Joan on the Road...of Life

Some days are stones...this one was a pebble! When your house needs an oil change it's pretty much an inconvenience! Every 3 months we need to pick up our house and go to RV service for an oil change. You'd think this could be done quickly but it usually involves half a day of the RV (read our house) in the garage and us (and the dogs) without a home. So we save up some errands to do, pack the doggies in the back of the van and roam around for the morning.

This time it was cold bacon and eggs at IHOP (remind me to not go there again). Then we thought to pick up a few things at Costco, but we were too early...the "business" shoppers were there...and we got kicked out! Then we stood in line for 30 minutes to get our mail delivery from South Dakota...but it wasn't there. And our package from Amazon couldn't be found!!!

Fortunately, our "house" was ready at noon and we were reparked and set up by 1:30. Our Amazon package arrived later and our mail came Friday. In the process of moving the RV we also repacked and threw away some stuff. So this life is pretty simple except for these pebbles in the road!

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Thirty years ago Temecula was a tiny town in the boonies of Riverside County. Today it's a bedroom community for commuters to Orange and LA...a 50 mile drive. But there's an "old town" Temecula that's been developed as a little tourist trap for those who come to visit the wine country...which is pretty nice. Old town is about 6 blocks long filled with antique and craft stores separated by coffee shops and restaurants. Currently there is a street display of painted ponies on each corner, sort of like Chicago's cows and Sturgeon Bay's painted sturgeon.

Renee, Naomi and I spent a few hours poking through the antique and consignments shops. Everything old is new again we figured when we saw the display of Corningware bowls and storage containers. Naomi had fun trying on hats and posing. Renee and I were just amazed at all the "stuff" and how much people charge for it.

Our lunch at Rosa's Cantina looked like fast food but turned out to be very tasty..chicken enchiladas, tacos and all the trimmings. We were entertained by the Batmobile arriving for the autoshow (Montana license!?) and watching the lady passenger come in with her wig, straight from Fredericks of Hollywood.

Today my friend Vickie and I visited a couple of wineries. We found a unique cafe/ wine tasting room at Cilurzo where we sampled 6 wines and shared a gourmet salad and brie baked in puff pastry with honey walnut sauce....truly incredible. Every bite brough oohhss and ahhhhs! We sampled 7 more wines at Wilson and bought a bottle of Almond Champagne...very unique. It did make us say "wow" as the wine writeup said. It was really fun to just do a couple of wineries and spend more time visiting and eating!

Thanks to Renee, Naomi and Vickie for fun times!

Posted by Joan at 09:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We're always looking for ways to save space, to condense. We bought a new scanner so that it would be easier to scan in paperwork and save it on the computer. Today I realized that I could clear out a bit of space by scanning a lot of loose recipes that I couldn't bear to get rid of when we moved. That brought me to the walk down a memory lane of cooking.

The great thing about the scanner is that I can scan in the recipe card with all the handwritten notes and blobs of food. There's Agression Cookies, written by Laura with butter stains and oatmeal bits on the card. And Laura's Killer Chili, scribbled on a note pad with Kanoa Watt's face on it. For some reason she didn't give him a mustache and glasses. There are all the special birthday cake recipes, like Renee's Pistachio cake, Naomi's Coconut Creme Cake, Jim's Chocolate to the Max cake and Bryan's Mexican Cinnamon Caramel cake and my favorite, Black Bottom Cake. For a couple of years I baked everyone a birthday request cake...even made it to Illinois and Montana.

Then I found recipes from friends like Ron's Swedish Meatballs, Dorothy's Applesauce Meatballs and Marie's Sweet and Sour Meatballs. Barb's Lemon Cream Pie, Alice's Shrimp Dip and Jo's Guacomole reminded me of dear friends, now gone. Meta's Spice Cake reminded me of the time I baked it...I was about 12...and after mixing the eggs, sugar and spice together, I found we didn't have any flour..so I ate all the batter!

The recipe for Robert's Ketchup came from a book by Kenneth Roberts about life in the northeast in revolutionary times....saved for old times sake because it wasn't very good. Then there's the recipes for pickles and pickled herring. Just reading them brings back visions of cooking them up, then passing out samples to the neighbors back in Lindenhurst.

So all the recipes are saved on the computer in their original form...and for posterity! When the granddaughters get married maybe I'll give them a disk of "Grandma's Specials".

Posted by Joan at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is our current home at Vail Lake in Temecula CA. Most snowbirds would go to a little warmer local but the view here makes up for a lot of the coolness and winds. We've got a big yard, lovely trees and and an ever changing view of the mountains and lake.

Posted by Joan at 02:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I think we were bit by the RV Bug in the mid 70's when we rented our first RV...a 23' Itasca Class A. Funky orange carpet with a dinette in the rear that made into a king size bed. We took a short trip from our Lindenhurst home up to the Wisconsin Dells, Baraboo and Kettle Moraine Park. We had a fantastic time with the teenagers and visiting our friends, Jo and Art Zersen. Since then we've owned and traveled several thousand miles in a pop-up camper and rented several motorhomes. Always had the dream. Some day we'll own a motorhome and see all 50 states.

