Our Week in a Nut Shell

Our RVs behind us 

This past week we spent a week parked at the Thousand Trails RV Park in Verde Valley AZ with Benny's childhood friend and his friends wife.

We drove through Sedona but we picked the wrong day as it was busy in town. We stopped by the Chapel of the Holy Cross church which is a church that is built into the rocks. Spectacular views and a place one should visit. 

A  lit Candle for Tia Julie

Sunday we woke up in the desert then went off roading on a trail from Sedona to Flagstaff. It was a long drive but one I enjoyed taking. A bouncy but beautiful scenic road. When we got to Flagstaff we were in the forest and at the end of our drive we were at 10000 feet by the Snow bowl! Its amazing how in a days drive you see the different terrains of AZ.

Following Jeep tours

The Crazy Group 

A healthy Forest

Tuesday we drove to the cute town of Jerome. This little town was an old copper mining town and most the buildings were built into the hillside. In the 1920's the town was populated with over 10,000 people. Now the population is 444.

We also took a drive over the hill and stopped in Prescott. Another cute little town with a lot of cute shops. We had some delicious Pad Thai at one of the restaurants across from Whiskey Row.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and we were Blessed to be Spending the Holiday with our good Friends the Dickson / Neeb Family in Flagstaff! We had a delicious meal and we were bummed that the snow decided not to fall even though it felt cold enough to Snow!

On our final day we drove to some of the national parks. We first stopped at Montezuma's Castle. I have never seen ancient Indian Dwellings before so I was in complete amazement. We then drove to Montezuma's Well. This place also has archaeological remains of cliff Dwellings. Our last stop was Tuzigoot which has the remains of a 3 story pueblo. This kind of history really interests me.

We had an amazing week in the park as well. We joined the other people staying here and we played Wii Bowling on Monday night. Karaoke on Tuesday night, and Wednesday night we played Card Bingo. I think my favorite was our group (crazy group) singing Bohemian Rhapsody!!

I feel we need a vacation from our vacation hahaha I'm so excited and can not wait for our next "vacation". For now we will be parked back in Congress AZ at the North Ranch Ecapees RV Park. Stay tuned !!

Living Our Dream

 

 

Do you ever wonder what your life will be 5 years from now? In 2017 if you had told me we would be living in an RV and living in different places I would have said "Yeah Right!" A friend of ours kept saying how we needed a motor home and in the back our minds we kept saying "there's no way we could afford one"  Yeah we all dream that one day we would own one and take it camping or "Glamping" but in reality we didn't think it would happen.

 

 

In October in 2016 our dream came true and we were able to snatch up a cute little 19 foot trailer. When we walked inside it was like a brand new trailer and we knew we had to take it home! We had inquired in many others but the sellers never responded or the trailer wasn't something we liked.  When we bought the "Road Runner" trailer we took it camping that same weekend and we were in heaven. Its funny how when you get something you see them all over. We kept seeing trailers and we were amazed we were part of that Trailer world. Yeah it was small but we made it work and we loved it. If the problems we had with the truck didn't happen we would probably still be living in the "Road Runner"

 

 

So now we live a little more comfortably in our 30 Ft Pace Arrow Motor home.  Again when we walked in we knew this was home! When you know it you know it! Its an older model and doesn't have slides but again we make it work and we love it. Its been amazing traveling in it and calling it home. 

 

We belong to an RV group called Escapees RV club and they have many RV parks around the US. We are currently parked in an Escapees park in Congress AZ which is about an hour or so from Phoenix.

 

 

Tonight we were sitting outside enjoying the warm sunny evening and an older man who is parked across from us came over and chit chatted with us. He and his wife will be here until May then head back to North Dakota. The other day another man came and was talking to Benny and said he was also going to be here until May.  The people we meet here are so friendly and its so awesome to hear their stories and hear where they have gone. That's one thing we love about the RV Life. They are either Full Timers or they are soon to be Full Timers. When we broke down earlier this year I felt like why is this happening to us but come to find out every RVer has had a bad experience as well. The RV community is always willing to help out and give advice. Some have more than 20 years being on the road so they have seen and done it all.  

 

We are blessed to be able to live this life and I don't think we want to go back to Sticks and Bricks for a long time.  Maybe sometime in the near future we may buy some property to park our motor home when we need to sit for a bit. Its been an awesome ride and like I said earlier we would have never thought we'd be doing this. 

Arizona Living

Eight months ago we arrived at the same place we are today. North Ranch Escapees RV Park. However the way we checked in was way different.  In March we were in our truck on a flat bed tow truck and our trailer was being pulled by the tow truck. What an embarrassing way to arrive.

Tuesday afternoon (Nov 6th) we arrived at North Ranch after a 3 1/2 hour drive from Las Vegas. The drive was smooth and we didn't have problems! That anxiety about breaking down is still in the back of my mind but I try hard to think positive.

We've already done so much in the last four days since arriving in Congress AZ. We have a Tow vehicle which gives us so much freedom. We surprised our friends in Peoria and we surprised my aunt and uncle in Tempe. 

We absolutely love this RV park and it feels homey.  Everyone is so friendly here. We love taking walks around the property. The views are beautiful. We would love to buy a lot here but we aren't quite set on AZ being our home.

