Hello, everyone. I know that it’s been a while since I posted. I’ve just been really busy, as some of you already know. Well, here’s what’s going on. I’ll try to keep it somewhat short as to not have your mind wondering while you are reading this. I have been on terminal leave from the Navy since the beginning of July. It seems as though I’ve been working more now than I was when I actually went to work. In the timeframe between early July and now, we have gotten a lot of stuff done. We made a trip out to the Midwest to drop off some more of our stuff. Namely my truck and Harley. I miss them both. We have also gotten our house completely packed up and everything that we had in that house has been stored on our property in Texas, it’s been put into the RV, has been sold, donated or thrown away. I hate doing those moving purges, but I guess they need doing. We didn’t really want to move all the stuff we didn’t really want anymore. We were pretty close to the weight limit allotted by the Navy but we did come in under and that means that the move was free.
After we left the house for the last time, we went to Disneyland. We spent three nights and two days there and had a great time. Our last night at Disney was pretty freaking cool. During the day, we were on our way to go to Tom Sawyer Island and Nicole found a spot to get Fastpasses for the Fantasmic show that night. The best part was that it was the later showing of it. That was important because we had lunch at the Aladdin to get the Fastpasses for the Electrical Parade. We got to see the parade right at the start of it and that was cool, but because of that, we had time to get to the next show and not have to run. While we were in line for that, we met two wonderful young women, who just happen to work at Disneyland, and they made our time even more amazing. When Becka had a question about why they did things a certain way, my answer was simply, “I don’t know, I don’t work here.” But the young women with us in line would tell us the answers to those questions because they did know, they did work there. Cool!! We all learned a lot from those two. The Fantasmic show was amazing. Lights, water, fire, a whole lot of Disney characters, and just a wonderful show and we had a blast.
So now the time has come. I finally get some time to do nothing. Not really, I think I only get tomorrow because the next day, Nicole has a doctor’s appointment and then will basically be on bed rest for a day or two after that. I’ll get some time to do nothing at some point. Maybe. But you know what? I don’t really care. I’m having fun with my family and we are now able to dictate our own lives. What a great feeling. For those of you who have never served in the military, you might not completely understand how that feels. Just ask someone who did serve and they will explain it to you. If you actually need that, that is. Well, for now, we are set up in a park in San Dimas, CA and we will be here for about five days, I think. Then down to Camp Pendleton for a while until we are both done with appointments. From there, we don’t know yet. That’s all going to depend on how things go at those appointments.
Until next time, enjoy life and everything it has to offer. “Life’s a garden, man, dig it.” To quote Joe Dirt.
We recently spent 2 weeks in our RV “Winnie”. We traveled from San Diego, California to a small town a ways east of Oklahoma City, called “Little”. An old friend moved there years ago and we spent some time with her and her family on their farm.
On the way there our goal was to get in as many miles a day as we could. We had a timeline. We needed to get back to San Diego to finish packing up the house before the movers arrived.
The long days of driving were rough on everyone. This 2 weeks was not all “fun”, there was a side mission. We had vehicles and belongings that needed to make it to our property in Texas. Marc drove the RV towing my car, and I drove his truck towing his motorcycle. A day after we got to “Little, OK” we split up. Marc took the truck and motorcycle down to Texas. Rebecka and I stayed with my friend. The farm was beautiful. Cows, pigs, chickens, horses, what a change from city life. Cell signal was very weak, it gave me a chance to be “disconnected”. Although it also caused me a little stress, I’ll need to work on that.
A few wonderful days with my old friend was not enough.
When Marc returned (his father drove him) we discussed the “timeline”. We agreed we were too aggressive with the number of miles per day we were attempting. As we left Oklahoma and slowed things down. We still needed to get back to San Diego to prepare for the movers, but we were going to take a few more days to get there.
We spent some time in New Mexico. We visited Roswell, known for it’s possible alien crash landing. Not super exciting, but the novelty of the town was fun. We played “find an alien” as we drove. Many stores and hotels have little alien statues out front, many billboards have them, and even the street light covers were painted to look like aliens.
Another place we spent a few hours was at White Sands National Monument (still in New Mexico). Such a breathtaking place. So different from the land around it.
