Where Have We Been This Year? Pt. 1

Hello, everyone! I am the most terrible blogger out there! I tried doing a different format blog, wordpress, but really didn't like it. It seemed really hard to get photos into and stuff.... I know it isn't but without any real training, I just couldn't get it. Plus, it costs $$ to maintain! This one is free, and pretty easy to do, so I will stick with it for now.

What have we been up to? So much has happened since we began this full time RV adventure back in January! As you probably know, we bought our 05 Alfa See Ya 40 diesel pusher in December of last year, and sold our home (yes, our beautiful Robson Ranch retirement home!) in January. That was when we hit the road, "homeless", and loving it.

We have also begun to do some reno to the RV. As you might imagine, being over 10 years old, there were some things... like the original carpet! Yuck! We also removed the hard RV sofa and got some really comfy lounge chairs.

We have also added some cabinetry to give us some more storage space, and a place for the coffee pot. We actually had this work done in Mexico for a fraction of the cost! You can also see the flooring we chose, an Armstrong laminate, along with the darker carpet in the slide area. As we are working on some other projects, stay tuned for more!

We've been a number of places since January. The first stop was Arizona, where we were able to winter near Jeff's dad in Chandler. At the RV park we chose in Casa Grande, we met some other Alfa owners. Who knew that there was such a community of people! We have had so much fun getting to know the other owners, hanging out with them at rallies, and events. There are a number that winter in southern Arizona, many in the Casa Grande area. One of the best benefits? Many of them know so much about this wonderful coach called Alfa! We have enjoyed getting to know them. And, after visiting with a number of Alfa owners at Quartzite and again at the 2018 alfa rally, that number is growing! Yes, I miss my friends from our neighborhood, and my friends from the fire department, and my friends from the running community! But it is nice to know that a lifestyle change like this allows for keeping up with all of those folks, AND making new friends!

Once it began to get hot in AZ, we put our attention to other places. I consider Norwex to be a totally wonderful boon to RVer's, as it has helped us save on space, and weight. So, I decided to share with other RV owners at a couple of very large rallies. The biggest was the FMCA, which was about 2,700 coaches! This was a lot of fun, but frankly, I didn't do as well as hoped. And since we have been on the road, my business has suffered a bit, as I just have so much time! Shame on me for letting such a great product go unsung everywhere I've been! Anyway, we had the opportunity to share at the Alfa Owners rally in April 2017. There, I was able to give a presentation. During the presentation, one of the ladies asked me about some water stains she had in her ceiling, that she had not been able to get out after a number of tries. I took my stuff over to her coach later that afternoon, and in 15 minutes, removed those stains with just water and a bit of Norwex laundry soap! I just love finding new ways to fall in love with Norwex!

From there, we headed to Bend, Oregon for the summer. Jeff's beautiful sister Lisa had been battling cancer for many years, and we wanted to spend some quality time with her. I know that the weeks we spent there meant a lot to Jeff, as they were very close. It was also nice to be able to spend some time with our brother in law, Steve. Having a wife battling cancer for 7 years can really be hard on a person! We were able to take a bit of a load off him, and spend some time with him, as well. Usually, after sitting with Lisa all day, the three of us would go somewhere for dinner. Bend has some really fine restaurants!

One of Jeff's favorite restaurants, which was in the front of an exclusive gym facility, has a light fixture made of bicycle chains! Very original!

We were lucky to have hooked up with a fellow Escapee (another social group for RVer's!), who had an RV hookup on his property. He allowed us to stay there for several weeks. It turns out that Bend is very crowded, and very expensive, during the summer! Sadly, Lisa lost her battle with that horrible disease in late June. The memorial service was held in late July in order to accommodate some family and church needs. It was great seeing so many family members!

One of the reasons that Bend is so busy and crowded during the summer, is the absolute plethora of outdoorsy things to do in the area. It is a beautiful state, with plenty of hiking, kayaking, etc. Jeff and I visited a number of great spots there. One of my favorites was Smith Rock. I wish I was more able to hike to his level, but we still had some fun. It was hazy from smoke the day we went, but it is really a cool place. It is also a great rock climbing place! And not too remote, but there were stokes baskets and stuff placed on the trail periodically. Pretty interesting!

With so many places to hike in the area, which is surrounded by mountains, we made a number of day trips.

This is a portion of the Deschutes River, which was adjacent to the property we stayed on. It was an easy walk down to the river. Jeff took the dogs down almost every morning!

Obviously, the dogs were not too sure about the water!

I could coax them into the water, but they didn't really like it. Zada preferred sitting on the edge!

This was a bridge over a very large gorge there in central Oregon. The bridge is part of the original Blue Star Highway. It is now a bungee jumping place. We watched...

Although they had a short wall at the cliff edge, it was still pretty dangerous!

After the memorial service, we headed for the Oregon coast. This was our first stop, Pacific City, at the 1000 Trails park there. We purchased a 1000 Trails camping pass for just a few hundred bucks. However, we have yet to really be impressed AT ALL with their parks! None we have stayed in had working sewer connections, the sites are very small and narrow, and overgrown. The interesting thing about Pacific City was the bunnies! The place was overrun! And it was just a very short trail down to the beach. We let the girls off leash a few times, and they really had a great time running around.

The trail down to the beach.

The Oregon coast is very pretty! 

There were a BUNCH of bunnies! This one took spinach out of my hand!

Stay tuned for part 2 of Where Have We Been This Year?! My plan is to catch this up to NOW (May 2018) and then post a much smaller version weekly, where we've been and what interesting things we've seen! There is still a lot to talk about to get to that point, though. Don't despair! :)