Five Dogs and Us

Spring in California

2017-06-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

Post covers end of March through mid April 2017.

We decided to spend some time visiting with family and enjoying some of Southern California. Our first stop was Palm Springs. We have stayed at the Thousand Trails there before and made reservations again there. They are of course dog-friendly and we can set up all the fences so the babies can have a lot of freedom. The weather was great and spending some more time in the warmth was great. Vinnie is continuing to walk better but does occasionally have some balance issues but with all he has been through, he is doing great!

We got to spend some time visiting the different markets in the area. On Thursday evenings there is a nice street market in downtown Palm Springs that we visit every time we go to the area. We also found another market by the college on Saturday that has all kinds of items from craft vendors to fresh produce and lots of food.

Alan had some classes to teach in Washington and Oregon during this time and went from nice warm Palm Springs to snowy Wenatchee, WA for one of the classes. At least the other class was on the Oregon Coast and much better weather.

After about a week in Palm Springs, we moved over to Sweetwater Regional Park in San Diego to be closer to daughter Danielle and grand-dog Gucci. We have also stayed here before, right after getting the new motorhome last year, and really enjoyed the park and area. There is no issue with the dogs and fencing and being at a large regional park, there are great trails to take the babies for walks on. Also, the trails meander all over the area and Kim and I got some great walking in.

Grand-dog Gucci & Prada sunning

Kim had found a craft fair to attend with her business, Rescue Me Dog Treat Company, in San Marcos. She and Dani had made lots of fresh treats for the the fair. They had a great turn out at the booth and Kim was able to donate a fair share to a local animal rescue. This is the reason for her business, to be able to give back to rescues and shelters that care for the less fortunate four-legged babies.

We spent one day with Dani at The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch. It is an incredible display of flower fields. It was easy to spend hours walking around the area and enjoying all the displays.

After some great weather, spending time with Dani and enjoying the area, we had to leave for Reno and then will be moving on to Oregon after that.

Driving to San Diego

2017-06-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

This post cover March 12 to 19, 2017

We left Galveston to head to San Diego for a visit with daughter, Danielle. Along the way we looked for a fun place to stay for Alan's birthday and decided on visiting Tombstone, AZ area for a couple of days.
The first stop after leaving Galveston was South Llano River RV Park & Resort in Junction, TX. We've stayed here before and the spaces are decent size and the babies have some places to walk right at the park. The park sits close to the river but no great access to let the babies wade in the water but we did get them out for a nice walk after getting settled in.

The next stop was at the Van Horn RV park in Van Horn, TX. Another quick overnight stop but they have nice size spaces and all pull through so made for an easy overnight stay (no unhooking the toad). The babies are welcomed here and there are chickens wandering around for the babies to yell at! Also, a little cafe at the park that has good simple food and is a good break from cooking after getting settled after a day of driving.

One more stop before getting to the Tombstone area. This one in Deming, NM at the Dreamcatcher RV Park. It's run by the Escapees and has wide spots and lots of places for the babies to go for walks. Also, the rates are about the most reasonable of any parks with full hookups. We didn't get a chance to do anything in Deming this time but we've stayed here before and even found a winery close by to visit.

We decided to stay in Benson, AZ to explore the area. Somehow I missed the Encore park here and we ended up staying at the KOA. While it is dog-friendly and no issues with setting up our fencing. The spots are tight and the park is in need of some updating.

We got to spend a few days here and visited Tombstone along with some other spots in the area. Kim took Alan out for a nice birthday dinner and we had a relaxing time while there. We visited the Kartchner Caverns State Park and took a tour of some of the caves. Kim got to try on some stylish hats as well!

We left Benson heading for Palm Springs with an overnight stay in Buckeye, AZ (just outside of Phoenix) at Leaf Verde RV Resort. The park was still full of snow birds and they had a big party and concert planned for the night we stayed there. It was fun seeing everyone having enjoyed their winter in Arizona. We didn't partake much as we were tired when we got there and just took advantage of being close to lots of grocery stores to stock up and get laundry done while at the park. The weather was great and the babies (especially Prada) enjoyed sunning themselves.

Prada and Spella sunning in Arizona

Back to Galveston

2017-06-09T05:23:00.000-07:00

Post covers Feb 12 to March 12, 2017.

So after spending the week at Matagorda, we decided to go back to Galveston for a longer stay. We liked this area and wanted to spend more time there to see what we really think of the area. We are starting to consider finding a place we like to spend the winter months over the next few years. We don't want to just bounce all time. Both us and the fur-babies have decided we like a little more stability in staying places from time to time. We got reservations back at Stella Mare as we enjoyed our last stay there. They have reasonable monthly rates so we decided to go with a month long stay. We got a nice spot in the back part of the resort, the only issue with the spot was that it backed up onto a well traveled road but it wasn't too bad.

We took advantage of the time there to see some of the sites in the area. We had a great time visiting the San Jacinto Monument, Battleship Texas and NASA. Seeing the Johnson Space Center and taking the full tour was great. It does make one proud of what that agency has accomplished and continues to do. We of course took time to drive around and get to know the area better. We found Bolivar Peninsula just east of Galveston, across the bay, a wonderful place. The ferry ride across the bay is fun and the babies got use to being on a boat. The area had been devastated during Hurricane Ike in September 2008 but has done a good job of rebuilding. We saw that the area allows stand alone RV ports on most of the peninsula without having to build a house. Some of the ports are quite elaborate with large, raised decks, garages and some were even on canals leading to the intercostal waterway and had their own docks. The beaches on Bolivar were mostly empty while we were there and we were able to drive onto them and let the babies play to their hearts content.

The babies enjoyed the beaches and got to go there most days. Stella Mare is dog-friendly and besides allowing the pens to be set up, the people working there always say hi to the babies. Vinnie is doing great and continues to walk well with assistance and a little bit without assistance. The little guy is such a fighter and is exceeding what we expected him to be able to do all the time.

We had decided that after the month in Galveston, we would head back towards San Diego to visit our older daughter. We left on the 12th and spent a night in Junction, TX and another night in Van Horn, TX and then a night in Deming, NM before getting to Tombstone to spend a couple of days, more on Tombstone to come.

Matagorda Bay Nature Park

2017-05-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Post covers Feb 4 to Feb 12, 2017

After leaving Lawton, we decided to head back to the gulf coast. We had seen a House Hunter's episode on HGTV that featured Palacios, TX and it showed some great beaches so after looking up the area we decided to head to that area and check it out. On the way, we spent a night in Waco so we could break up the drive. We stayed at an Army Corps of Engineers campground, Speegleville Park. The campground was nice and open with large spaces. We were able to walk the babies and get them by the lake but it was bit too cold to let them get wet. We also took a drive to see Waco since neither of us had ever been there before. We thought it was a nice town but nothing special for us.

We left the next morning for the drive to the gulf. It was about a 4-1/2 hour drive to Matagorda Bay Nature Park which we had decided to stay at. The park is run by the Lower Colorado River Authority and is a nice campground with large spaces and full hookups. We found that we had good reception for both Verizon and AT&T, so getting work done was not a problem, also great satellite reception. I'm guessing during the summer the lack of trees would make it pretty warm but this time of year it was great to have sun and warmth. The campground sits at the junction of the Colorado River and Gulf of Mexico and we were almost on the river from our site. No issue with setting up a nice area with the pens for the babies to run around in.

We had great sunsets every day we were there!

Vinnie enjoyed napping in his chair with his own shade.

Spella loved having grass to play in every day.

We had easy access to the beach and got the babies there for walks every day. What we learned is that the House Hunter's episode forgot mention that while the area is nice and being on the gulf is great, there isn't a lot else to do in the area. After a couple of days we had run out of things to see in the area and there are not many restaurants in the area (the couple there are fun, local joints though) and there is one coffee and gift shop in town (Cat Tails), which also serves wine and has a friendly owner and staff. We took one day to drive to Port Aransas and Corpus Christi. We found that we liked the Port Aransas area and the beach there was white sand that the babies loved running across.

Vinnie has been doing great and is walking well with some support from a scarf under his belly. He's moving all his legs the way they are suppose to when walking. We couldn't be happier with the progress he's making and won't be surprised to see him walking on his own before long.

When we made the reservations to stay at Matagorda, we thought a week would be nice to have time to see the area. We stayed the whole week but staying for 3 or 4 days would have been about right. We took advantage of the time to catch up on some work and cleaning on the motorhome. While we decided that we weren't going to stay here any longer, we did decide we wanted to spend more time on the gulf. Since we had enjoyed Galveston, we are going to head back to that area for a longer stay.

