OUR NEWELL ADVENTURE: Seal Rocks RV Cove

Showing posts with label Seal Rocks RV Cove. Show all posts

Saturday, February 6, 2021

Split personality......

8:37 am - Saturday - February 6th - Seal Rock, OR - 41° F, 100% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north......cloudy today with a chance of rain, and a forecast high of 47° F. On this date in 2012 we arrived at the home of long time friend Claude Banker in Indio, CA after having our solar system installed....in two days we would enter Arizona, not returning to California for almost two years as we began our full time travel adventure.......↴

......the view this morning......↴

Rain fell all through the night, and continued to fall until about 11 am Friday. I was hoping for a few dry hours Friday so we could have our trailer moved into site #A-2......we received just that, and more.....in fact the sun came out until well after 3 pm.

Once the rain ceased I headed outside to get the trailer ready to move, and to stow all the awnings, including patio, in preparation for our departure this Thursday. I then removed the four piers which I place at the four corners of the trailer to keep it stable when I'm inside working on something.....without them it tends to bound around as I walk back and forth. Next I lowered the front of the trailer so it would be easy to drop on the hitch ball on Blake's Chevy Dualie pickup. I called Blake around 12 pm to advise I was ready and he was onsite in just a few minutes. Within 10 minutes our 2007 American trailer was in the very back of site #A-2.......

We are now split between two sites.....

.....from there I reinstalled the four piers, hooked the trailer up to the electrical pedestal, put the flag back in its holder, and moved the fire wood. Once that was done I fired up the big Detroit Diesel 6v92 and moved the Newell forward about 10 feet, moved the artificial turf carpet forward the same distance, and then hooked up our utilities once again.....

.....I spent time moving some items out of our through bay storage into the trailer, and other things from the trailer into the storage bay since we will not be taking the trailer with us. By the time I finished it was after 3 pm, and I was bushed. Not having the trailer with us in our travels for the first time in 9 years is forcing me to prioritize what we carry with us on this 2,500 mile trip....I know I'll forget something, but that is why we have credit cards, right? By 4 pm the sun had vanished behind the western cloud bank, and the temperature began to drop precipitously....time to head inside.

I'll need to remove the blue masking tape from the headlights, and taillights, mount the bike rack along with the bikes, remove the mirror and windshield wiper cover, and then roll our wheels. I also need to reseal the roof of the trailer before we leave as some of the caulking has pealed off due to the salt air. I've already ordered and received 4 caulking tubes of the Dicor self leveling lap sealant for this purpose.

So, everything seems to be coming into focus for our planned departure day including the weather. Right now it appears we will have a nice, sunny day this Thursday, in fact the entire week looks promising, and I should be able to work everyday.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Friday, February 5, 2021

Retainer......

8:06 am - Friday - February 5th - Seal Rock, OR - 46° F, 100% humidity, wind - 10 mph out of the west by southwest......heavy cloud cover, rained all night, and continues today with a forecast high of 48° F. On this date in 2013 we were having lunch in Mt. Dora, FL at the Frog and Monkey Restaurant and Grill.......↴

Thursday was yet another day without precipitation, so Blake and I returned to the remains of the large fallen tree we began to cut up over a week ago........

Then.....

.....now

.....whilst Blake cut up the larger pieces of tree trunk into manageable pieces I carried them one, or two at a time to the trailer, then hauled them up to the wood pile by the burn pile......

.....I handled every single piece a minimum of two times, and hauled four more loads up the hill Thursday.....I'm sure all that wood weighs in at a couple tons.....I'm getting tired just looking at the pile. After Thursday we probably have one more day of cutting and hauling to finish the job.....that was a big tree!

We went as far as we could go Thursday with the tree around 12:30 pm, and since Thursday promised to be the last day for several more days without measurable precipitation I headed directly to site #A-2 to build the retaining 'wall' at the rear of the site.....

How it looked 10 days ago....

....how it looked last Friday.....

....and how the back looks now.....

.....it took me a couple of hours to cut the wood, and drive 6 metal stakes into the ground (three per board), and then backfill the gravel. Now we can move the trailer into the back of the site in the next few days during a gap in the forecast rain. As might be expected, we were treated to a very nice sunset as the sun once again dipped beneath the western horizon......

