California Dreamin'?

Okay okay okay. I know, it’s been a while, so sue me. Well, after leaving The Ranch in Lakewood, NM, we drove into Demming and overnighted at the Dream Catcher RV Park, an Escapee/Rainbow park we stayed in previously. We had pretty much seen most of the local sights our last time through; City of Rocks State Park, Rockhound State Park, ate at the Adobe Deli. So the overnighter was sufficient for our purposes this time around. 

We got up bright and early and headed into Benson, AZ to another repeat stop, the Saguaro SKP co-op RV park. We only stayed a couple of nights, basically to catch up on laundry, since we again had ventured out during a previous stop here for their sights; Tombstone (and Boothill cemetery), Bisbee (and the Queen Mine), and Council Rocks. Something eerie happened during this stop. I took Woodrow Wilson out for a walk by ourselves through the desert outback behind this park. We walked up a lengthy wash probably a mile or so. I had taken Woody off his leash since he really enjoys running free in the desert, and he hasn’t had issues related to taking off on his own. We were poking along and without warning or reason Woody suddenly made an about-face and SPRINTED back in the direction we had come from. He disappeared quickly! Well, I headed back, practicing all of my four lettered vocabulary all the way, some of it volume enhanced, until I reached the park. I found Woodrow sitting at the front door of our rig, it appeared he jetted straight back on his own. I have no idea what had spooked him. Jeanne said he just missed her on the walk.

Next stop, back to KOFA co-op SKP park in good ol’ Yuma, AZ for a couple of nights there before heading back into California. We were getting frustrated with the water quality throughout the south/southwest (lots of mineral deposits and nasty water spotting on the Jeep and bus), so we took the opportunity to load up some gallon jugs with the co-op’s reverse osmosis water for consumption before continuing on into California. We were driving on I-8 westbound which took us into some pretty steep mountains that looked like a mega-version of the City of Rocks in New Mexico. The grade was pretty extreme as well, good enough to rival the Grapevine in intensity but less on distance. The bus took the grades like a champ.

After being asked by other Escapee members many times over, “Have you seen Jojoba Hills yet?”, we finally made it to the Jojoba Hills SKP co-op park in Aguanga, CA, just outside of Temecula. HOLY MOLY! This 55+ park was impressive. Now, we’ve been full timin’ on the road for over 2 years, back and forth ocean to ocean a couple of times. We have been talking about having a base to operate from for a while, and with most of our families still in California and the fact that we have now wintered the last two years here, we looked hard at Jojoba Hills as that base.  We would still be Texas residents, just with a park in California to stop off for a month or two in between travels.The park itself is a gated community in the middle of the desert near the Palomar Mountains. The scenery is spectacular; mountains, valleys, sunsets. The park is run by volunteerism with a very small paid staff. The clubhouse is huge, the pool/spa area is resort quality overlooking the valley. There is a billiard room, small but effective gym/workout room (machines AND free weights), saunas, card rooms, huge media library (books, DVD’s), huge crafts room (quilting), separate arts trailer, tennis/pickleball courts, horseshoes pit, miniature golf course, a fully established outdoor airgun shooting range, on site storage area for RV’s, and exceptional landscaping throughout the park. And the town of Temecula, 14 miles away, is about 105K population with outstanding shopping areas and malls. In other words, we were so impressed we went ahead and got on the waiting list for lease holders. We started as number 16 on the list and were told the wait would probably be 2-6 months. As far as SKP parks buy-ins go, the cost to lease a space here is $30K + change, a bit pricier than most of the other parks we have been to. The beauty of the lease thing is once we no longer wish to be a member/lessee here, we get that $30K back in full. The only cost would be a monthly maintenance dues of about $280-ish. Any of the voted on “special assessments” that occur now and then are also fully refunded at termination of membership. We stayed here about a week on this initial stop, and left with an extremely optimistic outlook toward our future continued full-timing adventures with a new base to connect with.

One site at Jojoba Hills, where we stayed the first time around. TERRIBLE view, don't you think?

The pool, with another TERRIBLE view.

The building behind the pool which houses card room, library, billiard room, and exercise room.

