July 12, 2023 by Lee and Tracy

Channel Islands National Park

Finally after months in the LA area I was able to schedule a visit to Channel Islands National Park. I say schedule because in order to visit the actual islands of the park some planning is required. Although there is a visitors center and a small beach that anyone can drive to, the islands themselves are in protected area of water and only available via one of the few concessionaire ferries. After some research I ended up selecting Island Packers Cruises. They offered a 4 hour wildlife tour around the islands for only $44 a person which seemed the simplest choice. Other options would be to camp on one of the islands (100% rustic carry in all supplies including water) or hire a charter to do some kayaking, which was much more expensive. Ultimately I am glad I made the choice I did, although I will get into that a little later.

Let me start by saying we arrived at Island Packers to check in 45 minutes early as requested and then drove down to the Visitors Center. Even early in the morning parking was at a premium so I glad we took the early cruise versus the one later in the day.

Cool visitors center had a large aquarium in it

The visitors center didn’t take long and we ended up waiting in line for about 20 minutes or so. We were surprised by how many people were on this morning tour, but we got lucky and snagged some cool seats right at the end of the boat. Turns out that was a fantastic spot and I didn’t get sea sick at all despite moderately choppy waters.

We were both pretty concerned about how crowded the boat will be but I found it ok in our seat. You could get up and move around (which Lee did a little) but I kept my movements to a minimum. If you are wondering why I am wearing a warm coat in the picture above its because it is 20-30 degrees cooler on the ocean than in the valley where we were staying. Plus it was the first and only overcast day in two weeks and temps were a little lower to begin with. Ultimately I wore a ski cap and had my coat zipped completely up and was comfortable. Lee didn’t wear a coat and was cold.

Not that far from the channel opening we saw a ton of sea lions on a giant buoy. The captain did a complete circle around and we got to take tons of pictures.

Then we had a long stretch of water and went over to where a bunch of birds were hanging out. We also saw our first dolphins.

Next we ran into another group of birds and there was a pod of dolphins pushing fish in front of them. Everyone got into the act including many pelicans, the dolphin, and at least one seal. It was a feeding frenzy and really cool to watch although I couldn’t get many great pictures because everything was moving so fast.

I have never seen anything quite like that and it was really cool to capture. After that we finally came upon the islands and we drove all along them. We saw several people kayaking and another boat picking up people who were hiking the islands.

The kayaking looked fun especially because of all the sea caves but personally I wouldn’t do it because of all the flies. The islands are surrounded by forests of algae and as soon as the boat got even close we were descended upon. Everyone had 15-20 on them at any time and although they didn’t bite they were aggressive. It really took some of the phone out of it and I couldn’t imagine kayaking or camping and dealing with that.

These pictures don’t come close to showing how annoying the flies were

The islands were beautiful though, especially what we could see of the caves and in one we could almost make out a huge pride of sea lions..we could certainly hear them. We also saw baby pelicans (a first for me) and some really cool rock formations.

HUGE flocks of birds covered the hillside

One of the islands even has a lighthouse and a ranger station which made me wonder what a post here would be like. Talk about remote.

Overall I thought it was fun and I am really glad to check this National Park off my list, but I don’t think I would be in a big hurry to go back. Between the cold, the flies, and the crowded boat it was a one and done for me. As a side note if you do go make sure you take some snacks and cash. They have a small snack bar on the boat but the credit card machine was down so we couldn’t purchase anything. And please do yourself a favor and layer up. If you get warm you can always remove some layers but lots of people were very cold on the boat.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
You can 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

July 10, 2023 by Lee and Tracy

Richard Nixon Presidential Library

As excited as I was that a Presidential library was an hour away from us I will admit I had reservations about visiting this library. Turns out I am so glad I went because not only is it very well curated but it also sits on the birthplace home of President Nixon and that house is part of the tour. But let me start at the beginning.

The library has a beautiful fountain and is much larger space than the outside would suggest.

When you walk in there is a beautiful presidential seal and pictures of the president and his family. In some museums it is easy to get lost of miss things but the layout was very nice with hallways escorting you from one section to another.

This private residence was called the Western White House and many famous world leaders came here

Pretty early on we went into a recreation of his oval office. Unlike many others we have been in they let us sit in the chair behind the desk and the Docent was very helpful. One thing that struck me was how perfectly the color of the yellow couches matched the sash in the George Washington picture. Nice interior design. It also was the first oval office to have the seal of the President in the carpet. The seal was always in the ceiling (I had no idea) but Pat Nixon felt it should be in the carpet as well so it could be seen better and every president since has maintained that tradition.