Some National Parks offer a Junior Ranger program. Complete a small work book that asks questions that prompt youth to learn about the park. Then return it to a Park Ranger and receive a badge. Working with Rebecka to complete the booklet encouraged us all to learn so much more about the park. The park allows you to drive an 8 mile loop back into the sand dunes. Surrounded by sand (275 miles of it) we were in awe of the land around us. We did have a chance to climb the dunes and ride a sled down, however it was over 105 degrees outside and the sand is very reflective. I think had it been a little cooler outside we may have enjoyed riding the dunes more.
Our next stop was Tucson. We needed to get to the RV dealership for a repair. While on our travels the hose that brings fresh water to the toilet had cracked. This was only a major problem when the water pump was on. That would cause water to spray all over the bathroom. Our temporary fixes helped, but not enough. We were “squeezed” in for a service appointment, and the hose was replaced. Phew, crisis averted.
While in Tucson we camped at the Air Force base and had a family friend visit with us for the night. A nice relaxing evening of board games and friendly conversation.
Then back to San Diego the next day. Lots of things still left to do in the house before the movers come.
Overall the two weeks was a great test for us. We “passed”! We know we are ready for this life of adventure. We figured out that we don’t like to drive all day, rest for the night and drive again the next day. We will keep this in mind when planning our routes. We also figured out that 200-250 travel miles a day is our sweet spot. Driving distance in the RV is different then driving distance in a car. Every bump in the road is amplified and every wind gust or passing truck affects the driver.
We’ve been “home” in San Diego for about a week now, and have continued to “live” in the RV. The three of us find it very comfortable and homey. We continue to work in the house making piles and filing boxes. Figuring out what items will be shipped to Texas and what items will be sold or donated. It is an exhausting process. Having the RV right in front of the house to utilize for breaks and meals has been very beneficial.
Movers, then yard sale, then house cleaners, then listing the house for sale. This is all really happening and we are so ready!!
Thank you all for your continued support!
My last day at work.
It’s real now! My last day of work was June 14th. Why did I choose this day? The biggest reason was for my daughter. Her last day of school is the 21st. While I was working we utilized the amazing before and after care program the school offered to help with care from 6am to 6pm. Although the program and staff are wonderful I felt I needed to drop off and pick up my daughter from her classroom for her last few days of third grade. Our lives are about to change completely. Leaving the only school she has ever attended, the friends she loves and adores. It is a roller coaster of emotions for me as an adult, my nine-year-old deserves for me to be there to support her as the realization and emotions set in. Plus, I got to be a chaperone on the last field trip of the year. As a working parent, it is hard to justify taking time off work to participate in such events. There is that little voice inside you where you are jealous of the parents who can be classroom volunteers and be so active in their child’s school life.
I took the opportunity to be a chaperone on this last field trip. The class went to Heritage of the Americas Museum. If you are in San Diego and looking for a nice little museum with lots of information and knowledgeable volunteers, then you should head to Rancho San Diego area on the Grossmont college campus and visit this hidden gem. https://www.heritageoftheamericasmuseum.com/
My last day of work…. It’s a unique feeling to be leaving a job you like and enjoy by choice. I have been working since I was 15. I’ve had jobs that I hated and couldn’t wait to leave. I’ve had jobs that were ok, but got a better opportunity so switched jobs. I’ve had a job I was laid off from, and even one I was asked to leave due to “not being a good fit” with them.
This time the feelings are different. I really liked this job. I wish it didn’t take me so many years to realize I like math and working with numbers. If I had known sooner I may have chosen a related major in college. Anyway, I liked the job. The people are great which made it very easy to drive through traffic to get to work every day. A collage of the lovely ladies who I got to work with every day. Thank you so much for supporting me in this adventure. ((hugs))
Here is a short video I posted on Facebook before going into work that day. (need to post it here too as “not everyone is on Facebook ya know”)
The next logical question people seem to ask is “When are you starting your trip?”. Well…… We do not know exactly yet. I do KNOW that there is still a laundry list of things to do before we go and I could not concentrate on them fully while also working full time. Right now, we are shooting for the end of summer 2017, but will keep you updated. ** Thank you again for your continued support!!**
Last weekend we decided to take Winnie out for the first time and it just happened to be Memorial Day Weekend. What luck? We kind of decided last minute (the weekend before) that we wanted to go somewhere. Well, I’m sure you all know that holiday weekends are busier than the rest and you kind of need to plan ahead for that. Not us. We did it on a whim. Great idea. The only place that Nicole could get us into was in Ramona. For those that aren’t familiar with the San Diego area, the road to Ramona is up a mountain and is all twisty turny. The day that we got Winnie, it was raining. I know that I can drive pretty much anything if I’m given the chance, but come on! Rain the first time I drove it and up a twisty mountain road the second and then back down it the third. All in all, it went really well. I’m sure that I upset some of the car drivers that got stuck behind me, but they lived and so did we. Win, win. All of the driving went well and nothing exciting happened while driving. That’s good.
