MAGICAL EVENING IN RANCHO JURUPA

Setting sun lights up Mt. Rubidoux

After an evening and early morning of rain we were treated to a great sunset tonight as we were taking our evening walk around the Cottonwood campground at Rancho Jurupa Regional Park. As the sun dipped just below the heavy cloud cover it suddenly lit up Mt. Rubidoux for just a few minutes.

Some of the darkest clouds I have ever seen, and not a drop of rain!

A beautiful sunset

After moving back and forth between site 215 and 257 for several weeks we have, at last, been granted special dispensation, and given a permanent spot, site 216. It is slightly longer than 215, and gives us enough room for the golf cart for which we are now responsible. We are approaching 2 months as fulltimers and are still loving it! We love watching the campground fill up on Thursday and Friday each week, and empty out Sunday afternoon. Each weekend has a different feel with all the different big rigs coming and going. This weekend we had a club of Fleetwood Bounder owners....I checked in most of them on Thursday during my office shift. Their club was called "La Bounders", of course.

This park is finally becoming popular as word of mouth spreads. The county employees do a wonderful job of keeping the grounds looking neatly trimmed, and virtually immaculate all the time. The grass gets mowed and edged every single week....a lot of work.

We are now permanently ensconsed on site 216....NO MORE MOVING!!!!

Over the past couple of weekends I was able to finish installing the flourescent lighting in the trailer. What a difference! With just the flip of a switch, a switch I installed, it looks like broad daylight inside the trailer now! Much easier to find my "stuff". I'll post pictures tomorrow. The great thing about this installation is that everything worked the first time. Usually electricity and I are strange bedfellows, but I am gradually becoming more comfortable working with both direct current and alternating current wiring.

One thing most of us don't talk much about is "DUMPING THE TANKS". Now that we are living in our coach fulltime that indefinable pleasure presents its ugly head much more often, like at least every 7 days. Elaine said she was going to take a shower this morning and a little voice whispered in my ear...."you ought to check the gray tank...she won't like it if it backs up into the shower". So, I turned on the ignition and pushed the toggle switch down.....uh oh....over 3/4 full...time to dump. I ran out side, opened the hatch and quickly pulled the slide valve to the up position and listened as 100 gallons of gray water gushed into the sewer connection. As I listened to the last of the gray water gurgle into the hose another little voice said "whenwas the last time you checked the black tank, huh?" Well, I think that was 8 days ago....uh oh, better check that one too. Can you believe it was at almost 100% full, too? OK, pull the handle and let it out! I recently bought a new sewer hose made by Rhino Flex System.....what a great improvement over the old leaky hose. I know, you're asking why I am so excited about dumping 160 gallons of effluent? Whenever I can add something that makes it easier and cleaner I'm excited. The great thing about being parked in one place now is that I DON'T have to disconnect the sewer hose anymore...that was the nasty part.

After all that excitement Elaine followed me in her T-Bird to our mechanic where I dropped of the Expedition to check on a coolant leak, then she dropped me at my office and went on her appointed rounds for her job. She returned arround 2:30pm for a conference call, and we hit the road for our home around 4pm. Just another day in paradise!

Thanks for reading.......

Mt. Rubidoux from the top

The Entrance

I've lived in Ontario for 25 years and probably driven by Mt. Rubidoux hundreds of times on HWY 60 as we have been headed eastbound for one adventure, or another over the years. I have intended on more than one occasion to get off the freeway and walk to the top of Mt. Rubidoux, but, to my shame, I never have. I'm sure it is the same for many of my readers. You live in an area for decades and never explore the little treasures close at hand, or even the big treasures, for that matter. There is a local winery, San Antonio Winery, less than a mile from my home that I have never visited. In fact, there are 3 wineries in the area I have never visited, but I have visited wineries in Napa and Temecula numerous times.....why on earth is that? Well, I am determined to change that.

