The Mark of a Good Camper

EDITED on 12/28/12 to include photographs.

It seems nearly forever since I last posted a blog. That's how long it has been since I've had reliable internet access. And, my card reader isn't reading so no new photos right now.

Since we were at El Capitan State Park, we've been to three additional places. After El Capitan we parked the Beast at Dockweiler RV Park, which is just a blink south of Dockweiler State Beach. Dockweiler State Beach is situated at the end of the east-west runways of LAX. We saw lots of jets taking off from LAX. Surprisingly, the noise was unobtrusive to us. 

Our daughter, Susanna, and son-in-law Terry, flew down to LA for their friend's, Sharon, graduation party. Sharon earned her Master's degree. Congratulation, Sharon! We met for breakfast/brunch at a cute restaurant in Manhattan Beach called Four Daughters Kitchen. Afterwards we hung out at the Beast hoping we could enjoy the beach and ocean waves, but, alas, it was not to be. The weather did not cooperate. Wind and rain prevailed. We joined Sharon's family for a wonderful dinner, however, and the following day was Sharon's graduation party.

We headed south to Santee, which is east-northeast of San Diego, and stayed at Santee Lakes RV Park. We stayed indoors for the first couple days because of rain, but what a lovely place! They have seven lakes, a few of which are stocked with fish, one in which you can rent paddle boats and cruise around small islands that attract an assortment of birds such as white pelicans, mallards, wood ducks, snowy egrets, white and blue herons, coots and cormorants, another that has floating cabins for rent, and some meant for day use. The RV park area was clean and had many grassy areas with covered picnic tables. There is a community center, a teen center for the local youth to use after school, and a large and clean laundry room for registered campers. It is a place to which I'd definitely go back. We spent 8 days there and left on Christmas Eve. Rob's brother, Chip, sister-in-law, Chris, and niece, Heather, arrived on Saturday before Christmas, so at least we had family with us leading up to Christmas day.

After Santee, we headed to Imperial Sand Dunes. We originally planned to stay in the dunes for three nights, but it ended up only two. We arrived on Christmas Eve. There were reports of heavy wind, which isn't good when driving a large motorhome, nor is it good for the paint in a sandy area. We stopped at a rest stop hoping to out-wait the wind. I called ahead to a WalMart in El Centro, CA, to find out if they allowed RVs to overnight in their lot. We were given the green light, but upon arriving we found out that they didn't want any RVs in their lot that night because they would be closed on Christmas day. So, on we drove to the dunes. I'm glad we did because the wind had diminished to acceptable levels. We arrived after dark and ended up parked about 150 feet from and parallel to another motorhome. 

The next day, which was Christmas, our neighbor's dog came for a visit. Angie is a sweet, yellow lab for whom I started throwing a stick, which then led to us meeting Mark and Jeannine. We hit it off and pretty much spent the rest of the day and evening with them. They have a four-wheel, off-road vehicle and that is generally the reason why most people go there, and Mark gave us a ride over and around the dunes. That was fun!! 

In the evening we lit a cozy campfire and Mark and Jeannine joined us for some lively conversation. We learned that they live in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, have a glass business and specialize in repairing RV windows. We will be staying at Lake Havasu in a couple of weeks and plan to call them to spend a day on the lake if the weather permits or, at least, go out to dinner. How fun is that? But, alas, they had to leave the next day to take care of business.

We were supposed to stay another night, but the wind was picking up and lots of other folks with their trailers, fifth-wheels and motorhomes were populating the area. If Mark and Jeannine had stayed another day, we would have as well, but Rob decided he'd had enough of dry-camping. I called ahead to our next stop in Quartzsite, Arizona, to see if they could take us a day early and we were told to come on in. About two hours later, we were checking in. And they have WiFi!!! So here I am, finally able to update my blog and feel, at least a little bit, connected to the rest of the world (as I know it). We will be here for two weeks and look forward to exploring this place that attracts so many snow-birds.

