Fire in them hills

We got a little excitement today. There was a pretty good size fire in the hills across the highway from the campground.

Rumor has it that a car fire up on the highway started it. They called in a couple of helicopters and a large fire crew to work on it. It was interesting to watch the strategy used to fight it.

Seems the helicopters would drop in front of the fire crews on both sides of the fire, and then the crews with chain saws and fire hoses would mop up after. I guess they know what they are doing because after about 4 hours now they are getting it out.

We were pretty wishy washy about pulling out of here tomorrow. It was 106 in Havasu today and doesn’t look like it is going to let up soon. We would stay but it is cooling down quite a bit here at the beach. Today was in the low 70s and it is supposed to only get up to 68 in a few days. Also everything is coated with a nice film of yuck from the ocean salt air. I need to get everything into dryer air and give it all a good bath. We are going to be on the beach again in a couple of weeks anyway when we head to San Diego for our Camp Host positions.

One more day and we gotta go

Well, we really don’t have to. In reality we should stay longer since it is still over 100 degrees in Havasu. We were going to leave last Sunday but it’s been so perfect here we decided to stay longer. Why are we leaving Wednesday? NASCAR. We will make our usual stop in Indio Wednesday night and get into Havasu Thursday. Susan will shop and do laundry on Friday and Saturday and Sunday will be free for NASCAR.

Low Tide

At $45 a night, we have just about reached our campground budgets limit for the month. Being the rest of the month in Havasu is free it will average out.

New Neighbors

Have you ever had a neighbor move out and cringe at the thought of who will be moving in? Well this happens to us a lot. Here at the beach we actually pulled straight into our site instead of backing in as the site was designed for.

This put us pretty close to the guy next door that backs in. Our last neighbors, who pulled out this morning, were real cool. We hardly new they were here. The guy that pulled in today seems OK but he has a couple of kids so he will probably not stay long as the kids have to go back to school.

Susan and I took a walk down the beach today. It has been a bit cooler and breezier today but still nice. I was going to pull out tomorrow and head for Havasu but we are enjoying the beach so much that we will stay for a while.

Another day at the beach

Today was NASCAR qualifying and the Busch race so Susan was pretty busy. I, on the other hand took a 5 mile walk down the beach. What a perfect day for a walk on the beach. The temperature was in the mid 70s with a gentle breeze.

Good thing I watch where I step or I could have stepped on this guy. This is a pretty good size jellyfish.

Being Friday all sites are full and I suspect it is the same case at the other campgrounds in the area. Everyone is trying to get away from the heat.

We have gotten used to the sound of the waves crashing all night and can get a good nights sleep, however this morning bright and early, a surfer came into the park and apparently doesn’t realize there are other people in this world and had his music blaring all the time he was getting prepared to go surfing. Then shortly after, the trash truck showed up to empty the dumpster behind the motorhome. Oh yeah, and the morning freight train. I guess it could be worse. It could be an alarm clock.

Maybe a little too close

As I mentioned we are REAL close to the ocean. Last night we sat in the front seats and watched as the spray from the waves crashing against the rocks were reaching the motorhome. I would imagine during high surf, stormy seas, this place gets flooded out a bit. Yesterday was a bit cool and windy, today was a little foggy at times but much warmer. Last evening just before sunset Susan spotted a weasel popping in and out of the rocks in front of the motorhome. I didn’t even know there were weasels around here. We watched for a while as he entertained us.

Today we took a drive over to the Ventura Harbor and visited the Channel Islands National Park. We can see islands from out the front of the motorhome but I wasn’t sure what islands they were. After that we cruised through the Harbor Village Shops.

It sure is nice to listen to the waves crashing at night. We get an occasional freight train going by on the nearby tracks but for the most part all we hear is the sound of the waves. I really do like being on the ocean. The only draw back is, yesterday I washed the car, today…you wouldn’t know it. The salt air leaves a dull film on everything. If you have anything chrome or exposed metal, it is history in no time.

