The big RV road trip is almost upon us: only a couple more days to go!
Starting tomorrow (Saturday), Charlie and I will begin loading the motorhome with three times as much shit as we really need for the trip. It will be hot (100 degrees), muscles will get sore, and tempers will flare. Some bad words will be uttered. Ultimately, by Sunday night, we will have The Beast ready for the journey, we’ll have a few drinks, and we’ll be friends again.
Our plan for Monday is to drive about 260 miles to Tonapah, Nevada. It is a desolate, unattractive, piece-of-crap place where we will stay overnight in a large, gravel-paved parking lot with hook-ups. The air temperature will probably be 105 high, 85 low, so the air conditioner will be running from the time we hook up until Tuesday morning when we head to Winnemucca, Nevada, another 260-mile stretch. Again, a pretty miserable place out in the middle of nowhere, but…it’s on the way. We will again hunker down, enjoy the air conditioning, and count the hours until we can head 221 miles up the road to Burns, Oregon for another overnight stay.
Yeah, it’s going to be a crummy 3-day stretch of driving.
We are going to try out Bend, Oregon this trip. Our friends, Dan and Peggy Quinn, have stayed there and liked the resort (Crown Villa) and the town. We will be there for 6 nights. This will provide us a chance to catch our breath, give the dogs some opportunity to wander around, and I will be able to get the TV (satellite) running. We will do a couple of barbeques and maybe have a “date night” at a local restaurant. Hopefully, it will not be scorching hot in Bend.
I have a thermostatically controlled ceiling fan in the rig that needs to be replaced. A new one was delivered today by Amazon, and I’m thinking that I may try to install it in Bend. What could go wrong? Haha.
The only other item on the fix-it list, as we start this trip, is the horn: it has gone inoperative, for some reason. It is air-driven (operating off of the same compressed air system that operates the brakes and levels the coach), so I suspect that it was messed up when the air bags and air system was being overhauled last month at the diesel truck repair shop in St. George, Utah. I will have to find someone who is smarter than I to fix this thing. Until then, we are horn-less.
I’m taking a bicycle with me on the trip for the first time. Also, I’m taking my golf clubs just in case Dan Quinn wants a game up in Coos Bay or Brookings. My neighbor Galen (and his wife Sherry) will also be camping near us in Coos Bay and Brookings for a bit, and Galen will be bringing his clubs, as well. An easy, cheap public course would probably do us fine. I’m also bringing a tennis racket, because another neighbor, Sandy, will be staying at Coos Bay in a cabin for a short period: we may do some bicycling and tennis together.
We are doing the 2021 RV road trip in two segments: the Oregon portion, which will consume about two months, and the Southern California portion, which include a 30-day stay in Oceanside, California and some side trips to see friends and relatives. There will be a 5-day stopover in Mesquite, Nevada between the Oregon and California episodes where we can rejigger the camping supplies and our wardrobe to better accommodate the beach stay in Oceanside.
Charlie and I have been on a diet (Nutrisystem) since February: she’s lost 10 pounds and I’ve shed 16. We will be going off of Nutrisystem for this trip but will continue to watch our calories somewhat up in Oregon: Charlie wants to arrive in So Calif having lost an additional 5 pounds. I’m now at 180, which is about right, but might slim down an additional 2 or 3 pounds. I got down to 170 pounds several years ago (while on the annual RV trip) and I looked like Skeletor…way too lean. So, 177 might be a reasonable target for me: I will look okay and my clothes will still fit.
The dogs are ready to go. They are sick and tired of the 100 degree days and all the missed opportunities to go on walks with me. The cool beach up in Coos Bay is going to be Heaven to those mutts, and they will be able to enjoy several strolls on the sand each day with their best friend. “Off leash” is okay there, so it will be interesting to see how BonBon behaves: I hope that Baby will give her helpful cues.
Charlie is not bringing her “office” with her this year, which is a first. She will be able to communicate with Jonathan (her son and partner) via my laptop and help put out “fires”, if need be. But, for the most part, this should be my wife’s first RV road trip where she won’t be working most of the time. Hallelujah!