I titled this post "The Mark of a Good Camper" because of what I observed at the sand dunes. (I wonder if all my daughters still remember the rest of the expression). The camping areas of the dunes are acres of flat, packed sand and hundreds, if not thousands, of dune-buggying, off-roading campers inhabit the place throughout the year, along with food, wood, ice, T-shirt and supply vendors. There are places away from the camping areas among the ever-changing rise and falls of the dunes in which folks gather and party into the night. The sense of freedom from interference from—well, anybody—is liberating and just plain fun. But, with that self-same freedom comes responsibility. Freedom comes with a price. And the price of freedom in the sand dunes should be, in my opinion, to make sure you leave the place in the same or better condition than you found it. I saw plastic bottles, candy wrappers, plastic bags, cigarette butts, etc, etc, etc, all over the place. When Mark took us for our ride through the dunes, there were even broken, glass bottles. Stupid, selfish people left an abundance of evidence of their visit to the dunes to the detriment of all. It was sad. So, please always remember that the next person to pass through where you passed is as equally important as yourself, and your generosity to them is most evident in the lack of just that: evidence. The sacred beauty of our natural habitats is a gift to all of us. Please respect it.

Always remember: THE MARK OF A GOOD CAMPER IS TO LEAVE NO MARK.

Unidentified type of duck at Santee Lakes

Handsome Wood Duck. I was obsessed with capturing shots of this beauty.

Male Wood Duck surrounded by Coots.

Lucky shot.

Pretty little female Wood Duck

We were feeding the birds a mix of healthy food that the general store sells at $1 per bag. Such a deal to have all these creatures flock to you.

The Cormorants perched in the barrens trees.

I called this 'Bird Island' as it is the place that all the species of birds congregated.

The view of the main camping area from a sand dune peak at Imperial Sand Dunes.

A young man enjoying the dunes first thing in the morning. That's the Beast on the left.

Rob enjoying his cigar and reading while I'm out exploring.

The dunes taken while on our ride with Mark.

Meet our new friends Jeannine, Mark and Angie the yellow lab. Their granddaughter, Breezy, is in the back seat but you can't really see her. Cute little tyke.

The sun is getting low.

Rob collecting tinder for our campfire.

Here's to a lovely evening.

There's nothing like the smell of a campfire.

The nearly full moon and a few stars.

First Week at El Capitan

Today marks the end of the first week of our two month trip. We are boondocking at El Capitan State Beach in Goleta, California. No hook-ups. The generator is providing the electricity required to run my computer and it's been running a lot. Thank goodness we've been here alone, with the exception of a total of three nights when we had neighbors. Some brilliant administrator with the state decided that generators were to be run only between the hours of 10am and 6pm. We have not been following the rules, but since there is no one else here, we've had no one to annoy. We would otherwise have to employ plan B for making coffee in the morning and find other entertainment besides TV in the evening. As of yesterday, the only occupants of the entire campground were three sets of camp hosts and a couple tent campers.

We are down to about 1/3 of a tank of fresh water, which means we've used 2/3 in a week. To go fill our water tank, we have to secure EVERYTHING and drive the Beast about two hundred yards down the road. Ugh! I've been doing very well conserving water but I'll have to do better if we want to make it through to next Thursday morning.

It has been very enjoyable waking each morning to a view of the Pacific ocean, whether to fog and rain (the first couple of mornings), or golden sunrises (especially this morning). And each sunset has been different and lovely… except yesterday's which was dull and boring. An example:

The first two photos were taken on December 1st. The one with the trees was taken from our 'patio' and the second from the bluff overlooking the beach about 20 minutes later. The clouds moved across the sky quickly that evening as another rainstorm followed right behind. 

One would naturally think that a rainstorm is undesirable when out camping, but I thought of it as

an adventure (a leak found in the cockpit area not withstanding). We stayed warm and dry inside as we listened to the drops pelt the Beast in relentless fashion. But, we couldn't watch TV as we hadn't yet been able to get the satellite dish positioned properly between storms. And that is no easy task even in perfect weather. We read, played with the cats and Rob booted up his computer for some solitaire. I thought about how miserable the storms would have been if we

were still in the tent trailer. At least we have comfortable chairs and a sofa in the Beast. Makes all the difference in the world!

The photo to the right was Monday the 3rd, after the storms had passed. Kristie and Cayman drove up from Ventura to spend the afternoon and evening with us. We took Cayman down to the beach to look at tide pools and climb on the rocks. Because of the rain, he was able to enjoy one of every little boy's favorite

activities: jumping in puddles. We got to see sea urchins, too.

The photos to the left and below were taken the evening of the 5th about 6 minutes apart. Again, one from the 'patio' and the other from the bluff. It was beautiful to say the least. The water was a midnight blue like in a crayola crayon box. 

I spent some time just watching
the pelicans dive into the ocean
to fish for their dinner. As always, 

I wish I had a longer lens so I could get some up close images of them diving. Someday.

