Month: April 2019

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Apartment Living

Let me start by saying that we have spotty cell coverage in Utah, so these posts may end up being a bit delayed.  Last year AT&T unlimited let us use Verizon, but this year they are cracking down on out of network data usage, so we need to be careful with what we do and where.  I am also going to do a completely separate post on the repair work that we had done in Phoenix.  I am waiting on additional pictures from the repair shop in order to complete that.  Obviously it wasn’t a complete disaster as we are already back on the road, but I want to walk you through all of that separately.  That leaves explaining why the post is titled “apartment living”, which is a pretty interesting story in and of itself.

Right after Lee had his heart attack, I was contacted by Kathy who is a long time blog reader.  She and I had never met, but she has followed our travels since the beginning and wanted to help.  She is a regional manager for a property management company and they have facilities in the Phoenix area.  She talked to her boss, explained our situation, and received permission for us to stay in one of their model apartments.  Initially when she sent the email I was confused.  Not because she was unclear, it was a succinct and professional email, but because my brain couldn’t register the fact that someone had made this offer.  At the time we had no idea how long the repair would take and knew that at $100+ a day our bank account was going to take a major hit.  Not to mention the fact that we needed someplace dog friendly.

Out of nowhere a stranger stepped in with a solution to all of my problems, and it goes without saying that sort of thing doesn’t happen every day.  We exchanged emails and then phone calls and I realized she was completely sincere. When I realized the offer was real, I actually burst into tears.  I was overwhelmed by their kindness.  I learned later that they felt as if they knew us through the blog and because our budgets and honest posts had been so helpful to them when they were making the decision to start full timing they wanted to help.

So we had a destination when we rolled out of the Arizonian on Monday morning and Lee and I said goodbye to Sue and Guy knowing we might see them later in April. We had a noon appointment at Premier Coachworks which was across town.

Jack taking one last walk with Lee. I knew Jack would miss his puppy friends.

Because traffic was lighter than expected we ended up getting there around 10:30am.  It is a busy place, and when we pulled in we found that we were blocking their driveway.  That was OK and they welcomed us and eventually had us pull up close to their office.  Although we had sent pictures, it is next to impossible to diagnose what was happening over the phone, and we knew the problem could be anything from a minor skin issue to a complete frame repair.  I am going to write about this visit in detail in my next post, but for now will say we felt comfortable enough with the service manager and repair tech to leave our RV and authorize up to $500 worth of work to diagnose the problem.

That was not a foregone conclusion by the way. A couple of times we have dropped off our rig for service and felt like it was being held hostage.  That’s a huge deal when you full-time RV and we both agreed that if we weren’t “feeling it” we would go to a plan B.  As soon as I was sure we would be dropping it off, I called Ann, the property manager.  She knew there was a chance we wouldn’t need the apartment at all, but they had gotten it ready anyway.

We headed that way, which was luckily only 20 minutes from the repair shop, and stopped at Chipotle for a quick lunch. Once we had our food and were sitting down, we took a moment to talk.  We both agreed that we should proceed cautiously, but were optimistic.  The possibility of catastrophic rig failure was still in the back of our minds, bu we felt that was pretty unlikely.  We were both looking forward to being able to just sit for a minute and headed to the apartment complex.

Redhawk rentals owns several different apartment complexes, but we were staying at Sheely Farms.  The website had a nice video with the model walk through which turned out to be the same unit we were staying in.  When we arrived we introduced ourselves to Ann and she took us on a tour of the facility.  I was really impressed by how nice it was and we toured the pool, workout facility, business centers and then the apartment itself.  Maintenance had done a checkout on the apartment and was very sorry that the dishwasher wasn’t working, but they had the part on order.  I just laughed and explained we hadn’t had a dishwasher in four years, so I wouldn’t mind doing dishes by hand.

Master bedroom

 

Loved loved the huge tub,

 

Spare bathroom.

 

The walk in closest were crazy huge. Bigger than my kitchen

 

Living room

 

Great inner courtyard patio with a beautiful view

After the tour was done and we had the keys, we drove the truck around and brought Jack inside.  This was his first experience with apartment living and seemed a little overwhelmed by all the space.  He followed me from room to room not letting me out of his sight, which was a bit of a pain as we tried to unpack.  It was hard knowing what to bring since we didn’t know how long we were staying, so we had several suitcases. Eventually Jack settled down and started making himself at home.

