Sheltering in place in an RV

Another Great Winter in Palm Springs

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Despite going into Covid lockdown again just weeks after arriving, we had another great winter at the Outdoor Resort Palm Springs. No major lot improvements this year, instead we just enjoyed catching up with friends, relaxing on our outdoor patio and all the amenities of the resort. For most of the season, we stayed pretty tight with our small bubble of friends. With the warm weather and nice outdoor patio’s it wasn’t really hard to social distance and stay well.

Our god daughters parents and family were in the valley for the month of December which was a real treat. We had several fun nights with the whole gang. Christmas Day was a ball.. it was so much fun to spend the day together, cooking a huge meal, replete with Prime Rib Roast and plenty of red wine!!! We were responsible and spent the night in their guest casita.

California has had access to loads of vaccine and we were lucky to get our shots in Feb/March as were most of our friends. Even though we did not meet the age criteria at the time, we were able to get on a waiting list a for un-used vaccine at our local Rite-Aid. What they were doing was filling their no-show appointments with willing victims! It was a huge relief to be able to see people outside our small bubble socially again. Even with both shots onboard, we are still being careful and wearing our masks out in public.

The Outdoor Resort hosted many outdoor events this year… masked required of course. Pickleball, golf and tennis were all open as well. We had a ball with friends at SINGO, real live concerts, All Star and Comedy Night – our Activities Staff did an amazing job pulling all these outside events together.

One of my favorite events was our Pickleball Club End of the Season Pool Party. It was hotter than heck in April so floating in the pool, chatting with friends was a perfect way to spend the afternoon. The more hardy people actually played pickleball, or corn hole or ping pong. The club supplied tubs of cold water, beer, wine and boxes of hot pizza. Casual and fun!!!We also had some pretty epic card nights, birthday parties and a Sunny Cycle outing with our bubble. Of course, there were loads of patio happy hours and dinners alfresco.

I fooled around with sour dough bread making in my spare time and even made some Limoncello with our fresh Meyer Lemons. I haven’t mastered baking in our convection microwave oven and found our Traegar to be way better for baking bread. I do miss having a “real” oven sometimes but I honestly don’t need the calories from breads and desserts anyway! Boo-Hoo!!!

I also fooled around with a tiny garden… red leaf and romaine lettuce, tomatoes and a plethora of herbs. I was actually able to get basil going too. We had a bumper crop of lettuces, the cooler winter weather here is perfect for colder weather plants. The tomato’s of course really went into overdrive just days before we are rolling. No way those were traveling with us … wahhh. Good news for the tomato plants …our friends in Palm Springs adopted them.

We did get out and hike with friends in the area. The valley has endless opportunities for hiking and one of our favorite hikes was in Mecca – yeah, not that Mecca!!! The Ladders hike at Painted Canyon was spectacular… combine climbing ladders, slot canyons, boulder scrambling, ridge hiking and crazy geology for an amazing day exploring.

Another big highlight of the season was having other fellow RV friends come stay at our resort. I also got to met a fellow blogger pal, Laura Greene in person. We have enjoyed each others blogs and have been pen-pals of sorts. Our paths have never quite crossed but this year the stars aligned and we drove to Riverside to have lunch with them at the busiest brewpub in all of California. We were having so much fun chatting we didn’t even take any pictures – blogging failure! Despite the uber loud busy outdoor patio we were sitting on Wally and I had a great time with Laura and Kevin and yes, several pints were consumed.

One upside of living on a small par three golf course is all the birds and wildlife. I really enjoyed having my morning coffee and watching all the critters around the small lake behind us. We have a resident Costa’s hummingbird – Henry the III who keeps watch over the feeder in the lemon tree and sits with us on the patio. This is the third year he has been back to our feeder.. next year we won’t get to see Henry the IV as we are planning to spend the winter in the SE and Florida.

Turtles, Mallards with ducklings, Coots, Pelicans, Egrets, Roadrunners and a host of other birds visit or live around the lake. I also hung a bird feeder behind the coach by the bedroom window – for the cat to watch of course!

In February, we took a five day trip over to Mesa AZ to spend some time with my Mom and some AZ friends. We left the coach in Palm Springs and stayed with friends in at their “Placa in Mesa”. For Valentines Day we all co-opted a great meal. My friend Laurie and I pre-cooked loads of crepes for the main course. That was a blast and we had a great time in the kitchen together. I started the evening off with a cheese and wine pairing with products from Penny Royal Farms in Boonsville California. The farm and winery is in the beautiful Andersen Valley where they make all their cheeses from their sheep and goats.