Laundry Day

Ah, the dreaded laundry day. This is probably the only thing we hate about fulltiming. If we had it to do over, we would have bought a motorhome with a washer and dryer. I don’t know what it is about laundromats but they sure seem to draw the scourge of life. I usually pick a few in the area and we do a drive by and pick the lesser of the evils. Today we just said, let’s go to the closest and get it over. This place looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in months. Susan had to fight the Mexicans to get a washer and dryer since a lot of the machines were out of order and some were just too down right scummy to use. The only laundromat we have come across that was worse was the one with roaches coming through the wall from the Chinese restaurant next door. We had to be careful not to bring home any hitchhikers from that one. Well at least it’s over until we get to our Resort in Lake Havasu City.

Parked only 50 feet from, and facing the ocean is great except for around 5:00p when the glare from the setting sun blasts into our window. I know, life should be so tough.

But after that the sunsets are great.

We will probably hang out hear for a few more days then head on out to Lake Havasu. It looks like it is cooling down to below 105 in the next couple of days so it should be nice and cool out there for us. We are looking forward to seeing our friends in Havasu.

MUCH Better

We got so tired of the heat that instead of heading to our RV lot in Lake Havasu, we decided to head for the beach. Man am I glad we did. We are now on the beach in Ventura California.

It is MUCH nicer here. We arrived about noon and it was about 80 degrees. I was hoping that since it was after Labor Day and all the kids are back in school that we could get a good beachfront site. We did! About 50 feet from the water with full hookups including 50 amps and cable TV.

Susan said, lets face in so we can get the ocean view out our window. Giving the weather in this part of the country right now, it can’t get any better than this. We can stay here for up to 14 days and we just may do that.

Way too hot

We have pretty much made the decision not to come to the California race in September anymore. Even though we are having a good time, it is way too hot. It has been in the 3 digits everyday. We are spending a lot of time inside the motorhome with the generator running and the air conditioners running. This is no way to spend time at the NASCAR race in the infield. We just can’t do much infield cruising to checkout the crazies without overheating. There are no races until Saturday so we have been spending Thursday and Friday sweating (literally) it out until the races start. One good thing, the races are night races so it should drop down to a nice cool 90 something for the races.

Here are a few ways people are cooling off here in the infield.


We got lucky, with the generosity of our friends from Riverside, and got to see the Busch series race on Saturday in a Hospitality Suit. It was air conditioned and included all the food and drink you could consume. We were also treated to an appearance from NASCAR driver and team owner Michael Waltrip.

He spent about an hour in the Sky Box with us but you could tell he was really itching to get back down to his Pit Box and give some instructions to his driver. We saw a bad wreck during the race that even Michael said was the worst he has ever seen.

It stopped the race for 20 minutes while they got all the drivers involved out of their cars and the mess cleaned up. They even had to bring out a welder and repair a portion of the wall. Everyone came out OK with the exception of a dislocated shoulder of the driver in the #88 car.

Fortunately the race on Sunday was a night race so it cooled to a tolerable 90 degrees. We got to see the race from the top of our daughter’s motorhome. Their motorhome is right up against the fence on turn 2 so we get a real up close view of the race from there.

To add a good capper to the weekend, Susan’s favorite driver won the race. She was real happy to see that.

Ready for NASCAR

Today we made a short move from our friend’s house in Riverside to the Ontario Elks Lodge. This brings us a little closer to the track so we can drive in and back everyday.

We went from this

To this


I know…what were we thinking. Our friends offered to let us stay at their house for the race but we are about 10 minutes closer here at the elks. We have stayed here for the last 3 California races and it works out well.

Unfortunately it looks like it’s going to be another hot one this year. They are predicting as high as 104 degrees. I think last year it was 109 degrees.

Just relaxing

We have been just sitting back here and relaxing by the pool all weekend. Our friends always treat us great while here.


Saturday we had crab legs, lobster and Tri Tip by the pool as we watched NASCAR. Yesterday we went to another pool party where we enjoyed more good food and friends. We will be here for a few more days before we move on to the Elks Lodge near the California Speedway for the NASCAR race.

