Our Family... and made in the USA

Recently, Katies car experienced a problem that required that it be towed to a Chevy dealership to have some repairs done on it. It turned out that there was a design defect with the plug wires and a recall was issued. Fortunately because of the recall, it meant that the car was in the shop for a couple days. Carol and I were so glad that we were able to loan the kids the Honda CRV so Katie had some wheels until her car was repaired. That's what family is for, right? Though we didn't really get a chance to take Russ out to dinner for his birthday, we were so glad that we were able to present him with a gift and a birthday cake. Though Russ is not a blood relative, he is a very important part of our family.

Carol's dad passed away just about 6 years ago, but he is always here in our hearts, and also part of our home. Yes, we have our family pictures, Calvin included in those, but we also have a couple of tools of Calvins as well. When dad moved in with us while we were still living in the house in Pioneer, dad gave me a PVC pipe cutter. I've used this tool just this last week as we were setting up the sprinkler system in the yard. It's one of those rare tools that when we moved from one house to the other, and even down sized to the motorhome, I saw it as a tool, that I might just need. It will probably be a tool that I will keep as long as I have a need for tools.

Other things of Calvin's that I we keep and still use on a regular basis are a flashlight and gloves. We use the flashlight when ever I'm working outside at night and need light. The gloves, I use when ever I need tougher hands, especially when I'm hooking up the tow bar between the CRV and the motorhome.

Carol's mom is always with us as well. One of the important things in our motorhome is pictures of family. There is a picture of Carol's mom also in our Motorhome along with Pictures of my own paretns as well. All of our parents were so important in forming the persons that we become. My mom, would always be a fighter. Though her scoliosis shaped her, it didn't define her. I think it is those qualities in her, that make me the patient but persistant person that I am. My dad, was also a very generous person. I'll never forget the story about how when Karen was in the 'Americanettes' in southern California in the 60's; the director of that group ran off with the money from the organization that was going to be used to pay for the girls to go to the State championships. Well, my dad got a bank loan to pay for the girls to go to that competition. That is what has always shaped my desire to volunteer.

Speaking of Karen, she and my wonderful brother-in-law Mike are heading off to Austrailia for yet another RV trip. We so look forward to following them as they embark on this new adventure. You can find a link to their blog below!

Karen and Mikes return to Austrailia

Lastly, Carol and I have been on a mission lately to try and buy anything made in the USA that we can. Recently, we both bought shoes and socks from a New Balance factory store in Vacaville. All of them are made in the USA. Not all of New Balances products are made in the USA. However, if you look, you'll find that about 40 percent of their product line is made in the USA. We also found a place in Kentucky where mens T-shirts are made. They make their products for the United States Armed forces!

Happy campiing! - Eric and Carol -

More home improvement

Ok, so I know that most of the time, we're working on making our motorhome a better place to live. This month however, I've been working on trying to make the site we are in, a better place. We are working on seeding the lawn, developing a sprinkler system, and improving the path in and out of our site so the RV doesn't rock and roll so much. 

For the first year or so that we were here, we pretty much let the dogs have the run of the yard. Taking care of their business pretty much anywhere they pleased. Doing so, has been killing off the lawn, one patch at a time. We tried an experiment to see if we could get some grass to grow in by using some Scotts seed product called EZ Seed that comes with top soil and fertilizer. We cornered off an area of the lawn and did our best to water it accordingly. Well, amazingly enough, the seed took and the lawn is filling in. So, the next step was to try to isolate the dogs to the part of the yard that the motorhome is parked in and get some seed to take on the reminder of the lawn. Well, we've succeeded in getting the dogs to just the motorhome part of the yard, and have seeded the lawn. The next challenge was to develop a sprinkler system that could water more regularly.

Well, by investing less than $40.00, I was able to get a sprinkler system that will water once a day and hopefully get the grass to grow! We had a timer to run a single sprinkler on a garden hose for a while. So, with the proper plumbing adapter, we were able to pull it all together. This first set up isn't much to look at, and it is intended to be more of a 'Proof of concept' setup, but it does the job. Next pay day, I'll get some different sprinkler heads and finish up the installation with the existing line, and put in a second line and a drip system.

