A lot of great memories, but a few that stood out…
Cameron’s Wedding
Cameron & Meghan’s wedding in Salem – August 19th 2023
Seeing families and friends we have not seen in many years…
As our family grew and our careers got busy, we lost touch with many of our family and dear friends. Amazing how generous and wonderful our lost friends have been to us upon re-establishing our friendships. Major shout-outs to Bill and Liz: Deb, Rose and Mark; George and Barb; Paul and Jan; Bill and Kathy; Vicki and Dave…
Family & Friends
Sadly, we have lost several family members, several dear friends and a couple of neighbors of 22-years – tragic reminder to put family and friends higher in our priorities… and cheers to the our new friends that we’ve met on the road. Lost our friend George just after we purchased our motor home. Lost John’s father in 2018 – he got sick in 2017 as we were planning on hitting the road for a year. Lost our dear friend Joanne as we were on the east coast during our first year on the road.
We were able to attend Suzanne’s cousins wedding in 2019 as well as their daughter’s wedding in 2024.
Has been great to re-connect with recent and old friends: Tiger, Cindy & Cody; Mike & Michelle; Tom & Kit; Todd & Nancy; Brandy & Doug; Cindy & Fred…
Meeting new friends
Have met a lot of very nice people along the way. We have exchanged contact information with a few people, but some people have made the effort to stay in touch. Many include Larry & June, Sam & Susan, Franz & Peg, Jay & Adriana, Mike & Sue (and others from the Puerto Penasco), Trish & Greg, Bob & Ann; Tom & Ann; Steve & Beth; Cheryl and Ron; …
The loss of our traveling companions
Rio passed away on March 13, 2023. He was 14-years old. He passed away in Borrego Springs, California. Either age, tumors or seizures let to his physical decline this past 1.5 years. He has been a road warrior and an incredible traveling companion. We love him and will miss Rio so much.
Lost Lila to cancer on June 16, 2022. She was about 10-years old. She passed away in Palmer, Alaska. She started the journey with us, but sadly, could not finish the journey with us. We love Lila and will miss her dearly.
2021, 2022 and 2023 has been bittersweet. Many good memories, but dealing with Lila and Rio’s illnesses as well as a family member’s illness has been heavy on our hearts. We have but no choice to carry on and keep Lila and Rio in our memories as we continue on our journey.
Graduations
- Attended Cameron and Meghan graduation at UofO in june of 2017 – this was about the time we were deciding on starting our new journey together
- Attended Graham’s graduation in june in 2021 at Wagner University – graduation was postponed one year due to Covid
Firsts…
- First visit to south east asia 2023 – Vietnam and Thailand
- Telluride Blues and Brews music festival – september 2023
- Balloon festival in Albuquerque – october 2023
- Traveled to Alaska – summer 2022
- Traveled to Canada – spring and summer 2022
- Traveled to Mexico – Puerto Penasco, Mexico with five other couples in the fall of 2021
- First summer in Northwest (Oregon and Washington) (2021)
- Bought e-bikes in South Carolina (2021)
- First desert boon docking experience near the Imperial Valley Dam (Yuma, AZ) – Winter 2021
- May 2020 – bought first fishing license in Colorado; bought fly fishing gear (had bought casting reel and rod in Montana in August 2019) – bought shore fishing rod n reel in Florida in 2021
- May 2020 – first time in central Rockies
- February 2020 – first winter in Arizona, South Texas and Florida
- January 2020 – First dental visit to Los Algodones Mexico to replace broken tooth
- April 2019 – first Jeep Wrangler
- March 2019 – First cross-country trip – around the perimeter of the country except Florida area and New England
- Jan 2019 – First warm-weather during winter. Fantastic to put on shorts and sandals in Santa Barbara and San Diego – first time to BBQ outside too! Spent time in Arizona. It had been over two months since traveling in cold and wet places.
- Jan 2019 – First time really meeting other couples and socializing @ happy hours and football viewing parties – thanks Chula Vista RV & Marina!
- Dec 2018 – First winter trip (Pacific NorthWest). First whomping storm (Red Bluff, CA) with pouring down rain and high winds. First sprint between storms to get through the Siskyous before we got stuck in snow. Carefully watched weather reports for Snow, Rain and Wind!
