….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!

Camper VS Trailer (04-19-14)

We took the camper for our weekend test and spent 3 nights out on the road to check out all the systems etc.  Here are my thoughts.  First, many people name their rigs or RVs.  If Paul and I have names for them, its “the trailer” and “the camper” and of course, “the truck”. Sometimes we call the trailer the Ranch, as in “lets head back to the Ranch”.  On a rare occasion we’ll call it Porter’s Place.  But mostly, it’s just “The Trailer”.

Our destination for the weekend was an RV Park in Coarsegold CA, a mere 45 minutes from where we are staying in Fresno, but it felt like a whole other world.  This Park is essentially a membership park, operated by other full timers like us and has a forest like setting.

We chose a small spot-one that would never have fit the trailer, and one without hookups, so we could test out the generator etc.  As it turns out- the generator is a joy- simply press the button and it starts.  The only downside is that you can practically see the propane being sucked out of the tank.



My first surprise came when it was time to back into the site.  Usually it’s my job to stand in the rear and help direct Paul so that the trailer lands in a good spot, without hitting anything. Well, with no trailer, I kind of just shrugged my shoulders and told him to keep backing up until he was off the road at which point I said “ok, stop”. He got out and said  “That’s it???” Yup, with no trailer, it was just that easy.

My second surprise came when we stopped to look around, breathed in the fresh air, sighed, and realized that Yosemite National Park, one of our favorites, is only “down the road”.  I started thinking about taking a day trip to the park the following day and realized….it doesn’t work that way!  There’s no “dropping the trailer to go off exploring”.  If we wanted to go to Yosemite, we should have looked for a campsite in Yosemite!  This is a totally new way of traveling, and will take some getting used to!





Once we were set  up, we relaxed with Margaritas.  We had to rough it and drink them out of wine glasses, since we aren’t bringing our Margarita glasses with us in the camper.  We looked over the calendar of events for the RV park ( we happened to show up on “Stagecoach Weekend”) and found out there would be a dinner, a dance, and an auction while we are here.  The dinner was just ok, but I have never been to an auction so I was looking forward to that.

In the hour or so before the auction we could check out the merchandise that was going to be up for grabs.  Most things were used, but some were brand new. We also took advantage of the time to search the web for prices on items we were interested in.  We made a list of things we wanted to bid on, how much we were willing to spend, and waited for the auction to start.

Four hours later we were exhausted, but proud owners of “new” chairs, a Blue Boy, a 30 amp extension cord, hydration backpacks, and a few other smaller items.  We originally  bought a ladder but it was too short so we brought it back.








That night, and the next morning, I figured out several of the major differences between the camper and trailer.  I had forgotten how…..luxurious…for lack of a better word, our trailer is. Being in the camper for 2 nights was already making me appreciate the shower in my trailer, the size of  my bedroom, and the thick insulation that keeps out the sounds of birds and trucks, both of which can be heard quite clearly from inside the camper .  The trailer feels huge compared to the camper.  The camper is really only one space.  Paul can’t watch TV without my noticing, and even the coffee perking sounds loud.  Climbing in and out of the bed is probably going to get old pretty quickly ( and Sandie, it would NOT have worked for you!!). But hey, we’ll get used to it. I’m not complaining, just making note of the differences.  It reminds me a lot of our boat.  Everything you need, but in a compact space.





As much as we enjoyed the dance on Saturday night, Yosemite was beckoning.  I had looked online and discovered that there were two sites available for Sunday night- maximum length: 27 feet.  We top out a 26 feet so I quickly booked a site and Sunday morning- off we went. It was very strange parking in and among the tent campers.

One of the excuses for heading to Yosemite was to test the truck and camper on a long, windy road.  From the main turnoff, its a 1.5 hour trip to get into Yosemite Valley.  The road is narrow and difficult.

The last time we were here, we didn’t come into the park as much as we would have liked, because the daily drive in and out was over 4 hours long.  Extremely tiring for Paul.  So being able to spend the night in the park was awesome!

Springtime in Yosemite means incredibly beautiful waterfalls- like this one- Yosemite Falls.

Our first day there we headed to Vernal Falls- a hike we’ve done before.  We didn’t plan on hiking all the way to the top of the falls, but once we got started, we were inspired.

By the time we were done hiking, we had climbed about 1200 feet in elevation and hiked about 6 miles or so. It felt awesome to be on the trail again!












The next day we discovered two major perks to having a camper instead of a trailer.  Check out time is noon, and ordinarily it would be difficult to spend the day in the park, since we would have to pack up and be gone by noon.  Well, this time, we packed up and drove to a Day Use parking lot. 




We took the tram to the hiking trail and were able to spend a good portion of the day hiking to Mirror Lake.

We’ve never hiked this trail before but after the elevation gain of yesterday, we chose it because although it’s about a 5 mile hike, it’s relatively flat.

Once we were done with our hike and got back to the camper, it was simple to open the slide and make ourselves some sandwiches, another perk to having the camper with us all the time!

  Both before and after our weekend, we made some changes to the camper.  The old, analog TV is gone, replaced by a larger digital one.  The bathroom faucet has been replaced, and Paul is in the process of installing the new shower head. Using a camper for weekends or the occasional week long vacation is different from living in it for 5 months, and  there are some changes that are being made because we will be living in it for so long.

We’ve had a fun time buying stuff for the camper, and have, of course, moved some things over from the trailer. 

For pictures of the interior of the camper, here’s a link to my blog post that has those pictures:

Truck Camper Post

Yosemite National Park- Day 1

As we drove and walked through Yosemite National Park, I tried to decide what words I would use to sum up the park and what my impressions of it are.  That's very difficult to do when you have a limited vocabulary!   I guess if I had to use one word, it would be "huge".  Not "vast" like Big Bend, because in Big Bend there are no trees to block the "vastness".  Here, there are trees, huge ones, and  huge rocks, and views, huge views, everywhere you look. There really aren't words that convey the feeling I got.  There was a feeling of excitement of course, of feeling insignificant, but also the feeling that there have been  so many people  here exploring this wilderness, and I couldn't wait to be one of them, and how great it is that this place is being preserved so that we can all enjoy it.
    The RV Park we are staying in is about an hour and a half from the visitors center. On the way in, that was no problem,  I was captivated by the views anyway.  On the way home, at 8 pm though,  it got old since I was so tired.  Plus we then had to stop to go food shopping and eat dinner.  It was one long day.
      There were two hikes we were particularly  interested in doing, but we decided to do the shortest of the two on our first day.  We hiked the Mist Trail (appropriately named) up past Vernal Falls to Nevada Falls, then back down Muir Trail, for a total of about 7 miles and 1900 ft elevation gain.  Luckily the views were spectacular and the photo opportunities many, since we had to stop frequently to catch our breath along the way. The plus side to the fact that we can't hike Half Dome, due to snow, is that the waterfalls-and there are lots of them- are positively gushing with water. As we were hiking, whether we could see a waterfall or not, we could always hear one.  It was never quiet in the forest.  There were also lots of people, but not to the point where it felt overcrowded.
All in all it was a great, but tiring, first day in Yosemite.  This morning I am doing laundry, how fun.  This afternoon we are leaving this park for 2 nights, and meeting Kevin, Suzy, Kirk and Karen at a Federal campground to spend the weekend.  We'll come back to this campground on Sunday.

Yosemite National Park

 We have cancelled our reservation for inside Yosemite National Park. It snowed there again a few days ago, which means the cables for Half Dome will probably not be up before we leave the area, and we won't be able to hike it. I am really disappointed, but we'll just have to try again next year.  We'll still be here for a week, and do a lot of hiking, but not Half Dome.