Fort Sill and Graduation

2017-04-26T12:23:00.000-07:00

Post covers Feb 1 to Feb 3, 2017

Once we left Austin, we headed toward Lawton, OK for our daughter's (Ally) graduation from basic training at Fort Sill. We are obviously very proud of her for accomplishing this and were anxious to see her again. We took our best guess to find a place to stay and reserved a spot at Buffalo Bob’s RV Park. This turned out to be an okay place to stay but of course being February in Oklahoma, there wasn't a problem having a space. The park was on the outskirts of Lawton and close to Fort Sill.

The babies weren't thrilled with the weather and neither were we. It was cold and windy the whole time we were there. Ally's basic graduation was split over two days. The first day was a demonstration of skills that the troops had worked on over their time in basic and was outside. You could watch all the families shivering in the cold, windy weather. Once this was over, we finally got to see Ally and sign her out for the day. We spent a nice afternoon visiting and feeding her real food!

The next day was the actual graduation. They did a nice job of the ceremony and there were lots of families there to support their soldiers. We were again so proud of seeing Ally complete basic training and once graduation was over got to spend the rest of the day with her before having to get her back to post so she could pack and head out for the rest of her training early the next morning.

We also headed out the next morning heading for Matagorda, TX with a planned stop over in Waco and hopefully warmer weather.

Fredericksburg and family meet-up & stop in Austin

2017-04-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

Post covers: Jan 23 to Feb 1, 2017

After leaving Galveston, we headed for Fredericksburg, Tx to meet up with Kim's mom and uncle. They are a neat sister and brother combination. Each year they get together a couple of times and go on trips together in mom's trailer. This year they decided to head towards Texas, it helped we were going to be in the area and Kim's mom would get to see her. We made plans to meet them in Fredericksburg and spend almost a week with them. The drive from Galveston turned out to be windy and long (because of the wind). We got into Fredericksburg by mid-afternoon and met up with mom and uncle at Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park Campground. The park is right on the outskirts of Fredericksburg. It was strange that many of the sites are set up so that you park in front or behind someone else. It worked okay for us, since we were camping together but I wouldn't like to have someone I didn't know right in front or behind me. The park was dog-friendly and no issues setting up the pens for the babies. We found a couple of paths in the park that we could take the babies on but we had to be careful in the grass as there were lots of burrs that the babies got stuck in their paws ☹️

We found Fredericksburg to be a fun area to visit. The downtown area is nicely kept up with lots of shops and restaurants, as well as a few wine tasting rooms and breweries. One day we visited the Lyndon B Johnson State Park. While there we took in the visitor center where there is a short movie about LBJ and then went to visit the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park which is right across the river from the state park and is the site of LBJ's ranch. At the National Park, you can take a tour of the ranch house where LBJ and Lady Bird lived and learn a bit of history about both. On the site is also one of the planes used as LBJ's Air Force One when visiting the ranch. We had fun on the tour and talked with the guide, who is a volunteer, a bit afterwards about volunteering there and what they get in exchange (a nice RV spot right on site) and what he thought of volunteering at this park and others he's done it at. Gave us a nice perspective on volunteering which we are planning on doing in the future. We visited a couple of vineyards and wineries while in the area and found some nice wines.

After mom and uncle left, we headed over to Austin for a few days. We had heard good things about McKinney Falls State Park so decided to stay there. We did have to spend one night at a KOA just north of Austin as we couldn't get into the state park on the day we wanted to. We found the state park as nice as others have reviewed. Of course being a state park, it was dog-friendly and we were able to set up a nice area with the pens for the babies to play in and us to sit out in with them. The site have 50 amp service and water but no sewer hook-up. We were only planning to stay a few days, so that wasn't a problem and since we were near the showers (and they were nice and clean), we used their showers a couple of times.

The park has several nice hiking trails and we got some good hikes in and got the babies out for some good long walks. We visited Austin a couple of times but found downtown to be much more congested than the last time visiting Austin (many years ago) and not as much fun. We had a better time in the park and spending time in that area than visiting the downtown area. There is lots to do in Austin but it's obvious the area is growing fast and they aren't keeping up with the growth.

We left Austin and headed north for Lawton, OK and graduation. More on that in the next post.

Galveston and the beaches

2017-04-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

Post covers: Jan 14 to Jan 22, 2017

After leaving Gulf Shores we headed towards Galveston. We hadn't been there before but had read good things about the area and this time I researched it enough to learn that all the beaches there are dog-friendly and require leashes (our favorite combination). We actually ended up making reservations at a different park than we first thought about going to, as the first one didn't have space for our entire stay. We stayed at Stella Mare RV Resort. It's a pretty new park and we got one of the back in spaces on the side of the park and this gave us a lot of grass behind us. The only negative we had was that the spaces are a bit tight but not enough to make us regret staying there. It is right across the highway from beach access, so it was convenient to go for walks there everyday. We also found that at most of the beach accesses you can drive onto the beach and park. Made it convenient for taking the babies for walks. The babies loved going to the beach every day and Vinnie is walking like a champ on the sand with some support from a scarf under his belly.

The staff at the park were all friendly and helpful. We set up the fences for the babies and while sitting out with them one afternoon, one of the staff came by and asked if she could take our picture with all of us so they could use for their brochures. So they are definitely dog-friendly but are strict about their leash policy, which we appreciate. We found that most people on the beaches followed the leash law, we only had one run in with someone who thought it was okay for his dog to be off leash and run up to others. We didn't have an issue with his dog but it was disappointing to find someone who acts like this, they can ruin it for all us quickly.

While in Galveston, we had nice weather. 60-70s during the day with some fog but little rain. We did a few touristy things and went to visit Seawolf park which houses two WWII era ships, the submarine USS Cavalla, and the destroyer escort USS Stewart. You get to self-tour both ships which was great fun and a good learning experience. We also visited Moody Gardens and toured the rainforest pyramid and did the Colonel Paddlewheel cruise on the bay. Unfortunately the aquarium was closed while they remodel it so we didn't get to see that. It was a fun time and worth the time and money to go see.

We had a great time in Galveston and already are planning on going back there. Maybe even this year before heading back west. But we had to leave for a planned rendezvous with Kim's mom and uncle.

Gulf Shores, AL

2017-03-28T00:51:00.000-07:00

Post cover Jan 10 to Jan 14, 2017.

We left Tallahassee for Gulf Shores in Alabama and had a nice drive until going through Pensacola when we had a rock fly up and put a nice chip in our windshield. Oh well at least it is small enough so that we can get it repaired and not have to replace the windshield.

We pulled into Gulf State Park and were wow'd with the area. It is certainly one of the nicest state parks we have been to. The site we had picked out was as nice as it looked online. We were right across the road from the canal that runs through part of the park and had a pull through site. Off to our other side (passenger side) was a brushy / swampy area so it was nice and private. We also found that the swampy area was full of frogs that serenaded us at night. We had great Verizon and AT&T service and wide open sky for the satellite. There is no wifi in the campground. We paid the standard site rate since we were across the road from the canal and not right on it, so at $37/night it wasn't too bad for being in such a gorgeous spot. With having a nice large space, we were able to set up a large area with the pens for the babies to play in and us to sit in with them.

Some how when I started looking at this area to visit I misread the information on the beaches being dog-friendly. When we got there and start looking at all the beaches in Gulf Shores, we found none of them allow dogs. This was frustrating to say the least and it's hard to understand why the whole area would be so unfriendly to dogs. We found some other parks in the area that are okay to take the babies to but it's not the same. It was also frustrating as the beaches are gorgeous with nice white sand.

We did find that the island next to Gulf Shores, Dauphin Island, was dog friendly on all it's beaches. One day, we hopped on the ferry that goes from Gulf Shores to Dauphin Island and took the babies on an outing to the beach. It was their first ferry ride, Spella and Vinnie did great but Prada was her nervous self and was a bit unsure of what was going on. Once we got to the island, we found a few beaches that were nice to walk on and easy for the babies. Vinnie got a nice stroller ride and a few short assisted walks on the beach. The girls got to play on the beach and dip their paws in the gulf waters.

Vinnie enjoying his stroller view of the beach

Spella daydreaming while she looks at the gulf!