So, Ramona Oaks RV Resort, what’s it like? That’s a good question. It’s very nice. The park is very well maintained. There are maintenance people that live on site. They have a playground, swimming pool, club house that looks like a barn, horse shoe pits, kind of mini golf, a dog run. The place is pretty cool and we had a great time. I personally didn’t meet a lot of people but that’s kind of my style. I like quality over quantity and I feel like I got that this time. Our neighbors where really cool. The resort had a lot of things set up for the weekend like all you can eat pancakes in the mornings, a hot dog roast on Saturday, and an ice cream social on Sunday. Nicole and Rebecka went for the pancakes Saturday morning and the hot dogs that afternoon. On Sunday, however, they went to the ice cream social thirty minutes after it started and they were completely out of ice cream. What a bummer, right? Our neighbors took it upon themselves to go to the store to get some ice cream and they brought some back for Rebecka, as well. Way cool! Thank you! You know who you are and I am still touched by that. I believe that we had a good time together and I would love to be neighbors again someday. We’ll get more posts up after we are done with work and all that and have a little more time to focus on us. We will definitely be back in the area in the not so distant future.
Oh, I forgot to mention that there is fishing there, as well. Lots of grown men who have been fishing for a long time couldn’t catch anything. Our neighbors 14 year old girl was able to catch four or five fish in one night. I lost count, sorry. But I thought that was really cool. Guys were jealous as heck about that, but good for her!
Be sure to check back soon. There will be at least a video added to this post soon.
I know that it’s been a while since I posted anything, but I have been extremely busy the past couple of months. I’m very close to being done with the Navy for good. I start “house hunting and job hunting leave” next week and that lasts 20 days. Then I work for one more week and go on “terminal leave”. I finally made it to the end of 20 years of service. It feels awesome. I got my old project truck running again. Not everything works yet but it does move itself. That’s gonna make it a lot easier to put on the trailer for hauling it half way across the country.
Ok, so some people already know about it but a lot don’t. We have traded the Toy Hauler named Toby for a Winnebago motorhome. For those who want to know exactly what it is, it is the 31BE. The whole driver side is one big slide. At the front of the slide is the dinette. That’s followed by the kitchen, and then two bunks beds and lastly the wardrobe for the bedroom in the back. I know that we didn’t have Toby for very long, but we decided that we really wanted more space. We thought that there just wasn’t enough room or storage in Toby for us to live in for a year. We realized that we need to have clothing for all four seasons for all three us. We weren’t going to be able to do that comfortably in Toby. I think that if we needed to, we could have made it work. But we were able to get the “Winnie” and I’m very happy that we did. Nicole made a video of why we decided to trade up for a bigger one.
Check back soon, I plan to add pictures and a video to this post.
While we were in Yuma Arizona we stumbled upon a beautiful park and playground. Rebecka had a fun time exploring and wanted to share her thoughts with all of you.
Please enjoy Rebecka’s very first Playground review.
-We are trying to take at least one trip a month while we are both still working full time. February, we decided to venture East. This takes us from sea level up to 4200 feet in elevation then back down in less than two hours. We wanted to see how our truck towing the trailer would manage going up the mountain. Performance was better than expected but boy did it use a ton of gas.
