My Midlife Crisis Chronicles

When we left Timber Cove on April 19, 2019, we had no plan.  We were originally not supposed to leave until April 29, 2019.  We had planned so well.  We would have a couple of days to get the dogs to their annual vet appointments-Kiya needed teeth cleaning and both needed shots.  Mike and I would both get hair cuts and I would get my grays taken care of by MY longtime hairdresser, Sara!!!  Woohoo.  We had appointments set and then we would take off to Pyramid for our 1 month reservation. 

Well, losing our spot at Timber Cove put a huge wrench in that plan.  I started texting and making calls to hair dressers and vets while Mike maneuvered us back down highway 1. 

We decided to head to Red Hawk again since the location is nearest to Folsom where we had to do all of our business. I refuse to spend $80/night to park at a KOA along the highway.   I managed to get our hair appointments, vet appointments, and banking appointments all set for the 23^rd. 

Red Hawk does have pretty level parking for RV’s just behind the parking garage but we prefer the lower back parking lot which is very sloped.  There are a couple spots where a rig can level without lots of blocking and we were fortunate that no one was there when we arrived.  So, we got set up and began to figure out what we might do until we could get to Pyramid.

The winds and weather were not going to cooperate to justify spending an extra week at Pyramid so we started looking around at options en route to Pyramid that might be low cost and fun. 

It was Easter weekend so we took advantage of being in the area to visit Mike’s sister, Sherma and her husband, David.  They came up on Saturday night and we feasted on the Red Hawk buffet -which by the way is delicious!  Saturday night is steak and seafood.  Luckily David had a platinum card-for regular patrons the wait was posted at 2 hours.  I think with discount it was around $35/pp. Nice selection of seafood, wonderful pho,  good prime rib, and perfect mashed potatoes!  

We spent Easter at our niece Jamie’s house and got our baby fix with the great nieces and nephews.  It was nice to connect with family.  Those babies grow sooo fast!  Watching little ones on an Easter Egg hunt was an unexpected bonus to our lack of a plan!  So fun! 

The staff at Red Hawk were totally wonderful-ensuring we were safe and providing rides up to the casino if we wanted.  We ended up staying 6 days and they had no problem with it at all.  We did ask permission and they  were very gracious about it.  We ate at the buffet a total of two times (week nights are a real bargain at $17) and gambled a bit when David and Sherma came over for dinner.  Several RV’s came and went during those days but the lot was never full.  The final tally was a loss of $60 gambling and a couple buffet dinners.  Compared to $80/night at KOA, we did well and had a lot more privacy and space. 

We had one big day with appointments at the bank, vet, hair, etc. all on Tuesday then we rested on Wednesday lol. 

People ask what do you do, sitting in a parking lot all day.  First of all, Red Hawk does have a stunning view-especially in the spring.  Rolling green hills with snow capped mountains in the distance-it’s beautiful.  Second of all, how often do you really look out your windows at home?  The dogs are always up for a walk around or a little fetch in the parking lot-gotta watch those foot pads-I’m learning what they can handle and what they can’t.

When we are inside, I’m reading, watching television, answering emails, on social media, paying bills, etc.  The usual things one does when sitting at home.  We cook our meals, do dishes, everything most people do. 

This time I also spent time looking at routes to get to Pyramid Lake, wind conditions, and camping options we might enjoy between Red Hawk and Pyramid. 

I use RV parky, campendium, boondocking, and several other apps and sites to try and find all of our options.  When we aren’t working, I really try to find free or low cost options.  With our 8K generator, we don’t need hook ups and I love the challenge of spending the least amount possible while still being in an amazing place!

While surfing around, checking sites and weather conditions, I discovered that Lake Tahoe was going to have almost perfect weather for the upcoming weekend AND we could secure a pull through full hook up site at Zephyr Cove campground for $37/night.  The campground is right across the highway from the lake and an easy walk for Mike and his kayak.  Lake Tahoe is a “tough nut to crack” as far as fishing goes– according to the hubs anyway.  He was up for the challenge, especially considering the perfect conditions.  We booked 4 days and got ready to head to heaven on earth. 

When discussing routes, I checked several discussion forums regarding travel to Tahoe.  There were some who did not care for the steep grades (6% I think is the steepest on 50) and had made recommendations to use Interstate 80 and other alternate highways.  We were already on Highway 50, staying at Red Hawk, and both of us felt pretty certain this would be a fairly easy route, especially on a weekday morning.  We have lived in the area for 12 years and have driven to Tahoe hundreds of times so we were really familiar with the road.  Traffic can be heavy on weekends and especially on holidays.  It can be dangerous in the winter with snow as well but the forecast was clear. 

Highway 50 to Lake Tahoe is always a magical journey for passengers.  I love to take family there.  Ask anyone, I hate touring you all over to San Francisco, but I’ll drive to Tahoe any day.  It’s a special journey ending in a special place.  Mike remembers being a very young boy and traveling to Tahoe.  He fell so in love with the beauty and the smell –you HAVE to smell Tahoe—that he told himself he would live there one day. 

The American River runs along the highway and as you climb to the Summit you see the largest, most majestic pine trees you’ve ever see, and huge gray rocks with small waterfalls everywhere you look.  You can hear the water babbling and smell nothing but pine.  The highway does have some sharp turns and steepish (6%) grades; however, there are plenty of passing lanes and smooth turnouts along the route with good size shoulders on most of the highway.  It is nothing like Highway 1-which Mike has driven Reva up and down 4 times now-so we both got to relax and enjoy the ride a bit.  Having an exhaust brake is definitely a plus on these types of drives-along with years of mountain driving experience. 

Zephyr Cove Resort and Campground has a decent campground directly across the Highway from Lake Tahoe.  Some sites are larger than others, some are not very level, some are near the highway.  The first pull through site we were assigned to was 135.  There was absolutely no way our 38 footer could fit between the 2 trees at the entrance of this site and make the slight turn to get in.  No amount of backing up and going forward was going to get us into this pull through site.  (I forgot to mention-you cannot reserve certain sites, only the type-pull through, 40 ft, 25 ft, etc.)  We were reassigned to a back in site -number 174.  Was it ideal?  No.  It had a retaining wall on the passenger’s side and it was so tight we could not open our storage compartments or sit under our awning.  Our assigned picnic table and fire pit were on the driver’s side and right next to the sewer hose.  That being said, we knew we wouldn’t be having a picnic or a fire or be sitting outside around the camper in the evening and we were level-without blocks-not easy in this park.  AND we were in Tahoe and the weather was nearly perfect!  Mike would be fishing and the dogs and I would be hiking-we’ll take it.  For those of you considering camping at Zephyr Cove, I would suggest asking for site 137-not sure if they honor requests with reservations, but worth a try.  It is a pull through site that looks like it’s pretty level and easy to get into it.  Just remember, it’s Tahoe.  You won’t be spending a lot of time at your campsite anyway. 

I think Lake Tahoe somehow crept into my soul on my first visit and never left.  I don’t know if I can explain it.  I haven’t traveled as extensively as some, I’m sure there are tons of awe inspiring places in this beautiful world.  I hope that I get to experience many of them with this new life we are living.  Everywhere I look at Lake Tahoe, and on the drive up 50, could be a picture in a book.  Every view is stunning, everywhere I look fills my heart a bit more than the last site.  I walked 9+ miles every day we were there.  I just couldn’t stop.  Every corner had a new beauty to share.  And the air,  smells like pine and a saw mill.  It was sunny and warm-nearly 70-every day we were there.  Warm in the sun, cool in the shade.  There was a wonderful trail along the shoreline that the dogs and I walked every day.  Along the trail there are beaches where dogs are allowed. 

Lake Tahoe is 1,644 feet at its deepest and the water is 99.994% pure, making it one of the purest large lakes in the world. For comparison, commercially distilled water is 99.998% pure. There are 72 miles of shoreline with some of the most amazing views in the world.  I can’t get enough of it.  I’ve taken countless pictures here, and while amazing, they just don’t quite capture it. 

Kiya and Louie snuck a quick dip or two-she had sutures due to a little skin tag removal that weren’t supposed to get wet but we cheated a bit-it’s Tahoe!  There is also a nice, big meadow where they got to run off leash every day.  They had a blast as did I.  What a great way to spend Mike’s birthday weekend! 

He was able to catch mackeral, rainbow and brown trout and had such a great time fishing the lake we decided to extend an extra day.  Monday was going to be the last nice day with zero wind and mid 60’s.  Easy decision.  $37, yep we’ll stay until Tuesday! 

We went to Harrah’s Saturday night for Mike’s birthday dinner.  They have steak and seafood on Saturday evening.  It was unfortunately disappointing.  Especially for the cost-$80 for 2 with tip.  In days past, Tahoe had great buffets.  I am an Iowa girl.  I LOVE mashed potatoes.  They had instant mashed potatoes-no lie.  While the crab legs were scrawny, the prime rib was good and the desserts were pretty good.    We decided next time we’d stay in the campground 2 extra days and eat in instead-same cost.  It did make us appreciate the great food and prices we had enjoyed at Red Hawk last week. 

While losing our site at Timber Cove was unnerving, neither of us really panicked.  We felt it would all work out and OMG did it!  Spring at Lake Tahoe can be very unpredictable.  I don’t think I would ever reserve 5 days at the end of April for Lake Tahoe at an elevation of over 6,000 feet.  People told us to enjoy the snow when we mentioned we were going up there.  The snow was gone and the weather was delightful.  The day we left, Tuesday April 30^th, we celebrated our 6 month full timing anniversary.  We got out and headed to our niece’s house in Washoe Valley, just an hour down the mountain, right before a storm headed in bringing rain and snow with highs of 49.  Definitely feeling blessed and grateful! 

With a quick stop in Carson City for fuel and to top off our propane, we were able to get to Ashley and Tony’s new home just as the rain/snow began spitting.  If you need fuel or propane for an RV, I would suggest Golden Gate Petroleum.  It has easy propane access for motorhomes and a separate island of diesel pumps very easily accessed. 

We had a nice night visiting with family and again getting a baby fix.  We had a great time playing balloon with little 4 year old Mack and baby Hank who is one day older than our grandson, Gus.  Our brother in law lives nearby and was very happy to come by his daughter’s house to have some pizza with us and visit with those precious babies.  I was so busy playing balloon and tickle monster I only got one picture of Mack.  I definitely must work on that!  The kids have a beautiful acreage and we were able to set up right in their driveway for the night.  We even ran an extension cord so we didn’t need to operate the generator at all. 

When we were doing the daily grind, and working every day with 3 weeks of vacation time per year, we would not have had the luxury to spend a few days at Tahoe last minute or drop in and see family.  Or spend a month at Pyramid Lake relaxing, baking, trying new recipes, camping with family and friends, hiking, writing, and reflecting.  Oh, and fishing-Mike will be after Lahontan Cutthroat trout for the next month. He hopes to get a 20 pounder.  Wish him luck!  Off we go! 

Timber Cove Boat Launch and Campground-

Mike was able to secure a great deal so our initial plan was to spend 17 days back at Timber Cove, fishing and crabbing while I relaxed and did some hiking, reading, and writing. This was going to be one of two stops during my time off work. We were really looking forward to this remote, stunning, area on Highway 1-just north of Jenner, California.

Mike had some nice days fishing and caught several crab.  I had several enjoyable hikes around the coast line with Louie and Kiya and we had set up the dog fencing and made ourselves at home when Cal Trans stopped at Brenda’s (campground owner) house. We had only been here 5 days! I watched their conversation from my spot inside our rig on the sofa and could tell our future at Timber Cove Boat Launch and Campground was not secure. 

Prior to our arrival, one of our Fresh and Salty friends had asked if we had heard about the Bureau of Land Reclamation issues Brenda had been having at the campground.  We had not but she had accepted our reservation for the North Meadow knowing we were nearly 38 feet long so we felt fairly certain everything would be okay. 

When we arrived at the campground Brenda was off running some errands but had called us and told us to park in the same spot we had been in November so we did.  The campground all looked so different.  There were several of the permanent trailers that had moved out, fencing was gone, the tool shed was moved, even Brenda’s house had been moved back another 8 or so feet from the road.  There were orange posts near the back of the meadow right by the hook ups. 

Brenda had apparently been under the impression that while permanent structures were not allowed in front of the orange marker lines, she could still have campers there.  Cal Trans had other news for all of us.  This wasn’t her property to rent out and she could not allow camping on the “right of way” area.  We had to move out of that site. 