.....thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, February 4, 2021

Remarkable......

7:50 am - Thursday - February 4th - Seal Rock, OR - 37° F, 100% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 47° F. On this date in 2020 we had just arrived for our one month boondocking stay near Borrego Springs, CA....what a wonderful month it was.......↴

Solar panels deployed....

....and the view....oh, the view....

Another day without rain in Seal Rock, OR. That is remarkable, hence I am remarking. I reported for work at my usual time, and joined Blake over at the other large tree which also fell in a recent storm. As you will recall, he and I had begun to cut up this large tree over a week ago, but rain had prevented us from returning until Wednesday. In the intervening time Terry hired a professional to cut up the rest of the tree in to smaller pieces. We worked almost three hours before calling it quits for the day. I think we can dispose of what remains on Thursday....

One of three trailer loads I dumped at the burn pile

.....I picked up TLE from the office at 1 pm (she worked 3 hours this day) in the VW, and headed into Waldport to do a small shopping. After we returned home I spent an hour, or so deploying all the window awnings, as well as the patio awning so the afternoon sun could dry them. I also spent time caulking around the side vent tankless water heater to prevent water intrusion, and replacing some fuses in one of my rope lights......this salt laden environment is really tough on our yard lights!

By the time I finished it was after 3 pm, and the temperature was beginning to take a nose dive, so I shut the trailer, and headed indoors for the balance of the day. The sun is setting around 5:30 pm now, and I was able to catch this beautiful sunset....the entire sky was lit up by the setting sun.....

.....thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Here's to 10 more......

7:50 am - Wednesday - February 3rd - Seal Rock, OR - 41° F, 87% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the southwest......partly sunny today with a forecast high of 47°. On this date in 2013 we watch our 38th, and final sunset at Cedar Key.......↴

Wonder of wonders......the storm finally passed, the sun came out, and we worked Tuesday.....

....I reported for work at my usual time, and joined Terry and Blake at Greg's site to finish cutting up the rest of the tree that came down as a result of one of our recent storms. While Blake cut the larger limbs into manageable pieces, Terry and I loaded them into our trailer.....

.....which I would, in turn, haul up to the burn pile to unload in a separate pile from the rest. Terry is going to rent a wood chipper so we can mulch it.....

.....I made my third, a final trip of the day up to the burn pile around 12 pm, and was off work by 12:15 pm. TLE worked three hours this day and was home around 1 pm.

We had planned to go out to dinner to celebrate our 10 year anniversary of full time living and traveling in our Newell Monday night at Georgie's Beachside Grill in Newport, but the only reservation they had was for 3:30 pm.....way too early, so we made a reservation for Tuesday at 5 pm. Yelp gives them a very solid 4 stars on 953 reviews, and we would be right there, also. Everyone we have talked with here at SRRVC highly recommended them for a fine dining experience, and I cannot believe we waited so long to check them out.....

....we arrived around 4:55 pm, and were quickly shown to our table, which had a nice ocean view, and even though it was heavily overcast, the view was spectacular.......

Getting ready to order....I'm sporting my new Hawaiian shirt.....

You can see the Yaquina Head light in the distant background....

......Tuesday you can order any wine on the list for 50% off, so we ordered their most expensive Pinot Noir ($67/per bottle)......

A 2017 Angela Vineyards (Willamette Valley) Pino Noir

.....for our entrees I ordered their Filet Mignon with baked potato......

.....and TLE their Diablo Seafood Pasta.....both were exquisite. We took our time sipping wine....

.....taking a bite now and then, and talking about the last ten years. It was one of those magical evenings in a very uncrowded restaurant (Oregon dictates restaurants may only have 25% occupancy). We clinked our glasses together wishing ourselves another 10 years living the nomadic life. We were home by 6:30 pm with smiles upon our faces.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Bad TV....

7:52 am - Tuesday - February 2nd - Seal Rock, OR -45° F, 87% humidity, wind 14 mph out of the south by southwest.....cloudy, with a forecast chance of rain, and a high of 47° F. On this date in 2016 our daughter, Sharon, gave birth to Brayden James....he is 5 years old today......↴

Then......