We are excited to explore Arizona and see places we haven't seen.  If you come to AZ let us know!

Sitting Still

Well we haven't really moved to far since leaving the land of the big trees. We are currently parked in a small little town called Vallecito.  It is 19 miles from Calaveras Big Trees State Park.  Blink and you will miss it.  We are staying on a piece of property owned by friends of Benny's Mom.  More on that in a bit.

 

 

We were supposed to have had our wheels in motion moving to another state for the month of October.  Sometimes our plans need to be readjusted.  Benny's mom had surgery on Sept 26 so we decided it was more important for us to stay nearby to help her out during her recovery. The place we wanted to go to will still be there when we decide to go again. Family is most important and we would have felt really bad leaving in her time of need especially since we are able to stick around and help.  So we started out with the Rig in front of her house in the Town of Angels Camp.  Angels Camp is NOT a campground.  This town is about 52 miles East of Stockton. 

 

Since we were going to be staying the Rig on the street we had friends offer up their property for us to park our Rig on. It has full hook-ups and is under a carport. We have beautiful country views and it is very quiet. It is nice to have our own space and not have to bug his mom too much.  We plan to stay in the area for as long as she needs us.

 

 

 

As we begin to think about moving away from the area I have to admit I get a bit of anxiety because of the way our travels started back in Feb.  I have faith in God that he will provide for us and will keep us safe.  The thought will still there in the back of my mind though whether I like it or not.  There are so many places we want to go and we won't know where we will go until we are there.  We don't like to make definite plans because we know plans can get a wrench thrown into them. We do have a few set plans and can't wait to share those with you.

 

 

Thank you again to all those who take the time to read the thoughts that are in my mind.  Stay tuned for our next destination.  Just know it's "the meadows" :)

 

-M.P-

Just another day....

Today we woke up to the sounds of chain saws and trees crashing to the ground. When you live in the forest you hope and pray that those trees fall the right way. I was in the rig when I heard the cracking of the tree trunk then the Rig shook when it crashed down. The sound was so loud and I had that eerie thought that it was going to crash through the roof. It was then that we decided to sit outside and watch as a huge tree was being cut down. They were working on a tree right behind our place and by looking at the trunk we knew it was gonna be a loud one. It was a pretty cool sight!

Benny Watching and waiting for the Tree to fall.

Speaking of sights, we are blessed with the views we have from our "living room". Every direction you look there are trees.  When the temps rise we are thankful for the trees as their shade is about 10 degrees cooler.  We have Sugar Pines, Pine Trees, Cedar Trees, Ponderosa Tree, and Dog Wood Trees surrounding  our place.  The Dog woods are easily distinguished by their Bark! HAHAHA

Our Back yard.

variety of trees

  

Living in the Forest one has to adapt to the elements. For example, mosquitoes are a nuisance and they love to bite me but it doesn't bother me. I've learned to live with the welts I get  almost daily when I forget to spray myself with bug spray.  Lately the meat bugs have become a problem but its all part of being in the forest.  I guess its worse this year. Yikes!

Critters among us

We've been camp host  for 2 1/2 months now and we love it! We've been pretty lucky that we haven't had any rowdy campers or any problems. For the most part our campground has been quiet. We did have a missing camper situation and after 3 or so hours after the report he was found safe. That was a scary situation as it was dark and there was a bear wandering around.  So anyway we plan to be in Big Trees til the end of September which will be here before we know it.

We are anxious to get on the road and travel but we are content staying put for a few more months. We are enjoying the peace and quiet of the forest.

Trail to the North Grove

Retirement is tough

Stay tuned for another adventure!

Living Amongst the Giants

One of the ideas Benny and I had when we decided to be full time RVers was to be a Campground Host. Our wish was to host at one of our absolutely favorite places. So back in the summer of 2017 we tracked down the Ranger to let him know we were interested.  Our plan was to do some travelling and then hopefully by April we'd start hosting.  Snow delayed the opening of the campground. 

Benny and I are excited to share that we are the Campground Host at Calaveras Big Trees State Park!

Our wish is finally a reality and we hope its a better experience then at Laguna Seca 

First off let me tell you about Big Trees. So as you can see I titled my blog "Living Amongst the Giants" and we really are surrounded by Giants! Can you find Benny amongst this Giant?

Big Trees is located in Arnold California  which is in the Sierra Nevadas. It is the home of Giant Sequoia Redwoods. This was the home of the Pioneer Cabin Tree that fell during last years winter storms. The Cabin tree was a 2000 year old tree. Back in the 1800's a land owner cut a hole through it so buggies could drive through it.  The second picture is how it looks now. It's very sad to see it laying on the ground.

We will be settled here for a few months.  Some of our duties include light housekeeping,  selling firewood,  collecting fees, and basically keeping an eye on the campground.  We are so amazed and blessed to have this as our backyard. There are a lot of hiking trails for us to explore. I'm told there's a yearling bear roaming around so im excited to see my first bear!! 

Enjoy these pictures and think about coming up this way to camp. Big Trees offers lots of campsites. Lake Alpine is about half an hour away and Whitepines Lake is about 10 minutes away.