I like many others only think of how he was almost impeached when I think of President Nixon but no person is all one thing. He ended the Vietnam War, brought many prisoners of war home, and was President during the walk on the moon.

My father was in the National Guard in Columbus when the Kent State shootings happened. He wasn’t there but there were many riots at Ohio State he was at

The most interesting thing in this section was about his trip to China and it had significant impact on “opening” China up to the outside world. Pat Nixon wore her red coat everywhere because it signifies luck and prosperity in China and she was hugely popular.

Too be honest my biggest disappointment was how little information there was on Pat. She won a medal for her work in the Red Cross and raised two daughters in Washington (one of whom married in the Rose garden) but despite her work in women’s activism I didn’t see much about her.

The big question in our minds was how they would handle the threat of impeachment but this was done VERY well. They had an entire corridor devoted to it including maps showing where all the White House bugs were. Several Presidents before him had made recordings but for obvious reasons he was the last.

What was crazy about all of this is he ended up winning in a landslide, so it wasn’t even necessary. Look at the electoral map…solid red.

But again no Presidency is one thing and his lists of accomplishments including creating the EPA, The Clean Air act, requiring equal opportunity hiring on job sites, and the Endangered Species Act still have a profound impact on us today.

I had one of these puzzle elephants when I was a kid

He really tried to get us to switch to metric but no luck there

Title 9 had a HUGE impact on me and others of my generation.

As if to make my point when you passed through the potential impeachment area the next thing you saw was his childhood. His was a modest one (the son of an orchard farmer and grocer). Everyone comes from somewhere and I really liked the subtle messaging.

He called himself a “first class scrounger” while he was in the Navy.

He also really loved his wife. She died a year before he did and the look on his face says everything.

I also really liked this picture of all the Presidents and First Ladies who attended his funeral.

The best part of the museum though was the center of the U shaped building which has reflection pools. a miniature rose garden, the Gazebo used in the daughters white house wedding, and their graves. I liked the simplicity of the graves and the fact they had two benches that people could sit at. It was beautiful.

The house sites at the end of the gardens and is in it’s original spot. It was a modest house to raise 5 boys and the bed is actually the one Richard was born in because the weather was so bad they didn’t want to travel the 20 minutes to the hospital.

Finally we saw the actual helicopter he left the White House in at the end of his Presidency. We got to walk through it ..very small inside but still Presidential. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take any pictures inside because it is officially still owned by the Marines and only on loan.

I absolutely recommend this Presidential Library if you are interested in our history. I also would like to commend the museum curators for doing an even-handed job of presenting all sides of his presidency.

Update: A reader notified me that he wasn’t actually impeached he resigned which is fair so I am changing all the references in the blog.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
You can 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

July 3, 2023 by Lee and Tracy

Picking A Neighborhood And An Apartment

One thing I really didn’t understand about LA when we first arrived is that rather than one big city it is a collection of “neighborhoods”. In some cases they’re just neighborhoods but in others they are their own little towns with their own governments, but they’re surrounded by LA proper, so they’re part of LA, but their own thing. From the outside the identity and culture of LA is all one thing (I certainly thought that) but in reality each neighborhood has its own unique character. I know that is the case in other large cities but here the differences between the neighborhoods can be significant and more importantly because of traffic once people pick a neighborhood they tend to stay in it. This might be self evident to anyone who has ever lived in a major city, but it’s kind of new to us.

Recently Lee and I had dinner with some people who have lived here for awhile and that was really brought home. They commented on how we were using the city as a whole rather than finding one neighborhood that worked for us. It was seriously like a lightbulb went off in my head and I realized that if we wanted to stay here we really needed to find that neighborhood.

Don’t get me wrong we have been exploring the neighborhoods, but certainly not with the mindset we would rarely leave it. With that in mind we spent a Saturday in Burbank (top of our current list) really checking it out. Turns out that was a good idea because although I have been to Burbank multiple times and we even stayed in the Elks lodge for several weeks I didn’t really understand the layout. The city is bisected by a major freeway and I have only been on one side missing a whole section. Nuts right, but that’s the thing about LA you really have to explore to see it all.

The first thing we did was go to the Burbank farmer’s market which is in the old downtown. (Beautiful downtown Burbank, for those who remember Laugh In and Carson!) 100% organic, and really great. I loved it and loved the vibe so next we drove up and down all the main streets in the downtown area. It’s unusual because it has a great small town vibe and also has a small mall right in the middle of downtown. Around the mall they have built apartments and lots of small restaurants to create a 15 minute city. These walkable foot prints close to public transportation are very attracted to the younger generation but for me it’s a little densely packed. Still it was great to see this area would be available for an evening out and I liked that there was a mall close by.