The airgun shooting range.

The shooting stations at the airgun range.

A look down on the scattered sites at Jojoba Hills.

With the Gladiator’s (Max’s) 3rd birthday party planned for the weekend prior to Thanksgiving, we headed toward Santa Rosa. On the way, a 2 day stop was called for to visit our son and daughter-in-law in Atascadero. We stayed at the Wine Country RV Resort in Paso Robles. This was a bit pricey ($59 including tax and 10% law enforcement discount, others available) but a very clean, spacious park with pool, spas, and exercise room. We had a nice meal at AJ Spur’s Steakhouse and a very nice albeit short visit with the kids.

We arrived in Santa Rosa a few days before the big birthday party. It is unfortunate but Sonoma County is like all the rest of California---places to park an RV are few and far between and generally are really overpriced. The one “fairly” (pun intended) reasonable park in Santa Rosa is actually the Sonoma County Fairgrounds RV park. We stayed there before and they have the usual club discounts, but they still charge $35/night for a gravel parking lot with hookups. And the fairgrounds has a 14 day stay limit. Jeanne had previously cracked a crown on one of her molars while we were in Texas, where she got the temporary fix done. At that time she made an appointment with our previous family dentist in Santa Rosa in early December to get the permanent fix done. That took us well over the 14 day limit, but thankfully they allow hardship extensions and we definitely qualified. So we stayed until the 13th. Besides the birthday, we had a nice Thanksgiving time with our daughter, son-in-law, and Max. The one thing that struck us was the change in the Santa Rosa area. We lived there our entire adult lives and liked the area for the most part. But this visit the city got especially crowded! Traffic was a nightmare all day long. The freeway on-ramps had metering lights now and all that accomplished was to back traffic up on different highways other than Hwy. 101, which continued to be congested. And the landscape changed---there was trash/garbage alongside the roads everywhere we went and none of the governmental landscaping was kept up or neatly trimmed. It also looked as if someone brought in a trainload of transient, stinky, drunken, bums to populate downtown. Man-oh-man I don’t miss dealing with that...I managed to poke my head in on some of my former co-workers at the courthouse at lunchtime one day, had a nice visit with them. We also got a short visit with our former neighbors Cheri and Paul (next door) and Tami (across the street) one night. However, I have to apologize to Greg and Chuck and Paul for not having enough time in town to at least drive by and yell “Howdy” at ‘em. My regrettable “snub list” is starting to get unruly.

Happy Birthday, big fella!

Having WAY too much fun!

Future Giants superstar...

Since Christmas was planned to be hosted by our son and daughter-in-law in Atascadero, we decided we would go back to Jojoba Hills and see if we could hole up there for a longer period of time and just drive the Jeep up to Chad’s for XMAS. We stopped off overnight in Atascadero again, had a nice breakfast visit with Chad and Crissy, then drove to Ventura for another overnighter. There, we found the Rincon Parkway, a Ventura County Park right on the beach in the Sea Cliff area. This is a $28/night “campground” (parallel parking spaces along the highway to fit 45’ rigs) literally boondocking on the ocean. You just can’t beat the view, we saw an awesome sunset and in the morning watched a school of dolphins swim by. This is a must-return-to destination for sure. 

HORRIBLE view!

Ho-hum, just another sunset!

Dolphins playing through...

And from Ventura it was back to Jojoba Hills SKP park. Traffic was terrible right through the heart of the beast (downtown L.A.). We got to the park and they were able to put us up. We got in just in time for their ice-cream social. And just to illustrate how small the “full-timer universe” is, Jeanne walked into the club house for ice-cream and I would have thought we ran into a rock star. She pointed across the room and said, in a very excited “I-see-a-rock-star” manner, “There’s Dave and Diane!” It seems she has been following Dave’s blog for some time since we’ve been mobile. Well, we introduced ourselves and had a nice, short visit with them, comparing some of our travels.

Well, I think I am caught up again on this thing. I will try to add posts a little more regularly but fear I will continue to fail miserably. Until next time...

