February 1, 2024 by Lee and Tracy

First Time at Los Angeles County Museum

The Los Angeles County Museum (or LACMA as it is called here) is a Museum that mainly shows contemporary art. I should start by saying that I am not a huge fan of contemporary art, but if you are you might want to check it out. It does have the largest collection of Picasso’s I have ever personally seen in one place and the space is pretty large. That being said the price point at $20 a ticket and another $20 to park is pretty steep for families especially for a county run museum.

The parking garage is underground so when we arrived we had to go up to get to the main entrance area. There are a couple of installations outside to look at or you can choose to go straight up the elevator as we did to get to the third floor. That’s another odd thing about this museum you start at the top and work you way down and you can only access the other floors by elevator as the stairs are not accessible by the public.

As I said the Picasso collection was extensive and although I am not a huge fan a few of the pieces did speak to me.

They also had a lot of sculpture which I do tend to like and there was one piece in particular I thought would be interesting to try and recreate in ceramics. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery after all.

This was the piece I thought it would be cool to make

Mostly though the art was just so -so from my perspective at least although I was on the lookout for inspiration and some of the colors were pretty terrific.

But mostly it was items that are historically significant but frankly I don’t get it. The painting below was groundbreaking for its time but it just didn’t speak to me personally. I feel on some level less because I don’t get it, and I’m not a fan of art museums that make me feel that way.

One of the coolest things was actually a Textile art temporary exhibit which had some really neat art made from textiles. We spent a lot of time in this section, but unfortunately my pictures didn’t come close to capture the depth and color of these pieces.

They had beautiful rugs on the floor which was a cool way to display but had to be careful when moving around

The museum is actually three buildings but unfortunately one was closed for renovation. The second building was open though and had a few special exhibits including one on art from World War I. Although I appreciated the fact they had art from both sides of the conflict it wasn’t really my thing so I moved pretty quickly through it. A few pieces caught my eye though.

Unfortunately I wasn’t getting much ceramics in the art we were seeing but the second exhibit had several pieces. It was named Dinner with the Sultan which was somewhat uninspired but had a hodge podge of items and a recreation of a Persian room. I was really impressed by the quality of the VERY old pottery especially the items from Syria. I had no idea Syrian pottery was so impressive.

One of my favorite pieces was a rooster vase. The detail on the piece was extraordinary.

Aside from the pottery was the room installation which was HUGE and had both exquisite woodwork and amazing tiling.

In addition to the pottery they had several other pieces. I really liked the musical instruments.

They also had a section of art grouped by Earth, Wind, Water, an Fire. Again was a bit of a mixed bag.

This photo album made by an unknown artist was pretty cool

One of the best items was on the ground floor of the second building and was a HUGE mechanical installation. It’s hard to see but the cars go up a hill and then down a track and they even had a second floor viewing platform for it. Lee spent a ton of time in here and I enjoyed it as well but not nearly as much as him. Super cool though.

Finally we moved outside and saw the outside stuff. One was a set of lampposts which were set at specific angles and I have to admit the shadows it throws are pretty cool. I guess at night its even prettier. There is also a series of 12 giant statues with the heads of the Chinese Zodiac. Lee and I looked ours up and took pictures in front of them.

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You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
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January 18, 2024 by Lee and Tracy

Royal Caribbean Cruise Summary

Looking back on the cruise it was a really nice vacation, but at the end of the day price needs to play a factor. I not only look at how much fun I had but also what the opportunity cost was. What I mean by that with only one vacation like this a year where do I want to spend that money and time. What opportunities am I missing out on.

The base cost of the cruise, especially considering we got an oversized balcony room and it was Christmas week which always has premium prices, was pretty reasonable at $3467.82. The initial deposit of $500 was paid at the time of booking and I was a little surprised that the remainder had to be paid in September. I would have thought we had more time. One of the interesting things to note, is the base price, which after discounts but before the taxes and fees (which is how the prices are listed on their website) was $ 1479 per person, for Christmas week. Looking at their website today, at the same cruise, the prices varies from $797 to $1550. That’s a massive swing. So because of the week we chose, we were at the high end, but if we had gone in September instead of December, it would have been $797, and that ”base price” would have been $1906 instead of $ 3467, a savings of about 40%.