- Dec 2018 – First boon docking experience (7 Feathers RV Park , Canyonville, Oregon) – nice RV park, but we toughed it out along with the big rigs instead in their trucker rest area. It was noisy to say the least – glad the windows were closed.
- Oct 2017 – First dry camping experience (Newport, Oregon) where we stayed overnight in the Marina – got kicked out of Walmart and we paid money to park in Marina overflow area with no hookups
COVID-19
While visiting Texas in early February, we became aware of COVID-19. We started monitoring the virus and wondering what it would mean to us. By late February, we were in Florida, and life started changing. We became aware of social distancing and avoiding crowds. National and State parks were closing. Businesses were closing. Food, lysol and TP became scarce in the stores. Graham cancelled his spring break visit to South Florida. Graham’s college was forced to close down and students to continue studying remotely – he drove down from NYC to St Augustine FL in March. We hunkered down in Savannah GA for the month of April. We then changed our plan from New England and Canadian Merritimes to visit Colorado and the Rockies. We arrived in Colorado on May 15th and spent the summer and much of the fall on the east and west sides of the Rockies covering South MT to North NM. Graham got a 2nd internship with NASA from August to December in Houston, but the job became remote – as a result, he worked remotely from Hood River Oregon. Spent fall in Nevada, Oregon, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. Spent most of winter in Arizona and SoCal. Went to visit Graham in Florida in the early spring (SpaceX) – got vaccinated in Orlando. Graham’s graduation @ Wagner. Christmas in June in Reno – with the entire family – been a long 18-months. We have been very fortunate that we did not lose any family or friends to Covid.
Visiting Chico, CA
Visiting our Alma Mater. Admiring how the University has changed. Seeing old friends Kathy and Bill. Having lunch @ The Bear. Seeing our old apartment on E. 8th Street near Bidwell park. Walking Bidwell park in the rain. Bought Crystal Wheat at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company after having a pint @ The Bear (available NorCal only). The Camp, Carr and many other fires are still very much part of these communities – especially with the rain arriving. Please consider buying the bear Resilience that Sierra Nevada Brewing company and 1000 other breweries are brewing in November/December 2018 to help the Camp Fire victims. We didn’t quite find out how to volunteer whilst we were here due to commitments and weather.
Location (always about the location)
We have seen so many unique and fascinating places around the country. National Parks, rural places of interest, major cultural cities and small rural towns. So many places that it will take multiple years to do the areas justice. Discovered that weather really has an impact on when we visit certain areas. We expected regional cultural differences – most of it good, but in some cases not so good (2020 brought Covid and Trumpism – really magnified the divisive thoughts and behaviour across the country).
Food & Drinks
Eating and drinking our way through the country. Prefer smaller and unique restaurants – especially tapas style places. Enjoy family bakeries, coffee houses and specialty eats. Enjoy visiting wine tasting rooms, local breweries and local distilleries. Life is too short to eat and drink average – does not need to be expensive or fancy – but something unique, tasty and affordable.
Where is Felix?
On our 2nd shake-out cruise, we woke up one morning to discover that Felix, our cat, was not around to eat morning breakfast. Ten hours later, we had searched every square inch of the RV, searched outside 100 yards in every direction and called various 800 numbers to find out if there was an outlet from inside to outside or whether the engine compartment was accessible from inside the RV. A neighbor suggested some smelly food. Fortunately, we were on the delta and they sold frozen anchovies and sardines. We bought a 5-pound bag of sardines and nuked half a fish. Felix eventually came out from under the dash without his harness and bell. We now block the driver and passenger foot areas when-ever we stop and the cats are allowed to escape the back bedroom.
When did that power pole move?
On our first major trip, we broke some of our rules. Drove into the town of Manzanita (Oregon) without first scouting the town for accessibility. Then backed up from a street without checking the situation myself. Then worst of all, didn’t use my immediate spotter (only mirrors and camera). Luckily, it was only the corner of the rear bumper (plastic corner part was $100 plus).
RV & Jeep
- Replaced vent cover for Vista after driving on the highway
- Lost water pump in Steamboat Springs 2020
- Lost RV AC in Las Vegas April 2021
- Lost RV AC in Edmonton August 2022
- Dealt with replacing toilet in Vista – March 2023
- Dealt with Jeep starter issues (Aux Battery) and Instrument Cluster July & August 2023
- Replaced jeep wrangler windshield for 2nd time – January 2024
- Passenger side fog light cover has to be replaced after it was broken