More Rock and Roll

Woo hoo! We are rockin' and rollin' tonight here in Kingman.

With plans to leave tomorrow, we checked the weather forecast for our route tomorrow and found this:

30 TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS TO NEAR 60 MPH ARE LIKELY. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL OCCUR OVER RIDGES AND BELOW PASSES AND CANYONS.

Yep. That's the forecast for Tehachapi Pass tomorrow afternoon, which is just about the time we'd be passing through on our way to Bakersfield.

No, thanks. We'll pass.

Friday looks like a nice calm day to drive across the desert. We're happy to chill out here until then.

Rock and Roll

Here's the latest from the National Weather Service:

TODAY... WINDS WILL INCREASE EARLY IN THE AFTERNOON WITH WIDESPREAD WIND GUSTS OVER 40 MPH EXPECTED. THERE MAY BE A BRIEF LULL IN THE WINDS OVERNIGHT... BUT WINDS WILL INCREASE AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY... WITH WIDESPREAD SOUTHWEST WINDS GUSTING OVER 58 MPH POSSIBLE.

As a result, we've found a lovely little park in Kingman that we're planning to call home for the next two nights.

Our original plan was to make Needles today, some 260 miles away. Then, we checked the weather. This high wind advisory is impacting all of Northern Arizona and the California desert. The forecast for Needles was sunny, windy and 96 degrees. Sounds pretty prickly, doesn't it? We sure thought so.

We looked for alternatives and found Kingman, which looked just as windy, about 15 degrees cooler and 80 miles closer. If we left Camp Verde early enough we could make Kingman before the wind started to blow. But, one question remained.

Do we know how to leave early?

Sure 'nuff, we were hooked up and on the road by 8:30. That's some kind of record! With an all-interstate route and no need to stop for fuel, we made good time. Paul wrestled some stiff headwinds and a side gust or two the last hour or so. With enough of that we pulled into Kingman just before noon.

We've never landed anywhere before noon!

As if on cue, just after we set up, the skies clouded and the winds kicked up. And, by the looks of things, it'll be awhile before they calm down. We're happy to lay low and let the windy weather pass. Rocking and rolling in a parked moose is MUCH better than wrestling this rolling billboard down the road. Plus, when you add miles and miles of desert to this windy scenario things can get dangerous fast.

Meanwhile, we'll just sit back and relax and get our kicks here in this famous spot on Route 66.

Three Meets

We really like Northern Arizona.

It's scenic, vast and has the kind of Springtime weather we'd take any time. And, this time of year, it's a popular stopping place for fellow fulltimers.

This week we've had the great pleasure of having first-time meetings with three wonderful fulltiming couples and fellow bloggers.

We hooked up with Sandie and Jim on our service overnight in Prescott. Like us, they began their fulltiming adventure last year. In fact, Sandie served as the "president" of our Escapees fulltiming Class of 2009. This delightful couple has covered some serious miles in their first year. And, also like us, they have purchased a new rig on the road. We have followed their blog since its beginning, so when we met up it felt like we were meeting old friends. It was a treat to finally meet the people behind the words.

Sandie and Jim have magical powers, too. On our first day here in Camp Verde, we were settling in for a very lazy day after back to back travel days. With a commitment to making no plans for the day, we took Sandie and Jim's call. These two cheerful souls asked if we would like to join them on a day of sightseeing. And, of course, we said "Yes!" We're so glad we did. You can read about our comings and goings with Sandie and Jim in Prescott and Sedona on Bullwinkle's Travels.

Thanks to some crummy weather east of here, we were able to hook up with Linda and Denny. We've been following their blog since we've been following blogs. When we read that they were camped in nearby Cottonwood, we wrote from Tucson to see if we could meet. Their original plans had them leaving before our arrival. But, when they saw the forecast for storms along their planned route, they decided to layover for a few extra days. Thank you, Mother Nature!

We stopped by their place on the way to Walmart the other day. These fulltiming veterans have been on the road since 1998, and it's obvious that the lifestyle suits them very well. They share a sense of humor we really enjoy and instantly made us feel comfortable. Like us, they are exploring the country for, among other things, that place that they'll call home one day. And, like us, they have yet to find it and are loving the exploration. There are still many places left for us all to explore. Linda and Denny also bought a new RV in the last year. (Look at all of us fulltimers stimulating the economy!) Their 2011 Heartland fiver is a very warm and welcoming home. The time we had to spend with these two was far too short. (Our fault!) We look forward to spending more time with them down the road in the future.