Timber Cove has a very small campground behind the front “meadow” areas and there was no where we would fit.  Brenda did refund us for the time we couldn’t stay.  We stayed right where we were for one night, packing up the outside area and getting ready to pull out.  We had friends coming to fish and camp the next day and we all agreed we would just “park” in the area the next day while the guys fished.  We had learned of this issue around 3:30 in the afternoon. Brenda knew the Cal Trans worker lived in Santa Rosa and wouldn’t be back that night so we stayed hooked up, got a shower in, dumped our tanks, and got some water in our holding tanks. 

Mike pulled out of the area we had been camping and left the slides in the next morning.  Lori and Ted arrived with Ted’s Uncle Dean a bit later that morning and the guys had a blast fishing while Lori and I took off to explore the area a bit in Yeep with Louie and Kiya along for the ride.  We drove up the coast a bit to a small town called Gualala and had a great Mexican breakfast. 

I came close to losing Kiya that morning.  I made the mistake of not closing the Yeep windows most of the way and left them all the way down in the back seat.  It was a cool day, upper 60’s and the dogs love coming along-beats sitting in the RV at home. 

We had been in the restaurant 10-15 minutes when the lady who owned the beauty shop just next to the restaurant in the strip of stores came in and asked if either Lori or I owned a little brown Doberman.  Apparently this little brown dog had wandered into her shop-she had the door open-and looked very concerned…..hmm not a Doberman, but sounds like Kiya.  Sure enough, she had jumped out of the Yeep to find me and came close, I will give her that.  I’m so lucky that she wasn’t hit by cars driving by on Highway 1 or lost or whatever.  Valuable lesson learned-make sure the windows are not all the way down !  I gave her some love and took her back to the Yeep and ensured she was secure this time lol!

After breakfast Lori and I drove back down toward Timber Cove and stopped at Sea Ranch Chapel.  What a magical place.  It was designed by James Hubbell, and artist and architect.  It is a stunning non-denominational chapel that is open for daily meditation and can be rented out for weddings special occasions.  It really is something to see with beautiful stained glass windows and just amazing interior as well as exterior. It was so worth the short drive to see!

Next, we continued our drive back toward Timber Cove and stopped at Ocean Cove.  Ocean Cove is a campground less than 2 miles from Timber Cove.  While there aren’t any hook ups, Ocean Cove can accommodate campers of ALL sizes-this campground is very large and it does have a boat launch that looks a little bit more intimidating than Timber Cove’s launch but doable.  Lori and I decided the boys could always launch at Timber Cove while we camped at Ocean Cove in the future if necessary!  Ocean Cove rents for $28/night-again no hook ups but there are water spigots, outdoor showers, and portable toilets all around.  It will be a fine substitute since we can no longer camp at Timber Cove in the RV-we just don’t fit-her sites are about the size of pick up truck-length and width. 

After our tour of Ocean Cove campground, we continued past Timber Cove a couple of miles and visited Fort Ross.  What a fun piece of history!

Fort Ross was originally built by the Russians as a camp to grow food and supply their Alaskan colonies who were hunting seals, sea lions, and the like.  There are several original buildings and some replicas on the site today.  Fort Ross was the first place ships were produced in California and the site of the first windmill.  Today, it costs $8/car to tour the site and there are schools that participate in overnight field trips.  There was a class there when we toured and Lori and I agreed it would have been a cool field trip!  They were marching with old weapons, cooking over open fires, and had set up a company store!  How Fun! 

The fellas had a great day of fishing and caught quite a few crab.  We shared a nice dinner with our friends and boondocked for the night in front of what was once Timber Cove North Meadow Campground.  No one stopped to complain and we headed out after breakfast with our friends.  Next stop back to Red Hawk casino to figure out what to do with our time until May 2^nd -still nearly 2 weeks away-when we have reservations at Pyramid Lake for a month. 

Thanks so much for coming to spend a couple days with us, Lori, Ted, and Uncle Dean! And thank you Timber Cove for some great memories. I wish you luck with all the campground changes you are undergoing! If we can’t stay, we will be back to launch at least!

So, we were at Hollywood RV park starting Monday, January 28th. We rolled in around noon and I started work the very next day at 0830. This was my first interim assignment and I was so excited to see if we could actually do this!
Hollywood RV Park has been a fun experience. The spots are very close together. There are little streets with 5 RV’s on each side of the street. There is just enough space for each of us to park a vehicle in front of the site. We were on the very last site at the end of our road. It’s nice that we had a little area beside Reva to stash the kayak and no one can even see it, but it also means I have to back Yeep in the single driving lane quite a distance. My back up skills definitely improved while we were in LA! LOL!

Mike did amazing parking Reva.  There were cars parked on either side, it was one single lane he had to back her all the way to the end.  I was SO impressed.  Of course, the staff here directed him and they know how to do this, I would not have been much help!  The lady on the first site on the end was amazed when she got up-she’s a night nurse from Idaho.  She woke up and there we were.  She was like “how did you get that down there without me moving my SUV?”  Mad skills!  And great directives lol! 

Hollywood RV Park has quite an array of residents.  There are people who live here full time, part time, and passing through.  There are a lot of travel nurses, Cedar Sanai transplant patients, and people who work “in the industry”. 

The park sits directly next to a studio where Gordan Ramsey films.  No, we never saw him but we did hear he was flying in one night via helicopter. 

Everyone has been really nice and the place itself is very quiet at night.  It is close to the Van Nuys airport so there is helicopter noise at night and traffic, but this is urban camping.  The park is very clean and is always advertising fun things.  They had a free canvas paint night one night that I couldn’t attend and last Sunday they had a concert we did attend. 

There are a few artists here and I understand that a couple of them had made tv auditions on The Voice.  There’s been a band here writing for a few weeks.  All of them performed in the recreation room with free pizza.  It was really fun!  We lived near some really talented people. 

I especially enjoyed Sarah Rogo.  She was an amazing one woman band with a great voice.  Check out Going Where the Weather Suits My Soul on Spotify.  https://open.spotify.com/artist/6iS4moKRkWko7okWLeqisy

We were having a great time.  It was nice to get out of the RV for a bit anyway.  We had been here nearly 4 weeks and it had rained almost every day and it did rain every weekend.  We were feeling the cabin fever.  We hadn’t been away from Louie and Kiya for any length of time-one of us, usually Mike, had been with them 24 /7 the entire time.  It was a nice break to leave them home and walk down to the rec center for a free dinner and concert, until a woman ran in and yelled, “there’s a fire.”  Oh shit! 

We were near the front of the room so it felt like forever before we could file out of that rec room and find out what and where the fire was.  I was so scared for our babies, Louie and Kiya.  Knowing Mike can move a lot faster than me; I gave him the keys as soon as we got outside and told him to” get our dogs, go.”  He took off running. 

At night, in a panic, it’s hard to know how far you’ve walked.  I was petrified when I got to one of the little street and saw an RV at the end of the row on the left hand side in flames.  My heart sank, I started shaking for just a split second.  It was obviously a 5^th wheel and not our Reva, it wasn’t our street.  The little street was flooding with people and I couldn’t see Mike so I kept walking to our MH-which was still several streets down the road.  When I got there, it was, of course, fine and Mike wasn’t there.  I realized he had gone to help at the fire so I walked back to the scene.  The fire truck was pulling in and then I saw Mike coming out of the crowd.  His shirt was wet with fire extinguisher stuff and he was visibly shaken. We walked to Reva and checked on the dogs as he told me what happened. 

 He said he got there and the door was open, there were a couple people hooking up a hose and out of nowhere someone handed him a fire extinguisher.  He said he asked if there was anyone inside-he initially thought about crawling in the door, the flames were higher and he thought he had a little room to get in if needed.  The first reply was “no”, then someone said there was an elderly disabled couple and 2 dogs inside.  The flames had spread quickly and there was no longer any space to crawl in the door.  He and another man started beating on the window on the backside of the trailer with their extinguishers.  He said, “Patti, I heard someone screaming.  I thought I heard her screaming “somebody help me.”  I should have gone in right away.  There was a chance right when I got there.”  I tried to console him and remind him that the flames had moved fast, he could have died.  We were both in shock and our home was so silent.  Mike was just devastated and the sound of the woman’s screams were wearing on him so heavily.

I walked back up to the scene to see what I could find out.  Mike was certain they had to all be dead.  The flames were too big and I could feel how heavy it was weighing on him.  I found the man he had worked with to break the windows and learned that everyone got out alive.  The man was actually in the hospital having suffered a heart attack days prior and a neighbor had been watching the dog.  When the firemen arrived, they were able to get to the lady and get her out.  She was going to be okay.  How scary!

Steve, the owner of the park, asked me how it felt to be married to a hero.  Apparently, the fire fighters had told him the work Mike and the other gentleman had done with the fire extinguishers had bought the time needed for them to rescue this woman-who was wheelchair bound with dementia and weighed over 200 lbs.  I was relieved that Mike didn’t try to go in and get her and grateful the firemen were able to save her.   

I decided after that night that I would no longer lock my RV when my dogs are inside alone.  I like to think that people are basically honest.  I’d like to think there would be few people who would think to try and rob an RV with 2 large dogs inside.  I ‘d like to think that my dogs would keep strangers out and not make friends with intruders. 

I can’t control the things I’d like to think.  I can’t make them 100% truth as much as I’d like to do just that.  But I can accept this risk and make sure that if my dogs are inside, someone will be able to get to them if I’m not close enough to save them should something happen.  Things are things and they are insured and can be replaced.  I couldn’t bear it if I lost my dogs because the door was locked.  Not worth it.  This has been the second fire we have seen destroy an RV in a month’s time.  The other was a little TT at Dana Point.  Everyone got out ok, but the unit was toast. 

Hollywood RV park has some of the friendliest residents and is really pretty quiet most days and all nights.  There were a couple of things filmed there during our stay but they went about their business and we hardly noticed they were even there. 

There wasn’t any trailer park drama that I hear about in other areas from time to time.  It was just a group of hard working, respectful people living very closely together.  If you need a place to park overnight or for a lengthy assignment, I would definitely recommend Hollywood RV Park. 

What I learned about LA area traffic during this stay. 

1.  I have no desire to live full time in the LA area.  My 17 mile commute from Van Nuys to Hollywood took anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half.  BUT I was only 1 minute late one day-reinforcing my opinion that we can all be timely, regardless of our traffic issues. 
2. LA has its own set of driving laws-
   1. There will be at least 2, possibly 3 cars that will turn left on every red light that does not have a turn lane.  This is pretty much the only way to make a left without a turn lane and it’s just part of life.  Make sure to be aware of this when your light turns green and watch out. 
   2. If you are on a 3 lane boulevard, do not drive in the far right lane.  There will be cars parked in the lane when they are not supposed to be. If there is allowed parking, there will be cars parked poorly and in your lane.  There will be vehicles that stop suddenly in this lane and double park with their flashers on.  Buses stop in this lane frequently-expected, but something to be aware of when driving and not used to a bus system.
   3. Be cautious using the middle lane in a 3 lane boulevard.  The people driving in the right hand lane frequently cut in on you to avoid stopped traffic, buses, and etc.  They expect you to yield to them. A woman who got stuck behind a bus in the right hand lane actually chased me down to chew me out for not yielding to her and allowing her to cut in on me.  I was happy to clarify my responsibilities when driving to her lol. 
   4. There will be strange, unexplained things along the roads.  This bucket has been sitting along the fast lane shoulder of 101S, just about a mile from the 405 junction, since I arrived 2 ½ months ago.  I’ve been stuck in stand still traffic right next to it and it’s got trash in it.  I’m amazed no one has hit it in all this time.  I had to snap a picture to say good bye to the bucket!  I wonder how long it will sit there. 
   5. Drivers will cut over when merging onto a different highway at the very last minute to avoid the long lines of traffic waiting to merge.
   6. MOST freeway drivers are patient and courteous as well all move at a snail’s pace to get where we are going.  There isn’t a lot of honking and it’s not bad getting in and out of lanes. 

Alexandria Care Center is in the Little Armenia area of East Hollywood.  It is a large facility with over 170 beds.  There are a lot of great people who have worked here for many years and have seen many changes over time.  The facility has so much potential but has fallen victim to lack of consistent leadership in recent years.  I was honored to have been a part of the facility’s reincarnation for nearly 3 months. 

