and it wasn’t interim DON, it was training. I love training. What could possibly go wrong?
We filled up our tanks, made a few plans to have some service work done in the AZ desert and reserved a camping spot at Willow Beach in AZ on the Colorado river so Mike could do some fishing. We stocked up on our favorite Mexican meats, tortillas, cheeses, and hibiscus flowers for homemade Jamaica and left San Diego on February 1st, knowing for certain we would be back again!

After we got through Omaha, it was my turn to drive. I80 West outside of Omaha is pretty desolate and flat. I drove for several hours and really got pretty comfortable behind the wheel-as long as I don’t have to turn corners!
We made it to the Summit rest area just outside of Laramie, Wyoming, on night one. This is a nice rest area with plenty of room for truckers and RV’s. The RV area is a little odd to get to-you need to enter and go past the main restroom building to get to the RV parking lot. It’s a little confusing in the dark and we passed the entrance which led us to a dirt road that didn’t look very motor home friendly. So, we had to unhook Yeep and turn around. (We can’t reverse when flat towing Yeep, so it’s kind of important to know where we’re going-another oops on my part, but not the end of the world) It was COLD! And a little windy!

The Summit rest area houses an Abraham Lincoln Monument that attracts lots of visitors. It was cold, dark, and windy so I got a picture of the back of it early the next morning-wouldn’t load for the life of me-you’ll just have to imagine.

We left slides in as this rest area, while large, was pretty busy for a week night in September. We had a light dinner and got some sleep. The rest area had lots of great areas to walk the dogs the next morning. I met a couple of guys from Google maps in their car-they had pulled over for the night too. They said they are on the road for 6 months at a time and have been all over, including Brazil and yes, they usually have hotel rooms, but just slept in their car last night.
Once Mike got us through the mountains a ways, it was my turn to drive again. My kind of driving-desolate and straight lol! All kidding aside, I am getting more comfortable.

I tend to get very nervous right before I drive. I get so worked up and worried when Mike says I can drive now that I often turn into a growly bitch. I should know by now that Mike knows and studies the roads many times before we travel them-unless I take us adrift from the planned route lol-but I just get crazy worried that something will come up that I can’t handle. I’m usually good after 15-30 minutes of driving, but I put the whole cab through a little hell. Not sure there’s any other reason than my own anxiety, but I’m working on it.
It was nice, easy driving, just as Mike had said. I did have to pull into some type of check station on the Idaho border to have the kayak inspected. That threw me for a little bit of a loop, but I did ok pulling off and getting back on the freeway. Fortunately, it was not crowded and the inspectors were understanding, lol!

We were less than 20 miles outside of Boise when it was time to fuel up. I pulled off at a truck stop and switched Mike at the off ramp stop sign so I wouldn’t have to turn-it’s the little things, lol. Anyway, we lucked into an AWESOME truck stop. We had arrived at Boise Stage Stop!

It was around dinner time when we stopped. We found easy access diesel pumps and while fueling, we found huge spaces to park for the night! We were able to park Reva Mae near one end of the parking lot away from the semi-trucks and positioned her so we could open half the slides without obstructing any paths or taking extra space.
Boise Stage Stop has awesome online reviews! I would have loved to try the restaurant but calorically we were still recovering from the wedding so we just grabbed a light sandwich and some soup in Reva.
There are several parking lots that, when we arrived, were mostly emptied, but by morning were full of rigs. This is a busy place. Just take a look at it on Google maps satellite-it’s huge!
They have several different dog runs that they allow customers to use free of charge. There are even signs that you may apply your own lock if you choose to leave your animal in the run for whatever reason.
They also have horse/livestock pens and a free RV sewer dump. Since we knew we could fill our tank the next day at Cheryl’s house, we took advantage of the free dump and each took a nice, hot, long shower. We slept in, had some coffee, exercised the dogs, dumped the tanks, and headed over to see Mike’s sister, Cheryl in Caldwell, ID, about an hour’s drive away.

Cheryl has an acreage in Caldwell and had plenty of room for us to park Reva Mae and enjoy a nice visit late into the evening. Cheryl had her great grand kids with her while we were there so we got to have fun playing with some more babies. We also got to meet Cheryl’s goat, Barbara Jean, named for my mother in law. Barbara Jean was originally raised in the house as a little kid and still wants to be inside whenever possible. It’s not easy to keep her out, lol! We also learned Barbara Jean loves cheese puffs-go figure! I’m assuming she named her Barbara Jean because the original truly was the GOAT! I hope I’m half the mother in law she was!

Spent the night in Cheryl’s driveway and headed out early to reach our final destination for a bit, Pyramid Lake!
This visit was one of healing on both sides. A lot happens over the years and family can become strangers or even worse. Cheryl was always so special to me in our early years of marriage. She was my rock so many times and I’m grateful we had this time and opportunity to let all the bad waters flow under the bridge and move on in our lives. It’s good to be connected again.
Mike drove through some traffic and hilly areas and once we were clear, I took over again. I think it was finally here that I started analyzing how weird I got every time I drove. Mike and I talked about it and figured out a few things that might help me not get so dang uptight and bitchy before I drive. It’s nice to finally be at a place in life where I can look at my behaviors and feelings honestly, like a learning opportunity, rather than just defensively. If that makes sense.
We talked as I drove and I think we both learned things about ourselves and our reactions to things. I get so dang anxious about so many things. Sometimes you just have to be brave and know it’s ok.
I drove nearly to Winnemucca, Nevada, then Mike took over for the remainder of the drive. We hadn’t made reservations at Pyramid this time and it’s getting more and more popular so there were no monthly options available when we arrived. We stopped in at Crosby’s Lodge to see old friends and get our dry camping permits. We unhooked Yeep and drove around various areas on the lake to look for a good spot to set up Reva. The water is so high the last couple of years that a lot of the shoreline we used to be able to use for camping is under water . Because the Fresh and Salty crew were coming for opening day, we tried to find something near Warrior Beach. It was funny to run into so many free range cows grazing on the beach. We drove among them while they gave us inquisitive looks! So fun.

We ended up choosing a nice flat area near Crosby’s -our usual spot we had camped so many times over the years in our pick up camper. Mike always has good luck at Crosby’s beach and while most prefer other areas, it’s home to us and the fishing is good. We’re all settled in for the next 2 weeks!

We stayed on the Lake Ogallala side of the many different available campgrounds in the Lake McConaughy area. Mike was hoping to launch right off our campsite and get some good fishing there.
Located on the east side of Kingsley Dam and massive Lake McConaughy, Lake Ogallala is known as “the little lake.” Chilled by the massive surface of Lake McConaughy, Lake Ogallala is a well-known fishing destination, particularly renowned for its fast-growing and feisty rainbow trout

Compared to Lake McConaughy, Lake Ogallala is small, gentle and sedate at 320 acres. It lacks the sandy beaches of its neighbor to the west, but its protected shoreline wards off winds.
The sites are large and parking was easy. It was off season so there a lot of options. The sites only have electric -no water or sewer-but do have a picnic table and fire ring. We had filled up in CA just prior to leaving so our tanks were in good shape to stay a few days and the park had coin operated showers and rest rooms to help conserve our water for our 4 day stay.
It’s a beautiful little park with vast grassy lawns and plenty of room to stretch out.

