Category Archives: Western RV/Alpine Coach

Beach House Boondocking

Once we made the decision to pull out of San Angelo State Park, we were packed and ready to hit the road in short order. We pulled out at 10:30am. Our destination was Buchanan Dam where my friend Dave Glynn has a vacation home and property on the lake.

Our route took us along US87 to Brady. On the way there, Donna monitored the weather with the Radar Express app on my phone. She was tracking a storm cell as it hit Brady. We stopped at a rest area west of Brady and stretched our legs for 10 minutes to give the storm time to pass northeast of our travel route. This worked perfectly as we only found wet roads and light rainfall on the route.

From Brady we hit TX71, a lightly used route that took us through the hill country. San Angelo is located in high desert terrain. The landscape changed as we traveled east. The Texas hill country is wooded with meadows full of poppies and other wildflowers, of course, it’s hilly. Donna shot a few photos through her window as we drove along the highway.

Donna's window view of wildflowers

Donna’s window view of poppies

We found our way to Dave’s driveway. There was a low tree branch Dave told me about that was blocking us from pulling in past the house. I removed the branch (Dave told me I’d be doing him a favor). Getting the coach turned around and lined up next to the house was really tricky. We had obstacles such as trees, flower beds and bushes to maneuver around.

It took a full 30 minutes of jockeying the coach back and forth a few feet at a time to get it lined up right. The Allison automatic transmission didn’t like all the maneuvering at idle speed. The transmission fluid temperature rose to 220 degrees – that’s the highest I’ve ever seen it. I finally had the coach parked on the east side of the house with our door lined up with a walkway to the patio. The house should offer us some protection against the wind as severe storms are in the forecast.

Coach position next to Dave's beach house

Coach positioned next to Dave’s beach house

The house should offer protection from the storms

The house should offer protection from the storms

Donna and I sat on the deck overlooking the lake and sipped cold beer. Donna phoned her parents and wished her mom a happy Mother’s Day. While she was on the phone, I took a walk down to a pier a few hundred feet from Dave’s property.

There’s been a long period of drought in Texas (like most of the southwest). At San Angelo State Park, the lake no longer exists. Here at Buchanan Lake, the water level has dropped considerably. The pier sits high and dry a few hundred yards from the current shoreline.

Fishing pier

Fishing pier

End of the pier well short of the shoreline

End of the pier well short of the shoreline

The pier is at the foot of a small community park, which I believe is common property owned by a homeowners’ association. Some of the homes here had private docks which are no longer in the lake. The receding lake has left many of the lakefront properties up to a quarter mile away from the lake. That has reset the property values to a much lower level. This coupled with the financial crisis during the last decade left many homeowners here in a bind.

Sunday was the last day of our data plan cycle. I had a few gigabytes to spare so I downloaded the European coverage of the Formula One race from Spain. While I was watching the race, Donna hiked on the trails along the lake. She snapped a few interesting photos on her walk.

Inlet off the lake west of Dave's place

Inlet off the lake west of Dave’s place

More wildflowers near the lake

More wildflowers near the lake

Unmanned fishing poles

Unmanned fishing poles

We watched a recorded program before we went to bed. I was tired and fell asleep quickly. I woke up around midnight as another storm came through. It wasn’t too severe – a few flashes of lightning and raindrops falling on the roof.

This morning, another storm cell is passing through as I type this – lightning struck close by on the lake. The flash of lightning was immediately followed by a loud clap of thunder. The storm is moving quickly to the northeast. It looks like a few more storm cells are lined up to head our way today.

Stormy Night

We pulled out of Fort Stockton RV Park shortly before their 11am checkout time yesterday. We drove back east on I-10 five miles to the Flying J travel center and topped up our tank with 44 gallons of diesel fuel at the truck fueling pumps. Our route for the day took us westbound on I-10 to US67 through the towns of McCamey and Big Lake. It’s about 140 miles to San Angelo from Fort Stockton.

We stopped at a roadside picnic table west of Big Lake. Donna made a salad for herself and I had a 6″ Subway sandwich that Donna had bought for me at the Flying J travel center. The weather was nice with the temperature in the morning in the lower 70s and steadily climbing as we traveled. US67 is a two-lane highway without much traffic. We had a tailwind and it was an easy drive to San Angelo State Park.