I never expected that I would make such close connections with so many of the staff  and residents in such a short time.  While HIPAA requirements do not permit me to share a lot of the stories and adventures we went through during my time at ACC, I do want to give a huge shout out the one of the warmest, kindest, most loving SNF teams I’ve had the pleasure to work alongside.  I will never forget Alexandria Care Center and will think of my new friends often especially when I eat Armenian pizza, Russian egg rolls, Cassava cake, and Frito casserole. My last day here was also my birthday and I was honored with a fantastic surprise party and potluck!  Thank you all so much!  I wish you all success! 

Between long hours working, traffic, and rain nearly EVERY weekend, we didn’t get out to see much in the LA area.  Mike was our nephew Michael’s special guest at a concert at the famous Whiskey A Go Go.  He got to see the Rainbow Room and go back stage and see the area all the legends had been.  He wondered how much drug use and sex took place in those bathrooms back in the day!  It was an unforgettable experience at a glimpse of history few get to see for him.  Thank you so much Goob! 

We did get one sunny day and drove to Santa Monica pier for the day.  It’s a busy beach and they were hosting the Independent Spirit Film Awards.  We didn’t see any stars-that we recognized anyway-but it was fun to watch all the black SUV’s show up throughout the day. 

Our final weekend we drove into LA and spent the afternoon at the Living History Museum with our nephew and his family.  We loved our time with the adorable little Quinn.  Here he is in one of the large trees outside.  We were pretending the ground was hot lava and you could only be safe on the roots of the tree.  We had so much fun.  I’m looking forward to seeing all of the great nieces and nephews and our journey home to see the grand babies this fall.  I feel so grateful and blessed that we have the time to spend with those we love. 

Thank you, Hollywood, for the experiences, the work, the life lessons, and the new friendships!  Off to Timber Cove for some fishing and crabbing. 

Added note: It is with a heavy heart that I finish this article.  I am sitting outside the RV at Timber Cove with an ocean view and a light wind, the sun warming my back.  It’s a beautiful day and I have at least the next six weeks off work.  The dogs and I went for a nice walk along the coast line this morning and Mike is out slaying some cod and hopefully pulling in full pots of crab for a feed with friends who are joining us for a couple days tomorrow.  I am blessed to have this opportunity in life while my first cousin, Jolene, passed away at 54 years of age late last night.  I am so sorry that I hardly knew her since becoming adults.  I am sorry that her life was cut so short-complications from cancer, I believe.  And I’m so sorry that her family is hurting so much today.  It seems that every month there is another death, another reminder that this life is short and unpredictable.  I hope that I can always find gratitude for all that I have and that I remember what is truly important in our short, unpredictable lives.  Time is the most important resource we have-spend it wisely!

It was a quick and pretty drive down to Guajome Regional Park. It was a short 23 miles from Casino Pauma. Had I really been paying attention to the map, we could have driven into town in Yeep, gotten the things we needed and boondocked at the casino for free for that 3rd day and saved $35, but then we wouldn’t have experienced this wonderful little park!

Overnight fees are $29 and a tow car is free-if you are towing it. This is one of those parks that will not let you in early. We arrived around 12:30 and there wasn’t even an area we could park and wait. There was a Walmart just down the road a couple of miles so we used the time to get groceries, get Mike’s duplicate fishing license and lobster stamp, etc. There was a gas station that looked like it would be okay to maneuver so we unhooked and took Reva Mae over for a drink, but the diesel pump was out of order. Oh well, we were fine for a while. Reva has a 100- gallon tank and we were over half full-filling her is always such a treat on the pocket book. I prefer to always keep her over half full. The generator will not operate if there is less than a quarter tank of fuel as a mode of protection, and the sticker price isn’t as shocking at a half a tank lol!

Since we unhooked, I just drove Yeep to the campground and had Mike follow me. It was easier than hooking everything back up to flat tow. There are five cables that have to be attached after the tow bars are put on. It’s really pretty easy and Mike and I have gotten our joint duties down. We can hook up or unhook in just a couple of minutes-but the park was literally 5 minutes away.

Guajome does charge $1 per dog per day for the stay and $4 for an extra vehicle. Because Mike wasn’t towing Yeep, we had to pay-even though its obvious it has a tow bar on it. I understand there are rules, but I think it’s much more considerate to drive in than take up room in the campground to unhook. It was only $6 so I paid without question. I had actually thought I was just paying for the dogs until later when I was visiting with the ranger about our next reservation. He’s the one who pointed out he had to charge me.
It was still so reasonable to be in SoCal with hook ups for $35 it was fine-but when we come back, we will be hooked up-I’m a tight ass these days lol!

The rangers were very nice as is the campground. I didn’t like the angle of the site we have reserved for the upcoming weekend, so he worked with me to change it to a different site and we chatted for quite a while. He’s a full timer too and had some great tips for sites and pads to be looking for when making reservations. Usually, the people you meet are so friendly!

It’s a beautiful little park with established, easy walking trails throughout the property. I was able to get the dogs out for a nice walk after I started laundry and get a few pictures. I understand this park has 4.5 miles of trails total and one can walk to the beach on a connecting trail system but It’s like 9 miles. I won’t be walking to the beach!

While I didn’t get a lot of time to explore this park yet, the one thing that stuck to me so quickly was the playground area. It’s a great covered playground for kids surrounded by Weeping Willow trees. They are smaller than the one in that was in my Grandma’s front yard, but there must be 8 or more all around the playground. It’s so pretty.

I loved my Grandma Gladys’ weeper in front of her home in Duncombe, Iowa. I didn’t get to spend a lot of time at her place. My parents divorced when I was five and I only got to see my mom every third weekend of the month, one week every summer, and every other holiday. It’s funny, or maybe sad, that I can still rattle off the visitation schedule set forth in the divorce decree. I’ve never read it, I just remember it because I heard it so many times over the years growing up. Seeing Grandma and our aunts, uncles and cousins was a rare treat! I loved her house!

First of all, it was always changing. My grandma would add a huge screened in porch, then wall it in completely, then take it off, add regular stairs to my uncle’s attic room, take them out to folding stairs, change furniture….it was always a surprise how it would look. And I never knew who might be there. She had, I believe 12 children. Between the aunts and uncles and cousins, her house usually was full of noise. Home was usually so quiet, I welcomed the sounds of her place-usually. There were arguments and blow ups-like most families have I think-that scared me. Grandma could be difficult and so could her children- but usually Grandma’s house meant liveliness!

She was a toy party dealer as well and had wonderful catalogs of such cool things we could look at for hours. Often, she even had samples of the toys we got to play with. She always had a ton of stuff in her house. Holiday dinners were the best! There was so much food everywhere, and so many people. People I always wished I knew better and always felt a degree of separation from, but I could be a small part of them for that day at least! Who knew, if or when I would see any of them again.

I loved watching the weeping willow sway in the breeze and running under the branches. I swore my home, if I ever got one, would have one these amazing trees too! Grandma always cussed it and the mess it made but I thought it made the coolest fort and hiding place!
Funny how a tree can bring back so many memories. Anyway, sorry, I digressed-per usual-let’s get back to the park!

A beautiful playground area and a cute lake with several species of geese and ducks who make Guajome their home. The trail system leads to an adobe and a steam engine museum that I intend to check out when we return on Friday.
Remember, this was just a one night stop over to get our supplies for Doheny State Beach-which is dry camping at the bargain rate of $60/night-but we are right on the beach!
I drove to Best Buy and got Mike his GoPro-a very belated Christmas gift he’s wanted for his fishing adventures. For those of you who love a deal, I took out a Best Buy credit card to get my laptop in December. They had great “points” offers at the time. 20% back in store merchandise with new account. I had $110 in available credit all for using the card one time to buy the laptop-paid it off immediately and today I used the free $110 credit toward Mike’s GoPro. If you work hard to get good credit, make sure it works for you!

We both took our “we’ve got hook ups!” showers, cleaned up Reva Mae, filled our fresh water tank and drinking water jugs, dumped our tanks and we’re off to the beach! Next stop Dana Point Doheny State Beach for 4 days of rest (for me) and fishing for Mike! Looking forward to both of us getting some time!

The drive to Dana Point was easy for the most part. We left after morning rush hour around 1045 and had only one slow down. We were able to get into our site early and check in was quite easy. I did notice a lot of RV’s in the day use area and asked a ranger how some I noticed were there overnight-what the fee was. He told me it was $195 parking ticket. I know some of those motorhomes never moved throughout our stay, others just a bit. I’ve read there’s a rest stop nearby where you can stay 8 hours, I think maybe some are going back and forth. A California poppy pass does cover parking fees in the day use area.

We had a premium spot with an ocean view-there is a large dune that you have to climb up to see the ocean but it was really pretty roomy. We chose a site next to a walkway area and those seem to be a bit larger. Mike was able to put up the dog fencing and we put out or mat and chairs. The weather was quite nice during the days, cool at night and we did have to use the furnace.

Doheney State Beach campground has no hook ups. There are bathrooms and showers that I did not visit so I can’t comment on their conditions. The dump station is not inside the camping area, it is across the river. We had plenty of room in our tanks when we checked out, so we chose not to go through the hassle of dumping there.

The other strange thing about Doheney campground is the generator times. The earliest you can use your generator is 1000 AM and the latest is 8:00 pm. I started it just after 0830 one morning, thinking it was 0800 on/2200 off the way most campgrounds are, and got a friendly knock from the ranger letting me know this park is 1000 on/2000 off. I did ask him if I could start my engine before 1000. Yes, there were no regulations against that.

So, it’s okay to run my loud rear diesel engine that is closer to campers but not okay to run my much quieter front- end generator that is right in front of a sand dune, muffling most of the noise? Hmmm, ok then.

Next morning, I started the motor to charge the batteries a bit as directed lol. We did our best to manage battery usage so we wouldn’t have to run the rig outside of the generator times. That’s a large time window though, especially when you have to run the furnace at night. It was helpful to shut or bedroom door to keep the heat from escaping to the main cabin.

It is not a quiet campground by any means. The commuter trains are close by and they start very early on the weekdays. The rangers drive around in gas powered carts that are noisy as well. It is just off the interstate and there is a lot of traffic noise. That being said, it is right on the beach. I probably would not stay there again. It was $62/night to dry camp here. Because we had done so much boondocking for the month, this was our one splurge and while the ocean was beautiful, I think I could have day camped in the short- term parking lot and slept at the rest area just as comfortably and saved $250. I’m sure traffic would have been crazy, though. Perhaps if Mike could have launched his kayak right there at our site, but we had to drive a couple miles away to the harbor for launching, so we spent very little time at the site.
Now if you wanted to just play on the beach, this would be an ideal spot, especially for families. It’s a quick little jaunt over a large dune that you camp in front of and there you are. It is very convenient for swimming and sunbathing. I can see why people camp here in the summer.

The park area is beautiful. While there are some homeless people there, it’s not inundated. There are a lot of picnic tables, green grassy areas, volleyball nets on the beach, and a little snack bar place. There were a lot of places to walk, a great trail that runs along the San Juan Creek for 6 miles. There are areas you can get on and off the trail with parks adjacent to it along it’s course. We walked through a little park that had fitness stations-no, I did not do them, lol. But, I got some good pictures.

Mike spent two days learning to hoop for lobsters with our friends from the Fresh N Salty kayak fishing group, Ted and Lori. He had a great time and caught a ton of lobsters that were all just a tiny bit too short to keep. I did plan ahead and buy some lobster tails so we could be certain to have our ocean front barbeque regardless. Ted made the tails with a siracha and mayo glaze and they came out awesome-as did our steaks!

While the guys fished and hooped for lobster, Lori and I got to know one another and toured around the area a bit. The pier area had lots of fun little boutiques and shops, like most piers do. We also went into Old San Juan Capistrano to tour their little shops and spent one morning tour the mission there. Amazing history and a very beautiful place. We had a great breakfast at a little café with great service, called Ellie’s Table. We also found a wonderful little bakery and frozen yogurt shop, 3:16 Bakery Shop, with the best desserts near the parking garage which is by the Amtrak station. Amazing desserts!

It was a busy trip, Mike and Ted hooped 2 evenings and fished our last morning there, while Lori and I window shopped and toured the area-thank you so much for showing me around Lori! I also got a job! I had to get some online paperwork done and schedule a drug screen asap. The company wanted me to start the following Tuesday. We had already made reservations back at Guajome in Oceanside for the weekend, anticipating I may be getting onboarded that next week. Doheney is booked up far in advance for the weekends, boondocking in SoCal is more difficult from what I’ve found so far, so Guajome was our best option.

