#1 Why did we go to Myanmar and Vietnam

I decided to wait until we returned from our trip to Myanmar, Vietnam and Hawaii before I blogged about it. 

I knew I couldn’t do the trip justice if I tried to post day-by-day as we went along. I will be putting up posts about it every few days for a while. I will try to keep each post reasonably short so as to not burn out on writing them (nor burn you out reading them 🙂).  Hopefully this also encourages you readers to come back for more. I hope you will enjoy following along and sharing the adventure.

Of all the places in the world to travel to for a winter vacation, why did we choose these three? Craig and I love living full time in an RV, because although we enjoy travel to new places, we don't enjoy 

• flying on airplanes, 
• living out of suitcases, 
• eating every meal in restaurants, or 
• checking into and out of hotels. 

So why did we leave our Alfa parked while we went off to Southeast Asia?

Because we wanted to visit our son, Gil, who has been teaching English in Yangon, Myanmar for the last five years. 

My son the poster boy

Merikay and Gil in front of another poster advertising the school he works for.

During our first few years of full time RVing, we didn’t want to put the Alfa in storage and had no real alternative as to where to park her. When we found Jojoba Hills, we knew it was a perfect place to leave her for a month or more without worry. 

I wanted to add Thailand to our itinerary, but Gil has been there many times and suggested we all go to Vietnam for a week instead. So we did.

One of the great things about being retired is that you don't have to go home to go back to work. If you want to travel for one week, two weeks, a month, it doesn’t matter. You have no time clock to punch, and the only limit is your own endurance and budget. Both of which we stretched to the limit on this trip!

Then, when thinking about the return flights to San Diego from Hanoi, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to visit the last state on our RV travel map - Hawaii.

   

Many RVers have these maps and have different personal rules for earning a state sticker. Some say they have to actually camp in a state; we may have counted one or two that we have just driven through. Hawaii is a special case. The Alfa doesn’t float, so she had to stay at Jojoba Hills, but we count this trip as our 50th state anyway. 

Joko and Craig

Our son was named Gil after my father. When he was in high school, he went to Indonesia as an exchange student. His Indonesian family and friends had a hard time with the "G" in his name, so he took "Joko" as his nickname.

He now goes by Joko MacKenna to his friends in Southeast Asia, and as I continue this story I will call him by that name too. 

Coming Soon:
# 2-Sights in the streets of Yangon, Myanmar 

Bear Attacks Alfa

Not our Alfa! 

One of the features of the Alfa line, that I really like, is a compartment between the sink and stove, that holds a rather large waste basket. You can put trash into it  thru a smaller round hole, or for bulkier items, you can remove the larger Corian cover that is part of the countertop.


(I also use a small bag lined plastic pot to collect food wastes while I cook, but this is just tied off and dumped into the larger basket at the end of clean up.)

The waste basket can be accessed for emptying thru a locking door on the outside of the coach.


Given the strong, metal "critter proof" trash containers I have seen at campgrounds and parks, I have wondered about the security of that outside door.


Seems like my thoughts were not that far off.




The following was posted on the Alfa Yahoo Group.  The writer "Paul" is a new Alfa owner.

He wrote: "We're dry camping in the parking lot of the Big Sky Resort, in Big Sky, MT. This is on the west side of Yellowstone Park.


My wife and I awoke to a loud noise at 1:30 last night. I thought it sounded like our garbage door being ripped open, and sure enough there was a large black bear next to our rig, digging through our trash can which he purged from the trash compartment. It was a bit shocking to stare through our trash orifice in the counter top and see a large bear.

We were able to summon help from nearby and the bear was scared off long enough for me to exit the coach and pick up the trash. Moments later, after I was securely in the coach and the helper departed, the bear returned. He reared up on his back legs to sniff the trash compartment door again (which, amazingly, was not broken). I was relieved that he chose to walk away this time without ripping the door open again. I don't know how many forced entries the door clasp would tolerate. Of course, I had not placed the trash back in the compartment. Until I leave bear country the trash will live with us inside the coach.


Needless to say, we didn't sleep well last night...