That big building in the background is the headquarters of Cartoon Network

After driving the streets and seeing the police station (Burbank is it’s own city), Local library (very nice), and grocery store availability we drove over to the apartments that have made the top of our list. Lee had narrowed our selection down but I needed to see them in person. Turned out I really liked the complex he picked. It sits on the edge of town with a view of the mountains and a small city park next door. It also has a workout faciality, small theater, nice pool, and a wonderful garden courtyard vibe. The apartments themselves are a little smaller than we would like but they all have balconies two bedrooms and two baths.

Interestingly enough the things that matter most were layout (right side kitchen I hated but left side kitchen was fine) and where they sat in the complex itself. I really want a nature view (rather than pool or street) so it’s important which apartment are available. The rental manager was also very nice and chill and they have an outstanding fenced in dog area that is under the parking garage so it is shaded. The dog area totally won me over and I was ready to sign.

Obviously it is way more complicated than just signing a lease. Due to the ongoing writer’s strike and the potential for a SAG/AFTRA strike, nearly all production work has ground to a halt. So while Lee is doing freelance work here and there we haven’t proved out that we can swing the $4000 a month without a steady second income and of course we have no furniture. We will also need to become California residents the moment we move in which will increase our state taxes significantly. All the financial stuff aside though I could truly see myself living there which was a bit of a surprise to be honest. It’s been a long time since I even allowed myself to think in that direction and figuring out what mattered to the older me required some introspection.

Since I think Lee will be working long hours, I wanted a place I felt comfortable being alone that had safe places to walk the dog and facilities I could use without leaving the complex. Since I work from home I also wanted a decent view for my workday and a generally peaceful feeling. The day we went there were people around, but as I said it was pretty chill which is exactly what I am looking for.

To be clear, we are not going to do anything rash. It took us over a year to become full time RVers and I anticipate it taking a similar amount of time to stop being full timers if that is what we ultimately decide to do. All the steps we have taken to date are in preparation, but picking a neighborhood and an apartment were major steps. Now that I know there is a pleasant alternative to how we are living now I feel a lot more Zen about the decision overall. There is absolutely nothing wrong with our current life, but if we choose to change it I am OK with doing that as well.

On another note I have decided to take advantage of being in one place and signed up for an introduction to wheel potter class. Well I LOVED it and immediately signed up for another 6 weeks of classes. Once I have the basics down I will be able to do it anywhere, but its nice to be in one place and be able to complete a set of classes. Been a long time since I have been able to do that and it will be a nice creative outlet for me. I miss nature photography.

One last thing, Lee and I have been talking about the blog and it is really important that I keep writing it until we stop RVing and through the transition. I agree that will be a nice bookend to the start of the blog which showed how we become full timers and talking about the exit (when it happens) is equally important. From that point forward I am not sure to be honest, but I will continue for the foreseeable future and let you all know if that changes.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
You can 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

June 29, 2023 by Lee and Tracy

First Time in Palmdale and Lancaster

Since we arrived I have been wanting to drive up and see Palmdale and Lancaster and we were finally able to go. But first Lee had a surprise stop for me at Vasquez Rocks County Park and as soon as we pulled in I recognized the landscape. Over 100 movies and TV shows have filmed here but for me what I recognized was the place Captain Kirk fought the Gorn in an old Star Trek episode. Lee was pretty impressed that I got it right off and I loved the landscape. Can’t wait to go back with Jack and have a proper hike!

This rock formation has been in a ton of shows and you can climb to the top!

After the county park we made it to Palmdale and although it was the desert landscape I expected it was also a decent little town. The stretch between Palmdale and Lancaster though is a bit of a no man’s land reminding me a little of Quartzite with lots of RV groupings. Land up here is relatively cheap and outside of the towns there aren’t many rules. Lee even drove us pretty far down a side road to come to this former motel and cafe which is now often used as a movie set. It must get a lot of visitors because even on a Saturday morning there was a guard of sorts watching over the place.

We also stopped at the Lockheed plant which is the home of the famous Skunkworks. There was a small museum called Blackbird Park with a display outside the locked in areas and we saw many of the original prototypes for spy planes from the 1960’s. Lee loves spy stuff so he was really enjoying it, what surprised me was that these planes are all jets and a teeny tiny cockpit area. Definitely worth a stop if you like planes or spy stuff.

The main reason I wanted to come to this area was Grandma’s Attic. Although the thrift store is permanently closed, it is owned by Ivy and featured on Storage Wars. In person it looked exactly like it looks on TV (that rarely happens) and we were able to stop and I got a quick pick.

