Two Penny Travels

Back at Jojoba Hills

Well, our trip is over and we are back in Jojoba Hills. By the time we got here the batteries had given out completely, so I now have four new AGM batteries, 190 AHrs each. Hope these hold for the next 7.5 years like the last ones did.

I did finish the cleanup of my new book Was A Time When and it is going into final review. I hope to have it published sometime next month, at least by the end of the year.

The LED business is limping along, just like the rest of the economy. Nancy is setting up our booth in Yuma again. We will need to go a help by the end of the month.

Sam Penny, the Prudent RVer

Mid-Trip Lake Minden

Well, we made it off on our trip. We left a week ago Wednesday (9/14) and drove to the Palmdale Elks. It was a good place to stop, but there was not much there. Next we drove to the San Luis Obispo Elks. The lodge there was much more convivial and we enjoyed our three night stay. But most of our time was spent with the family gathering up in Cayucos to celebrate the commitment of Sasha and Jessie.

From SLO we headed to Walnut Creek Elks. Everything was sort of nice until we got onto the freeways around the Bay Area. Boy, they are rough on rig and body. Two nights at that location allowed us to visit with our son Mike, Gail, and their son Matthew.

Leaving WC we headed to Sacramento. Now, the cost of crossing the Martinez bridge with my rig is $14 for 5 axles. We made it into Lake Minden TTN in good time and settled in on a site in D Section. The problem was we came at the hot period with three days of 98 degree weather. It is supposed to cool tomorrow.

So now we are continuing to rest at Lake Minden. We will go down to Sacramento to see Deb and Paula later this week.

That's it for now. Sam, the Prudent RVer

Planning Our Next Trip

Looking at my itinerary record, I see that we returned to Jojoba Hills from Palm Desert TTN last spring on March 25. We are finally planning on heading out on a 2+ week trip on September 14. That is almost 6 months! No wonder Alice is saying she is getting "hitch-itch."

We have stayed here to do doctor visits and improve our site. I put in a vegie garden plus some flowers. It has been a very nice stay with some good neighbors. Along the way I had my teeth worked on and my eyes checked. My Afib has continued, but things now seem to be under control. It has been a good rest, but we really need to get out more often.

So, on 9/14 we head north. The weekend of 9/17 we will be near Cayucos on the coast to celebrate the committment of our niece Sasha and her partner Jessie. From there we will go to Walnut Creek and visit son Michael and his family. Then to Sacramento to see Deb and Paula for a few days.

Heading back south we plan to visit the SKP coop at CoarseGold then go by and see my sister Rosemary and her family. Then it is back to Jojoba. I have a radio interview on Saturday 10/1 to talk about preparing for an earthquake and the following week is getting ready for the Jojoba garage sale.

Later in October we plan to go to Yuma to help Nancy get the Arizona Market Place booth going. The LED business is going pretty well, and we need to make it go better. I hope to have several articles out in the next few weeks.

So we are starting to move around a bit more. It just takes a little while longer.

sam, the Prudent RVer

Back at Home Base

Friday afternoon, and we are back at Jojoba Hills. This is our Home Base. This is where we always come back to in time, though it may take a while.

The weather here today is cloudy and rainy. Down in Palm Desert where we were it was warm and broken clouds. I guess we are going to have to get used to the cool climates again, after six weeks in Yuma and the Sonoran desert.

While in Palm Desert we went up on the Palm Springs Tram to the 8,000 foot level on San Jacinto Mountain. It was cold and snowy there, but at least we could come back down. The view was great and we had a good time with our friends Jessie Herr and John Berry. Had a great dinner that evening at the Daily Grill. Then last night we visited with my sister Janet and her husband Michael. Good Spaghetti a al Michael.

But now we are back home. The dog came in and immediately went to sleep. He is enjoying the peace and quiet. I expect I will enjoy NOT hearing a train or diesel truck drive by at all hours of the night tonight.

It is good to be back at Home Base.

sam and alice

 

 

 

Wrapping up Yuma

We are nearing the end of our sojourn in Yuma, AZ. It has been pleasant, and I have been awfully busy working on the LED business. Nancy and I are trying to get lots of things going and planning for the summer.

Alice and I will leave for a short stop in Palm Desert next Tuesday. Then we will go back to Jojoba Hills. The weather is turning cooler, so I hope we can survive the new climate in the higher desert.

We are doing fine, and the dog is enjoying life in the desert. It will be good to soak in the hot tub.

sam and alice

Beginning to toast in Yuma

We have a bit more than a week left on our stay here in Yuma. I did the Gypsy Gathering rally last week, so that is now over. I have to help get things in order for closing the Arizona Market Place kiosk for the summer. And then we head up to Palm Desert to see friends and then back home to Jojoba Hills.

It has been a good time here. The temperatures have been higher than up around Aguanga, and sometimes the dust has been a bit of a nuisance, but all in all, the stay have been pleasant. Wolf has enjoyed it, and Alice and I have found several good places to eat, one of them being Eat Asian Food just off Pacific north of WalMart. Recommended.

We are starting to think about this summer. We may try to get to Gillette for the Escapade, but that is a lot of miles. The current price of fuel in Arizona is $3.879 for diesel. Ouch! That means we drive a short distance and sit. Else we spend all our money on fuel.

That's it for now. Take care.