And as you can see, the seed is starting to sprout and take! :-)

Lastly, when ever we take the motorhome in and out of the site, there are some dips as we pass through the gate. These dips cause the motorhome to Rock, pretty violently back and fourth, especially when exiting the site. I spoke to Dave, the 'over-seer' of the RV, park about some 'Road base' that was piled up in one of the empty sites. He said I could have the loose road base, and so I relocated it to our site and placed it at the 'Gate way'. We'll see when we set off on our next adventure if my road work efforts were succesful at all.

Our next departure with the motorhome is to a secret location that Carol doesn't know about yet. It's to a location that might be familiar for her, but I know I've never been too. Stay tuned!

Happy camping! Eric and Carol

A new addition to our family

We are so thrilled for Katie and Russ as they have brought a new addition to our extended family. Mac, a 7 month old Pit-bull puppy was adopted from the Sacramento county Animal shelter

Mac was found with his sister wandering the streets in the Sacramento County area. Mac's sister was adopted some time ago, but Mac remained in the Isolation ward while being treated for Demaductant mange. We are so happy for Katie and Russ and their new addition to their family. Now, if either Katie or Russ is home by them selves, Mac will be there to keep them company.

Mac so far, has proven to be an easy keeper. He doesn't appear to suffer from the sort of separation anxiety that Rosie suffered from when we adopted her.

Katie and Russ came by on Sunday, and brought Mac with them so that he would be introduced to our clan. Rosie and Mac had a great time playing together! :-) Later that evening, we enjoyed a bar-b-que together. Carol made her famous potato salad. This particular time, Carol used a new steamer she bought from Pampered Chef.

It has worked out perfectly for cooking corn or potatoes to perfect doneness.

We hope you all are doing well.

Happy camping! - Eric and Carol -

Geocaching in the Bodega Bay area July 7th, 2012

For our last full day here in the Bodega Bay area, we decided to explore the area by doing some Geocaching. This brought some important information for us die-hard geocachers. If you want to geocache, don't rely on some light way application on your cell phone. You see, when you are in an area where the cell service doesn't work, like here in Bodega Bay, you won't be able to geocache yourself out of a wet paper bag! :-)

That's ok, since we have been geocachers from way back, we pulled the Magellan hand held GPS into service. After loading the coordinates for 8 different geocaches into the Magellan we set off for some High tech hide and seek. One of the caches was mapping out in the middle of the bay it self. It turns out that it was on a pier where you can walk out on. That one we couldn't find, because there were two many other people where the cache was. There was also another one at a gas station where there was just too much activity to find it. None the less, we had a wonderful time looking for all of these hidden treasures!

Half way through our adventures, we decided to have some lunch at the Spud Point Crab company. I had some wonderful clam chowder and Carol had a wonderful Crab cocktail!. We also shared some Sour dough bread and some yummy crab cakes!

This concludes our 5 day long get away to the coast so that we have enjoyed immensely. Every time we go some place new, we think about how much we want to return, and Bodega bay is no different. But, it also reminds us how many wonderful places in our country we have to explore in our future.

Thanks for reading, check back frequently for other updates.

Happy camping! Eric and Carol

Fort Ross and Bodega Marine Lab July 6th, 2012

We had a wonderful time on our second full day here in the Bodega Bay area. We took a trip about 20 miles up the coast to Fort Ross. This is a fort that was built in the early 1800's by the Russian-American company which was in the business of trying to establish a foothold on the west coast of North America. The main purpose of the outpost, was to have a place to produce food and other goods to ship up to Sitka Alaska and other Russian outposts in the Alaskan wilderness. Of course, this was a time in history long before Russia sold Alaska and the Aleutian islands to the United State of America.

This fort, was established as one of the first California State parks in the state park system. At this fort, there was a kitchen and fabrication shop building, a chapel, a warehouse and several other buildings inside the perimeter of the fort. On two of the opposing corners of the Fort, are gun posts where canon's and muskets can be fired from upon opposing forces if need be. This fort was never attacked. In fact, the only time the canon's were ever fired was when dignitaries arrived for a visit.

After we finished exploring Fort Ross, we headed back to Bodega Bay. Along the way, we found ourselves descending down through the cloud deck which was kind of a cool feeling as we were driving back to camp.

 On our way south on highway 1, we stopped in the town of Jenner for a wonderful lunch at Café Aquatica. Carol had a great Portobello mushroom sandwich, and I had a fine albacore tuna sandwich.