We had originally thought Yuma would be a great opportunity to try “Boondocking” This is where you go onto federal land and just park somewhere. No power, no water, no hookups. The concept here is that you are surrounded by nature and it’s usually free. The down side to this is that the nature your surrounded by in the Yuma area is mostly desert. We still want to give this a try, however for this trip we decided against it. We knew we would be arriving after dark and did not want to our first ever experience boondocking in an unfamiliar area to be at night.
Reservations were made at Hidden Cove RV Park in Yuma Arizona. Making online reservations in Yuma proved to be a challenge. Many parks list “age restrictions”. This means that they are for age 55+. It’s a very popular destination for “snow Birds” looking to spend their winter in a warmer climate. Hidden Cove has an age restriction…mostly…. But once she heard it was just the three of us out for a family weekend not a group of loud partiers she guaranteed us a spot to park our trailer.
We arrived after dark as expected. Everyone at the park was so nice helping us get situated into our spot in less than optimal lighting conditions. The park was gravel with small concreate pads as the porch area. Spaces were close together and many guests appeared to be long term or permanent residents. Their friendliness was consistent all weekend making us feel welcomed and comfortable.
The Yuma Territorial Prison was on our agenda as the must visit for this trip. Below is a link to our video from this adventure. It is about 30 minutes long. I’m new to video editing and could use some pointers on how to make the sound smoother between live time and the slow time I added for reading. Please add to the comments if you can give me some guidance.
On Saturday morning Rebecka and I went out adventuring. I’ve become very interested in visiting second hand stores for hidden treasures that I might be able to resell to people on things like ebay or craigslist. (more on that later). While Rebecka and I were driving around Yuma we started running into many detours. It turns out there was a parade. Once we finally arrived at the second-hand store I asked the local women if she knew what the parade was for. Turned out the Rodeo came to Yuma for the weekend. Cool! Rebecka has never been to a rodeo.
We let Rebecka take control of the video recording at the rodeo. Let’s just say, that editing is going to take a bit longer. When the video is ready I’ll link it here. (unless she chooses to write her own post separately.)
The weekend was relaxed. No pressure to be somewhere at a certain time. We listed a few things we may want to see and do to each other. We didn’t get to everything, and that was ok. We didn’t take a minute for granted, just enjoyed each others company.
On Monday morning I took Rebecka to a nearby playground. It was awesome. Video to Rebecka’s playground review will be edited next. If your ever in Yuma you must see this playground. Then we went back to camp, packed up and headed home.
Our future adventures are always on our mind. We can’t wait to see the country and take you with us.
I just wanted to take a minute put a post up apologizing to everyone who follows our site for us not posting anything in such a long time. We have been dealing with quite a bit and things are starting to calm down now. We will be posting more stuff real soon. We do have a new video up on Youtube from our Yuma trip. There will be posts about that trip soon as well. Here is a link to the video of the prison.
We also went to a rodeo while we were there and there should be a video of that coming soon as well. That one might be a little shorter.
Anyway, I finally have my computer working the way I need it to and I’m finally not stressed about work so much that I can’t do anything else, so I should be able to post more about some of the things that we have done. We are very much looking forward to our next trip and can’t wait until we get to go and then I’ll tell you all about it.
Until then, enjoy all of the adventures you chose to take and all of the ones that life throws at you and make memories to pass on.
Oh, we are also planning to do some product reviews in the next week or two. We would like to share what things have made a difference in our adventures. Things like cameras and bags or cases, drones, and one of the best ones we have, the Instant Pot. What a game changer. I’ll tell you my thoughts on that in the next post. Bye, Ya’ll. And thanks for reading.
Rebecka’s school has a two week fall break every October. This year the stars aligned in our schedules and we managed to plan a small mini vacation. 3 days at Disneyland and California Adventure. We haven’t been to Disney in a few years. I knew we most likely would not go again before we leave San Diego. I wanted to go all out. I have been setting aside a little money every month for a year so I could make this trip special.
I got 3 day park hoppers, got tickets to Disney’s Halloween Party, a special event that happens a few times a week in the month of October. I booked Rebecka for Bippity Boppity Boutique. Marc always talked about wanting to eat at the restaurant inside Pirates of the Caribbean ride, so I made a reservation. I even looked into staying at a Disney hotel.