A recent email from Ellie and Jim announced that they would be arriving at Dead Horse Ranch State Park during our stay. We made plans to meet up and spend an afternoon exploring the nearby quaint mining town of Jerome. We've been reading their blog forever and share many mutual friends, so again the experience was like meeting old friends for the first time. We shared stories of how we got hooked on fulltiming, and the similarities were uncanny. Over tasty burgers, local wines, shopping, sightseeing and yummy ice cream, we had a great time getting to know this wonderful couple better. (A post is in the works. Watch for it at Bullwinkle's Travels.)

After a very social week with these three very special meetups, we are thankful for one of the most unexpected benefits of our new lifestyle. We started out being a bit concerned that this might be one of the loneliest chapters in our life. Much to our surprise and delight, we have a growing group of wonderful new friends across the country. Us? Lonely? Never!

Many thanks to Sandie and Jim and Linda and Denny and Ellie and Jim for sharing some of your time in this beautiful part of the country with us. We wish you all safe travels and look forward to seeing you again soon.

The Start of it All

Two years ago today two very toasty workaholics set out on their first-ever RV trip. For 10 glorious days they explored the American Southwest. By the time they returned they were determined to become fulltimers one day.

The story is right here. It's a very quick read. Just follow the link and scroll down to the bottom of the page to start at the beginning.

Today, those two are toasty workaholics no more. As fulltimers, they find themselves back in the American Southwest.

We've come along way since that first day in that little rented Class C. And, these days, we're taking our time.

Another Dealer

One of the things we wondered about before we started fulltiming was what kind of service we would find at various dealers across the country. Since buying our new moose we've had a chance to visit four Winnie dealers for service. They have, in our opinion, ranged from OK to excellent.

We spent today at Affinity RV in Prescott, AZ, the fourth stop on our National Winnebago Dealers Tour.

They were OK.

The details of our service experience aren't really important. The moose is fine and everybody involved will, God willing, live to see another day.

The lesson of the day is the importance of being an aware and assertive, yet gracious, RV service customer.

When scheduling a service appointment we make it clear that we are fulltimers and this rig they'll be working on is our home. We ask for accommodations the night before. Some places have them, so don't. But, being on premise for a bright and early service appointment is so much nicer than having to break camp before breakfast and drive to an unknown dealer in an unfamiliar location.

We get to know the service writer by name, and introduce ourselves. With everyone on the same page that this is our home and what specific issues are to be addressed in this appointment, we can all get an idea of how quickly things can get done and we can get back on the road. We agree on a time to check in for a progress report before 11AM.

After things are set up at the dealer, we pack up ourselves and our cats and head to breakfast, followed by errands or mindless wandering. By 11AM we are back at the dealer. And, we make ourselves at home. We ask for the service writer. We get answers to our questions. We ask when things will be wrapped up. We stay in touch. When things are done, we make sure everything checks out OK and we're back on the road.

At this last stop, we had a couple of different things going on that involved two different service people who apparently don't know how to speak to each other. So, we stayed very involved. After breakfast we bought groceries and took them back to the moose, which was parked in exactly the same place we'd left it. (That's almost never a good sign.) We stuck around, asked questions and got in the way enough that we finally got one person to work on the first issue, our squealing water heater. He did his work and the squealing continued. As service person #2 arrived to work on issue #2, we assumed (That's almost never a good thing.) that service person #1 was working on a resolution. Issue #2, an engine software upgrade, took an extremely long time to get 99.99% completed. We decided to deal with that last .01% at our next service stop.

With Issue #2 essentially taken care of, we went back to Issue #1. Turns out our tech simply went on his merry way, with no intention of resolving our issue. We had him paged and he arrived at the moose. When we questioned him about our still squealing water heater, what was his response?

"That's perfectly normal."

Say what?

After living in a motorhome for nearly 10 months, we may not know much. But, we do know what normal sounds like. (Or, in this case, doesn't sound like.) Despite our opposing opinion, this tech decided he was basically done with us. So, we went looking for our service writer.

He was at lunch.

We explained our problem to the woman at the service desk. To her credit, she listened. She asked for a more senior tech and got one. In a matter of minutes, this skilled technician did the repair and the not-at-all-normal squealing stopped.

As we hooked up the Jeep and hit the road for a quick afternoon drive to our next spot, we thought about how important it is to stay involved in the service of our home. Had we just dropped the moose off for the day, we would have driven off with a still squealing water heater.

Of course, in the big scheme of things this was a teeny tiny frustration. But, if you've ever heard a squealing water heater, you know it's not a sound you want to live with long. Besides being annoying, it means that - sooner or later - you're going to run out of hot water.

As we chalk up one more experience with a dealer, here's hoping that's the last one in awhile. With eight months left on our factory warranty, and a trip to the factory and our original dealer planned before that expires, we hope we are "good to go" for long time.

At the very least, we're oh so happy to have quiet hot water.

Ah-CHOOOOOOO!

We're allergic to the desert.