There are more than 60 RV sites in the park. We’re in a long pull-through site with great separation between us and our neighbors. The site has 50 amp service and fresh water but no sewer hook-up.

San Angelo park site 2.

San Angelo State Park site 2

Their website advertises the site for $20/night. That seems fair enough but you have add a $4 park entrance fee. When we got here, we were informed the $4 fee is per person, so make that $8 for a total cost of $28/night.

It was getting hot out when we arrived here – over 90 degrees. I connected to the 50 amp pedestal and we had both air conditioners running in no time. The sites are fairly level, so getting set up was quick and painless. I rewarded myself with a Left Coast Brewing VooDoo American Stout.

Voodoo American stout

VooDoo American stout

This is a tasty beer. Dark roasted malt gives hints of coffee and chocolate at 8% alcohol by volume.

Donna was outside and told me she saw bison northeast of our site. I walked out through a field (being mindful of the prickly pear cactus) and shot a photo. Later, Donna went for a walk and got closer – close enough to see they were fake silhouettes. How disappointing. There are supposed to be real bison and longhorn cattle in the park. Hans Kohl (Metamorphosis Road) told me there are also javelina here.

Bison silhouettes in the center

Bison silhouettes in the center

I grilled a rack of lamb for dinner. Donna spiced the lamb with fresh herbs and garlic.

Rack of lamb on the grill

Rack of lamb on the grill

Donna served it with a spinach and sweet potato hash.

Lamb with sweet potato spinach hash

Lamb with sweet potato spinach hash

It was so good!

My friend, Dave Glynn offered to have us park on his vacation property at Buchanan Dam. I looked at the property on Google Earth and was confused about how to enter the property and park. I phoned Dave while I was looking at the image. After talking with him again, I have a clear idea of what to do now. We’ll move about 160 miles southeast and stay there for a couple of nights.

We kept an eye on the weather all day yesterday. I saw a few thunderheads around us, but we seemed to be in the right spot. There were reports of severe weather to the northeast of us. All was fine when we went to bed.

I woke up at 2am as rain was pelting the roof and the coach was shaking from the wind. The topper over the living room slide was flapping violently. I got up and pulled the living room slide in. Donna and I sat in the front seats and watched the storm. I don’t remember ever seeing lightning like that. It was continuous, flickering light for half an hour. I looked at my cell phone weather radar app and saw we were in the middle of a storm cell. Twenty-five minutes later, I could see that the storm was moving to the east. Here’s a screen shot of the radar I took at 2:25 a.m.

Screenshot from my weather radar app - we're the blue dot

Screenshot from my weather radar app – we’re the blue dot

The heavy rain turned to hail when we went back to bed. The hail drummed on the roof for several minutes, then it was rain again. I finally dozed off around 3am and slept fitfully.

Our original plan was to hang around, do some hiking and get a good look at the park. They have a 2pm check out time. Looking at the forecast, we’ve changed our plan. More severe weather is supposed to move into the area this afternoon. I want to be hunkered down, not out on the road if that happens. So we’re packing up and moving to Dave’s property this morning.

Rest Stop Road Runner

Our dry camping spot at the SKP park in Deming wasn’t anything to write home about. But an interesting point is it was next to a motel that I’d stayed at previously. I stayed at The Quality Inn right next door with my motorcycling buds when we traveled to New Mexico to ride at the Arroyo Seco race track.

I always love it when an interesting coach pulls into a park. The coach that parked into a site near us was definitely interesting. It was an older Foretravel – I’m guessing late ’90s, maybe 2000. Foretravel coaches are built in Texas on a proprietary monocoque chassis and are definitely in the upper class of motorhomes. This one had a cool custom paint job and matching stacker trailer.

Custom paint on a Foretravel coach and trailer

Custom paint on a Foretravel coach and trailer

I spoke briefly to the owner. He told me it’s a 42-foot coach although it looks longer. I think the  illusion of length is due to the paint scheme and tag axle. I was curious but didn’t find out what was in the stacker trailer. The satellite dish and roof AC covers painted to match the trim along the roof was a nice touch.

Donna prepared pan-seared flank steak on the induction cooktop and served it with asparagus for dinner. The park had an unusual rule restricting generators after 7:30pm, so Donna prepared dinner early, then we switched to battery/inverter power.