Jack hopped right on the bed.

 

And got comfortable on the couch.

 

Eventually he and Lee took a nap.

We finally received the call around 4pm that the problem had been diagnosed.  W drove back up, so we could see the damage in person, received our quote and approved the work.  The estimate was roughly 3 days work, so I grabbed some snacks out of the fridge and we headed back to the apartment.  By this time it was late and it was either peanut butter sandwiches or take out so we decided on Pizza.  I went and picked it up, but unfortunately the order was wrong, so I had to wait while another pizza was made.  They did give me the mistake though and finally we were eating dinner around 7:15pm.

Amazing to have a full size refrigerator again. Three pizza boxes fit inside, which is crazy to me.

In anticipation of cooking some meals, I had brought some canned items with me, but we discovered at this point there were no pots and pans.  We could certainly go back up and get ours from the RV, but Lee said since it was only a few days we should try to not make ourselves crazy.  Actually that was his common theme throughout the three days.  He had completely quit smoking the Thursday before and was super zen about the whole thing.  The last thing I wanted to do was make his life more difficult but I was definitely struggling more.  I was still stuck on 10 cigarettes a day and having a hard time getting over the hump.  I was seriously thinking about going to e-cigarettes at that point and really just trying to work it all out.

The next morning we woke up and headed to our drug test/physicals.  We had scheduled these for our summer job weeks before and again were thrilled that the location was so close to the apartment.  Unfortunately despite our having appointments, it took two hours to complete and I was really annoyed by the whole thing.  Popping in to do a quick drug test is one thing, but losing two hours of my life, unpaid, really ticked me off.  Afterwards I was looking for a place for us to eat lunch and stumbled across the fact that there was a Sweet Tomatoes nearby.  This was one of my favorite places in Oregon and I had no idea they were in Phoenix.  Best of all I knew everything was pretty healthy in that restaurant and I didn’t need to worry about taking Lee there.

Every menu item has nutrition information. The only thing I was missing was sodium. I actually called the company headquarters, thanked them for their restaurant, but requested that additional info after we had lunch.

That lunch really cheered me up, especially since we were on our way to see Bill and Nancy.  We met them at our very first RV-Dreams rally and had been lucky enough to see them a few times since.  We had always really liked them and since they had been on the road a long time really looked up to them.  When we heard they were coming out west wanted to meet up.  Once again the timing was perfect and our paths crossed while we were in Phoenix.  Plus they were staying at Lost Dutchman State Park, which has a beautiful view of the Superstition Mountains.  We happily paid our $7 day use fee and headed to their site.

The beautiful Superstition Mountains were right across from their site

 

From Left: Lee, Nancy, me, and Bill

 

We talked for hours.

 

And Jack sat in his pen until…

 

He decided to try to find a way out

 

And eventually actually put his feet in the bars and climbed right out. Escape dog!!

 

It was sad saying goodbye but we know we will see them again!

Seeing them was exactly what we both needed and really helped reconnect us to why we had started his lifestyle to begin with.  We both decided we needed to just rest the next day and ended up hanging out at the apartment.  This gave me the time to really reflect on the differences between apartment and RV living and I was surprised by how many there were.  We often tell non-rvers we live in an apartment on wheels, but in retrospect that isn’t really the case.  Since we haven’t actually lived in an apartment since 1990, I suppose its understandable that we forgot what it is like. When I realized how many differences there were, I started to make a list.  Big shock right?