I drove separately from Mike since we needed to park at Walmart and wait to get in-Guajome didn’t allow early check in remember-and I needed to drive to Escondido for a drug screen before we could camp. Mike and the dogs hung out at Walmart while I went and took care of my screen. Then we both got fuel and headed to the park.
We took the time to hook up the Yeep just outside of the park since we were charged for not towing it in the last time we were here. Staying 3 days, I had no intention of paying $12 for our toad unnecessarily. So, we hooked up and proceeded to the gate……no one manning the desk lol! So, we drove past the guard shack, unhooked and parked in our site. I tried to find rangers a couple of times during the weekend but no one ever manned the gate shack all weekend. So, the dogs stayed for free this time.

Weekends are a bit busier at Guajome. There was a 10K race and some youth running/exercise classes going on early in the AM. Once those ended, Saturday afternoon and Sunday were peaceful. There are a lot of different trail loops with some great views. Mike had hoped to get some fishing in at Oceanside but the other kayaker had to cancel. He’s not one to fish an ocean area alone for the first time. Once he gets a feel for the area, all good. He fished a lot at Timber Cover alone but only after he had explored the area with others. So, all in all it was a quiet weekend, getting the laundry caught up, and walking around enjoying the park with the dogs. We are headed to Hollywood RV Park in Van Nuys for a few months to work. The facility has had some troubles and I’m hopeful that I can help them get things straightened out while I’m there. I really enjoy cleaning up and streamlining buildings so I’m hopeful I can help! Next stop LA!

While most of the time at Slab City was depressing for me to say the least. There were some highlights that helped me keep my sanity. I received a couple calls about possible temporary positions in SoCal-one in Oceanside and one in Hollywood- that were very interesting! I’m excited to have an opportunity at either place! I should know more this next week. My hope is to work full time February, March, and April, maybe May. The fact that we are already so far south we saw border patrol everywhere is a huge plus! The fewer miles we have to drive to get to a job, the better profit margin to take off for 3 months! While I would love to see Bees, this is financially a better option than looking up north. I can make due with video chatting.

We were also able to set a date with our new friends Ted and Lori to do some lobster hooping in Dana Point! We met Ted and Lori through the Fresh n Salty fishing group when we were in Timber Cove, CA, clear back at the beginning of our full time RV journey in November.
Ted and Lori are from Anaheim. He told Lori they were going a “couple hours out of town” to fish for ling cod the weekend they came to Timber Cove! It’s over 8 hours to drive! LOL! I found Lori quite delightful and while I didn’t get to spend much time with Ted-he was out in the kayak-I knew we had met friends!

Mike has always wanted to hoop lobsters but I guess this is something you do at night. Definitely not something you want to do alone in your kayak for the first time. I had reached out to Lori and fortunately Ted had some weekday availability. Doheny State Beach campground is right on the ocean at Dana Point and pretty easy to get weekday reservations in the winter, but weekends were not looking good.
We were able to get four weekdays booked and Ted was available our first 2 days there! This meant we needed to be at Doheny on the 21st, but it was only the 16th when we were leaving Slab City. We could stay there up to 14 days but I was crazed so we had to leave lol!

Mike knew he’d rather take a more scenic route than I10 so we opted to stay on 78. At least initially. We had been at Slab City for 3 days and Quartzsite for 6 days before that. Tanks were getting pretty full so I needed to plan at least a dump but I was really wanting hook ups. I also wanted cheap! We hadn’t paid anything for camping so far in January and my goal was to really conserve and keep costs low.
Borrego Palm Canyon Campground is located in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park. While it was about 15 miles off of highway 78, it was the most reasonable campground in the area and had full hook-ups. We could dump, fill, shower like fools, do laundry in our own machines, and vacuum.
It really was a beautiful drive over to the campground from Slab City. We were pretty far south and had to go through a border patrol checkpoint. There were huge expanses of sand-what you think of when you think “desert”. There were also fields full of greens and broccoli and cauliflower. I could smell the cauliflower!

There was an area just a few miles outside of the campground with all of these animal monuments erected. They took us by surprise and I was only able to snap a couple of pictures. There must have been around 50 or more. Dinosaurs, elephants, horses. It was such a fun surprise. The journey IS the reward. If only we could all remember that all the time!
I hadn’t made a reservation at Borrego Palm Canyon Campground. I had gotten all the way to the reservation window then took a break to make dinner. By the time I got back to it, the time window had closed. I knew there were at least 8 sites open and we were traveling on a Thursday so I felt pretty confident we would get a site.

The ranger manning the booth was awesome. She highlighted all the open sites and let us drive through to pick whichever one we wanted. All of the sites in the full hook up area are pull through and have 20, 30, and 50 -amp service-for $35.00/night. In California, this is a GREAT price! We saved the online reservation fee since we were drive up guests as well! Woohoo!
The park is really busy on the weekends. We didn’t get to explore too much since it was just a one night stop over but it was absolutely stunning! Gorgeous palm trees, a beautiful flat area butted up against this huge mountain. It was so clean! My oasis in the desert! My heart felt so light, especially after all the emotions of Slab City!

We did meet one gentleman who had a male German shorthair pointer as well. He and his partner were traveling slowly to Yuma and said they come to this park all the time when making that journey from Grass Valley, CA. We did ask what the draw was for people to come here besides just a stop over-what do people do? It apparently has some really great hiking trails. In addition, it’s quiet, beautiful, and low cost. There were quite a few snowbirds camped here. He also said, “you can stay for 14 days at this rate, in this peace.”

We were able to get our laundry caught up using our little machines, dump our tanks, and take ridiculously long, hot, glutenous showers. I swept, vacuumed, and mopped. The dogs got a nice long walk in as well the morning we left. It was the most beautiful little park! They had showers and regular flush toilets as well as the cutest little vault toilets farther out in the dry camping areas.

Dogs are only allowed on the paved areas, so don’t plan to go on the big hikes with your fur baby if you choose to visit there.
Louie, Kiya, and I walked all through the campground the next morning. They were so happy to get a good walk in with momma and I was feeling so much better. It was a beautiful morning in a beautiful place. I had soaked up some vitamin D and was ready to move on.
As I walked through the campground, I could hear Mike talking from a couple rows away. It sounded as if he was having a nice conversation with a neighbor maybe. Imagine my surprise when we got around to our campsite and found him inside on his computer with the window open.

He was video chatting with an old Iowa friend-and practically yelling! He was SOOO loud! I was in a great mood and said, “hey, you’re really loud!” Mike has significant hearing loss he refuses to admit or address and has always been very loud anyway. He got all pissy because I commented on it which created quite a little tiff between us. I call that hallway sex-we pass each other in the hallway and say “F you!” (I tell this story because he often sounds like a damn saint in my blogs and I need to make sure you all know he can still be a major ass lol!)

We finished packing up camp in silence after our little battle. Our next stop was Casino Pauma in Pauma Valley, California. This had caused a bit of a “discussion” as well. When I found this stop, I was on an app and thought I was still looking at places on highway 78, turns out this was going to take us on another highway, S22, 79, and 76. It was actually a more direct route, but crossing the mountains is not something you should take lightly in an RV. As I said, we had a “discussion” about this the night we got to Borrego Palms. After looking at the map and watching some videos of the roadway, it looked like it was going to be fine to drive.

The drive, while fairly silent, was really pretty. We drove around Lake Henshaw and the meadows were all so green from the rainy season. I spent part of the time enjoying the scenery and part of the time figuring out how to make Mike’s death look like an accident. It really was a pretty easy mountain drive with very few steep grades. There were a few tight turns but nothing like driving to Timber Cove up PCH 1. We arrived at Casino Pauma in a little over an hour.

It is absolutely gorgeous here. There is an area to the right as you come that is clearly marked for RV’s. It took a couple tries to get Reva level in this dirt lot but we did finally find a spot and got perfectly level and didn’t have to unhook Yeep-plenty of room to open up slides and relax. There is an orange grove surrounding the casino. I had never walked through an orange grove before. It smelled so good! The hillsides surrounding the casino were full of beautiful avocado trees and everything was so green. We were both feeling better. I think the desert had taken a bit out of each of us at this point.
I had found the casino on campendium.com and knew we’d have to get a player’s card and register, then we could camp up to 72 hours in their lot. I had also seen they had some pretty good perks for new player club members.

Boy, did they have perks! We both received $10 in free slot or table play AND a free buffet dinner any night of the week. We arrived on a Friday, which happened to be lobster night! I’m pretty sure we both felt like we’d won the lottery. We had only eaten out once-at a Carl’s Jr-since Christmas eve. I’m not sure Carl’s Jr. counts as eating out, but it was our only unhealthy splurge.
We got registered and got our camping permit and checked out the casino. It’s not very large, but very clean and the staff are very nice. Unlike some other casinos we’d been to, the smoke odor was nil. We walked back to the RV hand in hand and grinning like little kids. I’d found a gem to stop over at and the ick from the last few days washed off both of us.

The dogs were happy too. They could run a bit in the orchard and we walked on leash several times during our stay. The weather was perfect. 74 degrees and sunny. Soaked in that much needed vitamin D and the scent of oranges. Finally got sage brush out of my nostrils!
Since I’ve been intermittent fasting and doing WW-down several pounds this week already-we hung out, caught up on reading and writing and went to the buffet around 5:30. There was no line. It was a cute little restaurant with an orange tree as the centerpiece and the food was AMAZING!

In addition to lobster tails, they had wonderful prime rib at the carving station. The carver was not holding back. She gave us a good 10-12-ounce slice along with a cup of au jus. Their side dishes were everything lobster-felt like a Forest Gump movie with lobster instead of shrimp lol!
Lobster potatoes, lobster bisque, lobster mac n cheese, manicotti stuffed with lobster, pasta with mushrooms and lobster. It was so good. They also served clams, fried calamari, and mussels that were very good. We definitely filled our bellies!

Over the course of the two days we stayed I donated $20 back to the casino and Mike was somewhere around $40. Well worth free boondocking for 2 nights and a delicious dinner.
We had originally thought we would stay here 3 nights and head straight to Dana Point on Monday but we realized Mike needed several things to prepare for his lobster expedition with Ted Monday afternoon-duplicate license (his was mailed to Chico), lobster stamp, kayak light, etc.

While beautiful, Casino Pauma is up in the middle of nowhere without local access to the stores he would need to get his supplies. So, I got online and found Guajome County Park in Oceanside, not far from the beach-looks like 8 miles. It has partial hook ups-water and electric at your site with dump station on the property-for $35/night. For this area, that price is UNREAL! We are spending $47/night to dry camp on Dana Point. I know parking areas that cost this much. So, tomorrow we will drive 23 miles down the mountain to Guajome Park for one night to prep for Dana Point and lobster hooping. See ya there!

If you’ve never heard of Slab City, please take a few minutes to look up Youtube videos on it.  Here is a link to just one video-there are many.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSkPLDKTWgQ. 

Mike and I had watched several videos on the place and I really wanted to check out the culture.  It sounded so simple and yet delightful.  A group of people living the best the can, helping one another via barter and making useful, beautiful things from materials other discard-so poetic. 

I believe that I am an unjudgmental, all inclusive person.  I felt that in Zihua.  It was beautiful in areas and not so beautiful in areas but I didn’t hold that against them.  I volunteered at the nursing home and helped them learn how to do better by their residents and brought them supplies they couldn’t get on their own.  Slab City could be like that, I thought.  I couldn’t wait to get there!

We arrived late afternoon and it was starting to rain.  Salvation Mountain greeted us and it was just like all the videos and pictures I had seen.  We drove past the “Trade Circle” and saw campers in run down trailers, homemade shacks, and tents.  Several waved as we passed by. 

I couldn’t help but notice all the garbage that just seemed to get heavier the deeper in we went.  We turned a corner and saw Mojo’s camp, another icon we had heard about.  We drove further and ended up going down quite a steep dip rather unexpectedly.  Crunch! Our back end had hit!   Mike got out to check-the back- left panel by the engine cover had hit hard and was loose with a small crack up at the top.  Darn it. He got it put back together loosely so we could get turned around.   It’s getting darker at this point and still raining. 

Mike found a spot not far off the main road across from Mojo’s camp-they have a dump site (not sure how- and water-again not sure how-and honey holes are “ok”? according to the FB page) that was pretty level and we parked for the night.  I couldn’t help but notice the garbage smell and see the filth in the sage brush.  We were pretty close to some full timers and I was worried that parking there would piss the wrong people off maybe.  Mike was of course, relaxed.  “This is BLM.  There are no campsites.  We can park here.” 