Flank steak and asparagus

Flank steak and asparagus

We watched the final episode of House of Cards, season three before heading to bed.

We lost an hour coming into New Mexico, so even though we felt like we were up early, it was after 8am by the time we got up and had breakfast and coffee. Since we were dry camped, we were able to get things ready for travel quickly and left the park around 8:45am.

Our first stop was only about an hour east on I-10. There’s a rest stop west of Las Cruces that I really like. It has an incredible view of the valley and old downtown Las Cruces and a cool sculpture to boot. The greater roadrunner is the state bird of New Mexico and this rest stop has a huge, beautiful roadrunner sculpture. I really wanted Donna to see the view and sculpture. Too bad it was a little hazy, the haze is more apparent in the photos than what we saw.

View as you approach the facility

View as you approach the facility

Valley view of old Las Cruces

Valley view of old Las Cruces

Greater roadrunner sculpture

Greater roadrunner sculpture

I used to stop here when I traveled to Las Cruces and El Paso for business. Speaking of EL Paso, what a trial to drive through on I-10. There’s a bypass route but it’s mountainous and I heard there was construction that way. We ran the gauntlet and made our way through. At times, I thought we were were in Juarez, Mexico.

Once we cleared El Paso, it was a long drone along I-10. Some of the scenery was interesting, but to be honest, it was a boring drive. I kept myself alert by monitoring engine and transmission temperatures and engine oil pressure. Yeah, exciting stuff. I also kept track of the sparse traffic around me and flashed my headlights to let passing tractor-trailer rigs know when their trailer was clear of our motorhome to move over in front of me. I think this is a courtesy that we should extend as big rig drivers. Most truckers flash their running lights back at me when they move over to acknowledge the courtesy signal. We lost another hour as we entered the Central Time Zone along the way. The road surface was good for the most part until we were about 60 miles west of Fort Stockton. Then it had washboard sections that were ridiculous considering the 80mph speed limit (we kept our speed at 62mph in the right lane).

We finally made it to Fort Stockton. There’s a GPS map glitch that affects this area. We know from online posts that it’s not just our GPS – many are affected by this. It makes sense to me since there are only a few map suppliers for the GPS units. I think Navteq supplies most GPS sellers such as Garmin, Lowrance and others, so it stands to reason that a map error affects all users. I won’t condemn my GPS unit for a map error. I just have to find a reasonable way around it.

We worked around the glitch and found the park Donna scouted online with a Passport America rate of only $11 with full hook-ups. Once we drove there, we changed our minds. We wanted to conserve cash on this run, but we have certain standards. This park was all dirt with no amenities and a thunderstorm was a distinct possibility. We didn’t want to be parked in a mud hole.

We moved on and checked in at the Fort Stockton RV Park east of town. Of the parks in this area, I think this was the best option. With a Good Sam discount we secured a paved 72-foot pull-through, full hook-up site for $31.

Once we settled, in I phoned an old buddy, Dave Glynn. He had contacted me via Facebook the day before and told me to let him know if we would be in the area of Fort Stockton. He’s currently working in an oil field near Fort Stockton. Dave and I go way back – the last time I saw him was in the early 80s. We hung out and had many misadventures together in the 70s.

Dave came out to our site at the RV park and took Donna and me out to dinner. It was fun talking about the old days, reminiscing and catching up. Dave generously picked up the tab and invited – no, insisted – we stay at his vacation place at Buchanan Dam. The house has acreage on the lake and we can park the motorhome there. Thanks, Dave!

We have thunderstorms here and are likely to encounter more as we move through south central Texas to the gulf. Hopefully we’ll avoid hail storms or tornados! Texas weather scares me. We’ll head on to San Angelo for a night then hit Dave’s place at Buchanan Dam.

 

Continental Divide

I’m typing this after a long day on the road. After I posted to the blog last evening, Donna and I sat up and watched two episodes of House of Cards – season three. When I went to bed, I slept like a rock. Donna was awakened by the sound of a car pulling into our spot at 2am. The car departed shortly after pulling in. She didn’t hear any doors open, just a strange muffled sound. Today we think it was probably law enforcement – a cop or border patrol car. The sound may have been a radio receiver in the vehicle. They probably just did a drive-by to see who or what was in the area.