I wish I would have gotten a video of Louie and Kiya on our first walk there. It was late afternoon in the fall near a hay field in Nebraska-the grass hoppers and crickets were EVERYWHERE! I don’t think either pup had ever seen either one of these creatures before. Every step we took, set the bugs jumping-they couldn’t turn their heads fast enough to stay on top of all the action! So cute!

Mike’s first day of fishing in the small Lake Ogallala was a bust so he fished on Lake McConaughy the next couple of days and had much better luck.
I found a nice trail-more like a farming road between fields-but a trail all the same-and walked with the dogs for a couple miles along the hay field listening to some tunes. Very relaxing and allowed all the tension and anxiety from traveling to release. I was told at the visitor center-which is very nice by the way-that the trail would go all the way to some dam.
We had thunderstorms the first couple of nights there-I love thunderstorms in the motorhome by the way-there’s something awesome about knowing you are only a few inches away from all that Mother Nature is sending down, yet you are safe and dry-love rainy, noisy nights in Reva Mae! Anyway, with all the rain, there were a lot of muddy areas on the trail so we had to limit our use of it.

I work remotely for a few skilled nursing communities- doing electronic chart auditing-so I spent my days at Lake McConaughy alternating between playing with the dogs and finishing up a large, quarterly assignment while Mike did some fishing.

Since Lake Ogallala was a fishing bust, Mike loaded up the kayak-which still needs a name come to think of it-and crossed over to the Lake McConaughy side. Fishing was much better there. He had a nice time and did end up having to keep a few fish that were caught deep and weren’t recovering well. Our son Justin loves fish so he fileted it up for him rather than just let the poor fish perish for nothing.

He ran into a paid guide and his client for the day as he was loading up to come back to the campsite-they hadn’t had much luck all day and no fish. Mike caught 6 catfish, 5 smallmouth, and fat white bass.his first day on the lake.
It was a nice break to relax and finish my remote work so that I could fully focus on the G babies, the wedding, and family. I would definitely return sometime.

We had a pleasant 300 mile drive across Nebraska to get to our next destination. We did lose an hour driving east, but still arrived mid- afternoon and just in time to help with the G babies. Tyler had a test for a college class he’s taking and it was Emily’s bachelorette party night so rather than delay anything, we had Tyler drop the babies with us! OMG! I cannot even begin to tell you how wonderful it is to wrap your arms around a G baby that thinks you are just amazing! Pizza and cookies helped reinforce our greatness, but hey, grandparents can do that! LOL! We had a great time playing and having dinner with the babies.

Eugene T. Mahoney State Park is about midway between Lincoln and Omaha on the Platte River. It has just about everything! It has a few full hook up sites, but most are electric only. They do have a nicely accessible large dump area with multiple stations for dumping and filling with potable water. We emptied and filled tanks before we parked for the week.

When I say it has everything, I mean everything! There are several different campground areas, a lodge, cabins, a marina that has water recreational equipment for rent and/or free use, a swimming pool with slides, an ice rink in the winter, rope courses, regular golf, miniature golf, frisbee golf, trails, horseback riding, pony rides, and on and on. It really is one of the most impressive list of state park amenities I have ever seen.

I parked us in the wrong spot to start-oops lol! I thought the site marker was on the far side of the site, it was on the near side. We discovered the oops when hosts came by to do their evening check. Fortunately, no one was due in that night so we agreed to move in the AM. That was a bit embarrassing! Fortunately, we hadn’t set up any outdoor things yet-too many bugs to sit out at night without a fire and not doing fires with little ones we’re not used to watching so we had little to tear down and move. Mike takes all my navigational oops in stride for the most part lol!
Spent the next couple of days helping Sherman pick up his tuxedo, getting Hannah from the airport, going to rehearsal dinner-a great picnic by the way-picking up my momma from the bus station, etc. Time went so fast, then boom wedding day is here!

Well, I wish I would have focused more on the wedding location when I was figuring out where to camp. I chose Eugene T. Mahoney state park because there aren’t a lot of parks close to Omaha and the amenities at the park are really amazing! It was only about a 20 minute drive to their home from the park, but it was nearly an hour to the wedding venue.

Tyler and Emily chose Bella Terre Reception Hall and Vineyard for their wedding. It was just beautiful! Lovely views outside and such a neat hall inside. The walls are decorated to give the feeling you are outdoors in a courtyard surrounded by beautiful buildings. Really neat!
It was a beautiful, moving ceremony. I held up fairly well until the mother son dance, when I almost lost it. Tyler looked at me and said, “I swear you and Emily both picked the longest songs to dance to.” Made me laugh and was able to hold it together. Great moment!

Because of the distance to the campsite and arriving early for pictures, we weren’t able to stay as long at the reception as I would have liked, but that’s lessons learned, I guess. We had to cut out and get back to Louie and Kiya.
We stayed at the Mahoney state park for 5 more days, taking care of the G babies. It was AMAZING! We had a little port a crib for Gus who slept all night long and my little Addie girl loved her own little bed -the loveseat folded down easily and was perfect size for her.

Mike headed out a day early to get to Justin’s house while I stayed back at Tyler’s place with Addie and Gus. Once Tyler and Emily got back from their mini-moon, I drove Yeep over to Justin’s place to rejoin Mike, the dogs, and Reva Mae.
Justin has a home in Calendar, Iowa, with a nice large driveway where we were able to park Reva Mae and run an electrical cord. It was nice to have our own space while visiting him and Hailey.

Our next stop was Brushy Creek Recreational area. There are several different campgrounds around Brushy Creek lake, a few with full hook ups, but most just have electric. We filled up with water before leaving Justin’s home and then dumped tanks before setting up at Brushy. Sites are large and pretty level, the dump site has easy access and there are great grassy areas and playgrounds. There are showers and toilets-we used our own so I can’t speak to the condition of the bathrooms.

While it was rainy the few days we stayed at Brushy, we did get some breaks and we got to see several old friends and family. It was great to reunite with so many people we hadn’t seen in over 12 years! Thanks to everyone who came out to see us-Craig and Darla, Mel, my momma and Doug, Bobby and Kay, and Chris and kids! It was so nice to see everyone and get a chance to share our journey with you.

I also spent some time in good old Webster City and got to have lunch at Second Street Emporium with my two best friends, Peggy and Angela! Much, much needed girl therapy! Thanks ladies! Yes, the Emporium still serves the awesome dip and crackers!
Mike drove Reva Mae back to Justin’s driveway while I lunched with the girls. While I was lunching, Mike and Justin were doing some very important, top secret shopping, apparently.
That night, while hanging out in Reva with Justin and Hailey, Justin dropped to one knee and proposed to Hailey! How very sweet and special to share this moment with us-she said yes by the way! Now we’ll have another good reason to return to Iowa sometime next year for another wedding! Looking forward to it!