After finding out about the lack of dog friendly beaches, we decided not to stay too long and made plans to head towards Galveston were we all could enjoy the beaches. We did like the area but found this part unfortunate.

Brunswick, GA visit

2017-03-05T11:40:00.000-08:00

Post covers Jan 4 to Jan 10, 2017

After leaving Raleigh, we decided to head down to Georgia. We decided to stay new Saint Simons Island as it was an area we wanted to explore. We stayed at Coastal Georgia RV Resort for a few days and explored the area with the babies. I forgot to get any pictures of the resort but we enjoyed it and found the staff friendly, the campground was dog-friendly and they had no problem with us putting up pens for the babies. The space was adequate but no large. The park was quiet and all the neighbors were pleasant to be around.

We got the babies out to the beaches at Saint Simons Island a couple of times and worked on Vinnie's rehab. He is doing great and with assistance from a sling to hold up his rear legs, he is able to walk and play. We are thinking about getting him a wheelchair but will see how it goes for him.

We spent part of a day at Jekyll Island as well and toured the sea turtle rescue sanctuary there. These people do amazing work to rescue and rehab sea turtles. They try to release all the turtles they rehab but will care for ones that can't be nursed back to being able to survive on their own. It was nice to see the people that work and volunteer there being so caring.

While we were there, the area had a cold snap come through. Luckily we left Raleigh at the right time as they ended up with snow and icy roads and even northern parts of Georgia had snow. We were just cold for a couple of days.

After leaving Brunswick, we head for the Gulf Shores of Alabama but wanted to do the drive in a couple of days so spent one night in Tallahassee, FL. We ended up picking a park as best we could from reviews. We stayed at Big Oak RV Park. While the park wasn't bad, it was more of a permanent resident park with just a few overnighters. They were dog-friendly and we were able to put up our pens.

In the afternoon we drove around the area to see what was in Tallahassee and found a little BBQ place for a late lunch. After that we decided to have a relaxing night and plan on leaving early in the morning for Gulf Shores.

Christmas in Raleigh

2017-02-25T10:25:00.000-08:00

Post covers Dec 23, 2016 to Jan 3, 2017.

After all the trials of making it to Raleigh, we were relieved to settle in to the Raleigh Oaks RV Resort. The staff was helpful as we checked in and the spot we got was towards the front but traffic noise on the county road in front of the park wasn't an issue. There is a train nearby but for us it wasn't close enough to be a noise issue. The only loud noise we experienced the whole time there was from a couple of Air Force cargo planes that must have been doing a low approach (made Alan recall some of his Air Force time). The park is a mix of permanent residents and travelers. All of the residents kept their spaces nice and tidy and there was none of the trashy look that some parks allow permanent residents to have. There are two fenced in dog areas and plenty of room to walk the babies. We had no issues with anyone else's dogs as everyone was respectful and kept their babies leashed when not in the dog areas. We were surprised to find that the resort had a small workout room with a couple of ellipticals, treadmills, stationary bikes and some free weights. We took advantage of this as Alan started working on some more back rehab. Also a nice laundry room and while we didn't use them, the showers / bathrooms looked nice and clean. There was also a nice looking pool, small mini-golf area and pickle ball court.

The resort is about 40 minutes from downtown Raleigh but was only about 20 minutes to our daughter and son-in-law's home. We looked at some other parks as we drove around the area and decided we made the right choice of where to stay especially to be close to family. When back in the area in the future we will probably stay here again. We had great Verizon and AT&T signals, the wifi was slow most of the time and we used our hotspot most of the time.

Yes, this big house is the office!

While in Raleigh, we not only got to spend a lot of time with Ally and Justin (daughter and son-in-law) and have Christmas with them, we also got to visit with Alan's nephew and wife. They had moved to the Raleigh area about a year ago so it was great to get so see them several times while in the area. We learned they are craft beer connoisseurs and went to a couple of fun breweries with them, our favorite being Deep River Brewing Company.

Raleigh is definitely a growing area and traffic is an issue depending on which way you are going at certain times of the day but got it figured out and other than trying to go to a mall right after Christmas managed to avoid most of the traffic.

The babies got to visit with their weenie cousin Copper while there. Copper grew up with our babies so they are all great friends and always remember each other every-time they see each other.

Prada & Copper sharing the couch

We spent Christmas eve and day at Ally and Justin's house with Kim & Ally having fun baking and such. Ally had just come back from basic training so was ready for real food and sleep! Christmas was a nice time with way too much food and presents for all.

The week after Christmas we took one day to drive to Wilmington and visit the beach. It was a gorgeous day, nice warm and sunny. We got in a good beach walk and Vinnie got to ride around the beach.Vinnie is starting to be able to support a little bit of his weight with his back legs but can't stand up by himself or walk without having a sling to support him. We knew this would be a long process but seeing that he is still happy and not in pain, we are glad that we didn't put him through surgery again.

The rest of the day in Wilmington we looked through some shops and had a nice lunch before heading back.

The rest of the time in Raleigh was visiting with both Ally & Justin and Chris & Jessica (Alan's nephew and his wife). We had a New Year's eve dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse and then went to spend midnight with the babies while the youngsters went out for midnight. Kim got to spend more time with Ally before Ally had to head back to Oklahoma to finish her basic training.

We got Vinnie in for the last of his laser treatments right before leaving and also for a follow up visit with the vet. She was happy with his progress but we know it will be a slow course for him and he may not get back to being able to get around on his own.

On Jan 3 we left Raleigh headed for Brunswick, GA.

Reno to Raleigh, Part 2

2017-02-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

We left Columbus, Tx on Dec 20th for Fontainebleau State Park. We knew this would be another long day of driving but decided that if we liked it there we would spend another couple days at one campground. While driving there, Vinnie began to whine as if something was hurting him and Kim noticed that he was having difficulty using his back legs. Vinnie has had back problems before and has had two surgeries for disc issues and had some residual weakness in his back legs. As we got closer to Mandeville, LA, it was obvious that Vinnie wasn't doing well with his back legs and was hurting. Kim found an emergency veterinarian and made sure they were open. As soon as we got into Mandeville, we got the toad unhooked and Kim took Vinnie to be seen. Alan took the two girls and went to get settled at the state park. It was dark and the office was closed by the time Alan got there so it took a bit to find our reserved space. At the vet, Kim had them check Vinnie over and their best assessment was that he had another disc issue going on. He was started on some pain medication and steroids and had a follow up the next morning. We kept him resting all night. Unfortunately with the problems with Vinnie we didn't get any pictures of the state park or to explore the area which looked nice and we have read good reviews on.

The next morning, Vinnie was about the same. During the night we had decided that for all his other treatment needs Kim would head to Raleigh with our car and get him seen by the vet that her daughter had worked for before going to basic training. Kim did take him in for his follow up and their suggestion was that he needed back surgery again. While Kim got started for Raleigh, Alan got the motorhome packed up and the girls ready for the drive. The motorhome was also at the point that it needed it's first oil change. Luckily, I was able to find an oil change center close by that also specialized in RVs. Alan was able to get in right away and get the service taken care. The center, Easy Lube & Oil in Slidell was professional and had us taken care quickly so Alan was able to get on the way.

Kim had thought about driving all the way to Raleigh but as it got later in the evening made the wise decision to find a place to stay. She was able to find a hotel to stay at in Lumberton, NC for the night that was dog-friendly and had rooms. The area didn't have a lot of open rooms as many people are still living in hotels as their homes are still be repaired from the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew. She was also close enough to Raleigh to not have an issue making it to Vinnie's next appointment with the vet in Raleigh. Our daughter, Ally, was able to get Vinnie in right away with the vet practice she used to work at so it was important that Kim was close enough to make it to the appointment in the morning.

In the meantime, Alan had decided to see how far he could drive safely. My thoughts were initially that I could make it to about the South Caroline border. As the day progressed that didn't seem to be feasible and once coming into Atlanta on I85 and getting on I285 and hitting rush hour traffic it was obvious this wasn't going to work out. I was able to look up some Walmarts and find that the one in Madison did allow overnight RV parking. Alan and the girls pulled in and got settled for the night as best as possible. We aren't big into this kind of stops but there is an advantage to Walmarts when in a hurry to get somewhere. The only problem with this stop was that a semi pulled into the parking lot during the middle of the night and kept it's generator going all night.