  1.  An apartment is solid.  You can move from room to room without shaking anything.  Consequently I didn’t always know where Lee was.  I can feel him moving around the RV but at one point I actually “lost him” when he was in the spare bedroom and that never happens in the Open Range.
  2. Along the same lines, an apartment is more sound proof.  Lee could be in the bedroom reading with the door open and not hear the TV.  Thick walls made this possible, which was again very different.
  3. As I mentioned earlier the closet space was HUGE.  That being said there was limited storage for “outside stuff” which we have in abundance in the belly of our RV.
  4. There were two bathrooms.  I know many RV’s have 1-1/2 baths but two full bathrooms and two tubs was nice for the early mornings.  Those of you who share a bathroom know what I mean :).
  5. Speaking of bathtubs, I thought I had gotten over missing one, but apparently not.  I took 5 baths in three days in the apartment and it was lovely being able to just go soak and read a book.  This was a major stress reliever for me back in the day, and was a nice alternative to smoking a cigarette.
  6. Although we weren’t out in the open spaces, having a fenced in patio for the puppy was great.  I still had to walk him though, and I will say that wasn’t nearly as fun.  There were lots of distractions in the apartment complex and getting him to focus was tough.
  7. Speaking of which it was weird having people coming and going at all hours.  Don’t get me wrong, it was a very quiet complex, but some people worked nights and cars were coming and going at all hours, which is pretty rare in campgrounds.
  8. It was also different that in general people couldn’t have cared less who we were.  In RV parks, folks are always curious when new people come and go, and even if they don’t talk to you they check our your rig, your dog, etc.  Apartment living is much more anonymous.  That might be different in a 55 plus community, but these were working folks and in general there was a lack of interest.  That’t not necessarily a bad thing, but I was really struck by the difference.  I have grown so used to the subtle interactions in the RVing community I was largely oblivious to them.

Really the entire experience was very interesting.  Neither Lee or I are particularly interested in owning another sticks and bricks house so when we get off the road we will probably end up in an apartment, condo, or manufactured home.  It’s nice to know there are some fundamental trade-off advantages, since we will be giving up so much when the time comes. I really appreciated the opportunity, not only because it was free, but also because it gave us a small window into what that would look like.

Thankfully that evening I was able to express my gratitude in person because Kathy and her husband Jim were back in town.  They both work remotely and are able to travel, and we were all happy to be able to meet them in person.  I wanted to buy them dinner as a thank you, but she absolutely insisted and since they were still making “corporate money” I reluctantly agreed. She did have me pick the place though and I ultimately settled on Claim Jumper.

Finding a place with healthy menu options, reasonable prices, and a nice ambiance was pretty challenging.  I spent a ton of time googling and looking on Yelp until I stumbled across a free app called Healthy Out. This app shows all restaurants in your area and then gives the healthy menu choices.  Some restaurants may only have a couple of salads, but others, including Claim Jumper have many more.  Unfortunately the specifics are not included, but I was able to use my Calorie King App to get the specifics for the menu items.

Really, I am spending way to much time obsessing about all of this.  Even Bill and Nancy said they eat healthy at home and let it go when dining out, but the lack of readily available information is driving me nuts.  It’s hard to make good choices without the data and since the info exists and is intentionally being suppressed I find that very annoying. Taking Nancy’s advice, I was able to let that go once we got to the restaurant.

First of all, Kathy and Jim are just lovely people.  We instantly connected and could have stayed talking for hours.  We also really liked the ambiance in the restaurant. The booths were large and the high ceilings meant the noise level wasn’t too high.  Most importantly the service was excellent.  It has been a long time since we have had service that good in a restaurant and it really added to the experience.  We spent the time getting to know each other and learning their story and walked away feeling as if we had made friends for life.  It wasn’t just the generosity of their offer, it was the fact that we all just clicked.  It’s always special when that happens.

The restaurant was really nice on the inside

 

I am trying not to get involved in Lee’s food choices, but I definitely vetoed this burger.

 

I ended up getting small portions which were both cheaper and better in calories.

 

From Left: Jim, Kathy, me and Lee

Kathy, since I know you are reading this, once again I wanted to say THANK YOU!  It really was one of the nicest things that has happened to us since we have been on the road, and I am humbled (in a good way) by the entire experience.  We really did walk away feeling as if we have known you guys forever, and hope to see you this summer in Oregon. Next time dinner is on us!!!

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog. You can help by doing any or all the following:

  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links.  There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds help support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here.
  • Purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • Purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.
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First Time Decorating Onesies

I am not a particularly crafty person, but when I realized I would miss the baby shower for my first grandchild, I knew I wanted to do something special. I started with a basic DIY (Do It Yourself) Baby Boy search on Pinterest and was soon flooded with ideas.  Most of them I would never have been able to pull off, but I kept coming back to some pictures of decorated onesies.  This was a popular activity at some baby showers and seemed simple enough that I could do it myself.  Plus since I was traveling I knew I could visit several Goodwill stores and see if I could pick up some onesie bargains.  I absolutely did, finding several onesies under $2 and I also bough some brand new ones at Target that were reasonably priced.

