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5/19/23

It’s rather appropriate that we have been on the road 46 nights…Paul and I have known and loved each other for 46 years and today we have been married 44 years! We spent our anniversary in Meadview, AZ.

We are also grateful for the experiences we have had together, the ups to celebrate and the downs to learn from, thankful for our family, and very blessed to have made this trip a reality.

We arrived in Meadview after a day of driving from Death Valley. You know the 9 mile uphill mountain in the last post? Well we made it up the 9 miles and did pretty well maintaining 35-40 mph in the rig. I followed and was way behind Paul in the 15 mile downhill trying to save the brakes! Oh look, another 7 mile uphill climb! Like I said before, Paul is a champion motor home driver. 🥳👏

We literally rose to the challenge (haha, get it?) and made it to Vegas by lunch. We hung out there to figure out if there was anything we wanted to see but decided to get going and head to Meadview. We arrived, met the neighbors who live here permanently and commenced celebrating our anniversary.

Apps, naps, Harley playing with the neighbors dogs and a steak dinner completed the day.

Up early tomorrow for the Skywalk over the Grand Canyon! 😬

Satellite pics of the adventure to come!

5/20/23

Up at 6:30 am to beat the crowds at the Skywalk. Our dastardly plan worked. There were only 11 other people on the Skywalk with us! We could take our time and soak up the environment, so amazing! Some facts: Skywalk hangs 4000 feet from the canyon floor and it is strong enough to hold 7 fully loaded 747 airplanes! So they say anyway!!

Eagle point is where the skywalk is located. It’s called Eagle Point because of the rock formations . It looks like and Eagle in flight. The head is in the center of the pic and wings spread wide on each side.

It’s now time to do the deed! Ok, phones, water and extras in the lockers…put those booties on and wear them proudly! Go! 😬🤪

Sitting on the glass to some convincing… I was sort of ok walking but getting down even closer… a little nauseous I must say! It is wonderful that the edge of the glass has an opaque 2 foot rim so you don’t have to be looking down all the time. It was funny to watch people walk tentatively grasping very firmly on a loved one. Just like I did!

But WE DID IT! 😅 And really enjoyed it! Nature is unbelievably spectacular!

Back at the RV park, we rested until a huge storm came through. It’s raining, lightening and thundering right now, first rain we have seen since Alabama (day 6, I think) and now, to add to the excitement, it’s hailing pea sized hail, with a vengeance! Maybe it will wash the salt, dirt and sand from the car from the last 3 weeks!

Tomorrow we are headed to Page, AZ for a few days. See you then!

5/17/23

Yesterday before heading out to Tehachapi, Paul checked all the fluids in the RV, car and generator in preparation for the heat of Death Valley NP. Both vehicles were gassed up and ready to roll. So far we have avoided paying more than $4.79 for gas, which was in Tucson. We even found $3.99 in California Central Valley.
Travel tip: if you haven’t found the GasBuddy app, check it out. Free app that shows you gas stations, prices and directions. It’s particularly helpful when you are approaching a state line. Gas up on the cheaper side of the border!

We woke up on the ranch today watching the horses prance around the field. We packed up and headed to Death Valley. The drive was filled with mountains, brown and gorgeous. We both have gained a greater appreciation of the desert… it looks so barren but on closer inspection, it is so beautiful. The drive, however lonely driving separately is, is a big part of the experience. Snow capped mountains cascading down to salt flat that changes to a lake, then desert. It’s amazing all of that can be in one picture!

We chugged along and came to Panamint Springs overlook. WOW!
A gazillion grasshoppers all of the sudden flying about, crashing on the windshield, birds everywhere trying to feast on them then around the corner this view!

We didn’t know it but there is a switchback mountain road we have to traverse downward to get to our resting place, Panamint Springs. Paul is a champion motor home driver. He took his time and made it down unscathed! We found our campground and pulled in with this view!

There happened to be a restaurant/grill across the street so burgers it is for dinner. Early to bed for tomorrow is going to be a hot day in the valley and we will see what we can see.

Thursday 5/18

Well, they don’t call it Death Valley for nothing…107 ish ( the thermometer on the sunny side of the rv registered 123 before we got outside)! Three water bottles and 2 extra gallons of electrolyte water should do it! With Harley in tow, we set out on the days journey… starting with a 9 mile uphill and 15 mile downhill over the mountain!

Warning posted: “turn OFF your a/c for the next 20 miles to avoid overheating “. What about the people inside that ate overheating?!? Actually it wasn’t too bad with the windows down for a bit, a little smidge cooler in the hills. At the top of the mountain the elevation was 4956 feet. We certainly tested the new transmission!