The boondocking spot we found off AZ85 south of Gila Bend had a ramada and a sign that said “overnight parking permitted, no camping.” We took that to mean “don’t pitch a tent or get in a sleeping bag under the ramada.”

It was a fairly quiet spot and we couldn’t beat the price – free.

Sunset at our boondocking spot in the desert

Sunset at our boondocking spot in the desert

We were up early this morning. We had breakfast and coffee and had the slides in and jacks up by 8:15am. We changed our plan and decided to go the extra 30 miles and maybe add 45 minutes to our drive by continuing south on AZ85. This would take us through the towns of Ajo and Why before we headed east on AZ86 to Tucson. There was very little traffic and it was more interesting than droning along on I-8 to I-10.

Our boondocking site after sunrise

Our boondocking site after sunrise

We eventually hit I-10 at Tucson. We stopped at a rest stop east of Benson and ate lunch, then motored on. Donna was working at her laptop while I drove. After about 300 miles of driving in windy conditions, we crossed the border into New Mexico. I’ll need to update our states visited map. I’ve been to New Mexico many times, but we only count the states we’ve visited since we started full-time RVing.

I don't know if the sign was messed up or the picture pixilated

I don’t know if the sign was messed up or the picture pixilated

After a stop at the Flying J in Lordsburg, where we topped up the tank with 55 gallons of diesel fuel, we crossed the Continental Divide at an elevation of 4,585 feet above sea level. For those of you who don’t remember what the significance of the Continental Divide is – it marks the difference of where watersheds drain. West of the Continental Divide, water flows to the Pacific Ocean. East of the Continental Divide, it flows to the Atlantic (via the Gulf of Mexico or Caribbean Sea in some cases). From there we drove on to Deming. We are currently dry camped at an SKP park here. The day’s total mileage was 377 miles. I usually like to limit my drive to 250-300 miles per day. We’ll push on again in the morning and drive about 340 miles to Fort Stockton, Texas.

Anniversary Dinner in San Diego

Tuesday morning got off to a great start when Bob and Sini Schmitt invited us to join them for breakfast in their coach. Sini had just returned from two weeks of travel, while Bob was living the bachelor life. She went to Hawaii for a wedding, then to Seattle to look after some business at their house in Edmonds. Bob cooked up excellent breakfast burritos for us and we got caught up on Sini’s trip.

After breakfast, I started breaking down our outdoor gear. I folded up the chairs, took down the front window covers, and got things organized. Bob lent me his GMC Jimmy to move everything to the trailer while he and Sini drove to LA in a rental car to attend a show. Their goal was to get tickets to The Voice, but to get that, they had to agree to be members of the audience for the filming of an episode of AD. I loaded some of the gear into the Jimmy, then took a break to go to Pacific Beach Recreation Center to play some pickleball. I cut it short and left after a few games to get back to packing up.

Back at the coach, I stowed the tire covers and checked tire pressures. I loaded the Weber Q grill and ladder into Bob’s Jimmy and took everything to the trailer. By the time I had the trailer packed, another hour and half had passed. I still needed to load the scooter and Donna’s bike after she returned from her ride. I had that all done by 5pm.

This worked out perfectly since we planned to head out to our anniversary dinner at Island Prime at 5:45pm. I had time to shower and have a cocktail before our ride picked us up. Donna used one of the free Lyft coupons she had. Lyft is a taxi service that operates much like Uber. Our friend Mona is an Uber and Lyft driver. We planned it so Mona could be our driver. She came to the RV park at 5:45, we jumped in her car and then Donna requested a pick-up. Since Mona was the closest driver, she got the fare.

Island Prime is on the eastern point of Harbor Island, which like most of the “islands” in San Diego, is a peninsula. We made a quick stop for a couple of photo opportunities on the way.

Coronado bridge from Harbor Isalnd

Coronado Bridge from Harbor Island

Do you think they dropped off pineapples

Do you think this freighter dropped off pineapples?

The Island Prime restaurant features great views of both Coronado Island and the San Diego downtown skyline. We didn’t have a window seat, but our booth was only one table away from the glass. We watched boats sailing by as we had a drink and shared an appetizer.

I know this isn't a sloop, maybe a ketch?

I know this isn’t a sloop – maybe a ketch?

Ahi Stack appetizer

Ahi stack appetizer

We had the Ahi stack for an appetizer. The stack includes guacamole, sushi grade ahi tuna and creamy crab on top served with taro chips and a pineapple salsa and caviar.