We spent two nights at Justin’s then it was time to head out. We wanted to be at Pyramid Lake for opening day October 1st and also wanted to make a stop in Idaho to see Mike’s sister. We had one last meal of Casey’s pizza-yum and headed out-next stop, one of our favorite home away from homes, Pyramid Lake!

We left San Diego RV Park around 7:00 pm Friday night. We had originally planned to leave very early Saturday morning but I think we both just felt the need to go and get some highway behind us. This was going to be our biggest trip yet-all the way to Iowa with 2 stops in Nebraska. I know I was feeling nervous, excited, elated, and depressed all at the same time. It was hard to leave my new friends and yet, I was off work for a few months and I was getting to see G babies! And our son was getting married!

All of these emotions, coupled with seeing my little friend, Ivy, start crying when she heard we were leaving the RV park, was just all I could take. Leaving and being productive toward our trip or crawling in bed and having a good cry were the only options. Need to stay positive, let’s go!

Sidenote-Ivy. Ivy lives at the RV park with her family. She is about 10 years old, I think, and has a head fully of naturally curly hair that has a mind of its own. (Picture Curly Sue a little older if you can) She reminds me of Hannah so much when she was young.

Ivy has 2 younger brothers, 6 and 8-I know this because my dogs are the same age as her brothers-a fact she pointed out to me when trying to solicit a dog walking job from me-“I have lots of experience with 6 and 8 year olds” -nodding at her brothers as they rode past on their bicycles one evening.

I would often see Ivy and her brothers riding around the park when I was walking Louie and Kiya in the evenings and on weekends. Ivy loved to talk and kept me entertained with stories of pet rats, back to school shopping, fights with her friends, and the occasional use of profanity-apparently “pisses me off” has been approved by Mom-I was not able to confirm this and frankly it was too funny to even go there-she was really “pissed” at another little girl. Something about the pool and never talking to that other girl again-typical girl things that have been going on for generations lol! Good to see some things don’t change.

I had no idea the effect our little conversations over the weeks we were at the park would have on Ivy. I mostly just listened to her regale her tales of adventure or woe-whichever was the flavor of the day-while I exercised the pooches. It was a nice way to pass the time and she made me laugh thinking of my Bees as a little girl. Telling her good bye and seeing the tears form in her eyes and her lip quiver just floored me. I wasn’t expecting that. I hope I see you again Miss Ivy! Best of luck with all you do in your life!

After a quick hug for Ivy, we loaded up and headed out. We took Highway 15 all the way to Las Vegas, then boon docked just outside of the city on some BLM land. We got there sometime between 0100-0200 with one stop midway through our journey. The view of the city lights was pretty cool and it was just off the highway, however, it is ATV area. We were woken up around 0630 to the sounds of four wheelers. So not a lot of sleep but it was free and we were both still pretty pumped to get some miles behind us so after some coffee and a little doggy exercise we headed out pretty quickly.

We stayed on Highway 15 and caught I70 in Utah. What a beautiful drive. I took a ton of pictures but I don’t think they even come close to doing it justice. There are so many colors in the desert. Just beautiful. I can’t wait to spend some more time exploring Utah and Colorado-which was our next state.

We drove about 550 miles and we stopped at an interesting little rest stop in Parachute, Colorado. There were directional signs on the highway for this rest stop, like so many others, but this one takes you into the small town. You have to cross back over the freeway and go through a stop light to get to this very nice rest area.

There is a small strip of stores, including a marijuana shop, just across the street from the rest area and a large gas station with a Wienerschnitzel inside adjoining the rest stop.

There are rest rooms, a great grassy lawn, and a huge dog park at this rest area. It’s more like a park than a rest stop. It was so nice and Mike was craving the latest Wienerschnitzel dog so we decided to call it a night.
There are signs that say “No Camping” and “Absolutely No Trucks” posted throughout. We checked in at the gas station/Wienerschnitzel–which is apparently kind of the local hang out and free Wi-Fi area–all the patrons said staying over in an RV is fine-just not tents or semi-trucks. Cool!

We found a spot parallel along a curb that was flat so we could open 3 of the slides without blocking any other spots or obstructing the driveway and the A’s game came in crystal clear. Louie and Kiya loved running in the grassy dog park. We played fetch and wore them out, ate some Wienerschnitzel and watched the game, feeling accomplished. We were around 500 miles from our first destination and so far, so great! And what a beautiful little rest area we happened to find. Shared it with a gentleman driving a truck with a pick up camper who was also passing through. It was a great night!

Highway 70 will test your rig’s abilities. There are some steep grades and a lot of traffic. Reva Mae did awesome! As did Mike! There was a lot of passing trucks on grades with curves and everyone jockeying to keep their speed up for the climbs. Fortunately, the road itself was in pretty good shape. There are some really bad segments-like Reno, NV to Auburn, CA on I80-heavily grooved in places.

It was an amazing ride for me. Unfortunately, there were so many dead bugs on our windshield that my pictures can’t even come close to sharing the richness of the views with you. Colorado is so lush compared to the starkness of Utah-both beautiful but so different!

The Colorado River runs along I70 for many miles so we got to enjoy it and get an understanding of how large it really is. Lots of fly fisherman out trying their luck on a sunny day. Mike of course wants to fish here someday. Fine by me, it’s so beautiful. The tall pines are always my favorite! This drive reminds me a little of Lake Tahoe which, as I said before, seeped into my soul many years ago. Clear rocky bottom streams, dark green pine trees tipped with almost chartreuse new growth, dark brown mountains streaked with deep red, clear blue sky with fluffy white clouds, the smell of pine and wood heavy in the air-sensory overload with delight!

Mike did so freaking amazing driving through those mountains. I’m so grateful for his abilities and skills on this journey together. I did resume my driving lessons once we got well into Nebraska-out in the middle of nowhere with no cars-pretty safe.

It had been several months since I had driven but it actually came back better than I thought it would. I was really happy that I didn’t have to work as hard keeping Reva Mae between the lines and not too close to the shoulder. I’m beginning to feel where I am in the lane just like we all do in our cars. This little thing has really helped my confidence.

I drove down the freeway for a couple of hours and did pretty well, actually. I passed a couple semi’s and my body no longer went into involuntary violent tremors of fear-that did actually happen the first time I drove and passed a semi-holy smokes! Turning corners, not so much my thing yet, but there’s time to learn!

When we pulled over to fuel up, we traded back and Mike drove us the rest of the way into our first official stop-Lake McConaughey, Nebraska. We set up and relaxed, arriving just after 4:00 p.m. Great timing for a good walk, a great meal, and some relaxation! Louie, Kiya, and I will be finishing up some consulting work and exploring this beautiful campground while Mike does some lake fishing. Nice to relax for a while! So far, so great!

