New Mexico

From Arizona, we entered New Mexico and stayed in Gallup.  The temperatures have been 104+ every day since we left Palm Springs.  We knew what we were in for before we started so no use in complaining.

We rearranged things so we could have a little office space to pay bills, book RV Parks, etc.

Cactus Moccasins?  OUCH!

Poor Sandy.  This is my only profile picture....

Doing the Bald Eagle Dance at the Dancing Eagle Casino.  We try to plan meals at casinos because they have great food!

When we were in Palm Springs, our friend Chris Elliott got us interested in gourmet root beers.  We've been experimenting along Route 66.  These are but a few of our faves:

Another star party.  Tonight we saw Jupiter and 4 of its moons plus the Moon and Venus.  As luck would have it, the guy in the RV space next to ours was an astronomer at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff.  He loved my old school scope and we gave a great show for the kids.  Here's a quick shot with my iPhone of Jupiter and 4 of her moons:

Today we drove to Brantley Lake State Park in Carlsbad New Mexico.  Many watercraft.  Tomorrow we head to the Carlsbad Caverns!  Stay tuned....

Cottonwood, Jerome, Sedona, Ehrenburg AZ

After visiting the Meteor Crater, we spent some time camped in Cottonwood AZ and visiting with our friend Marty in Jerome AZ.  Marty just got a new telescope for his observatory and Doug helped him set it up.
I'm trying a couple of panoramic pictures, but they really can't show the magnificence of the view and the observatory dome.

Sandy's brother and sister in law, Steve and Sylvia came up to visit and we saw Sedona and much of the varied geology of AZ.

At each of our stops, I've tried to hold impromptu "Star Parties" for our other RV Park neighbors. We looked at the Moon in Ehrenberg AZ.

Giant Meteor Crater

50,000 years ago, a 150 foot meteor made of nickel, weighing more than a million tons hit Arizona.  The result is amazing!

Panorama view really doesn't do it justice.

Sandy took a picture of me taking a selfie.

Goodbye to California and Hello to Road Trip 2018! Next stop: Happy Traveler R.V. Park Palm Springs. (Notice Sandy’s Blue nails)

First Stop on Road Trip 2018

Happy Traveler R.V. Park, Palm Springs

105 degrees. We will wear hats.

 75 degrees in the “glamper"

We think we found a desert menorah?

        Riding the Tram to the top of Mt. San Jacinto for a sunset dinner.  Sandy ordered the vegetable lasagna and the server said, "Are you sure?"  Just what you want to hear.  Pretty much institutional fare...  The ride up has a prerecorded lecture about the history of the tram.  The ride down was disco music and dancing while the gondola rotated as the sun went down.  Way fun!  I got props from the driver for my backup vocals on "My Girl"  So fun to be with the prettiest lady on the mountain.

Our friends Debra and Chris Elliott came to visit and got the RV space next to us.  Chris played trumpet at the Palm Canyon Road House and absolutely killed. We are so proud.

Chris and I found out why it was so hot.  Hello?  Sun CENTER!

Standing in the Colorado River at the Arizona Oasis RV Park in Ehrenberg, AZ.

Impromptu jam session.  If Chris can do it, so can I....

Wiggling our toes in the Colorado River.   Ahhhhhhhhhhh.....Next stop:  Cottonwood and Jerome Arizona.  New Moon so astronomy awaits!

"We're Off" (but not by much...) Road Trip 2018

So Sandy decided to finally retire on June 1st.  Let me let that soak in for a minute..........
For more than 4 decades, Sandy has given more than 100% every single day to a profession that is very demanding.  I have to admit, I never thought I'd see the day. (Actually, it's not here yet, but the movers are scheduled...)  I'm am so thankful that we are both still healthy and happy and can enjoy this next chapter together.

As we have done more "glamping", I've heard more comments like, "We could be doing this all the time?", etc.

So, the movers come on June 4th, the cleaning crew comes June 5th, the landlords walk through the morning of June 6th and we should be in Palm Springs in the afternoon.  We're doing the tram ride with sunset dinner at the top of Mt. Jacinto.

From there we're meeting Deb and Chris Elliott at Pappy and Harriet's in Pioneer Town, where we are actually going to be parked in a corral.

Then off to Jerome, AZ to help a friend install and calibrate his new telescope in his new observatory (Wha-whaaaat?)  We'll camp out for awhile there and visit Sedona, Prescott, the Giant Meteor Crater and any other interesting Arizonian things.

Sandy has a Diabetes Educators convention in Baltimore in August so we're going to meander along Rte. 66 and see what distracts us along the way.

Lots of "nice to sees", a few "need to sees" and no worries at all.  We'll eventually end up in Roseburg, OR but we're in no hurry.  Anyway, who knows?  Maybe we'll discover some magical place along the way that just happens to have our name on it.