Yesterday afternoon we had a visitor at our campsite. A young seagull flew in and waddled over to check us out. I know it's not good for them, but I went inside and got the tortilla chips to share with the bird. After that, I took my camera, beach blanket and a pillow down to this perfect, little, grassy area on the bluff to  
meditate, listen to the ocean and

watch the sun descend. As you can see from the photo to the left, fog drifted over the surface of the water. I watched until it had completely obscured the horizon from left to right. I closed my eyes for about 10 minutes, just listening, and when I opened my eyes again the fog was gone, like it had never been there. When I turned my head I had another surprise. I guess our little friend decided that I represented nourishment, followed me and 
was willing to come in close to 

patiently wait for the next meal, which didn't come by the way. It settled itself down not three feet away. I think it realized that I had no food to give and finally took flight to search for better opportunities. Wouldn't it be really fantastic if it came back this afternoon?

We went out to dinner last night. Rob was in the mood for a surf and turf kind of meal. We did a search for restaurants in Goleta and found one that sounded good. The place is called Holdren's. We've never heard of
it before, but it appeared to be 

chain-like, similar to a Hoolihan's or Macraroni Grill. It was very reasonably priced and also very good. Rob got sea bass, which he thoroughly enjoyed and I had a herb-crust chicken breast with a gorgonzola cream sauce. It was awesome! But I don't think it did my hips and thighs any good at all.

Its about time I get off the computer so I can turn off the generator and thus conserve fuel. In the meantime, I hope you like the photos. Feel free to leave comments, which you might have to sign up with google to do. I'm not sure. Would love to hear from everyone.

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It is far more significant than Christmas simply because there is no gift giving, no influence of who got what, no distraction. There is only cooking, eating, drinking, talking, hugging, laughing, playing, reminiscing, togetherness.

This year, as Rob and I transform our lives from living in one place to living on the road, it was of great import that we gather all our children, their husbands (or significant others), and our grandchildren together for Thanksgiving. We decided that it had to be just us. It was essential to have our nuclear family to ourselves, interacting with just each other, sons-in-law becoming better acquainted with their sisters-in-law and their husbands, our grandchildren learning who their cousins are—especially because they live so far from each other—continuing to create the common history and memories that are ours and ours alone. We don't know when we will have the opportunity again.

We are a blended family. Our lives became intermeshed when Rob and I decided to marry in 1986. We forced our children together. Rob and I let our daughters know from the beginning that they were equal, that we were a family—for better or worse. Sometimes there was resentment, occasional hostility, and misunderstandings as there is in any family, but the dynamics within a blended family make those emotions potentially more explosive. We had some tough times but we made it through, and we are grateful that, when our daughters grew up, they came to realize that we did the best we could and how difficult it was to put these two families together, especially under the conditions that we did (but that's another story), and succeed where so many blended families fail. We never allowed any of the girls to pit us against the other. We stayed united and that translated into a gift of security and continuity for our children that remains intact and reliable. Therefore, I am fortunate to have a family who have little or no scabbed-over, old wounds that get easily scratched open with careless remarks motivated by resentment, jealousy or petty annoyances and instead are appreciative not only of our differences but the common thread that binds us together—each on our own path, each with our own purpose, and each delivered into the lives of the others to learn something, big or small, from one another.

For the joy and pride I felt having my family under one roof, for all the laughter, for all my beautiful daughters and their wonderful men, for all my precious grandchildren, born and unborn, for all that we experienced, and will experience, together, my cup runneth over with love. I am eternally grateful.

Big Sur in The Beast

We haven't driven the Beast since Labor Day weekend and boy-oh-boy could we tell. Driving the Beast on Highway 1 is, in a word, taxing. For me, it didn't matter which of us was driving, I white-knuckled it almost all the way, palms sweating, gut clenched. Our granddaughter, Odessa, was with us and she simply and trustingly went with the flow saying it wasn't really any different than riding the buses in San Francisco. I guess I haven't ridden enough buses in the recent past because we need to be driving our rig a lot more often in order for my comfort level to increase. We, I, need more practice driving this thing.