I’m not sure why I haven’t started this sooner than today. (I wrote that first sentence over a week ago!) I’m feeling a little bit overwhelmed knowing that I have my San Diego adventure to finish up, along with a major road trip, family memories, and I really want to recap our first year living the RV life-can’t believe that it’s almost a year already! I think part of me doesn’t want to write the end of my San Diego story at all. I really fell in love there-with the vibe, the weather, and my coworkers whom I now call family. It was a little bit magical, and it’s a bit sad knowing it’s over—maybe. (We’re hoping to work in the area again this winter-Mike fell in love with the area as well)
One of the most amazing memories I experienced while living in San Diego had nothing to do with San Diego or the area at all.Early into our stay, one of my LVN’s from Folsom messaged me from out of the blue and asked if I would be willing to come to Idaho- where she and two other of my nurses were working on their RN degrees. All three of them wanted me to “pin” them. I was blind- sided by the request to be honest. I’m grateful Alejandra sent me a text instead of calling to ask me because I melted into a blubbering puddle. Mike really thought something tragic had transpired. I was just so humbled and honored.

When an RN chooses someone to “pin” him/her, generally they choose an individual who made a significant contribution to their nursing career. Some choose family, some choose nursing instructors or mentors. The fact that all three of these young ladies asked me, as opposed to family or other RN’s they had worked with really means the world to me. It’s hard to work as nursing leadership-management expectations, regulations, budgets, families. Knowing they thought enough of the time they spent working with me to have me take part in this ceremony means more than all the deficiency free surveys, the AHCA awards, any of it.

I flew up to Boise and pinned all 3 ladies and then was treated to a Wiz Khalifa concert with Ale and her fiancé. Yes, that was a little different, but what a great way to end such an emotional day-a little fun and we got to help Miguel cross off his Wiz Khalifa concert bucket list item.
Our Mexico trip was put on hold so several of us got together to go to brunch in the Hillcrest area. Hillcrest is the heart of the LGBTQ area and just full of life. We had a great brunch with bottomless mimosa’s which led to some more bar hopping around the area. Yes, I behaved-I’m old-but I did do a little babysitting for one member of our group who shall remain nameless-well maybe we can use a pseudo name-(Katrisha)!

Being a sheltered little Iowa girl, this was my first experience bar hopping in a gay community. How fun! I had a blast and enjoyed watching all the different walks of life just enjoying themselves-young, old, gay, straight, trans, whatever. Suddenly these lovely creatures dressed as nuns appeared at the bar we were enjoying. I wasn’t sure what they were all about, but I was very intrigued.
Phillip, a beautiful soul I hope to always call my family, explained these ladies were called the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence actually originated in Iowa in the early 70’s but became what they are today in 1979 in San Francisco. They are activists, protesters, educators, protectors of rights, and champions of equality. The original habits came from a Catholic church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Here is a link that shares the origin of the group and a little bit of what they are about. It was great to meet some of the sisters with my friends. http://lucascountyan.blogspot.com/2012/10/gay-iowa-history-indulgent-sisters.html.

We got another opportunity to spend time with family when our niece Ashley and her family rented a house on the beach in San Diego for a week late in August. Our nephew Michael drove down from LA with his family for the weekend and we were able to meet up for a barbeque and some beach time. It was great to see all the little ones again and hang with family. They even treated us to a bonfire on the beach. There is a service that will come and set up a fire, chairs, tiki torches, and the like and clean it up when you are done. There’s a service for everything these days, but how fun!

My friend Luz, who has a long family history in Tijuana, treated us to a guided tour of Baja. Meghan, Phillip, Luz and I went to Ensenada and worked our way back up the peninsula to TJ. What a great day!
Luz drove us from CA to Ensenada, La Bufadora. The roads were nice all the way down. We took toll roads and had to stop several times to pay but it was a nominal amount.

Located 17 miles south of Ensenada at the tip of the Punta Banda peninsula, La Bufadora (The Blowhole) is an amazing natural marine geyser that is capable of shooting water well over 60 feet in the air. La Bufadora is considered to be the second largest marine geyser in the world (the largest is located at Makapuu Point in Oahu, Hawaii) This marine geyser phenomenon is caused by ocean waves being forced into a partially submerged sea cavern, causing great amounts of air and water pressure to build. The air and ocean water are expelled through the only exit, launching it several stories into the air.

While it was cool to see, and I love all things Mexican, it was a bit underwhelming knowing that it is a guided tourist stop. I was thrilled to see it, but if your time in Mexico is limited, or the price is high for the tour, I would say skip it.

We had a great lunch-awesome shrimp-a few drinks and headed north to Rosarito. The drive was fun-typical road trip among friends with great music and conversation. I truly love these people. I think this is one of the hardest parts of this life. Knowing my time with new friends is limited and may or may not come again. I guess that’s true regardless of whether you travel for life or not, isn’t it? There are no promises or guarantees in this life.

We saw the Super Jesus statue while driving down to Ensenada and just had to get some pictures on the way back by the area. I’m not sure if the pictures can do it justice. This monument is huge! I had to google to find out what that was all about. Here is what I learned:

The 75-foot, 40-ton steel and fiberglass statue of Christ of the Sacred Heart is impossible to miss when driving along the Baja coast south of Rosarito. Cristo del Sagrado Corazón was designed by Tijuana sculptor Gregorio Ramirez and commissioned by local Antonio Pequeño, who died shortly after its completion in 2006. A mainstay of Catholic iconography, it closely recalls that other iconic mega-messiah, Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer, save for an exposed heart with thorns and full coat of color. According to Ramirez, it’s the tallest full-color homage to Christ in the world.

Only 10 miles from the border, with a fantastic beach front, Rosarito is a destination for many US citizens during major holiday weekends. The beach is huge, beautiful, and full of life. We rode horses on the beach for a few pesos. Phillip had never ridden a horse before, so we all got to enjoy his first experience.

Rosarito is a busy, partying place catering to tourists. Had a lot of fun people watching and enjoying the street life. We stopped by a Pharmacia and I stocked up on antibiotics for our emergency kit. One person was even able to get normally very pricey inhalers at a fraction of the cost. Don’t get me started on the cost of healthcare in the US. Shameful!

After Rosarito, we headed back to Tijuana for a couple drinks and to check out the night life a little bit. While we were enjoying some tequila at a second story night club, we had a great view of the streets below and all that was transpiring.
I saw several police vehicles down the street just a bit and assumed something major was going down. I’m so glad Luz was there to explain a bit. The police shut down vehicle traffic in certain club areas later in the evening to help keep patrons safe. There was nothing going on, they were just proactively reducing vehicle traffic as the night life was starting. Funny what we can so easily misinterpret.

Since I’m old, we didn’t stay too long. Waiting to cross back in to the US at the border took maybe 30-45 minutes. Sadly, lots of beggars-children included-selling wares and collecting money. Since this was a holiday weekend, the wait to get IN to Mexico was miles and miles long. I could not believe how many cars were lined up to cross into Mexico.
Crossing was simple. The border patrol agent took all of our passports-Luz only used a driver’s license and had no issues-and asked us if we had made any purchases. I did get scolded by the officer-I was sitting in front passenger seat and was on my phone while he was checking passports-told me to look at him, not my phone lol! Hey, when you’re posting your trip on FB, that’s the priority lol! Anyway, we declared a couple of bottles of alcohol and went on our way.

