STATES WE HAVE BEEN TO

We  finally  bought  one  of  those  state  maps  that  show  states  that  you  have  traveled  to.   Alot  of  RV's  have  them  to  show  where  they  have  been.   It  is  a  blank  United  States  map  and  you  add  the  states  you  have  been  in.

 

 

This  first  picture  shows   the  states  we  have  been  in  since  I  retired  3.5  years  ago.   This  is  our  fourth  snowbird  trip.   We  have  been  in  11  states.

 

 

 

 

With  this  picture,  I  added  the  states  we  went  to  when  Denny  retired  in  1996.   We  were  gone  7  months  and  traveled  25,000  miles.   Between  the  2  pictures,  we  only  have  13  states  we  haven't  been  to.   There  are  some  down  south  that  we  aren't  sure  of.   My  map  and  diary of  1996   are  at  home.   Our  memories  aren't  that  good  anymore,  so  I'll  have  to  check  when  we  get  back.   Might  add  a  few  more,  not  sure.  Denny  just  told  me   he  thinks we  went   the  northern  route  out  of  Yellowstone,  which would   have  taken  us  to  Montana.

 

 

 



FINALLY, NO RAIN

We  are  at  our  3rd  official  destination,  Parker,  AZ.   We  traveled  here  Christmas  Day.  That   is  a  great  day  for  traveling,  no traffic.  We  actually  got  in  4.5  hours,  instead  of  5.

 

This  isn't  the  greatest  park,  but  it  certainly  is  the  friendliest.  We  met  several  couples  last  year  that  we  kept  in  touch  with  over  the  summer.  Within  30  minutes  of  us  pulling  in,  we  met  3  new  people,  2  parked  behind  and  one  beside  us.    Also  had  2  couples  come  over  that  we  knew  from  last  year.   Last  night,  we  attended  a  bon  fire  with  4   couples that  we  knew  from  before.     One  couple  is  from  Friday  Harbor.   Went for a walk yesterday and ran into 2 more that we knew.   Today, we ran into 2 more  couples.  Alot  of   people  come  to   this  park  year  after  year  for  the  entire winter.   We know  people  that  have  been  coming 7-8 years  or  more.  We  still  like  to  travel,  not  stay  in  one  place.  We   plan   to  stay  here  the   longest,  probably  6-7 weeks.   The  only  other  place  we  stay  that  long  is  Palm  Springs.  It   isn't  as  friendly,  but  we  like  the  weather  and  the  pool/hot tub. We  met   people there  that  we have  kept  in   contact  with,   just   not  as  many.

 

We are in T shirts. YAHOO!  There is no rain predicted for the entire month of January.   I bet  we  don't  have  any  rain  until  we  leave  Palm  Springs  at  the  end  of  April.  No  rain  and  70  degrees  sounds  like  heaven  to  us.

 

 

We  went  geocaching  yesterday  and  found  our  first   FTF.  That  means  FIRST TO FIND.   It  is  hard  to  be  the  first  one.   We   probably  wouldn't  have  gone  so  soon  except  our  friends,  Bob  and  Lou  had  hid   it only  a  few  days  before  and  no  one  had  found it.  It  was  in  the  park  beside  us,  so  off  we  went  for   a   walk.   We  certainly  got  our  exercise  for  the  day,  probably  walked  3.5  miles.  Certainly  didn't  need  to  go  on  our  daily  bike  ride. 

 

Along the trail

 

 

 

Finding the cache in the top of the pipe.

 

 

 

Lifting it off and seeing the actual cache inside

 

 

We now have to buy our water. We only use water out of the tap for showers and washing dishes.  You don't realize how much you use until you have to start buying it. We brought 5   1 gallon jugs.  We  use  about  1 gallon  a  day.   We have to buy water all over AZ and Texas.