Many stretches of Highway 1 are narrow and curvy, and there were two single lane areas where work was being done to repair storm damage or natural erosion. In one of the single lane areas, we had to squeeze the Beast between K-wall barriers and a rocky cliff face while workmen were busy finishing the construction of what appears to be a new tunnel-like structure. Being that it was Friday, we were led by a pilot car. On our return trip, Sunday, there was no work being done so stop lights were implemented to regulate traffic at both single-lane locations, of which the rocky-cliff-face one directed traffic through the new, roomy tunnel. I guess some people thought they had waited too long at their red light, or that it wasn't functioning properly, so decided to drive on through, but lo and behold, they came face to face with none other than THE BEAST. I saw a couple 'oh shit' looks on people's faces as they tried to figure out how they were going to get out of our way. Lucky for them there was space for them to maneuver and let us pass, otherwise they would've been practicing their back-up skills. I know how long it had been since our traffic light had turned green, so it is obvious to me that these people were selfishly impatient and lacking any forethought as to how much road ahead of them could have been under construction. They didn't wait even a full five minutes, which is about how long it took us to maneuver from our traffic light to the other.

Regardless of how nerve-wracking the drive felt for this 40-foot-motorhome-newbie, the ocean, it's blue-green-aqua waves, the craggy cliffs and serrated rock formations, like sentinels rising from the depths defending the life-abundant kelp beds swaying at their feet, were utterly glorious under the clear, blue sky. And then we drove into Big Sur proper where I embraced the momentary hushed, peaceful feeling I experienced when flanked with beautiful coastal redwoods, oaks, pines and cedars. The high-noon sun poked its rays between the thick, aged branches, leaves and needles, and made its way to the road, lighting it with stripes and dots. How I wished I could've photographed it all along the way. Unfortunately, there were just too few pull-outs large enough to accommodate our rig and provide an ideal photo opportunity.

We camped at Plaskett Creek Campground, which is part of US Forest Service land at the Los Padres National Forest. Upon arriving, we found the roads in the campground narrow and at every bend the rear wheels of the Beast climbed up and down asphalt curbs. When we reached our campsite, I grabbed a walkie-talkie and headed outside to help direct Rob into position for backing into the space. Much to my horror, I caused him to pull too far to the right and wham! crunch! scrape! right into a large rock—or small boulder… whatever!—that the campground uses at intervals to mark the roadway and campsites. We could still open and close the basement door that was damaged, but it has to be replaced. It'll cost us the $500 deductible. I need more practice directing this thing.



This Big Sur weekend was organized by Kim Galvin as a Hallowe'en Paragliding Fly-In get-together. As usual, she did a great job making sure all the pilots who'd never flown there before got their site-intros and everyone was having a good time. 

Saturday evening was the Hallowe'en Costume Pot-luck, for which I prepared Dutch-Oven Beef Stew. It turned out to be one of my most tasty beef stews to date. And that wasn't all. Kim made an amazing chicken verde dish that I believe she said was made with 5 different kinds of green chili peppers. Another fantastic dish was a butternut squash soup that had ginger, and I think basil, in it. Once it was in your bowl, you squeezed a little fresh lemon juice in it and OMG! Truly a taste treat. I want that recipe, Kathleen! And then there was the lasagne with a whole bottle of wine in the marinara sauce and the most delicious garlic bread to accompany it. Pretty darned good, Laura. Many dressed in Hallowe'en costumes, but the best belonged to the kids, of course. 

For a few of us who came along but don't or didn't want to fly, a visit to Sand Dollar Beach was a relaxing highlight. The California coast has to be one of the most beautiful in the world. There were children, surfers, sunbathers and happy dogs making the most of the warm, sunny day. Odessa played in the Pacific with Alejandro and Alexia Laos and got pretty much covered with sand from neck to toe. At one point, a sweet, black dog decided I was the person to do stick duty. He placed his stick at my feet and vocalized his insistence with yelps and whines that I pick it up, such as it was, and throw it for him. I did as I was asked for a little while, but the stick was so light that it didn't go far. Hardly a challenge at all—for the dog that is. When I found a heftier stick, the dog wasn't the least bit interested. He wanted the one he chose… until he found another sucker person who actually had a tennis ball and one of those devices for throwing it. I was pleased to know my black beauty played well with other dogs; and that he gave me the opportunity to photograph their joy.

I am truly looking forward to getting on the road full-time so we can better practice driving, backing up and parking the Beast successfully in every situation. And, I am pleased to say that after we got home Rob smoothly backed the Beast into its parking space in one fell swoop. I also look forward to practicing more photography so I can offer up better and more exciting images to share with you. After all, practice makes perfect.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy our Big Sur Weekend.