Finishing up with Texas

Fredricksburg, Texas is a town of German influence/background. We stayed 3 nights at the Oakwood RV Resort, which we found in Passport America but discovered they are no longer affiliated with P.A. The town itself is small but there are a few sight-seeing locations nearby. Being in a German heritage town, we just had to eat German cuisine. We found the Auslander Restaurant on the main drag and partook of some authentic German fare (however, I had to wash it down with a good old fashion Irish pint of Guinness.)  While we were here Jeanne cracked one of her crowns so she had to get tended to by one of the local dentists. They got her right in and squared her away, no problems.

Some of the buildings downtown Fredericksburg, Texas

Library building

Cross Mountain was an early Indian lookout point overlooking the valley floor where Fredericksburg is now. Later, early Germans erected a large cross on the mountaintop, which has now been replaced with a lighted cross. We took the short walk up the hill to the cross and got a view of the valley.

The view from Cross Mountain

The cross

And what visit to this area would be complete without a visit to the megalopolis of Luckenbach, Texas. Made famous in song, this is not much more than a large ranch used for concert venues.

The stage behind the bar in Luckenbach

The old Post Office (now contains souvenir shop and the bar)

The bar

The stage and eating area behind the bar

The stage area inside the dance hall

Enchanted Rock State Park was located just outside of Fredericksburg. We hiked to the summit and got another great view of the valley. The rock formations of Enchanted Rock reminded us of Stone Mountain in Atlanta, GA.

Some of the enchanted rocks at Enchanted Rock State Park

A weird "zipper" line on Enchanted Rock

Nice view from the top

San Angelo State Park was our next stop. We stayed 2 days, the park being just outside San Angelo, Texas. The campsites were spacious with water and electric hookups, the dump station nearby. The poor lake there was all but dried up due to the drought. And hunting season was getting ready to start, many of our neighbor campers were hunters getting ready to blast away.

Next, it was off to one of the Escapee parks we have not been to yet, Tra-Park in lovely Pecos, Texas. This is one of the Rainbow parks in the Escapee system. The Escapees should consider terminating their partnership with Tra-Park. This was a TOTAL dump; run down trailers, junk piled up around them, junker cars parked all around and screaming through the park at warp factor 8, and NOISY generators, impact wrenches, various tools running right up to the 10 PM magic hour. And Pecos is an eyesore in and of itself. Driving the highways in and out of Pecos reminded me of the highways in the Bakersfield area, like driving through a county landfill site, garbage EVERYWHERE!

It was one night and out of Tra-Park. We drove into Carlsbad, New Mexico and stayed for a few days at another Escapee Park we had not been to yet, The Ranch at Lakewood, NM. This was a co-op version of the SKP system, and it was much more to our liking. A typical SKP park, very friendly folks, and lots of activities at the park. While we were there we did get some big rain,lightning and thunder, and the weather got a whole lot cooler, some days into the 40’s. 

Carlsbad Caverns was quite awe inspiring. A couple hours walk through the very large hole in the ground took us by some really cool rock formations. It was really nice to see they had a kennel on site for the puppies, although we did not need it for this round, the temperature outside was  in the mid 40’s.

"Oooooooooooh!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh!"

We sit here now just waiting for our mail, then it will be onward and westward to who-knows-where-next?

Texas roamin'

Finishing up in Livingston, TX, I passed my road test for the bus driver’s license (the entirety of which was a drive around the block to make sure I would not run over anybody.) So now, when you see me driving that bus toward you, save yourself, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

Upon our exodus from Livingston, first stop was a couple of days in Richmond, TX at Shiloh RV Park. This was a dirt parking lot with hookups and most of the residents were long term with dilapidated and unkempt rigs. The ONLY plus for this place was it was a couple of miles to major shopping and big name stores. Trains ran 3 or 4 times each night, scattered over all night long, making sure to blast their horns all the way down the tracks. We did venture out to check out nearby Brazos Bend State Park. A hike around the lake afforded us a view of several alligators in the wild which was really cool. 

Jeanne and the baby alligator

The baby alligator's DADDY!

Just waiting' for an unwary hiker.

Gotta love all that Spanish Moss.