On our way back to Northridge we even stopped at the Halfway House Cafe which has been used in many movies. The most recent is from the film Maverick, where Tom Cruise crashes his plane and walks into a cafe and gets a drink of water. I stood right in the spot he was at which was really neat. Another great scene we remembered was from the show Studio 60 where John Goodman plays a judge from Pahrump, NV and treats the LA folks to a piece of pie. The restaurant hasn’t had pie since Covid but it was still pretty good and a popular place.

Here is the counter and a screen shot from the Tom Cruise Scene.

Super cool standing right there. It was a great day and Lee planned the whole thing with lots of wonderful surprises. One other thing I wanted to mention is when you come here you might be looking at stars and not even know it. There was a beautiful young woman in the cafe with a hat and sunglasses on which is a dead giveaway because when do you wear sunglasses inside a dim restaurant??? She was also with two huge guys who were clearly bodyguards (another giveaway) although for the life of me I have no idea who she was. She might have been a influencer (I don’t pay much attention to those) but I do know they are all over LA.

Anyways, it was a lovely day. Sunday was Father’s day and since we weren’t with anyone, Lee went to a car show in Beverly Hills (he saw the original Batmobile from the 1960’s!!!) and I had a great chat with my dad. I sent him this cool apron and he was kind enough to share a picture with me of him in it. Nice chill weekend.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog

You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
You can 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

June 22, 2023 by Lee and Tracy

Nethercutt Museum

Over the years we have had the opportunity to see many car collections, but I have to say the tour we took at the Nethercutt was right up there with the best of them. First of all the museum itself is free to see, and the tour we took is only an additional $10. They are only open on Thurs, Friday, and Saturday so we arrived early and spent some time going through the collection on the main showroom. This collection has many Rolls Royce Phantoms along with a great exhibit of car hood ornaments and other interior amenities like radios, and other very old accessories. One thing I should mention is every car in the collection is meticulously researched and restored to its original condition and colors before hitting the showroom. Many of the cars have won awards for restoration.

Many of the cars have been used in Rose Bowl Parades

Unlike many other car museums there weren’t many owned by famous people but a couple standouts were the Tool Time van from Home Improvement and Rudolph Valentino’s car, which was a beauty. Lee’s favorite was Cecil B. Demille’s car.

It only took an hour to go through the free part of the museum but then the tour gathered. We were lucky and got into a group of Elk’s Club Vice Presidents from all over California and then headed to a large building across the street. I should also mention that along with the cars the museum has a wonderful selection of rare mechanical music instruments. I enjoyed those as much as the cars. On the tour the guides played several of them so we could listen to the music which was great.

Lee liked the tour because the cars weren’t roped off and he could get very close. The first room (shown above) had some cool cars but then we went into the main show room and it was magnificent. I don’t use that word lightly. It was a gorgeous ballroom and the cars were some of the best I have seen anywhere. There were several award winners including the price of the collection a one of kind 1933 Duesenberg. (Fun fact: that’s where the word doozy, as in “That’s a doozy!” comes from.)

My favorite was an absolutely gorgeous car that had one of the coolest paint jobs I have ever seen. Remember all the paint is original and it is only one of 5 remaining in the world.

The next two floors were mechanicals including many Switzerland made that were the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Tiki Room. We listened to several as we toured this balcony area.

Lastly we walked up a beautiful spiral staircase with the notes to the song Stairway to the Stars and saw the music room. It has a gorgeous French chandelier and table along with some wonderful large mechanical orchestras.

This piano has 97 keys and was setup to play automatically

The showpiece though was a Wurlitzer pipe organ. They played several prerecorded songs that we listened to and it was pretty impressive.

We loved the tours and the guides were terrific plus we were with a great group of people. Among the many car enthusiasts we toured with one owner had this awesome car dedicated to breast cancer research. He was kind enough to let me take a picture in front of it. It was a really fun morning and I loved that they kept the experience affordable.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog

You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
You can 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

June 17, 2023 by Lee and Tracy

Thinking About Settling Down

Since the day we started on this journey people have been asking us when we think we will “settle down.” Over the last 9 years I have learned that question has a lot more to do with their discomfort in our unusual lifestyle than mine, but generally I do try to give an honest answer to that question. Those answers have also changed over the years, but the main response has been “when we find a place we want to be”.

I have seen many of our friends find that place, or in many cases decide it was time to settle in the place they had already picked, but for us until recently no one place has met both of our requirements. I say recently because Lee seems to have found his place. The Hollywood/Burbank area speaks to him in a way I have never seen before and has removed many of his previous objections to settling anywhere at all.

What I mean by that is issues like traffic, weather, rude people, homelessness etc pale in comparison to the rich history, excitement, and availability of film/TV activities he has here. Intellectually I understand how this area speaks to him, but for me I just don’t feel it. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the many things we have been able to do in this area, but my inner child isn’t inspired. Simply put: there aren’t a lot of waterfalls here.

