Why

I haven't added to my Why-Why Not page for a long time.  The following thoughts will be copied there.


One of the reasons I want us to be full-timing for a couple of years is because I want to spend longer periods of time exploring the wonderful places our country has to offer.


I spent some time looking at the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park areas on the internet.  There is so much to do and see, I would want to take at least a month or more to do it.


I also looked at how far it is from our home in California, and the many great places there would be to stop and explore on the way.


Sure we could just drive there in a couple of days, blast thru the parks and see the highlights in a week or two, and drive back.  But what a waste!  How much better it would be to take an entire summer just exploring Wyoming and Idaho.


Same with Utah, Grand Canyon, Arizona.  Far to much to see in a just a few weeks.  I'd love to be there this fall and winter, but we have a bathroom to remodel.  Spring?  The third bathroom is on the must do list!


Craig says he would like to go to the Keys  in Florida for a month or more some winter. Considering how far it is from California, we would have to be full-timing to make it worthwhile.


We were just out for three weeks.  I would have loved to have headed North to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington instead of South back to the Bay area. 


Oh well, another time.  Another trip.


For now I pondering what to add to the four nights at Yosemite in September.  I don't want to go further South, as into the Death Valley, or East to Mammoth or Mono Lake because  I'm thinking possible going to Death Valley and the Eastern side of the Sierra's in January after a visit in San Diego for Christmas.

We've been to Lake Tahoe. Perhaps a few days in "Gold Country" would be nice. 


 I'm very open to suggestions.    

Little Getaway Next weekend

Trying to schedule a short Alfa getaway has been a challenge.  Between each of us having a colonoscopy, my getting dental bridge work, various other routine medical appointments, and a few days (not consecutive) of having hired workmen in the house, a getaway keeps getting put off.


The weather has also been a consideration.  It s February after all!


But today I booked a spot at  the Pinnacles National Monument for next weekend.  When we were there in October we learned that in spring there are plentiful wildflowers at the park.   We said we would have to come back in spring.  And we are.  


At this time of the year there  are shuttle buses from the RV campground to the upper trailheads. This works for us because we don't have a tow car.  In fall we hiked to one of the upper trailheads, but were  wore out by the time we got there and so didn't go very far up the high trail before turning back.


This will also give us a chance to use our Senior Pass for the first time.  With 50% off, the RV spot is only $18 per night.  


So the Alfa will finally get a little exercise., and so will we! This is good.


I'm also making progress on planning a longer trip in June and July!

Summer Trip Plans!

Got out of the doldrums yesterday and made reservations for the "key" week of our summer Oregon trip.  I knew we wanted to go to Crater Lake and I've been looking at several RV parks in the area.  I had hoped to be able to get a spot in the park, but it seems there are none (or at least very few) with hook ups.  We could do without water and sewer, but without solar, we consider an electric hook up essential.  After we have some experience, this may not be true, but as newbies we want power and WiFi!


From what I have read, Crater Lake can still be closed in late June if the weather is bad.  So we have booked a spot for the first week of July.  Of course it will include the fourth.  Since I want to take at least a week to get there, stopping at Lassen National Park along the way, we would end up spending the fourth at some RV park anyway.  So it might as well be there!


Now that I've got that week reserved, I can plan the route up and back.  I hope to leave the return plans very, very open with several options.  We went to Washington and back in two weeks a few years ago in a rented RV.  I feel we went too far in to short a time.  I want to explore and relax more this time. 


Sue and Mo of "The Moho and Other Traveling Tales" have invited us to meet up with them for some Kayaking while we are in the Klamath area.  I very excited about that!  Craig tried to get me to try kayaking several times, but I was reluctant.  Now that I have seen so many others that really enjoy it, I'm eager to give it a try. (Although I can swim, I have always had a bit of fear of lake water.  I'm OK in swimming pools, but don't like water weeds or murky water.  It's not a big deal, I'm less uneasy than I was years ago.)