The next morning Kim, with Vinnie and in the car, and Alan, with the girls and motorhome, both got up early and each headed toward Raleigh. Kim got Vinnie to his morning appointment at Hemlock Bluffs Animal Hospital and he was well taken care of by the staff. We had discussed ahead of time what we wanted to do for him and had decided that surgery wasn't something we wanted to put him through again. He did great recovering the first time but was slower to recover the second time. Now that he was 13, we didn't want to chance how he would do with surgery unless absolutely necessary. After having him seen by Dr. Parker and discussing options, we decided to do laser therapy and physical therapy for him rather than surgery. We will keep the blog updated on how he is doing with his recovery as we go along.

Alan made the drive to Raleigh without any issue and went straight to the RV campground we had decided to stay at. We were looking for one as close as possible to Kim's daughter and found Raleigh Oaks RV Resort in Four Oaks. As it turned out this was a good choice as the campground was dog-friendly and well kept. There were a bunch of long term residents there but everyone kept their sites clean and picked up. It really looked no different than any other private RV campground. They had no issues with the fencing for the babies and we saw a few others with similar fencing.

Now that we were settled for a couple of weeks, it was time to work on Vinnie's rehab, enjoy Christmas with family and explore the area. More on that and more about the Raleigh Oaks Park in the next post.

Reno to Raleigh, Part 1

2017-02-15T09:59:00.000-08:00

Post covers Dec 13 to Dec 22, 2016.

After spending the night at the casino parking lot in Beatty we headed off for Las Vegas. We decided this would be a shorter driving day after having a long day the day before with the doctor's appointment and then driving to Beatty to beat the snowstorm. We decided to use our new Thousand Trails membership for the stay in Las Vegas. We got there early in the afternoon and got checked in right a way. We found that the Thousand Trails in Las Vegas is a tight campground but since we were only staying one night, it wasn't a big issue. So far all the Thousand Trails we have been to don't have an issue with the babies or our fencing, so we do like that about them. The babies enjoyed being back in warmer weather and sat out for bit in the sun. We made it an early night as it was time to catch up on some rest so no casinos this time in Vegas.

For the second full day of our cross county jaunt, we headed to Picacho, AZ for an overnight stay at the KOA there. It is about half-way between Phoenix and Tucson and was mostly a nice drive from Las Vegas (excluding Phoenix area). We took about 6-1/2 hours to get there, a little longer than we like but worth it to get a jump on our travels. When we pulled in, we found a friendly staff and spots with a decent amount of space. It is the desert of Arizona, so of course it was all sandy dirt there.

As with all the KOAs we have been to, they are exceedingly dog friendly and we set up the pen for us all to sit in and enjoy some more warm weather and a gorgeous sunset. The babies also got a nice outing to their dog park and got to choose which hydrant they liked best :)

We decided to partake of the restaurant they have on site, Frankie's Chuckwagon, and had a nice home cooked style meal and fun conversation with the staff. All the wait staff are volunteers from the park, so it made for a nice evening.

The next morning we headed out for the outskirts of El Paso. This would be five hour drive today and we again had nice weather for the drive. Now that we've gotten to do several days of driving in the new motorhome, we have come to enjoy it much more than the Super C. The ride is nicer and having a larger view out the windshield makes for more fun. The babies have come to like it as well with Prada and Vinnie spending most of the time on the dashboard and Spella curls up on the hump between seats or on the floor at Kim's feet.

We found a KOA in Anthony, just west of El Paso that is brand new. As with yesterday's KOA, they were dog friendly and had a great new dog park to play. We also found the spaces to be large for a KOA and had plenty of room to set up the babies' pens. The sunset was great looking from the park as it set up a little bit above the area.

The next day was another longer drive to get to what we thought would be a nice place to stay. We found a park in Junction, TX on the river. South Llano River RV Resort turned out to be a small place but was easy to get to from I10 but in a quiet area. We got there late so the office was closed but we had called ahead and they had a packet waiting for us outside the office. The spaces were a bit tight but for an overnight stay it was adequate, and having a pull-through space made it nice so we didn't have to unhook our toad. We didn't get a chance to go into town as we were tired from the day of driving. This was the only campground on the whole trip across country that we didn't have any AT&T reception for our hotspot but we were able to tether to our Verizon cell phones which had decent LTE signals. I didn't take the time to set up our cell booster to see if it would help with the AT&T signal since we were leaving first thing in the morning.

We left early the next morning and only had a 4 hour drive to our next stop. We decided to stay at another Thousand Trails park, this one outside Columbus. As with most Thousand Trails, we got to pick out our site and Kim picked out a nice one right on the Colorado River. The space had no-one on the right side of us and a large amount of green space between us and our neighbor on the left. We had decided that we needed to stay somewhere for a couple nights after the last several days for driving so had picked this for the stay. It turned out to be a great choice. The park is dog-friendly and we had a nice large area to set up the pens and let the babies run around in. The park has lots of green space and a herd of deer that live there, so that gave the babies room to go for a walk in and something to look at.

We spent time exploring the area and found a small winery, Rosemary's Vineyard and Winery. The place was great to visit and when we stopped by we were the only ones there so got a nice tasting and learned the story behind the vineyard and the couple running it. We also had a chance to catch up on laundry while there and Alan got caught up on some of his consulting work. This is one of the campgrounds we are already wanting to return to when in this part of Texas.

Part 2 will complete our trip to Raleigh for Christmas with Kim's daughter.

Back to Reno

2017-02-04T11:31:00.000-08:00

Post covers Nov 25 to Dec 12, 2016.

The day after Thanksgiving Alan left for Reno with the new coach since there was a winter storm predicted to come in to the Reno on Saturday night. Kim was able to spend a couple more days in San Diego with her daughter before heading to Reno. However, on Thanksgiving morning we found the hot water heater wasn't working. Luckily, we were able to hear back from our sales-person Thanksgiving afternoon and he got us hooked up with the the service department of Holland RV in Santee. After showing up there right at 8, they found that it was a relay within a few minutes of looking at the heater. Unfortunately they didn't have one there but their shop in San Marcos had them in stock. Since the way back to Reno went by San Marcos, I just drove up to the dealership and had the part replaced. The repair with paperwork only took about an hour, so was on the road to Reno by about 11:30. I decided the easiest route was going to be out I10 and then cut through Death Valley to Beatty, NV and spend the night there. I decided to do this instead of going up 395 as the weather forecast was for high winds on 395. The problem I had was that everyone decided to go out I10 and there was lots of stop and go traffic all the way to the turn off to Death Valley. It probably took 3 or so hours longer for the drive. Finally got into Beatty well after dark and found a spot at the Death Valley Inn & RV Park. It turned out to be bit pricey for a spot ($38) but at least Alan and the babies had a place to stay with full hook ups.

Up the next morning (Saturday) and off for Reno. As it turned out the high winds decided to come over to highway 95 as well, so for about 100 miles it was slow going. The good thing was that the winter storm was cooperating and didn't come in early, so made it to Reno without any other issues. We decided to stay at Gold Ranch RV again since the staff and other campers have been friendly every time and they are very dog (and pig!) friendly. Kim left San Diego Saturday and made it to Reno that evening (she had good fortune and didn't hit any winds coming up 395), of course driving just the CR-V is a little quicker. But the winter storm did come in and this was what we woke up to Sunday morning:

There was actually a good deal more snow at first with the roads all covered but it melted off the roads quickly.

So the whole reason for being back in Reno was that Alan was schedule to have his back surgery on Monday morning (11/28). We had to show up at the hospital at 5:45 that morning but that meant Alan was the first surgery of the morning. To make a short story of all the events, the surgery went fine and the tumors were benign. Alan sent two days in the hospital then back to the coach for some rest for the next couple of weeks, mixed with physical therapy. Kim was able to visit family some more and registered for a Christmas craft show. She launched her new business, Rescue Me Dog Treats, did exceedingly well at the show and was able to donate several hundred dollars worth of items to the local SPCA.

Alan's follow up appointment was on Monday, Dec 12th and of course there was another winter storm predicted for the next morning. We decided not to chance getting stuck in Reno any longer than necessary so right after the appointment (about 5pm) we left Reno with the intention of making it to Hawthorne for the night since the storm was predicted to stay north of that area. We needed to get out of Reno and not be stuck there for the week as we had already promised Kim's younger daughter that we would be spending Christmas with her and her husband in Raleigh, NC so we didn't have much leeway in our travel plans.