While we were in Mesa, we took a day trip to Superior and hiked around the Boyce Arboretum. Masks were required at all times inside the property but on a Monday, there was hardly anyone there. This is a great place to bring a picnic lunch, explore the massive gardens and hike the property. Since it was winter, there wasn’t much blooming but it was still beautiful.

I was also able to visit my Mom… this was before the vaccines but with a negative Covid test I was allowed to actually be inside her small community. It was a bittersweet visit and while she has settled into her new memory care community, it is so difficult to see her mental decline. I am lucky that she knows who I am and we did have some silly fun, looking at picture of our pets and laughing about their antics. She is very child-like at times, which is not uncommon with dementia and I have come to accept that this is who she is now. I feel great relief and appreciation that she is safe, living in a lovely community and has companionship. She had isolated herself in her apartment at her other senior community, didn’t go out much and I think she also had forgotten how to manage the remote TV control. Dementia is such a sad journey….

That said, this journey with my Mom has reinforced to me how important it is to live more in the moment and it is all the more reason to get out and enjoy life RIGHT NOW.

Grounds Hogs Day…

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We are back in Palm Springs California and nine days later we are back in full blown COVID lockdown. California’s Governor Newsom imposed this stay at home order based on hospital capacity. Regions in CA where ICU beds drop below 15% triggers the stay at home order. It’s different than the last lock down where it was at the decision of the county health officials. My heart goes out to all the healthcare workers who have been at battle with this tricky disease since last winter.

Controversial…why, yes it it. Not only is our country divided politically but somehow this pandemic has become political as well. I find it hard to believe that many US citizens still think this virus is a hoax. My uncle recently died of Covid complications, my husbands nephew is still battling with COVID after affects and his entire family has had COVID. I have to have a COVID test to visit my mother and that may be terminated soon as the virus is spiking again in Arizona…so yes, we are being careful. Nope, not getting on a plane…yep, I have friends and family I would like to see but really people…what about we all just stay home until we get a vaccine. What, that’s inconvenient… well so is dying, or causing someone else to die. We’ll see how the next 3 weeks go in California. In the mean time, I am back to online grocery shopping either by Instacart or curbside pick up, no restaurant dining, limited socializing and travel. Oh yeah… and wearing a mask. Nope, I am not scared… just trying to be considerate.

Rant over…climbing off my soapbox now!!!

We spent the first week in Palm Springs getting our furniture out of storage, setting up our lot and catching up with friends. The record heat in Palm Springs this summer took a toll on some of our landscaping but happily it all mostly survived. Before the shut down, I made a couple of trips to the garden store for a few new plants and some veggie starts. Last season I successfully grew herbs so I decided to try my luck on tomatoes, lettuce and more herbs this season.

We also hung three new photos on metal in the coach. I used National Photo Lab to have the photos transferred to metal. The 11×14 prints turned out great and really brighten up the living area in the coach.

The weather outlook here in the desert looks great for the next few weeks…mostly in the mid seventies during the day so we plan to spend a lot of time outside, playing pickle ball, walking, biking and a few local hikes.

Sheltering in Place – A Diary of Virusapocalypse: Day Fifty One – Fifty Five

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May 15, 2020

We extended our stay in Bend through May 24th and have had a great week with two different friends visiting. Additionally, today is momentous in that many counties in Oregon including Deschutes County, which Bend is in, are starting to re-open. Under phase 1 of the re-opening, Gov. Kate Brown is allowing nearly all of Oregon’s counties outside the Portland metro area to begin reopening  Friday, as well as all retail statewide (except malls and shopping centers).

It will be interesting to see how these phased re-opening go, will people continue to observe the stay at home orders in counties that are still closed, will COVID cases spike, will small rural counties be able to maintain their low cases if people start traveling again… all TBD.

Great mural that has been painted on the back side of the Les Schwab Amphitheater which is in the Old Mill District.


So here is how day Fifty One through day Fifty Five of our sheltering in place went:

  • We are hiking or walking everyday…there are so many trails yet to explore!
So Bend has it’s dark and moody side! This field is right next to the RV Resort and is where Wally takes Bentley for a run everyday.