We always try to park the Yeep in front of the RV so we can see it from the windshield.  I was up three time throughout the night checking the Yeep while Mike slept peacefully.  I wasn’t concerned for our safety.  My husband may prefer to avoid confrontation now, but I know he wouldn’t hesitate to protect me and himself should something happen. He may be old AF (lol) now, but he still has a bad man inside of him that I am certain could be summoned should the need arise.  I was more anxious about vandalism or theft.  The kayak is strapped to the roof of the Yeep.  Someone could make off with that, or do something to our rig.  Our new tires cost thousands!  I did not sleep well at all. 

The next morning, I got up and made coffee and took the dogs out to potty per usual.  It was going to rain today-most of the day. There was no way Mike could work on the back of Reva Mae today.  It would have to wait another day.  The sites and smells around me got to me.  I couldn’t stand it.  It wasn’t that it was an extremely horrid odor-more slightly sickening sweet- I think my own mind had gotten to me.  I also think it may have been the scent of sage brush in bloom more than trash. (I smelled the same familiar odor at our next state park campground-full of sage brush)  But, this place got into my head and not in a good way.  My anxiety was at a “10”. 

The only antenna television we could get to come in was in Spanish, but we had great streaming so I escaped into Netflix movies on the computer and tried to think about planning dinner.  Mike took care of toileting the dogs throughout the day and ended up meeting the neighbors-a couple who’s names I never learned and a guy named Karl.  He visited with them several times and introduced our dogs to theirs while I sunk further into depression and anxiety, hating this place more by the second. 

He hung out with them for awhile around the campfire that second night and was hospitable sharing some of our goodies from the RV. I just couldn’t bring myself to go outside.   I cooked a nice dinner and I felt a little better knowing that at least these people accepted him and maybe our things would be safe.  I slept a bit better. 

Throughout our stay there were many vehicles driving through, taking pictures and recording video as they drove by.  It really is quite a tourist attraction.  Another Phaeton, a bit older, even pulled into Mojo’s to camp during our stay.  I just couldn’t accept this place.  All I saw was garbage.  It was in my mind that we were camping in a landfill almost and I couldn’t relax or let myself experience it. 

Mike was able to work on the back end our second morning and got it all fixed up within a couple of hours.  A bolt had ripped out of the thin fiberglass of the panel covering the engine back there when we hit.  There’s a small crack in the top back left that we’ll want to get fixed when we can but it’s hardly noticeable.  They say it’s not if, but when that you’re going to do some damage driving an RV.  I’m grateful this was our initial blunder.  I see many who hit poles when getting fuel and do some major damage.  We can definitely live with this until we get a few minutes to arrange a repair. 

I broke down that morning while he was doing the repairs.  Lying in our bed with all of the shades closed I cried my eyes out, the damn thoughts of being in a landfill-esque area was freaking me out.  I had calmed down a bit once Mike came in around 11:00 but I wanted out!  He pointed out we needed to look at roads and plan our stops and we couldn’t just take off.  It wasn’t the best time of day to head out, especially without a plan.  He assured me we would leave first thing in the morning. 

He was upset with me and my actions and feelings.  He had been out there, met people, and it wasn’t that bad.  It didn’t smell that bad (again I think sage brush was more of what I was smelling now that I’ve been other places with same smell).  It was dirty but not horrid and the people were all right.  (He’s not a super consoling man, especially with irrational displays of emotion-something he could work on but…I know this about him, he can’t be everything)

I dove into my computer finding us our next stop (Borrego Palm Canyon Campground) and looking at maps and planning our trip to Dana Point. This (Slab City) was temporary for us.  We were the fortunate ones who got to leave.  I planned a good dinner and tried my best to pull my crazy ass together. 

I tried to think about why I was feeling this way.  I’m ashamed of myself really.  Like I mentioned earlier, I was okay with the trash on the streets in areas of Zihuatanejo (don’t get me wrong, Zihua is beautiful and I cannot wait to go back, but there are poor areas with stuff piled up) and while I didn’t like the conditions at the nursing home there, I jumped in to help in any way I could during the time I visited.  I didn’t expect as much from them.  I was not judgmental.  I embraced them and tried to help. 

  I expected more from these Americans living in this place.  I expected them to keep the land clean and to pick up and try to be as sanitary as possible.  Why did I expect more from people just because of their nationality?  Why couldn’t I find it in my heart to just help?  I had trash bags and gloves.  I could have helped improve their lives just a little, like I had in Zihua.  Instead I was appalled, grossed out, and utterly miserable.  Do these feelings mean I’m really prejudice after all?  I expect white Americans to be better than this.   Why?  People are people.  Just because they are Americans or white doesn’t mean they don’t need help or that they know how to make their conditions more sanitary. 

There is no hatred in my heart for anyone, but maybe, somehow, I still think white Americans are better, or should be better, than everyone else?  I really do not want to believe that this could be true of me.  I have worked along side countless nationalities and I love to learn about their cultures, their beliefs, and especially their food! Yum!  I have seen intelligence, talent, and brilliance in all nationalities.  While I know myself enough to know and take pride in the fact that I will help, love, and accept all easily; it upsets me that there must be a part of me that thinks Americans-white Americans-are or should be better. I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on myself considering I was raised in an area of the US that holds generations of deep prejudice.

Mike thanked our neighbors for their hospitality, wished them well, and shared a few goodies we still had onboard. 

As we drove away, I got out my camera and snapped pictures.  Approaching the entrance, everything looked cleaner.  There was not as much trash in the sage brush.  People with fires burning outside their tents waved as we passed by.  There were nicer rigs and lots of tourists snapping pictures of Salvation Mountain.  People were setting up jewelry at the Trade Circle.  The sun was out. 

Silent tears ran down my cheeks again.  Tears of regret and shame for my behavior and my feelings.  I wish I had processed all of this faster.  I wish I would have forced myself out of the RV and to walk down the road to this area.  I wish I would have met one person.  I wish I would have picked up the trash I saw instead of just crying about it. My best friends gave me a necklace with a charm that says The Journey is the Reward.  While painful, I got a lot out of this stop.   I’m so sorry Slab City.  And I thank you for helping me to do some very deep self-reflection.  I spent 3 days here in utter misery wishing I could leave.  Driving away, I’m hoping we get a chance to come again and do it right next time. 

Somehow, I lost all the original writing I had done about Quartzsite, AZ. I didn’t realize it until today when I was hoping to get this entry published and start writing about Slab City experiences. I’m sure those of you who are writers can understand my utter frustration. It had been a bit of an emotional trip at Quartzsite and to find what I had poured out once already completely gone was a bit of a downer to say the least!

We arrived at Quartzsite On January 8, 2019. We stopped along the way for fuel in Reva, spending just $40-we hadn’t driven much since fill up and the generator doesn’t seem to use much fuel at all-fortunately for us! We then made an RV Pitstop once again to dump, refill water tanks and get propane. This was another $44.00. Then off to find a good spot on BLM land.
Quartzsite is kind of like Spring Break for Seniors it seems. There is a huge RV show that starts mid-January there and goes for like 10 days to 2 weeks.

I believe another one of the draws to Quartzsite is the availability of LTVA areas just outside of town. While BLM is generally free a visitor must move after using an area for 14 days. These LTVA areas (Long Term Visitor Areas) are a bit different. I’ve done a little research and it looks like the rate is $180 for a seventh month period of time, or $40 for 14 days. This is popular with snowbirds. There are several of these LTVA areas just outside of town. Further out, there are free BLM areas, but again there is a 14 day limit.

We chose Tyson Wash LTVA area which is just a couple miles out of town. Since the government was shut down, there was no one to take money or issue passes, so it was free for us!

It’s nothing but a flat desert wash area with lots of cool cacti with a couple mountains on the perimeter. It’s easy to find a level spot and people just do their best to give each other as much space as possible. I’ve seen posts on many of my FB camping groups asking if there’s room…there is always room. It may get tight during the show but there is so much BLM land I can’t imagine someone not finding an area. There is a dump station somewhere on this property. We never looked for it. There are a few vault toilets located throughout the area and some dumpsters for trash.

Our first stop after setting up camp was to Discount Solar to look for new batteries. We had met a nice young man named Jake at Craggy Wash. He was driving his cute little green bus through looking for a place to park when we were getting ready to leave. We gave him our site and visited for a bit. He caught our eye, not only because of his green bus with furry walls inside, but because he had crab pots on the roof. Crab pots in the desert is a conversation starter if you’re a fisherman lol! Turned out Jake was from Oregon and was spending the winter in Quartzsite working at a solar RV company and had come to Lake Havasu to check it out for the weekend. A very nice young man, we were excited to stop in and say hi when we got to Quartzsite.

Discount solar had a great deal on Trojan 105S 6V batteries as well it turned out. So, we scheduled installation and they could get us in same day at 2:00 pm. Okay, time to go get Reva packed up and get her back to their shop! For $872.00 installed, Reva Mae had a new bank of batteries that will hopefully last several years.

During the battery installation, we went down the street to Satellite Advantage to see about getting our tv game going finally.
Paul was initially very nice and recommended a Pathway satellite and Dish package that would be around $850 installed and set up. AND he could get it done first thing the next morning. Wow, I think I love Quartzsite! Getting any RV tasks completed is usually a major chore. I had been checking since November and some places had a 6-8 week wait to get a satellite installed. This was great!

Mike was wise enough to get up on the roof and take pictures prior to the installation. He’s always more cautionary and much less trusting than I am. Perforating the roof is a bit deal and not something we wanted taken lightly.
We dropped Reva Mae off at Satellite Advantage and drove about 20 miles away to Brawley, CA, to buy some groceries and supplies. Quartzsite does not have a major grocery store. When we returned, the tech had several boxes on the ground and was literally standing next to our RV, pulling on his hair with both hands. This does not look good. At one point the tech took off in his truck and returned with a pack of cigarettes and smoked one shaking his head. OMG!

He said he could not get the satellite to lock on and asked Mike to turn Reva around to see if that would help. Ummm……ok. So, Mike turned her around, no luck. Then I suggested changing the Wally receiver to a different model that another RV’er had suggested to me. That seemed to help. Okay, we’re getting there, right? WRONG!
Once he mounted the satellite, it quit working again. He tried 3 different Pathway satellites with the same results each and every time. He consulted the owner, Paul, and they thought they could put some feet on the mount and be fine. WRONG!
Paul then asked us if we’d like to try the Playmaker satellite, saying the Pathway wasn’t going to work. Playmaker only came in white and everything on our roof is black. No, we don’t want that. He said we could spray paint it…..really??? WTF?
Mike asked if we could just order another Pathway. Paul started getting frustrated and said it won’t do any good. “We’ve tried 3 brand new ones. It’s not going to work,” he said. Then he asked us to come into the store to look at other satellites. The other models were much more expensive and larger-and they ALL had different mount patterns, meaning more penetrations on the roof. Paul could not explain why the Pathway wasn’t going to work, nor could he guarantee the other models wouldn’t have the same problem. Ridiculous.
Mike told him to take everything off and that we were leaving-quite calmly I might add. Considering his youth, I was quite impressed with the way he held his temper. Paul on the other hand, came unglued. His tech had spent 4 ½ hours trying to get a satellite to work and we were done. Paul yelled to his tech to take everything out and caulk the holes, “they get nothing!” I was so livid.
We drove back to the campsite and Mike got on the roof to inspect. Here’s a picture of the sloppy caulking job with 9-yes 9-damn holes in the roof. He even stepped in the caulk and there are caulk foot prints all over the roof. Exactly what we didn’t want to have happen had happened.

I was so upset. Mike refused to let me go to FB or yelp or google. I was ready with my scathing review. I was ready to warn the RV world about this clown. Mike hates that shit. I know, those of you who know him from years gone by won’t even believe this. The same man who fought at a drop of hat in his youth, prefers not to rock the boat. He’s MORE tolerant that I am? How did this happen?
So, since I couldn’t spew my anger online, I walked the dogs. The upside to this was I took a very fast paced, and very long walk. Before I knew it, I had walked all the way over to another LTVA campground. I was still PO’d!
Mike agreed to at least let me send Winegard-an Iowa based company-an email about our experience with their “Winegard Trained Dealer”. So, I did. That email was beautiful! I even attached our before and after time stamped roof pics! I resent it 5 days later and 7 days later they finally responded that they had forwarded my email on to their “dealer team”-whatever that means. They expressed their regrets and gave me the same list of dealers in the area from their website. So much for any help from Winegard. Back to the drawing board, I guess.