Armed with the onesies, I next needed to buy some supplies and visited Hobby Lobby, Jo-Ann’s Fabric, and Michael’s.  I ended up getting supplies from every store and used 40% – 50% coupons that I found online at every one.  All in I think I spent less than $75, which was pretty reasonable considering how many onesies I made.  Once the supplies were gathered I decided to wait until I saw a friend of mine.  Sue is an experienced quilter and has a high-end sewing machine.  I also knew she would be  supportive as I stumbled my way through the activity and could jump in if I had any major issues.  I had decided to try multiple techniques all in one go, to see which were the easiest and which kept the cloth feeling soft.

Since Sue had lots of equipment, I brought my supplies to her place and we laid the onesies out and paired them with the designs I wanted to do. Then we started with the simplest techniques, the first of which was iron on patches.  I had looked for on sale or clearance patches in every store and ended up finding some really cute ones, all under $3.

Thrift store special that we added a little bug patch on the pocket of.

Another bug iron on . This time on a brand new onesie.

Thrift Store Find.

this thrift store find had an elephant on the front already.

So I added a sunshine patch on the butt.

Another butt iron on.

The iron ons were great and probably my favorite thing, but unfortunately I accidentally bought two patches that were sew on.  Sue suggested that instead of sewing them we use Lite Steam -A- Steam2 dual stick paper.  The only tough thing about this paper is you need to cut out the paper to match your patch and the tent in particular was difficult.  Luckily Sue had a rotary knife along with a great cutting board with ruler.

 

The tent was particularly tough because of the top.

Terrific cutting board with ruler

Sue did a great job and showed me how it worked, but my big takeaway was to make sure I bought iron patches.  It was way more work than the other patches had been and I would only do that for something really special.

Tent on a brand new long sleeve onesie.

The guitar needed the same sticky put on it. This I really liked because it will be level with his hands.

Sue and I took turns ironing. I had serious iron envy because when you stopped moving it little legs automatically pushed the iron up so you couldn’t accidentally burn anything.

Next we decide to try transfers.  I had purchased both Fusible Cotton Fabric Sheets and Inkjet Transfer Magic paper because I wanted to try both and see how they impacted the clothes.  I went online and searched for free patterns and after some digging I found several.  Unfortunately I didn’t understand that the cotton fabric sheets are ironed right side up on the shirt and wasted a sheet by printing them in reverse.  The Transfer paper has to be a reverse image, but this was very easy to do by selecting the Mirror Image box under advanced printer settings.

 

 

The other downside of the fabric image was I had to do a big square or be forced to cut out the shape. It worked in this case with a new onesie, but I can see that being limited.

The bumble bee was done on the magic paper and Sue was able to cut it out.

The only downside was the pink cheeks turned light blue but I think it turned out really cute.

The biggest difference between the two was how stiff they felt.  The iron on paper you could barely feel the difference but the iron on fabric was pretty stiff.  This may change with additional washings, but overall I think I prefer the paper better.

Next I wanted to try to use Hodge Podge, which is a fabric glue.  I had read that I could take material and cut out parts of it and glue them onto onesies.  I had never done this before, but found some fabric at Hobby Lobby I liked.  I learned I could get as much or as little as I wanted so my piece of fabric only cost $2.50.  Then I cut out the parts I wanted and glued them on a used onesie.  The Hodge Podge worked very well, but it was messy.  Not sure how these will hold up after washing, but it is very solid now.

The front turned out about how I wanted, which was nice.

And I added this one on the butt as a joke!!

After finishing the patches we decided to tackle two more difficult designs that required sewing.  I saw these really cute pictures of onesies, but I didn’t think I could do it alone  First I went online and found templates, and then printed them and cut them out.  Sue cut the fabric to match the template and we used steam a seam to hold it down.

Template of a vest and tie. find this and other great templates for free at this link.

The template and the fabric I picked out. It was a 99 cent square.

Sue drew an outline with a fabric pen.

Then cut it out.

Next we tested some stitches. She had a ton of choices and its all computerized now. Amazing.

And she sewed it one.

 

Thrilled with the final result.

I absolutely loved this one, but think it was a little outside of my ability.  Of course I could have hand sewed it, but it never would have looked this nice.  Finally we decided to do the vest and I wanted to add a bandanna so it looked like a cowboy outfit.  I used brown swatches and a cheap bandanna and it turned out really great.  Sue thought this would be too hard to sew, and we just used the Steam paper.  It seemed to be just fine, and the only really tough part was figuring out exactly how the bandanna should go. So happy with the final result.