Note the motorhome behind ours in this photo. Our friends had a Flood in their house and are now living in their motorhome while their entire house gets new floors. Good thing they have a motorhome. The weather has been great here in Riverside so far. It has been in the 90s and we had a brief rain yesterday. It is suppose to get into the 100s for next weekend, which we are not looking forward to. Last year it got over 100 during the NASCAR race and it was a bit uncomfortable. We will make the best of it though.

Mobile again

Yes we are on the road again. Yesterday we moved up to our friend’s house in Riverside California. These are the friends that have the nice pool that we pull up next to. We are on our way to the California Speedway for the NASCAR race next weekend. Susan can’t wait but she will have a great time this weekend also.

Back in the high rent district

Yesterday we had the opportunity to move back up into the RV area here at the Elks lodge. The big party that moved in stayed until this morning but a couple left yesterday morning. Living on holding tanks and generator power was not bad at all though. We really didn’t lack anything.

Saturday they had a cleanup day here at the lodge so I jumped in to help out. One of the guys that knows I am a fulltimer asked how long it has been since I mowed a lawn. “Three years”, I told him and he replied with, “Ya think you remember how”. It wasn’t a lot but it was a workout for me. Some of them mentioned coming back Tuesday so I told them to come get me.

Porta-Power

And to think I almost got rid of this little guy. It’s not often that I use our Honda EU2000i, but it sure is coming in handy this weekend. We would rather run this guy than our monster 6.5kw Generac giant. The Honda ran for 7 hours on 1 gallon of fuel yesterday, the Generac monster gulps about 1 gal/hour. The Honda is so quiet you forget you are running on genny power. The Generac…well there is no mistake it is running. I guess I will keep my little Honda since it is quiet, light weight, and takes up very little space.

We’ve been eighty sixed

I am not sure where the term comes from but I remember it from my old bar days. Being eighty sixed from a bar means you were asked to leave, usually because you did something wrong. Well, we didn’t do anything wrong. We were told we had to vacate the RV Park here at the Elks Lodge because they have a group coming in and all spaces are needed. I checked with the Elks Lodge in the next town, the same thing. So here we are in their Dry Camp Area. I got plenty of fuel for the generator and the fresh water tank is full so we are good for the weekend. I talked with the Wagon Master of the group and asked him to let me know if someone doesn’t show and they end up with an empty space. So far it doesn’t look good for us since they are expecting more rigs than spaces anyway.

Returned calls a thing of the past

I have come to realize, if you make a call and they tell you they will get back to you, FORGET IT! You’d better call someone else. I guess there is so much business out there that customers are not important anymore. I recently made six inquiries and have not received one call back. Four were to the manufacturer of my motorhome. All I need to know is if I can get some matching upholstery material to reskin my couch. This is a simple inquiry that they can’t even respond to. How difficult can that be? I also called Camping World on the recommendation of Michelin to see if I can get an appointment to inspect my tires for a warranty claim. "Can’t find the guy you need to talk to, we’ll get back to you", RIGHT! Another was my Doctor’s billing department. I called to inform them that they are billing me for a bill already paid. Every time I call them I never get to talk to a real person, I always get voice mail, and of course they never called back. I guess they have this thing about talking to customers. I know I have all the time in the world to wait for a call back but I am considerate enough to put off anything I need/want to do to wait around for their call back. Too bad they aren’t considerate enough to make that call. Oh yeah, I remember a few weeks ago waiting for the windshield repairperson to show up for the 8:00a to 12:00a appointment. He showed up at 1:00p.

Back in Vista

We had a great time yesterday with some close friends in Thousand Oaks. They gave us the grand tour of the area including Lake Sherwood and Westlake where there are a lot of high end homes. After a moderate drive, we arrived in Vista today at around 11:30a. We will probably spend about 3 weeks here until it’s time to head for the NASCAR race in Fontana. Of course, the Grandson will be spending the night with us tonight.