Mesquite sand dunes was first on the list. Sand dunes in the middle of the desert. I love the designs the wind makes as it wafts over the sands.

Badwater Basin is next at MINUS 282 feet below sea level, the lowest place in North America.

Artist drive took us through the hills and around the narrow bends were colorful rocks which was called the Artists Palette.

Zabriski Point brought another spectacular view of the golden colored hills.

What we realized was “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. If you let yourself get passed the heat and seemingly barren land, you will see beauty.

This ends our 17 days in California! From windy Joshua Tree to the Pacific Ocean to Sequoias, Kings Canyon, Yosemite and Death Valley. Off to the Grand Canyon….

Saturday 5/13/23

Today we started our prep to leave Sequoia RV Ranch and head to Yosemite. Like any other travel day we cleaned and stowed everything but unlike other travel days, we only had 2 hours of driving! Bonus!
We headed to Visalia which we drove through yesterday and passed hundreds of square miles of citrus groves spotted with walnut and olive trees and surprisingly roses! I suspect the roses attract the pollinators and a side bonus of giving the passers by a sweet fragrant gift.

As we drove the Honda the last few days, the oil light went on. I noticed “instant oil changes” in Visalia..what?!? A drive thru oil change? We drove into Visalia and filled up with gas at $3.99, which is unheard of in Cali, and I gave Paul the address of a shopping center to meet. Off to get my 15 minute oil change… and it was all true, 15 minutes, you stay in the car, after they look at the air filters, tire pressure and change the oil, you are off and running… or driving! Love it!

By noon we were on our way to Yosemite. I use many apps to find campsites at a reasonable price and found an app called HipCamp. I have looked at it many times but never booked anything. It seems like it is mostly people that own land you can camp on, mostly dry camping/boon docking without hook ups. I tried to get a site near Yosemite but the prices are crazy and we are too big to stay in the park so I tried the HipCamp app. What a superb place we are camping. Peaceful, on a hill overlooking a mountain. Way better than an RV camp lot with 10 feet between you and the neighbors. Way better!

The hosts of the site called Camp Sourberry, asked if we wanted them to stop by.. of course! They brought us some farm fresh eggs and after chatting for a bit, they asked if we would like to come feed the sheep this evening! Heck yeah! So later, their son came down to guide us to the sheep pasture, walking along the lupine flowers and what they named “grandmother tree”. We hand fed the sheep and enjoyed getting to know the hosts better.

After returning to the RV, Harley sniffed us up and down interested in the new animal smells. She then assumed the watchdog position looking for critters to pass by.

Sunday 5/14/23

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY 💐🌼

While Paul was out with Harley today, he picked some wild flowers for me 😊

It’s another sunny day in Cali! A good day to see Yosemite with Harley. There is a dog friendly trail in Wawona at the south entrance of the park, closest to where we are staying. We loaded 3 water bottles and an extra gallon of water in the car and off we went. The trail used to be paved but after a few years of snow melt and raging waters, much of the first half of the trail was washed away. It was passable and shady, a good days walk. Harley loved the water!

We spent all day in Yosemite exploring the area. This time of year is great to see stellar waterfalls. The spring snow melt makes for beautiful falls! Every turn gave a new perspective of the mountains and water falls.

We spent some time at El Capitan watching the climbers ascend the rock face. We certainly needed binoculars to see them. I put red arrows on the pics so you have perspective. One person in the third photo was sleeping in a tent that was hanging on the side of the mountain… I am not sure how anyone can sleep while hanging hundreds of feet from the ground! It’s astounding!

Driving through the park gave us a different perspective of Forrest fires. There were several slopes with thousands of burnt trees.

When we finally returned from the park, we were exhausted! I made dinner (leftovers) but barely had the energy to eat it!
Definitely early to bed!

Monday 5/16/23

What? I have to get out of bed? A rest day is in order! We moseyed through the morning routine and decided eating breakfast out was a GREAT idea!

Then back to the RV for a nap 💤

At 3 it was time to check out the local winery suggested by our hosts. Mushroom soup for Paul and a Charcuterie board for us to share. We also discovered Chenin Blanc, slightly effervescent and dry, delish!

Perfect day! Our host brought over some more farm fresh eggs. We will miss this sanctuary.

Tuesday 5/16/23

We were greeted this morning by wild turkeys… I have to give Harley credit, she spotted them first!