It was a really fun day and not only did I make inexpensive presents for my daughter I learned some things and have lots of materials to make more.  Sue thank you very much for holding my hand through the experience and sharing the time with me.  It was really special.

 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog. You can help by doing any or all the following:

  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links.  There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds help support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here.
  • Purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • Purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.
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How the Solo Week Went

As much as I enjoyed seeing Guy and Sue all week, I have to say being solo wasn’t that much fun for me.  It came as a bit of a surprise, because usually I relish my alone time, but this week there was a lot going on.  Turns out it was harder to watch my diet and smoking when Lee wasn’t around and although I kept plugging away at it, it was actually more of a struggle.  One positive thing I was able to do was delay the gratification.  When I wanted to smoke, I took Jack for a walk first and although I am still stuck on about 8 cigarettes a day I do feel like I made progress.  Jack of course really enjoyed the walks and we ended up going to the puppy park 4-5 times a day.  One unintended consequence of that was he started to get a little entitled.  He has a ton of energy to work off and wasn’t shy about letting me know he wanted to go to the park.

Jack passed out after a long session at the puppy park. Laying on the center console is new!

I also was able to put the time to good use and write some long blog posts.  I enjoy writing, but often feel I am squeezing in the time, so it was nice to be able to write for as long as I wanted.  I also worked on a baby blanket, watched some TV, and read a little.  All of which I could do on my own terms and in my own time.  Unfortunately I didn’t feel up to doing much else.  Sue and Guy offered several activities, but I really wasn’t feeling up to it.  I also didn’t take advantage of the many amenities the resort offers.  I just wasn’t up for meeting new people and the conversations at the dog park were about all I could handle.

It took me a while to figure it out, but eventually I recognized that I was depressed.  As anxious as I can be on occasion, depression is thankfully not something I deal with very often and at first it was hard to recognize.  Everything that happened in the last couple of weeks, and would be happening in the future just came crashing down on me. Since Lee wasn’t with me I didn’t need to put on a brave face.  I talked to my friend Kelly one night and she was really helpful.  She told me to allow myself to feel what I was feeling and take the time to process everything. Since there was a fair amount of anger wrapped up in those feelings, I thought it was good to take her advice.  I have an entire week, to get my head on straight and I needed to take advantage of it.

Jack was actually a huge help in this respect because he kept me going.  I had to get up early to take him to the park or I probably would have just stayed in bed.  The constant walks also had me socializing a little and kept me from getting too much into my head.  Sue was great about this as well.  She encouraged me to take nightly walks with her and throughout the day checked in via text or in person.  I felt bad that I wasn’t my normal self, but realized all I could do was be honest with her.  Since she had gone through something similar with Guy, she understood and just kept telling me it would pass with time.

What complicates things though is I am not sure how much of this is the Chantix and how much is me.  Depression is a common side effect, and although the first few weeks were fine who knows at this point.  I am not feeling suicidal or anything, which I know is a rare side effect, but I do feel depressed and not myself.  And it’s really not just about what happened, but also about what is to come.  The repair work, future hospital bills, and our upcoming summer job are all rattling around in my head and it has been hard to sort it all out.  One thing that has helped is I have had several errands that needed to be done.  Focusing on the now, really helps and I accomplished several things this week.

First, I had to take the truck into the dealer because of a minor transmission leak.  Although I made an appointment, it wasn’t on the books and initially I thought I wouldn’t be able to get the truck in.  Thankfully I had an excellent service coordinator and she took awesome care of me.  Not only did she squeeze me in, but when they didn’t have any loaners rented me a truck from enterprise for free.  I really didn’t want to be stuck with no transportation and was glad they had something available.  The only downside was I really wanted to drive something small, but all they had was a brand new Ford F150.  Don’t get me wrong it was a really nice truck, but I would have been happy with a focus!  Thankfully the leaks were minor, but they did require a new transmission pan but my warranty covered it and I only had to pay the $100 deductible.