We made it to Hawthorne and parked at the El Capitan Casino for the night. They allow RV and truck parking in their back lot so we just dry camped for the night. This worked out well and in the morning we found a small park in the town to walk the babies at before heading off for Las Vegas. The rest of the trip to North Carolina will be coming up in the next couple of posts.

Thanksgiving in San Diego

2016-12-14T12:02:00.000-08:00

This post covers: Nov 19 to Nov 25

After getting everything moved into the new coach on Friday evening, we headed for the San Diego area on Saturday to spend Thanksgiving with our older daughter. Thank goodness for driving on a weekend day so we didn't have to deal with the awful traffic San Diego has during the week. I had found a county park that had good reviews a few months ago and made reservations then since I wasn't sure how busy it would be over the holiday weekend. We stayed at Sweetwater Summit Regional Park in Bonita. It was only a 15 minute drive to our daughter's place. The space I picked out was on the end of a row so we had no one off our left side just a nice view of the area. There is a highway a little ways past were we parked but the noise was only really noticeable during rush hour times.

I'm guessing this park gets hopping in the summer as they have lots of activities for kids including a water park. While there were still a far number of people camping here, there wasn't any noise issue. The park doesn't have a restriction on the number of dogs and since we had a large spot, we were able to set up several of their pens so the babies had lots of area to walk around when we were all outside.

The weather was great the week we where there except for one rain storm right after we got there. Kim got to spend several days out with her daughter and they worked up a great Thanksgiving menu for us! One afternoon we all (including the daughter's fiancé) went on a San Diego bay cruise and had a nice dinner downtown. The sunset over the bay was spectacular.

We also found several trails at the park to hike and get the babies out for walks on. The only issue we had at the campground was an infestation of ants, so we had to be careful with leaving food out. We were in the older section of the campground with all dirt, they have a newer section with paved sites so we might try that next time to see if there is still an issue with ants there. I've seen a few other reviews that mentioned the same issue with ants. We also had some nice sunset views from our site and I took advantage of the evening weather to try out the new TV!

This turned out to be a great week and the campground was as dog friendly as any we've been to. Most of the others were respectful of watching their babies and keeping them on leash. The only part of the week that was stressful was watching the weather since we had to be back in Reno by Sunday since Alan's surgery was scheduled for Monday morning. As the week progressed, there was a winter storm predicted to blow in over the passes west of Reno on Saturday night so we ended up cutting our stay short so Alan left with the motorhome on Friday but more on that in the next post.

Time to Upgrade!

2016-12-08T11:17:00.000-08:00

Since we decided to go full-time (and even some before to be honest) we have been thinking whether our Super C was the best home for us to take on the road. As I've talked about on the RV saga page, we did a fair amount of work to make it more homey and comfortable for us. Despite all of the work, there were still things that didn't make it feel the way we wanted it to and we weren't sure it would ever feel just right. Most of this is because it is a Super C chassis and it always felt like we were in a truck, not just when driving but even when settled somewhere since the front seats always face forward and are set lower than the house portion. We also lost several feet of space due to the front engine design.

Every time we were around dealers with nice selections of coaches we would take time to look and see what's out there and get ideas of what we like. We had seen some 1-2 year old diesel pushers at one dealer that we liked but they always had something that just wasn't right. Often it was the lack of a king bed. We just don't get why they build such nice and expensive class As and then put in an RV queen bed. I'm sure we can't be the only ones that like having a larger bed and with having three furry-babies that sleep with us, it's mandatory.

After getting settled into our site in Palm Desert, we walked over to Holland Motorhomes which is right next door and started looking at their selection. One of their salespeople, Harry Carroll, started showing us around and answering more questions than most salespeople we have dealt with. After looking at several coaches and finding two we really liked, Harry let us know that is was almost time for the lot to close. I actually appreciate that he was a family person who needed to get home and let us know this but he got us all the information we wanted on the coaches before we left. We set up a time to meet the next day.

It was a long night of talking about what we wanted and where willing to do to get into a new coach. When we went back we knew that the Newmar Baystar we had looked at the day before was our preference after looking through it again. Our favorite feature is the full wall slide that opens up the interior and gives a shotgun home look since you can see front to back. I had to get over the fact that I was giving up a diesel for a gasser but after doing all the research I couldn't think of a good reason to have to stay with a diesel. I know there are lots of advantages to diesels but when we looked at all the other features we wanted and the price difference to get a comparable coach that was a diesel, it just didn't make sense to us.

Holland Motorhomes and their staff were easy to work with as talked about a deal. Our biggest sticking point was making sure we got a fair trade in for our Super C. As it turned out Super Cs are apparently popular in this area due to all the off road vehicle riding people do in the area and the fact that they tow great. We got what we thought was a fair deal and became the proud owners of a new coach!

Actually we didn't get it that day of course. Holland does a front to back inspection of a coach before delivering it, so we had to get that scheduled. Since we were buying it from a California dealer and not registering it in California (they have crazy sales tax!), we also had to set up taking delivery outside of California. The dealership does this all the time so it was a simple process but did add more time to getting the coach. The process involves their driver taking the coach across the border while I followed in one of their cars and then meeting with a notary to sign all the paperwork showing the coach wasn't delivered in California and isn't being registered in California. I then got the keys and was able to head back to begin the process of moving.

We found again that the Holland was willing to work with us on this process. We had thought about trying to do it at the campground as the site next to us was open. We decided against this since by the time I was going to get back from the out of state delivery, there would only be an hour or so of daylight left and there is minimal lighting in the campground. Holland let us pull our old and new homes next to each other (door to door) right in their main lot which is well lit all night and got us all plugged in so we could take our time and spend the night in their lot after getting moved.

The night security guard came by and let us know he would be around all night and introduced us to his K9 but made sure we knew that his dog was friendly with other dogs as he saw our babies running back and forth. What we did was set up our pens between both motorhomes so we could carry stuff across without having to step over anything but the babies could run back and forth but we wouldn't have to worry about them getting out. The move definitely stressed them out, they just couldn't figure out what we were doing and they were already a bit stressed after having watched us packing up stuff the past day as well.

The babies living in the mess of packing

Spella and Prada helping unpack

We got everything moved over and placed somewhere in about 4 hours (we are still working on final places for everything). By this time we were all exhausted and the babies were plenty stressed out so we tucked everyone in for the night and set the alarm for early the next morning. The next morning we made sure we hadn't forgotten anything in the old motorhome, made sure everything in the new coach was secured somewhere and headed off for San Diego.

So far we are enjoying the new home and all the extra space inside even though the new coach is the same length as our Super C. The class A layout just makes such a difference in space. We'll cover issues as they come up and the good and bad we learn along the way and how this space works for the babies.

Palm Springs Area

2016-12-03T11:19:00.000-08:00

Post covers: Nov 12 to Nov 18, 2016

We left Reno for a week long stay in Palm Springs. We decided to break up the trip into a couple days. We left on Saturday and drove to Lone Pine, CA for a one night stay at Boulder Creek RV Resort. We picked it after looking at reviews of the places around Lone Pine. When we got there the staff was helpful and friendly as we checked in. We got settled into our space and Kim immediately met some of our neighbors that also had a couple of weenies and then also met some other neighbors that travel with three Saint Bernard mixes. Some times we think we are a bit crazy traveling with all our kids and how we treat them so it's nice to see others are just as committed to their four legged kids as we are. We had a nice relaxing evening in and left early Sunday morning for Palm Springs.

After reading about others experiences with Thousand Trails and looking at the type of places we like to stay at we decided to buy an annual zone pass and see how it goes using their campgrounds for the next year. They specifically mention that they are dog friendly and don't state any limits on numbers. As with all multiple campground companies, you are best to check with each individual campground you will be visiting to make sure they don't have different rules than the main rules. If anyone needs helpful information on Thousand Trails and their options, I would recommend going to the RVLove.com blog and looking at their page on Thousand Trails. They have some great information on their experiences and what they have learned about Thousand Trails. They even have a recommendation on who to talk with when buying a membership and their recommendation to talk with Jim Randell was right on. He was helpful, get us the deal we wanted and got us into the Palm Springs campground for the week after we signed up.

When we got to the campground, which is actually in Palm Desert, we got checked in at the front gate and learned that sites weren't preassigned.