Wish us luck

I'll do my best to stay somewhat frequent with updates.

"Previously on RV There Yet?"...

"Previously on RV There Yet?"....


I can't believe it's been so long since I updated this blog.  It really doesn't matter since I haven't made it public as yet.

After our  our trip to Jalama Beach (best burger ever, seriously) , we took the trailer back to the dealer for leaks in the bathroom.

In May, we attended the Strawberry Music Festival in Grass Valley, CA with our good friends Deb and Chris Elliott.  Lots of pickin' and grinnin'.  I got some weird stomach bug, but otherwise uneventful.

During the festival we discovered numerous things that the dealer didn't fix and the awning was very crooked.  I decided to take the trailer into the Lance company in Lancaster, CA.  I'm very fortunate that it's only about 50 miles from home.  Soooooooooooo much better than dealer service!  Very professional, customer-oriented and of course, they have all the parts on site.

In June we went to Castaic Lake, just 25 miles from home, but we could have been anywhere (another retirement revelation).  We forgot a couple of things at home and were able to detach the Xterra, run home, take real showers and still be back in camp within an hour.

In July we met our daughter Julia and grandson Nathan at Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego.  Really pricey and no amenities, but worth it for the location.  We had a private little beach cove all to ourselves and spent the day swimming and paddle boarding.  Wonderful memories!

For Sandy's birthday in August we went to Lake Cachuma, Northeast of Santa Barbara, CA  Fun at the local casino and Deb and Chris Elliott came up for a glamping brunch.

In September we decided to take advantage of a "free" stay at an exclusive RV resort in the foothills above San Bernardino that we "won" after entering a drawing at an RV fair.  (if you've NEVER won anything in your life, go to an RV fair and enter ANY drawing...)  Totally turned us off to the idea of an "RV time share concept.  Nice place, but weird atmosphere.  Some "campers" had been "camping" for a loooooong time....

In November we went to our first group adventure with the Happy Hookups Good Sam Club.  We got an incredible rate at Newport Dunes RV resort and spent a wonderful time in Newport Beach and Balboa Island.  Julia and Nathan visited again from San Diego and I got to teach him to ride a "big boy" bike.  He's a natural athlete.  So much fun at dusk just riding and riding around the RV park on our bikes.  He got lots of practice riding in a very safe environment.  We learned safety and rules of the road in our miniature neighborhood.  He ALWAYS wears a helmet and so does "Crapaw".

During a rain storm in January, we discovered that the dealer did NOT fix the leak in the skylight.  However, it gave me another opportunity to take the trailer to the Lance manufacturer in Lancaster.  Not only did they fix the skylight, but they gave us an incredible VIP factory tour.  We got to see the entire operation and watched the assembly of a trailer like ours from the wheels to the roof.  Way cool!

Next post:  We're Off!

Jalama Beach County Park near Lompoc

Spontaneous adventure to Jalama Beach County Park in Santa Barbara County.
White knuckle drive in highest winds yet with twisty, dark roads.  New resolution:  No more night time arrivals. Too stressful of a drive and makes it much harder to park.
40 mph winds but the sway control bars worked flawlessly.  However, the side of a 10 ft by 20 ft trailer makes a nice sail.... Fun to be snug in the trailer as the weather raged on outside.
Watched the kite surfers, they loved the wind!  Amazed at the college age kids sleeping (?) on the beach with little flimsy tents in the high winds.  Ah youth...

KOA Ventura Ranch

February 24, 2017

Quick trip 50 miles North to the KOA kampground at Ventura Ranch.  First time with full hook-ups! First time with a pull through site as well.  Very decadent.  Nice place with lots of peacocks and lots of activities for families.  Sandy and I went ziplining for the first time.  Great fun!

Good experience driving in high winds and on dark windy roads.

Pieschels' RV Adventures II Furnace Creek, Death Valley

Furnace Creek at Death Valley National Park. 540 miles round trip. We are now officially RVers...OMG, narrow roads with oncoming RVs the size of small cities... Some stretches with such an incline that we could only go 30 mph... There is actually a website called "flattestroute.com" where you can enter your origin and destination and it will suggest...wait for it.... the flattest route! The service guys must have fixed the leak in the skylight because we were at 282 feet below sea level and didn't get a drop of water in the trailer. Good job!

Great times with Chris Elliott and Debra Lesin Elliott celebrating Debra's birthday. As always, my beautiful and charming wife Sandra Pieschel was not only the perfect glamping hostess, (You know she puts the "glam" in glamping) but she's really getting the hang of setting up and tearing down the trailer. Thanks for all your help my dearest. So nice to sleep with you in the desert night, with a million stars all around. Most peaceful and easiest of feelings...