The cruise add-ons and excursions were paid at various times in the intervening months which in part lessened the financial blow, but also ended up hiding the overall cost until the end. The extras were as follows and are the total price (minus tips I will show later) for both of us. I will share if I think each individual one was worth it, along with the total price for both of us, and Lee’s opinion.

Key Account $573.86 – This was a $41 per person per day fee which included very good internet for one device each (although you could sign off one device and sign on to another, so you could use your phone all day and then switch to an iPad or laptop to watch a movie), early and expedited entry onto the boat (Lee is a big fan and will happily give money to not have to stand around waiting any longer than he has to), dedicated seating in the entertainment venues (another excellent benefit allowing you to arrive just before a show starts and not have to worry about a seat), and a breakfast the day of departure. Overall I feel this was definitely worth it as we took advantage of all of the features that were offered.
Specialty dinner at Chops $132.12 – I am glad we got to try one specialty dinner on the trip but I’m on the fence about whether it was worth the price tag. Overall I would say yes, but Lee didn’t think the food was worth the money.
Cabo Coastal Tour excursion $131.98 – Although this was the cheapest excursion I don’t think it was worth it, and neither did Lee.
Zip Lining excursion $298 – Since this was Lee’s first time ziplining I think it was worth it but if you take that out of the equation not so much, but he feels that $150 per person for 12 lines was totally worth it and would do it again in a heartbeat.
Jeep Tour excursion $149.98 – 100% worth it and I would do it again in a minute, Lee was not as impressed, but it’s a pretty great price point for a half day of activity.
Ship’s Tour $221.98- 100% worth it although since it was all cruise ship resources it feels a little overpriced. Lee feels that the price keeps out kids who are too young for it and he’s fine with that.
Chef’s dinner $212.36 – Definitely worth it for the wine pairings alone. By far the best meal we had on the cruise. Lee thought it was a TON of laughter and fun and REALLY delicious food and wine for the same price you can easily spend for a mediocre dinner in a major city like LA. He had no complaints or recommendations for improvement on this experience at all.

The one thing we didn’t get was the drink package mainly because if one person in the room gets it you both have to, and at a cost of anywhere from $56 to $110 a day I didn’t think combined we would drink that much. Instead we paid as we went and even with the 18% added tips we never came anywhere near $110 in any one day, not even close. We did have an additional $929 in charges at the end of the cruise. That was a big surprise, mainly the $18 per person per day tip that I originally thought was included in the cruise. So the breakdown on that $929 was

$252 is the daily $18 per day per person gratuity.
$65.93 for laundry and other notions
$198.80 at the spa
$ 50 tips over and above for the Chef’s table dinner and Chops steakhouse
$ 362.27 alcohol, and that’s total between the two of us, plus tips. The minumum drink package is $56 per day per person, up to $110 per day per person, so we spent $362 against somewhere between $784 and $1540, so for us and our drinking style, we made the right choice.

Speaking of tipping that was really weird. Lee feels like the $18 per day per person gratuity is the minimum, like tipping 18% on a mediocre meal, and 25% on a really good time, so he added a tip on most drinks, and we also added tips to the Chops meal and the Chef’s table on top of the built in 18% that they put on the bill. I took $500 in cash for off boat shopping and tips and spent it all, mostly off ship but some went to my stateroom person in cash on top of the built in tip. So that additional $500 is part of the total price.

In addition to the money spent on the cruise, there was $140 for parking, which we paid instead of spending $150 each way on an Uber. And we spent $504 for 8 days of dog boarding.

So the “all in” total was $ 7261.10 and we both feel like it was a fair value, but I do wonder if we would have been better off spending more money upfront for a more inclusive cruise. Lee would happily do the same cruise again, but without the excursions, the spa, Chops, or the ship tour (since we already did it) on the cheaper week, and that total would be $4000, which would be an even better value.

Don’t get me wrong it was super fun and the most important thing was we determined a cruise could be a vacation option for us, long term. That was the number one goal for me for this vacation and we definitely accomplished that. I also think the cost was in the ballpark for more or less week long vacation as well.