  • Monday I made some awesome Elk Burgers. I had recently discovered a package of wild ground elk that was gifted to me last fall in the freezer so that got me salivating for a good burger. Wild Elk is actually very lean so I added some garlic that I had been soaking in olive oil to the meat along with some thyme, salt and pepper. The burgers were served with carmelized onions, homemade sundried tomato goat cheese spread and arugula. YUMMY!!!! I also did not not repeat my failed burger bun attempt…licked my wounds and just bought some nice fluffy potato buns from the store.
That is an excellent burger…


  • Tuesday we had friends from Portland drive over in their Leisure Travel Serenity aka “The Mobe”. We are lucky to have some friends who like to travel as much as we do and have joined us along the way in our travels. In this case, Donna and Steve also share our love of good food and wine so we always have fun cooking together and sharing our latest wine acquisitions. Despite the fact the weather took a rainy turn, we had three days of fun together, hiking, exploring the area and quaffing some delicious wine that they brought with. Since there were no restaurants we could visit, we co-opted some great meals together.
Donna brought this delicious bottle to share… yes, the picture is blurry but hey I took it after we drank the whole big bottle!!!

  • Wednesday, a long time friend, Connie who now lives in Burns Oregon stopped by while she was in Bend. We spent a couple of hours catching up and talking about dogs, so great to see her. Connie is a devoted Standard Schnauzer breeder and our boy Gus was one of her pups. Gus was surrendered to the Oregon Humane Society while I worked there. One of my staffers called me the day he came in day so I went down our medical clinic to take a look at him as Standard Schnauzers are a bit of a rare breed. I kinda fell in love with the dude, fostered him for a few days after he had major dental work done and eventually got him transferred to a Standard Schnauzer Rescue Group. Poor buddy had serious separation anxiety and wasn’t doing well in the shelter.
Wasn’t he a cutie!!!

A couple of days after Gus went home with the Standard Schnauzer Rescue gal, I got a call from her. She told me she figured out who the breeder was (Connie – Von Berg Schnauzers), that Connie was in Portland and that she had let Connie know that she had Gus. Being a reputable breeder meant Connie wanted Gus back and of course I was thrilled he found his way home at almost 9 years old. Long story short, Connie and I kept in touch and some how I ended up going to see him one day and somehow he came home with me!! He was my buddy and my pal, a great dog that Wally and I loved to pieces. He still had terrible separation anxiety which got a bit better over time but he was otherwise fearless, confident and loved to go any where we went. Gus also helped us raise Bentley, another puppy I couldn’t resist at the shelter.

Our second week is flying by almost as fast as the first week here in Bend did. Sadly, we have no more visitors coming by but have plenty of exploring to do still. Donna texted me on her way out of town with the location of a great farm stand where I scored some awesome fresh veggies today.

Left over slow cooked bolognese with fresh fettuccine and steamed broccoli starved with a big glass of ghost pine cab – thanks Jill and Cindy for that delicious wine.


While it is tempting to go out to one of the many retaurants here in Bend that are re-opening, whats more tempting are all the micro-breweries…sigh. But we are going to continue to avoid crowds of people, do occasional take out, get a growler filled to go and just enjoy the great outdoors here in Bend. Today we ran errands, stopped at the produce stand, went to Petsmart and Ace Hardware. Yep, we are cautiously venturing out so I think this will be my last entry as sheltering in place…I hope….fingers crossed.

Quiet Downtown Bend…PS…please wear your mask!!!

Sheltering in Place – A Diary of Virusapocalypse: Day Forty Four – Fifty

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We have been here in Bend for week now and loving it. What’s not to like…great weather, friendly people, hiking galore plus we are settled in a nice big site at the Crown Villa RV Resort. Liking it so much, we extended our stay another week. It has been easy to continue sheltering in place, I am still using Instacart to have groceries delivered, utilizing restaurants that offer take out and generally avoiding people as best we can. With a population just under 200,000 Deschutes County has been relatively unscathed by CODID-19 – 85 cases and no deaths. I think this could have been very different if Governor Kate Brown hadn’t shut down the state so early. Bend in particular is a tourist destination both winter and summer so with no big influx of people from all over the US, they have stayed relatively healthy here.


