We started our full timing adventure with lots of plans and preconceived ideas. Both Terry and I like to be in charge (not to say we both want to be "boss", that is a shared position!). We tend to want things tidy and orderly, with few hidden surprises. Before retirement, life was lived very much on a schedule. Both our jobs revolved around the clock, with very little discretionary time. Leisure time (what????) was something we really had no concept of. Things were about to change.

For eighteen months prior to retirement, we dreamed of the day we could "hit the road", footloose and fancy free. We had been camping with the coach but not really living in it. Before moving to the city we lived in the coach for two months on our former ranch, home ground so to speak. We spent the last month of Terry's career living in our first "real" RV Park.

When the big day arrived, it was almost anticlimactic. On Terry's last day on the job, I went with him. Over the years I spent very little time with him during work hours. His Sergeant, Mike, retired the same day as Terry. He picked us up at the coach and we met Mike's family for breakfast. We spent a very nostalgic day, touring the beat area, and got very little work done. Terry and Mike then turned in all their State issued gear, and left the office one last time as "working CHiPs". Terry and I had a quiet evening at home, calling every one we knew to crow about being retired! For the first time in nearly thirty years, we did not listen for a pager or telephone to ring. No middle of the night call-outs, no getting up before dawn to care for livestock.

We had both been advised not to make any drastic changes when entering retirement. Don't both retire at the same time (we didn't, Terry retired two months after I did), don't sell the house (we sold everything, including the kitchen sink but kept the truck and trailer) and don't spend 24 hours a day with each other (we spend only 23 1/2, I don't talk on the ham radio with Terry). Horror stories of divorces, near homicides and one or both going insane were common themes, it seems. So, naturally, we said "phooey" and did them all.

We have now been "official" fulltimers for 19 months, so I feel I can make an educated observation of our new lifestyle. Some of our ideas have gone according to "The Plan" many others have not. The best lesson we learned is that plans change and it can be a good thing. One of the ideas we kicked around was having a home base somewhere at some point in time. We did not want to have a house with the attendant upkeep and expenses involved, especially when we were on the road and we don't like the idea of being landlords. We did consider buying into an RV resort where we would actually have a deeded piece of land. It would be a place to go when we wanted to be stationary for a while. Outdoor Resorts was an option, as were others we had heard about. It was something to think about.

Our new lifestyle started on the California coast in May of 2000. The San Diego area was our home for four months, and then we worked our way north until we ended up in Morro Bay. We stayed there until it was time to head south for the holidays. We left the State Park campground on Nov. 16 and headed for Apple Valley, Ca., our destination for the holiday season. Terry's parents, my parents and one of our sons, Brian and his family live in the area, so I made reservations for one month at a local RV park. We were planning to stay at least two months, possibly as long as five.

As usual, I had mapped out our course in detail; comfortable with the route I had chosen. We wanted to avoid the LA area, so we headed for Bakersfield and the Tehachapi Pass. From Morro Bay we took S101 south to S161. On the map S161 looked like a logical way to get across the hills to the Bakersfield area and S58. It was an easy trip to the village of New Cuyama and the top of the hills with only a few short stretches of climbing. Then we were at the top….and on our way dooooown.....an 8% grade for six miles! Time for the exhaust brake, oh! that dreaded exhaust brake………..Here I must digress a bit.

When we traveled to Oxnard from San Diego we took 101 north to Camarillo. Conejo Grade is well known for it's treacherous downhill stretch into the valley. At the top Terry engaged the exhaust brake and we cruised slowly down until he remarked, " I don't have any power!" "Surely you jest" said I....but he was right, we had no power and a mile to go. Somehow he guided that 23,500# missile down safely with no brakes, no steering and no worse for the wear. We stopped at the only wide spot before the bridge, caught our breath, slowed our heart rate and said a few prayers of thanks. The truck started right up and off we went. As soon as we could, we called the fellow who installed the brake and he explained the problem and how to avoid it.

So here we were again...time for the exhaust brake...and it worked like it was supposed to do. It seems that if the pressure is not relieved periodically the engine will die for lack of air. That long grade into Maricopa was a tremendous boost in our faith of that brake and how it works! I still have not thoroughly tested my ability with it, but I am sure my time will come.

Once down we continued to Arvin, a small farming community at the base of the Tehachapi Mountains where we stopped for lunch. Looking east to the mountains, we could see the highway snaking up into the hills and we were eager to get on the road again. At first the climb was gentle with a few curves. We emerged from one to see our road above us on the right, and suddenly we were climbing! Our truck pulled that 12,500# trailer up that grade like a champ. I don't know what percentage the grade was, but it seemed steeper than the 8% grade we used to pull to get out of the valley in Borrego Springs. At the top we got onto S58 and headed for the Mojave Desert and our winter home. We had driven this road many times in the past and there were no more surprises.

We arrived at the park late in the afternoon, set up and called all the folks to let them know we were in. My parents had a campout with one of their RV clubs beginning the next day at that same park, so our next few days were already planned. It was cold when we arrived so we hunkered down and left the exploring until the next day. When we woke and opened the shades we were greeted by a cold sun and the vast desert. This was very familiar territory. Both Terry and I were raised in the Victorville/Apple Valley area, had most of our schooling and were married here. With family still there, it was like coming home.

