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RV Life

Oceanside, California

Sunset at Oceanside, CA.
The sunset at Oceanside, CA.

Last week we traveled from the chilly mountains near Idyllwild, CA to the warmth of the Pacific Ocean and Oceanside, CA.

First stop was Guajome County Park for a few pleasant nights and a shakedown of the RV. Fortunately the Guajome Park was near a Home Depot store since the RV needed some minor repairs. We fixed the leaking kitchen sink drain, wired up the portable solar panel, replaced the tv antenna, and fixed the broken screen on the bathroom vent fan. We also organized and repacked the RV and can actually find most of the things we need now.

From Guajome Park to Oceanside Harbor is about a 20 mile round trip on a lovely bike path and we made the trip twice on our new folding bikes. Neither of us have been biking much the past few years but it was great fun and good exercise.

We hosted dinners at the RV for some of our friends from Oceanside and San Diego.

For our final night we moved to Oceanside Harbor which allows overnight camping in a parking lot right on the beach and what a spectacular sunset. Deb had a little mishap with the machine that dispenses parking permits and accidentally purchased two $28 permits but that got sorted out without too much trouble. It was a surprisingly relaxing and peaceful place considering we were in a parking lot.

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RV Life

RV Life

The Winnebago Aspect motorhome.
Our new Winnebago Aspect motorhome.

We recently purchased a motorhome and will be exploring the country in our tiny home on wheels for the next year or two. The past few months have been a whirlwind of activity as we purchased the new (to us) RV, moved out of our rented cabin in Idyllwild, downsized our belongings, sold my car, and moved everything into either storage or the RV.

The RV is a 2005 Winnebago Aspect. It’s 26 feet long, which is mid-sized by today’s standards. We wanted a comfortable space to live, but still small enough to travel to out of the way parks and other places. The dining area slides out on the left side of the RV which adds a lot of room when you are parked.

As we moved out of Idyllwild the weather had turned cold and was dropping into the mid 20’s at night. We spent two chilly nights in the RV at the County Park in Idyllwild as we packed up the cabin and traveled to the warmth of Oceanside, CA.

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Note: It’s been awhile since I updated the blog. I’m not still hiking the Colorado Trail. Back in August I ended the Colorado Trail hike after 300 miles when I came down with a chest cold that slowed me down quite a lot at high elevations. The Colorado Trail was a great hike and I’m looking forward to finishing the final 180 miles someday soon.

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Photography RV Life

Route 66: Gallup to Holbrook

The Painted Desert
The Painted Desert

Today we went from movie stars (sort of) to the Painted Desert. We spent the night at the El Rancho Hotel and Motel in Gallup, which claims many movie stars have lodged there while filming in the nearby desert. We stayed in the less expensive motel, but enjoyed our stay. We stopped for much of the day in Petrified Forest National Park and the Painted Desert and then continued on to Holbrook.

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Photography RV Life

Route 66: Santa Rosa to Gallup

Along Route 66 in Laguna Pueblo Land.
Along Route 66 in Laguna Pueblo Land.

Departing Santa Rosa, Route 66 was mostly covered over by Interstate Highway 40 for the next 75 miles. This made for quick travel but not as interesting as yesterday’s smaller roads. Then we traveled through the sprawl of Albuquerque for quite some time. Finally, in the afternoon we made it to very scenic Laguna Pueblo Land and then on to Gallup.

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Photography RV Life

Route 66: Amarillo to Santa Rosa

We started our journey along historic Route 66 today heading west toward California. Route 66 roughly parallels Interstate Highway 40 and we seldom traveled more than a few miles from the Interstate. When the Interstate highway came through, towns and businesses not fortunate enough to have convenient highway access withered and died.

There were boo coo sights today, ranging from painted fiberglass ponies to scary motel signs to colorful wall murals to museum-quality iron works such as, well, irons heated with coals or with gasoline. We also talked with interesting locals running the museums and shops, in some cases they were newly retired and beginning new projects to revive and keep alive Route 66.

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Photography RV Life

Cadillac Ranch

Deb at Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, Texas.
Deb at Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, Texas.

Today we arrived in Amarillo, Texas late, just as the sun was setting and made a trip out to Cadillac Ranch, an unusual public art exhibit off historic Route 66 (now Interstate 40) west of Amarillo. Cadillac Ranch was commissioned by local millionaire Stanley Marsh 3 (yes, that’s 3 not III) in the 70’s.

Tomorrow we begin driving historic Route 66 back to California.