So here is how day Forty Four through day Fifty of our sheltering in place went:

  • We have been hiking or walking everyday. There are so many options in the Bend area that we can do something different everyday. Monday Kristen and I walked the Bend River Park Trail that starts in the Old Mill District. It is a very pretty 4 mile walk along the Deschutes River.

Dinner was a full spread of Cinco de Mayo eats complete with a pitcher of Margaritas – Thanks Kristen for the great grub!



  • Wednesday was Kristens birthday so of course we hiked!!! Our choice for a pretty afternoon hike was at the Riley Ranch Nature Preserve. There is a great trail system there with a series of small loops.

Kristen requested that the Wally Brenda pizza duo cater her birthday dinner so that’s just what we did. It was a three course meal featuring… wait for it…PIZZA. Of course, I made the dough from scratch in the morning so it could rise all day. I started the BD girl (Well, and me too) with a French 75 cocktail which I made with frozen meyer lemon juice (from our trees in Palm Springs), gin and prosecco – that’s how you get the party started!!! Head Pizza Chef Waldo started the birthday girl with a Pizza Margherita topped with fresh basil from my traveling herb pot. The second course was a Green Chile Chicken Sausage Pizza and the third course was an Apple Chicken Sausage Pizza with Blue Cheese topped with Arugula. John bought the birthday girl her favorite dessert – Cheesecake which we topped with Lemon Curd and Blueberry Compote. After dinner, we played a round of Five Crowns – it was a fun evening with the BD Girl!!

  • Wally and I took a day trip to Camp Sherman on Thursday. We brought a picnic lunch and hiked along the Metolius River. This is a gorgeous area and the crazy thing is the head waters of the river. The headwaters of the river are at Metolius Springs, where the river emerges from two clusters of springs at the base of Black Butte. Water flows to these springs from the drainage basin around Black Butte Ranch, several miles to the south. The elevation of the drainage basin is 300 feet above that of the springs, forming a natural standpipe that tends to stabilize the river’s rate of flow. But seriously, how can all that water come out of such a small hole in the ground???
  • Friday Wally and I headed out to Sunriver which is a city all in its self. It was actually developed in the late seventies and was the first luxury resort community in Central Oregon. The resort community is home to 63 holes of world-class golf, a marina, an aquatic center, stables and its own small airport. In Sunriver, you can spend the day riding bikes along 30 miles of paved trails, going on a guided horseback ride or visiting the Sunriver Nature Center, Oregon Observatory, High Desert Museum or Lava Lands Visitors Center, where the first astronauts trained to talk on the moon.  The Village at Sunriver hosts a variety of shops, restaurants, breweries and art galleries. In winter, the Village at Sunriver offers ice skating and Mt. Batchelor with first class skiing is just a 20 minute drive.

Wally and I have spent some time in Sunriver, mostly on skiing vacations so it was fun to drive through and reminisce. Unlike other trips, Sunriver was a ghost town. The Village was mostly shuttered except the Bend Brewing Company which was offering take out. After splitting a burger and fries we needed a good long walk so we headed out to the marina area where we picked up the River Loop Trail. This paved walking/biking path was a great way to burn off that burger and 6 miles later we were both ready for a shower and a cold beverage. We saw a plethora of birds, a big herd of elk which were way off in the trees behind the horse pastures, deer and some ground critters. We met up with Kristen and John back at the RV Resort for drinks, dinner and some time around the fire pit. Persistence won out and we finally got through to Wild Rose Thai Eats – OMG, what a feast we had. Truly some of the best Thai food I have ever “eats”. Sorry, no pictures… we forgot!

  • Saturday was our last day with the Quaranteam so we loaded up our bicycles, a picnic lunch and headed out. Kristen and John had never been to Mt Batchelor or Sunriver so those were our destinations.
Mt. Batchelor off in the distance.

Back at Sunriver, we headed to the marina again and rode the same trail we walked the day before. Kristen brought carrots so we had fun feeding the horses. Seems they are furloughed too and were definitely enjoying the attention and treats. We had our picnic after the ride at the marina by the river – such a pretty day.

Our week together with the Quaranteam in Bend literally flew by and we spent our final evening together on our patio with the fire pit going. Dinner was a light fare, White Bean and Chicken Soup with a Mixed Green Salad which Kristen and I co-opted. Great caravanning and week with our fellow full time RV friends…our paths will cross again soon!!!

