Comfort Travel – Canned Comfort

Let’s Look Back at Our Winter 2018

Best plans for starting at the beginning were changed by a rush of plans and invitations to go visit family and friends! img_1037-1

We put 15,000 miles on our new coach in 3 months! I used the H2O liquid cleaner to quickly wipe down the dust and accumulation of the new rig. There were labels all over the inside stating “no abrasives or cleansers”. Cleaning was quick and easy and we then quickly stored everything from the 20 ft FC and prepped for winter travel!

Well, as often happens, on our way to Colorado our water pump had stopped working. We had just had it repaired from a short trip to California and had picked up the rig at the dealership on our way out of time. Luckily we found a dealership in southern Colorado that refreshed the pump for us at no charge!!! What luck.

We soon learned we were not at all prepared for our trip. Yes we had food, winter clothing, doggie supplies etc. We had too much stuff. We really had not really learned much from our last 12 years of travel. This was a longer travel through new roads and byways. We just rushed to get needed repairs for damages made on the maiden voyage from California to our new home in Henderson, Nevada.

My hubby tried to back up our rig into the court we had lived in and introduced our back aluminum panels to the street sign!!! Our new rig needed two weeks of repair! Ouch, ouch, ouch!

The repairs finished just as we had to leave on our 3 week trip!!! Not a great way to start. Grumpy, short tempered, rushed and hopeful that we were prepared! What another adventure we were to have.

We forgot that there was less daylight and lots of semi-trucks zooming along eastbound Hwy 10! Thank God we had a new tow vehicle and the rig was in one wonderful piece. We finally got to our destination KOA in NEW MEXICO! Rolled in at 1:00 am and rolled out at 8:00 am! Not a way to start.

Day two began with sunlight, 46 degrees and a wonderful hot cup of coffee! After taking the dog for a walk we realized why we have our coach! We had a cozy, comfy sleep in our own bed. We did not have to check-into a hotel, lug stuff in and out of our vehicle. We just parked, hooked up the electric and went to bed!

The next part of the trip was rushed, as we were afraid of the snow possibly falling too soon. The great part was the vistas we enjoyed, the road conditions and we had our own good hot food and could stop to walk about to stretch.

After staying at another KOA in southern Colorado, quite nice too. We arrived at the ranch and enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Of course we had an electrical panel problem we tried to repair but all dealerships were closed. We were able to make it home and to the dealership without problems! Thank goodness my son is mechanically inclined and helped out!

Whew home, safe rested and the rig is getting repaired! Still on warranty too! What luck

Hopefully before our next outing in one week we can review the cleaning and updating of our new rig. Happy travels.

Oh, Friday Escape Is Here!

As I worked all day, my hubby had the responsibility to pack our silver comfort to go to Pinnacles. I have lived all my life within 2 hours from this jewel, ALL MY LIFE! Recently we had the epiphany of the beauty surrounding us. Everyone lives near beauty but thinks that over the hill on the other road is where beauty is. Living in the central California Montery Bay Area we take so much for granted.

After our adventure in the real winter of Nevada and Idaho we wondered if we couldn’t enjoy our Airstream closer to home and learn how to benifit more from our cozy comfort. We have survived our frozen poopscicle and many other challenges, as all travelers do. We have learned to laugh and cherish the lessons learned and the appreciation of the moment.

The weather has been warm and clear for too long. We planned on more of the same but of course mother nature had other plans. As I worked through the day watching the clouds gather, my man and doggies prepped for our journey. I had left a list of food stuffs and clothing to pack so we could enjoy an old new “jewel”.

My brother and wife were going to join us. What fun. Of course I worked an hour later than expected, the skies where getting dark with clouds and the wind was getting stronger. I could not wait to get in the truck. As we started out from my office we began our journey.

The skies were getting darker as the sun bagan to set and the storm began to gain momentum. Oh well, that just meant we could have a little adventure and expierence some weather. Of course our “weather” is nothing but a mild inconvenience. We love our climate we just need rain!

The road and emotions began to lift as we left the highway and city behind and drove through Hollister, California. Unfortunately for us the darkness cloaked the beauty we drove by. It is so fun to see our silver coach behind us. It signifies freedom from work, stress and pressure. When your think about it, we don’t need to travel days for beauty and regeneration of spirit. It surrounds us. We just need to see it.

As per usual we really don’t know where we are going, ok we have general directions and a road. It is dark and the signage for Pinnacles is minimum. We travel along wondering when the rain will drop. We keep going and arrive after dark at the park. We get a little confused on the road and finally find the campground. We find our spot and easily park. Wow it was too easy. We settled in and took our doggies for a walk as the rain started in earnest. We laughed and enjoyed the smell of rain and knowing our doggies were soaked! Luckily we had put up our awning which sheltered us as we toweled off our friends. It was an easy evening and the rain played music on our roof. The enjoyment of the sound of rain lulled us to sleep.