Simi Valley

We arrived in Simi Valley today, just north of Los Angeles. We will be visiting some friends tonight and have dinner. Tomorrow we will make our way back down to Vista. Going through LA is not an option. I always go around via I-15. It is only about 15 minutes longer but a lot less traffic and stress.

Paula’s Pancake House

Every time we pass through here we have to stop at Paula’s Pancake House in Solvang for Breakfast.

I like their Danish Pancakes and Susan always get their Pecan Waffle. It’s amazing that after all these years they haven’t found a way to screw things up. Their food is still great, the proportions are still the same and everyone in there is still really friendly. Seems most places, when they have a good thing going, screw something up trying to make changes. Yesterday we had lunch at Pea Soup Andersons. I had a triple-decker sandwich along with a bowl of Split Pea Soup and ½ of Susan’s bowl. I was so stuffed that when dinnertime rolled around, I told Susan to forget what she was fixing and do something light. Anyway, after breakfast today we took a drive up to Cachuma Lake to check out their campsites for future reference. The place isn’t too bad. I think next time through here we will head up there instead of this high dollar so called “Resort”. This afternoon we went back into Solvang to check out the Farmer’s Market. Between all that running around we actually found time to sit by the pool and relax. Pretty nice day!

Short drive today

We moved over to Buellton today. Our plan was to hang out in Lompoc until after the NASCAR race however, Susan’s favorite driver crashed out early and she wasn’t interested in seeing the rest of the race. I felt like a NASCAR hauler, packing up and hitting the road as soon as our team is out. We see this at all the races. They don’t stay until the race is over. As soon as they are out of the race they pack it up and pull out.

It was a short 30 minute driver here today but we had to wait until 2:00p to check in so we took our time leaving Lompoc. This is one of the few campgrounds that strictly adhere to their check in times. We got here 5 minutes before 2:00p and I heard the girl tell the guy in front of me, ”Check in is at 2:00p. We have a place where you can park until then”. I was going to tell her to just slow down a little and when she is done it will be 2:00p, until she realized how close it was. Most places will let you check in if your site is vacant. It’s not like they had to do anything to the site because our site is littered with cigarette butts and trash. I have a hankering to collect all the trash and wait for one of their guys to drives by then dump it in the middle of the road in hopes he will say something. I will simply ask,” What’s the difference if it is in my site or in the street?”

Lompoc

Today we moved on down to Lompoc. I decided to come to Lompoc because it is close to our next stop on Sunday, which we can’t get into until Sunday. Since our next stop is on race day, we are close enough to stay here for the race and cruise on over to the next stop after.

I am SO frustrated. Our Internet connection through my Verizon Air Card has been so very slow. It is so bad I even called Verizon. Now in order for me to call tech support and go through all the BS they put you through and talk to all the idiots you have to talk to takes me a lot. Of course after all the “try this” and “try that” nothing was resolved. I guess I am going to have to wait until I get back into a Broadband area to see if things improve. I have been in Lompoc before and don’t remember it being this slow.

SLO

I’m glad I decided to stop in San Luis Obispo. There is a lot to do here. Today we took a drive over to Morro Bay and cruised the shops. We were taking out time waiting for the line to go down at the Fish Market so we can get some lunch. We still had to stand in line for a little over ½ hour, but it’s worth it. I had the baked halibut sandwich and Susan had the Dungeness crab salad, yum.

It was nice sitting on their patio overlooking the bay with the Morro Bay Rock in the background.

Tonight we went downtown to the Farmers Market here in SLO.

This happens every Thursday night and still draws a Big crowd. It is close to impossible to find a place to park. They have everything from fruits and vegetables to BBQ meats and entertainment. If we had more time here we would head over to Pismo Beach but we are back on the road tomorrow. It’s a good thing too because they informed us that they are grading and surfacing the RV parking here and we have to move anyway.

Heading south

Today we mad our way down to San Luis Obispo. It’s a good thing we only drive a few hours and get off the road early because this place filled up shortly after noon. Tomorrow we will take a short drive in the car over to Morro Bay just for something to do. In the evening we will head into town for San Luis Obispo’s farmer’s market. This is a regular event here every Thursday. It is just as much entertaining as is a good place to pick up some produce.

