Week-1
My first week of “retirement” was so busy and was no “vacation”: finalizing the deal and paperwork on the RV; sorting what I could (or rather what I overestimated I could) fit into the RV; packing the rest to go to Peachland and store in my Mom’s garage until I could purge it his summer; and finally packing up the RV – which was rather more like stuffing everything in to be sorted along the road. Kristine (my daughter and youngest of 3) was a big help and she came with me to Grandma’s – and we went skiing at our home mountain Big White – nice winter reward and last reminder of winter before I headed south to hotter climes.


I left Vancouver on Tuesday, February 17…after one last long weekend, so Rob (my son and 2nd) was able to come over for a visit before I hit the road.


I sadly underestimated my first day of driving…meaning it was late and dark by the time I got to Mt Hood Village, RV Resort in WA. Of course, it didn’t help that I was delayed at the border for using the Nexus line – yes I have a Nexus card and have used it many times by air, but who knew that it needed a different activation for land border crossing…???…!!!


Further adding to my driving time were the stops I made at Walmart to continue kitting-out my RV and buying fresh produce (at least I knew enough not to bring that across the border); and stopping at Camping World to scope out the RV accessories – like tension rods to keep stuff in place in the cupboards…lol


Mt Hood is a beautiful, forest park…trails, trees, and streams. Just what I needed for a couple days rest before continuing my journey south. On Thursday, February 20th I headed off again as far as Redding, CA to Mountain Gate RV park just off I-5 and at the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. I spent 3-days there, got in a nice short hike up the hill behind the RV park; as well as visiting the Sundial Bridge in Redding and doing just over 10 miles on my bike – the first ride of the “season”.


I left Redding on Sunday, February 23 (note to self and other would-be RVers, don’t switch RV sites on a Sunday) to Merced River RV Park in central CA. I had no idea getting through Sacramento would be such a nerve-wracking ordeal. For a city smaller than Winnipeg, it has Toronto-like freeways. I guess that the city population has little to do with the number of folks on the road. Considering that it is the capital of CA, and that CA has a population greater than all of Canada, I guess that could explain why there is so much traffic – even on a Sunday.


Merced is in the centre (note the Canadian spelling) of CA agriculture: olives, almonds, peaches, lemons, oranges…just the few of which I saw and took pictures. It was also my base for a full day-trip to Yosemite National Park. [Footnote: I would definitely stay longer in Mt Hood, WA and right in the park at Yosemite – although both are supposedly quite busy in summer season].


Next…week-2 in Bakersfield before a longer stay in Palm Springs…ttys