The staff suggested we park the motorhome and take our toad and drive around to pick out the space we like. We haven't had this option at anything but some government campgrounds. We found the spot we like and got backed in. The campground is full of palm trees which adds to the ambience but you do have to watch out for the them when getting into your site. Later in the week I watched someone back into a palm tree with their bus before any of us could warm him he was close. Luckily I don't think he hurt anything. The campground is incredibly dog friendly and it looked like 75% of us there have furry kids. With their fur-friendly attitude there was no issue with setting up the pens for the babies.

This is the desert so creatures do show up at all times!

This little roadrunner came by one morning to say hi. He didn't mind the babies even though they certainly wanted to get out of their yard to go say hi. The only wildlife we founded issues with were the burrs around the area. The babies got them in their paws several times and we tracked inside as well and had to check the floor to make sure none of us would find some by accident.

Next door to the campground is Holland Motorhomes. We are always looking at options so visited the lot after getting settled in and toured some motorhomes before they closed. I'm working on a whole post on that adventure and will update our RV Saga page so standby for that.

We enjoy this area as there are so many things to do in the area. We spent one day visiting the Joshua Tree National Park area and the old west motion picture set town of Pioneertown. When we visit national parks with the babies, we have to plan carefully since there are not many places that they are allowed. They did enjoy walking down Main Street of Pioneertown though as hardly anyone was around so we had the run of the place.

We were in Palm Desert for the full moon and the moon rise was gorgeous from the campground:

On the last night before we started our next big adventure we had a date night at Palm Springs Village Fest. The town closes several blocks of Palm Canyon Drive and all types of vendors set up. We found everything from a block of farmer's markets items, to all kinds of food vendors, to artisans selling everything from all types of art work, soap, candles and everything else we would want to look at. Since most items aren't an option we settled for getting some fresh bread, flour tortilla chips and homemade dips for the chips. Dinner was a nice Italian place with outside seating, Sammy G's Tuscan Grill. We would recommend it and the calamari appetizer was in the top 10 of ones we've had. Also their house made Sangria was tasty.

Next up our adventure and then on to San Diego for Thanksgiving with family.

Reno, again

2016-11-20T13:32:00.000-08:00

Post covers Oct 30 to Nov 11, 2016

So we find ourselves back in Reno for Alan's medical follow up and he also had a class to teach over the weekend of the 5th and 6th. We decided to stay back at Gold Ranch RV park as we had a nice stay there last time. Staff is friendly, spaces are adequate size. Not the largest but okay for us and the babies and that they allow us to put up the fences for the babies to sit outside with us is huge, as I always mention. There are some full-time residents but their spots are kept up nice and neat and it is hard to tell they live there.

On this trip to Gold Ranch, we met a new neighbor. Emmitt is a pot belly pig who lives with his family in a 5th wheel. Emmitt is the sweetest kid and so very friendly. He is tolerant of dogs and seems to care more about having a snack of grass then worrying about anyone else. His family has a ramp for him to walk up into his RV. We didn't get a chance to get his picture but will try on our next trip to Reno. He also has a parrot for a friend and they would both hang out with mom on warm days outside.

The babies got in some nice walks while we were in Reno. We got in one trip to Lake Tahoe and got the babies out to play in the water for a bit. It was on the cool side so they didn't spend a lot of time in the water. While at Gold Ranch, there was mountain lion sighting in the hills north of the park so for a few days we were careful of where and when the babies went for a walk. We aren't sure what happened to him but after a few days the warning signs were taken down. Hopefully he just moved on.

Kim had a weekend alone with just the babies while Alan went to Portland to teach a class. She got to have some extra time with family during this time. As I mentioned before, the main reason for being in Reno was for Alan to have a follow up MRI and appointment with the neurosurgeon. This past summer they found a couple spinal lesions in Alan's lower back. After getting a second opinion from this neurosurgeon and his opinion being the same as the one Alan saw in Medford, Alan is going to have the lesions removed by the neurosurgeon in Reno. This will mean yet another trip back to Reno as the neurosurgeon's schedule wasn't conducive to having the surgery done before Thanksgiving. We had already had plans to spend Thanksgiving with our daughter in San Diego and their only opening before Thanksgiving wouldn't allow enough recovery time to go to San Diego. So the surgery will be Nov 28th after we spend Thanksgiving in San Diego. They predict about 2 weeks of initial recovery and then we will be off for Christmas in North Carolina with the other daughter and then spending the rest of the winter in the south somewhere. So we left for warmer weather for a couple weeks!

Another week in Nevada City

2016-11-15T04:01:00.000-08:00

Post covers Oct 23 to Oct 29, 2016

After all the adventures in Reno we decided it was time to get away from there even though we knew we had to be back the first week of November for Alan's MRI and follow up with the neurosurgeon. Since we didn't want to go too far and saving money is always good we headed off to use our membership at Harmony Ridge Resort. We also noticed that babies were getting a bit stir crazy and while staying at Kim's mom's house allowed them to have a small yard again, they didn't enjoy it like their own place so it was time to get them a break as well.

We actually ended up in a different spot then we normally stay in but even though it is only a few spaces away it turned out to have a better view through the trees and we were able to get the Dish satellite to work on all channels! This was also our first chance to try out the cell booster we bought. Alan did a bunch of reading on options and after comparing reviews with cost ended up buying a refurbished WeBoost 4GM from Amazon. We couldn't see much difference between it and the newer 4GX and the savings buying a refurbished unit was significant. For this first trial, I just put the outside antenna on the front bumper (the only easy to access magnetic surface) and we noticed a difference in making phone calls and getting iMessages through. In the past we often would lose a call if we moved very much and had to be in just the right spot. On this trip we didn't have this issue, so far so good. I didn't get much chance to check it out with data as the wifi was working pretty well at the campground. It helps that there were only a handful of others in the park.

So one of the plans was to be able to get out and do more while here, especially getting the babies out for more walks and short hikes. As it turned out the first couple of days there were rainy so the walks turned into short walks between the raindrops and lots of letting them out to go potty under the awning. What we have learned helps with getting them tired and not as stir crazy is to go for some long drives with all of them. Even if we aren't able to get them out for a hike just the drive and a short potty stop somewhere wears them out (of course the burger they usually get as a treat to share doesn't hurt their feelings either).

We did a nice afternoon drive with them one day to Loomis and got lucky enough to have a break in the rain for an hour or so. We found a large park, Loomis Basin Community Park, that was all dog friendly and we all got a nice long walk around the area. Prada found it to be to her liking as there are lots of squirrels there with big bushy tails. She has an attraction to squirrels even though we are sure she wouldn't know what to do with one if she actually got close enough to catch one.

By mid-week the weather had cleared up and we decided to take a day trip to San Francisco. It is about a 2-1/2 to 3 hour drive. The weather in San Francisco was some of the best we have ever had there. Sunny and in the high 60s. The babies got to play at Crissy Field for a while and even dipped their paws in the bay. They haven't gotten to see the ocean since August so it was good treat. As you can see they liked playing in the thick grass more than anything.

If you go to Crissy Field, they have an off leash dog area by the water but as in most of these areas you have to watch out for the large dogs that run up to the little ones. Spella with all her issues is especially frightful when a large dog runs up to her even when they are friendly. One of the frustrating things at these areas is that even when you tell the dog's human that your dog has issues they almost always say the same thing "but my dog is friendly." For some reason they don't listen to us anget that ours is a little special and isn't initially friendly when scared by a large dog.

After a romp at Crissy Field, we headed downtown for lunch and some shopping. We found a nice corner Italian restaurant with outdoor seating that was fine with the babies sitting with us. We always get a kick out of sitting out eating with the kids as the looks we get are precious. The babies are spoiled of course so not everyone gets us having one in the stroller, usually Vinnie, and the other two either on their own chairs or in a lap. Oh well, we have always felt there is something wrong with a person who doesn't like animals. After lunch, we stopped at two of our favorite places for snacks to take back, Molinari Deli on Columbus Ave for some of their salamis and cheeses and then on to Stella Pastry and Cafe also on Columbus for their fresh made cannolis and whatever other sweets look good.

We then headed back towards Nevada City but our timing was awful so we got to experience the great bay area traffic and it took a bit longer to get back. Even with that we couldn't argue with the day. The weather was as good as you could ask for, we found great food and the babies got to play and were tired campers by the time we made it back to the motorhome.

