Doing It Without Guilt

We have come a long way…baby!

It may have taken us over 6 years to finally “get it”, but we have. We work hard and we play even harder but when the time comes to just be able to relax, we now do it without the guilt.


Whenever we work the Christmas tree lot, we know it is weeks of 12 hour shifts and we are tired at the end. We give ourselves the time to play as soon as we can, which we again did this year as we headed for the Laughlin desert. We did an all nighter at the casinos…it was 4am before we came home and discussed what we need to do today. We both agreed…NOTHING! The only thing we had to do was to do it without guilt, which we did.


First off, we slept until noon. Sure can’t remember the last time that happened. Then we just ate and napped for the rest of the day, nothing else. No worries about cleaning, laundry or any other things on our list that needs to get done, tomorrow is another day when we will work on the list, but for today, we simply were there in the moment without a care in the world. Life certainly has it’s way of allowing us to just be, if we allow it.

A Perfect Driving Day

We got an early start and it was a beautiful drive with the weather totally cooperating. We were going to stop in Bakersfield, but since we were having such a great time singing with our new cd‘s, especially the double album by George Straight. Many of his songs remind us of the greatest love that we share with one another, it was a great ride.


We made it all the way to Barstow, a bit on the cold side but it is clear, no rain and since we are actually in the high desert it feels dry. We are staying once again at the Barstow Calico KOA, be sure to check out our review on our blog or at RV Parking.


For the first time going through Tehachapi Pass, there was no snow on the ground. It was still cold and windy but no snow.


This was our first road trip with our new lens and filters and it was fabulous. Here are some of the shots we took today. Now the scenery was great, especially with the weird cloud covering, so taking a bad photo was hard to do.

Christmas Day Adventures

Usually we love driving on Christmas day because of no or very little traffic, but since we didn’t get off the lot as early as we anticipated, and being dirty and tired, we didn’t make it to Bakersfield as we had wanted. We only made it about 50 miles down the road to the Kit Fox RV Park in Patterson, California. See our separate review on our blog or at RV Parking and all the photos on our Picasa Web Albums.


Then we had planned to drive to Bakersfield today, but due to the weather forecast of dense fog, rain, and very high winds, we chose to just stay put for another night.


We caught up on our laundry and had Christmas breakfast at Denny’s. For so many years when we were in our stationary home, our daughter worked on Christmas, we always wondered who goes to Denny’s on Christmas? We now know, the place was packed.


We hope all of our readers have a fun and safe holiday season!

We are FREE…

The last few days have been much more work then we had anticipated and we are tired, plus this nasty cough that caught us and just will not let us go determines the amount of energy we have left.

It is very hard work disassembling a Christmas lot, you have so much to take down, the decorations, the fencing, the poles, the lighting, the trees off the lines, and last but certainly not least the tent.


Then it all has to be neatly packed into a trailer which is later picked up by a semi driver.



Then comes the clean up of the area we had taken over for the past month. There are pine needles to be raked, holes from the poles to be refilled in, and any trees left over to be stacked and ready for pickup.



The good news is that it is over and we have left the lot and are in vacation mode for the next month or so. We don’t DO Christmas anymore…maybe because we have no family…maybe because of this lifestyle…maybe because for the past few years we have been working the lot. We haven’t quite decided why we do not do it anymore, but we know one thing and that is we have one another to share whatever it is that we do on that day. We also have our friends…many we have met and many who we have yet to meet. And, to all of you we hope you all have the Christmas you all desire, for us it’s travel time and to unwind from the last month of serving others their Christmas trees.

When Will Your Someday Arrive?

What a wonderful post I read the other day, written by Just Wanderin’ about “Someday”.

So when will your someday bring you all you ever wanted? Tomorrow, next week, next year? How about right now. This moment is all you have. In this life, there are no guarantees that you will wake up tomorrow to enjoy that someday, so why not enjoy it now. Are you really going to wait for the exact, precise, perfect moment before you begin enjoying your life? Well, let me be the one to burst your bubble…that day may just be a fantasy. You see, even if you finally reach that dream of yours, there is no guarantee that it will be without pain or sorrow. Or, it may not look exactly as you had dreamed it would be. But the good news is that, today, this very moment is still available for you to enjoy and have the time of your life.


As I commented on Just Wanderin’s blog, “This ain’t no dress rehearsal…it is it! This is the only moment that you will ever have, so suck it up and take charge of your life and enjoy it to the very most. We never know when this moment may be our last and why not get all we can out of it before it ends.


We now choose to live our someday every day, every moment, and as happily ever after as we possibly can. Even during the rough times, the sad times and the unsure times. Are you ready to do the same? Well, jump up and do it right this moment and make every one of your “somedays“ into now.