 

 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

December 25, 2102

 

Since  we  have  been  traveling  SNOWBIRDS,  our  Christmas  has  certainly  changed.   I  used  to  host  my  family  celebration  on  Christmas  Eve.   Three  out  of  the  four  years  we  have  been  gone,  we  have  been  by  ourselves,  so  we  try  to  do  something  special  to  mark  the  day.    First, we  went  to  visit  my  sister  in  law's  mother  and  sister.   They  live  12  miles  from  where  we camped.  We visited them 2 years ago when we were here.    Then   we  went  to  the  3D  movie,  the  Hobbit  and   to  dinner  after.   Since  we didn't  know  the  area  for  a  good  restaurant,  we  just  went  to  the  casino  next  door  to  the  theater.   The  movie  is  very  good,  but violent.  The 3D effects   were  awesome.  The  steaks were perfect.

 

 

Denny  and  I  haven't   exchanged  gifts  since  we  started  traveling.   At  our  age,  we  have  everything  we  need  and  if  we  want  something  we  buy  it.    Besides,  space  is  limited  in  the  Monster.   We  exchange  cards  and  he  gets  me  flowers.

 

 

 

Last year we were in Big River, where Larry and Joyce,  Denny's cousins,  stay for the winter.   Last year,  we spent  Christmas  with them and other friends we had met there. We  don't  travel  there  until  Christmas  Day this year.

 

We want to wish everyone of our family and friends a Merry Christmas. We wish for joy, hope and prosperity for everyone in the New Year.

 

 



Christmas in the Park

Even tho I told you in a previous post that I don't carry very many Christmas decorations, there are alot of people that do. Not sure where they store so much. I don't want to take up so much storage space for something that isn't up for very long. Here are just a few in the park. Some of the blow up ones move.

 

 

 

 

 

Maintenance and New Toys

 

Today  we  spent  5  hours  at  the  truck/ hitch  store.   Denny  bought  a  56  gallon  gas  tank.  Our  old  one  was  34  gallons.  We  will  be  able  to  go  500  miles  with  this  one.   He  has  been  thinking  about  it  for  a  few  years  now,  but  we  had  a  couple  of  close  calls  this  year,  so  he decided  to  do  it.  It  is  HUGE.  We  saw  it  when  it  was  out  of  the  box,  but  not  installed  yet.   We  got  diesel  on  the  way  home  and spent  $150  and we  still  had  14  gallons  in  from  before.  Good  thing  for  credit  cards.  We  certainly  don't  carry  that  kind  of  cash  around.

 

That's  Denny's  new  toy  for  the  truck.  The  new  toy  for  the  RV is  for  both  of  us.   When  we  traveled  before,  we  always  had  a  bag  of  ice  in  the  freezer.  It  is  bulky  and  takes  up  a  lot  of  room  in our tiny freezer.  This  year  we  bought  a  small  portable  ice  maker.   I  saw  one  at  my  cousin Christi's  house  when  we  moved  her.  WE   LOVE   IT.   I   bought   a   small   container  for  the  freezer.  It  takes  up  less  space  and  is  easy  to  stack  things  around.   Wish  we  had  bought  one  sooner. Even  after  4  years  we  still  are  buying  things  to  improve  life  on  the  road.

 

The  little  bucket  on  the  top  goes  inside  and  that's  what  the  ice  drops  down  into.

 

 

 

Close up of the ice cubes. A little strange- looks like little bullets with holes in them. The container I bought for the freezer is just slightly larger.

 

 

For the maintenance part of this story, we had to buy 2 new batteries for the RV.  As most of you know,Denny is always doing maintenance and discovered that one battery was almost dead and the other, very low. Off to the battery store we go. $250 later we have new batteries and we're good to go.

 

Always something to buy or fix



MYSTERIES OF LIFE

We've had 3 mysteries of life lately that can't be explained.

 

In  a  previous  post,  I  had  mentioned  that  we  lost  our  DirecTV  in  San  Benito.   We  had  it  for 1   1/2   weeks  and  lost  it  for  the  last  3 days.   Called  DirecTV,  but  the  repairman  never  showed up.   Wasted  a  whole  day  sitting  around  waiting  for  him  to  come.  We had planned on doing some geocaching.   We  got  down  here  and  Denny  set  it  up  so  he  could  tell  a  new  repairman  what  strength  we  had.   We  weren't  looking  forward  of  going  thru  the  hassle  again  of  getting  someone  here.   Anyway, when  Denny  set  it  up,  it  worked  fine.  It  is  still working  fine.   Not  sure  what  happened,  but we  were  very  happy.