Oh, and the scare lights didn't get their name for scaring bears. I think they just helped him see what he was eating better."


I think we will be sure to empty the trash each evening and keep the compartment very clean when we are in Bear Country!


Do you have a good bear story?

Another Monday

As I write this, a door man is installing a new door in the tandem garage.  I'm going to wait until next week to paint the exterior wall, big interior wall and the door, because I want to be sure I have enough paint for the painters to do the exterior area above the dining room windows.  They were supposed to do it the Saturday before we left, but it was too windy that day.  We have rescheduled it for this upcoming Saturday. I have two full gallons of the pink exterior color, and I think between the two jobs I might need more. Better it be my job that runs out.


The Alfa has been sitting over at the repair shop for a week.  We wanted the brakes checked, and since we weren't going anywhere were OK with the wait.  (Well I was OK with it, Craig was anxious to get the coach back because there are some things he wants still in it.)


They say the brakes are OK.  There has always been a squeak, but it is louder now. But according to the mechanic, they are not bad. The squeak is caused by having been overheated.  I'm sure our drive down Hwy 1 contribued.  A front brake job would run about $1700.  As long as it is not a safety issue we will wait for a while.  


Craig would like to take it somewhere else because he feels this shop overcharges for everything.


So, as soon as the door man is finished, we are off to bring our Alfa home.  (Update note: it was too late on Monday to go get her, so I guess it will happen on Tuesday.)


You may have notice an absence of pictures lately.  Two reasons.  First there is nothing notable to photograph, and second, my little camera has died.  I'm going to take it into a camera shop and have it looked at, but if it can't be fixed I'll get a new one.  What I want is small.  Craig can carry around his big heavy camera.  My pictures are just to help "tell the story".

Book Review and Alfa is home

If you enjoy a nice story written from the perspective of a dog, you will enjoy A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron. We all know dogs don't write books, but this one tempts you to suspend rationality and enjoy reading the thoughts and experiences of a Good Dog.


I got it from our local library, but It is also available from Amazon. 

 In some ways it reminded me of The Art of Racing in The Rain, by Garth Stein.  I know several of you have enjoyed that one.  


Funny, how similar the cover art is!  Anyway, it's a good, non-stressful read. I finished it in two evenings.











The Alfa is finally home!


 After our little mishap last month, we drove it over to a repair place in San Jose called Leale's. They did the fiberglass repair and painting during the first week or so, but  have been waiting for  the replacement back decal to come in. 


 During that time we have picked it up and took it to get Blue Ox installed, and also took it off to Dublin (30 miles away) to have the windshield reset. Given that we weren't going anywhere, it was easiest to leave it in their storage yard.


Friday morning  we were told it would be at least another week until they got the decal. Since we are planning on leaving for our trip before that, we decided to pick her up and drive her home so we can do a bit of cleaning and loading. 


As you may recall, driving down our road and parking on our land is a challenge. But we are happy to report the task went very smoothly.  Craig drove it to our driveway and then we switched places and I drove while he gave directions. We have learned how to work together quite well on this.


It really is nice to see the Alfa on her parking pad again.  It will be fun packing and arranging our things for the trip. 

I have decided that having the Alfa is somewhat like having a very expensive play house, or perhaps a cottage.  


It will only be our real home when we actually go full time. 

Exhausting day!

Some days are longer than others!  Today was one of the more exhausting days that we've had for some time.


We started out early by driving the Accent and my van over to the RV repair place and picking up the Alfa.  We left the van there and drove the Alfa and the Accent across town to the hitch place and had them finish the Blue Ox installation.  They hooked up the Accent and we headed back to the RV repair place to drop it off again so they could install the Air Force One.  Craig says he could have installed both, but he wanted to have authorized installers so that we could feel good about the result.


On the way we stopped at a large parking lot and did a series of practice turns around some large plastic water bottles (our version of traffic cones).  We both drove and we each took a turn outside watching to see how the toad tracked behind the Alfa. It was fun. 


We then dropped the Alfa and Accent off and returned home in my van. We will be able to get the car back in a few days, but they are still waiting for our new back decal for the Alfa.  Might as well leave her there.