The price for the hotel was a bit over budget, so I was shopping around for a hotel within walking distance. Came up with a great idea, why not bring our new trailer and stay in it. We’d be more comfortable in our little home on wheels than in a small overpriced hotel room. I found two RV parks within a mile of the park. Only one of them had a space available for the time frame we needed, so I booked it.
We parked the trailer in front of the house the day before we left for Disney. It is otherwise parked at a storage lot since our property now does not have space for it. We spent part of the day finding plastic storage containers that were just the right size for the storage areas in the RV. The other part of the day we spent packing those containers and loading the trailer. Excited, packed and ready to go!
We arrived at Harbor RV Resort right at check in time. The back section of the park was for long term residents, but the front was for people like us. Our spot was a nice size. A space for the truck, one for the RV, and one with some fake grass and a picnic table. I took a tour video for you.
Our first afternoon/evening we decided to walk to downtown Disney. Took us about 20 minutes, we needed to cross some major intersections and walk over the freeway. Plus we took our time. Downtown Disney is lined with many stores and restaurants. I’ve never eaten at Rain forest Café, but had heard great things. We decided to check it out.
We then walked thru Downtown Disney a little more and got a Halloween dessert. Yum!
We walked back to the trailer, put on a dvd and relaxed. Around 9 we heard fireworks, pulled the curtains back and was able to see the fireworks while sitting on the couch in the trailer. Pretty awesome.
Sunday, bright and early, off to Disneyland for a special day. We caught the bus, and got to the park as they opened. Bippity Boppity Boutique was great and Rebecka loved it. Tip* it is not necessary to buy the big package; your girl will still feel like a princess all day. We had a great day 1. The post would be too long if I gave you a play by play, so I won’t.
Day 2, started rainy. We moved a bit slower in the morning. Marc woke up with a bloody nose, so we took our time getting ready. My sister and her kids met us at the RV park. They got the grand tour and then we headed to California Adventure. The only thing on Rebecka’s must do list was to see the Frozen show. It turned out the Frozen show was cancelled for that day. She was sad, but felt better when I told her we could try to see it the next day. We had 3 day park hoppers after all. It was a nice day in the parks with my sister and her kids.
That evening was the special Halloween event. We went over to the Disneyland in the afternoon. The kids were excited to wear the costumes we stashed in a locker earlier. I was excited to finally participate in an event I heard so much about from my friends who are Disney fanatics and visit the park every chance they get.
I was not disappointed. The feel of the park changed. The majority of guests were in costumes. It felt like Halloween even though the true holiday was still a few weeks away. There were designated “Trails” where you stood in line to walk through a path that had candy booths and cast members throughout. We did a few of those. After all, you pay extra for the Halloween event you might as well get some candy out of it. The best part though was while all the other guest were waiting in lines for candy, there was hardly anyone waiting in line for rides. How wonderful to just walk onto the rides that attract the longest wait times during the day. We walked onto the Matterhorn, Indiana Jones, and Space Mountain. Really! How often can you do that!! Amazing.
When we had our fair share of candy and rides we settled in to find a spot to watch the special Halloween Parade. Can’t miss this special event, people were sitting in spots more than an hour before the start. For a video of the parade go to Marc’s post here.
After the parade our trip took a turn for the worst. We had split up. My sister stayed to watch fireworks, I took her kids to another candy trail on the way to Thunder Mountain. Marc took Rebecka to the locker to get her jacket then meet us at Thunder Mountain. Then it happen, outside of Thunder Mountain Marc’s nose started to bleed again. This time was worse than in the morning. I found a cast member and explained we needed first aid to come to us. The fireworks had just ended and the crowds between us and First Aid were to crazy to maneuver through in his current condition (plus 3 kids).
Disney First Aid service was wonderful. They came to where we were in the park. When they realized they could not stop the nose bleed, they placed Marc in a wheel chair and escorted us to the first aid center, clearing a path the whole way. (At some point in the chaos, my sister found us and took the 3 kids, while Marc and I went with First Aid). We spent a bit more time in the First Aid building where they gathered information on medicines he was taking and other vitals. It was determined that Marc’s nose bleed had gone past the point of general first aid and he needed to see a Doctor. They called an ambulance.