After a sleepless stay in Richmond, it was on to the Lazy Longhorn RV Park in Victoria, TX. This was one of the many hundreds of “snowbird” type parks here in Texas, albeit a smaller one. The sites were concrete but tight when the toad was parked in the designated space next to the front door of the RV. As we found out quickly, most of the long term residents were oil workers. But all sites were kept neat and clean, no unsightly rigs in the park, and the staff was very friendly. Unfortunately, Victoria is a dumpy city with not much to do in town. But we did manage to check out Goliad State Park. Not much to do or see there, the main attraction is the Mission Nuestra Senora Del Espiritu Santo de Zuniga. And the town of Goliad evoked scenes from “Back to the Future.”

The Mission, from outside the fence.

The bell tower and front door.

The yard.

Downtown (historic) Goliad

The old court house in Goliad

"Where's McFly?!"

From Victoria we headed into Alamo, TX and the Alamo Palms RV Park. This was one of the mid-sized snowbird parks. It was a bit run down but we were there a little early for the peak season of snowbirders, so there were only a few rigs there. We checked out So. Padre Island and were underwhelmed with it. McAllen, TX, and the surrounding suburbs is a very large, spread out area with all the normal shopping and big name stores you could want. We did not try to venture into Mexico from this stop, although locals suggested Progreso as a safe Mexican city to visit. We were told by several folks to stay out of Matamoros at all cost. Did not have to twist my arm on that one...

Home, at Alamo Palms.

South Padre Island, public beach access, ugly beach!

The sun sets on our stay in Alamo...

Still headed slowly westbound, we still had until the end of October before our Texas State Parks Pass would expire, so we made our next stop Choke Canyon State Park in Three Rivers, TX. It was out in the middle of nowhere, but the park sites were very nice, spread out, neatly maintained, with only water and electric hookups at the campground we stayed in. The park is on the Choke Canyon Reservoir, a big fishing lake for bass, crappie & catfish. The campground has a boat ramp, tennis courts, basketball courts, a gymnasium, group pavillions, but limited hiking trails. We stayed a couple of nights during the weekend, and now will be headed to Fredricksburg, TX. 

This is the 75 Acre Lake at Choke Canyon State Park, well there really is a lake there in non-drought years anyway.

Another shot of the 75 Acre Lake.

The tent camping area at 75 Acre Lake.

This was our only neighbor while at Choke Canyon SP.

Our overall plans have changed, again. When we started out 2 years ago, we sold nearly everything we had, with the exception of some “stuff” we thought we wanted to keep. We put it all in a POD and have had it stored in Santa Rosa this whole time. We have all but decided that when we get back to the Santa Rosa, CA area, we will terminate the POD and sell off or give the kids what is left inside it. Who cares, it’s only “stuff”, right? Until next post...

Jenn and Max Find Us

So Hardeeville RV Park was our next stay, still burning time until Jenn & Max arrive. This place is severely over-priced for what it offers, $50 normal night fee (even the $25 Passport America price is high, no frills just a parking spot with hookups). We traversed into the Hilton Head area, a very nice hoity-toity vacation/tourist spot. And we took several trips into Savannah, GA from here, checked out the River Walk and historical district again. Temps were still high and lots of humidity, the puppies were having a hard time, not to mention the Misses who REALLY hates humidity. 9 days of this and time to get set up for the grandchild.

The beach at Hilton Head

Pretty nice walkway to the beach at Hilton Head

The historical squares in Savannah have lots of statuary.

There's something around 24 historical squares in Savannah, all from Civil War history.

We found Lake Aire Campground just outside of Charleston, SC. Small campground with lots of long term local residents. Real quality folks, the epitome of which was a 6-8 year old young man who screamed out, “You Bitch!” at his much younger sister as he chased her through the park. Wow...We stayed here just long enough to pick up Jenn & Max at the airport, make a quick spin through downtown Charleston, then leave at first light.