Mike and I went to the swap meet the next day. There are a lot of vendors who appear to be permanently set up outside of the annual RV show area. There was a little area called “Adult Day Care” that had a bar the ATV’s could drive up to and park. Looked like they were having a good time. There was a discount grocery goods area-lots of expired stuff-and tons and tons and tons and tons of rocks and gems. For my NorCal friends, DeNio’s is WAY better than this place.

We stayed 2 more days at Quartzsite, thinking we might stick it out until the show to see if there were any satellite dealers that came, but in the end, we just couldn’t stand to be there any longer and bugged out on the 6th day. The show was still another 5 days away. We were both too frustrated-no television reception in Quartzsite and very, very slow Verizon because of all the RV’ers using it. Had we stayed longer, we may have ended up back at Satellite Advantage with a piece of our mind or more lol! So off we go to Slab City,CA. Overall, I’m giving Quartzsite a thumbs down, except for the sunsets-and Discount Solar. If I was looking for a place to spend the winter without paying, I’d be in Havasu City-a little more inconvenient, moving every 2 weeks and finding dump and water fill areas not as easy, but much prettier, lake access, and interesting things to see and do.

Hippie Hole-It was a BEAUTIFUL drive  going south of Lake Havasu City toward Quartzsite, Arizona.  Just breathtaking.  So many colors!  We stopped in Quartzsite at the RV Pitstop to fill up on propane and water and dump tanks.  What a great place!

They have sewer hoses set up at the dump sites and hoses at the water fill area.  There is a lot of staff.  Folks can get in and out really easily.  It was the cheapest we had paid for propane at 2.59/gallon.  Dumping is $15 and very convenient and we filled our 66 gallon water tank and 2 portable 2.5 gallon bottles for $5.00 total.  They do not sell fuel and the stations here were high priced here so we headed on down the road and found fuel a few miles down on I10 for 40 cents a gallon cheaper-woohoo! 

The drive was easy and we used google maps from the gps location listed on Campendium.com to get to Hippie Hole.  It was a very flat not long after Lake Havasu City and then freeway and highway after that.  I saw my first ever cotton fields on the way here.  I didn’t even know it was grown out west!  When I took the dogs for a walk our first morning here, I had to sneak over to a field and pick a fresh piece that had been left behind after harvest.  It was just like the stuff in the stores, so soft, with a few seeds and pieces of stalk mixed in.  I can now say I’ve picked cotton…ssshh…I was trespassing, just a little! 

We crossed back into California on the drive here.  Hippie Hole is just across the river.  You can use your CA fishing license here as the river IS the border.  That’s a nice bonus! Mike was able to get his 2019 California license at the bait shop near our campsite. My cell phone was constantly switching as I walked back and forth between states.

There is just a small section of gravel road on the drive to Hippie Hole that really needs to be bladed-quite a washboard but it’s only about a half mile.  The rest of the route is paved and quite nice.  It’s a very easy drive for any size rig.  The sites are AMAZING for BLM!  The sites are very large, easy to level with a very nice metal picnic table with a metal roof and a trash can.  There are vault toilets in this campground. We had no use for them but they were very clean.

The campground sits right on the Colorado River.  It would be very easy to kayak with a standard paddle kayak. There is a large sandbar to get around for the pedal kayak and Mike is still feeling a bit sore in his shoulder so we’ll see how that goes.

We got here and got set up pretty easily.  Mike was cooking dinner-a couple ribeyes for New Year’s eve, steamed broccoli, and then we were just going to reheat some homemade mashed potatoes and gravy I had made a couple nights ago when we had fried chicken.

We flipped on the generator since we were going to run the microwave and then started the microwave.  Within seconds the television, microwave, and refrigerator all shut off.  WTF?  We waited a couple minutes thinking the generator needed to bring the batteries up a couple notches and the refrigerator would click on, no problem.  This is how things had gone done a couple times before.  Nope, nothing. 

We checked GFCI plugs.  Tripped and would not reset.  Checked breakers in the closet.  Nothing flipped.  Invertor panel showed low battery and “fault” was lit up.  Uh oh!  My first thought was crap I have A LOT of frozen food and it’s going to be cold tonight.  It’s unnverving when something goes wrong and you’re not sure what to do next, but it comes with learning this life.

We ate a quick dinner and then I did some FB Tiffin site research.  There wasn’t anything really specific to our ordeal but a few posts mentioned they had started their rigs and that kind of reset things.  So we started Reva up and hey the refrigerator came back on!  Yeah!  All better….NOT!  We turned the generator back on and let it run thinking all was good.  Purred like a kitten for over an hour then suddenly the television shut off and so did my refrigerator.  OMG! 

We started talking it out…okay the generator is running well-we had just checked coolant and oil this morning, all great.  Yes, we have older batteries but they’ve been doing pretty good and we’ve been boondocking for 6 days already.  The batteries responded to the coach being started and they charged up the few minutes we had it on while we were “resetting” before dinner.  We don’t have breakers tripped.  It really must be something simple. 

Mike remembered that there was a breaker on the generator.  I grabbed our manuals and confirmed it’s location and that yep, the damn thing will run even if the breaker is tripped but won’t charge anything.  Please, please let that be it.  Mike bundled up, grabbed a flashlight and BINGO!  The generator breaker was tripped.  He reset it and the panel immediately showed batteries were charging and invertor was on.  Whew!  I don’t know if I will ever understand this whole battery thing and inverting and converting and omg.  We never had a generator with the pick up camper so this is all very new to both of us.  It was quite the feeling of accomplishment when we figured it out let me tell you.  Happy dance!  And I thought I wouldn’t dance on New Years’ Eve lol!

Batteries, setting the generator, and understanding watts and volts is probably THE most confusing thing about this lifestyle so far.  I learned today that no matter how well -meaning people giving advice can be, it’s always good, just like in nursing, to find it in writing!  Started a discussion on FB groups today asking about what battery level to set the automatic generator start….lots of opinions, some even with graphs.  However, while one level (12.1-12.2) was the opinion of the majority, it was incorrect according to the manual.  Only one man had an alternate suggestion at a lower level for setting the ags system.  He also mentioned I could find a manual online that provided some more information than what I had in my possession. 

I’ve always been one for needing things in writing.  Working in a SNF we have a lot of rules and a lot of surveyors try to interpret these regulations many different ways.  Living this life and dealing with these surveyors for all of these years has ingrained my “show me in writing before I will believe you” mentality.  It’s paying off in this adventure as well.  Sure enough, I found my answer, written in pretty easy to understand language, in the manual and the sole gentleman was correct.  I, being the good Samaritan I am, copied and pasted the manual excerpts to my feed so I could share the correct concrete answer with all who had, kindly albeit incorrectly, answered my question.  Crickets….oh, well. 

Hippie Hole is right next to one of the borders of the Cibola Natural Wild Refugee.  The entrance is a short 3.5 mile drive through a tiny town called Cibola.  The first time we went we saw a lot of different varieties of ducks, geese, and cranes which was wonderful but no other animals. 

I did some online reading and found the best time to go was either early morning or just before sunset.  So Mike and I set out around 4:30 one afternoon and it really was spectacular.  We saw so many large deer.  The pond was full of ducks and geese. 

There were fields full of white geese and gray sandhill cranes.  We saw flocks coming in for the night.  It was beautiful.  From what I read online, there are times that fishing and hunting is allowed on the refuge.  The area surrounding the refuge is farm land-cotton as I mentioned earlier, hay, and alfalfa so these animals eat well on and off the refuge.  They were good looking animals.  From the signs posted in Cibola-“Hunters Welcome”, etc.  it’s quite busy whenever these seasons open.  It’s definitely worth at least one trip if you’re in the area. 

Today I met Donald and Judy from BC.  They aren’t full timers.  They are snow birds.  They come down to Arizona for the winter months every year.  We met as I was taking Louie and Kiya on our morning walk.  We crossed the bridge back into California-just so I could say I walked from Arizona to California and back several times during our stay at Hippie Hole lol. 

As our conversation went on, the topic of health care came up.  Both said they really liked the Canadian Health care system and had no complaints and no wait times.  Their monthly cost was $75.00 for both of them.  Judy even saw her MD last minute the day before coming to the states for a cortisone injection-on his day off-no waiting.  I shared our monthly insurance costs with them-$1300 with a $3650 deductible.  They were quite floored to hear we had just spent $2100 for my husband’s outpatient rotator cuff surgery.  Neither could even fathom paying those costs.  They did say they had higher taxes and their “sin” taxes are quite high (cigarettes, alcohol, etc.)  And yes, their dollar is worth about 30% less than ours right now.  But there is no one dying in Canada because they can’t afford to buy insulin.  There is no nurse paying a $200 copay for her inhaler so she can work her shift at the hospital caring for others.  I don’t mean to get political in this blog.  I have friends on both sides of the aisle and I agree there is good and bad on both sides.  Generally, I prefer to just not discuss political issues when in the company of mixed opinions.  Universal healthcare is my line in the sand, I guess.   A for-profit healthcare system fails our citizens.  Healthcare should be a right, not a privilege in my humble opinion.  “Obamacare” was not perfect, but it was a start.   We, as citizens of the richest country in the world, ALL deserve quality, affordable health care. 

Johnathon and Nancy pulled in on our 3^rd night at Hippie Hole.  They had a small Toyota truck and an even small trailer.  They were probably mid sixties and were quick to start a conversation.  Originally from Kentucky, they had been traveling all over the United States in this trailer that Johnathon had made himself.  He had created a private toilet area and had a heat system so that he could pump water from the river, heat it, and have a warm shower.  He had a Tommy gun stashed inside by the television-“an antique just like Bonnie and Clyde used to use”  They had picked up some large tubs at the hardware store and Johnathon was pumping water through his heat system into the tubs so they could have a soak in the hot tub on the river bank while they watched the sunset with an adult beverage.  They were so lovely. 

The next day Mike and I were out front zip tying some wires on the generator.  They had been hanging in a way that they could pinch when closing the unit and he wanted to take care of that.  Johnathon was immediately over to see if we needed any help at all.  He was so kind. 

I had made homemade bread -2 large loaves-earlier in the day so I wrapped up half a loaf to share with them as they strolled past hand in hand enjoying the river that evening.  We had so much more than they did and I felt compelled to give.  They graciously accepted my gift and then insisted we share lunch with them the next day.  Johnathon would make homemade BLT’s.  Sure enough, he came knocking the next day with two big sandwiches-they were delicious.  They were such an inspiration to me.  So happy and content with their life.  I think they gave me much more than I them.  I’m glad I took the time to visit with them.   

After 8 days just chilling by the river, going for long walks with the dogs, and reading up on our rig maintenance needs, we decided to take off and head to Quartzsite, Arizona. There is a giant RV and supply show opening on the 19^th.  Quartzsite is kind of famous among Rv’ers for acres and acres of BLM land-more free camping! Maybe we can get some of the work we want done completed ahead of the rush.  Next stop Tyson Wash, Quartzsite, Arizona. 

The Cost of Our Freedom-So Far

Our living expense for the month of November was about $1600.  That includes campgrounds with hook ups for 19 days, fuel for Reva and gas for the Yeep (pet name for Jeep), propane, internet and cell service, television service (antenna only currently) water, sewer, garbage, insurance -home and vehicle. I did not factor in food or entertainment.  All other expenses are included. We ensured we were debt free starting this journey. I think that’s very important when attempting to do this. We didn’t want any payments hanging over our heads.

 While this monthly cost may sound high, you have to remember, this is California.  Our daughter’s expenses in the relatively inexpensive town of Chico, are $1200 for a shared apartment (wifi and cable included), car, insurance, and cell phone.

 Our previous home monthly expenses for the same items-mortgage, water/sewer, gas, tv/internet, cell, and insurance were around $3500.  Yes, we were building equity in our home and our RV is depreciating every minute but I figure all that we’ve really done is spend our kids’ inheritance.  Hopefully they still love me despite that.  I think they will.  I know as I begin working again, we will need to earn enough to cover additional savings as well as living expenses.

Travel/consultant nursing assignments and good money management should definitely allow for that AND for the extended time off (6 months/year) that we plan to enjoy.  I’ve worked hard in my career field and I’m very good at what I do. (It’s very hard to admit that, but I’m learning to appreciate me!) We are very fortunate that I work in a field that has a huge demand for my skills in a state that pays very well. 