The rest of the week was some time around the campground and short walks in the area. Towards the end of the week, we noticed that another weather front was headed in with the forecast showing snow over Donner Pass that we would be driving over to get back to Reno. After two days of this forecast staying the same including a winter weather watch, we decided that it would be safer to leave for Reno a couple of days early rather than chance that the pass would be clear by the time we needed to leave. Since Alan had his MRI appointment scheduled, there wasn't an option to delay leaving for Reno. Next update from back in Reno.

Back in Reno - Gold Ranch RV

2016-11-11T00:07:00.000-08:00

Post covers Sep 11 to Oct 22, 2016

After some time in the trees in Nevada City, we needed to head to Reno to get Kim ready for her girls trip. She is heading to North Carolina to visit our younger daughter and then head to Disney World. Our older daughter is going to meet her in Reno and then they will be driving to North Carolina (Kim doesn't fly). To top off the trip, Kim's mom will be flying to Orlando to meet up with everyone and then she and Kim will drive home together. Wow, that made me tired just trying to describe all of that 😅.

So Alan got to spend a week with the babies at Gold Ranch RV park and then went to the mother-in-law's house to dog sit her babies as well as ours. Living in Reno, I've seen Gold Ranch and even been in it for work but of course we have never stayed there. The park sits on the west side of Reno in Verdi by the California border. While it sits right off of I80 the traffic noise while noticeable isn't overwhelming and sitting outside is not an issue. The spaces are decent size with plenty of room for the babies pen. We did ask about putting up their pen and were told that the main issue is having it on the grass when they mow. We also saw that several others had pens up so we put ours up and watched for the days they mow and didn't have any issue with the park staff complaining about the pen. The staff here was friendly and helpful throughout our stay including when extending the stay by a couple of days, though we did have to move spaces for the last few days.

We took this opportunity take the motorhome in for some needed work. One of the slides has been acting up and the other needed the seal replaced. We were able to get some of the work completed but the shop wasn't able to completely fix the one slide as it will require them taking the slide out and they didn't have the availability in their schedule to dedicate the time. Guess we will have to find a shop somewhere else in our travels. It still works but we are worried about it leaking. Also had to take the motorhome to an engine shop as it was been running hot on hills. We've had issues in the past with this and have had a couple items fixed. Ended up taking it to Wayne's Automotive in Sparks. They were great and spent a lot of time diagnosing the issue and seem to have found the problems (they replaced both the fan clutch and radiator, seems the radiator that was put in a couple of years ago was an aftermarket one that doesn't work as well as an original manufacturer one, who knew). We are now keeping fingers crossed that we won't have any further issues with the engine cooling system.

Alan had time on several of the days to get the babies out into the desert for some exploring. They grew up in the high desert so they had fun running around in the dirt again but I think they have gotten use to the beach for the last year and like that better.

It was also a good time for Alan to do some teaching with one of his friends and get all his medical certifications up to date and catch up on some of his consulting work.

The day Kim came back, Alan got the motorhome back out to Gold Ranch for a short stay there. Alan had an appointment with a neurosurgeon that following week. As it turned out after the appointment, Alan needs to have some more MRIs done along with probable surgery but in the meantime it's off for a week before that.

Relaxing in Nevada City, CA

2016-10-06T12:47:00.000-07:00

After spending time on the coast and then a few days in Mt Shasta, we decided to head closer to Reno as we needed to be there by 9/25 but weren't ready to get there yet. So we headed to Harmony Ridge Resort were we have a camping membership and we could stay there for no extra cost, always a plus. We've been going there since we first stated RVing about 8 years ago and finding it relaxing to go there especially once school has started and the campground is not very full. Harmony Ridge has always been dog-friendly and there has never been an issue with setting up our fences for the babies to play in with us. We have a few favorite spots there that are a bit wider and more screened from others and we were able to get our favorite one for most of the stay. We did have go into another site for the first couple days and then move but it was just a couple spaces away so no biggie to move. All of the RV sites are full hookup and some have been upgraded to 50 amps, making it nice on the few hot days we had so both ACs could run along with the hot water heater and microwave. Yes there are times we like to be spoiled!

Harmony Ridge is 3 miles outside of Nevada City and sits in a bit of a valley. This is nice as it makes it quiet with no road noise. The only issues with were it sits is that there is very little wind so on a hot day there isn't any relief and it doesn't cool off at night as much. The valley also doesn't have great cell coverage. It has gotten a little better of the years we've been going there but even with our Verizon phones we only get 1-2 bars if we are in the right spot. I've been looking at cell boosters and will be getting one before much longer so we don't have this issue as often. The campground is situated in the trees so getting a satellite signal is difficult and I was only able to lock onto one Dish satellite and only got about half the normal channels.

We spent more time exploring the area since we had two weeks to enjoy. One of the fun times we had was an evening at Naggier Vineyards. We have been there many times and always enjoy going. One evening we went and listened to the music on their patio (after a bit of wine tasting of course). The evening happened to be the harvest moon night, so we were treated to quite the moonrise.

While there we found that they were having a wine and food pairing one afternoon so signed up for it and it was quite the event. The chef made some amazing small plates and the pairing with their wines was perfect. The employee that was our host was knowledgeable about the wines and vineyard and shared lots of information with us. It was a fun afternoon and we were glad we went.

The area around Nevada City has many hiking trails and we took the babies on several as well as enjoying some just for ourself. One of our favorite spots to take the babies is the Rock Creek natural trail just a couple miles from the campground. This website describes it better than I can. There is also the Pioneer Trail that starts in Nevada City and crosses a pedestrian suspension bridge and loops back to Nevada City.

Nevada City has a farmer's market on Saturday mornings and while small we found a nice variety of organic fruits and veggies, along with a couple meat vendors that featured organic raised meats. That Saturday night we went to a small production of Revolution at the Nevada City Theatre. It's a play featuring live 60s music, the people playing the band members were talented musicians.

We left Harmony Ridge on Sep 19 and headed for Reno to spend some time with family and get Kim ready for her girls trip. More to come on that adventure!

Labor Day in Mt Shasta, CA

2016-09-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, I'm learning that keeping up a blog is a lot more work than I thought it would be. I've read that on others blogs but until you actually start doing it yourself I guess it doesn't sink in. So with that, here's my late update on our Labor Day weekend stay. After leaving Eureka, we had a slow drive over highway 299. I actually thought the road would be a lot like the drive on highway 199 from Crescent City, CA to Grants Pass, OR but turns out that 299 has lots more curves and hills to it, so the drive was much longer and slower then we anticipated. Thank goodness we didn't have timeframe to meet. We also certainly noticed quite a change in the weather as we drove over the coastal mountain range into Redding CA. We went from nice 60's degree weather to high 90's 😓. Definitely glad we weren't staying in Redding, so we headed up I5 for the city of Mt Shasta. By mid-afternoon we pulled into the KOA. As is typical for a KOA, the staff was friendly as we checked in and our space was ready for us. While KOAs are kids friendly and often a little noisy over weekends and holidays, we have found all of them to be dog friendly and never have had an issue when we had our 5 furry kids and no issues with our current 3.

This KOA was no exception, we also chose this campground as we wanted to stay somewhere that wouldn't be too hot but also on our route. As we are getting use to this full-time gig, we were also concerned over being sure we found a decent place to stay over a holiday weekend. When booking I saw that the KOA sits just on the outskirts of downtown Mt Shasta and we found it easy to head downtown to explore and walked there several times. We always enjoy being able to walk and explore areas we stay at so this made for a nice weekend.

The space we stayed in was on the end of a row so we had no-one on our right side and like
all KOAs we have stayed at so far, this one had no issues with us setting up the dog fences so the babies could play outside while we sat out with them. All we had to worry about were people walking by on the loop road but this wasn't an issue for us. We found that almost everyone here was respectful and kept their four-legged babies on leashes when walking.

The campground had a nice view of Mt Shasta as well

The babies enjoyed the area and we found a city park near the campground that had some nice trails to take them on and we also drove up by the Mt Shasta ski area and did a little hiking in that area. One day we decided to drive down to Redding thinking it would be a nice change and we would surely find some places to take the babies. What we found is that Redding doesn't allow dogs at any of their nice parks. The only one we found that allowed the babies was inhabited by homeless and was not cared for with garbage lying about the park. We would not recommend Redding as a place to take your 4-legged babies. While in Redding we were able to find a nice hamburger joint, Damburger, and found the burgers great and when I asked for a few patties for the babies they melted cheesed on them and boxed them up separately for us. The babies gave the burgers a paws up rating.

