Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Retirement

RV Trip Planning

Spring Travel Plan

Over the past several weeks, we have been planning on our spring excursion to visit relatives and to take in some scenic places on our way back home. The process for making a travel plan is much the same as preparing a flight plan with certain differences, of course (winds aloft may not affect our ground speed, etc.).

Lots of things require some planning: travel times, rest stops, fuel consumption, provisions (water, food, etc.) and camping facilities. While there are several on-line utilities to assist in this planning, we have supplemented them with some home-grown tools. We have spreadsheets which enumerate the itinerary and project the fuel consumption and refueling stops.

We already have the GPS programmed for the next trip. There is a utility on our Garmin to plan each day’s travel, including times, distances and fuel consumption. It’s a very handy feature. In addition, we have the “GAS BUDDY” application on the Android which finds fuel sorted by price for a given area.

At this point, we are probably finished with the planning, including the food menu, which Damsel has under control. The on-board freezer and fridge have the basics in stock and we will be doing additional shopping as we go along the way.

The route plan depicted above is the basic loop where we plan to travel. The map excludes a couple of side trips which will be made using a rental car. We have no desire to drive the 35 foot diesel into the San Francisco Bay area where the grandkids (and great grandkids) live, so we will rent for that day.

So, that’s it for the spring plan. We will post our progress when we are underway. We still have some minor chores and appointments to complete before departure. We anticipate a good trip, good weather, good visits with everyone and some spectacular scenery in the great American West.

19 Apr 2017 by Retirement Wanderlust

Ammospermophilus Leucurus Fortitudus

White Tailed Antelope Squirrel

Damsel and I maintain a wild bird and animal feeding station on the hill just behind the RV drive behind our house. I was up there this morning replenishing the feeders when this little white-tailed antelope squirrel came right up to me and seemingly begged for a tidbit. I broke off a little piece from a sunflower seed bird bell and tossed it to the little critter. I had my little camera, so I snapped pictures of it as it consumed the tidbit I threw down.

The title of this post comes from the binomial name of this variety of squirrel combined with a bastardization of the Latin word for fortitude or “courageous.” It seemed like a brave little critter to come within a couple of feet from where I stood.

There were several other squirrels and a few birds in the area; a cardinal in the mesquite tree behind me and a curve billed thrasher already pecking on the bird block I just hung up as I started back down the hill. We certainly enjoy our desert critters and flowers.

04 Apr 2017 by Arizona Critters Retirement

Desert Camping Again

Desert Camping Again

Damsel and I drove the usual route down US 60 to I-10 and on into the RV park in Palm Desert, CA. It was a good trip with lots of desert wildflowers, lots of sunshine and at one point, lots of traffic. The latter only lasting a few miles just east of Chiriaco Summit where there was some construction and a one-lane restriction on I-10 westbound. Regardless of the brief slowdown, it was a pleasure to drive the new RV along the route.

As I mentioned in the post about the maiden voyage, this is likely our last trip to this campground for a while. We will, however, be on the road again next month for a longer excursion.

One quick anecdote about this campsite; we backed in to the parking slot and set up camp as usual. However, when we went to deploy the Winegard DirecTV satellite dish, it got fouled up in the low hanging branches of the Chinese Elm tree next to the site. I wound up having to break camp and move the rig to the right and forward on the pad to allow the dish to have unimpeded access to the part of the sky where the geosats hang out. After the move, everything is working great.

17 Mar 2017 by California Retirement Wanderlust

Bringing the New Thor Palazzo Home

Thor Palazzo at Home

We took the (not very) old Georgetown RV down to Camping World in Mesa, AZ yesterday and gave it up for trade on this new Thor Palazzo 35.1 Class A Diesel Pusher. Our short list of preferences for a new RV have mostly been realized with this acquisition.

  • New Diesel Pusher
  • Under 36 feet in length (35’9″)
  • King Size Bed
  • Dinette with chairs (not a booth)
  • Washer and Dryer

On the trip home from the dealer in the new RV, the cockpit noise level was like night and day compared to the truck chassis we had been used to for the past year. Damsel and I could have a conversation with normal voice levels – no shouting required as when the G’town was in third gear going uphill. The ride was also much better with the airbag suspension on the FreightLiner™ chassis as opposed to a spring suspension.

We’re still exploring all the new gadgets and goodies in our new RV. I have been going through some of the manuals and have barely cracked the ice.

The next step is to begin organizing and transferring the contents of the old RV into the new one. This coach has considerably more storage available, so there should be plenty of room for the stuff we stacked here and there after emptying out the Georgetown.

Our first trip to a campground is scheduled for mid-February when we will again go to Palm Desert for our monthly excursion to visit the kids and grandson. Having made that trip over and over for the last year in the Georgetown and for a few months before that in our old Skyline trailer, this next trip ought to be a pleasant contrast to the ones before.

31 Jan 2017 by Retirement Wanderlust

Inclement Weather

Inclement WeatherIt looks like the long holiday weekend will bring our desert some rainfall. I took this photo this afternoon at about 4 PM as the dark clouds approached from the southwest. It didn’t actually start raining until around 5:45 PM but the rain is still persisting at two hours after it started.

Our forecast calls for continued chance of rain throughout the year-ending weekend and on into the first part of next week. Damsel and I are all self-contained in that all of the shopping is done for the holiday weekend menus and we’re well stocked with other survival provisions.

We know it is very cold in other parts of the country and it will be relatively warm here compared to some places, although our high temperatures are not forecast to exceed 55 or 60 degrees for the next few days. That is harsh for us since it has only been a few weeks since the highs were in the 90’s.

Meanwhile, we’re battened down and prepared to enjoy a nice Happy New Year holiday regardless of conditions. We wish you all a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

30 Dec 2016 by Arizona Environment Holidays Retirement

Harvest Moon over Arizona

Harvest Moon over Arizona

Well, it has been over a week since we posted anything here on the state of the world, etc. We have been busy with our October to-do list, consisting of a few chores and some important healthcare milestones.

Damsel took this photo of the harvest moon rising behind our big saguaro and ocotillo a couple of evenings ago. We are having a pleasant “second spring” with daytime temperatures in the high eighties to low nineties and nocturnal lows are still in the comfort zone of low to mid sixties. We love our desert retirement home.

Click on the image to enlarge.

18 Oct 2016 by Arizona Astronomy Environment Retirement

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