Pinnacles National Park (10-21-14)

We’ve been to the largest of our country’s national parks (Wrangell St. Elias) and the oldest of the national parks, and now we can say we’ve been to the newest national Park.

Although this area has been a national monument since 1908, and the CCC built the trails and the day use areas in the 1930s, Pinnacles has only been a national park since 2013.

As we’ve visited the national parks, we’ve realized that a) they are all awesome in their unique way, and b) there is a reason why they are a national park.



Pinnacles is a nesting area to the California Condor. Weighing in at 20 pounds, with a 9 foot wingspan, the Condor is one of the largest birds in North America.

I was frustrated with my lack of decent pictures until I read that they can soar at an altitude of 15,000 feet, at a speed of 55 mph. These guys were way up in the sky.

Sitting along the San Andreas Fault, the Pinnacles are also known for the fact that millions of years ago this area was part of a larger volcanic field, but it broke apart, and this section has been moving north with the Pacific plate ever since.  So far, it has moved 195 miles.









But anyway,  we were here to get some hiking done.  Paul heard there are caves here, and it took no other enticement for us to pack up the camper and move up here for a few days.



Within the first mile the High Peaks  trail took us through Bear Gulch Cave.



















The fun wasn’t over once we were back out in the sunshine.  The trail led us up and down narrow staircases,

and around massive boulders.






Along the way, the views were awesome, and the weather was perfect for hiking.







The next morning we were up and hiking early, trying to beat the 88 degree temperature that was forecasted for the afternoon. The trail to Balconies Cave is not as spectacular as the Bear Gulch trail, according to the ranger, but it was a fun hike nonetheless..

















The caves here are Talus caves-caves that are created when boulders slide down a slope and become wedged above the ground.























After two days of  hiking it was time to head back to Fresno and put the camper away for the winter.  It’s been a busy two days, getting everything ready to head out tomorrow morning. We aren’t going too far on our first day- just a few hours down the road to see our daughter one last time before we head to Texas..

40 Years and some projects (10-19-14)

Paul’s 40th high school reunion took place while we were in Fresno.  His high school is in Sacramento, so we packed up neither the camper, nor the trailer, and drove the 140 miles north for the reunion.

Although none of his close friends attended, we still had a great time talking with people and looking at old pictures. After dinner they did the usual lining up of graduates for a more “formal” picture.






After a nice night of dancing, we headed to a hotel suite that is larger than our home. 

  Sunday morning we took a stroll through Old Sacramento. Along the side streets that were line with old buildings, we came across a sight that, at first glance, seemed very strange.  A dozen young ladies posing in doorways and assorted other places.

It turned out to be a photo shoot.  It wasn’t for anything specific- it was a mutually beneficial outing for young models and budding photographers.

And then …..we wandered into the largest and most colorful candy store I have ever seen!  I was in heaven and Paul had to drag me out of there- especially since the owner told us we could sample any candy that has a blue tag- and that was about a third of the store!  Yummy!



On our way out of town we drove by the house Paul grew up in.  He was happy to see that the two Redwoods he planted when he was young are the tallest trees in the area. 







Back in Fresno, the celebrating continued with the birthday party for our friend Kevin.  Kevin turned the big 6-0, but we don’t tease him because we are right behind him (some of us are closer than others though!).








We are wrapping up some of our projects on all of our rigs.  Two of them required Paul to climb under vehicles. The camper project was a planned one.  He was changing out some parts to the water system.

The truck project was not a planned one and was a little spooky.  The truck wouldn’t start one morning- it turned over, and then just died with no notice, and a warning sign came up on the dash.  Google to the rescue, when I punched in what the warning said, the results were all about the EGT sensors in the 6.7L Ford engine. Apparently in early production vehicles, the sensors go bad and need to be replaced with an upgraded version.

Luckily we had borrowed a car for the weekend and we still had it, so after a bunch of online searching and talking back and forth with the local Ford dealer, Paul took off to the dealership to get the new part. He was not a happy camper, with thoughts of what could have happened if we had been on the back roads of Alaska when the truck died. He did contact one of the directors at Ford that he used to work for, and discussed it with him.  Apparently they are aware of it and working on a solution.

One of our chores was to clean the carpets in the camper, but the carpet cleaner that we borrowed stopped working.  Karen and I relaxed with a glass of wine while Paul and Kirk pull it apart- to no avail.  It’s next stop was the dumpster.

Paul’s biggest project of the week has been a long time in coming.  The toolbox we have in the bed of the truck is enormous and at times it interferes with maneuvering the trailer in tight corners.

Paul decided it was time for a new one, but he couldn’t find exactly the size he wanted, so he bought one, and then modified it.

The new one doesn't sit as far over the top of the bed rail as the old one, giving us  much better turning abilities.  Unfortunately, it also doesn't go all the way down to the bed of the truck, and that’s a problem.  We need it deeper, to fit the boat engine.

So he cut the top part off and bought another piece of diamond plate.

