Rain and an adventure

The Mojave desert seen from our front windows.

Yesterday afternoon and evening were glorious as the rain came down at our house. I don’t know what other areas received, but we got 3/4 of an inch, which is not insignificant. We had a fire in the fireplace and sat and enjoyed it while the rain came down.

Last week we had a bit of a cross-country adventure. The whole thing actually started earlier this summer when we decided to rent a tiny house in the Noyo harbor. We rented it for six months but we figured out that it wasn’t really for us within the first couple of weeks. The neighbors are too close and all the restaurants, while good, all serve the same fried food. Having the place was great for July when my husband spent most of the month fishing for salmon - he no longer had to wake up extra early to make the drive to his boat in the harbor - but other than that, we barely used it after the first month or so.

In its place we decided we wanted a motor home. Thus began months of searching online for the right one. We started looking at all sorts and were able to check out a few different ones - we quickly decided the small, sprinter style vans were too small. As we looked around we also realized that certain features were non-negotiable for us - a king-size bed, an outdoor kitchen and more than two seat belts. The bed because my husband is over 6’ tall and anything smaller would be too small; the outdoor kitchen because so much camping cooking is grilling and having a second space for cooking besides the tiny one inside would make traveling that much nicer; the seat belts so that we can bring our granddaughter and her folks along - or any other friends who we might like to join us.

With these three items on our list, our choices became more limited - which is actually a good thing given the huge number of RV’s out there. We wanted a used one, not too old or with too many miles, but one that had been through the initial break in period. Then the adventures began - first, many of the motor homes’ owners simply would not respond to our emails. Then we thought we had found one - it was in Arkansas, but we were willing to fly out to pick it up so long as it passed inspections. While we were negotiating this with the sellers’ agent, he texted to let us know the updated odometer reading - 8,000 miles more than it was advertised to be! So, that one was done.

Our second chosen RV looked great - low miles, fairly new, and the exterior was mint; it had a “skin” covering it that had protected the exterior and left it in great condition. It was also located in southern California, a much shorter drive home. We were all set on this one when the seller sent us some new photos - the inside had terrible wear and tear that was not shown in the previous photos and there was a dent in the exterior also not previously disclosed. On top of that, the generator had close to 1,000 hours on it!

As we kept looking we started to get wiser in what to ask for - more photos, a video walk-around and -through, a current shot of the odometer, how many hours on the generator. Then we found her - a 2017 with just under 10,000 miles, only 80 hours on the generator and in near perfect condition. We jumped on it just as it was listed and sent a deposit. The seller was actually an honest person - the two items needing fixing he had repaired and he did send more photos and a video walk-around. We flew out to Utah last Monday to pick her up - we’ve named her Cookie and started the new adventure of driving a 30’ long bus home.

Driving out of St. George, UT, as the storm blows in.

And it was an adventure - with a snow storm literally blowing in as we drove out of St. George, Utah, we had to quickly change our plans for our route home. Instead of heading north and across 50 through Utah and Nevada, we headed south and into Arizona then west into Mesquite, Nevada. We made a stop at Costco for sheets, towels and some food and then hit the road. It was stressful - learning to drive the big rig and getting used to other big rigs blowing us around as they passed us or we passed them. We only drove for about two hours that first day, enough to get away from the storm and find a place to spend the night; in this case, it was a small casino with an RV park attached. It was easy to get to, easy to park in and had full hook-ups at a reasonable price. We had dinner, made the bed and hit the hay. I, however, was so excited, that it was after midnight before I could actually sleep!

The next day we decided to head to Desert Hot Springs. This entailed a beautiful drive through the Mojave desert, after also driving through Las Vegas. As we drove, my husband gained confidence as a driver and we settled in. We learned that day and the next that it’s best to plan shorter stretches in between destinations, but we also had limited time to get back to work, so it was what it was. The place we stayed that night was disappointing but it worked and we were on the road the next day with a stop at Mercey hot springs lined up.

Once we got out of LA and over the Grapevine it was my turn to drive. That was fine until it got dark and the combination of the high winds and the poorly painted road lines made it difficult. I was quite happy to arrive at our destination and get into a hot tub. It was a long day and we didn’t eat dinner until close to 11pm. But we enjoyed the baths that evening and the next morning before we headed back to Sacramento to pick up our car and make the last leg of the trip back home.

Overall, it was fun and we are excited to do more traveling with the bus - we like road trips and being able to sleep in our own bed and cook our own meals along the way just makes it better. Now, let’s look forward to the oncoming rains!