 

 

Next  mystery  of  life  was  our  sconce  light  in  the  dining  room.   I  turned  it  on,  there  was  a  flash  and  it  went  out.  Denny  replaced  it.  It  flashed  and  went  out  again.   Denny  thought  there  might  be  a  short.   He  took  the  light apart,  but  couldn't  find  anything  wrong.   He   put   it  back  together  and  lo  and  behold,  it  has  worked  perfectly  ever  since.   What's  up  with  that?

 

 

Our  3rd  mystery  of  life  happened  in  the  laundry  room.   I  washed  the  other  day  and  I'm  missing  a  kitchen  towel.   I   looked  in  the  washers,  dryers  and  everywhere  in  the  Monster.  I  think  the   monster  ate  it.   It  is  probably  in  the  place  that  socks  go  when  they  disappear.  I  think  we've  all had  that  happen. 

More fowl

My last post wouldn't let me add more pictures of  all the water fowl behind us,   but  I wanted  to show  you all  varieties.

 

 

They stock all the canals with fish. You can get a permit and fish off the banks.

 

What the heck is this?

We  have  seen  all  sorts of  ducks,  birds  and  cranes  on  the  canal  behind  the  RV.   We  have figured  out  what  most  of  them  are  but  we  are  stumped  by  a  few.  Do  you  have  any  idea?  The  first  one  is  a  duck,  but  have  never  seen  one  like  it.  Beautiful  color  on  the  back. The   second  is  a  bird, but  not  sure  what kind.

 

 



CHRISTMAS FINALLY CAME TO THE MONSTER

I waited until we got here to put up any Christmas decorations. When you travel you have to put things away or secure them and I didn't feel like doing that. I don't bring very much  because I don't  want to take up much storage space for things that aren't up for very long.  Everything I brought, except for the Christmas tree, is soft and compacts easily.

 

This  is  our  fourth  year  of  being away  for  Christmas. We  had  Christmas  with  my  family  the week before  we  left.  We  had  Christ-giving  with  Darin,  Heather,  Elissa  and  Zachary  two  days before  we  left.  Christ-giving  is  our  combination  Thanksgiving/Christmas with them.   Last  year we  spent  Christmas  with Denny's  first  cousins, Larry and Joyce Frink in Parker, AZ.  This  year we  will  be  by  ourselves.  We  won't get to Parker  until  Christmas  Day  and  Larry and Joyce  a few  days  after  that.  Thank heavens for Skype. 

 



 

Space that I store everything in except for the tree

 

 

 





What a difference 2 years make

We traveled to Menifee, Ca. Dec 11th. It was quite the trip to get here. We went thru rolling hills, flat land, Tehachapi Pass  to desert  all in one day. On our first day,  only about 100 miles was flat, the rest very curvy mountains and hills.  We can usually travel 300 miles in  6  hours, but  this  trip  was  only  258 and took 6.5. Tells you how much slower it was.  When we got here it was a beautiful 70 degrees. The first thing I did was put on a t shirt and flip flops.

The pictures below are what the weather was like 2 years ago. We were here  about the same time

 

This is the road to the entrance to the park. This was taken the day after we got here. They closed the park

 

 

This is how we had to dress to go outside

 

We spent Christmas and New Years here. We went to the Country Club for our New Years dinner.

 

The pictures below are what it was like yesterday when we got here. It was 70 degrees. The lake is right behind the Monster

 

 

My first attempt at a panorama shot. The back of our RV is the one with the bikes on it.

Denny taking a break

 

PICTURES AND MORE PICTURES

Finally figured out how to upload pictures. Very frustrating when procedures change every year.

 

This was taken when we first got here. Denny had to change our kitchen faucet. He is so handy to have around. I think I'll keep him.

 

 

 

Our morning ritual is drinking coffee and reading the Seattle Times. Denny uses the Kindle Fire and I use my computer.  We bought the laptop cushions last year. Makes it much more comfortable for reading. 