Over the weekend the town of Mt Shasta had several activities going on. On Saturday we went to the car show on Main Street. There was a nice collection of classic cars and several vendors. On Sunday the Rotary sponsored a concert in one of the parks. So we enjoyed Mt Shasta and would easily spend more time there in the future. On Labor Day we left for Nevada City, CA and a stay at Harmony Ridge but more on that in the next post which I will get done much quicker than it took to get this one out.

Cooling off in Eureka, CA

2016-09-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

After spending a few days on the east side of the Pacific Coast Range outside of Medford, OR it was time to head back to the cooler weather on the coast. While we were in Medford for Alan to attend to some medical appointments, they were experiencing a heat wave and it was close to 100 degrees each day. Not Kim's favorite weather! The drive back to coast was slow as is usual for hwy 199 but no other issues. We spent the first night outside of Klamath, CA at Kamp Klamath RV Park. Alan booked this one based on looking at a map of the area and some limited reviews and honestly it wasn't one of his best choices. The park is in need of work and has a mix of full-time residents and us travelers. Alan also thought it was right on the river looking at the pictures but alas it wasn't and the space was tight. Luckily it was only for one night so the four legged babies didn't complain too much and the park had no concerns with the several dogs. There was a very unique chicken coop on the property. Rate was $34 for the night.

We left Klamath for Arcata, CA and a stay at the Mad River Rapids RV Park which is just on the outskirts of Arcata and a not very far from Eureka. We actually picked this as our second choice after the one we thought we wanted to stay at wasn't available for the stay we were planning. Sometimes fate is a good thing and we ended up enjoying our stay here. The park does have a mix of long-time residents and travelers but the park is so well kept up and everyone keeps there sites nice that we didn't mind and everyone was so friendly. The lady in the office, wish we remembered her name, was quite the sweetie and helped us get settled in and helped us throughout our 12 day stay. The park is very pet-friendly and it seemed like at least 3/4 of the campers had a dog(s) or cat. Almost everyone was respectful with cleaning up after them (our biggest pet peeve about other pet owners!) and there was no issue with dogs not being on leash. While there isn't a designated dog run area, there is lots of room to walk around. The space was plenty big enough for us and while we like room between our neighbors, this one was quite adequate. They offer cable TV but we used our Dish satellite and were able to receive a full signal. Verizon service was okay with 2-3 bars, however their wifi is very slow and we used our phones as hotspots most of the time.

The Eureka area has lots of exploring that we found to do. The babies especially love the beach, of course living by it for a year before we started full-timing probably has something to do with it. We found a beach just a couple miles from the RV park that the babies played on several times, never many people on it so they got lots of running room!

Some of our other favorite things we found were some of the breweries in the area. The most unique one was Humboldt Regeneration, it sits in a self storage place and is easy to miss but so worth finding. They offer a unique variety of brews, friendly staff and are dog-friendly. When driving up it doesn't look like much but you have to give it a shot.

There are also many places to hike in the Redwoods, way too many to list but all worthwhile hikes. Vinnie especially loved the fallen, hallowed out trees and the girls had fun running through the woods and all the new smells.

Next we are off for some place to stay over Labor Day weekend that isn't too hot or too noisy.

Our First Week

2016-08-26T20:20:00.000-07:00

Our first week of full-timing has come and gone and despite a few hiccups we are excited with all the prospects ahead of us. We headed out of Brookings on Saturday 8/13 and decided to head up the Oregon coast. Our first night was a quick stay at Darlings Marina & RV Resort outside of Florence, OR. The park sits on Siltcoos Lake. They have some spots right on the lake but we ended up in one of their spaces up the hill from the lake. The area is tight and we had to carefully maneuver the motorhome into the space. It was a nice overnight stop over for our trip but not someplace we'd want to spend much time at due to the tight quarters. The staff was friendly and helpful and they are very dog friendly and our furry- kids were good with staying here. There are many lakes in the area, besides a short drive to the ocean, to take the kids and let them play. We were able to wear them out after getting settled in. The park also has it's own pub and deli with a small but nice selection of beer and cider and exceptional fresh-made pizza.

We left Florence on Sunday morning and headed to Newport, OR for a stay at Beverly Beach State Park. We've been here before and it is a nice place with beach access as part of the park. Spaces are nice with plenty of room. We did find that we had limited cellular service on Verizon so doing any work online was not possible, luckily the Starbucks in Newport had good wifi so I was able to get my work done there. Also the spaces are in the trees and well shaded which is nice but does prevent using satellite TV.

Newport and the surrounding area is a great place to spend time with lots to do, both outside activities (hiking and other activities) and sights to see. We also found a couple fun breweries in the area with Newport being the home to Rogue Ales.

After a few days at Newport we headed towards Medford, OR with a quick stop in Junction City, OR to have some items fixed in the motorhome that were missed when we had a bunch of items upgraded before heading out full-time. This was a pain but having our couch not secured to the floor properly wasn't a good idea 😀.

We then headed to Valley of the Rogue State Park which sits on the Rogue river between Grants Pass and Medford. We needed to be in Medford for a couple of days for some medical appointments so decided try this park. The weather was hot while we were here for two nights (highs in the high 90s) so it was nice that we had a 50amp site and could cool off the motorhome. The babies like their comforts of course! The site was nice and wide and the one we picked backed up to the Rogue river. Unfortunately the access to the river was minimal so Vinnie wasn't able to swim since he'd probably get swept away and Alan didn't really want to go swimming to recover him. The site offered enough sky view that getting satellite TV was possible and the Verizon service was adequate to get online.

Besides taking care of appointments, we visited Jackson and Ashland while there. Jackson is a cute little town with many little shops and cafes to explore. The babies enjoyed taking a break at one of the coffee shops!

Ashland is the home to the Oregon Shakespeare festival and lots of shops, restaurants and other things to see. We didn't get much time to see Ashland but we have been there before and enjoy the town.

We enjoyed both state parks and like that all Oregon state park campgrounds are dog friendly and don't have an issue with the number of babies as long as they are well mannered and cared for. We also have never had an issue with setting up our fencing to sit out with the babies at any of the state parks. After two nights, we decided to head back to the coast since the temperatures were predicted to be even hotter over the weekend (100-105!) and not what any other us were ready for yet.

Here we go!

2016-08-18T21:31:00.000-07:00

About 2-1/2 years ago, also when we started this blog, we started thinking about embracing the full-time RV lifestyle and jumping into it. Due to many different work and life situations it didn't work out at that time. We started thinking about this idea again and with some recent events that happened in our lives, which maybe I'll talk about some day, we decided to jump in with both feet. Kim did all the hard work and got our house on the market and we got a full priced offer within 4 days! We are now heading out after doing lots of downsizing and putting some items in storage (thank goodness for great relatives). For the next couple of months we are planning on staying in the Northwest then head south for the winter months. We will update as we change locations and talk about how we make this lifestyle work for us and the furry babies and where are good places to stay with 4-legged kids.

We are excited to make this change and start a new part of our life and look forward to sharing it with everyone.

One of the recent changes that I will mention now is that we lost Bruno to canine lymphoma on July 28th. He fought a great fight and was a real trooper going through almost 6 months of chemotherapy but unfortunately did not go into remission at the end. We are thankful for the many years we got to be Bruno's humans and the joy he brought to us. He is now resting peacefully with his big brother, Merlin. This blog will always be Five Dogs and Us in their memory and they travel with us in spirit and watch over their brother and sisters.

Umpqua Lighthouse State Park

2016-05-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

With four days off over Easter weekend (March 25th-28th, 2016) we took off for Umpqua Lighthouse State Park outside of Reedsport, Oregon. Our daughter, Danielle, and her four legged baby, Gucci, got to come along as well for a nice get away for all of us.

We had stayed here once before and found the park small and in a nice location. The spaces have nice spacing with trees between all the spaces. The park even has yurts and cabins to rent. The yurts look like they'd be a nice get away.

The area is dog friendly and as in all the Oregon state parks they have no issue with all our furry kids camping with us. Spella approved the site and she and all the kids enjoyed new smells to check out and there was a nice 1 mile hiking path around Lake Louise just a short walk away to get them out on.

Just down the road is the Umpqua Lighthouse and it is open for tours on some days.

We found the best bakery, Sugar Shack Bakery, for donuts and other sweet items in Reedsport and they were even open Easter morning so that became the Easter treat for all of us.

While we were there we also went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. It is worth the time to see all the critters there and they have a nice educational aspect.