First Time Out

Here at Golden Shore RV Resort, I definitely would not call this 'camping.' Also, the word 'resort' is used rather loosely, in my opinion, regardless of how nice it seems here. In the future, I can only hope that most of the places we go to that can handle a rig the size of ours will be more camp-like. After all, one does not usually see high-rise buildings from their campground.

We drove to Long Beach yesterday towing our tent trailer and delivered it to Rob's brother, Chip. We traveled with one pet, our bird Ollie. He did really well with all the bumps, bounces, sways and jiggles, but that poor, little bird was so pooped by the end of the trip (which was eight hours and a couple rest stops), he could barely keep his eyes open. Hopefully Ollie will develop his travel legs or we might have to plan on driving fewer hours in a day. I just don't know for sure.

At one stop along the way, there was a drainage gutter that ran through the parking lot. I was driving the Beast at the time and even though I slowed to drive across it, the jack on the tent trailer bottomed out and, as we found out later, it bent the pipe for the wheel mount used to raise and lower the hitch on the tent trailer itself. It wasn't even a very deep gutter! Of course it just figures that I'd be the one driving at the time. My brother-in-law had to fix it today. Thank goodness it was a pretty easy fix, but just the fact that he had to deal with it at all was bothersome. The good that came from it was that Rob and Chip figured out they had to switch how the ball fitted on the metal bracket used in the hitch housing so that the trailer's hitch would ride higher. Otherwise, Chip might have suffered the same result in the future from having the ball mount too low, but I just don't know for sure. Live and learn - that's what I always say. I also say: All's well that ends well. Both apply in this case.

We entertained on our first night out RVing. My brother-in-law and his wife, Chris, our niece, Heather, and a dear friend of theirs from Phoenix, Jackie, graced us with their company. We served up margaritas and barbequed a tasty pork tenderloin with a jerk seasoning rub. With it I served a variety of steamed squashes from my sister's garden along with some brussel sprouts, all seasoned with butter, pepper, garlic salt and basil. I'd never seasoned my steamed veggies that way before but everyone remarked that they were delicious, and I agree. I also served a green salad and Chris brought a Claim Jumper Chocolate Silk Pie for dessert. A good time was had by all... in fact, we may have been a bit too noisy, but I just don't know for sure.

Our bed in the Beast is either very comfortable or we were so tired that it wouldn't have mattered if we'd slept on the ground. We awoke with no aches and pains, so it had to have been the bed, but I just don't know for sure. To the extent that we felt good, Ollie, on the other hand, was certainly bleary-eyed for a good, long while after we took the cover off his cage. He was not his usual talkative self this morning and he probably would have appreciated a couple hours more sleep.

Rob left to help teach Chip how to set up and break down the tent trailer, so I was left to my own devices here at the Beast for the better part of the day. I read magazines and talked with my neighbors, read the news on the internet, where I learned that Phyllis Diller and William Windon both had died, and let Ollie out of his cage for awhile. He commenced flying two or three laps around the lounge and kitchen area, then on through the bathroom into the bedroom where he landed on the floor in front of the closet door. The door is mirrored so he figured he had another bird to talk to. I left him there for just a couple of minutes, but he seemed grateful when I got him back into his cage. The neighbors I spoke with are really nice. They're from Hemet and they came to Long Beach simply for the cooler air. They are both elderly and she, Cleo, said this is probably their last trip. Her husband has COPD and he just can't do the things he used to. Cleo says she knows how, or is able, to do a lot of the things required for their travel trailer, but not everything. That time will come eventually for us, too. I think Cleo and her husband are in their late 70s, maybe early 80s. Rob is 8 years older than I, so I hope he can keep at this until his late 70s... if that's what we want. It's a lot more fun and exciting than sitting around our house trying to figure out what to do with ourselves. That much I know for sure.

Pre-Sticker removal

I have finally posted a photograph of the Beast. Took long enough, eh? Rob took this photo on the day we (he) decided to buy it. I think it was pretty darned good-looking... from a distance. The truth is, even though the motorhome was hardly used, barely broken-in, it was kept in the elements over the years. The stickers were peeling and worn looking.

Looking at the photo you see stripes and the model, Horizon, on the front and sides. That's all gone now. Rob used adhesive remover and peeled and scraped with putty knives. Only the actual painted parts remain—silver-gray, white and blue. It looks less busy, which we like. We'll probably have 'The Beast' pinstriped on the front panel, but the final decision on that has yet to be made; however, a photograph I took of Rob paragliding will get made into a vinyl transfer and placed on the rear wall and another vinyl transfer of this blog address will be made to fit the panel under the rear slide. I hope people are curious enough to look up my blog and follow our travels.

Since we are leaving next Monday, August 20th, for a short jaunt to southern California, I will have the opportunity to photograph the Beast in an open space. Right now, it is parked in a narrow, fenced area and photographing it properly is nearly impossible. I'll post the new photo as soon as I can so you can see the difference.

In the meantime, I've been making lists to make sure we don't forget any necessities, and of little things to buy that will keep other little things from shifting inside cupboards and cabinets. When it is all in order, I will also photograph the interior. It is surprisingly comfortable.

Until next time...