One of the last things I did in San Diego was to get a new tattoo. There are a ton of very talented tattoo shops in San Diego area. I chose Taylor from The Taylored Tattoo after seeing all the amazing work he did for Phillip. After looking at his gallery on Facebook, I was convinced he was the right guy for the job. Taylor is an awesome guy and has a beautiful shop in Old Town San Diego. I rode the trolley right there from the RV park-only a quick 5 minute walk from the station. Here’s my new tattoo.

No, I am not a seamstress, nor do I enjoy sewing. I’ve been dreaming about this tattoo for a few years now and I’m so happy with it. I think the best way to explain the meaning behind this piece is to share a little segment from a letter I wrote for my daughter in law for her bridal shower when I gave her a jar of antique buttons.

“I love what this jar of buttons symbolizes to me. My grandmother, along with about every other grandmother in the world, had an old jar of buttons I would spend hours playing with as a little girl. They bring back some great memories. And, I think they can bring some valuable insight into love and marriage.
Most often, we automatically think of the old saying, “Don’t push his/her buttons.” Yes, that is one lesson you can think of as you look at these buttons. Remember that we all have those things that drive us crazy and if you can avoid pushing your partner’s buttons, you should try to do so.
I also like to think about my Grandma and her frugal generation when I see a jar of buttons. In those tough Great Depression Days, everything was saved. If the garment wore out, it became part of a quilt and the buttons went into a jar. Love is like these antique buttons. It can last when everything else around it is falling apart. Love and commitment can hold two very different things together very securely. As you both grow and change over the years, love will keep you joined to one another.
Marriage is not always easy and there will be times that challenge your commitment to one another. When those days come, maybe you can look at the buttons and remember what brought you together in the first place. Reflect on all the things that join you together when life is trying to pull you apart. Hold tight to your buttons!
I like to find out what I can about the buttons I gift to brides. I got these from an elderly lady in Idaho who is on hospice. She said she bought them years ago at an estate sale in Fayetteville, North Carolina. They’ve traveled around with her for over 30 years and now that she is near the end of her life, she’s selling them to help her family clear out her treasures. I spoke with her on the phone and she was very touched and pleased to hear how I was going to use the jar. When we spoke, she had $22 in her checking account. She was so grateful for the sale.“
I have shared this sentiment with several nieces and my daughter in law, Emily, over the years. Cali and Sherman got married too quickly to find the perfect jar and write the perfect letter, but it’s coming! If we’re ever in the same country at the same time again!
I have a few more tattoos I would love to get over the next few years. Yes, it hurts! I try to think of it like a wood burning “pen”-only hurts when the needle is down. For some reason, that helps get through it. This one took about 8 ½ hours and I did it in one sitting-I’m a beast lol! (I was actually afraid I would be too sore and chicken out on day two, so we plowed through it!)

The team at La Jolla Nursing and Rehab treated me to a farewell lunch-complete with my old favorite-Turon (Filipino banana egg roll basically), and my new favorite-Food for the Gods (amazing Filipino cake). And just like that my time in San Diego was done. We left the same night to get a head start on our next journey and get through LA traffic.
Thank you to all of my new San Diego friends for sharing your worlds with me. It was one of the most beautiful experiences I’ve known and I hope beyond hope to cross paths with all of you once again.

We left Red Hawk Casino around 10 pm to head toward San Diego. Mike has always preferred to drive at night if we need to get through high traffic areas. We have good lighting on the rig and the cameras allow us to see around as well. There is very little traffic in the middle of the night. We got through LA around 0400 and it was already getting busier than we like.

Boondocking is very difficult in SoCal and in metropolitan areas in general. We got to the San Diego area 0630 and our check in time was not until 1 pm so we needed to wait a few hours before arriving at the RV park. I did find on the campendium app there was a rest stop on I5 just about 30 minutes short of our RV park that allowed overnight parking so we chose to stop there.  Well, this is a very, very, very busy rest stop.  While I thought many would be leaving by this time of the morning, there was not one over sized parking space.  This rest stop was packed.  I believe a lot of very unfortunate people live in their RV’s or their cars and drive from place to place where they can park for free each day.  I am grateful this is not my existence.  The housing crisis in California is so sad. 

We finally found room between 2 semis on the ramp to reenter the freeway.  There was no real room to even get out of the RV to potty the dogs and cars were accelerating to get up to freeway speed.  Fortunately, they both peed quickly and we crawled into bed and passed out-completely exhausted.  Cars driving by would shake the whole RV.  I didn’t sleep great but I did get some sleep and Mike slept really well-the stress of driving Reva Mae and being up all night is exhausting.  We fired up the generator and had some coffee and cleaned up a bit before we took off to arrive at San Diego RV Park just after 1:00 pm.  We did find it has a nice road  with parking available beside the park that we could have slept and waited more safely and comfortably for next time.  But we now know what it feels like to sleep on an on ramp….ugh! 

San Diego RV Park is a good sized 174 spot park just off the I8 in La Mesa, CA.  We were hoping to be right on the Bay for this summer gig, but those campgrounds do not allow RV’s to stay over 21 days during the summer months and they are PRICEY!    I met several people who live there from September through May, then come here in June to wait out the summer tourist season.  We have already booked for a site on the bay in November.  We’ve loved the area so much we are hoping to work here again for the winter months. 

The spaces are good sized, really , for an urban RV park.  We have a lot more space here than we did in LA.  We have a nice tree for shade and Mike even set up a few vegetable plants in pots since we are here for 13 weeks.  We have green peppers, Mexican squash, tomatoes, and jalapeno peppers growing.  We’ve enjoyed several and since we don’t pay for water, even better. 

There is a nice little pool, a rec room,  an exercise room, hot tub, and laundry and shower rooms.  The park has a gate to access the trolley system (public trains) which is right next door.  The trains run behind the campground but aren’t loud at all.  There is noise as the freeway is right next to the access road; however, we are on the backside of the park so it’s really not very noticeable. 

La Mesa is about a 15 minute drive (without traffic) to the coast and several beaches.  It gets a little hotter than the coast, but really is quite ideal.  So far, the highest temperature we’ve seen is about 92 and there is generally a nice breeze.  We’ve run the A/C a handful of days for a couple hours at most.  By 7 pm or so, it’s cooled down and sometimes can get too chilly for the fan to be in the window.  It really is the most perfect weather I have ever experienced.  Generally, it’s been low 80’s for a high and low 60’s for the low.  Simply amazing.  And NO bugs!  We were concerned there might be mosquitoes as we have a small creek behind our RV, but none!  An occasional fly, a few fruit flies here and there, and one ant episode is all we’ve experienced. 

I love La Mesa!  It’s got a very good small town feel and things are really accessible and at a slower pace.  Mike was in need of a dentist and we found a local guy who could get him in next day and did a great job for a reasonable rate. 

I also had some vision changes and found a wonderful local eye doctor who saw me same day.  Dr. Newman has been in business for over 35 years here and updated my contact prescription -I have to wear 2 now-both different strengths-for a great price. 