Sheltering in Place – A Diary of Virusapocalypse: Day Forty Three

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The last leg of our road trip to Bend Oregon on Sunday was just under 250 miles. We tooled along in the remote back country of California and Oregon with rarely another vehicle in sight. Our route from the Likely Place Golf and RV Resort took us along Hwy 395, then we connected to Hwy 31 which then connected us onto Hwy 97 at La Pine Oregon. Part of Hwy 31 was a bit bone jarring but for the most part it was such a pretty drive that we could ignore the bad roads for a stretch. It felt like the Indy 500 when we rolled onto Hwy 97 with all the car and truck traffic!


So here is how day Forty Three of our sheltering in place went:

  • We decided to enjoyed a more leisurely start to the day so Kristen and I took a long walk around resort on the nature trails. The area around the pond was really active with Red Winged Blackbirds.



  • The caravan was on the road Saturday by 10:30 am and headed for our final destination – Bend Oregon. Wally and I have spent the last 28 years collecting experiences and our love of travel is jointly shared so what better way to spend our 28th anniversary – Love you babe!!!



  • This portion of the drive was mostly high desert plains which took us by several lakes and through tiny farming towns. I love this glimpse into old, rural america and took so many pictures… unfortunately most through the window so please excuse the window glare and bugs on the windshield!!
  • We ate a big breakfast but didn’t stop for lunch so the caravan gang was ready for an early dinner when we rolled into Bend. We had our eye on Wild Rose Northern Thai Eats, had all the entrees picked out and were looking forward to a big family style feast. Only problem was that no one ever answered the phone even though their website said they were doing take out. How rude, didn’t they know it was our anniversary??? Our second choice was Dang Vietnamese which turned out to be a great second choice and we definitely feasted.




Our three day sprint to Bend Oregon was definitely a sprint… we usually like to take our time, stop and explore the areas we are traveling through. These are strange times to be on the road for sure. Most of the small rural towns we drove through were hauntingly quiet but maybe thats how they always are. We are happy to get settled in at the Crown Villa RV Resort in Bend and enjoy exploring all the outdoor activities the area has to offer. As things start to open up again, I don’t think we will be rushing to go out to restaurants, bars or any other big venues for awhile. Being out and about in the great outdoors is just right for now.

The Lava Butte Caldera in Bend.

Sheltering in Place – A Diary of Virusapocalypse: Day Forty Two

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Our first day on the road (Friday) was was mostly great… a few minor issues with the passenger seat side window (yay for gorilla tape) and low tire pressure in the passenger tag axle tire. … hey whats up with my side of the coach??? But that said, the scenery was amazing. Smoggy Victorville with heavier than expected truck traffic gave way to clean, blue skies, majestic snow capped mountain and very little traffic. We made it to Mono Lake where we stayed at the MonoVista RV Park. It was a quiet stopover…so glad they were able to get a variance to stay open for overnight travelers.

Beautiful Mono Lake


So here is how day Forty Two of our sheltering in place went:

  • The caravan was on the road Saturday by 8:30 am and headed for Likely California. We have never RV caravanned with another couple and who more perfect than our shelter in place buddies Kristin and John?
  • The drive between Mono Lake and Gardnerville is absolutely gorgeous. Snow capped mountain, lakes, roaring rivers and massive plains capture you and delight your eyes. One of my favorite parts of the drive is following the Walker River as is roars down into Topaz Lake.
  • Our first stop of the day was in Gardnerville, NV for fuel. Diesel for $2.49 a gallon – woo-hoo. Not only was it a very scenic stop but someone served me a mimosa!!! WHAT…now this is why caravanning is so fun. What wasn’t so fun was the DEF incident… luckily it all turned out fine thanks to Mr. Handy Pants but he wasn’t a happy camper for sure. If your curious what DEF is you can read the link, but suffice to say it isn’t windshield wiper fluid. I drank my mimosa while he flushed the DEF tank and refilled it with DEF.