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You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
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January 16, 2024 by Lee and Tracy

Ships Tour

My absolute favorite thing we did on this cruise (on or off the boat) was the ship’s tour. It’s funny because initially I almost gave it a pass, thinking it was more Lee’s speed, but I am so glad I went. As you may know I am a process analyst for a living and seeing the behind scenes of how things work was fascinating. Not only were we able to go into some very special places in the ship, but the tour guides were very honest about living and working on a cruise ship.

Let me start by giving you some information about the Navigator of the Seas that we got on a FAQ sheet after the tour. The ship is 161 feet wide and 1,020 long. It weighs 139,999 GT and can make 22 knots of cruising speed although they rarely go that fast. The guest occupancy is 3,388 (double occupancy) and it has 1,232 crew members. Our particular cruise was full and every room was occupied. Most of the areas people see though are on the top levels of the ship, but we got to see the levels that people rarely go in.

We started the tour in the main dining room and although we were clearly told you had to wear close toed shoes and long pants, three people were sent back to their rooms to change. While we were waiting on them we got information from one of the main chefs about the dining facility.

He shared that the main dining room only seats 1400 people which helped explain why you had to schedule your meal time. There are 132 cooks on board and 8 nationalities. Most of the chefs were from India and Asia although there were two Italian chefs on board. For one week at sea the ship buys $380K worth of food and the standards for that food is based on where the ship embarks from. In our case all the food is USDA stamped and most that I saw came through California. He mentioned that the standards are very different for European cruises and in his opinion the base food items were actually better because there was no genetic modification.

Our tour was early so there were few people cooking

The kitchen was immaculate and I didn’t get the feeling it was only because we were touring. The head chef stated they follow CDC cleanliness guideline and have 88 galley cleaners working round the clock. They had a “clean as they go” standard for all kitchen workers which I appreciated.

After we left the kitchen we walked down narrow flights of stairs to the “I-95 corridor”. This is the main “superhighway” that goes from the very front all the way to the rear, uninterrupted. This is the walkway to get to the various crew areas and everyone was moving along at a fast clip. Next we went down to the supply areas and saw the refrigerators and freezers. Keep in mind we only had two days left in the cruise and this was as empty as these areas got.

These bags as carrots were larger than 50# bags of potatoes

I didn’t stay in the freezer long and had a minute for a quiet moment with our tour guide. I shared I was a logistics analyst and he shared with me that the food was ordered three weeks in advance and the mix of items was determined by a usage database based on the ethnicity of the passengers. Apparently people from different places eat different kinds of food which makes perfect sense but I never really thought about it before. Fascinating.

The gentleman on the left of the picture was our tour guide. He was no nonsense and very transparent

Next we went to visit the trash area. The ship has a strict “Save the Waves” policy so nothing goes overboard. They compress and recycle everything that they can and the money that comes from recycling goes towards crew motivational events. Whatever cannot be recycled is incinerated by the engines and the ashes are taken ashore. We also learned that all water, 100% of it, is seawater that is desalinated by engine powered steam evaporators and then used by the ship, Next we went to visit the trash area. The ship has a strict “Save the Waves” policy so nothing goes overboard. They compress and recycle everything that they can and the money that comes from recycling goes towards crew motivational events. Whatever cannot be recycled is incinerated by the engines and the ashes are taken ashore. We also learned that all water, 100% of it, is seawater that is desalinated by engine powered steam evaporators and then used by the ship. They have zero fresh water storage tanks. And all the used liquid is recycled for nonpotable use. Sewage water is completely cleaned and returned to the sea as plain water. and I will say that the water tastes excellent. They have zero fresh water storage tanks. And all the used liquid is recycled for nonpotable use. Sewage water is completely cleaned and returned to the sea as plain water.

Next we went to the engine control room, and we had to go through a personal security wanding before we were allowed in the area, plus there were two armed security officers with us while we were in the control room. The room was full of monitors for all parts of the ship and they are monitored 24/7 by engineers who work in four hour shifts.