So what do you do when the dreams of one person don’t match the dreams of another? Well, just like a regular life, you work it out. As a couple who have known each other for over 40 years (yeah, that’s crazy), we need to weigh our relative desires and decide what matters the most. As an individual I would never in a million years choose to live here long term, but I am not only an individual, but part of a couple.

We are also talking about fulfilling the life long dream of a person I love very much and that is no small thing. Lee lived in Keene, New Hampshire for 15 years to fulfill my dream. Lee had three children young largely to fulfill my dream. And Lee has tailored the full timing lifestyle to help it work for me as well as him. I truly believe as his friend and wife I should try and help make this possible.

But what does that look like? Unfortunately, he has picked one of the most expensive places in the country to call home, and to further complicate things we are here during a major industry strike which has significantly slowed down work opportunities. I also don’t make what I call “LA money”. I make a good living, but not enough to afford living here on only one income. Well, let me change that, we can live indefinitely here in our RV, but that is not settling down.

We have an apartment picked out in Burbank and a rough plan on how to furnish it, but what we lack are the funds to do so. Sure, we could take out loans tomorrow and make all that happen, but we worked very hard to become (and stay) debt free and both of us are very leery about changing that. The other thing we could do is modify the dream (cheaper apartment farther away from Burbank), but so far that option is not one Lee wants. I totally agree with him, because if you are going to give up a pretty good life to pursue a dream, you should really be honest about the sacrifices you are willing to make and not make.

Lee’s age doesn’t appear to be an issue to him finding or doing the work, but we are not kids anymore and living and working conditions we would have accepted in our 20’s and 30’s not so much in our 50’s. Neither one of us feels the need to apologize for that, and at this point we are being careful to look before we leap. Mainly I think because even if this all works out, it probably only be for the 10 years or so until we retire as this isn’t a great place to stretch a social security check. Our younger selves wouldn’t have cared about that.

On the plus side we don’t have to worry about young kids, school systems, or even crime that much, although I do have a hard line on not living somewhere that homeless people camp next to. I’m not sure what that says about me, but I’m being honest about it and you might be surprised about how many areas in the LA area that eliminates. Lee wants to live in the “studio zone”, which is a circle within a 30 mile radius of Beverly Drive and La Cienega and is essentially where the vast majority of all production takes place, and the closer to the epicenter the better. There are a lot of choices in that zone but when a 15 mile drive takes an hour or more and the days in his line of work can easily be 20 hours long, distance between a studio or a location and home also comes into play. The number one cause of death among people in that line of work is car crashes that happen in the middle of the night.

So I am 100% willing to play this out and do what I can to help Lee achieve his dream, but at the end of the day, I have learned the hard way that messing with other people’s dreams (even if you are trying to help) can cause issues. Emotional support, absolutely. Financial support, as able. But taking over and driving is a big, big problem. Which is a huge problem for me, because I want him to be happy and I want him to achieve his dream, but he has to do it in his own way and his own time

That’s pretty tough for me (remember, my job is project management), but for once I am trying to focus on myself during this transition because it is also about my feelings. Part of “getting settled” for me is the basics. So far I have found a great dentist, a decent grocery store, a good thrift store, and a wonderful dog park. I am still working on an exercise program of some kind, a good Chinese restaurant, and some kind of creative outlet that are both reasonably priced and relatively close. Those types of things help me “settle”, whether we are in a place for the summer or long-term and that’s really helped me see those things are possible here I just have to look a little harder than when in a small town.

More importantly I need to make my peace with stopping fulltime RVing at all. Its funny because I originally thought it would take about three years to find “our place”, but when it actually happened it really caught me by surprise. Intellectually I know that many people don’t even start doing this until they retire and the places I want to see aren’t going anywhere, but is there an opportunity cost?

What I mean by that is will we still be able to travel and see things being in a home base the way we have in the past? Obviously not as much, but still some things. And my brain working the way it does that gets me thinking about how many things we have actually seen in the last nine years. Life has often gotten in the way and the necessity to work has limited our time, so in order to settle an argument with myself and go with the facts I went back and made a summary list of what we have done over the last 9 years. Here they are:

46 State Stickers (earned by spending at least one night and doing something state specific)
42 Roadside Attractions
38 Scenic Drives
29 Beaches
28 Museums
25 National Parks
18 Presidential Sites
16 National Memorials
15 Lighthouses

