Monday, December 30, 2013

2013 - A Recap of Our Full Time RV Travels (September-December)


Our full time RV lifestyle began September 5th as we pulled away from our

friend's (Bruce & Carol's) house in East Wenatchee, WA. We lived there and

house sat for them while they were taking their motorhome on a trip to Alaska.


Our first stop was at the Travel Inn RV Park in Elma, WA. We spent a few days

there while coming to grips with the fact that we had finally done it. We were

full timers and on the road!


While staying at the Travel Inn, we met up with fellow RV Dreamers, Sherry & Jesse

who were work camping just down the road.


We then took advantage of one our camping memberships by stopping and

spending the night at the Elks Lodge in Vancouver, WA.


This gave us the opportunity to visit our daughters, Candy & Kim, who live in

Vancouver.


We left Washington State and entered Oregon. We used our Escapees membership

and stopped at the Timber Valley SKP RV Park in Sutherlin, OR. This is our

first visit to an SKP park. It was nice and clean with some very freindly

people.


This location was perfect for a quick trip to the beautiful Oregon coast. We

also stopped in Coos Bay and visited with my cousins Butch, and Cathy and her

husband Dennis. I hadn't seen them for years. We had a great visit.



Moving further South, we entered California and stopped at a very nice Elks

Lodge in Redding, CA.


There were some great walking/biking trails here along the Sacramento River. We

broke out our bikes and we rode the trails. We crossed the famous Sundial

Bridge there. Fun, fun, fun!


Moving further South, we stopped at the Lake Of The Springs RV Park. This is a

Thousand Trails Preserve, another one of our memberships.


We stopped here because we wanted to visit Donna's brothers, Larry & Garry, who

live in Oroville, CA. Larry and his wife Barb,  invited us to move our rig to
their house. So we did. We had a wonderful visit.


Here is Larry and Garry.


Southward we head again and stopped at the Elks Lodge in Visalia, CA.


We are keeping our driving trips fairly short, and this was a great stopping 

place.... and close to Sequoia National Park. We visited the park and marveled 

at the great trees.


Then a few bumps in the road. We had truck troubles just beyond Bakersfield, 

CA. We had to stay at the Bakersfield RV Resort while our truck was worked on.


Poor ole 'Red'. The first 'fix' didn't work.


We even boondocked at the Bakersfield Camping World while ...looking at options.


Long story short.... we bought a new truck. A birthday present for me. I love 
it.

We finally left California after our extended stay in Bakersfield. Entering 

Arizona, we headed toward Fort Mohave where Donna's brother Gene was living. We 

stayed at the RAT - Riverside Adventure Trails RV Park.


We visited Gene and his wife Cyndi. We also got to know many of their friends.



While in the area, we visited Laughlin, NV just across the river with all their 

casinos and shows and events. Lots of car shows here.

We also traveled to Lake Havasu City and checked out the 'London Bridge' 

there... cool!


Oatman is nearby too, an old cowboy/mining town along the old Route 66. We had 

to visit there and pet the roaming burros.

We moved just up the road into Bullhead City to an RPI (another of our 

membership parks) park called Ridgeview RV Resort. 


It was from here that we started our daily walks, visited some old Indian 

petroglyphs, and just started getting into Geocaching.


Another bump in the road...bang! We had just found our third geochache, and 

Donna slipped on some loose desert rocks, and broke her foot.


I parked the rig back at the RAT in Fort Mohave while she was recovering from 

her surgery. It was only an 8 mile trip.


Time to slow down for a while and heal up! Some friends from the church we go 

to here loaned her a wheel chair. How nice is that?!


Donna's brother Gene only lives about a mile from the RAT where we are staying. 

We spent Thanksgiving at Gene & Cyndi's house. And ate a lot!

We got to decorate our 5th wheel this year for Christmas. Donna did a great 

job.

Donna got her cast off just before Christmas. 
And then we spent Christmas Day at Gene & Cyndi's house. A wonderful day here 

in sunny Arizona. 

Donna's foot is on the mend and we think we will be heading down the road early 

in January.

We are so ready.
2013 has been a good year. Looking forward to 2014.

Merry Christmas everyone!

And have a very happy New Year.............we will!

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