We also LOVE the food here!  I was going to try to drop a few pounds before Tyler’s wedding and so far I’ve gained 9 lbs!  LOL! 

One of our first stops was Patty’s Café on Lake Murray Blvd.  It’s a little hole in the wall diner that serves -get this-Greek, Mexican, and American food.  Since we loved Sherman’s Deli in Palm Springs, we were obligated to try Patty’s Café and it did not disappoint!  We have eaten there twice now.  It’s an older crowd and dated furnishings, but you cannot beat the amazing service, the fabulous food, and the reasonable prices.  I got a ribeye dinner for $14.00 and the patty melt was huge!  Highly recommend Patty’s if you’re looking for an older laid back diner with staff that will treat you right!  (I swear my tea glass never got below 2/3 full!)  Great place. 

Another place we found by google searching “great fast food near me” was a little dive called “Funky Fries and Burgers”  After checking yelp reviews, we gave it a try and ordered for pick up.  I had a bacon macaroni and cheese burger and Mike had the Hangover-which was a breakfast burger with bacon, hash browns, and an egg on it.  Way too big-we should have split one-but soo good!

We also sampled Tako Factory-again based on a search of Mexican food near me and yelp reviews.  It’s a little place on El Cajon Blvd and it was amazing.  Fantastic burritos and amazing carne asada fries.   We went back to try the tacos and weren’t as impressed, but if you’re looking for a great burrito…find this place. 

We haven’t just been eating….although it feels like maybe we have, lol.  Work has been pretty intense but I think I’m making a difference and helping so it’s been worth it.  My 17 mile commute takes about 45 minutes in the morning and around an hour at night.  Traffic is different here.  Not quite as bad as LA but pretty close during commuter hours.  Off hours is MUCH better than LA and even when commuting, it seems like most of the congestion is at on/off ramps.  Some on ramps merge into off ramps as well so that can be a bit hairy until you get used to it. 

We were able to rent a car at this assignment location as well.  That was a huge plus!  LA rates were around $1000/month which was just ridiculous.  I was able to find a company called Dirt Cheap Car Rentals here in San Diego and rented a very cute little Hyundai Accent for $400/month.  That includes 2800 miles/month and full coverage zero deductible insurance-hard to beat a deal like that.  It’s a pretty zippy little car and wonderful on gas.  I’m grateful Mike has Yeep to go and take the dogs, etc. during the week and I’m glad to use the rental in this heavy traffic.  It’s nice to save on Yeep’s wear and tear and use the rental as much as we can. 

There are some very nice parks nearby that are dog friendly.  Lake Murray is just a mile up the road from the RV park.  This reservoir covers 171 acres and is 95 feet at it’s deepest.  It’s got quite an assortment of fish and waterfowl, concession stands, a great 3.2 mile walking trail, kayak and bike rentals, and lots of picnic areas.  There’s a great area along the trail that is full of Eucalyptus trees and the smell walking through here is awesome.  We’ve enjoyed walking the dogs here several times over the past few weeks. 

Harry Griffen Regional Park is a 53 acre park that’s about 10 minutes from here as well.  It’s got a beautiful playground, amphitheater with free concerts in the summer, and a huge dog park. What attracted us to Harry Griffen most are the areas outside the dog park-huge grassy areas where dogs can also be off leash.  Since Kiya is not really a “dog person” she really can’t go to dog parks-but these areas she can run off leash and get some good exercise!  It’s quite a jewel to find in such an urban area. 

Another awesome feature of the San Diego area are the dog beaches!  Kiya is only able to handle the “intrusion” of other pesky dogs for a short time so we’ve only gone twice-once to Ocean Beach and once to Coronado Island.  What a great feature for pet owners.  I have not found many beaches in NorCal that even allow dogs on leashes, let alone free to run and play in the ocean.  They’ve loved their ocean trips! 

We’ve been blessed to have friends and family down to visit.  Our friend Tim has been down a couple of times to go fishing with Mike-once on a charter boat and once just fishing the bay in the kayak and on the one man pontoon boat. 

One amazing surprise was when I saw on Facebook, my Iowa friend Penny Moellers was visiting in the area.  I let her know where I was working and found out she had been an LVN at the same facility many years ago!  Penny surprised me at the facility one morning.  It all happened so fast we didn’t even snap a picture!  How amazing to see someone you haven’t seen in 12 years and find out they once worked where you are working, many states away.  It was a great surprise and I’m so grateful you stopped by, Penny!  What a small, wonderful world! 

Hannah Bees flew down for a long weekend and it was so good to see her.  We hadn’t seen her since early December.  We took advantage of the trolley system and rode downtown to people watch at Comic Con-one the largest comic con events in the world.  While we didn’t have tickets-very hard to come by and very expensive-there was plenty of people watching and free events outside of the convention area.  We played a few games, won some prizes, saw tons of people dressed up as their favorite characters and watched protesters making fools out of themselves.  It was also the first time we had used public transportation together and it really was quite easy. 

For $5 you can purchase a pass that will give you 24 hour access to all of the trains and the bus system.  We rode the train to downtown for Comic Con then hopped a bus to Balboa Park.  It was getting late in the day so we didn’t get to see many of the museums, etc at Balboa-will be going back and blogging about that before our time is done here for sure.  It’s a beautiful area and we had a lovely time

On her last day, we had brunch at Lips-a dinner and drag queen show in San Diego.  It was so much fun!  Our host was a pregnant nun named None of the Above who also performed as Cher.  Those ladies were beautiful and fierce.  It was a great time!  The food was very good and included all you can drink mimosas or bloody marys.  It was great to see my baby for a few days and experience some new things with her.  It’s one of the things I love about this life-we don’t see each other as much, but we can experience new things and make great memories when we are together. 

While Mike was off fishing one weekend, I was looking for areas nearby to explore with the dogs and came across Mt. Helix.  Mt. Helix is not very big.  It’s a short 15 minute drive from our RV park and one of San Diego’s most recognized landmarks, so we -Louie, Kiya, and I-went.  It is basically a large amphitheater on  top of a summit that has amazing views as far as the eye can see. 

It’s a steep climb and I noted a lot of bikers-both motorcycles and bicycles-enjoy the climb and the views on the weekend.  There is a small trail around the amphitheater and a huge, white cross marking the area.  This landmark was built as a tribute to a woman from Saginaw Michigan who used to visit her daughter in San Diego and climb this summit to see the amazing sunsets.  It was a nice drive with great views.  Not something I would drive out of my way to see, but neat since we were so close. 

Since learning that the San Diego trolley system could be taken right to the border, I’ve been really wanting to “walk to Mexico for tacos”.  What a fun thing to say I did!  Mike was a great sport and agreed to ride public transportation for an hour and stand in line to return to US for an hour-not his idea of fun, but at least he can now say he walked to Mexico for lunch! 

