January 30th

OK, now it is January 30th....it is about 6am, and the only thing left to do is unplug the umbilical cord from the power pedestal, turn over the Detroit Diesel 6V92 and say goodbye to schedules. I just handed over the keys to the golf cart we have had use of since we arrived here a year ago to or fellow camp host who occupies the site immediately adjacent to ours....in fact it was on a Monday, January 31st, 2011, exactly one year ago, that we pulled into Rancho Jurupa Regional Park for our 1 year sojourn.

We really already done the hard part.....compacting our lives into a little under 300 square feet.....AND...the BIG AND, learning to live with each other in that same space. We have never looked back, and love our simplified lifestyle. As I was lying in bed this morning cuddling with my wife I thought about wonderful our life has been these past 40 years together.....raising 5 children to adulthood, and how proud we are of them and the families they are now raising. We're not wealthy people, but we feel so rich right now. I had no idea how much our children were going to miss us until yesterday. As I posted previously, we had all our kids, grandkids, and many friends of our kids over to the park for an extended goodbye party two weeks ago, and I have seen each of my children several times since then, so I thought we had said our goodbyes, but yesterday morning I got a text from my youngest daughter, who is 27, saying she had a dream that we left without saying goodbye. I texted her back to meet us at our sticks and brick home around 1:30pm as we were helping my oldest daughter move back into our house. She came over as we finished unloading the truck, hugged me and started crying. Then my oldest daughter did the same, and then my youngest son, etc. Man oh man do I hate goodbyes! In just 30 minutes we will start the Detroit Diesel and motor up to my mechanic's shop (Joel's Automotive) in Upland, CA.

6:30am.....as we drove past the Kiosk (checkstand) the three people on duty all came running out and waved goodbye! I tell you, these people we have worked with the past year are the salt of the earth people. We will truly miss them A LOT!!!

9pm.....we got my mechanic's shop around 7:30am, and I deftly backed the rig, including trailer, into his lot so he could begin the work scheduled previously....oil change (5.4 gallons of Shell Rotella T 40wt Heavy Duty), oil filter, two fuel filters, check transmission fluid, check tires, recharge panel A/C. We left at just after 1pm with the service work done.

We then headed south on I-15 to Temecula, CA, and then east on HWY 79 to Jojoba Hills SKP Park where I sit now finishing the post I began this morning. The day has been a whirlwind capped by my last soccer match, a high school match, in Corona, CA at Santiago H.S. Elaine went to bed early....7:30pm....she is tired, and so am I, but we are both smiling a lot. We are on the road, at last!!!!

Tomorrow morning Mike Sylvester, The RV Guy, a certified installer for A.M. Solar, will begin the installation of our 300 watt solar charging system tomorrow morning. With any luck we will leave late Wednesday, or Thursday morning to head southeast. Lots of pictures tomorrow both of the park we are in, and the installation of the panels.

Good night for now, and thank you so much for stopping by and reading!