 

 

I try to take pictures of unusual RVs that we see. The one below is an Airstream, but smallest I've ever seen. Certainly tight quarters. I never saw how many people lived here, but it would even be small for one.

 

This one is unusual because I have never seen an aluminum one that wasn't an Airstream. There is no markings on it to say what it is.  Airstream's are trailers, not  motorhomes. Also Airstream's always have smooth sides, never rippled like this one.  Strange

 



 

 

Denny on our new bikes. It looks a little odd because they are folding bikes.

 

 

Denny fixing the bikes We both had flats before we bought liners for the tires. The roads we will be on are not the best, dirt, gravel and lots of potholes.  Another reason I'm going to keep him around.

 

I took alot more pictures to show you, but I have to look them all up to see where they are.



WE SEE THE SUN, YAHOO

I think we will finally be drying out and losing our webfeet.  The last 2 days we woke up to clear, blue beautiful skies.  This is what we came south for. It isn't very warm, but we'll take it for now. Any day without rain is a good day.

 

We are again reminded that Washington has the best recycle program around. The only recycle here is plastic bottles and aluminum cans. We really don't have much of either. We don't drink pop and we refill our water bottles.  It seems like such a shame to throw so much away that we are used to recycling.  Amazing how much garbage we have now.  Also, very few people take the reusable sacks to the grocery store. We see them for sale, and except for us, no one uses them. We saw a lady bring only one  bag and she had an overflowing cart. Go figure.

 

Rumors, rumors, rumors.  I was in the clubhouse several  days ago and alot of irate people were coming in to talk to the staff.  They had all heard that the water would be shutoff for 4 days. People wanted to know the reason, when  and why no notice.   Turns out, NOT TRUE!  Someone hears something and the rumors starts. I talked to the staff lady and she said if that were to happen, they would certainly  give plenty of notice.  When I got back to the RV,  Denny had heard the same thing and filled our two 50 gallon tanks. Someone had seen him outside working on our bikes and told him.  He drained the tanks. What a waste of water.  Then 3 days ago, we did get a notice that the water would be shut off from 6am to 2pm Friday. For 4 days after that, you are suppose to boil the water because it won't be chlorinated.  Denny again filled the tanks. Friday morning came, no water shutoff.  Seems like now it MIGHT be on Tues. Another waste of water. We are leaving Monday, so it won't effect us.   Seems like no one knows what is going on. Maintenance at all of the Thousand Trails parks has really gone down hill.  Not the same kind of parks when my parents were traveling. I think they would be appalled. 

Denny has been working on our bikes to tweak them a little. We bought a bike rack for the back of the RV and wider, SOFTER seats.  Also he looked at the tires and realized we didn't have nearly the air we were suppose to.  So much more comfortable to ride now.

We had planned to do some sightseeing, geocaching and wine tasting today, but, here I am, in the clubhouse working on the computer. Our Direct TV went out yesterday morning. Called the 800 line and they can't help us. We need someone local. They couldn't give us anyone closer than 50 miles. We saw a Direct TV truck here yesterday. We went over to the RV they were working at and got the number. It is someone local  from Hollister. Now, we are waiting fore them to come. I bet we'll be stuck here all day. Oh well.

So far, no mountain lion sighting. Thank heavens!  I think people don't really know what one looks like.  They saw a bobcat and thought it was a mountain lion. A guy who has worked here 10 years has NEVER seen one. We have seen lots of deer, squirrels and 2 bobcats.

We are leaving Monday to go furthur south. We will be a little southeast of LA.  Hopefully into warmer weather.

Until then.....



 

 

 

 

 

 

Our web feet--HOPEFULLY DISAPPEARING

Dec 4, 2012

As some of you know, we have been in the middle of the Northern Ca. rain storms.  They called  it Northern Ca,  but it went all the way down  to LA.  It has rained here everyday since we got here. Yesterday  we woke up to NO RAIN.  I told Denny it was nice to wake up to no rain. That is usually  something I would say in Washington, not in California.  Sunday  I did laundry and I had to jump over puddles to get to the door.  Not one puddle today.  YAHOO!  We were in a higher spot, but we saw one RV/truck in the middle of a moat.  Couldn't get out without stepping in water.  So far, 2 days without rain.  Hope it continues.