Best of all are the waterfalls. I didn’t even try to count all of these but I know there are over 100. Yes, this life has its challenges, and yes, there are lots of days or even weeks over 9 years where nothing exciting has happened, but by anyone’s count that is quite the list. Still, as I said, the remaining places aren’t going anywhere and we have at least 10 good working years left before retirement. As always its a balance. What works for us long term versus what works in the now. As it stands we are taking this one day at a time and when we decide one way or another I will be sure and let you know.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog

You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
You can 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

June 12, 2023 by Lee and Tracy

First Time on Venice Beach

On of the quintessential images of Los Angeles are people roller skating along the coast and most of those images come from a place called Venice Beach. This area has been of interest to me for awhile because I was curious about the skate parks, weight lifting, and volleyball so on a nice day Lee and I took a drive to check it out. We went early so we were able to get a great parking spot and we started walking along the path where all the businesses are located.

For me it was a bit of an assault on the senses but saying that I think its something everyone should do once if they visit here. Fair warning though there is a pretty strong pot smell throughout the walk and there are homeless people in the area. Personally I wouldn’t go at night but in the daytime it didn’t feel unsafe. It was a bit overwhelming for me though and since we walked up then back it was a long three miles.

There was a lot of what I can only describe as fair food.

To be fair there were a few unique shops and the occasional street performer that caught my attention, but there was a lot of repitition in the stores.

This guy was singing and wooing the older crowd

On the beach side of the shops there were also individual vendors along with recreation areas which many people were using.

We also happened across some street performers who work for tips, but by the time they drew a crowd I got bored and wandered off.

Interspersed amongst all this were people with dogs, people on skateboards, people with roller blades and they weren’t super careful about running into people. We almost got clipped a couple of times. Thankfully there was a bike path on the beach side and the bikers stayed mostly on that.

The beach itself was huge by the way and you aren’t going to see any pictures of that because the sand was deep and hard to walk in and we ultimately didn’t even go down to the water. There was lots of room for people though and it reminded me of the boardwalk areas in Jersey…without the wooden boardwalk. One of the coolest things we saw was a small bungalow area which was originally owned by Charlie Chapman. The bungalows have been converted to small shops but it shows how popular this area was even in the 1920’s.

My main disappointment was the lack of serious volleyball players but the skatepark exceeded my expectations. It’s obviously a tight knit community with serious skaters of all ages acknowledging each other and it was by far the coolest skate park I have ever see. They even had a separate area for roller skaters which was really cool as well.

I will also say that if you are in the area take a minute to drive over some of the canals they built for the city of Venice. I had no ideas these existed, but people live along them and there are walking paths as well if you are so inclined. That was pretty interesting. Again I am glad I went once and I did appreciate the facilities they had for all different kinds of people. It’s just not by jam, but I know Lee will be excited to take people who visit us there. Me I might pass or maybe I will just sit at the skate park while everyone else walks the row.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog

You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
You can 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

June 3, 2023 by Lee and Tracy

Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens Part 2

After visiting the mansion we finally got to see the gardens and can I just say Wow. First of all there are several of them and each has its own theme. Transportation is available if needed, but we walked and the footprint is very large so we got lots of steps in.

We started with the Rose garden and this was my absolute favorite. Roses are my favorite flower, but I have never seen such a wonderful variety of types and the smell was absolutely amazing.

Absolutely gorgeous. I was getting very hungry at this point so we walked down to the Chinese Garden and had a lovely lunch at the Chinese restaurant on site. Then we walked all the way around the pond exploring the variety of buildings and art pieces. Each section had a plaque that showed who had donated particular exhibits and it really was a beautiful and peaceful area.

They even had a waterfall feature which was very well done and a bonsai tree section which I loved. Many of these trees were very old and had been donated to the gardens.

Even the larger trees had wires sculpting them

Probably my favorite part though were the shaped windows and doorways and I got a little silly trying to match the shapes.

After the Chinese Garden we headed to the Japanese garden which had its own group of bonsai trees and a Japanese house which was interesting to see. The bamboo was also beautiful and so tall.

Lastly we walked through the subtropical garden which had some huge trees I have only seen in movies.

At this point we still had the Desert garden, Australia Garden, and Children’s garden but at 11,000 steps I was done in. We promised that we would come back soon to finish the other areas, but we headed back to the front and thankfully had enough energy left to visit the beautiful gift shop. Again I will say this was the best $25 I have spent since being in LA and in my opinion a must see if you are in the Pasadena area.

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June 1, 2023 by Lee and Tracy

Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens Part 1

I’ll be honest I wasn’t expecting much when we decided to visit the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, but since I took the Friday before Memorial Day off I thought it was worth a try. Turns out the Huntington was absolutely amazing and hands down the best $25 I have spent since arriving in LA. Seriously.