Back from the shop

Retrieved the trailer from the service department after having them address a few issues that arose during the shake down voyage.
1. Obviously the leaky skylight (No hon, just think of it as a 2nd shower...)
2. The propane tanks were installed backward so you had to use your cellphone to take a picture of the gauge to see how full the tanks were.
3. The cables attached to the back of the TV weren't as long as the extension arm for the TV, therefore, every time you fully extended the TV from it's storage space, all of the cables ripped out of either the TV or the wall.
4. One of the ceiling lights didn't work.
5. The trailer needed to have the weight redistributed.  The Xterra front end felt light.
6. I couldn't get the heater to work without taping on the thermostat.  The service guys said they couldn't duplicate the problem.  Well, it duplicated as soon as I got home....we'll see.
Next adventure, Furnace Creek in Death Valley.  No moon and Death Valley is an International Dark Sky location which means no street or building lights.  Looking forward to a lot of astrophotography.

December 30, 2016

So, I went out this morning to put some of Sandy's incredible Mac and Cheese in the trailer fridge in preparation for our noon departure to Crystal Cove  Much to my surprise, when I entered the trailer, I was met with a stream (no I'm not exaggerating) of water coming through the skylight and 1/2" of water (again, not exaggerating) on the floor of the trailer.

Here's where the new retirement mentality kicks in:  My first thought (OK, other than yelling the "F" word at the top of my lungs) was: 1.  It didn't get on any upholstery and 2.  I appeared to have caught it early.

I called the dealer and tried to explain my problem.  I made the mistake of giving the service guy the model number of my trailer (1985).  He had a hard time trying to understand how I thought he was responsible for the repair of my 31 year old trailer...anyway he told me to bring it in and they could easily re-seal the skylight and they closed at 2:00 pm.

I showed up at 1:05 pm in their left turn lane with both gates closed and no one answering the phone.

New retirement mentality kick #2:
I decided "The heck with it".  We had a nice weekend planned for Crystal Cove and I wasn't going to let anything mess us up.

I had already stopped the streaming leak by slightly tilting the trailer. (BTW, NOWHERE in ANY of the literature, does it tell you to slightly tilt the trailer after you've leveled it to facilitate drainage, on the contrary, many of the manuals associated with components of the trailer, i.e., refrigerator, slide out etc., require the trailer to be leveled for proper operation.)  Also, the roof of the trailer appears to be flat, allowing water to pool when the trailer is leveled.  Hello?  I know I'm just a High School Science Teacher, but seriously? How hard would it be to put a slight pitch on the roof? Really?  That's kind of embarrassing....

Trip to Crystal Cove relatively uneventful as I played the game of "Who's towing Who?" with the trailer.

After practicing in regular size parking spaces in the theater lot, parking in a real RV space was easy!  I know they won't all be like this, but I got in on the first try!

It rained all weekend, but it really didn't matter.  We ate lobster tails the first night, then had visitors and had tri-tip on the new RV BBQ next night and everything was good with the world.

Rainy weather is a whole different thing when you're snuggling with your honey in the trailer....

Few glitches discovered along the way, thermostat probs, lights inop, leaky roof, but no deal breakers.

I think it's important to point out that RVing is not just something you "do".  You really have to be ready to buy into the entire philosophy that goes along with it.  Nobody will tell you.  Nobody will teach you.  But one day, when you least expect it, you'll realize that you didn't get upset when something didn't go as expected.  Or when you finally are able to get around to some things you thought you'd never be able to do, then you have the time to do this RV thing properly.

I'm just sayin'

...more to come

In preparation for our maiden voyage to Crystal Cove (<100 miles so AAA can tow us home if all Hell breaks loose) we went to the parking lot behind the movie theater a block from home. Did figure 8s and practiced parking, accelerating, braking, etc.  I'm getting pretty good at parking in normal parking spaces so I'm assuming I'll be OK for the real thing.

Note to self:  The trailer brakes work MUCH better if you plug the trailer into the tow vehicle.  I'm just sayin'.........

Well, we got the new trailer home and it wouldn't disconnect from the Xterra. Tried everything, even jumped up and down on it with all of my 140 pounds, still stuck. I tried to convince Sandy that she might want to think of the RV as a motor home with a hinge in the middle, but no luck. This morning, I called the Service Manager at the RV dealership. He told me that I had a hung hitch. I thanked him profusely until he told me that a hung hitch wasn't a good thing. He said it happens when your ball gets stuck under your tongue. Well, now I knew he was messing with me because I'm pretty sure that is physically impossible. He explained that there is some RV lingo that I need to learn. Anyway, I finally got them separated and all is well. More updates to follow...

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Commen

Well, we didn't want to post anything until it was final, but after 8 dealerships, 2 RV fairs (sensory overload) and dozens of choices, we are now owner's of a new travel trailer! It has everything we wanted and more. We have so many cool places that we want to see and friends we want to visit. (Yes you're on the list). We'll keep everyone posted regarding our adventures!