Denny  had to do some maintenance on the RV when we got here. He had to change out the kitchen faucet.  Even though he changed it a few years ago,  it has been leaking ever since we left.  When things sit for 6 months,  there can always be problems.   Luckily there was a plumbing store here and we got their last brushed chrome faucet.  Hollister  has 36,000 people,  but no Home Depot, Lowe's, Costco or Walmart.  It is 14 miles away. There are 2 towns in between, but they only have 200 and 500 people.

Even though I have my own Internet, the connections here are very bad and weak. Sometimes I have it, sometimes I don't. I came to the clubhouse because they have a free connection and in walks a guy we met in Utah  last year.  Small world.  That's what this is all about--meeting new people and seeing them on the road at different places.  I have already heard from friends in Parker that they are waiting and anxious  for us to get there.

Went for our 3rd bike ride yesterday,  but didn't get far. FLAT TIRE.  Before we left, Denny noticed it was flat. He put air into it and we hoped it was just from sitting. No luck.  I only got up to the clubhouse and it was completely flat.  The roads in the park are gravel and dirt,  with alot of ruts. Luckily we brought a tire kit.  Hopefully it doesn't keep happening.

One nice thing about traveling in the RV is that we seem to sleep better, especially Denny. We sleep in longer and feel so much more rested when we get up because we sleep more during the night.   I think one of the reasons is that there is always so much going on at home. We have a tendency to wake up thinking about stuff and can't get back to sleep. All that is gone when we are traveling. Denny is much more rested and  more relaxed. He laughs a lot more, which is a good thing. As most of you know, he is a pretty serious guy.

Every  year  we seem to buy things for the truck or RV to make life easier. This past summer,  Denny bought a couple of things for the truck ( I call them his new toys) that will prevent him from saying  "Oh no, what happened,  why did I do that? " . He has said that more than once!  We also bought some things for the inside of the RV  that make us say "Why didn't I do that sooner".

I have taken some pictures along the way to show you, but I am having trouble uploading them. When I finally can do it,  you'll probably get them all at once.

Until next time







 

 

 

SAN BENITO--OUR 1ST OFFICIAL DESTINATION

Nov. 26, 2012

We finally got to our first lengthy destination last Monday, San Benito Preserve, a Thousand Trails campground.  Will be here 2 weeks. We were here 2 years ago. Our itinerary this year is a combination of our 1st 3 years. No new campgrounds this year, first time that has happened.

 

This is actually a summer season park, so there aren't many activities going on. From now on, all are high season winter campgrounds. It has been on the national news, but if you haven't heard, we are in the middle of a big storm in California, from LA up. It has been raining ever since we got here. I should say POURING. We are in a good spot, but we saw one RV surrounded by a moat of water. Couldn't step out of his rv or truck without getting in water. This is what it was like 2 years ago. We had rain all the way to Palm Springs. Not sure about California next winter. Might have to go straight to Arizona.

 

There are signs up that there have been sightings of a mountain lion around the park. YIKES!  Luckily we haven't seen it on our walks. We have seen a bobcat. When we were driving into the park yesterday, it was on the grass beside the road.  Denny  also saw one walking around in a wooded area across from us.  It isn't as bad as a  mountain lion, but they can still be very dangerous.

 

ONLY IN LA-- while watching TV, there have been some ads for caviar, escargot and truffles from a vending machine in a mall.  Not sure if I would get any of those items out of a vending machine, but I'm sure some people would.  The price is from $50 to $500.

 

Even tho it has been raining , we have tried to either walk or take a bike ride everyday.  I lost some weight during the summer and I certainly don't want to gain it back.  We bought folding bikes with bags this year. I thought we could fold them up and carry them inside while  we are traveling instead of hanging them on the back of the RV. Sounded like a good idea, but NOT.  Every time you fold them, the chain comes off. When you travel everyday, you have to take them in and out.  Denny thinks we'll get a bike rack and put them on the back.

