So the kids and grandkids decided to spend Spring Break with Grammy & Poppy again this year and we had so much fun! We camped at Brite Lake the first 2 nights. Our friend came with her granddaughter and everyone played corn hole, fished, and ate. The kids hit it off with Alice and it was a great time. The boys each caught their first fish, and let’s make that 3! Yes they each caught 3 fish! They were catching small large mouth bass, and some nice size trout but everything was released. Lorene also caught 1 or 2 but the rest of us were skunked!

We all had fun in the RV and once we got back home, they stayed 2 more nights at the house and we just had a great time playing games, doing puzzles and legos, hitting golf balls, and making fabulous food. Forgot to mention that we hid painted rocks at the lake too.

The dogs…

NEVER stop playing so here they are all tuckered out. Shred is always under the covers haha.

It’s always schetchy camping at the beach in March in California but we HAVE done it before! This time it wasn’t good weather and it was actually pretty chilly! We went with our good friends, the Machin’s. We followed them out after meeting for lunch inbetween our homes. It was altogether 4 hours from our house and the last 14 miles were on a very windy, somewhat narrow, 2 lane road…but we made it and set up camp.

It’s a pretty nice state campground that allows everything from tents to Class A motorhomes…gotta love the simpler side of life.

We had a couple of problems, our batteries were dead because we never dry camp and didn’t realize they were about 2 years overdue to be replaced, and we had another tire problem but Gary fixed it with Keith’s support and tools. Luckily with the generator and the fridge on propane we did fine.

The beach is pretty much all rocks, but they are mostly smooth, and soooo beautiful and unique! Great little general store too. But, no phone service at all, and we didn’t find out until the last day that there is a moderately strong public WiFi signal.

Probably wont go back just because of that last 14 miles…but it was great getting out and spending time with friends!

So our daughter entered a story-writing contest and won not only $5,000, but they also made her story into a short film and showed it at the 2024 Austin Film Festival in Austin, Texas. A HUGE honor! So off we went!

We took I-10 both ways in hopes of bypassing the horrible roads in Arizona off the 40. Well, it was a little better, but not much, and a super boring drive as you can tell because I took almost no pictures!

This was too funny. Not the exact spelling of my name, but close!

The RV Park was in Downtown Austin, and you could see the beautiful downtown area from the RV. What a great find.

The Film Festival was so much fun. Red carpet kind of fun!

We all had Lone Star Badges, which got us into all of the showings, plus parties and panels. We met some of Hollywood’s elite in the process…mostly producers and directors. The owner of the winery that held the contest just loved Nikki and her story, which was a thriller named Amongst the Large Pines. Nikki was in all of her glory and it was a very exciting and proud moment for all of us.

After the festival, Nikki and Elliott and his parents headed home and we headed to Caldwell to see our close friends, the Bocks.

Our trip was not without a few problems haha. To memorialize, our windshield got cracked by a flying rock in New Mexico. We got it fixed by the nicest man in Bryan Texas. Here’s a shout out to him and his shop. We were kind of in a hurry because we didn’t want the chip to turn into a huge crack and this is the only shop that could even see us that week. He did the repair while we waited in the RV, and it took at least 45 minutes. It’s quite a process. Then he only charged us $30. We were so thankful to him. Besides the windshield crack, we locked ourselves out of the RV in Austin and it took Good Sam 2 hours to get someone to break in for us, and by the time we got home we had a flat rear tire. But we made it!

We arrived in Caldwell and it was like we had never left. We do miss our friends so much. It was a great time in their beautiful home, on their beautiful county road.

We always travel with Chucky and his Bride, so here’s a picture of them. I think I told the story many posts earlier. Pepper loves them. That’s my Tupperware Tumbler in the photo lol.

Heading Home…Stayed in Fort Stockton for the night.

New Mexico, we stayed in Deming.

Arizona…we stayed in Tonopah…yuck.

