July 20, 2014

So, while in Odessa, TX last month, we realized that we have a tendency to buy homes with undersized air conditioners. A couple of hours in 104F heat in Odessa, and we're in a hotel.  So, we made a decision to not sleep in Oatis in Texas in the summer.

Currently, we are spending 2 nights on Lake Lewisville. Yes, in TX. So much for our plan to not sleep in Oatis in the summer in TX. We picked a good weekend, the high today is only going to be about 93.

Tomorrow, we drive back to Austin and park Oatis for 2 weeks, while we drive a rental car to Montgomery to Ann's dad's house, then to Baton Rouge for a class, then to Matt's for a few days. Then, the LONG RV road trip begins. 5022 miles of driving.

Dallas, August 5, 6, and 7. Sleeping in the Holiday Inn.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, on the road towards Oswego, NY. I'm hoping to park at rest stops, WalMarts, etc, and not pay for parking. At least 2 of those nights. 1500 miles in three days.

Sunday and Monday nights, August 10 and 11, RC park on Lake Ontario, near Oswego.

Tuesday night, somewhere in Canada, on the way from Oswego to Kalamazoo, MI. Again, hoping to park for free somewhere. We'll see how accommodating those Canadians really are. 554 miles to Jan's house in KZO.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I'm driving towards Reno, without Ann. She's visiting her mom in KZO, then is flying to catch up with me in Reno. Boondocking each night.  2044 miles.

Sunday, August 17, we drive to Pismo Beach, CA, where we spend a week in an RV park about a block from the ocean. Yeah! 436 miles

August 25, we drive to Ontario, CA, where we will spend 4 nights in a Holiday Inn.  Again, air conditioning. 213 miles.

August 29, we drive to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Hopefully, we're spending 2 nights with Tim and Jim in an RV park, after which, we are leaving Oatis in their caring hands and driving their car back to Houston, to spend a week in their condo. We'll be without Oatis for a week, but again, air conditioning. Texas. 455 miles from Ontario to Grand Canyon.

We should reunite with Oatis on Sunday, September 7. And hopefully, we'll have our newly ordered license plates by then.

So, there's August's schedule. After this big trip, it'll be nice to only venture as far as Kansas City (in the RV), for a while.

Captain's Log, Stardate: June 15, 2014.

We just spent our first night of our road trip in Oatis (the RV, in case you haven't been keeping up) with Annemarie (sister), Megan (sister in law), Olive (baby)Hank (some kind of terrier, scottie, yorkie, I'm not sure which), Saul (australian cattle dog).

We're in a park on a lake in San Angelo. Nice place, I can see the water from where I'm sitting writing this. Here's our schedule:

Monday and Tuesday I teach in Odessa, so we're heading over there later this afternoon. Actually, we're staying in Midland at an RV park. The tracking boom has made it hard to find RV parks in Odessa, apparently.

Tuesday night we take off towards Orange, CA, where I have a 4 hour meeting at 8 am Thursday morning. We are driving mostly through the the night, going through San Diego, up through Escondido (Stone, here we come), to Orange. Probably get there mid afternoon Wednesday.

Then we spend Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday doing nothing. Hopefully.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I work in Irvine.

Friday, June 27th, we unhook Oatis and drive to Morro Bay.

Saturday, we drive to Pacifica.

Sunday, we drive to Fort Bragg.  Hello, North Coast. Old Rasputin, here I come.

Monday, we drive to Brookings, OR.

Tuesday, we drive to Seaside. After making the required stop at Rogue Brewing in Newport.

Wednesday, we drive to Stanfield, OR. Kind of out by Pendleton.

Thursday, we drop off Annemarie, Megan, Olive, Hank, and Saul, in Boise, Idaho. Then we head back towards TX.

By the way, we sold the Sonata, and are planning on selling the trailer as soon as we drop everyone off in Boise. I'm looking forward to NOT dragging 5,800 pounds behind us for a while. Anyone know anybody with a 5 to 10 year old jeep wrangler, 2 door, soft top, they want to sell?

3 Nights in Anderson, IN

Ann and I just spent 3 nights in Timberline Family RV Resort in Anderson, Indiana. The previous 3 nights were in St. Charles, MO.

It was great! Met some nice people, had a chance to see what it's like to actually "camp" in a park for a few days at a time. I think we're going to love this.

I especially enjoy the mornings. Sitting outside, drinking coffee, before the rest of the park is waking up. Very peaceful.

Still have a few bugs to work out. Like, for example, the refrigerator doesn't work. But, we're going to Columbus for 4 days, and we're going to drop it off at a repair shop and go stay with a friend while they fix it. Hopefully.

Then we're off to Patascpo Valley State Park near Baltimore for 5 nights. Should be a good time.