 

When we were here 2 years ago, we did a lot of touristing around the area, so this time, we will do more relaxing.  Probably only do some wine tasting (3) and geocaching.  Of course, when it rains so hard, not much fun touristing.

 

 

 

 

ON THE ROAD.....AGAIN

November 23-25, 2012

It was time for our 4th year adventures to begin. It was a hard decision to leave this time, but warm weather was calling.  How could we refuse?

 

We left on Black Friday, November 23rd. What a great day to leave. Everyone was either shopping or watching football. No traffic. We stopped at our 3 go to campgrounds along the way, Albany, Or., Weed, Ca. and Patterson, Ca. These are great stops when you are on the road. All pullthru's with  cable. No putting up the dish or unhooking.  For the first 1 1/2 days, it poured rain. Very stressful for Denny, but he is an excellent driver. The stressful part is other drivers that have to cut in front of you, not realizing how long it takes a 50' long truck/rv to stop.  Just as we got to the Siskiyou Mountains, the skies cleared up, blue sky and we even put sunglasses on. YAHOO!  FINALLY! The Siskiyou mountain weather is our decision maker on when to leave. It is a very steep mountain range on the Oregon/California border. In 9 minutes we climbed 1854' and then back down in the same amount of time. Eventho the pass is short and steep, there is actually 100 miles of up and down mountains before the Siskiyous and another 100 miles after. You actally have over 200 miles of mountains to go thru. Denny is always glad to get down to flat land at Redding.

 

In those 3 days, we spent $393.53 on diesel. When you only get 9 miles to the gallon, you go to the gas station everyday. By the time we got to Patterson, Ca. (southeast of San Fransico), we had gone 869 miles.

 

When we got to Weed, Ca, our first stop past the summit of the Siskiyous, Denny had to do some maintenance on the truck. When he drove the Monster to the house for loading, he had to raise the tires off the ground for leveling. Somehow a spring on a tire twisted upside down. Very bad for the tire. He didn't notice it until the 2nd day. We got to Weed early enough for him to fix it. He had to take the tire off and somehow turn the spring around. It is so great and handy to have a guy that knows how to work on the truck/rv himself. 

 

I am a little late in starting my blog because we are in a valley and the internet connections are  very bad and very  SLOW.   I tried to upload some pictures, but no luck. Hopefully the next place will be better. Might have to put them all on at once.

 

We will miss our family and friends, but will keep in touch with phone, email and blog.

See you next year

 

 

 

THE LADDER TRAIL IN THE PAINTED MOUNTAINS

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Denny can't really walk any distance, so Irene took me on a hike. Irene is a friend I have met from Canada.  She is 67 and in very good shape. She does the exercise class every day and hikes alot. I actually drove our  truck because it is a 4 wheel drive. She has a little PT Cruiser and to get there you need a 4 X 4. This is the first time I have driven except to go to the laundry in the park. It was about an hour drive from here. The last several miles was a really rough, washboard road. Quite the drive for my first time. There are ladders that you have to climb up and down on to get to different areas. It was quite the advanced hike, but I did fine. A little tired the next day, but not really sore.

                     
                                 The stick to my left is my walking stick. I threw it up so I could use my hands

Whew! Finally got to the top of the ledge.

What a good looking hiker that is!

There she is again. We were almost to the top

Irene, my hiking and geocaching buddy

OOPS! I started walking down but it was easier to slide on my  butt.  Irene, who is older, WALKED. She is in better shape than I am. This is where we started down the mountain

In this area there were many many little piles of rocks. Indians started doing this thousands of years ago to show the way. We found these rock formations  all over the southwest.  We also made our own pile. It is fun tradition

To get here,  you had to slide down about 6-7',   and  then hold on to a rope (because it is so steep) for about 10'  to actually get to the ladder.

Not sure how  many miles the hike was, but it took 2 1/2   hours to get to the top of the trail and then 1 1/2 hours to get down. Good Day. It was hot, but we had a little breeze  and there was alot of shade inside the canyon walls.