Super comfortable Ford F150 with less than 1,000 miles

Another task I wanted to get completed was to go through our cupboards.  Even though we were trying to eat what we had, there were several items that were way too high in sodium content.  These were mostly seasonings, canned goods, and packaged foods, so I wanted to take them to a food pantry.  I found out there was a drop off box for food at the local Goodwill and spent several hours going through all of our cupboards.  This turned out to be a huge job and I ended up with 6 grocery bags worth of food to donate and 1-1/2 trash bags of food to throw away. It really needed done anyway because I found some food tucked into corners that had expired. I also spent some time looking through the Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Diabetic Recipes which I picked up at Goodwill.  They had some really terrific low salt/low-fat recipes in there and all seemed to have lots of flavor.  Can’t wait to try some of them.

Although I don’t want food to be my substitute for smoking I did treat myself a couple of times this week.  I got some Chinese food, which was pretty good, and bought a bucket of KFC.  Turns out the lower sodium in our diet is taking effect, because I found the chicken to be VERY salty.  Don’t get me wrong, I ate it…but don’t think I will be in a hurry to get it again.  Other than that I mostly ate whatever I had lying around, and consequently haven’t lost any weight this week at all.  I haven’t gained any either, but nothing positive in that direction which was surprising because I have been taking so many walks.  Sue and Guy were eating leftovers as well, but one night she invited me over for a great flank steak and pasta salad dinner.  I appreciated the company and eating healthy.

Yummy steak and cooked perfectly.

She marinated the steak in this Better Way sauce which has amazing stats and still is tasty. Turns out they sell it at HEB so I sent Cori a text and asked her to pick some up if she saw some. Unfortunately they don’t sell it on Amazon.

This is whole wheat pasta. I really couldn’t tell the difference.

The absolute best part of the week was I had the opportunity to hang out with friends.  Harry and Vicky were in the area and came over one afternoon and it was lovely to see them again.  Jack really took to both of them and hopped right up into Harry’s lap.  I know I need to work on his manners, but everyone really seems to enjoy him and Sue has taken to calling him Happy Jack because he’s always frisky and wagging his tail.

Jack and Harry

We also all got together for dinner when Deb and Steve were passing through.  Deb found a restaurant with a parking lot big enough for them and we drove up to meet them.  It was great getting to see everyone although everyone really missed Lee.  As they asked questions about how Lee was doing I found myself getting very emotional.  Deb and Steve have been with us from the beginning, and it was hard talking to them about what had happened.  No way I was keeping it superficial talking to them and the emotions were somewhat overwhelming.  Thankfully I kept it somewhat together and then we moved onto other subjects.  Public displays of emotion are really not my thing and crying in a restaurant is really not something I wanted to do.  I am really glad that we had a chance to visit though, because it’s possible we won’t see them for a while.  Our plan is to meet them in Utah, but that is 100% dependent on how long the repair takes.  If the repair drags on we may need to go straight to Oregon with only one stop on the way.  When Harry and Vicky heard this was a possibility, they shared their route to Washington State, which was incredibly sweet of them.

From left” Deb, me, Steve, Guy, Sue, Harry, and Vicky

I had an Italian Panini which tasted great but the bread all fell apart. I ended up taking most of it home.

And using the leftover meat and cheese for salads the next day.

Deb texted Lee to say she missed him and he sent her this pic. He looks tired but happy and I was glad he was enjoying his show.

Deb is so sweet. She stopped at an olive oil store and bought me a couple of flavored bottles and then talked me through how to easily use them in recipes. Incredibly generous and thoughtful of them. This company is supplied by Veronica Foods which Deb says is the very best.

The parking lot was packed by the time we were done eating, but Steve had positioned himself so he could get out ok.

I finally started feeling better by the end of the week and on Saturday Sue and I took an ATV ride.  We wanted to check out the boondocking spots up by Peralta road and she let me drive home.  The ATV handled great and I really enjoyed that and then we went and visited the pool and hot tub after a pizza dinner. They’ve been really great all week, but I miss my husband and am glad I get to pick him up tomorrow.  The show is finished at 1am Saturday night, so we both thought Sunday morning was a better choice.  Excited to see him and hear all about how things went and at least I have a few interesting things to tell him.

Sue was a great driver

Gorgeous day

It’s amazing to me how many Saguaro’s can be on one hill.

And the flowers were in full bloom

Some of the cacti started to bloom as well, which was different from a week ago when Lee and I went.

