Five weeks after we drove into the state of California, we are now driving up Hwy 101 out of the state and into Oregon. The time we’ve spent in Cali has been terrific! We saw niece Kelsey row in the NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships. We visited a couple sets of friends in the Sacramento area and really enjoyed our time with each of them. We had Chicago friends join us for a week and hiked in two national parks with them. In total, we tallied up five of the nine national parks in California; enjoying each one for its special uniqueness and beauty. We are saving the remaining four parks that are in southern California until late fall / winter when the weather will be more tolerable in places like Death Valley NP and Joshua Tree NP.
We also celebrated our one-year anniversary as full-timers on the road while we were here. June 1st marked one year of being Out There — my, how the time has flown! After a year of practice, we now consider ourselves pretty competent in most things RV. Setting up and breaking down camp and hooking Toad to the back of Charley and unhitching him when we arrive at our destination is now performed via muscle memory; we’ve really got this lifestyle down! We are good at spotting parking spots that are long enough for both vehicles so we can run our errands while in the larger towns (we avoid big cities whenever we can) and for the most part we can sense when one or the other of us needs a little space. We’ve had two flat tires on Charley and one on Toad, so we know we can get through those unpleasantries, as well. All in all, it’s been a fabulous experience, and we’re not done yet!
Significant milestones occurred here in Cali, including turning over 20,000 miles on Toad, clicking 15,000 miles on Charley, and racking up 500 miles in our hiking boots! Oregon is the 38th state that we’ve visited. We’re almost halfway through the 59 national parks — we’ve visited 28 of them; that leaves 31 more to enjoy. In total, we’ve been to 85 national park units. There are now over 400 of these and we visit those that are on our way or nearby to where we’re visiting.
Okay, we’re nearing our Oregon campsite — our home now for the next five nights. Truly, home is where our RV is, and it’ll be home for us for a while longer….