We have also asked them to do an air pressure test to see if they can find and fix two "whistle" noises in the front windshield.  They are quite annoying.


It was just past noon when we got back home, but neither of us felt like doing any work.  Craig has finally agreed to buying some safety equipment for the window painting project.  I don't know if it is because he is tired of me nagging, or because he has had a number of people tell him he should, as comments or in person, or if he has just gotten a bit scared when he was out on the ledge.  I don't care why.


We spent some time this afternoon looking at safety harnesses online, and then decided we should go and talk to someone at REI that might give us some advice about such things.


At the same time, Craig was reading the morning paper and mentioned he would like to see "Snow White and the Huntsman."  We don't go to movies very often, but since the movie theatre and REI are in the same shopping center, we decided to do both this afternoon.  


The movie was OK.  Not great, but OK.  We did get some information from REI, but they were unable to give us any advice as to what to do.  (Liability reasons.)  We will probably be ordering some rope and a harness over the weekend.


Exhausting! But it felt like progress.

RV Grill

If you have an RV, you have to have a grill, right?


One of the features of the Alfa is a propane connection on the side where you can hook up your gas grill.  Not having to cary a tank does save some room in the basement!


So our daughter and her husband bought us a Weber Q for Christmas.  But we didn't have the right kind of hose connection for it.  It has been a search to find the right one.  Neither Camping World nor Weber itself has a hose that would work with the Alfa.  We finally got one thru Alfateers, and as soon as it stopped raining we gave it a try.

Mostly vegetable kabobs

  I have told Craig that RV BBQing is man's work!   We shall see how long that lasts!  Actually I won't mind doing the cooking if he takes over cleaning and storing the grill!

The cook enjoys  a glass of wine while watching over the grill. 


My diet doesn't allow me to drink wine, but Craig still can.

Mostly 
veggie kabobs.


I used  3 ounces of shrimp for each of us.  Plus lots of tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, mushrooms and fresh pineapple. 


 I used a Catalina dressing that I had on hand.  It's not a "low fat" dressing because you need a little oil for the grilling.  


Next time I might experiment with mixing up something myself.


To me grilling has almost always meant "meat."  Steaks, whole chicken, hamburgers.  But with our new outlook on food I'm going to have to explore a more vegetarian, or at least a non red meat approach.  


Our kabobs in the past were always about half lamb and half veggies.  These were so good we probably didn't even need the shrimp.  Craig said he really like the pineapple and so did I.


Later today we will have to clean the grill and stow it back in the Alfa.  That is one thing I'm a bit concerned about.  With our deck grill we just burn off the grates, and change the drip pan from time to time.  I don't want a greasy grill in the Alfa basement.  I think it would attract mice and rats.


How thoroughly do you clean your grill?

A Small Alfa Improvement

The basement doors on the Alfa do not all open in the same direction.  On the driver's side, under the slides, they open "down", or in the case of the sewer bay door, to the side.  On the passenger side they open "up."


I have read on the Alfa forum that the latches are prone to breaking when the doors are allowed to slam down.  And once broken, it is very difficult to get the door open to fix them.  Mention was made of having a child or small person crawl into the basement from the other side!  Neither of us is small, and we have no children around!


I have tried to be gentle with the doors, and even got my finger caught in one while trying to lower it slowly! They are quite heavy and it takes some effort to keep them from slamming.


When we were at the Indio Rally I noticed the neighbor's Alfa had neat little handles on the bay doors.  I asked him if they came that way, (it seems there are many options that people could have) but he said "no", he had bought them at Home Depot.

So the last time I was at Home Depot I got some handles and Craig put them on for me.




It only took him 15 minutes, but hopefully it will save the latches and my fingers! Since I open the bay doors every few days to check for mice they will be well used.


Speaking of mice, I've  caught two in the basement since we got back from our trip, but no signs of any activity upstairs!  I keep a total of eight traps in various locations.


Anyone else have mice this winter?

