June 21, 2018

The Catalyst

You may be wondering why we would give up our pad in Rocklin?  To be completely honest this is what I've been dreaming of for the past several years.  Even before I started writing my own blog.

My dreams are becoming my reality!

The catalyst for this was when we left Rocklin to make a long road trip in April.  We were on the road for almost a month.  We stayed at five different RV parks.  We worked at 17 different parks.  We repaired 19 play structures.  We had time to ourselves.  We visited Disneyland.  We met up with friends along the way.

burgers on the BBQ
  
Our first stop on the road trip was Bethel Island in the Bay Area.  You can read about our fun hiking adventure here.  From there we went to Moss Landing KOA.  This is one of our favorite spots to stay when working in the Salinas area.  It's right next to the beach :-) We planned an extra day just to sit and relax.  And make burgers of course!

Our third stop was Valencia Travel Park in Castaic.  Our friends, Jodee and Bill, have stayed here often and I also highly recommend it.  We were right across from the pool and the laundry room.  Laundry was a priority so I was glad for the close convenience.

large end site #A12 at Valencia RV Park

Our longest stay at a single park was next.  Anaheim RV Park is very close to Disneyland.  It's also very close to many of the repair sites in Los Angeles that we had scheduled.  The only downside (for us) is that Rufus is very afraid of the fireworks that Disneyland has going on every night.  I completely forgot about this when making our reservations :-(  Bad dog mom moment...

end spot #179 was just right

I was feeling a little bit like Goldilocks at this park.  The first site they put us in was too small.  I went to the office where they gave me a few options.  The second site would be too hard to get into.  But the third site was just right :-)


 


With Rainer parked on his spot we were left with our own semi-private patio.   We set up our chairs, gave Rufus his mat and enjoyed cocktails in the evenings.



Ron and I have been to Disneyland several times but never without kids in tow.  This would be a new experience for us.  I used the Rover app and secured a fun play day for Rufus.  The RV park has a shuttle stop right out front by the main entrance.  For $5.50/person we bought an all day pass from the self service kiosk.  With pick-ups roughly every 20 minutes, it's definitely easier than driving over and parking ourselves.

selfie outside of a water ride in California Adventures
We bought a one day park hopper pass for each of us.  It was a little pricey but we don't get to do this all the time.  In a small way we were also celebrating an anniversary: one year cancer free for me :-)


putt putt putt on the car ride



t-shirt souvenirs for us and Emmett!
We spent the entire day at the two parks.  By the time we were ready to go home, we were pooped.  We were somewhat disappointed though because Disneyland was changing things around.  The huge Ferris wheel and roller coaster in CA Adventures wasn't operating.  Also Pirates of the Caribbean was out of commission.  So no 'Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirates Life For Me' jingle going around and around in our heads...  

colorful street art

Time to venture further north for more work.  Traffic in Los Angeles had one saving grace.  I was able to capture this colorful picture of a mural somewhere on northbound Highway 101 just outside of the city. 

Our last stop of the trip was at Pismo Sands RV Resort.  We had site #48.  Oops, no photo of this site.  Most of the sites are pull through and face opposite directions.  You better like your front neighbor!  That also means that your back yard connection area is shared by another rig.  That particular spot was empty when we left for work.  When we came back it was full.  There really was no walking space back there.  Oh well, it's only for one more night.

Our friends Tony and Mary live in the area.  Ron and Tony used to work together 20+ years ago.  Tony, Mary and their two kids moved away when the kiddos were younger but we always managed to stay in contact over the years, even vacationing together a couple of times.  We had a chance to meet up with them for dinner, a beach stroll and a card game back at our rig.

Tony, Mary, Rene' & Ron

Saturday, the last day of this road trip, arrived.  We had to get back to our pad in Rocklin.  Our final departure was less than three weeks away!  We had fabrication jobs to complete and a storage shed to clean out.  No rest for the weary...  Best. Decision. Ever!