We had a great get together with Mike and Karen at the Durango RV park in Red Bluff California. We like Durango because not only is it centrally located between Ashland and Sacramento, but also because it is a very nice facility where we enjoy visiting with our RV. Eric had taken the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to take care of some planning for the Christmas Holiday that is coming up. After that, Eric took the motorhome to get propane on board and then hooked up with Carol at her office at 2:00 PM when Carol was let go for the weekend.
After a drive of just about 3 hours, we pulled into Durango RV park to a sight adjacent to Karen and Mikes. Another plus to Durango is the fact that they have 'Buddy' sights where our doors face each other! :-) After we arrived, we went to Luigi's pizza for a little pizza pie for dinner. As always the Pizza was very good there. We don't eat there every time we come to Red bluff, but when we do visit there, we always enjoy it. This is Rex's first Thanksgiving with us. He is 8 months old and he is about the same size as Charlie, so he is going to be a big dog, but he is still very much a lover.
We had agreed with Karen that we would not exchange gifts this year, but there was an entry mat that Karen had found that she thought we needed to have, and she was right because we love it!
On Thanksgiving day, we enjoyed time just hanging around the RV park. Though there wasn't really any staff on duty during Thanksgiving day, the rec hall was open so that we could go in a play Phase 10 and enjoy some Clam dip.
Prior to dinner, we sat outside for a little while and enjoying some hijinks that mirrored a gag that Karen and Mikes son Marq had done a few years earlier. Carol Prepared a wonderful turkey and mashed potato's while Karen prepared vegetables and fruit salad.
This was the first time that Carol had ever used the Crockpot to prepare the mashed potatoes. She cooked them in the crockpot on high for 3 hours, added some milk, Garlic, salt and pepper and three hours later, mashed up very nicely! :-) As always, dinner was wonderful!
On the Friday after Thanksgiving we went to play miniature golf and had a wonderful time. For dinner we had Hamburger pie which is always a favorite of the families!
Once again, our visit together was wonderful to do some long needed catching up. We are so thankful for the family that we have.
This is our favorite time of year! Last Saturday, the weather was halfway decent and so we decided to take the three dogs out to the bike trail near the aqueduct here in Sacramento. It's a great place that gives the dogs an opportunity to run off leash and get a little exercise. They were having a great time this day out on this beautiful day. It's also good for us to legged folks, cuz Carol and I can get out and get some exercise as well. :-)
So a family member of ours wanted us to share with them the
wisdom that we have obtained so far over the 6 years that we have been full
timing.
First off, be informed that full timing is not for everyone.
Over the last 6 years, full timing has worked very well for my wife and I. Before
you start your full timing adventure and making all of the investments
associated with it, we would suggest that you try renting an RV and taking it
on a two week road trip. You will find that this will give you an indication
(though by no means a guarantee) of how full timing will work for you. Also, it
will give you a sense as to what sort of items you would need living out of an
RV full time. You might want to be sure to pack a rain coat, umbrella and beach
chair as part of your supplies, even if you don’t think the weather will
require it. The idea being, you will start to get a sense as to just how much
room you will need. Also, if you rent an RV for a couple weeks, you find out if
it is a lifestyle you think you might enjoy before you make a big purchase and
take the rig off the lot.
If you like to cook, then take pots and pans and dishes with
you. You will start to get a sense as to what you want as far as an RV kitchen
and again, how much space you will need for all your supplies. When the two of
us pulled the trigger and started our full timing adventure, we started in a 30
foot fifth wheel. We had the two of us, three dogs and two cats and it worked
fine. But, we ultimately wanted a motorhome, so the 40 foot motorhome has been
very comfortable for us. We selected a motorhome by Tiffin because of their
reputation for quality products. For us, we knew this was a direction our lives
was going to take for a number of years to come, so we spent the extra money
for a Diesel pusher. There is an extra cost with the purchase of a diesel
pusher, so if you think you might keep the rv for only a couple years, you might
want consider a gas propelled motorhome as opposed to a Diesel rig. The gas
motorhomes can be a lot cheaper to get into.
If you are living full time in a rig, you will want to be
comfortable in your rig. So, you will probably want one that is at least 30
feet with a full shower and bath room, a kitchen area and decent sized refrigerator
as well as dinette and a couch. If you do go with a motorhome that is 30 feet,
you will find that this size vehicle isn’t convenient for running for groceries
in. So, you will either want to go the trailer route where the trailer is towed
by a pickup or other hefty vehicle, or the motorhome route where you tow a ‘Dingy’
vehicle behind you. If you go the trailer route, be sure your tow vehicle is
big enough to easily tow your trailer and all your belongings. If you go the
motorhome route, be sure the motorhome is able to tow a ‘Dingy’, and make sure
that your dingy vehicle is able to be towed. Motorhome magazine is a great
resource for determining what vehicles can be towed behind a motorhome. Be sure
you are looking at the specific year, make and model of your towed vehicle
before you hook it up and take it for a drag behind your motorhome. If you are
living in a trailer, be sure that the tow vehicle has an adequate transmission,
engine power and transmission cooler to adequately tow your trailer you are
considering.