Pirate Land RV Resort was our choice for a 5 day stay with Max. It is right on the ocean, Pirate themed, and just south of downtown Myrtle Beach. This is a pricey place to stay, but was worth it for Max. They have a really cool splash pool, normal swimming pool, and a “Lazy River” for tube floating. Max & Jenn had a blast here. We went walking the Boardwalk in Myrtle Beach, walked the downtown area and Max took in some of the rides at the amusement park there, and we took in a local dinner/show called Pirate’s Voyage, put on by Dolly Parton’s conglomerate corporation. Max immediately turned into a pirate for the rest of their stay.

Sunset at the beach at Pirateland RV Park.

Max and Oma funnin' at the splash pool at Pirateland.

More of the splash pool...

The beach at Myrtle Beach from the pier. 

Max trying to figure out how he is going to get on THAT ferris wheel.

Max, Oma and Opa at Moe Moon's, the boardwalk at Myrtle Beach.

Max doing his thing at one of the Myrtle Beach arcades

C'mon, Max, we gotta git you a cool pair of board shorts!

Sunset at Myrtle Beach. Mr. Moon came out early...

One night at Dolly Parton's Pirate's Voyage and Max is a full fledged pirate.

Next stop on the tour was Stone Mountain, GA. I could not figure out what Stone Mountain Park was all about, it is not an amusement park, but it is a busy tourist spot. There is a plantation there to tour, the old quarry area of the mountain where they cut lots of granite blocks, a laser light show area where they do some type of laser show on the mountain, and some memorial areas related to the Civil War.

Skipping rocks at Stone Mountain campground.

Life is GOOD!

The carving in the side of Stone Mountain.

The campground here at Stone Mountain was OK, if not a bit pricey. There is a lake for fishing, a store and a pool, and the bath/showers are very nice. We still had some high temps, and the usual short term thunder/lightening storms, but the mosquito population was noticeably absent.   

Killing time while doing laundry.

Max and Opa at Stone Mountain campground. Who picked your wardrobe?

Atlanta, GA has a very nice aquarium that we took Max to. He had a good time checking out the sharks and enjoyed the dolphin show they put on.

Look at all these cool fishes!

Max trying to scoot out of the shot. Sorry kid, you're not fast enough!

From Atlanta it was on to Nashville, TN. With Max in tow, there is no other choice but to stay at the Jellystone Park just down the street from the Opry. The park was kinda a drag this time around, being the “off season”; the pool was only open on weekends, the “hey rides” were over, and the visiting Yogi Bear characters were done for the season. But we made the best of it, Max still got his kicks taking the dogs for their multiple walks around the park. We took Jenn & Max into downtown Nashville and walked around the Broadway area. It was a Saturday and it was PACKED! Lots of drunks and tattoos on parade. We also ventured into the Murfreesboro area to show Jenn the area for her possible relocation. We even made it to Rock Island to visit the good folks still at the state park there. They did some good work on the park campground since we were there as campground hosts a year ago. Paved sites, upgraded electrical, added dump station, and revamped bathrooms just a few of the improvements. Good folks there, we miss them.

Max going to town at the playground at Yogi Bear's Jellystone park in Nashville.

Max cruising Gaylord's Opryland Hotel and Convention center.

Jenn's having fun at Gaylords Opryland.

Saying good-bye to Max and Jenn is always a downer. Max had a blast this visit, we played pirates and LOTS of baseball, not to mention all the quality beach time and pool time. He is going to follow in his Uncle Bubba’s (Chad’s) footsteps and become a quality baseball player, that being my crystal ball prediction. But for now, back to California it was for Max and his mom. And after a quick, yearly physical exam from my primary physician good ol’ Dr. Cobb in Murfreesboro, it was sayonara to Tennessee for now.

The sun sets on Jenn and Max's visit in Nashville, TN.

We'll see you again soon, little warrior!

Thanks to our inept Fearless Leader (B. Obama), Jeanne got her health insurance cancelled, effective after December. And unfortunately, South Dakota has severely limited choices for individual health care (that would be reasonable and affordable). Jeanne did some checking and found much better options available out of the state of Texas. So we decided we are going to change our domicile location from Sioux Falls SD (Alternative Resources, soon changing to Dakotapost) to Livingston TX (Escapees, we are already members). That being decided, it was off toward the great state of Texas.