Too much to blog about

It is now 2:41 A.M.  I am awake and at the table in the Alfa.  I am never awake at this hour at home.  There I have disciplined myself to stay in bed if I wake up.  Oh, I do get up for a few minutes for a drink of water and a visit to the bathroom, but I don't "do" anything like read or look at the computer.


The last few days have been going by so fast, that except for a quick read of a few blogs,  I have had very little time or energy,] for the computer.


Pictures?  Give Craig a digital camera and he will shoot a couple hundred shots in a day.  Who has time to process or even look thru that many images?  I haven't had time to look at the few I have taken.


Is all of this bad?  No.  Living is so much better than sitting around the house dreaming!

Someday, after we get back home, I will have time to review the picture folders. 

But not tonight!


Yesterday morning we left the KOA and drove 20 miles to the Alfa repair shop called Alfateers.  When Alfa went under, the employees formed this repair center company and specialize in fixing Alfas.


We had a very long list of work that we want done.  We decided not to trust what La Mesa told us about maintenance, and are having everything checked out here.  We also are having the seals on the slide replaced, and some EternaBond applied to the top edge of the slide to prevent further leakage. We know the bill will be steep, but we want things done right!


So far they have solved two problems, the electrical and the tank sensors, by simply finding loose wires.  We had a problem filling the fresh water tank, and they found a kinked hose in the line.

As at many RV service centers, we have been able to park overnight with a 50 amp hookup.  This week there are five rigs with their owners staying in them.  We all gather at a picnic area while our Alfas are taken back into the work areas. At the end of the day they are brought back out and reparked and connected up for us.


The other couples have been quite friendly.  Tonight we had a bit of a party celebrating that we would all be moving on tomorrow.  One couple had driven cross country from South Carolina just to bring their rig to Alfateers. They are having extensive remodeling done and a full body paint job on the outside. They will fly back home and leave the Alfa here for several months.  I asked why they came all this way, and couldn't they have gotten the work done on the East coast somewhere.  Their answer was that they wanted it all done right and this was "the place!"


Yesterday we took the rental car and went to the Getty Museum.  Another of my long list of places I have always wanted to see!  The art was amazing of course, but the building and garden design was also a feast of fantastic views.

Banner on the wall

Patio at the Getty

Our repairs should be done tomorrow, and they will be giving her a wash and cleaning the carpets as a bonus free service.  (Nothing is really free, but it won't be a line item on the bill!)

We have a good feeling about this place and the people who work here!

Yawn!  No editing ... just publish and go back to bed!

Catch up.

The last four days have been pretty busy for me, and although I have had time to read a few blogs, I have not written anything.


Our drive to San Diego was very nice.  The weather and the road were great and there was very light traffic in L.A. We easily made the trip in a one day drive, eating sandwiches as we traveled rather than stopping at restaurants along the way.


We "aced" getting out of the driveway, turning around and getting up and out of our road.  Unfortunately we had a minor mishap on 3/4 mile of the mountain road that gets us out and onto the freeway.  There is one very tight turn that has a rocky dirt wall on the passenger side. We encountered a pick-up driven by a local worker coming the other way.  We both stopped, and looked at each other.  He backed up a little, and Craig tried pulling to the right a bit.  I had my head out and told him he was too close, but I think it was too late.  The truck pulled around us, and as we went forward the bottom edge of the Alfa scraped along the toe of the wall.  Just a big scuff, but that is also where the connector for the outside grill WAS located.  It got ripped off. It will get fixed next week.


I have to admit I was pretty angry because I had told Craig he was too close, and he didn't listen to me.  When we got to the first stop, I took over driving for a while and felt a lot better.


I have been a bit "out of sorts" about a number of things.  But that is nothing new.  I feel I've been "on edge" for a long time.  It seems if I say white, Craig wants black.  And yet, each new morning all is well again.


One thing that has put me on edge here is we are having some problems with the electrical system on the Alfa.  We are parked, without using much of anything in the rig and it loses most of the battery reserve in 24 hours.  He runs the generator for several hours, brining the indicator lights back to full charge, and then the next day it is back down.  We are going to have that looked at next week.


I would write more, but the family just got back from a scout meeting and I have to go ...