One big "bummer" is we don't have a towed.  I am planning on one of us driving the Prius and one the Alfa.  That's another good reason to take our time coming home.  We can travel a shorter distance, park and explore together in the Prius.  Or travel a bit farther, stay at a park for a few days and drive the area. We have no experience doing things that way, but we will learn as we go. 


Someday we will trade the Prius in on a car that can be towed.  At first we thought we might dolly it like fellow bloggers The Good Luck Duck gals, but have concluded that was not the best way to go.  We like the economy and the drive of the Prius.  As long as we are house-bound, we will probably keep it.  My ride is a 1995 Safari Van. We will continue to need it for hauling  things as long as we are here. 


For now It feels good to have a trip to plan. After I post this I'm going to do some more research on RV parks we might stay at before or after Crater Lake.


We were going to go somewhere with the Alfa this week, but the trip got put on hold.  We are having some work done on the house by someone else, and we want to be here.  This is the week they were available, so we will stay home! 


I don't mind the delay if it means progress on the house.  Maybe we will get away at the end of next week or the week after.  Sometime soon I hope! The Alfa needs to get out!


Craig keeps working on things. He wants to do so much, and I just don't see when it will all get done. 


 We have  different ideas about how much to do, and how to do it.


I'm pretty sure we will see another winter here, but hopefully we will take a couple of trips during the year. I'm really hoping the real estate market will be better in spring or summer of 2013.  This is such an odd house, it will take a very special buyer.

"We don't quit agree" Continued

Sunday I started writing a post entitled "We don't quite agree" when Craig looked over my shoulder and said "We should talk about this..." So, I deleted the content but somehow  the title got published.


It drew some amusing comments which I didn't discover until tonight. We really weren't having an argument or anything, we just didn't have the same ideas.


The "what" we don't quite agree on is how far we should go for a weekend trip. 




Although I do enjoy walking up the back drive to just visit the Alfa, and sleep in her from time to time, I want to get more experience helping Craig park her and also learn to drive her myself.


I've read that it's good to drive an RV at least once a month to keep the engine and tires "happy." So I want to scheduale a couple of short trips between now and our longer Christmas adventure.  


Craig agrees with all of that.  
But we differ on suitable distances and destinations.


Craig suggested Crater Lake, Oregon, But it's 489 miles away, and closed for the winter.

His next suggestion was Death Valley. It's 515 miles in the other direction. 


No dear, these are not weekend drives. 


We have driven that far in a day,  but even then it was not just for a weekend, and it was not in a motor home. 


I'm thinking no more than 100 miles. 


Less would be even better.


We tossed around a few other destinations and finally settled on  Pinnacles National Monument.  It's about 90 miles away. 


We went there on 9/11 in 2002.  We wanted to go somewhere peaceful and away from all news broadcasts, not wanting to be deluged with "one year later" media coverage.  The trails were very interesting, but unfortunately it was about 100* that day, and I suffered a case if heat exhaustion while hiking up the mountain.  I hope I will do better this time.  Maybe we will take an easier trail! 


The temperatures are sure to be cool, if not cold! We might even have a bit of stormy weather.  But if we do we can just hunker down and be cozy.


So our next adventure is planned for this upcoming weekend. Reservations have been made. We will leave on Friday and come home on Monday.  


It looks like we will have a very nice spot.  It is rated for a 37' RV, and is quite near the visitors center and the shuttle bus stop. It only has a 30amp hookup with no water or sewer, But I think we will be just fine without.


There is a potable water spigot near our spot, I have been told it tastes terrible, so we have decided to fill our fresh water tank at home before we leave.  


Since bringing the motorhome down to the front drive is part of turning it around to get out, we will fill the water from the house.  I will have to go and buy an extra white hose so we can reach the gravity fill, but that's OK,  it's something we can use later if we want to flush our tanks.   


Now to plan what clothes to take and what we will be eating ...


And before I forget... Welcome new followers  Allen and Lolita, I look forward to getting to know you thru your blog and comments.