We needed to ensure Louie and Kiya were okay during our excursions so I found Laura.  Laura is our dog walker we originally met through the Wag app.  Wag and Rover are dog walking/sitting apps that are popular in metropolitan areas.  While it might sound pricey, Laura gets $25 for a 30 minute walk for our fur babies.  Each pet is an additional fee from the base price.  She sends us pictures and videos of the dogs and we know they are cared for.  She came for a meet and greet the first time and we talked about what each dog needs and where supplies are located.  Laura has been a great resource while we’ve been exploring San Diego. 

While I think the dogs could go more hours without a potty break, it’s nice to know they’re ok and have a little human contact during the times we are gone.  We still need to look into some type of camera system so we can check them when we are gone.  I’ve seen several reports where animals died because they were locked in an RV and the power went out or the a/c quit.  Fortunately, the weather has been great that we can leave windows open here most days.  I know we won’t be so lucky in other areas and while I love to explore, I need to know Louie and Kiya are ok.  Our generator system does have a feature to automatically start if a certain temperature is reached.  I think with this feature enabled and a good camera system, we will both rest easier! 

The trolley ride was $5/pp and it took right at an hour to get to the border.  The lines of cars looked quite long and there was quite a charge for parking for those who chose to park and walk over so it really is the best deal.  You must have proof of ownership and Mexican insurance to cross in a vehicle so a lot of people park and walk over.  If you are on a lease or a loan, you must have confirmation from your loan company to bring a vehicle to Mexico

It only took about 15 minutes to walk over the bridge, through customs, and enter Mexico.  First stop was a convenience store for a coca cola light-90 cents and Mike got a pack of cigarettes to try. $3.75 but he said while they said Marlboro, they didn’t taste the same. 

We just spent a few hours walking around the downtown area, checking out the sites and people watching.  Got some low cost antibiotics for the first aid kit, some fresh authentic tortillas to bring home and got lunch.  It was a nice day and while it was hot, the breeze kept us cool. 

We made the mistake of crossing back just before 2 pm.  Apparently, there is a shift change at border patrol at 2 pm which made our wait in line take 50 minutes.  It was really a simple process once the line started moving (I’m told it’s usually about 20 minutes total)-check the passport, ask you what you were there for (tacos and tortillas) and put your purse through the machine.  We got back on the trolley and rode home to our pooches. 

The trolley ride was nice.   While it was packed with people standing during Comic Con, we had seats and space both the way there and the way back.  Mike did stand briefly on the way home to allow an older Mexican lady to sit down.  It was only for a couple stops.  There were all sorts of people on the trolley.  Young couples going to Mexico for the day, families riding to downtown San Diego to see sites, and of course, homeless people 

One particular couple that troubled me got on the train late in our journey.  It was the first time I had really seen someone up close and personal on heroin.  They were so young and so damaged.  The girl had sunglasses and a jacket on so it was harder to tell with her.  She gazed at her cell phone with her finger frozen about 4 inches from the screen.  She was just frozen like that.  The young man had pretty eyes -blue that sparkled fiercely-and were blood shot and closed most of the time.  He had no sunglasses to hide behind.  His arms were a mess.  My heart broke a little seeing these two.  And once again I felt grateful for all that we have and all that we get to do with our lives

There is a homeless man I used to see nightly at the trolley station when I walk the dogs.  (I don’t’ walk there after dark)  He’s so obviously mentally ill and very skittish.  He was starting to make brief eye contact with me and would reply when I would say hello.  He reminded me of a skittish, wounded animal.  He hasn’t been around for a week or so now.  I hope he’s okay. 

Sometimes it feels like we’ve been here much longer, and other times I can’t believe we are over half way through this assignment.  Only 4 weeks left and we will be off to Omaha to see the G babies!!!  And the rest of the family!  I hope to see more of Balboa Park, take another trip to Mexico-gotta get  my Momma some vanilla-and maybe some more tortillas-so yummy-and snorkel La Jolla Cove.  I’m trying not to plan a lot.  I found a great quote on one of the light posts while walking the dogs at the trolley station-the traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.  At least while I’m on assignment, I want to be a traveler. 

We arrived at Pyramid Lake on May 1, 2019, with a one month reservation. We have camped here several times a year over the past several years. It is known for it’s giant Lahontan Cutthroat trout as well as many eerie legends. The lake is fed by the Truckee River which is the only outlet for Lake Tahoe. It is located on the Paiute reservation. The lake has tons of limestone formations, called tufa formations arising from it and interestingly, many of you have seen it without even knowing it. When I was researching Pyramid Lake a bit for this article, I learned that Pyramid Lake is the default screen saver for the iPad.

Pyramid Lake legends are fascinating tales from mermaids and mothers who were turned to stone to water babies.  Here is a link to a great story about some of the myths and legends of this beautiful lake.  https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2016/05/the-mysteries-of-nevadas-cursed-pyramid-lake/.  It really is worth the read.  Many Reno/Sparks residents will not come to the lake or set foot into the water to this day, freaked out by legends.  While I can be superstitious, I believe if you show the region love and respect, the creepy monsters should stay away!  Let’s hope so, anyway. 

We are staying at the RV park with full hook ups for $550 for the month.  The spaces are large and flat.  There is a very nice laundry room and free showers available if needed as well. This is the desert. There is no shade. There are no trees and very little vegetation. It’s a parking lot-but it’s at a great lake with full hook ups! The camp hosts have been here for years and are very nice and helpful.  They allowed us to have our visiting friends camp beside us for free and use the restrooms as our guests.  There are several long term residents who are friendly and helpful.  One young man who full times here helped a visitor get his boat running and saved his vacation.  Overall a very nice group of people! 

This is a community that does appear to struggle.  It reminds of some of the small towns in Iowa that I know so well.  The little town of Sutcliffe has many old homes in disrepair, yet I have never had a concern about safety here.  Everyone has been very friendly and helpful-great small town feel here. 

 Crosby’s Lodge is the local bar/restaurant/store.  It is the just about the only place to get gas or supplies nearby.  Reno is a good 35 mile drive.  There is a little store next to the campground that sells fire works and a few other things.  They have the REAL DEAL fireworks here-the professional grade stuff.  Apparently, when purchasing fireworks, you have to sign a form promising you will discharge them while on the reservation.  Many nights you can see them going off on some of the other beach camps around the lake.  There is 125 miles of shoreline on Lake Pyramid! 

Dispersed camping is allowed around most of the lake.  There are areas on the far shores that non- Paiute people cannot access.  Otherwise, camping is allowed as long as you are so many feet from the shoreline.  We used to camp right on the lake in our pick up camper.  Fires on the beach at night are so nice.  The wind gets the lake going and it can sound like you are at the ocean.  It’s $16/night or $41/3 nights to dry camp around the lake.  There is a dump station at the RV park that costs $10 and does take debit/credit cards.  You do have to have a permit to camp, park, fish on the lake.  It’s easiest to get those at the Ranger’s station by the RV park or online.  You can get them at Crosby’s Lodge, but they can get busy and their customers are understandably first served-so only as a last resort. 

