HIATUS IS OVER… WE’RE BACK ON THE ROAD!

Hello, all – family, friends and followers. The hiatus is over: we’re back on the road and back on the blog, settled in at the Sands RV and Golf Resort in Desert Hot Springs, California (readers of Rick & Paulette’s RV Travels know the Sands as Rick and Paulette’s winter home base) until Christmas. (Click here to read our review and view photos.)

We left Sacramento last Saturday with a mission in mind: a thorough washing, waxing, and detailing at VIP Enterprises in San Bernardino, California. This is the company that renovated the outside of Scoopy two years ago with new stripes – the shine they put on Scoopy has not been duplicated since and we wanted it back.

Rather than spending three noisy nights sleeping in Scoopy in VIP’s lot adjacent to the 215, we rented a “beach cottage” on the California coast for an out-of-the-motorhome “vacation”. This is something we rarely did (only once, in fact) during our first seven years of travel, mostly because of Luna. We pictured this 3-day stay as a fun holiday, a time to regroup after our busy stay in Sacramento.

Another learning experience for Odel and Laurie!

Our vacation rental was a cute, four room cottage – a living room with huge HD TV, bedroom with queen bed, small bathroom, and small, well equipped kitchen with a dining nook. Very roomy compared to Scoopy.

Though our rental had plenty of square footage and a lovely front yard, it lacked several of the things we value most: a flat, firm mattress; a well-lit, cozy reading spot; a comfortable seat for the TV watcher (though we both enjoyed the huge HD TV). How I missed my window right next the bed, with its cooling breath of fresh air. And why didn’t I bring a nightlight?

When I whispered to Odel, laying on the too-soft mattress on our first night in the rental, that I was rather disappointed with the experience of “vacationing” from Scoopy, he agreed, and added that we would just have to “endure” it. We started laughing so hard, and loudly, that we were afraid we would wake up the neighbors (yes, another thing: the cottage turned out to be a duplex, so we shared a wall!).

I’m not complaining about the cottage – it was a cute little rental, no less than what we had expected. What I learned is that, in the eight years we have owned Scoopy, we have tweaked our little space to meet our needs better than I realized (or perhaps appreciated). Scoopy fits us like a glove.

And now, here we are, back home. Odel is clicking through the satellite TV channels on his “favorites” list (another thing we missed), reclining on his sofa after a dinner cooked in our efficient little kitchen. I’m lounging in the bedroom on our nice firm mattress, vanilla-scented, battery-powered “candles” flickering, the switches for my reading lights within reach and my current book beside the bed. Gosh, it’s so good to be home!

STILL HERE IN SACRAMENTO!

In answer to a couple of comments and emails we received: yes, we are OK – still here in Sacramento.  Thanks for thinking about us!

Dental appointments are done, as are most of the doctor visits.  We have one “repair” item left: the fix to our refrigerator dictated by the latest Norcold recall (which supersedes all previous recalls, even if you have had the prior work completed).  That will be handled by an extremely efficient mobile tech who makes service calls at Cal Expo RV Park regularly.

Mostly, the calendar for our remaining days here are full of fun: Thanksgiving, visits with long-time friends, visits with my family.  No touring, no travelers tales… instead, lots of laughs shared with those who know us best.  I’ll return to the blogosphere when we head out again, mid-December. 

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

HOW DO WE ACCUMULATE SO MUCH, SO QUICKLY? SACRAMENTO, CA

Hey, thanks for all the comments and emails about upgrades to to our motorhome’s interior!   Your advice will be a big help to us when we make our decisions.

It is a very gray, wet day here in Sacramento… a good day to stay indoors and focus on the many tasks I have ignored in favor of having fun (mostly).  Odel and I have both been all business since we got up this morning, he buried in Boomer business (volunteer job for our RV club) while I try to bring order to the chaos inside Scoopy.

We’ve got “stuff” everywhere!  Dashboard, driver and passenger chairs, plus every horizontal surface available.  Much of this is the result of my 60th birthday, with cards and gifts sitting around to be appreciated and enjoyed.  I got to attend three birthday parties AND a special event – a trip to San Francisco with both of my sisters and my 20 year old niece to view an exhibit of post-impressionist paintings (Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Beyond: Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay) at the de Young museum in Golden Gate Park, followed by a late lunch and a little sightseeing before we came home. 

The fact that we are stationary for a month contributes to the mess inside.  As usual when we visit Sacramento, we have ordered several things online, so we have a few items sitting around awaiting a new position… along with boxes and packing material destined for the dumpster.  Books and magazines that usually would be stashed away for travel are scattered near my chair, the sofa, the bed.  And, I’m accumulating goodies for Thanksgiving – a few bottles of wine to share with family, special ingredients purchased that don’t have a usual spot in a cupboard…

So, it was funny today to read a new post on a favorite blog about minimalist living.  Though most of the blogs I read are those of other RV’ers, several non-RV blogs have made it onto my subscription list – a couple cooking blogs and two blogs about frugal living.  I’ve mentioned one of them before, The Simple Dollar.  The other, the one that tickled me today, is Early Retirement Extreme.  Jacob, the author, has a funny sense of humor and a VERY frugal approach to life.  He also currently lives in an RV in the California Bay Area.

Jacob’s post, “How to Live Out of a Suitcase”, referenced an old post by Trent on The Simple Dollar, “The Suitcase Test: The Things You Really Need”.  By the time I had finished reading these two posts, I was INSPIRED.  In short order, I had one of the empty shipping boxes filled up with discards from the “oil/vinegar/sauce” cupboard (which now has two new bottles, birthday gifts, in place), all  the packing materials ready to toss, and another small box of give-away items near the front door.   Now, if I could just face my closet…!