Time with friends

Yesterday we spent the day with some friends near here in Santa Cruz. Ray and Judy spent their Sunday driving us around Santa Cruz showing us the sights. It was so nice to not have to drive around aimlessly. After a day of touring the town Judy cooked up some scrumptious baby back ribs. What a nice day!
Today While waiting for the windshield repair guy, I cleaned up the motorhome, which was badly needed. It is sure nice to have it all cleaned up again. What’s even nicer is when the neighboring RVer came over after it was all done and said it sure looked nice. Makes it even more worth the work.
We had a motorhome just like ours pull in next to us today. After swapping a few stories we found out they were from our hometown. It’s true what they say about it being a small world.

Another busted windshield

In 3 years we have replaced the windshield in the Saturn once and had the windshield repaired in the motorhome twice, and we haven’t even been to Alaska yet. Yesterday after we got here in Salinas I was cleaning the usual bugs off the front of the motorhome and noticed another crack in the windshield. I thought I heard something hit the windshield while we were traveling here. I looked around and there was no big truck in front of me so I thought it was my imagination. Well there is was, a crack about ½ inch long. At first I thought it was a bug but it wouldn’t wash off. Well this will add an extra day to our stay here as I wait for the repairman to show up. It’s not like we are in any hurry.

I called ahead to a popular campground to make reservations. I never usually make reservations but since it is a popular campground in California, it’s a good idea to sometimes. Well we made the reservations and later decided to make an adjustment. This is another reason I don’t like to make reservations. It screws up my spontaneity. Well it’s a good thing I did because they didn’t have any reservations for me. I swear I made them. I made new reservations and got a name and confirmation number this time. They will probably find my original one and try to charge me for them too. I will deal with that when the time comes.

We spent the day in Monterey today. My GPS gave me the grand tour. It seems when I ask my GPS for the shortest route, it tries to B-line me there. Even if it has to zig zag me through the streets to get there. My next GPS will have a “Least amount of turns” option.

2 stops 1 day

Our intent today was to leave Paso Robles and travel to Watsonville California. After arriving at the Watsonville Elks Lodge I noticed signs at the entrance to the parking lot that read, No Overnight Parking. I was puzzled since there were RV hookups. Also very noticeable was the absence of any RVs at those hookups. So we decided to head over to the Salinas Elks Lodge where we knew we could stay because we have been here before. This is a good example why we like to get done traveling early. If the place doesn’t work out we still have plenty of time to move on. This added an extra 40 minutes to my drive but still got me here in less than 3 hours. We made arrangements for a BBQ at some friend’s house in Santa Cruz and the Watsonville Lodge would have been a lot more convenient than Salinas but it’s not a big deal.

This Lodge is where most people drive straight in instead of backing in as the sites were intended. The reason is, it overlooks a nice green golf course.

Wine Country

We are stopping over in Paso Robles for tonight. Tomorrow we will head up to the Monterey area. Our Internet access really sucks here. Our Verizon phone has a full strong signal but my Verizon Air Card is struggling. Good thing they have free wireless.

Bakersfield

We are in Bakersfield. Ever wonder how Bakersfield got it’s name. No, me neither. Well I’m going to tell you anyway. The story goes, there was this guy with the last name of Baker that owned much of the land around here. He used to let travelers stay in his fields when passing through. So people would say they were going to Baker’s Field. True Story! Well here we are in Baker’s Field. Actually we are in an orange grove. The park we are in used to be an orange grove and they cleared enough trees to make roads and RV sites. When the oranges on the remaining trees are ripe, they encourage you to pick as much as you want. Unfortunately it’s all green right now. This is mostly a stopover park so it fills up before dark and empties out the next morning.