Propane Issues

As many of you know, we are in the San Francisco Bay area in California working a Christmas tree lot. The weather has been damp and cold which has forced us several times to use our main heater more often. Because we have such a small space and a great new electric heater, we can usually get by with it alone.


But, when it reaches freezing or close to it, we have to use our propane heater, at least for a few minutes to take the initial chill out.


Usually we can get by with filling our 9 gallon propane tank every other month or so but when we use out heater it can use it up in just a few days.


We began calling around so we could get one of the companies to come and fill our tank if we run out. We have done this several times before in other areas and we know that it is more expensive but it is worth it so we do not have to unhook and drive to get this accomplished.

Weren’t we surprised to find out that in the state of California, they do not have mobile propane trucks for RV’s, we would have to unhook and go to them. Then this morning while reading the Roadrunner Chronicles blog, they had the same issue in Virginia.

We are certain that Arizona allows this convenience of mobile propane service.
California does not.
As for any other state we have not had to use the convenience so we are not sure which others ones might allow.

So the question for today is,

Which states allow this convenience of propane trucks coming to your site and pumping propane into your rig and which ones do not?

While commenting, please give us the reasoning behind these decisions if you know them.

Christmas Tree Business

The weather here has been wet and damp, not a big surprise for the Bay area, but it has created such a challenge for us. It could be worse, but I seem to have caught a slight cold in my throat and since today it is raining, my goal is to stay inside as much as possible.

This Christmas tree lot is not as slow as we had anticipated it to be, we actually outsold 2 of our 3 other lots this past weekend, total sales is over 300 so far and the busy weekend is yet to come. One of the reasons for this is that we have become quite the salespeople. We try not to allow anyone to leave the lot without one, some people we just can’t talk into getting a tree from us, but many understand why our trees are higher than others and well worth it. Once we receive them from Oregon, within days of being cut, we drill them and put them in water on the lines. They are the freshest trees in the area, and we know this because Jerry goes secret shopping all the time just to see what others in the area are offering. Once they purchase a tree from us, we give their tree a fresh cut,


we shake it on the Shakee (a really neat invention, put a tree in this machine, turn it on and watch all the stuff come flying out),


then we net it,


then tie it or put it into your vehicle at no extra charge.



As I to explain to some folks, you get what you pay for and with us, you get the very best freshest tree with the very best customer service. What more can they ask for?

Only a few more weeks before we leave the area and head as quickly as possible to the desert, so we can dry up awhile before heading to Florida, where once again will be damp, but not as cold…we hope the cold snap has passed by the time we arrive.

Life certainly is grand and taking the time to enjoy each and every moment has been a very enlightening experience for us.

Where Does the Time Go?

Once again the time just escapes us, working these 12 hour shifts for the 30+ days, November is just about over. The weather has been either wet or freezing temperatures which is making our bones a bit more achy. We love all the people we are meeting, we met a couple who are full-time wannabes, we had a great chat with them. Others we meet are really interested in our lifestyle and want to hear about all of our stories, we pass out our cards for them to come and visit our life.




They seem to be mostly curious about, how hard it was to give up all the STUFF? At least for us, we are truly simplifying, we do not need all the bells and whistles on our rig, we don’t use a tow vehicle and it is not a big rig. Quite honestly, we do not miss any of it at all, until like the other day when we went over to visit one of our other lots and went inside their huge Class A. Having room to invite guests in without being crammed into our rig is really nice but do we need the added expenses that come with it? NO! So, we will continue to find new ways of simplifying our lives and turning as green as possible. One of the reasons we have an inviting outdoor area, so friends can come by and sit awhile.




We have been experimenting with different cameras, we continue to buy new ones, only to send them back because they are not what we want. A few years back we bought a Sony A200 and we love it so we decided instead of buying all these other cameras, we would invest in our Sony A200. Went online to Amazon and went crazy with new lenses, filters and other gadgets to get a different view. Took the time today to play a little with some of our new gadgets. We have more gadgets on the way, so stay tuned.

A Thankful Thanksgiving

We are so very grateful for so many things this year…


We are grateful for our health, even with a few minor aches and pains, we are still moving and able to live our lives as we have always dreamed we could.


We are grateful for our friends, and that includes our cyber friends. It is so nice to meet individuals that are so like minded as us and for sharing all of their wonderful moments via their own blogs.

We are grateful that we have our home on wheels with warmth when it’s cold and the cooling when it’s hot.

We are grateful for the clothes we have to wear, the food we are so blessed to eat and for all the goodies we are able to enjoy.


We are grateful for all the times we are able to travel this wonderful country of ours, and for all those times when we have to settle in for a bit so we can enjoy new meetings and new adventures.


We are grateful for all the work that comes our way, to make it possible for us to continue living this wonderful lifestyle.