A view of Rancho Jurupa from Mt. Rubidoux

Today was one of those days. My grandson, Christopher, spent the night with us and I asked him if he was interested in hiking to the top of "that mountain over there"......Rancho Jurupa sits in the shadow of Mt. Rubidoux.....the entrance to the park is less than 3 miles from where we now live......it's NOW, OR NEVER!



I grabbed a couple of bottles of water, a hat and we got in the car and drove over to the park entrance arriving around 9:30am. I had no idea how popular this hike is...we had to park 3 blocks from the entrance and walk to the entrance. On our way up the very gradual 2 mile climb to the top we saw probably a hundred, or more people going and coming. The days was very clear, and we arrived at the top in less than an hour. There were numerous groups of young mothers pushing their babies in strollers to the summit, and then back down. There were also numerous cyclists making the roundtrip.



There are two things you can see from a distance when viewing the top of Mt. Rubidoux. One is the enormous cross at the highest point, and an enormous flag pole with the "red, white and blue" flying in the ever present breeze. The cross, up close, appears to be 80-100 feet high. You will see my grandson at the base of the cross in one of the attached pictures. The path to the top is very smooth asphalt. The grade must be 3%, or less. It is an easy hike, even if you are not in shape.





OK, one more local treasure visited, and checked off the list!

Cabin fever!

8:30am....Thursday morning:

OK, now down to business. It's about 8:30am today, Thursday, and at 11am I will report for my first official office duty. We will initially split our time between office duty and working on the cabins. Three of the 6 cabins we are to manage during our stay here are now ready for occupancy. They are fully reserved for the 4th of July weekend. There is some minor cleaning that we will be doing over the next 2 weeks, and we (Elaine and I) must also apply the sealer to the wood paneled walls within those 3 cabins. Initially we will be getting the bathrooms sealed as they will be subject to moisture.

We have been given a golf cart to assist us in our duties, so we are not burning gasoline running around the park. Speaking of the park.......I love how empty the park is mid week....it is like living in parkland. This is our view every single day!

These are 4 of the six cabins we are managing as part of our volunteer work here at Rancho Jurupa Regional Park.

Here is our cute golf cart complete with headlights, turn signals, rear and side view mirrors, and windshield wiper.

I'll post pictures later today of the cabins, and the interior.

7:55pm......Thursday night:

As promised, here are some pictures of the living/dinning area of cabin 6. Just beyond the front portion of the cabin is the kitchen which includes a microwave, stove, oven, sink, and coffee maker.

Below is the hallway between the kitchen and bedroom where a bunk bed is situated.

Below is a view into the bathroom (opposite the bunkbeds) and bedroom with queen size bed. Rental includes sheets for the beds, comforters, and bath towels.

The rate for the cabins is $80 per night with a two night minimum. All cabins have heating and air conditioning, along with a covered porch, and outdoor fireplace/bbq. The cabins are located directly across from the "front" lake. There are actually two fishing lakes here (which I didn't know until a few days ago). The back lake is located way in the back of the park, and is not visible from the main road in.

The County of Riverside stocks the lakes twice a month with trout during trout season, and then with catfish after trout season when it gets too warm for trout.

We are really enjoying our new home, and are beginning to take time to explore. Today was my first day working in the office, and all went well considering I was by myself for most of my 4 hour shift. I've got that cash register down!!!

Orientation

One of the many giant cottonwood trees in the park.

This one will give us great aftenoon shade this summer.

Elaine and I have been enjoying our first month here at Rancho Jurupa (pronounced hurupa). Up until a few days ago our only job was to move our coach every week, or so to a different spot while we wait out the advance reservations in the system. We've been meeting the various camp hosts as we move around the park, and when we pass through the check station re-entering the park each day, but so far we had not been assigned any office, or field duties.