In 2000-2001 we did a lot of serious motorhome shopping and when we visited one of our large local dealers we hooked up with "Big Bill"...a supersalesman who lived in his own coach in Newport Beach. As he was trying to reel us in he asked how old we were and when we said "60ish" he said, "What the hell are you waiting for?" That question rang in my ears!! What were we waiting for? There would never be a perfect time.

And then my friend, Mary, contracted lung cancer. She was exactly my age and we had shared many dreams and goals. Now hers had a time limit. So what was I waiting for? In the spring of 2001 we started our search and finally purchased our 32' Aerbus in July, 2001. We took several long weekend trips and a couple of 3 week trips to see how we got along living with our 2 bassets in 320 sq. ft. of living space...a far cry from 2200 in our house! We did fine...had a ball. We started thinking about where we would put all our "stuff" and how much stuff could we fit into the motorhome.

One Sunday in April of of 2003, while having our ritual drink on the patio, we looked at each other and said, "What are we waiting for? Let's quite talking about fulltiming and just do it." That's when the dream became reality. Within 2 months we sold the house, I wound down my business and took early retirement, we got rid of LOTS of stuff and moved into the motorhome. July 4th of 2003 was our freedom day!

Posted by Joan at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This wandering, unscheduled lifestyle depends a lot on staying healthy. So our time in California has involved a bit of check ins with doctors. We've had our dental visit and Jim has had his eye checkup. Being out here Temecula means that each of these visits has involved a day trip to Irvine/ Tustin but that gives me the opportunity to also catch up with friends. And the checkups were both fine.

Managing staying healthing on the road involves coordination but it's amazing how well things have gone for us. Jim has visited a couple of emergency rooms for bronchitis (that damn cough) and I've had to find blood pressure meds across the country. That's where Wal-Mart comes in. I had a 10 month prescription for meds so I just visit the Wal-Mart where we are and they call up the prescription and refill it for me. However...my goal is to not need those meds.

Statistics say that this RV lifestyle contributes to health and it seems that way for me. My blood pressure is down due to less stress, more exercise, and deep breathing. We also bought an air purifier to help with our changing environment.

As I sit here this afternoon, surrounded by trees, mountains and clouds, I feel so lucky to be healthy and able to live this wonderful life.

Posted by Joan at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Such simple pleasures...a refillable bowl of jello...in perpetuity!!

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Yesterday was "fill 'er up" day...as in get enough hugs from the family to last awhile. We celebrated son Jim's birthday and were fortunate to get all the family there long enough to light the candles, cut the cake and open presents. As teenagers get driver's licenses (egad) and get jobs, it becomes a scheduling problem to for family events. But our two workers, Jimbo and Hilly, had time to sing the birthday song and gobble down chocolate cake.

The hit gift for Jim was a bowl of "christmas jello" from Renee....and it is refillable, upon request, in perpetuity! Now that is a gift! Jim will also enjoy a few laps at the local racing track courtesy of the family.

Party activities included ping pong challenges (who's the champ?) laughing at the antics of our doggies (Bonnie, Clyde, Rocky and Adrienne) and hearing about the day baby Jim was born! We found ourselves sitting in a circle in the family room talking and one of the kids said we need to put some crackly paper in the center for a fake fire. Mary and Naomi said how funny it was just to lay back and listen to everyone talk. It occured to me that this must be where the phrase "sit around (a round circle) and talk" comes from. When you live the simple Motorhome life you get time to think about simple things!

So we got lots of hugs and added pictures to our mindbank that we can draw on when we are on the road and away from family.

Posted by Joan at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We were happy with the results of our "coloring" day.

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My first hair cut on the road was a traumatic experience. How silly you might say, but after 10 years with the same hair expert, I was leery of someone new chopping on my locks. So the first plunge was in Rapid City, SD. I dropped into the Regis Hair Salon at the mall and wound up with a fine cut. I discovered that Regis owns most of the "quick" haircutting places around, like Fantastic Sams and the Wal-Mart salons (I don't know, could you call it a salon if it's in a Wal-Mart?). This happened to be on the day that they were doing and "American Idol" contest. The contestants were soooooo bad, I'm sure the will never make the show.

The most unique hair experience was with the gravelly voiced, cigarette smoking, bleached blonde barber in Livingston, TX who cut hair in her mobile home...and did give me good cut for 10 bucks.

So once again last week I took the plunge and got the hair cut. Then, lovely granddaughter Naomi asked if I wanted to do a coloring day...of hair that is. Naomi, like me, gets bored with the same old hair color. So this time we decided to streak our hair. I did hers first and it turned out pretty good so we used a bit of the color to add a few streaks to my short cut.

Then we did a camera test using the "portrait" setting to show off Naomi's results... see above.

So now I'm getting brave. After all, who sees me but Jim and my short hair grows out fast!

Posted by Joan at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I take lots of pictures...sometimes at 60 miles an hour through the windshield of the motorhome. It's great to flick through the images on screen and relive our trips. Jim gave me a new digital camera for Christmas and after giving him the business about spending money on it (I resist spending that kind of money on myself for some reason)...I am really loving this new camera. The feature I now have is a 10X telephoto so I can get much better views of scenery. Also I got a tripod that is slick and easy to set up.