  • We made a lunch stop at Del Taco in Carson City. Wally and I normally find a rest stop, grab a sandwich and keep on trucking but something about a taco salad just sounded good! Kristen found us a great parking spot at the nearby Walmart. She also ordered online and walked thru the drive thru to pick up our lunch – now that’s good service. We ate in our coaches and got back on the road with a full belly.
  • After leaving Carson City NV, it was about 185 miles to Likely, CA where were spending the night at the Likely Place Golf and RV Resort. The stunning scenery and virtually no traffic made the drive feel easy. Well, easy for me as I was sitting in my plush passenger seat or up taking pictures the entire time. I had great intentions to get some driving time in but somehow that just didn’t happen.
  • We arrived at the Likely Place Golf and RV Resort road weary and ready to put the jacks down and relax. Seems the computer reservation system didn’t relay our reservation to staff so they were a bit befuddled when our two big rigs arrived. No pull in sites in the big rig area were available but they took our guys in a golf cart to look at the sites “up the hill” by the group gazebo. Yep, we would fit and would not have to unhook the tow cars. It was kinda funky and for the most part neither coach could get level but whatever… it was just one night and it really is a beautiful spot in the middle of nowhere.
Heading into the Likely Place Golf and RV Resort
Circling the wagons!!!


  • Our coaches were right next to a three sided gazebo designed to block the wind which was blowing a bit. We took advantage of the outdoor setting and enjoyed our dinner in the gazebo with our propane fire pit taking the chill off. Kristin and I co-opted dinner, she did a whole chicken in her Ninja air fryer/pressure cooker and I provided all the sides, garlic-rosemary roasted baby potatoes and asparagus with clarified butter. After dinner, we hung out in the gazebo and played a game of Five Crowns. It was actually quite cozy despite the serious sideways blowing rain that started up.
Kristen was the only one not making goofy faces for the photo!!!





It has been an interesting few travel days. As we move further from the populated cities of California, we have seen less signs of lock-down. As an example, in Modoc County where we were spending the night moved Friday to reopen hair salons, churches, restaurants and the county’s only movie theater which defies the Governor’s order. There haven’t been any confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the 9,000 residents of Modoc County, but the reopening came with strict social distancing limits. Businesses could only have half the patrons, and customers must stay 6 feet apart. I sure hope this works out for them.

The county is an outlier in every sense of the word. It is tucked into the far northeast near the Oregon border, hundreds of miles from the capital of Sacramento and even further politically from the Democrat-controlled state; it’s a place where seven in 10 voted for Donald Trump in 2016.

One could argue that technically we aren’t sheltering in place either but actually our road travel in the coach has kept us mostly isolated from other people. We are still being careful, wearing masks, lots of hand washing and wiping down of things to keep us safe and healthy.

Sheltering in Place – A Diary of Virusapocalypse: Day Forty and Forty One

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We are in the road and rolling today. Our first overnight stop on the 900 mile trip to Bend Oregon will be near Mono Lake California at the MonoVista RV Park.

The caravan is ready to roll!



So here is how day Forty and Forty One of our sheltering in place went:

  • To beat the heat, I only got up early yesterday morning to walk. I said my goodbyes to a few friends and the beautiful resort.
  • Frank’s Wash and Wax gave the Road House the full beauty treatment on Thursday. We have it waxed twice a year to protect the paint. The guys showed up at 7:45 am and the two of them were done around 11:30. The Road House is looking good!
  • We spent the day Thursday doing all the final pack and prep inside and out. We took advantage of the large commercial washing machines at the resort laundry center to do all of our bedding and rugs. We will enjoy at least one cat hair free nights sleep!
The lot looks so empty.


  • Bentley got a refreshing bath outside … wow is he shedding in this heat.
  • Wally picked off the remaining lemons on our tree and found this “dude”!
Definitely a dude!!!


  • I made pulled pork in the instant pot for easy meals on the road.
  • We enjoyed our final cocktail on the patio while Bentley laid in the grass behind out wall zesting lemons! I packed ten extra lemons just for him.
Bentley the zester, lemon molester!


  • Dinner was a simple Smoked Salmon and Beet Salad with a glass of Italian Chardonnay.

As excited as we are to be rolling again it comes with some trepidation. The great thing about RV travel is it is easy to maintain social distancing. Our route is remote and rural so that makes us feel more at ease too.

