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.

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.

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.

• 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.

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.

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.

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!

• 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”!
  

• 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.

• 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.

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!!!

• 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!

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.

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!

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.

04/20 & 21/2020

Normal adjective nor·mal/ˈnôrməl/

 ordinary or usual; the same as would be expected

Synonyms for normal: average, common, commonplace, cut-and-dried, everyday, garden-variety, ordinary, prosaic, routine, run-of-the-mill, standard, standard-issue, unexceptional, unremarkable, usual, workaday

Antonyms for normal:  abnormal, exceptional, extraordinary, odd, out-of-the-way, strange, unusual

So did you ever think you would be craving “normal”? I think most people take normal for granted but in these last 30 plus days of sheltering in place our “normal” has been shaken to the core. I have wished for our normal to come back all most everyday. Every word listed in antonyms pretty much describes the last 5 weeks. Strangely enough, normal is starting to take on a whole new landscape and I suspect our old normal is not going to be the new normal, I don’t necessarily like it but it may just roll that way.

The last two days have almost felt normal…old normal. Mostly because did some things that we have not been able to do for quite a while. We actually had dinner at someone’s house which definitely could be described as a antonym for normal right now! The other big exciting news was that Riverside County Health Officials lifted the ban on golfing, tennis and PICKLEBALL!!!!! WOO-HOO, we played for a couple of hours on Tuesday which again felt more like an antonym. So how confusing is that??

So here is how day Thirty Two and Thirty Three of our sheltering in place went:

• Kristen and I walked 3.5 miles and found these amazing beauties:

• Wally, Kristin and I played pickleball – again WOO-HOO!!!

• We went to a friends in Palm Springs for dinner. I brought an appetizer, crab cakes with a curry garlic aoili which were served with a boozy, lemon slushee. Lemons fresh off our tree!!!

• Had a Zoom happy hour and REAL Ladies Happy Hour …again confusing because the real, meaning we were all sitting around together in one place, happy hour felt normal but in a abnormal way.

Day Thirty One, Thirty Two and Thirty Three all felt almost normal again. What three days in a row ???? Confusing as it all is right now it felt good to feel “almost normal”.