Crosby’s has great food at reasonable prices with a Midwest/down home feel to the place. Try the wings if you stop by. They have a bar, camping/fishing convenience store, and serve food and sell gas.   In the winter, they have great specials for the fisherman.  The chicken fried steak was awesome last winter.  Trout season opens here every October 1^st-our daughter’s birthday.  (Dad has made her celebrate early for several years now! Sorry Bees! LOL!)

Pyramid Lake does not have the stunning views with pine trees and lush scenery that Lake Tahoe has.  It is high desert.  I do find it beautiful in its’ own way.  The limestone formations, or tufa, are fascinating to study and fun to climb. (You do so at your own risk, but it is allowed)

 One such formation, named the Great Stone Mother, comes with a legend telling how the lake was formed from a devastated mother’s tears.  This area is sacred to the Paiute tribe and not accessible to the public.  Images and the story of the Great Stone Mother can be seen at the museum in Nixon, NV, a few miles from Sutcliffe.  It is definitely worth the drive.  I learned a lot about the history of the Paiute tribe and all that they endured as white settlers invaded their home. 

This quote really touched me.  I wonder, in a hundred years, what future generations will think of the world today.  I bought a book at the gift shop, “Sarah Winnemucca”, the story of a strong Paiute woman who fought to overcome the injustices of her people brought on them by white settlers.  I’d never heard of her before today.  History is different when taught by the “winners” it seems.  As an avid reader, I am inspired to seek out the stories of those less known now.  Thank you, Lake Pyramid! 

  I love to photograph the tufa and see what hidden items I can see inside their formations.  The Pyramid for which the lake is named appears to change color as the sun hits it throughout the day.  It can appear brown or white.  The way the shadows play on the mountains is really cool to watch as are all the colors in the hillside during the Spring.  There was still some snow on the mountain tops when we arrived.  We got to see orange, and rust, and yellow, and green, and white, and beige-beautiful in its own way. 

There is also a huge population of birds here.  Woodrow Wilson established a bird refuge on Anaho Island, near the Pyramid, back in 1913.  Now it is one of the largest homes to my favorite bird, the American white pelican.  It is so relaxing and entertaining to watch these huge birds throughout the day.  There are also seagulls, blue heron, and many other birds.  I was able to get a few good shots of them over the last couple of weeks. 

Mike was able to catch several good size trout during our stay-around 15 lbs. or so.  We do not eat trout so these were all catch and release.  We were able to do some studying and got his GoPro figured out so he has video of his catches now.  You know what they say, if there’s no pictures, it didn’t happen. 

Our first weekend, we hosted our brother- in- law, John for a few days.  It was so nice to spend time with family.  Mike and John enjoyed several days of good fishing, nice meals together, along with some NBA Warriors games, a little Yahtzee and some Skipbo!  Memories we will cherish.

After John left, we had 3 couples come and join us for a nice weekend. Everyone caught fish and had a nice time catching up.  The ladies worked together on meal plans and that seemed to work well.  We had way too much food-as always-but there was some organization to it!  We used our Blackstone griddle-a 22 inch-to make carne asada tacos and breakfast burritos.  We really like the griddle!  It runs on propane and can be hooked right up to our large RV tank or the small green ones.  Great item for cooking for large groups and really quite reasonable. Our 22 inch was $129.00. Due to limited storage, we had to decide between the griddle and a portable Traeger when we started full timing.  It was a tough choice, and I do still miss my smoked meats, but I think we made the right choice for us. 

It was great to see our friends again and catch up a bit.  Jimmie and Cassie brought their teen daughter and her cousin who appreciated the comforts of Reva Mae during the day.  It was fun to host the group and hang out.  Louie had sprained his ankle our second day here and wasn’t up to any good hiking so our time was more about hanging out, laughing, and soaking up some vitamin D.  Thanks to all for coming up to enjoy a nice weekend. 

I also took a few days to fly to Omaha to get a little G baby fix in.  I was able to use points so the flight was a whopping $11.20 round trip!  Woohoo!  I was fortunate enough to see my two best friends as well during that trip.  I had a great time playing at the Children’s museum with the kids and the g babies. Old Market in Omaha is always fun with friends! 

One thing neither of us ever wants to forget, is how grateful we are for the life and the opportunities we have now.  We try to reflect every evening on all that we are grateful for-sometimes it comes more easily than others.  Sometimes, the mood just isn’t there.  It can get very easy to become complacent and lazy, at least for me. 

Pyramid Lake was our first one month stay-outside of working months.  I’m not sure month-long stops are going to be good for me. On one side, I love knowing I am settled for a bit and can get some chores done, do some organizing, etc.  However, on the other side, I can easily stop seeing this as an adventure and not embrace what lies outside the RV-stop seeing the beauty and opportunities of my surroundings. Monthly rates are generally the cheapest so I think I’m going to have to work on this a bit! 

We were in LA for 11 weeks and it rained nearly every weekend there.  We got complacent, and I missed visiting several places I now wish I would have at least tried to see between the rains.  It was easy to put it off-easy to be lazy and tell yourself, “next weekend will be better, we’re here for a while”.  Suddenly “awhile” was over and many of the things I wished I would have done were left undone.  A missed opportunity.   

I caught a bit of a cold traveling to Omaha and back, so I was already lacking motivation to do much of anything.  To top it off, there were a lot of windy, rainy days, with some very unusual May weather for the region during our stay here.  The lake bed was very high, making hiking along the shore line nearly impossible.  AND Louie had sprained his right ankle and developed an abscess on his left shoulder the very first week here, making long hikes with the dogs nearly impossible.  Lots of easy excuses for me to get lazy.

I try to use each stop as an opportunity to really reflect on who I am, what I want out of life, and how I can live a better, fuller, more harmonious life.  It takes a conscious effort for me to do this.  I like to think that I’ve learned a few things about myself in the past 6 months and have worked on some areas I’ve found I don’t really like about myself.  Complacency is definitely one area.  Others are appreciation for my surroundings, and as always, gratitude for the life I have today.  I do believe writing this blog has helped me take a better look at who I am and who I want to be. 

I had been doing some research and writing one rainy day when I realized I was using the weather, and Louie, and anything else I could think of, as an excuse to stop immersing myself in my surroundings.  This stop could be LA all over again.  How many times would I allow myself to become complacent?  How many times would I reach for excuses to not get out and see the world around me? 

As I dragged my ass off the sofa and put on my hoodie, shoes, and socks begrudgingly at first, I knew I would feel better once I got moving; once I saw the pelicans.  There are anywhere between four and 20 pelican that like to hang out near shore not too far from our campground.  The dogs and I love to walk down there at dusk and watch them, tell them all good night.

 One day I won’t be able to tell the pelican good night.  I may never get back to Pyramid Lake-I hope I do.  I may grow old or ill and not be able to make the walk down to the shore.  I need to remember this when I’m hiding away in a toasty, warm Reva Mae-far too engaged in television or the internet-when I think “I can skip it tonight, tomorrow will be better” when it’s not the perfect weather.  I need to stay in the present, really count my blessings, and say “good night Pelicans” until I can no longer tell them good night.