Donna ordered the macadamia crusted sea bass. She hadn’t tried sea bass before and wanted to try something new. It was flaky and cooked perfectly. I had the filet trio – a trio of three, three-ounce medallions of filet mignon with three different toppings – bleu cheese, crab, and wild mushrooms – served over mashed potatoes.

Macadamia sea bass

Macadamia sea bass

Filet trio

Filet trio

It was an excellent meal coupled with outstanding service and unbelievable views. I can’t entertain like this every night, but it’s the right thing to do with my wife on our anniversary.

Sunset on my shoulder and a smiling face on my anniversary

Sunset on my shoulder and a smiling face on my anniversary

We pulled the same gambit to have Mona be our Lyft driver on the way home. While we waited outside, I shot a couple of photos. I think a pair of Maseratis (one a spyder, the other coupe) and a Tesla valet-parked in front speak to the upscale clientele of this restaurant. Not that I’m all that impressed with material possessions. Just saying.

Maserati duo

Maserati duo

The ubiquitous SoCal $100k Tesla electric car

The ubiquitous SoCal $100k Tesla electric car

Mona gifted us with a bottle of wine when she picked us up. Now, how many of you had your driver gift you with a bottle of wine?

I had hoped to be on the road by 9:30am on Wednesday morning, but we were a bit behind schedule. We plodded along methodically and had everything in order by a little after 10am. Then we needed to drive the coach to the overflow lot and hook up the trailer. We managed to get everything done without any undue stress and hit the road at 10:30am. The 9:30am departure was only a wish, not a drop-everything-and-let’s-get-rolling deal, so all was well.

We rolled easily along I-8 eastbound and made our usual stop at the Buckman Springs rest area. From there we crossed the three 4000+ foot summits and descended to the desert. It was an easy drive. I followed a tractor-trailer rig through the steep, twisty downgrade and held my speed in check with the Jake brake.

Our original plan was to stop for the night near Wellton, Arizona and dry camp. We were there before 3pm so we decided to move on. That’s how it goes sometimes – you make decisions on the fly. Donna was looking at the Escapee’s Day’s End directory on her laptop as we drove. We finally decided to press on to Gila Bend. Once there, we went south on AZ85 and found a legal boondocking spot to spend the night.

It’s quiet and the view is nice, but it’s windy and we’ve stayed indoors. After consulting the map, I think we’ll backtrack 10 miles in the morning back to I-8 and take that to I-10 and try to make it to Deming, New Mexico. We’d like to bank some miles before we take a two-night stop in order to be sure we can make it to Houston by the 14th.

Ninth Anniversary

Cinco de Mayo today! Many people think this is the Mexico’s Independence Day, much like our Fourth of July. Mexico’s independence Day is September 16th. Cinco de Mayo (fifth of May) celebrates a military victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

For us, Cinco de Mayo has another reason for celebration. Donna and I were married on May 5, 2006 at Watson Lake in Prescott, Arizona. We always go out for dinner on Cinco de Mayo and this year is no exception. We’ll take an Uber car to Island Prime restaurant on the east tip of Harbor Island. Island Prime is an upscale steak and seafood establishment on San Diego Bay with views of the downtown skyline and Coronado Island.

Wet weather is closing in on southern California. After joining Bob and Sini Schmitt for breakfast this morning, I’ll need to pack our outdoor gear. I’d like to have everything secured in the trailer before we go out to dinner tonight. Then I’ll only have to dump and flush the tanks before we disconnect tomorrow.

We’ll drive to the vicinity of Yuma, Arizona tomorrow and find a place to boondock overnight before we continue to Benson, Arizona. I’m not sure if I’ll post again until we reach Benson.

Shelter Island 2013 on Mark and Emily Fagan's boat

Shelter Island 2013 on Mark and Emily Fagan’s boat

Hawaiian Festival

I spent most of Saturday recovering from Friday’s beach house graduation party. Donna went out for a bike ride, but it was well past noon before I ventured out.

There’s always something going on at Mission Bay Park on the weekends. Last weekend was no exception. After lunch, we walked to the grassy park at De Anza Cove just outside of the RV park and found the San Diego Hawaiian Festival, a two-day event held every year on the first weekend of May. There’s a fairly large and active Pacific Islander community in San Diego. Although the festival was called Hawaiian, it really catered to Hawaiians, Samoans, Filipinos and other Polynesian islanders.