Being in this part of the world, we would be remiss if we did not stop in and say howdy to our family members living in Branson, MO. We drove to the big city of Mayfield, KY for an overnight stay at the Walmart, then westbound through southern Missouri. I would like to take this opportunity to warn anybody driving in this area of Hw. 60 and Hw. 62 going W/B, you will encounter 2 bridges as you cross into Illinois (all of several hundred yards worth) and then into Missouri, crossing the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. These are heavily used trucking routes and the lanes on these 2-lane roads are about 18” wide (a bit exaggerated, really probably at the bare minimum allowed by law). It was an EXTREME white knuckle drive over them, passing an unending string of truckers, and surprising myself that we did not tear off some side mirrors in the urban “joust” we were in. I will NEVER return to that route again, I would drive 3 states north just to avoid it if I had to...

We stopped for a couple of days at the Ozarks Mountain Springs RV Park in Mountain View, MO, a Passport America park. This was a short rest stop seeing it was out in the middle of nowhere with nothing really to see. Then it was on into Branson, where we stayed at the SKP/Rainbow park on Turkey Creek. We had a great visit with Denise & Don, Savohna & Robert, Cedric, Cooper the rock and roll drummer, Brody, and Khloe. Thanks to all for the good eats and quality family time. Sorry, Denise, I think the boys raided all of your printer paper for our paper airplane extravaganza...

Another Walmart stop in Conway, Arkansas, then we hit Hot Springs Nat’l Park in Hot Springs, AR. We stayed at the park campground for 4 days. There were some very cool thunder/lightning displays while we were here, but in between it was still a bit warm and steamy. We busied ourselves with several of the park walking trails which gave some nice mountain top views of the area and toured one of the bathhouses in the historic district. There are several that are still open to the public for baths, massages, hot packs, etc. The area seems to have been a big stopover for visiting  baseball teams and gangsters during the 20’s/30’s.

Jeanne at one of the natural springs.

More of the springs around town.

And the water…it's REAL hot!

View from the mountaintop trails at Hot Springs, AR.

Jeanne doing her Indiana Jones thing on the hike.

Woody, our guide dog for the hiking trails.

The music room inside the Fordyce bathhouse.

A tub used for non-ambulatory clients at Fordyce.

The exercise room at the Fordyce.

Downtown in front of the Ohio Club.

This guy and his cronies used to hang here as well.

We decided to drive all the way to Livingston from Hot Springs. Not a bad drive, only about 7 hours or so. We set up at the SKP headquarters campground. Then it was just a matter of lining up our ducks for the domicile switcheroo. Signed up for the mail service, got the bus and Jeep “safety inspected” (a Texas requirement for registering vehicles), registered and paid the fees for both at the county tax office, then got our Texas drivers licenses at the Dept. of Public Safety office. Well, sort of. Jeanne took care of hers, as a standard drivers license. Texas is one of the states that requires RV drivers driving motorhomes over 26,000 lbs. to have a non-commercial Class B drivers license endorsement. So I began that process. I got the Texas commercial drivers license (CDL) handbook and they told me I needed to study section 14 for the 20 question written test for the endorsement. Well, I looked over section 14. It was all about tech stuff for commercial drivers, truckers, farm equipment, and a whole lot more that, in my infinite wisdom, I could not see having to be tested on such stuff for driving a stupid motorhome. So, when we went in to do the licenses, I just took the computerized written test willy-nilly. HOLY SHEEP DIP! I don’t know how I did it, but I squeaked by by the skin of my teeth! I guess I shoulda listened to them when they said to study section 14, all questions were straight from section 14 and all were very technical trucker questions that will have little bearing on my being able to drive a bus. Oh well, pass is a pass. Now it is on to the road test, I guess I will try to memorize the youtube video demonstrating the Texas school bus air brake test.

Well, now you are caught up to our present time. Another week here, hopefully a pass on the drive test, then onward and downward toward the Gulf coast...

Sing with me - “And, the wheels on the bus go ‘round and ‘round, ‘round and ‘round, ‘round and ‘round...”