We also did a lot of research and I believe we bought a fantastic RV with great resale potential should we decide this isn’t the life for us. Tiffin has one of the best names in the RV industry and are highly coveted among RV enthusiasts. Ron and Marby gave us an incredible deal on Reva Mae who still has warranty on her motor. Reva had 17,000 miles on her and only 98 hours on the generator when we got her. She is a diesel pusher with a 380 hp Cummins diesel. At 37 feet 9 inches, she is the perfect length for her engine size according to the research we did.

Our Yeep was part of the package when we purchased the rig. It’s a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee Sport with 107,000 miles on him. He looks like new on the inside and runs great. I’ve read that the 4.0 liter motors in these babies run for a long time as well so we’re looking forward to seeing how far Yeep can go. He is fairly light at 5300 pounds and is a 4×4.

Having a good toad with a flat tow package already installed save us $1000’s of dollars. We’re very grateful for Yeep! We saved on insurance by putting only liability on Yeep and have full time RV full coverage on Reva.

Mike has become a certified RV inspector and plans to attend actual RV tech school once we get to Florida in the next year or so.  This will ensure our Reva Mae is good to go for years to come. It’s been exciting to learn about her and how to maintain everything properly.  This may lead to some temporary work gigs for Mike down the road. We’re also looking at workcamping gigs. We may be able to line up my assignment with a park that needs a host 20 hours a week in exchange for free sites.

 We had 19 days with full hookups in November.  Beal’s Point and Lawson’s Landing were nightly rates and high at $52 and $76 respectfully.  Timber Cove was a steal at $304/15 nights with partial hook ups (110, water, and sewer).  Most places, other than state parks, have better weekly and monthly rates.  Daily rates are the highest paid rates.  The remainder of the month was free camping, also known as boondocking. If you recall we had to give up our reservation in Chico for the Paradise fire victims so we were parked on the street near my niece’s home and did some casino parking as well.

Our costs for December were a bit higher than what we had in November. We came out just under $1800 for basic living expenses. Mike had rotator cuff surgery and I needed him to be comfortable during recovery-he was willing to boondock, but I wasn’t sure that was a good idea- so we stayed at Beal’s Point for 11 days, at $52/day. There are no weekly rates at state parks. It was quite relaxing and he is recovering well.  But it did add a few hundred to our monthly expenses.  We also had purchased regae festival tickets months prior to going full time RV and needed to make a trip to Santa Rosa just to attend the weekend concert. There are no good close places to boondock nearby, so we had full hook ups for 3 days while there. 

We got the Passport America discount for our first day which saved us $22.50. Yes, it was $45.00 to camp in a parking lot with hook ups. California is pricey, but it’s California. So, while we had 5 less days with full hook ups, our costs were higher. It goes to show you where you camp and how long you stay can really affect your costs. I’m hoping to get monthly rates when I take a temporary position, weekly at least should be very helpful.

I was able to change our Verizon Jetpack to a prepaid plan that has unlimited data and no throttling.  This allowed me to downgrade our data packages on our phones and reduce the cell phone costs a little bit.  I’ll watch our data usage and may be able to reduce that cost further relatively painlessly.  

We are hoping to figure out our television/satellite situation once we get to Quartzsite, Arizona.  The prepaid Verizon hotspot has been AWESOME!  Mike was streaming a Bowl game, the Warriors game, AND the Jones UFC fight all at the same time one night on his computer. (Reddit is a great streaming site, even for PPV events!) This is was all with only 2 bars of signal on BLM land.   It’s $65.00 a month which I think is a great answer for our internet.  I had thought about streaming Hulu or DirectTV and foregoing the satellite but I’m just not sure. 

We have a smart DVD player and I’ve tried to stream Netflix but it’s been glitchy.  I think it may be the DVD player though and not the Wifi since Mike was streaming so well yesterday on his laptop.  The televisions are built in and would require some dismantling of the woodwork to access the ports and use a Roku like device and I really don’t want to do that.  I have thought about switching out the DVD player but the surround sound is wired through it and it looks a little bit complicated.  I’ll talk to some folks about it once we get to the RV show in the next couple of weeks.  In the meantime, Mike has his other sports via Reddit streaming and I have my Warriors games. 

I do miss SVP and gloating when my boys win-I love basking in the glory with ESPN for hours after a great game- but other than that the television channels we get have been fine.  Some locations we get 50+ channels.  It’s kind of a relief NOT to hear the news every night.  It is however, very hard to try and sleep without at least one channel. I need the noise to sleep. I generally put in a dvd and try to fall asleep before it’s over. Sometimes putting my spotify on will work.

Cooking, Organizing, and Getting Settled

I’ve made homemade bread, waffles, sourdough biscuits, air fryer wings, banana bread, posole, goulash, shrimp tacos, etc. We’ve cooked everything we’d cook in the house. Tortellini soup is a quick go to with rotisserie chicken and frozen spinach and noodles- our pantry is stocked but not overly.  I hate moving things to find other things so my goal is to maximize the space while still having everything EASILY accessible.  It was a bit of a learning curve to figure out the convection oven but it’s large enough to meet our needs and really does an excellent job with baked goods. I did buy a new air fryer oven for Reva before we moved in. We love our fries and wings air fried!

One side of the main cabin is my pantry and the other is our cookware and dish storage.  With our residential refrigerator with large freezer on the bottom, I’m able to stock Reva with enough food to easily feed us good, home-cooked meals for a month at least.  I use can racks in our cupboards to organize canned goods and separated them out by fruit, vegetables, tomato products, meal like items (chili, etc).  I know where everything is and have to move things very little to get to it. 

Heavy and less used items are stored in the drawers under the dinette booth. Cast iron skillets, blender, crock pot, waffle iron, etc. are under here.

The cookware and dish side is in pretty good shape.  I do need to downsize my bake ware a bit.  I love to bake as do several members of my family so I’m sure I’ll find good homes for my beloved pans as we travel and I see which items I just can’t use anymore. Who knows, mini muffins might be something I make in Reva Mae, or Jumbo muffins, or bundt cakes, or ….just can’t part with them yet. There is really only one other thing I think we have in excess and no, it’s not clothing.

Towels. I still have too many towels. It’s one of those things I longed for in my childhood that I slightly overcompensate for in my adult life. As a chubby girl, I was very self conscious. The swimming pool was not somewhere we went to often, but when we did, I longed for the giant beach towels all my friends had. We couldn’t splurge on those. We had the very small towels that never managed to go all the way around my pudgy body. The thin little towels that I use for my hair as an adult. Those were our bath towels. It felt like every time we did get to go to the pool, none of our towels were clean either. So, we’d pick out the cleanest crunchy mildewed little towel and I would try to cover myself with it. While friends had these fluffy long towels to lay on, I had this little thing that stunk. I either had to lie my head on it, or my butt because it was only about 2 1/2 ft long lol

So, even in Reva, I have a hamper full of big, fluffy towels, including at least 4 beach towels-we might have guests, you know. I’m sure I will get tired of taking the hamper out of the shower where it is stored every time I take a shower eventually.

Every kid has one of these stories. I’m over it emotionally but that does not stop me from buying giant bath towels and having wayyy tooo many beach towels. We lived in a lake town when we owned our home. I had at least 6 beach towels that still had tags on them when we moved out lol! We had 3 bathrooms with 4 sinks. You should have seen my stack of coordinated hand towels. Towels, towels, towels-I sold a lot of them, gave a bunch to Hannah and my niece, and STILL have a hamper full of big, beautiful towels.

I’ve shared this story with my younger kids. I even asked them what item I have deprived them of that they think they will overcompensate for as independent adults. I can’t recall what Sherman said-although the fastest internet known to humankind would be my guess. Hannah is determined to have the central a/c on whatever arctic temperature she chooses for any length of time she wants. I told her to be sure to marry rich lol!

What About Clothes?

We have four very deep cupboards above our bed. They are really too deep to store anything and easily access it. I cannot reach the back of the cupboard even standing on the bed. I spent weeks looking for something I could use for our clothing that would work in that area. I finally found these under bed soft sided bins that fit perfectly in the space. Yes, I do have to pull the entire bin out to get clothing, but at least everything stays semi organized. If it gets too heavy, I’ll get rid of some more clothing. Or hang more up.

We have 2 small drawers and a laundry bin like drawer in the bedroom. I keep paperwork, etc in mine. Mike uses his for socks and underwear. (He has less clothing than I do) I could not see wasting a drawer for dirty laundry so we keep our fresh sheets and laundry detergent, etc. in this drawer. Both beds (sofa folds out) use queen sheets so I kept 3 sets-always a fresh set and one for when guests stay. We use a hamper or the washing machine for dirty clothes. Yes, we have a washer and dryer that is awesome when we have full hook ups. We’ll use these often when I’m working.

I can do a load or two with the generator but the dryer is very slow (its 110 V) and we don’t want to fill our holding tank up too quickly. Usually if we are boondocking for a longer period of time I’ll just run in to the laundromat. We wear casual and active wear when I’m not working usually so I toss it all in and get by with one quick load. I made sure we had plenty of under clothes and we try to wear outer clothes a few days when boondocking. I always use an apron when I’m cooking to help keep clean. I love my aprons!

Our closet is large. I was able to hang up all of my work clothes along with jackets and other clothing. I’ve tried to piece my wardrobe so that I can mix and match multiple pieces. Check out the 30x3o wardrobe challenge videos. Very inspiring stuff to keep working toward minimalism and has helped me downsize a lot!

We have an under bed storage area. I’ve kept 2 carry on suitcases that we can use when we choose or need to fly for trips. I store extra blankets for guests in one and my work shoes-heels, boots, etc. in the other. I have a few carry bags under here as well. We also keep a fire proof box with our important papers and our box of RV manuals under the bed along with our vacuum attachments. Yes, Reva has central vac-which I love by the way.

The bathroom stores our dish towels-yes, more towels along with a pretty extensive first aid and medicine cabinet. I also keep a Mike and I store our personal hygiene items in the cupboard above our bedroom sink.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this little pictoral tour of our place. I don’t feel as though I’m missing anything of any importance. I think we have all the material items we need.

Growing on the Journey

I think there is a mindset needed to live this life and not drive yourself crazy or become miserable.  Mike and I have talked about this.  I am working on it.  It’s hard.  I find I am now shaming the shamers on social media, then being shamed for shaming the shamers.

I use FB groups to research RV issues and lifestyles.  It really is informative but like any groups, there are the shamers.  You know who I’m talking about.  They post a picture of a dog turd on the corner of their site and complain, or a picture of the way someone hooked up their sewer, or a tow hitch. 

 I want to live and let live, I really do.  And for the most part, I do-except for the shamer posts lol!    Mike is better at it than I am.  Mind your own business.   Just because you have an opinion doesn’t make it right or mean that you must share it.  Don’t jump on the band wagon.  Live by the examples you want to set.   Do try to be” that guy” or not be” that guy” based on your beliefs and YOUR reactions to situations you observe, but don’t bitch and don’t argue.  Try to keep the peace and respect everyone-even those who you are certain don’t deserve it. Those of you who remember Mike’s younger days may not believe this is him now, but it is. He’s not the man I fell in love with (thankfully), but he’s definitely the man I love. (He can still be a pushy, opinionated ass-especially with family, but he hangs out with so many diverse groups he masters getting along very well with everyone-don’t tell him I said that, his head is big enough-he doesn’t read my blog!)

One of the things I find I am loving about this lifestyle is meeting new people from all walks of life.  It’s interesting how friendly people camping are compared to out in the “real world.”  I’m not sure I have ever just struck up a conversation with a stranger at the store, but I’m happy to talk with any camper around.  New neighbors moved in next door to us in our home. In 2 years living side by side I never saw the mom or the children. They existed, Mike saw them a couple of times I guess. I hope to share stories of the people we meet along the way in future blogs. I’ve already got a couple of great encounters to share from our time at Hippie Hole!

There are all different walks of life you will encounter when you are camping.  When we’ve been in BLM land, I’ve encountered six figure rigs and people camping in their 20+ year old cars.  It’s fascinating to hear their stories.   Ask questions -find out about the people around you- if they want to talk.  If they don’t -respect that too-usually eye contact or lack of will let you know how to respond. It does for me anyway.  If you see me out in the campground walking my dogs, you’ll know.  If I glance at you, give a smile, a nod, and quickly glance away, I don’t want to talk.  Nothing personal, not even about you, but about me.  I’m in my own groove- into my thoughts, my dogs, my pictures, or my music.  If I hold eye contact and openly smile, game on, let’s talk.  You may have to make an excuse to leave.  I can talk!   But I take hints pretty easily lol. 

Our Most Frequently Asked Questions So Far

Don’t you miss homecooked meals? 