I knew something was up when we arrived before they opened and the parking lot was already pretty full. I was surprised because it was a weekday, but thought maybe there was a special event of some kind. We took careful note of where we parked…the parking lot is BIG…and headed inside.

Beautiful flowers right in the parking lot

It was an overcast day and my pictures don’t really do this justice

Since it was a little chilly, we took one of the staff’s advice and did the buildings first. I should say there were tons of staff throughout our visit and every person who worked there was very nice. The first building we went into showed the Huntington family who had donated the estate over 100 years ago in 1919.

Next was the library, and it blew me away. Not only did they have works from the 1390’s they had the Canterbury Tales. Beautiful manuscripts and gorgeously illustrated.

This large Audobon book with life size bird painting was beautiful

The most amazing thing they had though for me was an original Gutenberg Bible. The printing of the bible is commonly thought to be the most impactful achievement in human history because it gave the masses access to literature and changed religion forever. It gave me chills that I was seeing one of only 49 copies left in the world. I couldn’t stop looking at it.

But in a wonderful twist they also had a piece that was printed in 1085 by Buddhist Monks reminding us that European history is not all of human history.

Gorgeous and yes it took up an entire room

Outside of the building was also very beautiful and as we moved towards the original house we admired the grounds. We saw several plants I had rarely (if ever) seen before and they were all clearly marked. The grounds also had several original statues and fountains which were beautiful as well.

We have visited many mansions in our travel, but the Huntington House was pretty special. First the inside was impeccably maintained and it was covered with their art collection. Sometimes when you visit a house and don’t care for the taste of the owner it can be a little disappointing but in this case I absolutely loved Arabella’s choices. Her painting and sculptures were all very unique and to the point where I started to notice the art that was less interesting to me was often donated by others. She was particularly fond of the artists Rodney, Reynolds, and Gainesburg and bought everything she could get from them.

Unlike some other mansions we have toured this one allowed you to get very close to the art and even though they had staff in every room they were again very nice and answered many questions for me.

Very cool fireplace sculpture of Dionysus

Do you recognize the picture of the man above?? He is the gentleman who invented the first dictionary, but Lee was excited because he is also a famous meme. I don’t pay much attention to those but Lee was blown away to see the original in person. Hey whatever gets you interested in art 🙂

My favorite though was The Blue Boy. I remember this painting from childhood mainly because of the outfit and the look on his face and I had no idea it was in a private collection in California. I always assumed it would be in a museum in Europe and I was thrilled when I walked into the gallery and saw the painting. I was so shocked I asked a docent if it was the original painting and she smiled somewhat indulgently and said yes it was. I was blown away and spent a lot of time looking at the painting. It was hard to get a picture without glare because of the lighting, but here is the best I could get.

My other favorite was a picture of a volcano that was really mesmerizing. Again I didn’t really capture its essence but here it is. Super cool.

Along with the paintings and sculptures they also had several beautiful household items. My favorites were a spoon collection with the twelve apostles carved on the ends and some beautiful potpourri vases. I don’t know that I have ever seen vases like this before but what a beautiful way to have art that is also functional.

This statue of a regular person was very interesting

After we saw the inside of the house we walked outside and looked at the terrace which had gorgeous views of the gardens. I am going to stop here and pick up with the gardens and other museum in part 2 but I wanted to leave you with some nature before I come back.

It looks like a painting but no it is there garden!

We very much appreciate your support of our blog

You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
You can 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

May 24, 2023 by Lee and Tracy

First Time Seeing the Real India

I don’t really consider going from a five star hotel to a business office to a high end mall seeing the real India and although those experiences were not without their challenges I didn’t feel like I had really seen anything. The last thing I wanted was leave this place without seeing the old part of the city, but I was too afraid to do it alone. I could have hired a driver for the day, but that would have been a stranger as well so I was incredibly grateful when a couple guys from work offered to take me out for the day. This was no small offer as the guys were working 7 days a week and were working 6:30pm -3:30am.

They wanted to meet early though which was fine by me and everyone was running a little late. I was absolutely thrilled though when Abi brought Shreya who is one of the young women who work in the office. She was an absolute delight and absolutely made the day. The guys were there mainly to guard us and for logistics…yes they felt a guard was needed…but Shreya was there to have fun!!

From front: Abi, Shreya and me, and Jax in the back.

Because it was a holiday weekend we had a little trouble finding a cab but finally we were on our way. The first place they wanted me to see was an Old Fort and we gathered with a huge crowd to get in. It is only 25 rupees for Indian people but foreigners cost 300 rupees. I didn’t mind paying the extra, but it was another example of outdoors being less welcome. The fort was pretty cool but I’ll be honest since we got a late start it was HOT. The stairs were steep and after walking around a little bit I was ready to call it and move onto the shopping.