Yosemite started to close some areas due to flooding so we decided to split the drive to Death Valley into 2 days. We left Oakhurst one day early, booked a Harvest Host in the Tehachapi Valley at a horse and goat rescue ranch.
The drive brought us back to Bakersfield, around the mountains, then we actually officially started our eastward journey! We also passed our 4000 mile mark of the trip!

We settled at The Dam Ranch in Tehachapi, CA as our Harvest Host for the night. It ends up, we met the owners and the ranch next door trains horses for the movies, Yellowstone, The Run Away Bride and many others!!

It’s a great cause!
Delightful breezes and cooler temperatures are in store for this evening.

5/10-12

Wednesday we headed to Sequoia NP, planning to see as much as we can during our 3 night stay at Sequoia RV Ranch in Three Rivers, CA. As sad as it was to leave the ocean, it always feels like home in the mountains. After the ridiculous traffic of LA, we started seeing the dramatic changes in the landscape.

As we drove, winding through the mountains we started getting excited for new adventures. It ends up that the RV campground is on the shores of the North Fork River. Shady sites and the sounds of fast flowing water in the background.

Thursday 5/11, we headed to Sequoia NP. We saw signs regarding park road closures on our way into the campground yesterday. Apparently the harsh winter snows and subsequently flooding from snow melt has caused mudslides and damaged the majority of the roads through the park. Bummer… we will see as much as we can!

We were able to get 6 miles into the park but not far enough to gaze at the giant Redwoods. 😏

We were able to walk along the paths by the river and see the views from Hospital Rock. No redwoods but dramatic and stunning scenery.

It was recommended that we stop in the town of Three Rivers. Apparently the sub shop, Sierra Subs, was in the top sandwich shops of California… right around the corner from the RV Ranch! We had to stop in!
Sierra Subs did not disappoint and the deck of the shop backed up on the North Fork River. Lovely!

As we strolled along the 8-10 shops (and 2 gas stations) that made up the town, Paul spied 3Rivers Brewery. He found an IPA that was tasty and they also had a deck overlooking the river.

So I think we have the whole relaxing thing down pretty well after 5-1/2 weeks on the road!
Once at the RV, we took Harley and explored the shores of the river. Superb afternoon!

Friday 5/12 Off to Kings Canyon NP. We hear there’s snow in them there hills!
Since the road that connects the two parks was closed we set out on our 1-1/2 hour journey to Kings Canyon. There was a small part of the park with General Grant Redwood that was open. The drive took us through citrus groves, olive groves and walnut groves. At one point the air was filled with a sweet aroma.
Once at Kings Canyon, we could see the remains of a record breaking winter with snow still above the roof of the visitors center.

No matter how many times you see these magnificent trees, it’s still impressive!

(We discovered you can do panoramic photos vertically)

We had a picnic lunch and gazed at these marvels of nature! Another beautiful day in the great outdoors!

We definitely need to come back to these parks… hopefully it will be on another trip out west, there is so much to see that we couldn’t enjoy on this visit.

5/6-5/9/23

One of the coolest and most peaceful things here is watching the flocks of pelicans glide along the bluff where we camp. All day they glide up and down the beach camping area, giving us a great show! It’s peaceful, like watching a fish tank full of colorful fish.

Saturday, We were joined on this leg of the journey by Mark and Lorraine for four nights by the ocean. After their arrival, we walked to the campground entrance where live music was playing again tonight. It wasn’t as crowded or as loud as last night but well attended by locals and campers alike. We chatted with some locals and got some ideas of what to do while we were here.

We all walked back to our site which was all the way, aaaalllll the way at the south end of the campground. Then, another beautiful sunset. Dinner and relaxing were on the schedule for the evening. Our guests had been up way too early in order to catch a flight and needed some rest!

Sunday : Today just happens to be the day that the “nations largest single day street faire” is held in Carlsbad,CA. It’s a gorgeous day so why not? Leisure mornings are our thing so at noon we headed to the faire, caught a free luxury shuttle and spent the afternoon at the free faire! A late lunch at the Irish pub and off to more strolling along many, many, many blocks of crafts, business vendors and, of course, snack food booths! It truly was the largest street faire I have ever seen! After a shuttle back to the car, we all went back to the RV oceanside where we got ready for our special dinner at The Marine Room restaurant. (Click on the underlined link)… it was dining La Jolla style. The Marine Room is right on the ocean and at high tide, the waves break on the windows (made of bulletproof glass)! Paul and I treated ourselves to an extravagant dinner to celebrate our anniversary (44 years on 5/19) and his birthday. Watching the sunset… again, at the Marine Room.

Back to the RV for a campfire completed the day.

