Posts

The Pandemic life

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So here we are in this surreal time, Corona virus time, that is. For the ones of you who subscribe to my blog (well and if you haven't done so yet, get on board!) you know that we moved to our current southern California location not too long ago. About 2 weeks into the lift off of Corona time! Deciding on this job at this location here in Escondido, CA seemed like a good solution for us: We'd be close to family and a few friends. That was the biggest bonus. A 30 minute drive and we are at the beach! But really, the property we help take care of sits beautifully located in close proximity to all amenities.         The Sikes.Adobe So now we are about 7 weeks into life of social distancing.  A term I had never heard before this all went down. The new norm is going to the grocery store and laundromat with facemasks. Not just regular ones I should add, no we have the fancy N95 deluxe models covering our faces, leaving beautiful imprints on our skin for...

Our 1st camphosting experience

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Workamping  At one point or another, whether you are an RV'er or not, you might have heard of the term workamper or camphost. If you are NOT familiar with either one, let me briefly shet light into this mystical word, because I am nice or because its Thursday! Often when you live a full time RV life you need or want to find a way to either offset your cost for living expenses or to entertain yourself  or socialize or all of the above!  Often when you camphost, you work at a campground and you help check in guest, do basic maintenance work,  some cleaning, sell firewood and shower coins etc. in exchange for full hookup.  The lovely internet provides tons of options to look for jobs all over the world and that's how we found our camphost job in Napa Valley. We were looking forward to meeting lots of people,  hanging out with the other camphosts, while sharing stories with each other of how RV life really is. And then life h...

After the California fires - A reflection

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Coming from  Colorado Springs, we are no strangers to fires, and we are not talking romantic camp fires here. Looking back, it seems like fires have become the norm in recent years, unfortunately. I remember the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire too well that destroyed over 18.000 acres of beautiful land and almost wiped out an entire neighborhood of 346 homes in my home town of Colorado Springs, CO. https://youtu.be/-WydTS3WprM https://www.kktv.com/content/news/Neighbors-gather-five-years-after-homes-burned-in-Waldo-Canyon-Fire-430996283.html Only a short year later Black Forest, situated on the outskirts of Colorado Springs, was largely burned down after it lost over 14.000 acres of heavily pined land, and 486 homes plus the lives of 2 people. https://youtu.be/iHNKSp_qIDo Joe and recently arrived in beautiful Northern California, Napa Valley to be exact, where we are camp hosting for 4 months. But that subject will be another blog! For some reason it didnt ...

Bale Grist Mill, CA

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Bale Grist Mill *****************   This working mill was build in 1846. It is open Saturdays and Sundays 10 - 5. Tours of the mill (Saturday and Sunday)- 10:00AM to 4:00 PM The park is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day ADDRESS 3369 Saint Helena Hwy N Saint Helena, California 94574 See link below for more info: https://napaoutdoors.org/parks/bale-grist-mill-state-historic-park/ To watch a video of this beautiful old mill click on the link below: https://youtu.be/TFq7RoK7WP4

Bothe' Napa Valley State Park, CA

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Bothe' Napa Valley State Park  This park is located in the heart of Napa Valley, within a few miles of Calistoga and Old Faithful Geyser. For only $ 1 each way per person you can catch a shuttle to Calistoga from this park. It is a wooded park that has an outdoor swimming pool and several beautiful hiking trails.  Most of these do NOT allow dogs though. Please be away of ticks and poison oak, that is literally everywhere. Therefor, long pants and close toe-d shoes are advised.  Bothe' has dry camp sites, as well as small and large yurts and cabins. There is also a group camp site available.  The picture below shows a small yurt https://napaoutdoors.org/parks/bothe-napa-valley-state-park/ https://youtu.be/PV58V0Q8RPY   Pros: - location - nice trails - shuttle to Calistoga - natural beauty - large group camp site - price for the area   Cons: - limited trail usage for    dogs - poison...

SeaBreeze Famcamp, Seal Beach, CA

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SeaBreeze  Famcamp Seal Beach, CA $ 40 per night/full hook up.   Pros: - location - free laundry - clean premises  - clean facilities  - spacious sites - pull through sites - trails - close to beaches Cons: - coyotes  - small weekend entry   gate - bad smell in the air We give this famcamp a 👍 Video tour of SeaBreeze: https://youtu.be/-kNA7LNpAhI

Bridge photography

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In case you haven't already noticed,  I love photography!  Everywhere Joe and I go, every place we visit, inspires me to take pictures. And then some! Here is a collection of bridges throughout the varies States we've driven thru. I hope you'll enjoy looking at these as much as I enjoyed taking them!