When I was entering the park last Saturday after a visit to Home Depot, Jennifer asked if we could come into the office Monday morning at 6:30am for opening orientation (the procedure for opening the check stand each morning). We met Terri, a fellow camp host, just after she had opened the office and she showed us how to shut off the alarm, and went through all the procedures for getting ready to open at 7am. Usually, the first big rush of the day is all the fishermen lined up at the gate coming into the park to fish for the day. As they wait in line we must ring up their fishing ticket on the register, make change, sell bait, answer questions about when the lakes were last stocked etc. Fortunately, Monday was a slow day, and Terri was able to take us through the process slowly and we each were able to take turns taking care of our customers. Their computer program is very intuitive, and relies heavily on "touch screen" technology so it really is easy to learn. We spent a pleasant 2 hours with Terri, and then returned to our coach around 8:30am to begin moving our coach back to Space 215 where we will be until March 3rd when we must move back to 257 for a few days.

Space #215 - Our mostly permanent site

In addition, our detailing guys (Integrity Mobile Detailing) were coming at 10am to wash our coach, trailer, and two cars. I think that's the first time we have had them wash everything in one day, but with our cars now outside 100% of the time the get dirty faster. When we got permission for them to come in the park there was a lot of interest among the other camp hosts, and we provided a supply of business cards for them hoping others will begin to use them and help expand Integrity's business base. We really like these guys, and they do a good job.

After our "opening orientation" we were asked to meet with Jennifer the next morning (Tuesday) at 9:30am for general office orientation which involves checking in campers with advance reservations, and keeping track of how many people and vehicles in each site. Park rules limit the number of motorized vehicles to 2 per site, and a total of 6 people per site. Any additional motorized vehicles, and/or people must pay an additional charge. There was lot of information and no doubt I will need a refresher course. My 61 year old brain is full, and trying to absorb 2 hours of technical procedures in one sitting is a challenge, to say the least, but we are enjoying meeting all of our co-workers, and making new friends.

Well, I'm sitting here typing this journal entry and watching the ground fog evaporate as the sun peeks over Mt. Rubidoux to the east. What a great life we have, and we are so thankful for this new home and friends.

On Sunday two of our adult children and their significant others came for "Sunday dinner" around 3pm. We BBQ'd hot dogs and hamburgers, lit the portable fireplace and sat talking until almost 7pm. For the first time in a year, or so we set up the Camp Chef stove, which has a grill box that sits on two of the three burners so we can BBQ. It is a great system, and now we can just hook it up to on our onboard propane system. Elaine put up some decorative awning lights she bought a few years ago, but had not used yet, and added a lot of ambience to the evening.

Thanks for reading.......

It's not always sunny....

We woke up to rain this morning......and I was reminded of that Albert Hammond song from 1973....."It never rains in Southern California". So, the forecast for the next 4 days is rain and temps in the low to mid 50's (cold for SoCal). On days like today I miss my garage that I can drive into and exit my car without getting wet. It is a small inconvenience, but it is one of the realities of fulltiming in an RV....some of the conveniences of a sticks and bricks home are missed on days like today.




In the background you'll see I have put my tire covers on....these are new. The old ones were literally falling apart so I bought four new ones from Campingworld online. These guys are very sharp. After I had placed the order for the tire covers (the evening before) I decided we needed a new entry step and went on their website again. I saw that if my order was over $125 that shipping would only be $5, so I called their "800" number to see if I could piggyback the platform step onto my order from the night before.....the young lady who answered knew who I was without me even providing any information, just based on my phone number. Her computer matched my phone number with my account, saw the platform step in my "CART". She quickly added the step to my order and revised the total as well as the reduced shipping rate, and I was done in less than 3 minutes. How slick is that!

Our new Stromberg Carlson Platform step!

Last night I attended the annual AGM (annual general meeting) for my high school soccer referee association, and was notified at the end of festivities that I had been awarded a CIF (California Inerscholastic Federation) playoff game scheduled for this Friday, and it's supposed to be raining then......my father had a saying that is so apropos....."if it wasn't for the honor I'd just as soon pass....", but it is an honor and I will proceed with style....wet or not!

So, that's it for now in our wet world.....thanks for reading!

Moving day....

Sunday sunset....


