Tuesday, December 31, 2013

A Year Gone By!

I know it is a cliché, but where does the time go anyway? A year in review.

January found us transitioning from California to Yuma, AZ.  We spent about a week near Borrego Springs, CA boondocking in the desert. 

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What an experience that was.  Our batteries were not in the best of shape and we didn’t have enough solar panel power to fully recharge them during the short periods of daylight.  Temperatures dropped into the low 30’s and we could not use the heater in the camper.  We ended up driving 60 miles one way to get a Mr. Buddy propane heater.

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We arrived at Caravan Oasis RV Resort in Yuma on January 17th.  We were welcomed by our friends Brian and Teresa Morris who helped us settle in to our site and introduced us to our Canadian neighbors.  We settled in to the Yuma snowbird lifestyle with lots of activities and social gatherings in the resort.  In early February, I was feeling really “crappy” and went to a walk in clinic.  That turned into a diagnosis of Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib) and landed me in the hospital for 6 nights.  That shook Rosie up so much she started having all kinds of wild symptoms like shaking, heat flashes and rapid weight loss.  She was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism (Graves Disease).  So, in a matter of weeks, we went from very healthy and almost no medications to not so healthy and multiple medications.  We extended our stay in Yuma till the end of March so we could have some time for the meds to take hold and get medical approval to resume our journey. 

We spent April in Winslow and Holbrook, AZ.  During that time I took an ambulance ride to an emergency room as the result of an A-Fib flare up.  Came back home the same day.  The plus side of that experience was how many of our fellow campers came to Rosie’s aid with offers of any assistance she might need.  We spent May near Albuquerque, NM where I had a lot of work assignments.  While still not feeling so great, I was able to work.  During that time we took a nice day trip to Taos, a really neat little resort town.

June found us in the Denver area visiting old friends and neighbors from the time we lived there in the 90’s and early 2000’s.  Rosie was able to hike with her old buddies and I managed to get in a little more work.

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The fourth of July weekend found us at my family reunion in Colome, SD.  From there we hit the road for Idaho Falls, our last city of residence prior to full timing.  During that time I had a CardioVersion, a shock treatment for the heart to correct the A-Fib.  That treatment is still holding, a fact for which I am very grateful.  We had more medical work done, the pooches went to the vet and we went to the dentist.

In August, we traveled to Tollbridge Campground in Hood River County, Oregon for our first try at work camping.  This turned to be a wonderful experience.  The geography was great.  Our boss from the County, Cory VanSickle, was great.  We had several visitors while we were there, including old friends who traveled all the way from Germany.

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At the end of October, we made a quick run back to Idaho Falls so Rosie could have a colonoscopy done.  With that procedure producing good results, we headed for Santa Paula, CA where we arrived on November 1st.  Our original plan was to return to Yuma on December 15th, but after a week or so in So. Cal. we decided we liked it here better than we liked Yuma.  Don’t get me wrong, the social activities of Yuma were great and we met some wonderful people there; but that did not overcome our basic dislike of sand and cactus every where we looked.  The desert environment is just not our thing.  So we decided to stay here in Santa Paula for the winter.  We will head back to Tollbridge Park on April first to return to our camp hosting life that we really enjoy.

Which brings me to this blog; and the fact I have not been writing very much for the past 2 months.  The simple fact is that there is not much to write about that I think would be of interest to any of our followers that are not close friends or family, and we communicate with them almost daily of Facebook.  When we started our full time lifestyle we had dreams of going to different places in the western USA and having great experiences with new places and lots of things to write about.  The reality is that we do not have the financial resources to live that dream.  Until the economy improves enough to restore the self employment income levels we enjoyed a couple of years ago, we will be on a “holding pattern” of 5 months here in Santa Paula (where I can get some work) and 5 months camp hosting in Hood River Oregon (where our living expenses are drastically reduced).  The remaining two months will be spent in Idaho Falls and Denver, with a side trip to South Dakota for my reunion.  Bottom line; my blogging will be very limited in the future.  I thank those who have been following this adventure and have been leaving very nice comments here.  I hope all of you have a great New Year in 2014.

Thanks for stopping by.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Hello Again Hello

It has been almost a month since my last post.  The reason being not much to write about.

We did make one significant adjustment in our lifestyle.  We purchased a 1999 Toyota RAV4 so Rosie could regain the sense of independence she lost when we sold her RAV4 to go full timing.  This allows her to go to yoga, the library and do local shopping without having to be chauffeured by me.  Rosie can drive the big old truck, but parking it is a challenge for her (and sometimes for me too).  So we talked it over and agreed this would be a good thing for us to do.  We will leave the car here in Simi Valley with our oldest daughter while we travel up north in the summer.  Here is a picture of Rosie with her new (to her) wheels:

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This last Friday I had a couple of work assignments in Santa Barbara, about 40 miles from where we are camped.  Had a chance between appointments to park along the beach front walk and enjoy the surroundings.

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We enjoyed our Thanksgiving with our kids and grandkids and are looking forward to Christmas doing the same.

Thanks for stopping by!