A couple of things I found particularly interesting. First we were shown a picture of the propellers on the ship and learned the two on the outside could turn at a 90 degree angle and there was no rudder on the ship.

Secondly we saw a dedicated monitor for the helipad and saw that area was monitored 24/7. Lee was pretty annoyed that the helipad was closed after sunset, but when we learned the light interfered with the ship lookouts at night it made more sense. The sign they put up though says closed for high winds or something it would be good if they were just honest about why they were closing it. Maybe its a security thing.

Next we went to the laundry area and I think this was my favorite part of the tour. The kids were all really nice and they have invested in multiple machines to lessen the workload. We learned that 20,000 napkins have to be folded a day and there is a machine that does that. They also had a machine to press sheets and best of all a cool steamer that does clothes. I want one of those!! We took advantage of a laundry deal the first day we were on the ship and for $18 we were able to press ten pieces of clothing. We got to see how they did it.

Most sheets can only handle 60 washes before they are recycled and the machine “kicks them out” when they reach a certain thinness. Awesome quality control.

As cool as the tour was we weren’t able to see all of the areas of the ship. Unfortunately there were no empty crew quarters but we had heard most were very small with two bunks each with its own small TV. Married couples (and we met several) are allowed to share quarters but everyone we talked to said the best thing about promotion wasn’t the money but a better room. 90% of the rooms are windowless, but the officer rooms are on Deck 10 and quite spacious.

The most interesting story we heard was about COVID when the crew members were on lockdown in their very small rooms. Again it wasn’t something I thought about but there was no way to get all these international crew members home so they were held in place. Finally after near “mutinies” (the tour guides words not mine, the crew was allowed to move into the passenger quarters during lockdown. Things were much improved once they had access to fresh air and many had balconies.

Other areas we heard about but did not see are a jail (with two cells), a morgue (no it isn’t used for flowers, being a morgue is its sole purpose), and the clinic. The clinic cannot do any operations but can handle a broken bone. Lee actually lost his big toenail and went to the clinic, but was given a brusque reception and told it would cost us $500 if the doctor had to be woken up and no insurance was accepted. He settled for bandages and Neosporin which I applied in the room, but the message was sent that for anything serious a helicopter would be called, and if you “didn’t need the helicopter”, then you were “probably fine”. If you have health concerns, travel health insurance is probably a good idea.

Speaking of health concerns after COVID the ships crew now has to pass more strenuous medical exam every two years. They have weigh requirements in some cases and people have to either lose weight, get healthier, or lose their spot.

Finally we went up to Deck 10 and onto the bridge. I was surprised by how young the officers were and learned the ship is usually on auto pilot. That being said the crew was very alert and there is a full time lookout for objects too small for the ships radar to pickup. Mainly this could be refugees on rafts and they took this responsibility very seriously. The group asked a lot of questions during this portion of the tour in particular about whales. We were running on a major whale route and the officers stated that they would need to manually divert if the whales were in their path. Sometimes this involves a hard turn to avoid the pods but the crew is committed to do no harm.

We also learned the first officer is mostly running the ship and the captain’s role is largely management and administrative. Someone asked if we had left a passenger in Puerto Vallerta and we were told yes the captain had made that decision. After multiple hails the passenger wasn’t on the dock and there are penalties for staying in port too long. The entire tour was really great and if you have never done one I highly recommend it. As I said it really was my favorite thing we did on the entire cruise.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
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January 14, 2024 by Lee and Tracy

Sea Days

Almost all cruises have sea days and depending on your personality you may or may not prefer them. Certainly it’s nice to have a “rest” day to just enjoy the ship but if you are a high energy person you might find it a bit boring. Knowing Lee and his energy level I intentionally scheduled at least one special thing on every sea day but I think it’s fair to say he was still a little restless.

For me sea days were nice though because I took advantage of the down time to take a couple of long naps and since lunch was provided in the main dining room on sea days we took advantage of that as well. Unfortunately the weather was on the cool side for the entire trip so for me at least much of the ship’s water related activities were out. It’s a shame because the ship had some water slides and an adult pool I wanted to try out but it was just too cold for me. I wasn’t alone in this because the weather pushed many others into activities in the ships interior so I found most activities on the crowded side.