Monday brought us to our half way mark in this chapter of Dimmler’s RV adventures!
It also brought us to a day in La Jolla. We went to Torrey Pines Preserve and walked the ‘trail’ along the beach … then it suddenly went up a cliff for 300 feet! Mark and Lorraine did the hike up and Paul and I opted to take our shoes off and walk back in the water. It was a chilly 62ish degrees but refreshing on our toes. Not so refreshing if we were swimming 🥶

We all met back at the beginning of the loop trail, had a picnic lunch then headed to the LaJolla Seal Rock.

Further south we found the LaJolla Tide Pools. Such a fabulous day exploring!

We grilled some chicken for dinner and, well, we watched another beautiful sunset! Someone has to!

5/9/23, Tuesday and a youngsters birthday!
Paul, the birthday boy, chose to take a walk on the beach (after a leisurely morning of course) and here are some pics of the attempt to fly kites. Of all the crazy windy days we had, now that we are trying to fly a kite there is NO wind! Oh well, we tried.

We walked along the rocky shores, gathered stones and lo and behold we looked up and there was the RV up on the cliff…

Back at the RV, snacks and relaxing commenced. Our friends decided to take us out to dinner to celebrate Paul’s birthday. Good food at The Yard House and back to the RV for cake and games. This time Paul actually bought a game while getting a script filled! If you know him, playing games is not usually his first choice of entertainment.

Fun times 🥳

Time to clean up and prep for departure tomorrow to Sequoia National Park.
Mark and Lorraine are headed north to see friends before going home. We are all sad to leave the Pacific coast but more adventures to come!
Safe Travels to all!

Thursday 5/3, we loaded Harley in the car and headed to Joshua Tree NP. We stayed in the town of Joshua Tree and were only 5 minutes from the north visitors center. The rangers were happy to give done suggestions of what to see. We have seen the Joshua Tree in town but to drive into the park they look peculiar and almost prehistoric! The bark is hairy like Cookie Monster and the tufts of spiky leaves grow from the ends of the branches. We just missed the flowers which seemed to be like smaller versions of the yucca plants.

What really amazed me were the boulders, moved upwards by a volcano and then moved by the shifting plates under the surface. I can see why rock climbers gravitate toward this park!

We hiked a little around the rocks, they look smooth but actually have a surface like coral. At the end of the drive, we headed to Keys View where you can see the entire valley… the one we came into with all the wind! Spectacular view!

Out of the park within a mile from our campground, we found Joshua Tree Saloon for a quick burger. The place was a bit qwerky and very crowded. A good sign for a local bite to eat. Inside I found this sign that exemplifies it’s qwerkiness…

Friday, we took our time getting out of Joshua Tree. We were almost ready to go and Paul got news that his kelp dive was cancelled! 😞 The captain had a family emergency and there was no one to sub. They recommended other shops but he was unable to schedule something. SO DISAPPOINTING!
We eventually headed southwest to Oceanside, CA and encountered the same crazy wind coming out of Joshua Tree as we had going in. Our only hope was that once we got out of this valley, it would subside. After about an hour, thankfully it did.
WE MADE IT TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN!
👏👏👏

We are camped at South Carlsbad State Beach Campground… it is everything I had hoped for. Up on the bluff, watching the waves, dolphins, pelicans gliding over the bluff and taking it all in. We did it! We are here!

We started the afternoon by walking down o the camp store about 1/2 mile away and listened to some live music and met many locals who come here for the entertainment and beach vibes. A great way to start our Oceanside adventure.

Blimey! Set the main sails and batten down the hatches!
If the RV was a pirate ship, we would have sailed from Tucson to Joshua Tree without using a drop of gas!
It was a very long day and Paul battled the wind all day long. Heave Ho! Put some muscle into it! Paul was actually sweating when we stopped for gas at the California border!
Once we got to Dessert Hot Springs, we were amazed by the beauty of the mountains and low hanging clouds that covered some of the peaks ahead.

Shiver me Timbers! It’s 58 degrees! We had to grab the fleece jackets to set up!

We made it to Joshua Tree RV “campground” . An inexpensive place to stay for 2 nights to explore Joshua Tree NP…. Close to the visitor center and park entrance. We are off to see what we can see today.

4/30/23

You know, it’s very helpful to me to be blogging about our adventures… it makes me look at what day it is!! 😉

Since we don’t really know why the car transmission went up in smoke, we decided I would drive behind Paul in the car.

Leaving New Mexico and heading to Tucson gave us another opportunity to see such different landscapes. Flat desserts surrounded by rocky, gravelly mountains. It was beautiful!