Stopover

We are back in Yermo/Barstow California. This is our usual stopover, to and from Las Vegas or Havasu on I-15. Although this is not a bad RV park we only do one night here because there is nothing to do here and we just use it as a stopover. We left Las Vegas this morning at about 8:15a and the temp was already over 100. It has been about 109 here in Yermo so we are not out of the heat yet. I am impressed how well the motorhome is handling this punishment. With over 100 degree heat and many hills to climb today we traveled effortless and trouble free. Next stop, Bakersfield.

Still in Las Vegas

We were originally going to only spend 2 nights in Las Vegas because of the heat. Since Outdoor Resorts offered us 5 nights free we decided to hang out here for the 5.

This is not a promotional photo, it’s typical of what you will find here.

We have pretty much done nothing since the first morning, Susan messed up her back. I was intending to do some more sight seeing on the strip but walking is difficult for her right now so she has been resting for the last couple of days. We did get over to the Wal Mart Supercenter and do some much needed shopping. To be honest, my back has been a little on the sore side too. The reason is, sitting too long. If I don’t get up and move much my back begins to stiffen up. It has just been too hot to do much except sit in the air conditioner and cruise the Internet. It doesn’t drop below 100 degrees until about 9:00p.

We did manage to get out the other day and tour the Chocolate factory. I was beginning to think that we should head over to Lake Havasu for a while and see how our plants are holding up. Susan called over and found out the temperatures have been around 120. Now I remember why we left. We will be heading in the other direction.

Zion Photos

I just added some photos of our Zion National Park trip to our photo site. Click on the thumbnail link in the left column to view.

I like free

We are back in Las Vegas, for FREE (more on that later).

Zion was nice. It was a little too hot to enjoy to it’s fullest though. I did get up fairly early yesterday and take the shuttle into the park to get a few hikes in before it got too hot. It didn’t take long (just before noon) and I was done for the day. The rest of the day was spent sitting under the trees next to the river. The campground we were in was pretty nice. We had full hookups with 50-amp service (good for running both airs) and plenty of room at our site. The Virgin River that cut Zion Canyon runs right next to the campground and you could get sites on the river. Trees shade the banks of the river.

Well, Why are we back in Las Vegas? One reason is the fires. They have been closing I-15 off and on for the last 5 days while battling the largest wildfire in Utah’s history. Even if we could get through, the smoke and ash is thick. Also I checked the weather forecast for our trip and it will be HOT with scattered thunderstorms just about the whole way. So we made the discussion to abort our Great Western National Park tour. We realized from our Zion experience that we would just not have as much fun as we could. Giving our lifestyle, we can do this anytime so the decision was made to head for the coast. Now, the free part? As I was searching the Internet for campgrounds, I came across a 5 night free stay coupon for the Outdoor Resort in Las Vegas. They say we can stay for 1 to 5 nights FREE. I like free, so here we are.

What was I thinking

The plan was to leave Lake Havasu City to get out of the heat. Now we are in Springdale Utah, just outside Zion National Park, where the temperature is well over 100. We have not seen temperatures under 80 degrees for a while now, and that’s at night. It doesn’t look like it will let up for a while. There has been some talk of aborting this trip and heading for the coast. Susan and I would really like to see Utah’s national parks but how can we enjoy it when the temps are over 100. Our next stop may be to head over to Bryce after Zion since we’re in the area.

View from our window

This campground is a nice full hookup park just ½ mile from the South entrance of Zion. The car isn’t even necessary since the town shuttle picks up right in front of the campground and takes you to the park shuttles.

Since we could not head north as planned because of the fires, and since Zion National Park was less than an hour away, we decided to head on over for a few days. We were originally going to come through Bryce and Zion on the return trip. We’ll have to see how the weather and fires pan out and decide if we will continue our trip as planned or head for cooler grounds.

What to do

During my cruising of the internet, I came across this article http://www.sltrib.com/ci_6322460. Apparently there is a lightning strike caused fire that has closed 57 miles of I-15 and evacuated 2 towns in our path. Our next stop is right in the middle of it all. They don’t know when the Interstate will re-open. I called ahead and it took about 10 rings before anyone answered and they said the smoke is really thick and it isn’t even possible to get to the campground right now. I guess I will see what’s up tomorrow. We may have to abort out tour.

