April 16, 2000
Lancaster, CA
Spring Escapade
I swear, getting the RV ready for extended travel is like moving into a new house! My head has been buzzing for a couple of weeks. Making lists of what to take and what we can live without. It’s amazing, when you distill things down to what is really ‘important’, how small a list it is. Of course when you’re carting it out to the RV it doesn’t seem small!
A few last instructions to my sister, who is looking after the house, and at long last we are “On the Road Again”.
We are attending the Spring Escapade in Lancaster, CA. Because the ‘Lazy Daze’ is small we got parked right outside the main gate…just a short walk to the classes.
The entertainment tonight was the Las Vegas comedian, Paul Barbuti. I’ve always enjoyed him and he sure had ‘em rolling in the aisles tonight.
April 17, 2000
Lancaster, CA
Spring Escapade
It rained today. Some of the RV’s are parked in fields of slippery clay! Now I really am thankful we are only a few feet from the concrete. I went to a craft class on stringing crystal beads and made my nieces each one. The lady next to me has been ‘full-timing’ since Aug. and they still don’t know what to do with their ‘stuff’, which is now in storage. That seems to be a major hurtle for most folks…the “STUFF”.
We picked up a Passport America discount for campgrounds. You get 50% off at participating campgrounds. For 39 bucks it seemed worth a try.
One of the Escapees is a financial advisor and he gave a seminar today. We gathered up some very valuable information.
Tonight’s show featured the ‘American Boys Choir’. They range in age from 7 to 14 years old and travel the globe. Such pure soaring voices. There was one little Chinese boy with horn rim glasses that were half as big as his face. He belted out a solo of ‘Stout Hearted Men’ that got a standing ovation.
It may have rained today but there was also a full arch rainbow. Life does seem to balance out that way.
April 18
Lancaster, CA
Spring Escapade
We jumped on the tram first thing this morning. The driver promptly drove down the wrong row and had no room to turn! He had to disconnect the tractor and WE had to push the tram. That’s what we get for being too lazy to walk! (Grin)
I’ve been a long time fan of the web site “Moving On” done by Barb and Ron Hofmeiser. They wrote a book of the same name…the one that first fired us up about going on the road. They talked today on “Living and Traveling Full Time”. It’s hard to hear them and not run home and sell the house!
The sun is shining again…and when the mud dries up everyone can go back to complaining about the dust! (Grin)
The entertainment tonight was the Fullerton College Review. Music from the 50’s to the present. There was some rock’n going on!
April 19
Lancaster, CA
Spring Escapade
A gorgeous day! We went to a talk on ‘Traveling in British Columbia’ in the morning and then ‘played hooky’! Went out and had lunch and did some shopping. We always find new towns so interesting.
April 20
Lancaster, CA
Spring Escapade
I was going to go to a seminar on “Travel in Mexico” but during the craft class I met someone that had traveled for 3 months in Mexico and she told me all about it. I, no doubt, learned more from her then I would have picked up from the seminar. They had an accident, someone tried to rob them and they had to stay an extra day to deal with the police, and they had a couple of days of Montezuma’s revenge but they STILL loved it!
It was so much fun chatting with everyone around the table and sharing experiences. I love the camaraderie of RV folk. One lady said “Have you noticed how many Rvers hold hands”? It’s true…if your spouse isn’t your best friend then you are in deep trouble in these close quarters! Tomorrow we head out again.
April 21
Far West Resort
Santa Paula, CA
We are camped in a beautiful little canyon. The hills are balancing gray clouds on their peaks and a gentle, almost nonexistent, mist is drifting down. The RV is snuggled under a Pepper tree and our front yard offers a soft green view across the canyon.
Rick’s sister Kay and her husband live in Santa Paula. We are paying them a surprise visit. We’ll get to have Easter lunch with family!
We took a walk and filled our lungs with the damp sweet air. There is a creek running below us and as dusk falls the ‘frog chorus’ is getting louder. Peaceful music to lull us to sleep…
April 22
Santa Paula, CA
This is a quaint little town with an actual old fashioned down town area. So many small towns have boarded up storefronts…somewhere nearby a mall has gone in and the ‘Main Street” has died.
The ‘Main Street Emporium’ has a coffee house in front with deep chairs and couches to curl up in and read the latest magazines and newspapers that are spread all around. It gave ‘hubby’ something to do while I explored the gift and antique shop in the back.
It was fun to walk and explore little shops. In one old antique shop I found a treasure trove of old photos and spent a long time choosing a few to buy. It gives me such a feeling of history to look at those stiff, unsmiling young men and babies with ringlets and high buttons shoes and the women in their finery. What were their lives like…what dreams did they dream?