Usually the phrase "moving day" conjures visions of the open road, and new vistas. In our case it simply means moving from site 215 to 257 on Friday for the weekend, and then back again on Monday. Rancho Jurupa allows reservations for specific sites up to 6 months in advance. As you would surmise, site 215 had a few reservations outstanding for the next six months so we will be moving periodically to 257. This past Friday was one of those moving days, but today we get to move 1/2 a block back to our preferred site.

This is the first weekend we have been here as camp ground hosts, and the weekends are certainly a different experience when viewed from the perspective of a fulltimer. During the week there are probably a dozen rigs here, including camp hosts. On the weekend Rancho Jurupa becomes a small village with up to 140 RV's (80 sites in the Lakeview Campground, and 60 in the Cottonwood Campground, where we are). In addition to that there is a large tenting area which is on a first come, first serve basis. On holiday weekends like the one just passed on our population swells from a couple of dozen residents to 6-700, plus all the day use peopel who come for picnics, fishing, etc pushing the population to 1,000, or more. Overall I like the feel of the park on these weekends. Generally everyone is very well behaved, and it never seems too noisy. People are respectful about how loud their outdoor stereos are, and there is plenty of room between sites so you don't feel like you are sharing your site with your neighbor.


While I fulfilled a couple of morning soccer assignments this weekend Elaine continued her winnowing of our interior storage. She was able to remove a large trash bag of duplicate items, and individual items no longer being used ranging from toiletries to glassware to pots and pans. I was able to reorganize the trailer so I can now access everything more easily, and can see pretty much everything. We enjoyed a couple of hardwood campfires Saturday and Sunday evenings. I love hardwood fires....they burn hot, and slowly without the bonfire effect.

Our tadpole trikes are under that tarp

Rear of trailer now accessible

Smiles of contentment

Settling in.......

Pull out tool drawer

The biggest challenge for me, individually, is to develop new routines, and new organization....that is my nature, and having set routines and things organized creates a sense of peace and calm. I am getting there, and am enjoying the process. I've already had time to complete some minor repairs that have come up over the past few months, but since I didn't have daily access to the coach, were hard to complete. NOW I have daily access and things are getting done!


Three examples: 1) My coach has two slide out drawers in the storage just to the right of my mid entry door. The top drawer had a lot of odds and ends in it (automotive bulbs of all sizes and applications, extra windshield wipers, marker lights, headlights, misc. screws, bolts, fuses, etc.) The bottom drawer, the bigger one, had/has most of my tools, plus a spare house water pump. I went through all the bulbs, etc. in the top drawer and disposed of the uneeded and/or duplicate items. NOW I can find things! 2) Door latch - the original door latch (for the entry door) just wouldn't hold the door open anymore, even with me continually replacing the rubber gasket, so I bought a new latching type one 2 years ago, but had never installed it. We were holding the door open with a bungy cord. Now it is installed. 3) The lid that covers the stove top has stainless steel glued to the bottom side so when open it provides an attractive, cleanable surface. It had begun to come lose.....no doubt the 29 year old glue was giving out. That got fixed yesterday!


As I move through these projects my sense of well being increases. Like a fewllow Newell owner says, often, "I like things to work" and look good on my coach. Soon, God willing, another Newell friend and I will get together and tackle the 3, or 4 electrical issues I have been stalled on.


Elaine has been going through all the interior storage areas sifting and winnowing, and has created a significant amount of extra space. We've had to change over from travel mode to living in mode, which means a lot of things we kept in the coach for monthly trips is not necessary now that we are sitting in one place most of the time. When we travel, as we did last weekend, we will just load our vacation stuff back in...meanwhile, we have a lot more space to live in now.


So, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Just got a reminder on my Droid smart phone that I have jury duty today......uggh! I'll be off the office to set up my new laptop that arrived via UPS yesterday.....my old laptop is giving up the ghost, and I'm trying to be proactive in replacing it before it crashes for good. I've been able to resurrect it twice so far, but I'm sure it does not have 9 lives like our cats...haha!

Stainless steel under stove top lid

New door latch

Upper pull out drawer