I don’t know what’s wrong with that state. It has horrible places to RV camp on the I-10. The wind blew 100 mph all night. We got up early to get a head start out of there but hit super high winds with thick dust and torrential rains. We had to pull over to wait out some of the weather. It was scary.

Mixed drinks helped at night. That’s a swizzle Donna gave Gary LOL.

Home sweet home!

Yes California is annoying sometimes, but it’s always great to get home after a long trip. Until next time…

Gary severed a tendon in his hand, causing his pinky to not work at all. Surgery and several weeks of PT cancelled any cross-country driving we had planned, but we enjoyed the summer staying home while he got better. Life is what you make of it, and we had a wonderful summer!

Ha ha we think we went to Lone Pine with the Bray’s again, but these are the only pictures we took!

We replaced our old sofa with this awesome dual recliner this year, and what an upgrade to our comfort!

Just to memorialize, this is the first time I drove after my scary episode in Texas. I look fine, but I was nervous as heck!

Gary & Garrison’s yearly Broski Trip (father and son time) had them taking the RV to Paso Robles for Golf, drinks, and who knows what? They stayed at Cava and hit the Cane Tiki Bar in Downtown Paso and a much hidden and highly revered Speak Easy simply called 1122. Uber escorted them back and forth to the restaurants, bars, and golf course. They will never forget how cool the Speak Easy was.

We talked about going across country for a long time…so we finally went half way across! Our best friends, Donna and Jeff, moved to Caldwell Texas 2 years ago so it was time to see what the hubbub was about. I get it, it’s BEAUTIFUL out there!! So here’s how it went…

Left on Saturday morning, June 4th heading for Williams Arizona via the I-40, where we stayed at the Grand Canyon Railway RV Park. The roads from Havasu to Williams were torn up so bad we thought we might have nothing left of the RV by the time we got there but a couple of seats on top of the chassis. I’m not exaggerating either. Rather than fix the roads, Arizona just puts up signs that say “Rough Road” or our favorite, “Rough Road, May Crack Windshield”. Unbelievable! Add to that, torrential downpour for at least an hour coming into Williams and it was a real white-knuckler! But we made it and hunkered down for the night.

In the morning we left, headed to Albuquerque. The roads improved but were still not great, but the state is absolutely beautiful, especially the northern part where we were, off the I-40. We got excited to see the sign for Winslow Arizona along the way… You know…standin’ on a corner? So of course we stopped and took silly pictures!

Along the way was such beauty, especially in New Mexico. I’d like to plan another trip just to explore the Land of Enchantment by the way. We stayed at Enchanted Trails RV Park and Trading Post and would give it an A+. Such an adorable park with a great store and adorable vintage RV’s you can tour.

Our friends, Gloria and Stuart, who live in Rio Rancho picked us up for dinner and we had a great time at Sobremesa eating traditional Spanish food, and the guys really enjoyed the craft beer.

In the morning we got up and out early for the 5.5 hour drive to Lubbock. Now let me say this…the state of Texas is absolutely beautiful, and their Governor obviously spends the taxpayer’s money on the taxpayers. The roads and all infrastructure was excellent! But there is one thing that’s curious. The speed limit on the highway is 80 which is bad enough, but on the little state highways, mostly 2 lanes in each direction, right next to houses, the limit is 75!! And the trucks pass everyone like crazy! I assume that’s why they have about a million cemeteries? Every few miles, another cemetery. I find that interesting…

We stayed at Mesa Verde RV park in Lubbock. It had rained 7 inches in 7 days and it was quite humid. I got bit by mosquitoes 5 times sitting by the pool for only 15 minutes. It was a nice enough park…basically pulled in, ate dinner, watched TV, then pulled out early for the 6.5 hour drive to Donna and Jeff’s.

Donna and Jeff live on a beautiful country road way out away from any main towns…just about 30 minutes from College Station. We loved College Station and their stores like HEB (grocery), Specs (booze), and of course, Nothing Bundt Cakes! They took us to lunch at C & J BBQ in Bryan and it was delish!