There were dozens of vendors set up in tents or under canopies. One area was set up as a food court. They also had continuous live entertainment with two stages in the park — one large stage on the north side with musicians and dancers and a smaller stage next to the cove.

Traditional dance in front of the large stage

Traditional dance in front of the large stage

Island music by the cove

Island music by the cove

We wandered around looking at the vendor offerings and listening to the music. By the bay, we saw a large outrigger canoe. Polynesian sailors historically used these vessels to navigate between the islands.

Outrigger canoe

Outrigger canoe

Kicking back and enjoying the festival

Kicking back and enjoying the festival

We had visitors on Sunday – my three daughters and granddaughter Gabi rode beach bikes six miles from the beach house where they were staying to the RV park. Everyone was hungry, so we walked over to the Hawaiian Festival and bought lunch from a vendor and sat at a picnic table by the bay, enjoying Hawaiian fare – chicken and kalbi (beef) teriyaki bowls and several different salads.

Gabi had Hawaiian shaved ice for dessert

Gabi had Hawaiian shaved ice for dessert

We walked through the vendor area again. It seemed like every other vendor was selling T-shirts. I was tempted to buy, but held off. Donna bought a visor for playing pickleball. Mostly we were just looky-loos.

Festival vendor

Festival vendor

After we returned to our place, I rode the scooter over to the Liquor Locker on Morena Boulevard to buy a few specialty craft beers. I brought back Stone Chai Spiced Russian Stout, Belching Beaver Horchata Stout, Peanut Butter Stout and Alesmith IPA. I split the 22-ounce bottles four ways and sampled each with my daughters. Tasty stuff, way out of the ordinary.

Belching Beaver Horchata Stout

Belching Beaver Horchata Stout

Donna prepared Italian-herbed boneless chicken thighs and Mediterranean quinoa salad. While she was preparing the dishes, we had appetizers — jicama fresh fries that we dipped in homemade guacamole and also veggies and tortilla chips with Donna’s homemade sun-dried tomato and basil hummus. The girls also brought some Bitchin’ Sauce that they bought at the farmer’s market in Little Italy the day before.

Donna’s sister, Sheila, and her nephew, Connor, joined us for dinner and brought Bandit, their puppy. While I was grilling the chicken, Gabi and Connor put Donna’s hula hoops to good use.

Gabi hooping

Gabi hooping

Shauna’s roommate, Cat, (also a magna cum laude Cal Western graduate) joined us and we all enjoyed a great meal at the table outside of our coach.

Dining al fresco with family and friends

Dining al fresco with family and friends

It was a fine finish to the weekend. Gabi stayed behind after everyone left and spent the night with us in the coach. She really likes staying in the RV. After the last time she stayed with us in Washington, she told her mother (my oldest daughter Alana) that they could live the RV lifestyle once her older sister, Lainey graduates from high school.

The skies are overcast this morning. The weather guessers are calling for a high temperature in the upper 60s and there’s a high surf advisory at the beaches. Waves up to 12 feet tall are predicted. I’ll get a start on organizing the trailer today. I want to have everything buttoned up so I only have to load the scooter tomorrow afternoon. Tuesday is Cinco de Mayo, which happens to be our wedding anniversary. We plan to go out to dinner on Harbor Island, then we’ll head out of San Diego Wednesday morning.

J D Magna Cum Laude

All three of my daughters along with their mother (my ex-wife), uncles and cousins were in town Thursday for my youngest daughter Shauna’s graduation from California Western School of Law. My step-dad Ken also made the drive down from Menifee and checked into a hotel in Mission Valley.

Ken rested at the hotel while Donna and I scootered over to Mission Beach to join the girls and their mother’s side of the family at the beach house they rented. We walked up the boardwalk to Drafts for food and drink, but with the NFL draft on TV, the sports bar was full and couldn’t accommodate our party of 13. I phoned ahead to Coaster’s Bar and Grill and they set up a table for us.

Food and drink at Coaster's

Food and drink at Coaster’s

On Friday morning, I scootered over to the Extended Stay Hotel in Mission Valley. That’s where we booked a room for Ken. It was funny when I told him which hotel Donna booked through Priceline – when I said Extended Stay, he thought I said Expensive Stay.