Yep. This time of year, anyway.

We're heading north tomorrow in hopes of finding a spot with a considerably lower pollen count. Prescott looks like it will fill the bill. Our fingers are definitely crossed.

We love the desert. No doubt about it. But, the truth is this last week has been a bit tough. With off-the-charts pollen counts, Paul has found himself with a watery and itchy eye thing that's just not fun at all. And, when he's not scratching at his eyes, he's sneezing.

It's not pretty.

We've both been dosing up on our allergy meds. And, as a result, I've been doing pretty well. Until tonight. I've very recently turned into a nose rubbing fiend.

Once again, it's not pretty.

We've been living pretty much like Mr. and Mrs. Bubble Boy this week. We'll go out and about for a bit, but quickly retreat inside to the cozy comfort of our air conditioned moose. But, the thing about this friendly park is, when we head out for a quick outing we are destined to run into a friendly neighbor who wants to talk. We love that, of course. But, after awhile, the pollen takes over. We start sneezing. Paul starts itching his itchy eyes. And, I start with the nose thing.

Like I said. It's not pretty.

As happy as we are to be heading for higher altitudes tomorrow, we are banking on the fact that we'll both fare much better in the desert during the winter. We'd like to return here for a bit next winter. Provided, of course, our allergies allow.

Doctors appointments are on the agenda for our return to the Bay Area in a few weeks. On our list of items to discuss is definitely heavy duty allergy drugs. We need 'em!

Ah-CHOOOOO!

Leonard's Legacy

The RVing community has lost a long-time enthusiast. Earlier this week, Leonard passed away.

Leonard was my mother's cousin. At 90-something, he lived a very long life. And, it was a full one.

For as long as I can remember until a decade or so ago, Leonard had an RV. Every year or two he would pass through my hometown and stop by for a family visit. For awhile he had a truck camper, then a Class C or two and back to a truck camper. I remember being amazed that everything he needed could fit in such a small space. And, it all seemed so cozy! One year he stopped by at Christmas. As sunset neared, he gathered us kids and had us come outside to see his lighted nativity set in the cabover window. I was old enough to remember thinking that was a little weird but really cool at the same time. That was Leonard.

Leonard was a talker. With every visit, he would tell tales of the places he'd been and the people he'd met. He'd been to Alaska a half-dozen times. He visited nearly every Canadian province. He'd traveled some in Mexico. He had journeyed to 49 states. And, if there had been a way to drive his RV to Hawaii he would've done it. The only state he didn't really care for was California.

He had friends everywhere. He treated some of his friends like family and vice versa. Leonard never married, but he had "adopted" kids on his travels. And, when they had kids they called him Grandpa. Long before the days of Facebook or cell phones, Leonard kept track of his many friends and adopted family members via postcards and long-distance phone calls for special occasions. And, every year or two he'd see them, live and in-person, on his travels.

Leonard was never a fulltimer. While he was working, he would travel for three or four months at a time. I could never figure out how he made that happen. But, he did. He worked for the same company for most of his life, and he always had time for his travels. After he retired, he extended his travels to six months or more at a time.

Whenever he'd stop by to see my family, my mom would make the same offer. "Stay with us," she'd say. "We have plenty of room." His reply was always the same. "No, thank you," he'd say. "I have everything I need right here." His idea of family dinner was him supplying the food and our family providing the house. He'd stop somewhere and bring BBQ or fried chicken and all the fixin's. Leonard would never want to impose.

Growing up, I thought of Leonard as the "odd relative" in our family. Every family has one. With a heart of gold and lots of stories, he was fun to be around. But, he was so different. After all, he spent so much of his time traveling the country. On the road. In an RV, no less. And these friends of his! What kind of people does a person meet on the road? It was all a bit weird for me. Of course, Paul got to know Leonard over the years, too. He described Leonard as my weird little loud vagabond relative. He was all that, too. (And, he got louder as he got older!)

No, we just didn't get it.

When we took our first trip in a rented RV two years ago, we thought about Leonard. By the time we returned from that 10-day, life-changing journey we could understand how weird old Leonard could spend months on the road. When we bought our first moose, we really got it. We had everything we needed and there was a whole continent out there for us to explore. We "got it" so much we decided we had to do it fulltime. We've been on the road ever since. When I told my brother we were going to sell the house and travel the country fulltime in an RV, his reaction was priceless.

"It's in your genes," he said. "You got it from Leonard."

Yes, in a way, we did.

In his last days, the hospice nurse said Leonard was still planning road trips. What a way to go. Godspeed, Leonard.

Now, we're the "odd relatives" who are traveling the country in an RV, seeing places and making new friends who feel like family. As we carry on his legacy, we'll do our best to make Leonard proud.

We promise not to be as loud.