Sheltering in Place – A Diary of Virusapocalypse: Day Thirty Eight and Thirty Nine

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So here is how day Thirty Eight and Thirty Nine of our sheltering in place went:

We are just a few days from pulling up the jacks and hitting the road. The record high heat here in the valley makes being outside a sweaty endeavor so we do a bit of work outside then come in and cool off. Our three roof top air conditioners have been running almost 24 hours a day. There are three zones in the coach for heating and cooling and it’s great being able to set the units differently as needed. The sun hits the back of the coach in the morning and works its way around the south side, eventually blasting the huge front window in the hottest part of the day. We, aka Mr. Handy Pants also put reflective foil insulation across the entire windshield on the inside. We also put the day night shades down for triple insulation and it is really saving our bacon but its such a bummer as it blocks our beautiful mountain view and makes the coach really dark inside. Another reason to get rolling for sure!!!

These flowers are on the top of a very old madagascar palm. Hoping someday ours gets this big and is happy enough to flower.

  • To beat the heat, I only got up early one morning to walk. Definitely missing being active… its hard enough to be quarantined but not being able to get outside as much is making me a little crazy (crazier?). Luckily, I have plenty of pre-departure chores to do inside.
  • Spent the morning yesterday outside with the mister on getting things ready to pack up and move to storage. Gave all the geranium pots a manicure so they would look nice at their new home.
  • We took a load out to the airplane hangar in Thermal. The big move is on Wednesday. On the way back we stopped for gas at the Costco Fuel Station – whoo-hoo, gas was $2.09 a gallon… it’s usually almost $4.00 per gallon here in Southern California. Sadly, its all virus related and not a good thing for the long term economy but for today we took it as a positive. I spotted two juvenile desert iguana in the landscaping as we pulled out of the fuel station and got this fun video of them scrapping it up.



  • I made some basil simple syrup to take for cocktails at a friends place on Monday. The Basil Bourbon Orange Smash is a very refreshing cocktail on a warm evening. A word of caution… smash = getting smashed so drink at your own risk!
  • We enjoyed a nice evening outside on Sunday, at proper social distance of course with friends here in the resort. Lots of peeps are rolling outta here for home or other summer destinations. Our friends who hosted have a fairly shady lot and had their mister on so it was great to chitchat and say our goodbyes to our dear friends Dawn and Fran.
  • Monday, we spent the evening with our other SIP friends in Palm Springs. They graciously offered a home for the geranium pots so we took them over and Wally aka Mr. Handy Pants installed a drip watering system that connects to their existing sprinkler system. It was international night so we all took a trip to Morocco… it is not what you are thinking, no huka pipe…the incredible meal was all moroccan dishes! Thank you Mike and Nanette for a wonderful time!
The Moroccan meal literally transported me to another place…virtual travel, right?


These next few weeks will be interesting, California joined the growing ranks of U.S. states and countries around the world preparing to ease coronavirus-containment measures, with many planning gradual rollbacks to help reduce the potential for new waves of infections. As more states look to reopen their economies, health experts have said officials need to put in place measures that include expanded testing capacity and contact-tracing teams to safely return to some version of normalcy. It’s confusing, its unsettling and downright scary. Most of us have settled into a relatively safe existence where we can limit our exposure but the idea of going back to the normal pace we knew before COVID-19 is seductive. I have mixed feelings and I know so many other people do as well. Our northern migration will be very different this year for sure.

This deserted campsite we found last year on our southern migration would be a blessing this year on the northern migration.

Sheltering in Place – A Diary of Virusapocalypse: Day Thirty Six and Thirty Seven

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04/23 & 4/24/2020

Oh, it’s too hot
(Too hot)
Too hot, lady
(Too hot)
Gotta run for shelter
Gotta run for shade
It’s too hot…

So Kool and the Gang were actually singing about being high school sweet hearts and lost love…I can sooo relate right now to the lost love part for sure. The desert is kicking ass on us right now, telling us to hit the road and not look back. Hmm, sound like an old boyfriend or girlfriend? Sustained 100 degree weather took the bloom off the rose for sure so we will say our good-byes. We plan to hit the road on Friday and take three days to drive to Bend Oregon where we will spend a week or two, maybe longer depending on the weather and what states start to reopen. Ultimately, we will be going back to Anacortes, Washington where we keep the Beach House and will spend the summer on the boat. Our original, pre-COVID-19 summer travel plans included a big RV trip to Canada and Alaska but we have decided to reschedule that trip to 2021.

The drive to Bend is about 900 miles and many of the RV resorts and campgrounds are closed especially along the quiet stretches of Hwy 395. Luckily, I was able to find two great places to spend the night. On any other road trip, we would be spending a few nights or more at each stopover, exploring the area and trying a few new restaurants. Obviously, that is not happening but at least Hwy 395 is a more interesting drive than taking a major interstate.