Adding another state

We added another state to our map today. We are now in Leeds Utah. It’s supposed to get up to 106 today and in Las Vegas it is supposed to be 113. I guess 7 degrees doesn’t matter much. We are pretty close to Zion but we are going to save that for the return trip. We will sit put for a couple of days so Susan can watch her NASCAR.

Fun in Vegas

We had a really great time in Las Vegas. It was very hot but we managed to keep cool enough. As I said in a previous post, Susan and I went to the NASCAR café on the first night for dinner. The strange thing is that, all the table had track maps on them and they seated us at a table with the California Speedway map on it. Being from California, we thought this was interesting. Out friends showed up a little after noon the next day and we piled in the car and headed for town. After checking out a couple of casinos we had dinner at the Rio’s buffet. The Rio has a great buffet. We were stuffed when we left. We headed from there over to the Hilton to watch the fireworks show that evening. The next day we got an early start and parked the car at the MGM and bought an all day pass for the monorail.

We had brunch then spent the day poking in and out of casinos and doing all the freebies. After dinner we headed on down to Freemont Street. A fun time.

114! Oh My!

I thought it would be pretty hot to be in Vegas on the 4th but I didn’t mean literally. My outdoor thermometer reached 114.4 today and tomorrow is supposed to be hotter. We did pretty much nothing today but sit inside the motorhome. Tomorrow our friends will be here and we will cruise the strip looking for trouble. Hopefully we can find a firework show tomorrow evening.

This evening we went out to the NASCAR Café. I gave Susan the choice of the Toby Keith bar and grill or the NASCAR café and she picked NASCAR. Huh, go figure. She was disappointed though that they didn’t have one of Jimmie Johnson’s car but they did have my daughter’s driver Toney Stewart #20.

It’s dropped to a cool 104 this evening and the overnight low is supposed to be around 85. This park is nice with its many palms but they don’t provide much shade.

Las Vegas Nevada

We have arrived in Las Vegas. It is well over 100 degrees here right now. They are saying, in the next few days they will be having record breaking heat. We will be here for a few days and some friends are going to come out from Lake Havasu to visit for a couple of days. On the way out we saw a horrific truck crash. Luckily it was on the southbound side of the interstate because they had all lanes closed. I hope everything is OK.

Movin again

Yesterday we drove the car to Orange for another family reunion. This time it was on my side of the family. It was a lot more low keyed than Susan’s family reunion but we still had a great time. It was a simple backyard BBQ and pool party.
Today we are in Barstow. We are on our way to Las Vegas for the 4th of July. It is HOT here and should be HOTTER in Vegas.

Back in Paradise

From this

To this

We are finally back on the road. We were not going to leave until Sunday but a good friend invited us up to their place. We are now in Riverside California. You might recognize this place from pictures in the past. We stayed here last March for a Birthday party. We had such a good time and they enjoyed our company that we are back. Actually we pretty much have an open invitation. It’s nice to have friends like this.

Wow, 18 years

I just did some calculations and figured out that we have spent an equivalent of 18 years camping in our present motorhome. How do I figure? I figured the average camper; well above average maybe, camps 62 nights a year. The calculations are based on 2 weekends a month, plus 14 days of vacation time a year. The calculations are - 2 weekends equals 4 nights a month (Friday and Saturday), times 12 months, that’s 48 nights – then 2 weeks vacation a year, that’s 14 nights – plus the 48 weekend nights equals 62 nights a year. Got that? Now we have spent 3 years fulltiming, that’s 365 nights times 3 years equals 1095 nights. Now take the 1095 nights we have spent in our motorhome and divide that by the 62 nights a year the average camper spends in their motorhome and that equates to 17.66 years. No wonder our furniture needs reupholstering. The rest of the motorhome has held up quite well. And better yet, so have we!

This also brings to light another though. 62 nights a year hardly seems worth the cost of owning a motorhome (sorry to bring that up). We sure have got our moneys worth though.

