The Pacific Ocean...

Ahhhh. The cool breezes of the Pacific Ocean are a welcome change from the 104° temps we had just yesterday in Indio, CA. We're here in the area visiting my Dad & sister for about 10 days and then we start our trip north via Hwy 101. We're so GLAD to get out of the heat!
I did make a serious driving error on my way here from Indio yesterday: I followed my GPS directions and drove Hwy 74 from Lake Elsinore to the coast. Huge mistake. Narrow road, nice twisties with no guard rails. had to peel my hands off the steering wheel when I finally got over the dam# mountain! Here's a view from a turnout:http://www.efgh.com/trans/c74a.jpg Whew. Here's another picture: http://www.efgh.com/trans/c74f.jpg. Here's a great picture of what we drove over: http://www.pashnit.com/maps/Highway74map.htm ( scroll down to the middle picture!)

This is the first state park we've stayed in because it's so hard to find a state park that can hold a 40' RV , have 50 amps AND water and sewer. This place has it all. It even had a pull-through for us! It's very nice.

Surviving Our First Year On The Road

This May 9th will be the day that we have been full timing for a year and it's been a great experience for us. We've learned a lot, seen a lot of places that we never would have seen and still have a lot of places to visit. Personally, I could live this way for years, but sometimes my darling wife (DW), Kathy seems to yearn for a "home base" place to return to, so when she gets tired of this lifestyle, we'll sell the RV and move back into a "sticks & brick" APARTMENT somewhere in Jax. We are done buying and selling property (good move we hope!)

In looking back on our travels we both now know that we definitely are NOT desert people! We have spent 4 months in the south west part of the country and between the weather ( it's going to be 104°F here in Indio, CA today and that's HOT!), sand burrs in the feet and the dust, we prefer to be in a more woody or tropical type of climate. But that's just us, even though we have seen some great places along the way.

What We've Learned:

• This lifestyle is more work than one might think. You're constantly cleaning, walking, going up & down steps, crawling into the basement area to get stuff, driving, etc. I'm glad we did this now instead of waiting until I was 65 or so. I really respect RV'ers who are in their 70's or older and are still going strong! We figure out we spend more time going up and down the steps when we grill out and are worn out by dinnertime!
• You and your traveling companion better be best friends. There's not much privacy living in 500 Square Feet.... or less. That's all I'm going to say about this subject!
• This is not for everybody. When we tell people that we "live in a RV" they all ( well, mostly all) say that this would be something that they'd like to do too. I mean, come on - when I saw a big RV going down the highway, I thought to myself, "Boy, I wish I could do THAT!" But to be honest - it's glorified camping. Most of the time our parking spot is just a rock filled (gravel) area and we have to put out the "outdoor carpet" so we don't drag dirt/sand into the RV. You have to "set up" and "tear down" every time you move. Going to the local grocery store can be a 20 mile drive. If you're used to big houses with big bathrooms, you'd better be ready for a change!
• There's are TENS of 1000's of people who do this. I was surprised of the number of people who live in 5th wheels or a motor home while working. The biggest number whould have to be construction workers who travel from place to place building roads, erecting bridges, wind turbines, etc.
  Everyone is friendly. Oh sure, you might occasionally meet someone a little grouchy ( who doesn't get grouchy once in awhile?), but I have yet to meet someone I didn't like while staying in a campground. There's a comardery that's shared among us and we all watch out for each other. Heck, I could live next door to someone in a house for year and never talk to them. Living like this, we're all friends!
• We needed a budget. Oh sure, there are lot's of people out there who have million dollar plus RV's, but not us. When we started, the cost of fuel ( $5.00 a gallon for diesel) and the cost of camp sites ( average of around $30-$35 a night I would guess) caught us by surprise. We quickly learned to slow down our traveling and stay longer at RV parks (a week at a time) because the rates are cheaper by the week compared to the daily rate. Kathy has turned into a "coupon queen." She LOVES to go to different web sites, download coupons for groceries and restaurants so we can save some money. I LOVE that!
• There's SO much to see and do in this country. There's a seemingly endless number of places to go and things to do in this country. There's something for everyone no matter what you like to do!

So far, I'm loving the way I'm living. I have a GREAT wife who puts up with my "stupid stuff," we don't have to worry about falling house prices, we don't have to get up and go to work, etc. Yep - I'm living the dream baby! It's just on a budget! HA!

LOTS OF GREAT PICTURES!!!!!!!