Anaheim global medical center’s ER is not a place I ever want to go again. A review on the cleanliness would be a struggle for 1 star. Marc and I were there until 1 or 2am in the morning. Went back to the trailer for maybe an hour. Marc’s nose started bleeding heavily again even through the packing they put in. We went back to the ER. Left around 6 or 7am with packing in one side. We tried to get some rest. We weren’t sure what our plan was. However, I knew that Marc was in no shape to drive home anytime soon. I decided that it would be up to me to get my family and our trailer back to San Diego. No way I was driving during the time when traffic is terrible. I needed to wait until after the evening rush hour to tackle this task.
Around 10 or so, Marc said he felt comfortable enough to be left alone, and that Rebecka and I could go to Disney, try to salvage something for our third day. I didn’t really want to leave him, but knew he might have a better chance of getting rest if Rebecka and I were not right there. I explained to Marc that if he needed me for anything we would leave the park and be back as quick as we could.
So I took Rebecka to California adventure to see if the Frozen show was running that day. It was, but not until a few hours later. I went over to the Pirates of the Caribbean restaurant and cancelled our reservation. No way Rebecka and I were going to have lunch at the one place Marc wanted to ear without him. (They will charge you a fee if you just don’t show up). After 2 rides we decided to grab some food and head back over to wait in line for the Frozen show. While we were about to sit down to eat, Marc called. He started to bleed heavy again. He was tempted to call an ambulance. I told him we would head back right that second.
This was Marc’s third trip to this ER. He got a room this time. We stayed with him for a few hours. Then I decided we HAD to get back to San Diego. We HAD to get him back to doctors that were familiar with his medical record. I left Marc in the ER and Rebecka and I went back to the trailer to pack up and get ready to drive home. We were finishing up when Marc called to say they were releasing him. I put gas in the truck and picked him up from the ER. We went back to the trailer and got it ready to go. We needed out of Anaheim . I wasn’t staying a moment longer.
Driving the truck with the trailer attached has been a fear of mine. Time for my big girl panties. I had to do it, and I did. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I was lucky to not have many turns in my route. I think it was around 11pm when we got home. We left the trailer and truck parked on the street in front of the house. There was no way i could park it in our RV storage spot.
I took Marc to the Navy Hospital the next day. It was so nice to be back in a real hospital. The staff took great care of him. We were there for hours, but he was being attended to appropriately, so that is what matters. They were not able to find the source of the bleeds, but they made him a little more comfortable with softer packing in both sides. Followed up with ENT a few days later. He is back to himself now. We still don’t know the cause of the nose bleeds, but glad he is OK.
Disney has went above and beyond and impressed me yet again. While we were at first aid i was given a claim card. Once we were home and settled again I called the number. After retelling our story to the claims office we were assigned a claims manager. He reviewed our case and had me send him a copy of our tickets. We 100% know that the medical event that happened was no fault of Disney. However, since our time at Disneyland was less then a magical experience, Disney has given us three, 2 day park hoppers. Isn’t that great?! Now we can go back. We aren’t sure when we will go, but it is nice to know we have tickets waiting for us.
This was a long post. Thank you for reading it and supporting us. Have a magical day !
I feel that it is very important for me to give a shout out to the blog that pushed me passed that whole should I start a blog or not. I’ve been looking into and thinking about starting a blog for a few years and I kept thinking to myself that I didn’t have anything to write about that people would want to read about. Obviously something changed my mind. When we made the decision to start really traveling I figured that was a good time to get started. But I was still a little hesitant. I was reading other blogs about traveling and RV’s and things of that sort. I came across one that really touched me and pushed me over the edge. It is the blog that made me decide to start ours. That blog is Have Heart Will Travel. Please take a look at their site. They have some good stuff posted. My favorite, and the post that did me in is the post “Finally learning the Lesson of Margin. When I read that post, the only thing that I could think of is that is what I’ve been missing in my life for the last 20 years. I want that room for margin. I’ve been longing for it for so long. I’m unfortunately still unable to add that to my life at the moment but that day is coming. I retire from the Navy soon and then I will have control of my life again. The margin will be there. That is a promise to myself and my family. We are going to have a good time living out “the plan.”
Thank you again, Mark and Nancy for the inspiration to start our blog. For everyone else, please go check them out at Have Heart Will Travel.