Driving the Beast

We have been a little confused. What should we call that huge thing we'll be traveling in? We've been calling it the 'trailer.' But it's not a trailer. We won't be towing the danged thing. It's a motorhome. Motorhome sounds like too many syllables, even if it is just three. It also feels, well, pretentious. But that's what it is. A motorhome. We've thought about calling it a bus, but it isn't a bus. Buses have two rear axles. I've referred to it in this blog as an RV. Short and sweet in the syllable department, but it seems too generic, a little cold. My brother-in-law referred to it as the 'Motor-monster.' Cool but, again, too many syllables. Now, a motorhome has two major parts: The coach is the space in which you live; the basement is all the compartments underneath for storage. We could call it the Coach, but it just doesn't have the right ring to it. When asking each other where something might be located, we could refer to either the coach or the basement. But, what do we call it when referring to the whole thing? Rob initially started calling it 'The Beast.' I nixed that as it seemed negative. I don't want to live in a 'Beast.' But then again, I hadn't driven it yet.

Last evening we performed our first departure routine. We walked around the outside of 'The Beast.' All basement doors securely closed - check. Electrical cable unplugged and neatly tucked away - check. Engine compartment secure - check. Generator compartment secure - check. Inside, both slides retracted - check. All loose items on countertops put away or secured - check. Water pump off - check. Windows closed - check. Levelers retracted - check. Chock levelers removed and stowed - check.

Off we went to Costco. In the motorhome. We arrived 15 minutes before closing time, went in for a fast-food kind of dinner, took our food back out to the motorhome and ate it. We watched as customers wheeled their carts heavily laden with toilet paper, laundry detergent, packages of meat and veggies, TVs, garden supplies and trees out to their cars and drive away. We watched employees gather together and push unwieldy wagon-trains of carts to their nightly resting places, all lined up nice and neat. We watched them watch us watching them. I wondered if anyone would approach us to ask why we were sitting there, not leaving, but nobody did. Once the parking lot was empty except for a few cars, probably those of the employees, I slid into the drivers seat, adjusted it to my liking — which isn't saying much because the seat doesn't go low enough for me to rest my heel on the floor while pressing on the accelerator or brake pedals. I moved the steering wheel around until it felt right, too, and adjusted the side mirrors.

After starting the engine, Rob counseled me on checking the air pressure levels in the brakes and turning on the rear camera so I can see behind us. Rob walked around the back so I could determine, spatially, how far away everything was and how far of a view the camera encompassed. Once Rob was back aboard, I put it in drive and gingerly tested the accelerator, then the brakes. Rob wanted me to drive it in circles to calibrate the compass. What? I've never driven this thing before and he wants me pushing buttons and paying attention to a device while I'm driving it? Good dang thing the parking lot was pretty empty! Once the compass was calibrated, off I went going up and down aisles, turning right, turning left, wiping out about six imaginary cars, drove a rear tire over a curb, got the hang of it. I drove it all the way home. The thing is big, huge! It's a BEAST! But easier to drive than I thought it'd be.

Maybe we will refer to it as The Beast in general. But, once we're on the road, maybe we'll just call it Home.

Making progress

We've had our cats out in the RV a few times. They are a little nervous, but getting better. We spent our first night out in the RV the night before last to test out the cat's reactions. They behaved normally throughout the night, except that Louis spent an inordinate amount of time walking around our heads. Needless to say we didn't get as much sleep as usual. They are fairly active in the middle of the night and it wasn't any different in the RV. We heard them tearing up and down the length just as they do throughout the house. I found them a kitty condo that fits perfectly in front of the window in the bedroom. It has a toy on a spring on the bottom platform, which Brandy played with for quite awhile. We knew this because it has a bell and it jingled and jingled and jingled. Good thing it's a small bell!

After speaking with someone at Winnebago, Rob was able to remove the TV at the front of the RV. That was quite a chore trying not to damage the maple wood framing. Those old TVs weigh a ton as evidence by Rob's strain while I detached the cables and cords. There was no way he'd be able to get it down the steps of the RV by himself. Thank goodness our neighbor, Charles, was able to come right over and get the job done for us (he's also only 37 or 38 years old). We headed over to Costco after that and picked up the new flat screen TV to take its place. Rob is an excellent woodworker, and its going to look really good when its finished.

We leave in two weeks in the RV with our bird, Ollie. We'll be towing the tent-trailer down to LA to Rob's brother, Chip, who snapped it up the moment Rob mentioned it was for sale. We reserved a couple of nights at a nice RV resort in Long Beach that is right by the water. I have a feeling we'll have our share of freeway noise and, possibly, sound emanating from the Port of Long Beach. I think they work throughout the night off-loading the container ships.

On our way back toward home in northern California, we'll be stopping to see my daughter, Kristie, son-in-law, Matt, and grandson, Cayman, in Ventura. Kristie says she's seen people with big RVs parked in the neighborhood so we ought to be able to park right by her house for a couple of nights with no problem. It will be great fun to see Cayman at this time because he starts kindergarten the day before we arrive. I'm looking forward to hearing about his first couple of days.

Off of Highway 101 heading north from Ventura is an RV park called Rincon Parkway. It's basically giant parking spaces along old Highway 1 situated above the beach along the Pacific ocean. If there is space available (first come, first served), we might pull in just to spend one night listening to the ocean lull us to sleep. I've wanted to do that for such a long time, so I'm hoping there is a space for us. I just don't want to have to suddenly learn how to parallel park a 40 foot motorhome. Yikes!

No matter what, we are looking forward to our first adventure in the RV.