Upon our return to the Bodega Bay area, we went to the Bodega Marine Laboratory for the weekly tours that are conducted at the facility. We had a tour from a very interesting docent that told us about how at one point in time, PG & E wanted build a nuclear power plant on Bodega Bay. Though they were aware of the fact that the San Andreas Fault ran right through the area where they wanted to build the plant, they ignored that fact until that information came out and became public knowledge. After that, they sold the property to the State of California and UC Berkley ended up with the property and opened this Marine lab here. Though this is primarily a research facility, it is a fascinating place to visit get a glimpse of what is going on.

Tomorrow, we hope to explore the area some more by doing some Geocaching.

Happy camping! Eric and Carol

Bodega bay - July 5th, 2012

On our  first day here in Bodega Bay, we did a lot of exploring in the area. We started out by taking the two browns (Lilly and Rosie) to the beach so they could have a little fun. Since we adopted Rosie as a 1 and a half year old, we aren't sure if she had ever been to the beach. But, since she came from Amador county and seems so un-socialized with people, we doubt that she ever had enough socialization to have been there. In other words, we don't think she got out much. While we were out at the beach, we took a few minutes to fly our old pocket kite. Carol reminded me that this is something that has been around since before Carol and I met, and wow, that was 14 years ago!!!

We had a nice lunch at a restaurant right outside the gate of the RV park. They have a lot of seafood dishes with a Mexican flare to them. We think the park manager is married to the owner of the restaurant, but that is only a guess.

After we left the beach we explored the Bodega Bay area and looked out over some overlooks and checked out the coast line. This is a really beautiful area, but it is also a very rugged coast. There are many beach parking areas, but it's pretty tough sledding, getting down to the respective beach areas.

We also took the opportunity to check out some of the camp-grounds around the area for our eventual return. We really liked the Doran Beach campground which is managed by Sonoma county, but we had a hard time finding spots deep enough for our 40 foot Allegro bus. The Porto Bodega RV park is another nice full service RV park. It is flatter than where we are staying (at the Bodega Bay RV resort) and it also has beach access where we could walk the dogs out to the beach shore of the bay.

We also made a trip out to the town of Bodega, which is only about 15 minutes inland from Bodega Bay. Bodega's claim to fame is the Church and the house that were used in the Alfred Hitchcock classic 'The Birds'. We also went into a cool store that is full of Hitchcock memorabilia.

We are loving the Bodega Bay area and are looking forward to our additional explorations.

Happy camping! Eric and Carol -

More field repairs as we get ready for our Fourth of July departure for Bodega Bay

We scheduled a departure for Bodega Bay for a 5 day get away, which would start on the fourth of July. We had two problems that were bugging ol' Eric and he wanted to get them repaired sooner rather than later.

One of them was the Washer/Drier. It stopped working and after some diagnostics, I thought it might be the water pump that drains the washer. I contacted Splendide and they confirmed, based on my testing and findings, that my diagnostics were probably correct that it was the water pump. So, $138.00 later, we had a new water pump in hand, and the night before our scheduled departure for Bodega Bay, I changed out the water pump on our washer. It was in fact the water pump that had gone bad. The electric motor was very hard to turn, compared to the new one, which was very easy. So, with 2 hours of work, we were good to go.

The other repair I did, though a couple days earlier, was determining and fixing the problem with the lights on the CRV when being towed by the motorhome. We had a problem with this since the day we bought the Allegro bus. I eventually tracked the problems down to two issues. A couple of the circuits in the converter box failed and one wire in the wiring harness had pulled free. So, after a trip to AutoZone and a couple hours of work, we were up and running correctly with the lights on the CRV.

We've had a flag pole for sometime on the motorhome when it is parked, but never had appropriate lighting for at night. So, I bought a couple of solar charged spot lights, affixed them to the flag pole, and now the flag will have light all through the night, thanks to the batteries in the lights that are charged during the day time. And, we got the lights for only $5.00 each at Target!

Lastly, Karen, my sister was kind enough to send us some 4th of July scarves for the dogs. We had the dogs sporting them on the Fourth just as they were intended. They wore their colors proudly! :-)

Well, that's all for now. Happy camping!

Eric and Carol