.....now

The rain began Saturday, and continued Sunday, Monday, and into the early morning hours of Tuesday (today). As a result I was called off work both Sunday and Monday, so another four day weekend.....lol! Sunday, and Monday I did absolutely nothing except watch bad TV...I'm reminded of the Jerry Seinfeld quip....."men don't want to know what's on TV, they want to know what ELSE is on TV".....that's me some rainy days.

Monday I spent most of the morning composing our 'Tenth anniversary edition' blogpost. TLE worked both Sunday and Monday as one might expect since her job is indoors. Why is it the guys always get the outdoor jobs on these workamping assignments? Asking for a friend.

I've been looking ahead at the weather forecasts for our departure day, and right now it is a mixed bag depending on which weather service you choose. It may, or may not be raining on the 12th, but we may just have to bite the proverbial bullet and leave in the rain.

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, February 1, 2021

Ten year anniversary edition......

8:15 am - Monday - February 1st - Seal Rock, OR - 50° F, 88% humidity (??? - It has been raining all night, and is raining hard now....how can it be only 88% humidity????), wind 9 mph out of the south....it will rain all day long, and we have already reached the high of the day at 50° F.

On this date in 2011 we began our full time dream by leasing out our home, and moving our Newell into Rancho Jurupa Regional Park (near Riverside, CA) where we became camp hosts for one year.....

After years of talking we finally did it! We are full time!

Our first full time sunset lighting up Mt. Rubidoux

Ensconced in site #215 (80' long concrete pad) for one year...we still had two cars.....a 2002 Ford T-Bird, and a 2000 Ford Expedition XLT, and needed to get rid of one car, and a lot of other stuff before the T-Bird would fit in the trailer.

.....our position as camphosts was to maintain and clean the six new park models the County of Riverside had just installed in the park. TLE and I were still working at the time, but both of us worked from home a lot, so it was easy to combine both and get everything done. It was a year of adjustments for us as we settled into living in 220 square feet after living in 2,000 square feet for the past 25 years.

That year passed quickly, and suddenly we found ourselves exiting Rancho Jurupa Regional Park February 1, 2012 to begin our full time travel adventure. That first year we covered 12,445 miles crossing the USA 3 times before landing in Campbellsville, KY to work our first Peak Season at Amazon. Up until we began our first workamping job at Amazon I had not blogged daily, but decided to begin doing so to document our Amazon experience. Over the 11 weeks we worked at Amazon it became a habit, and I continued to do so until this day....even when I was in the hospital recovering from emergency double hernia surgery in February of 2014 I managed to post my blog using my cell phone, and again in December of 2017 when I was hospitalized with a stroke, or in May of 2019 when I was hospitalized with a heart attack.....I continued blogging daily......

TEN YEARS!!!!!

.....over the intervening years we have changed our travel style significantly staying in one place for months at a time, and we cover few miles each year. All that being said, since we purchased our 1982 Newell on March 1, 2008 we have put 75,000 miles on her, and by the end of this year we will probably add another 5,000 miles.

Our love for this lifestyle has never once waned, and we cannot imagine living any other way. Intellectually we both understand that at some point this lifestyle may become untenable due to age, and/or health, and we now talk occasionally about our exit strategy, but for now we have taken the Scarlet O'Hara strategy of saying "I'll think about it tomorrow...".....

"I'll think about it tomorrow...."

.....I still remember thinking back the end of February of 2012 when we had arrived on South Padre Island (Corpus Christi) that we had been on the road for a month....something we had never done before. Now, to think of being on the road for 10 years is almost unfathomable in one respect, but in another respect our former sticks and bricks life seems like someone else's life. We feel like we have always lived this way.

From the time my parents took my sister and I on our first extended travel trailer trip back in the summer of 1953 my heart has longed for this lifestyle. I am never happier than when I am behind the big Newell steering wheel moving down the road to our next new view. As TLE and I often say, we can change our view without going through escrow.

Fast forward 10 years to our current view of Seal Rock and the Pacific Ocean.......we both think this is the best continuous view we have had. TLE loves the ocean as she grew up in Miami, FL, and I love hearing the ocean 24/7, and waking up to that view every day.....clear, or stormy...

.....what does the future hold for us? Another 10 years living the nomadic lifestyle? We have no idea, but we will continue on with style enjoying each new day as it comes to its fullest no matter what view we may behold.