No, I cook the same way I did in our home.  I can make the same meals I made every day there.  We have soup, pasta, vegetables, and the like every day just like everyone else.  My pantry is well stocked.  I do bake in smaller batches since it’s just the two of us, same as any empty nester.  I also bake a lot more since I have more time off from work.  I have made sourdough bread, banana bread, orange poppy seed bread, skillet bread, rolls, and cookies are almost a nightly treat.  Mike does love a “proper goody” before bedtime.  It took a bit to adjust to the convection oven but I’m getting that dialed in pretty easily.  We try to eat in a healthy manner most of the time.  We took a little break over the holidays as I’m sure most of you did and now we’re ready to get back on the health wagon. 

What do you do about showers?  What about shaving?

We have a large shower with a tankless water heater.  I do have to take PTA baths and use dry shampoo when we are boondocking to stretch our water supply a little longer but I still shave-a little less frequently in the winter like most old married gals but I’m not braiding anything. I also have my own wax pot. Our holding tank is quite large-60+ gallons.  With conscientious conservation and military style showers, we can both easily shower every 3 days and not have to dump our tanks for quite some time.  When I’m working, we’ll have hook ups and manage quite easily.

What about haircuts, etc?

I was fortunate to be in my home area when I was in need of a touch up and a trim.  I am nervous about the next time I need a color and I’m not near my beloved Sara!  I’ll have to wing it.  I have used Groupon deals for esthetician services which is really a great option if you’re not overly shy.  Services that I usually pay $60 plus tip I can get through Groupon deals for $12 plus tip! 

Mike has been a long time customer of Lucky’s Barber shop in Folsom and all the guys know how to do a midskin fade.  He’s worried some of these places may not even know what that is.  He is going to get his first non -Lucky’s haircut in Blythe tomorrow.  He did look up the barber shops online and found some pics of the barbers doing cuts on their FB page of the shop he selected so we’re hopeful! 

Update:  His barber went a little high on the mid skin fade but nothing he couldn’t live with.  He did certainly miss the hot towels and the attention to details-neck, ears, etc. that he was pampered with at Lucky’s for nearly the same cost, but his hair is cut. 

It’s such a small space, doesn’t it drive you crazy?

I’m not sure why I am so drawn to living in a camper.  I’ve always loved camping!  I vaguely remember when my parents had a pick-up camper.  I have some snapshots in my memories of camping, I think at Lake Cornelia with several other families.  It was a happy time very early in my childhood before my parents divorced. 

In grade school, starting in second grade, I fell in love with the book, “The Boxcar Children” by Gertrude Chandler Warner.  I would repeatedly check it out of the school library and I swear I memorized it.  It’s the story of four orphans who create a home out of an abandoned boxcar.  I could see their home as I read it over and over again. I used to play “Boxcar Children” under the outside stairs of our split foyer home in the summer.   From what I’ve read, a lot of full timers can relate and know this book too.  I had no idea it was even a book series until years later when I introduced it to my children.  I saved my copy of the original book when we downsized and carry it with me to this day. 

I remember my mom had moved into an upstairs efficiency apartment behind second street when I was 19 and pregnant with Tyler.  I spent a lot of time there and I just loved that apartment.  It was all inclusive-rent and utilities- and she had a daybed in her living/bedroom.  I thought it was so cool how she had all she needed in such a tiny space. 

Even in our 4 bedroom home, we never used all the space-except to store crap.  We would use the kitchen for meals and eat at the table there.  When the kids got older, they would spend time in their rooms and we would go to ours.  We have tv and computer in there and were more comfortable hanging in our room than either the living room or family room.  We used the living room when we had a family movie night, played a game, or had company.  The diagram below shows which parts of a home are used most. Ours was probably less than that.

Maybe it’s a combination of all these memories and experiences that make me love the RV life.  I just know we’re really enjoying it and don’t feel crowded at all.  We do go through things and down size frequently.  I think it would be easy to overstuff the storage areas.  I love the streamlining we’ve done.  Everything has a use and a designated place—almost.  We’re still weeding out but now it’s about never having to move one thing to get to another! 

That being said, I do get out alone for at least an hour a day walking with the dogs and my music.  I’ve had some down days-we all get them from time to time, and I’ve just retired to the bedroom to wallow in my self-pity and some marathon tv time.  Our night shades can make the room pitch dark even on bright days and is great for taking a nap! 

Mike was able to get out and fish early in our adventure and has come a long way on his shoulder recovery.  Once he is able to fish, we’ll both have our space and time.  I enjoy reading and writing and can escape into a book in a matter of minutes when I have a good read on the kindle. 

What about mail?

There are a lot of services that can help with mail.  With over a million full time RV’ers, companies have figured out how to help folks become residents of Florida, South Dakota, Texas, etc. They will receive your mail, process it, scan it and email it to you, or mail it to you on demand whereever you are at the moment.  People save on registration, taxes, and the like by becoming residents of some of these states. 

Since I will be working in California anyway, I will have to pay California income tax.  So, we chose to remain Californians.  It really hurt when we paid sales tax and registration on the RV but for me, my time is also valuable and I had no desire to go through the steps of getting a driver’s license, etc in another state. 

Our daughter moved to an apartment in Chico to settle there and eventually finish her education there. We are on her lease so currently our mail goes to her place.  I did try to go paperless with as many accounts as I could prior to our move.  That’s been a real time saver.  She calls if something unusual shows up, otherwise we face time over the mail every couple of weeks. 

When Mike was recovering from shoulder surgery, we were in the Folsom area.  Calvin, my former employer, had no problem allowing me to use the facility for receiving several packages-things we needed to order for Mike’s kayak and the RV.  Doughnuts for the staff was worth the convenience of knowing our packages were safe. 

What do you miss the most?

That’s a tough one.  I guess right now I miss my coworkers.  We had a great staff and were very close.  Don’t get me wrong, the stress was part of the reason I needed to change to this lifestyle, but there is no where I would rather work if I were to work full time. I would have loved to job share at FCC. It just wasn’t in the cards at this time. We really were a family and we got through the rigors of SNF regulations together.  We were involved in each other’s lives.  We celebrated together, we mourned together, we experienced births and deaths and losses and gains together. It’s hard to find workplaces like that. 

 Some days I don’t speak to anyone but Mike -and the dogs.  That can be lonely.  Usually I use the silence, to read, to write, to just think about who I am and how I got some of my beliefs and if they are still my beliefs.  I know once I start working an assignment I won’t have this same time to reflect so I try to always see that as a gift.  I’ve thought about so many childhood and young adult experiences over the past few weeks-how I may have misinterpreted things because of my youth. 

Where do you plan to go?

I can’t wait to take an extended trip back to Iowa and Nebraska.  It’s always a rush to get back, see as many old friends and family as I can in a few days, and get back to work.  It will be nice to take some time, especially with my G babies.  The rates for camping are so reasonable compared to where we live that we can enjoy full hook ups for extended time and really take some time to be around those we love. 

I also cannot wait to explore the Baja peninsula in Mexico.  The Sea of Cortez looks absolutely beautiful and I fell in love with Mexico my first trip there.  To think that I could spend several months playing there is a dream.  I volunteered at a nursing home the first time we went to Zihua and I’m really looking forward to doing similar things during our time off. It’s so rewarding and really puts what’s important in life into perspective for me.

I’m excited to see Missoula, Montana.  A River Runs Through It is a movie that means a lot to me and I think Montana just looks breath taking—in the summer!  I’m not sure why, but I really want to see Myrtle Beach. Of course a summer in Alaska is in the plans.   I cannot wait to find a place I’ve never heard of that just blows me away.  And I cannot wait to share it with you all. I’ve truly enjoyed my time with this blog and I hope those of you who follow it enjoy it as well.

We found Craggy Wash after studying the BLM campground reviews on the Campendium app.  I really like this app and use it a lot.  Lots of good information and reviews.  It was a little tough to find the turn off and Mike had to turn around a few times.  It’s just north of the airport.  You will see brown recreational signs shortly after you turn onto the road.  It’s a dirt road, hard packed and bumpy with signs stating no camping until after the first mile in.

Within feet of turning on to the road, we saw a family of mountain goats.    I’ve read some reviews that there are wild burros, mountain goats, and coyotes spotted from time to time, but we weren’t lucky enough to see them on this trip!

At the first mile, there were quite a few rigs pretty close together on both sides of the road.  We drove a little further down and found an area we could pull off and unhook the Jeep so Mike could go ahead and scout a bit.  It was getting late and we definitely didn’t want to be driving that path in the dark so he found us a spot not too far in with a few other rigs in a straight line.  Close to others-not urban campground close- but that didn’t bother me.  The leveling system said excessive slope despite repositioning a few times.  No wheels off the ground and my phone’s level app showed a level bubble throughout the coach so we called it good and set up for the night.  We had between 4-5 bars on Verizon with pretty decent Wifi.  We were able to stream the Warriors game easily.  Since we still haven’t installed a satellite or set up a tv service, we just had the antenna and still had over 20 channels and all the local network channels.  Awesome!  Free camping, free tv channels!

Woke up around 0100 and was a little cold.  I played with the thermostat in the bedroom and couldn’t get the propane furnace to kick on.  I was sure Mike had turned on propane when we arrived and I knew we had just filled it.  I lit a burner on the stove to check and it lit fine.  I assumed it might be something more serious-although I couldn’t help thinking we had been using it fine very recently.  I snuggled in deeper under the blankets and went back to sleep. 

Woke up at 0330 and it was 57 degrees-brrr.  I couldn’t sleep and didn’t want to wake Mike-he hadn’t felt good the night before-so I went out to the main cabin and checked the stove burners again, thinking maybe I needed to prime the propane line since we had just filled prior to coming here.  The burner lit, then it went out.  The propane was off after all.  There must have been just enough in the line to light the burner earlier in the night.  Yeah!  I fixed it lol!  Opened up the propane, turned on the heat and slept beautifully. 

We spent a couple days scouting different sites we could park at Craggy Wash and relocated down the road just a bit.  There are quite a few spots and the first 2.5-3 miles in is relatively easy with the road being flat and hard packed.  I took a walk with the dogs and we ventured all the way to mile marker 4.5.  There are rocks painted on the side of the road to tell you how far you have gone.  Personally, I don’t think anyone would want to drive a large rig farther than about the 2.5 mile mark.  There’s a pretty deep curve at the 2.5 mile marker and the road grooves are very deep and the ground is much softer with a combination of sand and loose gravel after mile 3.

Lake Havasu City is very ATV friendly.  We saw quite a few very nice ones come by us as we enjoyed our afternoons.  It was neat to see them driving around the city among “regular” vehicles, pulling up to gas pumps and parking in front of restaurants. 

One of the biggest reasons I wanted to camp at Lake Havasu was to see the original London Bridge and the Christmas lights they display here every year.  They also have a lighted boat parade but we didn’t get here in time for that. 

The town’s founder, Robert McCollough, of McCollough chainsaws, bought the original London Bridge and had it erected here.  It really is quite beautiful and was an enjoyable, but cold walk around the city and across the London Bridge

I joked with Mike that we may need to get me a sister wife for this lifestyle.  While I could have oohed and aahed for quite an extended amount of time over the light display, he was in more of a “check the box, that’s cool” kind of mood.  I pointed out that if there’s ever a fishing tackle show, he might need a brother husband because that’s not exciting to me either lol!  I’m sure as we continue on this journey, we’ll meet more folks like us and won’t need to resort to bringing in additional spouses lol.  We both share an appreciation of nature and animals.  He tolerates touristy things and I tolerate fishing crap lol! Anyone ready to join us yet? 🙂

There are quite a few hills and mountains to climb at Craggy Wash which is one of the reasons we chose this particular BLM.  Louie, Kiya and I found several little caverns and caves.  This one was the coolest.  Now we know where Froto and Bilbo live! 

I’m pretty afraid of heights but did manage to climb about 2/3 of the way up a “small” mountain.  It’s the getting down part that always freaks me out. 

There were quite a few windy days and only one really calm day that Mike could have fished.  It was unusually cool during our stay too.  We both got a little bored waiting for calmer weather so we spent time writing, reading, and researching our next stop. 

We do want to attend the big RV show at Quartzsite.  That doesn’t start until January 19, 2018, so we have some time to kill.  Campendium reviews have made Hippie Hole on the Colorado River in Arizona just south of Blythe, California, sound just awesome.  There is a wildlife refuge area nearby and camping right along the river on BLM for free.  Mike will be able to kayak and fish easily.  So, here we go!  Next stop Hippie Hole!