So here is how day Thirty Six and Thirty Seven of our sheltering in place went:

  • To beat the heat, I got up early again on Sunday and walked about 3 miles on Sunday. Honestly, Saturday I was just not motivated to get out there.



  • Spent a few hours on the phone both days confirming our travel stopovers, getting our internet put on a seasonal hold, reviewing insurance policies to make sure we have coverage for our things we are putting in storage and doing some book keeping for my mother. All good projects when it is blistering hot outside.
  • Laundry… the chore that never ends.
  • Wally spent part of the day Saturday working on Ernie (our Chevy Equinox). Ernie’s’ check engine light had been coming on then going off, then coming on…not good. Our local Pep Boys, which is an auto parts store, will check for fault codes in the electronic brain of the car and tell you what the fault codes are. After some internet research and calling around, Wally aka Mr. Handy Pants found the part that Ernie needed at another local auto parts. Some solenoid thingy was malfunctioning but $49 later and some sweating in the hot sun, Ernie was back in business.
  • I reorganized our wine and beverage storage which was under our L shaped sectional in the main living area and all the paper goods that I had stashed under our bed. These are great storage spots inside when we are stationary for longer periods of time but once we start moving again, these spaces disappear as the slides come in.
  • Thanks to the misters that Wally installed up under our patio umbrella, we were able to sit outside in the late afternoon. It’s amazing how much the misters cool off the outdoor sitting area.
  • I fixed a grilled veggie pasta with basil and roasted garlic for dinner on Friday. Thankfully, the golf course sprinklers were going behind us which made dining alfresco much cooler.



  • Both nights, our friends Kristen and John stopped by around 8 pm in their golf cart so we jumped in ours too and went cruising. There may have been some girls running through the sprinklers on the golf course… WEEEEEEEE! YES, we were fully clothed!

We are really looking forward to getting the Road House rolling again and especially going somewhere cooler. Ideally, the SIP orders would be lifted in Oregon and Washington but if not we will certainly continue to shelter in place in our coach. Hope you are all healthy, sane and doing okay!

Sheltering in Place – A Diary of Virusapocalypse: Day Thirty Four and Thirty Five

/ our38ftlife / 4 Comments

04/22 & 4/23/2020

It’s 5:30 pm, our normal time to adjourn to the patio with a beverage and enjoy the evening. Today it is 100 degrees outside at 5:30 and even with the mister and patio umbrellas it’s just not that enjoyable to be outside – go figure.

The weather forecast is describing a hotter than normal summer in the Coachella Valley and this early warning is our cue to hit the road. We were hoping that the temperatures would remain tolerable and maybe the SIP orders would be lifted before we started the northern migration but alas that doesn’t seem to be the case, so we just drew a line in the sand for a May 1 departure. Excessive heat warning – No Shit!!!

So here is how day Thirty Four and Thirty Five of our sheltering in place went:

  • To beat the heat, I have to get up way earlier than I normally do to get a walk in. Wally and I walked about 3 miles this morning at 7:30 and by the time we were done it was already 84 degrees, which BTW was the temp at 10 o’clock pm last night – eewwww.
  • A couple of days ago I adopted two new geranium pots. Not sure why as its not like they are my favorite flower but it makes me sad when they get kicked to the curb for garbage pickup. These two needed some TLC so I brought them to the King Geranium Sanctuary where they will be rehabbed and safe from the inhuman act of being unkindly disposed of.



  • The patio has some new additions – a mister and a new rug. I was on the fence about the pattern of the rug but once we got it in place I promptly order another one for the dining area. With the temperatures being so high, we are sitting out after the sun starts to set.



  • I spent some time on the computer working on a northern migration travel plan.
  • We had a Tony’s take out dinner with our SIP friends Kristen and John yesterday. The main topic of discussion was getting outta of this heat. They are full timers as well so our plan is to get all of our outdoor stuff and golf carts stored in their airplane hangar and skedaddle.

As travelers, we are used to making plans, we often change our plans and then we sometimes change them again. 2020 is definition an exceptionally difficult time for us road warriors… it is one thing to change your plans based on a whim or the weather, we can deal with that. This unknown of the unknown is confusing and unsettling. That said, we remain optimistic and grateful that we have options and are healthy.