We love dogs, we have learned that dogs don’t care so much
how big the house is, just how much love the house has in it. During the time
that we have been full timing, we have had up to 3 large size (55 to 75 pound) dogs
living in our motorhome with us. Yes, we work full time at brick and mortar
jobs and so we are gone for a good portion of each day, but we always make sure
that the dogs have been out and exercised prior to leaving for work for the
day. Our vet has always been happy with the health of our dogs and the care
they receive. While on the topic of dogs, be sure to feed them a good quality
dog food (Blue Buffalo, Natures Domain (from Costco) or similar well rated food
of four stars or above from a dog food rating website). Also, be sure to have
extra copies of the dogs rabies vaccinations available, because frequently RV
parks will ask for copies of those.
Today, we both work for brick and mortar jobs. We will admit
however that the allure of ‘Teleworking’ while being on the road had a great
attraction to us. Teleworking or telecommuting has its own set of plus’s and
pit falls that go along with it. Unless you are extremely focused, telecommuting
from your RV can be tough to do, especially if you have your dog that wants to
play, or other travel companion who wants to share a story with you. Also, don’t
rely on WIFI at RV parks for the ability to telecommute. Though WIFI is
becoming easier to find with each RV Park we go to, we find other campers are
watching Netflix on the park Wi-Fi and taking up all of the band width of the
network. So, we suggest using your phone as a Wi-Fi hot spot. This does require
however that your data plan be adequate. If you have a job that requires a lot
of band width, telecommuting may not be for you.
As far as staying in touch with current events and your
local TV programming we would suggest you consider just going with broadcast TV
and skip the Satellite option. For 5 years of our full timing experience, we
survived off of broadcast TV very nicely and we didn’t have to deal with the
expense and challenges of using Satellite equipment.
There are some things that you will find different about
living full time in an RV. Some RV parks don’t take certain types of dogs. We
have three pit bull style dogs and so we have to take care on which parks we
choose to stay at. Holding tanks don’t last forever. You will find that if you
are disconnected from utilities, that your freshwater tank, your toilet holding
tank, and your shower drain tank will only last 3 to 5 days before they need to
be dumped or refilled. Also, in the colder months, you will find that you may
need to fill the propane tanks every week or two. You will find however, that cleaning your home, takes almost no time at all!
We love full timing and we wouldn't change it for anything in the world.
Well, that is just some of the thoughts that come to mind
from our full timing RVing experience. We have been enjoying it for 6 years and
for us there is no end in sight.
If you want to get a sense as to what our setup is like, check out our video that we did a couple years ago.
We always enjoy getting away when ever we can. As much as we would like to get away once every month, frequently, it doesn't work out that way. Fortunately, we were able to get away in the month of October to a wonderful place by the name of Vieira's Resort in Isleton California. The first impression here is perfect! We love walking into a camp store and finding it fully stocked!
This was a great location. It wasn't more than an hours drive from home, but it was in a very relaxing and enjoyable get away. Though our space did not have sewer, it did have water and power which for a two day weekend, was all that matters. One of the nice things about this RV park is that they don't have any dog breed exclusions so our three dogs were welcome! This place is perfect, they allow RVing, tent camping and cabin stays as well! For us, there was a vacant area behind our rig which was a perfect view while relaxing outside the rig.
The restaurant at the RV resort appeared to be a bit of a hole in the wall, but the food was excellent! The 'River Delta Diner' is perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
We really enjoyed our trip here and we will definitely keep this on our list of places to return too!
This year we had annual Waite family reunion in a different location than we have had many years in the past. For many years, we have held the annual reunion at Tower Park in Lodi California. That location had been selected because it was centrally located between the sierra foothills and the bay area.
Because of changes that have been enacted at Tower Park, we tried a location in Pine Grove in the Sierra foothills. This years location was at Gold Country RV park and campground. The park has had a checkered history. In the early 2000's the park was overrun by full time residents and was poorly maintained. The park was then bought and turned into a Jelly stone park. The Jelly Stone park name only lasted a couple years and the park went into bankruptcy and soon fell into disrepair again. The park was bought by a new owner and it is obvious that they are putting in work into the infrastructure to the park and trying to turn it around.
Prior to the family reunion, a number of family members went on an Alaska cruise. Though many enjoyed the cruise, most of those who went on that trip came home sick with a really bad cold or flu. The family reunion had a good turn out this year despite the change in location. Sandy and Bill Ealy who normally head up the event, attended the event, but were both under the weather because of the flu bug. So, most of the games did not place as they have in the past. The Horseshoe tournament did however take place as always. The winning team being Russell Gallette and Kevin McCann.
There was another pot luck on Saturday night as always, and it was well attended and the food was delicious as always.
One of the concerns about the park here in Pine Grove was the fact that the cabins and motel rooms were pretty run down. The park has said that they will be doing a lot of repairs to the Cabins over the fall and winter. One of the attractive aspects of this park is the fact that they allow dogs in the cabins, but it remains to be seen if we will be allowed to have dogs in the cabins after the remodel is complete.