San Diego has changed a lot in the past couple of decades since Ken moved up to Riverside County. I was concerned about him becoming confused and getting lost. He followed me in his car back to Mission Bay RV Resort. We gave him a quick tour of our coach, then we drove his car to the San Diego Convention Center on Harbor Drive. The Cal Western School of Law graduation ceremony was held there.

Shauna earned her Juris Doctor degree Magna Cum Laude. The hall was packed and taking photos of the ceremony wasn’t possible. After the one and a half hour event, we wandered through the mob and finally found Shauna. We took a number of photos out on the deck on the bay side of the convention center.

Me, Shauna and Donna

Me, Shauna and Donna

Shauna and grandpa Keller

Shauna and Grandpa Keller

Afterwards, we came home and changed clothes before heading back to the Mission Beach house. It was party central all afternoon and well into the evening. The weather was excellent – the afternoon temperature reached a high of 88 degrees, but the onshore breeze from the ocean made it comfortable.

Cooler temperatures in the low 70s are in the forecast for the weekend. We don’t have an agenda for today. But tomorrow, the girls will come to our place for a visit and dinner. Maybe we can go out on the bay in the Sea Eagle kayak.

Where Are You From?

Where are you from? It’s a simple question, right? But when you’re a full-timing nomad, it’s not always so easy to answer. We usually say, “Wherever our motorhome is parked.”

The long answer gets confusing. I grew up here in San Diego, so it always feels like home to me. Donna grew up in upstate New York near Albany and then moved to Lake Placid, New York before moving to Arizona in 2002. I lived in Washington, north of Seattle for 15 years. Donna and I met and married in Arizona in 2006. I lived in Michigan twice, for a few years in the late ’80s and again from 2009 until we hit the road in 2013. So Michigan was our last sticks-and-bricks home.

Our current domicile state is South Dakota. When people see our South Dakota license plates, they often ask, “Where in South Dakota are you from?” Other times, like when we check in at RV parks or show ID at a bank, people assume we’re visiting and ask when we will head back to South Dakota. The real answer is that we’ll head back there in a few years to renew our driver’s licenses, but sometimes we just go along with the charade and say, “When the weather warms up.”

There was a knock on our door the other morning. I opened the door and stepped out to find a man and woman at our site. The man shook my hand and introduced himself and his wife. They were Bob and Dovie Koop from Sun City Shadow Hills near Indio, California. They saw our license plate – KOOP42 (Koop for two) and thought that was our last name. Bob’s uncle was C. Everett Koop, the United States Surgeon General during the Reagan administration. He held that post from 1982 to 1989 and was known for his anti-smoking campaign. C. Everett Koop passed away in February 2013 at the age of 96. I don’t think he was ever a smoker.

We’ve had a heat wave over the past few days with the temperature reaching 90 degrees. It should be cooler today and tomorrow with a high around 80 degrees. We’ve been running the air conditioners.

Donna had her last follow-up exam at her doctor’s office yesterday. We should be good to go on health care until we return at the end of the year. I scootered Donna to her appointment in Mission Hills. I took us down Pacific Highway and up Washington Street to Mission Hills. Donna hadn’t been on that route before and didn’t realize how many restaurants and shops were in the area.

Her appointment was finished by 11am. We made a stop at CVS across the street for a few things and then our thoughts turned to lunch. Our ride home would take us past Old Town, so we decided to stop at one of our favorite restaurants – the Old Town Mexican Cafe.

The parking lot attendant directed us to a perfect motorcycle parking spot behind the restaurant. We enjoyed selections from their daily special menu. Donna had chicken molé ( a quarter of a chicken with molé sauce, rice and beans). I had the half chili verde, half chili Colorado plate with rice and beans. As always, the food was delicious and served with fresh, hand-made warm tortillas.

Making tortilla by the front window of the Old Town Mexican Cafe

Making tortillas by the front window of the Old Town Mexican Cafe

The hockey season ended for me last night. The Detroit Red Wings were eliminated from the playoffs with a game seven loss in Tampa Bay. Donna won’t have to sit through anymore hockey games on television until next year.

While I was watching the game, Donna grilled corn on the cob and made wild Alaskan cod with tomatoes and capers for dinner. The fish was cooked to perfection.