These are things we are always grateful for and include in our everyday prayers. But, on Thanksgiving we feel it appropriate to be able to share it with everyone.


Many of you have noticed that we are updating our blog from our coastal drive but what you may not know is we are doing it while at the Christmas tree lot. We were unable to do it while we were in travel because once we got behind, there was no catching up. We took the time and wrote the stories, but for us it’s not just the words, it is also the photos and those take so much time for us to download, fix or change, to name and then to file in our very organized manner. There are times it is hard to get out of our own way and just do something, so we must confess that our coastal drive is complete and we are currently working the Christmas Tree lot but we will continue to update our blog with our coastal drive and date it accordingly.


Thanks again for taking the time to read our blog, it is such a joy to read all of your blogs and all of your comments.

Finally Lots of Freebies at the Casino

We began our descent south on 101 with a better weather forecasted within a few days, so we decided to drive this part of the journey at a slower pace. We chose to stay 2 nights at Logan Road RV Park so we could check out all the freebies the Chinook Winds Casinowas giving away, we were not disappointed. Read our separate blogs on both of these places and our review at RV Parking.


Also, do not miss all the photos we have downloaded to our Picasa Web Albums.


It’s still been raining and the fog is quite heavy most of the time, but we are making the most of it and trying to change plans according to the weather, we really do want to see more of the beautiful coastal parts that I have only seen in others photos, we want to make our own beautiful photos. The weather is promising for the rest of our drive.

Chinook Winds Casino

1777 NW 44th Street
Lincoln City, OR 97367
(888) 244-6665

We arrived at a most opportune moment. Just to sign up for their players card, we were given $10 each play money, a free buffet each, a coupon book which include all sorts of play giveaways, including ½ off another buffet. This was perfect since we had planned to stay 2 nights.

The food at Siletz Bay Buffet was good, we had dinner one day and lunch the next and each had a wide variety of food. They do have themed days, so check out which would be your favorite and enjoy.

We played the slots, they were fun but for the first time ever at a casino, we played Bingo. We had played Bingo many other times but never at a casino, no big jackpot wins but we had a blast.

The view was awesome, being situated right on the ocean was just another nice perk. We highly recommend a visit to this place, especially during the times they are offering all these perks. It is a well maintained and everyone we came in contact with, went over and beyond the normal customer service.

Reached Our Northern Destination

Our goal was to go up the coast until we crossed Oregon and Washington state lines and spent at least one night in both. It has been accomplished.



We reached the border of Washington on Highway 101 by crossing a fabulous bridge in Astoria, Oregon. Then drove as far as Long Beach, Washington.



Our intention was to stay at another RV park but once arriving we located Oceanic RV Park, located right in the middle of town. They do not have a website and during season we are not sure if we would want to stay in this very small park, but for what we needed at this time, it was perfect. For the entire review, check out our separate blog and our entry at RV Parking.


The weather was holding out, even though it was cloudy and wet, we had a plan to check out the town, which we did. It is a quant little town with a lot of character, even during the non-seasonal time as it was on our visit. We had a great meal at Castaway's Seafood Grille, check out our entire review on the separate entry on our blog. We went to all the shops in search of our pins and magnets, Jerry was in rare form and we had a few laughs.


We went down to the World’s Longest Beach and checked out the boardwalk and the possibility of driving along the beach since it was allowed, but it was way too mushy so we chose not to put Maggie in the sand this time.



We stopped for ice cream and then found Funland, an arcade fun house where we bought tokens and had so much fun playing games, collecting tickets for goodies. We were able to purchase a pair of diamond earrings and a Kit Kat candy bar, all for $20 worth of game tokens…what a deal!


Check out all of our photos at our Picasa Web Albums.

Oceanic RV Park

504 Pacific Avenue S
Pacific Highway
Long Beach, Washington
360-642-3836


Upon our arrival, we were not greeted by anyone. There were other rigs in a few of the sites that looked as if they were long term residents but nobody around to advise us of where to park. The site situation was a bit confusing. Every site we put ourselves, we hung out everywhere and we are under 30’ long, can’t imagine being any longer and still fitting in there. We finally chose what we thought was a spot and hooked up. Still nobody around so we left a note on our windshield, explaining that we would be staying one night, were out sight seeing and would return later to settle up.


When we returned, we were met by a nice young woman and advised us we were in a good spot and it would be $25 for a FHU. They do not accept any discount cards, they do not have a website, they did have a restroom and shower that was tiny but clean, but we did not use them. If you are only passing through as we were and your main goal is to visit the town, then yes we would recommend this place and only if you are not a huge rig.

Pet Policy - We did not see any policies about anything, so we are totally unaware if pets are even allowed.