Quick Update on Yuma

We are still in Yuma, staying at the Arizona Sands RV Park. Today the wind was blowing awful from the west. It is supposed to calm down overnight.

We are doing the Yuma Gypsy Journal Gathering show, selling LEDs at a booth at the show and giving an LED seminar on Wednesday.

Next week I have my hearing tested.

We plan to leave here about 3/22 and go to Palm Desert to meet with our old friend Jessie Herr. She and her current friend will be in the area and we will at least have dinner. Then it will be back to Jojoba Hills. I look forward to some time in the hot tub.

On the road across the Rockies

Tomorrow morning we hook up and move from the east side of the Rockies to the west side, from Barr Lake about 20 miles west of Denver to Grand Junction. It appears the weather will be about the same: in the high 90s to low 100s with no serious storms.

We are still pulling our 25-foot 5t-wheel trailer with a Dodge truck. The truck is a year younger and 60K miles less experienced that our previous Dodge Ram. Still a diesel, still runs well. I had the transmission redone back in Roseberg, OR a month ago, and it seems to like the upgrade. We ran to McPherson and back (950 miles RT) and averaged about 24mpg on I-70.

Health-wise, we are getting older. I am now fighting with A-fib and sleep apnea, taking warfarin and sleeping with a cPAP machine. That seems to have settled things down for the time being. Alice is still fighting with her arthritis but is holding her own.

We do have a new home back at Jojoba Hills SKP Resort. We moved from lot 815 to 731 and took possession of a 97 Teton 5th-wheel. We sold our 98 Automate to a fellow in Corona. All in all, it was a good upgrade and the new rig (to us) will be a long term home.

I will give you some highlights of our travels as we head back west. We plan to go through central Nevada into the Lake Tahoe region. I may buy a fishing license and try my luck again. We will see what transpires.

Take care,

sam (aka the Prudent RVer) -- take a look at our LED website www.prudentrver.com

Back to providing some news

When last I talked to you folks, we were about to head east for a few days in McPherson, KS, to visit Alice's sister and brother-in-law. We did that: 550 miles east, three days there, 550 miles back to Greeley. We got good mileage on I-70, but the drive was loooooong, both ways. Good to see the relatives, and we all enjoyed it, but ....

After Greeley, we headed north to Custer, SD where we spent a week in the foothills of the Black Hills. In the beginning it was cloudy and cool, then we had rain and storms. There was a hail storm, and Wolf heard the sound of 3/4" hailstones bouncing off the roof for the next three days. He was freaked out -- so was I. But apparently, there was no damage to our solar panels or roofing material.

On 6/20 we moved up to near Sturgis for the Boomerang. We had a delightful time meeting with the Boomers and exchanging tall tales. We took a couple of drives with Sarah and Pete -- almost got lost one time -- but their trusty GPS brought us back to the civilized world.

The next week we headed over to Gillette and set up for the Escapade. We had a pretty good show, and my seminar on Tuesday went well. We sold less product this time than last -- there was a lot of interest but people were holding onto their money.

We stuck around Gillette for the 4th of July show and then headed down to Ft Caspar where we stayed for a week. Next we traversed Wyoming through Rawlins and Evanston to Layton, Utah, where we visited with Alice's brother and sister-in-law. They are in a very nice assisted living facility in Clearfield.

On 7//19 we headed across the Great Salt Flats and reached Wells, NV. We stayed there for three nights to let the weather ahead clear out, the continued on to Sutherlin, OR. That is where we are staying at the present time. We expect to be here for two weeks.

The good news is that by keeping my average speed below 55mph and making sure I don't excite the Check Engine Light, I am averaging around 12.5 miles per gallon of fuel. Bad news is that the fuel is averaging about $4.75 per gallon. We have been seeing some very wide expanses along the way through northern Nevada and southern Oregon. But driving is getting to be a pain -- it will be good to sit mostly in one place for the next few weeks.

BTW, we came down OR-138 from Crater Lake along the Northern Umpqua River. It is a gorgeous drive, and the river looks great, like what I remember of the Feather and the Trinity back in California. Too bad I didn't have time to stop and enjoy it -- maybe later.

Guess that's it for the time being.

Sam Penny
the Prudent RVer
resting at the Timber Valley SKP Coop in Sutherlin, OR

Weather, Weather, Weather

This evening we sit in Greeley, Colorado, where this time of year (early June) the average temperature is supposed to be approaching the 90s. There might be wind, but not gales. There might be some occasional rain and a T-storm once in a while.

Tonight it is cold, wet (though clearing), and windy. Yesterday it was a violent thunderstorm that had our dog snuggling in closer and closer. Our old "weather radio" chirped on and gave us a warning of an approaching storm. We had strong winds, hail, rain, wind, etc. Then is eased off, and during the night it was occasional rain. It is decidedly cool.

However, we felt thankful we were not to the east, where the tornado watches were thick and active, where the country continues to be hammered by a record-breaking series of violent storms.

We are traveling to eastern Kansas tomorrow, leaving the trailer here in Greeley, to visit with Alice's sister, Margaret, and her husband, Ralph. Hopefully, the weather will be more calm than it has been, and we will make it back to the foot of the Rockies before the next big storm blows through. After that we will continue north into South Dakota and Wyoming.

But really folks, this is a great place to be from.