Wild Alaskan cod with tomatoes and capers

Wild Alaskan cod with tomatoes and capers

Today all three of my daughters will be in town as well as my step-dad, Ken. I’m a little concerned about Ken making the 90-mile drive from Menifee, but he insisted that he was fine driving that distance. He got a new car recently and says he needs to put some miles on it.

We’ll try to figure out how to get everyone together later today, after pickleball at the Pacific Beach Recreation Center.

Blue Apron Dinner

We had much warmer, summer-like weather yesterday as the thermometer hit 83 degrees. I spent hours on my laptop trying book places to stay in The Woodlands area of Texas and also on the gulf coast in Rockport. When we know we want to be in a particular area at a certain time, I like to book ahead. When we’re traveling, I like to have open dates as well to allow spontaneity.

Our plan was to arrive in The Woodlands on May 14th and stay through the 18th so we can meet up with Allen Hutchinson and his family when he competes in the Ironman Triathlon there. Of course, the Ironman competition brings a large number of visitors to the area and finding an RV site close to the course was impossible. I didn’t book it earlier, because some of our plans were still up in the air.

I ended up finding a swanky RV resort in north Houston, about 12 miles from The Woodlands. This resort is more expensive than our usual choices, but we’ll make do. Finding a place in Rockport was very time consuming. There are 36 RV parks in the area. I looked at websites, then found each park on Google Earth. Many of the parks I looked at appeared to be dirt sites with lots of trees. I rejected these. I don’t want to be in a dirt site for two weeks on the gulf coast. Rain is likely at some point and a dirt park could end up a mud hole. I’m also wary of too many trees close to a site. Trees can cause damage or at the very least, block satellite signals taking out our TV reception.

I found what appeared to be an ideal park. It showed sites with huge concrete pads – all sites over 70′ long and 40′ wide. I called them and was told they were completely booked through September! I worked my way down my list and heard the same thing from a few more places. This was worrisome. Our friends John and Sharon (On the Road of Retirement) told us about a place at Copano Bay in Rockport that they said lacks amenities but wasn’t a bad park. It also has a dock and is right on an inlet called Salt Lake which is part of Copano Bay.

When I phoned the park, they were very accommodating. They found a site for us and also blocked a smaller site directly across from our site to drop the trailer in. We’re in business! We’ll arrive there on May 18 and stay two weeks, departing on June 1st. We plan to spend some time visiting with my middle daughter Jamie who lives with her family in Robstown, TX.

We’re unsure of our route from there, but we think we want to make stops in Memphis, St. Louis and Des Moines on our way to Minneapolis. Donna will have a half day of work in Des Moines, producing another round of cleaning videos for Better Homes and Gardens. Whichever route we take, I’m sure we’ll find fun and adventure along the way.

I watched most of the Detroit Red Wings versus Tampa Bay Lightning NHL playoff game. Neither team has won two games in a row in this best of seven series and last night was no exception as Tampa Bay prevailed. The series is tied 3-3 with game seven in Tampa Bay Wednesday night.

We left during the third period of the game and took an Uber car to North Park. My daughter Shauna and her roommate Cat had invited us to dinner. They prepared a meal from Blue Apron. Blue Apron.com is an online company that creates recipes, packages the ingredients (you can choose enough for two or four people) and delivers it in a refrigerated box. Each meal comes with instructions and most meals can be prepared in 35 minutes or less.

Cat and Shauna slaving over the stove

Cat and Shauna slaving over the stove

Cat and Shauna are graduating from Cal Western School of Law this Friday. Cat’s mom, Lil, came here from Hawaii for the graduation and joined us along with Shauna and Cat’s other roommate, Sara, for dinner. The food was great and the conversation interesting. We stayed until it was close to 9pm before we had another Uber ride home.

Corned beef style flank steak with braised cabbage and potatoes

Corned beef-style flank steak with braised cabbage and potatoes

More family will be here by Thursday for the graduation ceremony. We booked a room for my step-dad, Ken, in Mission Valley. Shauna’s sisters, mother, uncles and cousins are coming. Cat has a number of family members arriving as well.

Today’s weather forecast calls for another sunny day with the high temperature approaching 80 degrees. I plan to play pickleball this afternoon. Donna and I are thinking about buying a portable pickleball net so we can continue to play as we travel.