It was a bit unnerving to see bright orange signs for 10 miles… instructions on what to do during a dust storm. “Pull off the road” “don’t touch the brakes” stay buckled”… the problem with that is the road doesn’t have a wide enough shoulder for an RV and there is loose gravel beyond the pavement. Fortunately we didn’t have to test our luck on the side of the road!

I chugged along behind the RV and topped out at 42.4 mpg!! That offsets the 7 mpg the RV gets! We also passed the 2500 mile mark for the trip and went through border patrol for the second time. I thought for sure the motor home would be stopped… how many illegals could be stowed in that?!? But they took one look at us and just waved us on. I was a bit surprised and relieved.

After 5.5 hours, we pulled into Picacho Peak State Park and were greeted by a very friendly park ranger and thousands of saguaro cactus (pronounced Sah-wah’-ro). It was so cool, actually amazing! Coming around the bend to the park entrance and all of the sudden there they were, arms reaching to the sky.

5/1&2/23

Well we actually had a morning to sleep in …we made it till almost 7 (we are in pacific time zone now) so we hung out with the cool morning breeze coming through the windows. It was lovely. Our original plan was to see our nephew and family in Tucson but his son wasn’t feeling so great so we will play that by ear.

Leisurely welcoming the day, we looked at what the park had to offer. We loaded Harley in the car (that works marvelously) and toured the park, stopping in the visitor center to get some tips from the rangers. We noticed that the cactus were in bloom and just popping out with colorful flowers.

Fun fact: The fish hook barrel grows tilted to the southwest (so you can find you way in the dessert).

After lunch, we got the text from David to say “come on over” so to Tucson we went, to his house, and met the kids for the first time. It was fun, chaotic (as expected with a 3&5 year old) and such a wonderful visit. We really miss family on this trip so this was a good family fix 🥰. So happy we could connect and visit.

After pizza and a lot of hugs from the fam, we headed to Saguaro National Park, just in time for an amazing sunset.

Tuesday, while eating breakfast, we had our wildlife peepers on and spotted a cactus wren, gold finch, lizards, chipmunk and round tailed ground squirrel (that looks like a miniature prairie dog). You know Dr Doolittle Dimmler was in his element!

We decided to get going and do a couple of trails in the park. Harley loved the new smells on the trail, I was busy looking for rattlesnakes, and we all enjoyed the cooler temperatures this morning.
Saguaro fun facts: They live to be 200 years old and don’t develop their “arms” until they are 50-60 years old! Also, the flowers open at night so the bats can feed on the nectar and stay open through the cooler mornings for the birds and bees. The saguaro flowers are like little flower bouquets on the end of each arm.

We headed to the Pima Air and Space museum, the largest non governmental museum of aeronautical items. Every boy loves airplanes, including this one!

A good day of immersing ourselves in the area. 😁

Harley had an active day, well hydrated with almost 2 quarts of water herself… fortunately we brought 3 water bottles for our desert excursions.

4/24-4/29/23

It has been a hard week, getting up at 6:30 am is not our forte. I keep telling myself it’s 8:30 at home and that seems to help… for a little while.
We have been doing some finish work on 3 houses that are different stages of completion. This is the last week that Habitat Care-A-Vanners will be here and we are trying to finish as much as we can. There is a crew of volunteers that have been laying floor tile in house 3 all week.. 1400 square feet of it!!! It won’t be done by the time we leave but the group of dedicated local volunteers will finish it up. Cabinets are being hung in the kitchen and appliances hooked up as well.

Here are a few pictures from this week..

We have also had the pleasure of getting to know Janine and Bill who have been schlepping us around for 2 weeks. We are grateful 💖

New Mexico is sandy and very dusty but the cactus are blooming everywhere. You have to look beyond the sand and dust and look for the beauty.

We finished the 2weeks here with the sidewalks and driveways being poured by local cement contractors.

Back at the RV park, we spent time with Dave, the contractor supervisor and Mike, the head local volunteer who has been doing this full time for 8 years… volunteering 4-5 days a week and has his hand on all 24 Habitat houses on the street. We provided a feast for all, hanging out together in gratitude for the opportunity to work together.

As we reflect, the experience was uplifting, fun, tiring and gratifying. The last day, the homeowners came into house 2 to start cleaning and the tears of joy were heartwarming. A few years ago, the owners didn’t think it was possible but in a few short weeks, they will be homeowners! It’s a blessing to be here.

4/28/23

Just a quick post to let you all know the Honda is fixed and ready for a road trip!!! 😁👏👏👏

I will post a summary of this last week tomorrow. Good night y’all 💤