 

We found a couple of amazing boondocking spots

And drove into the Tonto National Forest to see some trail heads.  The boondocking is on Arizona State Trust land and you can get a permit to camp online.

Lots of great info at the trail head, plus clean bathrooms and a park ranger was answering questions.

Gorgeous rock formations

And I got to drive on the way back!! Felt totally comfortable, it drives like a small car.

 

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog. You can help by doing any or all the following:

  • Make purchases via our Amazon website links.  There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds help support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here.
  • Purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • Purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.
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The Dynamics of RV Dog Parks

For those of you who aren’t dog owners and never plan on being one, you might want to skip this post.  And for those of you who have been going to RV dog parks for years, you will probably think this post doesn’t come close to capturing the experience.  I like to write about new things though and going to a dog park is definitely more complicated than I ever imagined it would be.  First of all, if you are a person who stays in more rustic settings, dog parks aren’t a part of your RV life.  You get up, take the dog for a walk, and allow him/her to do their business in the most convenient spot.  The most important thing is to remember to bring your bag to clean up and you may occasionally meet other dogs while you are walking.

Meeting other dogs while walking requires its own bit of etiquette.  You might slow down and look at the person and maybe let your dogs sniff each other.  Because the dogs are generally leashed (it’s really not cool when one is and the other is not), you have some control over their behavior and how long the interaction is.  In general those encounters are fairly brief, with a few courteous words exchanged and then you are back to walking your dog and hopefully getting them to do their business.

One of the nice things about this approach is the dog can pick his/her spot.  If they prefer concrete, gravel, grass, bare spot, whatever…you can hopefully find a spot nearby that appeals to them.  Some dogs like to go in the same place that other dogs go, but some, like Jack, prefer a place where less dogs/animals have been.   This is clear from roadside rest areas that are full of dogs smells, because all he will do at this point is smell everything rather than remarking the territory.  Hopefully that changes as he gets a little older, because most places have areas that dogs seem to gravitate to.

Unfortunately in some RV resorts, all of that goes out the window. Yes, you can walk your dog on the pavement, but there are STRONG taboos against letting your dog pee/poop on someone else’s site.  They have dog parks for a reason and unless there are areas on the outer perimeter you can use, the expectation is your dog will be well enough trained to both make it to the park and do it’s business there.  Which I have no issue with in theory, but as with many things in life it’s not that simple.

First off, the dog parks have lots of smells, and since so many dogs use them getting Jack to even settle down enough to go has been a challenge.  How I envy those owners whose dogs go inside, ignore everything  and do their business, but for us right now that is not the case. Jack gets distracted by the smells (which are different every time we go because different dogs) and sounds.  If he hears car doors, people talking, people walking by etc he will get distracted and then need to start all over.  His routine is to sniff around, start to circle, and finally go.  If there are lots of distractions it can take him forever to finish that routine.

All of that is of course assuming the dog park is empty.  I would say at least 50% of the time it is, but the rest of the time there are other dogs which adds a whole new layer and really is what I wanted to talk about.  In this RV park there are two fenced sections to the dog park, so if one half is occupied you can go into the other.  Morning and evenings are the most crowded, which makes sense because that’s when most dogs go.  I don’t mind evenings as much, because I am awake and dressed, but mornings can be brutal.  He needs to go right away in the morning, so it’s pre-shower and in many cases coffee.  I am not at my most friendly, and am navigating a social interaction first thing in the morning.

And  it is an interaction.  First we have to walk there, and in this case it is not a short walk.  Once there we see which (if any) are open.  If there are big dogs in one side, it is a no-brainer for me as I always go to the other side.  So far Jack is not a fan of big dogs and just sits on the bench until they are gone.  Smaller dogs are a possibility, but again it depends.  So far he seems to prefer older dogs to younger ones, which is ironic because the older dogs never want to play with him.  They tolerate him and he runs around trying to get them to play, but the most we can hope for is a benevolent tolerance.  Puppies on the other hand who want to play he is skittish with and mature dogs in their prime he is downright scared of.  It’s kind of interesting really, because this is probably what it would be like in a pack, and his “puppiness” is in full force when other dogs are around.