I JUST REALIZED THAT STEVE WASN'T PUTTING OUR SLIDESHOWS ON THE BLOG, SO I "POLITELY" ASKED HIM TO SHOW ME HOW TO MAKE THESE LINKS. THEY ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS NEW POST. HOPE YOU ALL TAKE A LOOK WHEN YOU CAN. SEDONA, AZ, LAS VEGAS, DEATH VALLEY AND A GREAT PLACE CALLED "OATMAN" AZ, RIGHT ACROSS FROM LAUGHLIN, NV. I'M GOING TO PARTICIPATE MORE IN PUTTING ON THE PICS NOW THAT I KNOW HOW. Kathy

Since we were done gambling, which didn't take long, there wasn't a whole lot more to do here. Our new park is very nice and we staked out a great spot right across from the pool and hot tub. No one but us uses the hot tub, and we've been taking our Pina Coladas over there in the evening. Lots of palm trees and nice tropical weather, that with just enough rum, you can sort of close your eyes and think you are in the tropics! Almost, not quite. Anyway, it's also a good way for me to help heal my back as I was playing Yoga the other night and hurt it pretty badly.

So, we've been taking it pretty easy and decided on a road trip to Death Valley, 50 miles yonder' up the road. I really didn't want to ride because I was in pain, but I am so glad I went. I hope you take a look at the slide show. We got some great pics; it's just hard to describe. We went from our RV Park, at Pahrump, NV, about 2500 feet above sea level to Furnace Creek at the bottom of Death Valley at MINUS 230 FEET SEA LEVEL!!!!! Also, the temperature went from a "cool" 84° in Pahrump to 105° at Furnace Creek. We only walked around a bit; there is one beautiful hotel there, the Furnace Creek Inn, and campground/hotel/RV Park a but further. It had little tourist shops and a couple of restaurants there. Tourist buses in and out. So, there is another place on our list to be crossed off........................so glad I didn't miss it. Hope you like the pictures.

Oh, sidebar................Parhump, NV is the ONLY place (that we know of) in the United States where prostitution is legal!!! Really; they have "cat" houses here. We saw a sign for a "Brothel Museum" and we thought, what the heck; then Steve researched it on the Internet and it's NOT a museum.........................!!!!!! So, we WON'T have any pictures for that.

http://picasaweb.google.com/steve11352/DeathValley?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/steve11352/LasVegas?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/steve11352/OatmanAZ?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/steve11352/SedonaAZ?feat=directlink

We are off Tuesday for 18 days in Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs and Palm Springs, CA. Probably won't do a lot there but work on my tan and use the hot springs for my back. If you don't hear from us, don't worry, we'll be in the springs having a cold one for you!!!!

Kathy and Steve

Las Vegas and Pahrump,NV

OK, we got to Las Vegas and stayed at the Main Street Casino RV Park right in the old downtown area of Sin City. We lost $140, saw the Fremont St. Experience and took a tour of the strip to see all the new hotels. To say that Vegas has changed since I was last there ( in the 1970's the 1st time and in 1985 the 2nd time) would be an understatement. What a zoo. WAY too many people in Vegas now days! We were going to stay for a week, but after loosing $140 on day two, Kathy had a fit ( neither one of us are gamblers, but Kathy HATES to waste money!) and we left early for Pahrump,NV, which was our next scheduled stop for a week using our C2C membership.

We found a park in Pahrum called Terribles in Pahrump and it had great reviews so we made a reservation and got in yesterday. OMG! What a beautiful place in the middle of no where! For the 1st time since Jan. 2009 we have GRASS... and TREES! SWEET! There's a HUGE lake we can walk around, it's just so relaxing!
We're going to hang out here for a week, and then we have to move to another park down the road because this place is full, and we didn't make reservations in time. The bad part is we have a space for one day, then have to move to another space for a day, then have to move AGAIN where we'll be able to stay for 5 days. Sigh. Oh well, at least I'll be able to break out the grill on day three!

We leave this park and move to another down the road for another week. The weather is beautiful so this aint bad!

Laughlin, NV

Wow! What a great little town.... we had reservations in Bullhead City, AZ, as it had an RV Park in our "club system", which means certain places we stay for $10.00 per night. So, we needed to chill for a week, and off we went!

We were 1/2 mile off the Colorado River and right across the bridge to Laughlin, NV. My uncle and aunt used to go there lots. I'd never been and Steve and I didn't even know it was nearby. But, it was, and we did little (really, very little gambling) and took advantage of the buffets, which were good, but not like Vegas!