Still as I said some people love sea days and I wanted to start with showing how we got in and out of port. Cabo we anchored away from the pier berth so that was easy but in Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta we were at dock. In Puerto Vallerta we were actually right next to another ship and it was amazing watching the ship unmoor and then push itself out sideways and out of the port backwards. Seriously it was super impressive.

The first sea day was Day 2 and I scheduled a meal in one of the specialty restaurants called Chops. The steakhouse was really pretty and the service was great, but they overcooked my steak which was really disappointing. Lee gave me his, which was really delicious, and he took mine, but for $120 frankly I expected better. They did comp our drinks for the inconvenience which was nice and overall I guess I was glad we ate in one specialty restaurant to try it out. The best part was we could make reservations at 6:00pm so we could eat at a normal time and still make the 8pm show.

Speaking of the shows I know I had raved about them but they really were great. One sea day they had a show that was all about the history of showgirls and on the last night they had a farewell show. One of the things I liked about the farewell show was they put up pictures of the various groups and some of their staff and we all got to cheer then folks we liked the best. Housekeeping and bartenders got the biggest cheers by far 🙂

I couldn’t stay up much past 10pm every night but Lee stayed up much later every night, and attended some adult only entertainment. His favorite was this crazy game show where teams of people had to do certain tasks which included men in the group dressing up like women. He said folks were switching clothes right in front of everyone and he hasn’t laughed that hard in a really long time. The pictures were really funny and for this show they threw out anyone who wasn’t 18 years old. What happens on the cruise stays on the cruise 🙂

Part of the reason I struggled so much with the time was that we changed time zones TWICE while on this cruise. I have been on many ships who kept the ship time consistent but for whatever reason they were unable to do this on this cruise. We lost one hour day 3 another hour day 4 and then had to go through it again on the way back. Since shore excursions were pretty early in the morning it really was a pain.

Sea days were better though from a time change perspective because we didn’t have anywhere first thing in the morning we had to be. Well I take that back, I did have a spa appointment one morning and I have to say I was super disappointed in my experience and I wasn’t alone. First of all the prices were really out of control. A standard 50 minute massage for example was $399 which is high by any standards. I opted for foot reflexology for $149 and although the massage itself was nice it definitely wasn’t reflexology. I have had that done many times and this was jus a foot massage. I probably would have been fine though but what really bothered me was the technician brought me the receipt while I was still in the room and pressured me to sign it. I was half asleep and not thinking clearly and ended up giving her an extra $20. This was on top of the mandatory tip attached to all spa services of 18%. So essentially I ended up tipping $49.80 on an overpriced service.

I wasn’t the only person to be unsatisfied. Every person I talked to who had a spa service was either unhappy with the price or the service itself. One large gentleman I met (about the size of a college football player) said his technician told him he should have to pay extra because he was so big. I was frankly shocked by that comment and encouraged him to complain to the manager but he was a nice guy and just said he wouldn’t do it again. Getting spa treatments is one of the things people love to do on sea days but I would caution you to really think that through prior to signing up.

My favorite part of of our sea days though was the Chef’s table experience which I highly recommend. This was a six course dinner that was paired with some excellent wine and we had a wonderful time. The service was great and the food was pretty good but the pairings really put it over the top. We also had a wonderful group of people we were at the dinner with and we got to eat it on our own special floor of the main dining room. Highly recommend the experience it was worth every penny.

At the top of the picture there is a circular area above the statue, that is where we ate

Best meal by far I had on the ship. The actual best thing we did happened on a sea day as well when we took the ships tour but I’ll save that until the next post.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
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January 8, 2024 by Lee and Tracy

First Time on a Jeep Excursion

By far our favorite off the boat excursion was the Jeep Tour of Puerto Vallerta. Part of why we loved it so much was the jeeps held four people and we were able to have our own little group go. Yes it could have been unpleasant if we had the wrong folks with us but we got really lucky and paired up with a young newly married couple Dillon and Amelia who were fantastic. But first we had to get off the boat and thankfully this was once again a port where we could could walk right down to the dock.