Next to the fort there was a temple and I would have loved to go in, but my three hosts just looked uncomfortable. I don’t know why exactly but I picked up on the vibe and didn’t push the issue. Instead we started shopping and that was really fun. Shreya went into hi gear and we were looking for 100% cotton in XL which by the way is “big girl sizes” which more than one vendor told me they didn’t carry. Despite that Shreya’s enthusiasm was infectious and I found myself buying stuff to make her happy. It was all very inexpensive but I will say that most of the 100% cotton clothing didn’t feel like that and other items when I brought home just didn’t feel right. That being said it was all really inexpensive, but I had better luck in the actual stores in old town. Yes the price jumped up (better than mall prices) but those items after washing were much better. Just my two cents.

I was prewarned it would be crazy crowded but with the guys and Shreya it didn’t really bother me at all. I did the best I could to stay in the shade and it was a really awesome experience. Since it’s setup on both sides of the street crossing back and forth was a bit tough (Abi held my hand every time) but I loved seeing the real India. Also talking to them all about their lives was great and they shared several things about the culture with me. Shreya, for example, actually got a text from her Mom with a possible marriage match and her Auntie called while we were in the cab. She’s a strong independent woman though and isn’t really interested in marriage right now which I commend her for since this is really pushing the norms. I asked if she liked a guy could she get around the match maker and they confirmed a work around was to say you found a guy on a matchmaking site and no one really checked. At a certain age they just want you to get married and look the other way on how you get there. I thought that was awesome.

We also went to the Gold store and with Abi’s Indian phone number I actually got my pair of earrings. They charge based on weight not designer so that was interesting. We also went and ate lunch and went to the 2nd best non-veggie restaurant in the city. I learned that the population is 50% veg (as they call it) and 50% not and most restaurants specialize in one or the other. Since Jax and I are non veg we went to a non veg place but I actually liked the veg options better. Once again we talked through different foods choices and I particularly liked that everyone shared. Actually that happened at both of my meals. The portions are so big and they don’t like waste so they shared. I got my own meal but didn’t eat it all and that really bothered Shreya and Abi, ultimately they decided to package it up and the next time we were approached by a beggar on the street they gave them the food.

Speaking of beggars, I was approached a few times but it was much less than I expected. First of all most people were working and almost everyone has what we would call a side hustle of some kind. I was approached by women on two separate occasions and once by a little girl and boy which was hard. I was prepared for this though and had brought power bars with me so instead of money I gave them a power bar. In all the cases they seemed pretty annoyed that I gave food instead of money but Shreya said that is what they did and didn’t have a lot of patience for it. It wasn’t great but as I said I was resolved and had a plan in advance so that made me more comfortable.

After dinner we had one more place I wanted to go and that was recommended by one of the hotel drivers. I really wanted to get a nice shawl for my mother and we ultimately went to a VERY nice store. I was the only one there and they showed me shawls ranging from $30 US to $140. They explained the difference in the type of goats hair used (baby versus mature) and the intricacy of the hand weaving and embroidery versus machine. Not only did I pick out a beautiful shawl but I bought some other items for myself spending more than I had spent anywhere else. Loved it there and they made me feel very special. This was by far my favorite shopping experience and I was more than happy to spend my money there.

I am so very grateful for these three sharing their lives with me

It was such a lovely day and to make it even better this group and others gave me presents on my last day of work. My favorite was a collage Abi made me with pictures from all the things we had done. That kindness truly brought tears to my eyes and I told them sincerely that the real gift was the opportunity to spend time with them. I meant that and am so grateful for their generosity.

I think that to sum up my trip I would say that I experienced the highest of highs and some very lows. It was terrifying at times and I was way out of my comfort zone, but I am incredibly grateful for those people that allowed me into their culture and guided me through it. In general the times I spent with people from India who knew me were amazing and the times I was out on my own were not so great. But I am glad I had the courage to experience a little of India both ways. I know for many people traveling alone internationally is not that big of a deal but for me it was a real shock to the system and I think it was in a good way. I am looking at things very differently now and I really hope those emotions don’t fade over time. When people ask me how it went I simply say it was truly life changing. I hope reading these blog posts you can see why I feel that way.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog

You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
You can 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

Camper Chronicles

Travel Tales from Working Full Time RVers

Author: Lee and Tracy

Channel Islands National Park

Richard Nixon Presidential Library

Picking A Neighborhood And An Apartment

First Time in Palmdale and Lancaster

Nethercutt Museum

Thinking About Settling Down

First Time on Venice Beach

Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens Part 2

Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens Part 1

First Time Seeing the Real India