We took Elvis on a day trip south to Lake Havasu, where the London Bridge is, and it was beautiful. The water is just turquoise blue, and it's so tropical...............too bad the water temp is only in the 60's!

Other than that, we took a river boat trip and then just hung out. We were in the very back of the RV park; it was like a private spot...............no neighbors, little noise. We could see the casino lights at night from the "veranda" during happy hour.

Now, we are in an RV Park believe it or not, in the middle of Vegas. Just staying 2 days to see Fremont St., the Venetian, Bellagio and a day trip to Hoover Dam. The bummer is that the high temps are in the low 60's and there is lots of wind! Gusts up to 40 mph YUCK! Oh well, we couldn't go right by Vegas and not stop. I haven't been here on over 30 years so it's changed just a bit.

Off to a place called "Pahrump" NV and a resort that's like a little oasis in the desert. It's got it's own beach, and spa. Will send pics later.

I hope you take the time to look at the slideshow below. We take tons of pics, but we do try and keep them to a minimum on the blog.

So, off to California soon, to see Steve's family. We are meeting his sister and brother in law in Palm Springs in 2 weeks so that should be fun, even though it's just for a short weekend.

Enough for now gotta walk the dog!

Take care,

Kathy, Steve and Elvis

The Grand Canyon Video???

This is a test video that I took at the Grand Canyon. I have a Flip Video I bought for our Rv trips, but haven't used it until today. It's not great, but it's my first :) The 1st part is the "Singing Cowboy" that sang songs to us when we rode the train from Williams, AZ to the Crand Canyon. Click on the bottom left arrow to play! Justin, for you, the Cowboy Singer was doing his Bob Dylan impression!!!! Thought you might like it son.

The Grand Canyon

We arrived in Williams, AZ yesterday at http://www.thetrain.com/rvpark/ where we had scheduled a day trip to see the canyon via the grand Canyon Railroad. Williams, AZ is a little desert town that still has parts of the original Route 66 street AND stores as their downtown. It was pretty cool to see what things used to look like! the elevation os this place is 6200 feet, so it was COLD here at night: 17°F to be exact.

This was Kathy's first trip ever to see the Canyon, and my 2nd visit since sometime in the 1960's when I was about 11 years old and we took a family vacation. Boy, have things changed! We're glad we rode the train because the traffic at the canyon was unbelievable. Cars everywhere. As you can see, Kathy had a nice, relaxing ride back to the RV park after spending 3 hours walking around viewing the CG. Poor thing - all this traveling just wears her out. hehehe

We took a butt load of pictures and if you want to see them, click on the slide show below.

Visiting The Warings ( Sister and Mother) in Phoenix,AZ

My sister, Linda and my "bio Mom", Marty, live in the Phoenix area. I haven't seen either of them in years, so of course we had to stop by for a visit.

While we were there, we visited a tourist attraction called the Mystery Castle. It was built by Boyce Luther Gulley, who abandoned his wife and daughter in 1930 after learning that he had tuberculosis. He travelled to Phoenix and started building a "castle" for the little girl he'd left behind.

Mary Lou Gulley ( this is a picture of her today) was a toddler when her father unexpectedly left and never returned. Boyce Gulley's daughter, Mary Lou, still gives half the tour (the main house section) at the Mystery Castle when she feel up to it.

I can't believe she still lives here! No AC. Yikes! After Gulley's death in 1945, his wife and child inherited the castle and promptly moved in. His daughter still lives there and today conducts the tours herself. Depression glass dishes form doorway transoms, and an upside-down bathtub serves as the exhaust vent over the kitchen stove. In one room, windows are formed from the wheels of Gulley's Stutz Bearcat, the windshield of which is used as a glass panel in a terrace wall. To get from the parlor to the bedroom, a flight of stairs goes up over a boulder and down the other side so that he wouldn't have to disturb the surrounding landscape. He hauled rocks from over one mile away so the surrounding landscape wouldn't be disturbed too! This place is the original "green house."

There are a bunch of pictures below. Just click on the pic to see bigger!

Jasmine, this picture is for you! Nice shoes huh? They held weddings at the Mystery Castle and brides would leave at least one shoe behind at the chapel because it was rumored that the "groom would be true forever..." if they did. Needless to say - there are lot's of shoes there! This was one of them. Here are some more >>

Ameriplan - a great dental plan.