The gauntlet as I thought of it of sellers you had to walk through to get to and from the boat

There were two weird things about getting off the boat. The first was the gangplank was really slippery and the man behind me fell hard, hitting his head and losing his sunglasses in the water. The security personnel handled it really poorly to be honest first calling the medical people then changing their mind. Thankfully the gentleman (who was on our tour) was ok but he could have really hurt himself. The second odd thing was the dog that the Mexican port authority had who sniffed all of us looking for food. This dog was extremely well trained and caught several people who had inadvertently put a snack in their bag for the day. Fruit of any kind the port authority confiscated which was fine but again kind of weird.

For some reason this ramp was super slick and steep

After getting our group together we went to a tour bus which dropped us off across the street in a Sam’s Club parking lot. This port had a Sam’s Club, Walmart, and a nice mall all within walking distance of the port which was nice for the cruise ship employees. A couple of them mention that on their breaks on port days they would go into town and purchase personal items and snacks that they couldn’t get on the ship so this port must have been very convenient for them.

So we got to the line of jeeps and learned they were all manuals. Our group of four had three people (me, Lee, and Dillon) and Dillon actually wanted to drive. Lee was happy to ride in the back and take pictures for most of the trip and it was fun just being passengers for once. The first part of the trip was pretty interesting because we drove through town. The traffic was a little on the crazy side and staying with a long line of jeeps was challenging at times for sure. It was easier when we got on some side roads and passed multiple farms and eventually stopped at a small Mexican town. It was really interesting seeing how regular people lived and mostly they seemed glad to see us.

One of the coolest things we learned was that the front of the houses have flowers but the backyards all have vegetable gardens and fruit trees. The town had numerous dogs as well, actually we saw dogs at every stop we made and a surprising amount of huskies. I wouldn’t think they would do well in the hot climate but every stop had at least one.

Our next stop was a tequila farm and this one was great. They took us on a short tour showing how tequila is made and then we got to do an extended tasting. They also had wonderful honey and Mexican chocolate for sale and I really enjoyed the folks who worked there. The grounds were really beautiful and they had lots of crafts for sale along with a nice lunch.

I dont know what this fruit juice was but it was delicious

The tour itself was probably my favorite part we learned that it takes 7-10 years for an Agave plant to produce a pineapple which are about 22 kilos and huge. Each one of these only makes one liter or tequila and goes through a variety of preparations, including cooking in an oven for 24 hours. It was super interesting.

Although the lunch was just ok it was fun because Lee made a puppy friend and we all sneaked him tidbits under the table. I also really appreciated the crafts people were providing because it was different than the standard things we had seen. There was a young woman with a parrot who took and then air dropped pictures for $10 (love ingenuity) and a beautiful booth full of hand beaded items. I loved those and ended up getting a wonderful butterfly magnet. Unlike the port vendors they weren’t super aggressive and instead answered questions and had conversations which was a nice change of pace.

The next stop was went to a resort down into a deep canyon. To be honest although the stop had a beautiful pool (which it was too cold for me) getting there was more fun than the stop itself. We went down a dirt canyon road that was so steep on the way back up they had the jeeps go one at a time. We also got a beautiful picture made for us while we were down there which a young man made as we watched that was super impressive.

As if all of that wasn’t enough we still had to go back through town. That drive was crazy as they took us by the prison and a totally different way and I honestly felt like I was in some crazy driving video game. We ended up at the end and almost got lost a couple of times but the chase jeep kept us on track and I laughed and laughed the entire way. Truly it was an awesome day and $155 a person for the adventure was a steal. I highly recommend this tour because it really was awesome.

This picture pretty much sums up the drive through town

We even walked over to the mall at the end and bought some sheets made of Mexican cotton which were very nice. As a side note, I downloaded the google translate app for Spanish and used it several times in the mall and on the excursions. Getting directions to the bedding section of the department store was an adventure all in itself !!!

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

January 5, 2024 by Lee and Tracy

First Time in Mazatlan

We arrived Christmas day in Mazatlan and thankfully our Zip Line shore excursion was not cancelled. Several people learned of a last minute cancellation due to the holiday and were scrambling to find something to do but we got lucky. It was interesting cruising into Mazatlan first thing on a holiday morning because the port was almost totally silent. I could actually hear roosters cawing from the hills behind the port and I thought I would never get to see the town so quiet except for this day.