He sleeved the new piece into the existing toolbox, and after some riveting and gluing….

Voila!  A custom made toolbox!

Home, Suite Home (09-28-14)

As you might imagine, the first few days of settling back into our Mobile Suites was a bit hectic.  First we drove over and checked on it to make sure there were no issues. 

There weren’t, so we dropped the camper off at the RV Park and headed over to pick up the trailer.












It felt very strange, in a good way, to have the trailer tagging along behind us.

Everything is a bit of a mess, as we move back into the trailer.  Anything that will “live” in the camper is in a pile in the trailer, pending a thorough cleaning of the camper.

Dozer was practically hugging the carpet he was so happy to be back!

He is so happy to have his recliner back.  He takes turns sitting on our laps.  It’s been 4 months since he has had that opportunity!

Mostly our days have been filled with projects.  Some of them easy, like installing a solar panel on the roof of the camper. Ok, that was easy for me, anyway.  I didn’t even have to climb up to take the picture- Paul took it.  But he is very happy with the result.








I have been busy with paperwork and the not so fun task of taking care of our medical needs.  Finding new doctors and dentists on a regular basis is one of the things I detest about full time RVing.  Figuring out where we will be, and when, is tough, and it never seems to be the same place twice.  We are hoping to change that by finding doctors in Tucson.  We like Tucson and its a large enough city to have numerous quality medical options.


Anyway, lest you think that it has been all work and no play………

Fun with Friends in Fresno

Our social calendar has been quite full since we arrived. We’ve had dinner several times with our friends, although having everyone over to our place will wait until the camper is squared away.

We attended a “Wine Walk”- food and wine tastings were set up in a large parking lot, with about 15 wineries being represented.  I am not sure why they called it a “walk” though.  Security guards were everywhere, making sure we didn’t walk with our wine.  We had to finish each sample before we moved outside the small perimeter.  Fun time though!

  You may have noticed that the final phase of our Alaska trip has taken place- Paul’s beard is back to “normal”.

The weekend was spent at Kirk and Karen’s cabin at the lake.  We tried out the new version of Monopoly where the game pieces are things such as cell phones. How weird is that?  I guess what’s more weird is that the cell phone looks
“dated” already.







The game involves no cash- just credit cards, and properties worth millions of dollars. The rent on New York Ave., with a hotel, was 9.5 million dollars.  Huh? It was a little difficult to get used to it!










The projects are continuing and so is the planning.  We will pack up the camper again on Thursday and head to sunny Burbank California to spend a few days with our daughter.

….And we’re off to Alaska! (05-20-14)

After two months of sitting still…..although, come to think of it, that’s not really accurate…
Between projects and traveling around the country, we weren’t really sitting still much, but anyway, after two months of the rig sitting in one spot, we have moved on!

There was one thing that was of utmost importance to me as we prepared to leave California, and that was to take a trip down to L.A. to see Jess one more time. We elected to leave both rigs behind and get a hotel room, and were there just at the right time to help her apartment hunt, so we left knowing that she has a new place to live.

Preparing for Alaska meant going shopping.  Over the last month or so our new purchases include:

A new coffeemaker- one that does not require electricity- you just use the gas stove to heat it.  Works great, although we agree, Julie, it takes a fairly long time.

New low profile waterproof hiking boots for both of us.  These will be our daily footwear- more comfortable than regular hiking boots, but waterproof.

A custom cookie sheet- I couldn’t find a cookie sheet that fit in our tiny oven, so I bought a cheap one and asked Kirk to use his tools to chop one end off.  He did better than that- he welded a piece on, so it still  has four sides- awesome job!

Ok, I admit we are a little spoiled, and love our Dunkin Donuts coffee.  Paul heard that coffee prices are going up, so we bought enough to last the entire trip!













Monday was Final Prep Day:





The 5th wheel was completely emptied of all food and cleaned from top to bottom, inside and out, although I am sure it will be quite dusty by the time we come back.

In the afternoon we put the hitch back in the truck and towed the Mobile Suites over to storage.  Even though we scouted out and picked a unit ahead of time, things did not go smoothly.  The first day we were there, someone fairly new was behind the counter and she set us up with their biggest storage unit.  Sort of.  The one she originally gave us is 14 feet tall, but the door cuts straight across and is only 12’6” tall, and we are taller than that! After trying everything we could to get it in, we went to the office, where a more experienced counter person told us that we should have been given a unit with the taller doors.  He showed us a couple that were available and finally, we put the 5th wheel away!

Tuesday morning we loaded up the camper, had lunch with Kirk and Karen one more time, and took off for parts unknown.  We weren’t worried about going too far our first day, and spent the night near Yosemite National Park.

That night we did some route planning and decided to take the route that would take us through Tahoe and Reno, and on up through Banff to Dawson’s Creek, where we will find Mile One of the Alaskan Highway. 

We've made it as far as South Lake Tahoe, where the lake is beautiful…..

…..  and the snow is still on the ground!