They built a beautiful home and huge shop which sits on 4 wooded acres. So many trees and birds. It’s like a bird sanctuary and it sounds like I imagine the rain forest sounds.

We went for walks and really enjoyed the outdoors. When it got too warm we came in and hung out. Happy hour starts at 4pm in Caldwell! Pepper captured Donna and Jeff’s hearts and I was afraid Donna was going to keep him! And I’m afraid he wouldn’t have minded!

One night we had a crazy thunder and lightning storm that dumped a bunch of rain. It blew down trees and fences all around but we were safe under their RV building next to the shop. Pepper has no fear so he enjoyed it from the dash!! Crazy dog.

We took a trip to San Antonio to see the Alamo and the River Walk. The boys did the Alamo and we checked out some shops. Then we all walked around the river (for a short time, it was hot) before stopping at Mad Dogs Brittish Pub for lunch. They served Scotch Eggs as an appetizer so we had to try them. Basically it’s a hard boiled egg wrapped in pork and deep fried. Very yummy actually!

We stayed with them for 7 days and really enjoyed hanging out with our best friends. Jeff made us a beautiful and large wind chime made out of pipes that he tuned into actual musical notes. I love the sound of it on our patio.

I missed them immediately after we left. This will be a yearly tradition for sure. We may even meet half way now and then.

Sunset our last night at their house. We got up and left at 8:00 am the next morning heading to Fort Stockton Tx. We decided to take the 10 home since the 40 had such horrible roads. The 10 was 100 times better and actually a more direct route.

On our way to Fort Stockton we drove to Fredericksburg which is the Wine Country of Texas. We didn’t want to take much time so we just found a place to stop and have lunch in the RV. We’ll put it on the list for our next trip.

Hilltop RV Park in Fort Stockton was really nice and adorable. Very nice people and very clean.

The best sunset ever!

What the heck is this?

On the road by 8am the next day heading for Deming New Mexico. Roads are still great, but hitting a lot of wind. Went through El Paso on the way out of Texas. Beautiful over-passes and infrastructure in that town.

Deming New Mexico wasn’t much to speak of but they have a great Mexican Restaurant called El Camino Real. Really friendly staff and delicious food. We got it to-go and they served me water and offered chips and salsa while I waited. So nice.

We stayed at 81 Palms RV Park in Deming. Nice people, they only take checks and cash which is different, but it was nice. Very hot and windy though.

The next day we hit Arizona pretty quickly after leaving Deming and decided to go explore Tombstone. What a fun time we had there!

Made it to Cotton Lane RV Park in Goodyear Arizona around 6pm and boy was it hot! It was 91 degrees inside the RV with the AC blasting and an hour later it was 92. Go figure? It didn’t cool off until well after 9pm. The park was nothing to speak about. It’s actually a 55 and over place and is very nice. It seems they only rent out a few spaces in the back where there are NO trees or grass. Also, no store.

Anyway, early in the morning we were out of there heading for home! We took the 10 up to the 210 and 15 then the 395 and came down the 58. We were home by around 3:00.

What a great trip but it’s always so nice to be home. I’ll never complain about California roads ever again after some if the places we drove.

The RV is going in for new shocks and stabilizers before we go on anymore long trips. We may be heading to Virginia in the fall…we’ll see!

One of the best beach locales for RV camping in California. You park nose to butt all down the coastline for a couple of miles. You have a beautiful view of the ocean right out your RV windows and doors. It’s dry camping but that’s fine too. Around a 3 hour drive but not a bad drive at all.

Pepper was mesmerized by the ocean … he didn’t quite know what to think! We had easy beach access so we walked on the beach each day. At first he was afraid of everything he came across, seaweed, shells, the water coming it. It was hilarious. But by the time we were walking back to the RV on the first day he was loving everything, especially the water.

Had a cute visitor!

Such beautiful sunset the first night.