Because we were at dock it was MUCH easier getting off the boat and we got on the tour bus and headed into the mountains. It was nice seeing the countryside and unlike Cabo this city was less about tourists. When we arrived at the location we got a safety briefing and they zipped us into the harness. I went zip lining in Puerto Rico many years ago but this was Lee’s first time. Since it was Christmas Day I brought extra cash for tips and when the guide or put us together received a $20 he was genuinely grateful. Later we learned that $20 is considered an outstanding tip[ and $5 is the minimum. Throughout the day I gave $110 because I really appreciated them giving up their Christmas for us.

We rode up a dirt path to get to the base of the hill and climbed a steep path to get to the top. That final stretch was no joke but we were warned this was strenuous and they weren’t kidding. At the top we got another safety briefing and then waited in line for our turn. We were near the back of the line and it took almost 45 minutes to get to us but once it started it was really fun. I will say this was a bit harder than when I did it 15 years ago but the basics were the same.

We were high above an agave farm and there were huge saguaro cacti directly beneath us at some points. Intellectually I knew if I fell I was screwed anyways but the cacti freaked me out a little. The team did a nice job and we ended up with a small group of people which included David, Cori, and their 12 year old son Finn. Finn was fearless and such a great kid, I can only hope my grandsons are like him. Actually one of the best things about the excursions is you meet people and later on the ship you see them. We saw Finn almost every day after this trip and he always had a smile for us.

The only part I didn’t like was at the very end they had us repel down a big tree. It took a long time and I didn’t feel nearly as safe was when we were on the zip lines.

Afterwards we had a “snack” of an apple and 1/2 a cheese quesadilla which was delicious but not super filling and then we went to the Tequila ranch house. Because it was Christmas they didn’t do a tour and this part felt like an after thought. I did do a tasting and bought a couple of bottles and purchased a couple of souvenirs but it was a bit anti climatic. The best part was when we got back to port there were tons of shops open and they had by far the best prices we saw anywhere.

The best part of the Tequila farm was this gorgeous tree over 300 years old

I should probably mention sunsets here because one of the cool thing about being on a boat is you can watch the sunset every night. We liked going to the Helipad because we had a 360 degree view but we ended up watching them from all over. I haven’t seen sunsets this gorgeous since we were in Tampa Florida many years ago. They were amazing. None of these photos are color enhanced in anyway and don’t come close to capturing the beauty.

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

January 3, 2024 by Lee and Tracy

First Time in Cabo

One of my favorite things about cruising is getting off the ship. That may sound weird, but for me the ship is more a means to an end (safe way to travel) but the real fun happens on shore. For this cruise we had three days in a row in three different port cities and the first was Cabo. It was Christmas Eve so we were warned that some of the stores might be closed but when we hit Cabo it was pretty lively despite the holiday.

Our excursion was a tour of an old church and town, but first we had to get off the boat. This was a city where the ship has to stay out at sea and we had to take a small boat into shore. Anyone who cruises will tell you these ports are a pain in the butt because it adds an extra hour to getting off and another hour for getting back on the boat. First we had to meet in our muster area for the excursion and the excursions team did a good job of grouping us up and sending us in groups to get off the boat. Talk about herding cats, it was pretty chaotic but eventually we got to shore.

We got on a tour bus and the first place we went was a glass factory. I love glass work and was particularly interested in the fact that 100% of the glass they used was recycled. They had some beautiful stuff and the guys definitely knew what they were doing.

Next we drove up the coast and stopped at a very fancy restaurant but we weren’t allowed to eat anything. We were given one free drink and told to take pictures. This stop was pretty weird to be honest and other than a place to go to the bathroom I am not sure what it accomplished.

Lastly we were taken to a town San Jose Del Cabo and told this was a very popular retirement spot for US and Canadians. It was clean and very neat and had a nice town square with shops. Unfortunately by the time we got there many shops were closed and the prices weren’t particularly good on any of the items. Worst of all the church I wanted to see was closed to tours because of Christmas Eve services although the Mission was open.

