Leaving San Diego, we headed to Yuma to visit Joy, another possible Panama caravan member that we have become email friends with. Joy was parked on BLM land with some members of the Boomers chapter of the Escapees Club. Super nice, intelligent people and all full timers. I have to say that I have always envisioned full timers to be low income rednecks. Boy, have I been proven wrong! We would have liked to stay longer and get more “educated” in the ways of saving money on the road. One couple makes a tank of water last 3 weeks. Ours last 3 days! One man told us he spends less than $1000 a year on campgrounds because he boondocks so much. On to Tucson where we spent a night at a Flying J. In exchange for listening to noisy trucks, we got free camping, water, and dump. They also have the most blazing fast internet I’ve ever had so I was able to upload about 50 pictures in no time flat, whereas the KOA in San Diego was so limiting that I couldn’t upload even 1 photo. Now we are in Lakewood, New Mexico at “The Ranches” visiting Bob, our caravan leader. He is so kind to give Steve a spare CB antenna and the step-by-step instructions on mounting it to the RV. The Ranches is an Escapee park which is a co-op. Lots here go for $7500-$20,000 and then you have a home base to come and go to. Most of the lots even have a little casita or a storage shed. We are getting a late Thanksgiving dinner in just a short while and will leave tomorrow for San Antonio to spend a few days with a friend that goes back 35 years. One week and we will be in Mexico!
Month: November 2009
San Diego Zoo
This zoo is called “world class” and there’s no doubt about that. Even if there were no animals, the grounds are like a botanical garden with probably 100 waterfalls. The animal enclosures are landscaped and many have their own waterfalls, lots of shade, and no smell whatsoever. We saw every animal except the cats. After the zoo, we tried to walk as much of Balboa Park as we could but I think it would need a week to do it justice and see all the museums. This is another place I want to see again.
Santa Cruz to San Diego
Rick and Kathy RV’d through Central America and to the bottom of South America in their little Tiger motor home. We have been corresponding for the last year with mostly me asking tons of questions. (Their blog is www.travelin-tortuga.com). They plan to ship their RV to Europe this spring and we just might follow in March 2011. Anyway, they happened to be in Santa Cruz the same time as us so we drove the short distance up into the hills to where they were staying and had a nice visit. They have been full timing for 8 years and have so much knowledge compared to us but we’ll get there.
We continued following the coastal highway and managed to drive about 100 miles in 5 hours because the road has twists and turns and we kept stopping to look at the views. The next stay was at Morro Bay State Park which was even prettier than New Brighton Beach SP. I have to say California provides many beautiful state parks along the coast and plenty of turnouts to enjoy the views. We continued on highway 1 all the way through Los Angeles and the adjoining towns. Lots of stop and go but definitely more scenic and less stressful than the freeways. We are now at a beautiful RV park centrally located in San Diego. We already asked how much it costs to stay here for a month at a time because it’s so nice. Of course, we also want to stay in San Francisco for a few months, Mendocino, Morro Bay, Laguna, etc. I can’t believe all the flowers that are blooming everywhere and definitely see why southern California is so crowded.
Wanderlets 