The morning was lazy and enjoyable. The park was less than half filled, no generators were allowed at all but we had electric hookup. Comfort, beauty and quiet. We did not have our Nesspresso Pixie nor the Frother! Someone who shall remain nameless forgot to pack our beauties. We pressed on and enjoyed our french press coffed instead. I do miss the frother though. hmmmm

Our Pixie and frother to the rescue. — Our Pixie and frother!

We had dinner outside, slow roasted lamb ribs, garlic mashed potatoes and blanched asparagus with goat cheese and bread. We ate outside under the stars as the rain passed over and the stars were out. Just before dinner the ranger held an little discussion on the California Condor! It sprinkled throughout the presentation but it was informational and fun. We walked back to our trailers and began to set out the picnic table for dinner. I drained the fat off the ribs and spread salsa over the garlic sea salt rub and we ate hungrily.

Of course we can not have a trip without fun. As I brought a beautiful toasted lemon cake with toasted coconut frosting it flew off the plate in my hands and landed on the ground! I had waited for a taste of this luscious cake for days. Sooooo we saved the top layer and followed the 5 second rule and all tasted the cake with a little extra seasoning. Nothing ever goes as planned! Flying Coconut Cake is the first evening star.

As we go back to our trailer and start to clean up I realize my hubby did not pack our H2O Home cleaning tools to pick up. But even worse my sink was not draining. We tried boiled water, at least three times and realized that the hot water only went so far down the pipes! I unwound the plumbing stuff and found a 2 inch by 1.5 inch fat plug! We had a fat-scicle!!! We went from poopscicle to fatscicle! wow so much laugher and fun.

Soooooo all systems clear, we rest as tomorrow we go a hiking to the caves!

Silver Dreaming

We are prisoners of our routines. I know I feel like there is this hamster wheel I keep running on without the ability to jump off. Then I look out and see a glint of sunshine on our silver Flying Cloud that keeps winking at me. It seems to say “come on we should go someplace”. We just returned from the ice-cube travel to the Idaho countryside that took five days. We had a timeline, many miles and new lessons learned — NO MORE POOPSCICLES!

As we look at our work week and think there is not enough time or money to make another trip somewhere right now. Wrong, we live in beautiful Santa Cruz County on the Monterey Bay, hmmm. There are many state parks and national parks close by. The Pinnacles National Park is the farthest away at 90 minutes! Sea Cliff and New Brighton are 15 minutes away. They do need reservations all year round but well worth the planning. If you’re self-contained there are even more opportunities to run away.

When we first bought our beautiful Airstream I had many things on my mind, I did not want to rough camp, I wanted to be comfy, I did not want left over household items as our trailer pantry and stores and I did not want to create a large footprint as we traveled. I loved the pictures of others luxuriating as they “camped”.

The first five years were filled with meltdowns, tears, new lessons, forced communication all with new eyes to see our world. We have traveled from California to Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado. We marvel at the bigness of our country and the kindness of those we encounter. Again though that took up to eleven days to get there and back. That is too much time.

A friend of mine who lives in Aptos, California told me when his kids were younger they would get into their Class C RV and drive 10 minutes to New Brighton State Park and feel like they were worlds away from home and had fun like tourists do. Hmm hadn’t really thought about the local parks.

That makes escape easier and more relaxing. We have many wineries here in Santa Cruz County and Monterey County, Olive oil tastings, ocean shores, mountains and quiet relaxation. This doesn’t even touch on great foodie adventures. With our little Silver coach reminding us of the why behind our investment we smile. It is a new year with new possibilities for seeing what we don’t see every day. When I drive to work everyday I drive by miles of open beach, the Elkhorn Slough, miles of farmlands growing everything we eat but I just drive by and take it for granted.

We often lose sight of what we have right next to us because it is just there. Now we can see that with a little time spent on the State Parks and National Parks internet sites we can make a reservation and be on our way within an hour after work. This puts a little lift in my spirit and lets the stress release. I have made one day car trips to Lake County to pick up Six Sigma Wine, but it is a long day. Here I can go out of my daily circles and in 10 minutes to 90 minutes max, be in another beautiful place. If you’re prepacked with all your creature comfort have to haves, you just add a little sprinkle of your favorite wine, steak, comfort food and off you go! What we have and don’t see is what takes the energy out of our lives. We don’t have to go to Paris to find adventure. Here where we live, if we open our eyes we can find it here!