Dodged a bullet today

Today the big group left here so I could move back to my favorite site. What a hassle you say? Nah, they don’t have sewer hookups here so I have to take a short trip to the dump station once a week anyway. The lucky part is, about an hour after I pulled out of that site, the big tree branch that was hanging over my motorhome decided to break loose. I heard a BIG crack and crash and went to investigate. The branch fell right in the middle of the site (where my motorhome was) between the motorhomes on either side of it. I have no doubt it would have done some damage.

Ready to travel

We are about ready to travel again. We have got just about everything done here in Southern California. I am ready! We were supposed to only be here a few days and it turned out to be a few weeks. I am trying to keep it from turning into a few months.

I have been helping out the guys around the Elks lodge here in their beautification project. The other day we spread wood chips around the tree bases and planted about 100 new plants. I just don’t understand where all the young guys are. Probably the youngest helper (other than me) was 70 years old and the oldest is 91. I tell you what, I worked side by side with the 91 year old, digging holes and planting plants. He took a few more breaks than I did but didn’t quit until the work was done. Seems the younger generation doesn’t want to get involved anymore. They want to use the facilities but fail to show up when the work needs to get done. I can’t tell you how many times they thanked me for helping out and even gave me a few days free in the RV Park.

I thought we were going to have to move on down the road because a big group came in with more rigs than spaces. The Host here told me I wasn’t moving. She said she has splitters for the water and will double up some of them if needed. I did move down to the end so they can pretty much have the whole park to themselves. Friday they will be leaving and I will take the short drive to the dump station then move back into our favorite site next to the patio here. Hopefully we will only stay through the weekend then head on out. Our plan is to catch the 4th of July fireworks in Las Vegas.

Jury Duty

I served my civil duty today and appeared for Jury Duty. After a long day and being chosen to serve, the Defense Attorney dismissed me. The Reason? Well they had us fill out a questionnaire and one of my answers was that I have a problem with the Illegal Aliens in this area. Just so happens the defendant is Hispanic, Huh? Go Figure… Now, I am NOT prejudice against Hispanics, however I must say I am prejudice against Illegal Aliens. Something about the word Illegal and what they are getting away with.

Well, that behind us we will now set up some doctor visits while here and get back on the road.

AH Good to be home

Although we had a really good time in Florida, it’s good to be back in our home on wheels again. It was a long day today. We had to get up at 8:00p ET, which is 5:00p PT to catch the shuttle to the airport in Florida this morning. Three hour wait at the airport, and then it was six hours in the air with a short stop over in Austin and another hour on the shuttle from the airport to our home. So all-in-all we woke at 5:00a PT and arrived home at 7:00p PT. Susan was more bummed since today was NASCAR day because it got rained out yesterday.

Party every night

We have been to a party every night here and tonight is no exception. The first night we were picked up in this stretch bus limo and taken to one of Susan’s cousins house. They all have really nice houses here. Last night we got picked up in this Limo Hummer and taken to another of Susan’s cousins house for appetizers.

After that we went to a top of the line restaurant for a 5 course dinner. Tonight we are going again.

Hyatt Grand Cypress

Tne difference between driving from the west coast to the east coast, as opposed to flying, is that it gives you a chance to get used to the time change. I am having a hard time getting up in the morning since it is 8:00a here and only 5:00a out west. The weather is a bit iffy right now. No Hurricanes, but there is a Tropical storm threat right now. It may get a bit windy around here. But hey, being in Havasu, we are used to wind. The Grand Cypress, where we are staying, is on about 1,5000 acres with golf courses, equestrian trails, a large lake, and a huge swimming pool that sprawls through rocks and caves with waterfalls and secluded spas.

Of course there are gators in the lake.

Susan freaks out in the elevators since they are glass and really move fast. I could spend all day just riding them up and down. This place might be a nice place but I am just not into hotels.

Have you seen this house? It was featured in a magazine and on the travel channel. It used to belong to Susan’s cousin here but he sold it for a more modest, yeah right, house. His new one is pretty spectacular also.

Susan is just having a ball here with all her aunts, uncles, and cousins.