Last night I noticed the full moon rising so I got set up tonight to take pictures. I really enjoyed just watching the moonrise but to get pictures ...what a kick. Since this is my first effort at night shots I imagine they can be better but I've got lots of time to practice!

All our pictures can be seen on the family web server that son Jim maintains. This is a great way for us to share our travels.

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The moon rising over the mountains is really an awesome sight. I watched the horizon gradually grow brighter until finally this....

Posted by Joan at 09:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is a new website that gives a view of the fulltime RVing life.
FullTimeRver.com - A Guide to Full Time RVing

Posted by Joan at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the "chores" in fulltime RVing is doing laundry. This could be a real drag...but most often it's fun because this is a great place to meet people on the road. Today was a big washday because all the throw rugs (which keep the carpet protected from the 2 basset hounds) needed washing. So I got 5 loads of laundry done and since no one was in the laundry room I stopped and introduced myself to the neighbor lady on my way back home. Although we've been here nearly a month I had never seen her outside to stop and chat. Come to find out she creates stained glass doors and windows with a shop all set in up a trailer that they tow...one truck tows the 5th wheel trailer and one truck tows the shop. She and her hubby build golf courses!...and travel around the country on assignment doing the greens construction and clubhouse decor.

In Livingston, TX at the laundry I met Joanne who at 72 had just purchased a new motorhome. She's been fulltiming alone for 20 years and laughed at the craziness of being able to get a loan on a coach at her age. She does a lot of volunteering at colleges and senior centers in exchange for a place to park. When she has enough extra money she takes off a month "to play."

I met the 2 Mom's in the laundry at Space Center RV in League City, TX. The 2 mom's are sisters who travel with kids and hubbys in two converted buses. They write, sing and perform gospel music. They toured for 9 months last year and were touring Texas when we met. They home school the kids so we talked a bit about reading problems and how each kid learns a different way. You can read more about them on their website.

So doing laundry in the full timing life is much more interesting than the home laundry room!

Posted by Joan at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today was "Power to the People" day, as Jim called it. This event has been on the calendar for months and has been anticipated with varying levels of anxiety. Power refers to more horses and torque in the motorhome engine...it's a macho thing. In the last six months I can count on one hand the number of times we'e passed someone on the road (just kidding). But is was pretty frustrating to hit the long grades in California and discover that we could only do 20 mph in first gear. Didn't happen often but when it did...!@#$%.

Then we discovered Banks Power...and that led to this day. So Jim and our home are in Azuza getting powered up while the dogs and I hang out with son Jim and family. This is a real change of pace since Jim and I are "joined at the hip" in this new life....so being apart is strange.

I had fun working with Jim on pictures, weblogs and telling him family stories. Also enjoyed a movie and popcorn with Mary. Jimbo worked long hours so he missed the fun. And Jim met another full timing couple who were camped out at the Banks factory to get their new power system.

So it all turned out well. We are now cruising down the freeway and up the hills with no problems...while towing a 2 ton car!

Posted by Joan at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's our view from Vail Lake campsite in Temecula:

Posted by Joan at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is a dark and stormy night....truly...and here we are starting our seventh month of fulltime RV living. We don't have a lot of these days where we just need to hole up and stay out of the weather. So when we do it's nice to have no feelings of guilt because we should be doing something else. Whatever else there is to do can wait! We just hunker down, read, watch movies or websurf and wait it out.

We're in Temecula, CA for several weeks to visit family and friends and take care of personal business. I've promised myself to keep a better record of where we go and what we do in the new year. I thought I would be anxious to do that when we started our new life last June....but I was truly burned out from working and just needed to wind down. Six months and 8400 miles later I'm ready.

Thanks to my son, Jim, this may be the way to get going.

Posted by Joan at 09:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What would the first day of the year be without the Rose Parade? If you watch it from one of the cold states you think that this California weather is simply "hollywood"...it can't really be like that in some other part of the world. But here we are, starting 2004 in Temecula CA..watching the Rose Parade, drinking mimosas and later on will come the eggs benedict. It's become a tradition.

In this motorhoming life traditions and ceremonies may be even more important because nothing is very constant. So we have our cup of fresh ground Starbuck's every morning before breakfast, we walk the dogs together....I'll have to think about others.

Resolutions? As usual, exercise more. But the real goal is to get off of blood pressure meds soon by exercising and losing a bit of weight. Maybe the key is setting a goal like being fit enough to take a 5 mile hike or something like that.

I remember seeing an old (to us at that time) couple camping in Yosemite . They had a pop-up camper and took long walks together. We said that we'd like to be in that good a shape when we're 65. Well here we are and I doubt we could take that long hike without being totally pooped out.

Putting together the family calendar this year was a motivator because I saw myself 30 years ago and realize that we were a pretty active family and I was in pretty good shape. No reason I can't get some of that back....bringing more fun activity into this motorhoming life.

Posted by Joan at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)