Having been to a number of RV Parks and knew what we liked, especially for a long stretch of time. This park was clean, small and quiet but just not what we were looking for. We had seen ads for a new RV Resort in Apple Valley and decided to go take a look, just to see what was there, of course. Jess Ranch Lakes RV Resort is part of a planned community which includes a golf course as well as fishing lakes, recreation center, church, custom homes and condos. The RV Resort was originally zoned for single-family homes so the lots are large. A gated complex, it currently boasts a 6500 sf clubhouse, pool, spa, laundry and guardhouse. There will be a nine-hole pitch and putt course when the resort is completed. The streets are residential width, with sewer, water, electric, phone and cable TV on each site. Most lots are 65'x90' or larger. Each has a 16'x60' concrete pad and is fully landscaped. Completely fenced and gated, this is the only facility of its kind in the valley and should prove to be a real asset to the community. We bought a lot that day and moved in the next. This is definitely the answer for us. Only five miles from family, shopping within two blocks and someone else does the yard work! What more could we ask for? We are property owners once again.

We used our new home base for the next six months. Several times we left to go on campouts or just to get out of the cold weather. The holidays were very special. This was the first time since we were kids that we actually relaxed and let someone else take charge. We had Thanksgiving at our son's home and Christmas at my Mom and Dad's. New Years was spent getting ready to head for our favorite spot in Borrego Springs where we would work on a construction project with Terry's former partner. Harry retired shortly after Terry and began building his newest home. Terry did most of the electrical work and I was his go-fer. While there my folks joined us for a week. We had a surprise one day. Tom and Stephanie Gonser of RVers Online stopped to visit. They were camped at the State Park in Borrego Springs, and saw our rig from the highway. We stay on a ridge that overlooks the valley, and our camp is very prominent. From Borrego we went to Quartzsite, Az. where we joined the Alfa Roadrunners for a week of boon docking. We had such a good time that we intend to make it a yearly event.

In February we headed for Yuma, Az. with my folks to help my cousin Ron work on his current construction project. Again, Terry and Dad did the electrical. Ron and Terry challenged Pat (Ron's wife) and I to hang doors, including the garage door. Though we had never done this before, we took the challenge and hung those doors. It took us three times as long to do the job, but we followed directions and ended up with perfectly level, working doors. (Do I see a new career in the future?)

While in Yuma, we experienced one of the desert's infrequent thunderstorms, five inches in two hours. We all saw the power of the rain. Rain so heavy we could not see across the street. New gullies were formed, building pads washed away and a flood control pond of several acres filled in a matter of minutes. What an awesome day. We discovered a few small leaks in the trailer which we fixed and gave Ron a hard time about the rain, which he claimed had never happened in all the time he had been coming there. (We knew better, having lived in the desert for most of our lives!)

March saw us back in Borrego to help Harry, then to Apple Valley to get ready for a campout with my folk's club in Chula Vista, Ca. We were back at one of our favorite places, Chula Vista RV Resort and Marina for a week and had a great time, then to Borrego. When the weather warmed up to the high eighties, we decided to go to Laughlin, Nevada to play for a few days. From there we headed south to Salton City, Ca where we had our pre rally with the Roadrunners, then to Palm Desert for the Alfa National Rally. Whew! But we weren't through yet! The day after the rally we went back to Apple Valley for two days and then make tracks for our summer destination in Delaware, Ohio.

When we began our new lifestyle, we had no intention of racing from one point to another. We would take our time to see an area before moving on; anywhere from a week to a month in one spot would be the average stay. I had made reservations at a park in Ohio where we planned to spend the summer near our son Brent and his family. Our reservations were for the season, which was April 1 thru October 31. Because the fee was paid in advance, we felt we should use as much of that time there as possible, we paid for it, why waste it, right?

Before we left, we fired up the computer and planned the trip east with a wonderful program called Streets and Trips 2001 by Microsoft. This is our second version of this software and we have found it a valuable tool. We like to travel no more than 250 miles or 5 hours a day. Enter the route, travel time, etc. and the program will plan the trip. Then we refer to our various campground directories and get an idea of where to plan the stops. We are
flexible and use this only as a guide. Our route to Ohio was approximately 2100 miles and we planned eight stops. The routine was to leave by 7 am and be at the stop no later than 2 pm. This pretty well assured we would have no problem finding parks that could accommodate our rig. A phone call was placed to the target park about an hour prior to our arrival and to check on availability, and we never had a problem getting a space. This proved to be a good time frame. After a while we noticed that most travelers arrive between 4 and 6 pm and even later.

Terry and I alternate driving days and by limiting hours driven we are not too worn out or stressed. After arriving and setting up the rig, we relax a bit, then hop in the truck to locate the best fueling spot and Super Wal-Mart, etc. We made the trip in eleven days, staying at a park in Missouri for three days. The trip was fast, but good. Now we would have at least five months to relax, play and experience a mid-west summer.

Let more fun begin!!!!!