None of these factors of course take into account whether or not the owners actually want their dogs with him.  I am negotiating with the people while the dogs are checking each other out.  We talk about our dogs ages and habits, and apologetically talk about their bad habits.  I am quick to say, Jack hasn’t been around many other dogs and the more experienced dog park attendees seem to get that.  But their dogs can be aggressive as well, especially when the dogs come in pairs, which is pretty common.  While Jack is getting all this sorted out, no way is he going to be vulnerable and pee.  He’s uncomfortable, I am uncomfortable, but it’s important that he has the experience.  Hopefully over time, being around strange dogs won’t be such a big deal but for right now at least it’s an event every time.  Thankfully, the owners usually realize it isn’t working and will take their dogs out as soon as they are done.

On rare occasions, Jack seems OK with the other dog and in those cases we will spend more time.  I always get excited for him to have both the social and exercise experience, but in these cases I have to make conversation with the other dog owner.  Just because dogs get along it doesn’t mean their owners have anything in common, and I have had some bizarre conversations while they play.  Because they are going out of their way to help my dog get more comfortable though, it’s important that I am social.  Again, not such a big deal in the evening, but morning Tracy in her sweatpants is generally not so friendly.  I make the effort though, because as I said the interactions with dogs where Jack is a little comfortable are definitely not the norm.

One thing I find interesting is the types of dogs he gravitates towards.  I was listening to an NPR podcast recently where they were trying to figure out if dogs could be racist.  Turns out that Yale University has a Canine Cognition Center, which has a bunch of different studies trying to figure out if dogs have preferences or prejudices.  Their studies are still in the early stages, but I think they will definitely find that dogs do.  Jack as I mentioned loves older dogs, which makes sense because Hobie (who is 10) made such a huge impression on him.  He treats most of them the same, wagging his tail, getting low, and trying to get them to play.  So far his puppy encounters are limited by two dogs, but in both cases he wanted to play with them, but was afraid.  The interactions were cautious and much different from how he treated the older dogs.  All encounters with grown dogs have not gone well, as I mentioned,  except when they are white and fluffy.  We met a Scotty the other day and he was all over him.  That really surprised me until I remembered the farm he grew up on had Cavachons and Scotties.  His behavior made perfect sense then.

 

 

This was the first pair of dogs we met. Jack immediately took the high ground and went on the bench.

The younger of the pair came to check Jack out but he wasn’t into it.

Finally the older of the two dogs came over and although Jack was initially cowering.

He finally gained enough courage to jump down and make friends.

It was a huge victory on a subsequent visit when he played chase.

He was still staying on the bench though with most dogs.  He stays close to the owners who have been very cool about it when they find out hes a puppy.

Finally we met Cody!! He is a 15 month old . He is an Alaskan Klee Kai and although his father was a full-sized Malamute, he will not be much bigger than Jack. His owner is a super nice guy and been very helpful giving me information about having a puppy in this area.  Being overheated and rattlesnake encounters are a real concern and he gave me good advice on both.

There was lots of sniffing going on and they always included any third dog who wandered in.

They love to run and REALLY fast. As you can see from the picture they are a blur.

As comfortable as he got with the smaller dogs Jack wanted nothing to do with the larger ones until he met Heidi who is a support dog for a deaf woman.

That dog was so amazingly gentle that even Laci Lou got down and sniffed a little.

 

This dog park has become a big part of my life as we are going 4-5 times a day. Every encounter is different although we are seeing Cody quite a bit.   Like I said, not sure it was interesting if you are not a dog owner, but it’s all new to me.  I have been a dog owner all of my life, but never been to dog parks.  We either had a yard or in the early days of my dog ownership, dog parks weren’t that common.   By the end of the week, Jack was much more comfortable with both big and small dogs.  There were still a few that he cowered, but mainly he anxiously awaited his trips to the dog parks and was always on the lookout for Cody in particular.  The fellow dog owners were also super helpful.  Every one of the small dog owners knew him by name and they would take extra time in the park to help socialize him.  This helped not only get used to dogs but also strangers as almost everyone wanted to on love on him.  The people who had rescued dogs, in particular, were sympathetic, because they had all gone through the process of socializing a dog on the road.  I still didn’t enjoy those early morning visits, but the benefit to him has been incalculable. I would absolutely recommend a visit to a larger RV resort with a dog park just for this purpose. It might have taken weeks or months to get to this point if we were only traveling in more remote locations.  Instead we both got a crash course in dog parks and came out the other side much better for the experience.

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