Honestly it was a bit of a dud, but when we got back to port all of those shops were open and we found some good deals. We had to wait about 45 minutes to get back on the ship but we did get some pictures of it all lit up.

We saw party pirate ships in every port we were in

Lee and I talked about it and in this case we think we would have been better off just exploring on our own. Next time we take a cruise we are going to look into doing that because like I said most of the time we spent just felt like they were keeping us busy. Thankfully we did get back in time to see the Christmas Eve show and I have to say the absolute best part of this cruise line was the entertainment. They had 4 different main shows with the singers and dancers, a comedian, an amazing ice show, and solid entertainment throughout the ship. We tried everything at least once and as I said we had to forgo several formal dinners to make that work but the entertainment beat the food anyways.

Although some things cost money and others were designed to push people towards spending money the larger shows were all great. In particular the ice rink has a drone show which was crazy and the stuff they can do in that small of a rink was super impressive.

Next up Ziplining in Mazatlan.

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

January 1, 2024 by Lee and Tracy

First Time on a Royal Caribbean Cruise

Let me start by saying Lee had never been on a cruise. We had one scheduled for the February when COVID started and ultimately cancelled that trip, but finally we had an opportunity to give it a try. I have been on two other cruises (Princess and Carnival) over 10 years ago so this was also my first time in a post COVID world. So as you read these posts keep in mind they are solely based on our limited experience and when it comes to cruising your mileage will definitely vary.

When we booked the cruise we spent a lot of time determining which packages we wanted, and what type of room, and because it was Lee’s first time we tried numerous options. Those choices ultimately resulted in a $6,000 cruise which from my perspective was on the expensive side. One of the best choices we made though was paying extra for a “Key” account. Being Key gave us a variety of perks including early entry onto the boat and a form of expedited boarding.

That meant we could arrive at 11am and since it was cheaper for us to drive and park ($20 a day) than get an Uber each way ($150 each trip for anything big enough to hold us and our luggage) we arrived pretty early. Key members had a special entrance and that helped us avoid a lot of the lines. I liked it because we got on board pretty early and were able to wander the ship and take advantage of a special key lunch.

One of the things I should mention is that ANY cannabis in ANY form is absolutely not allowed. Whether this is because of Mexican laws or the cruise ship wanting to bump up their liquor purchases is unclear but there were pretty stern warnings everywhere we went. Since California is a legal state it was kind of strange but the threat of being thrown off the ship was serious. I also should mention that the luggage didn’t arrive to our stateroom until 3pm. We had the option to check a bag with the key people they would take straight to the room, but we didn’t really understand and didn’t take advantage of that which we regretted since we were on the boat for so long.

Instead to kill time we ate lunch and explored the boat. It was incredibly clean and Lee loves all things boat so we walked the entire ship before we even departed the port.

One of the biggest costs for the trip (and our favorite thing) was we had a room with an oversized balcony. It was an incredibly nice room with a great balcony and we spent a lot more time in the room than we thought we would. We even moved the bed around so I could sleep next to the open door and hearing the waves every night was great. I was worried about claustrophobia which I struggled with on my two previous cruises but the room was great and I had no issues at all. I was also worried about sea sickness and we got patches to help with that but didn’t need them until the next to the last day when the seas got rough enough that people were getting sick in open public areas.

I liked the towels so much we went and watched a demonstration on how we could do it ourselves. Although it was entertaining I walked away thinking I don’t think I could do it at home 🙂

Speaking of entertainment everything is now on an app which is pretty handy. Occasionally the app would get a little glitchy, but it would allow you to select the things you wanted to do and put it on “My Calendar”. Unfortunately Lee and I couldn’t sync our calendars so we would spend some time everyday talking about what we wanted to do either together or separate and when we were going to eat.

That might sound easy but lots of things were at the same time and most of the best entertainment was either at 7:00 or 8:00pm. Since I had signed us up for My Time dining I thought we would have more flexibility but it actually caused us some huge issues. What I didn’t realize was that My Time dining didn’t start until 6:45pm and you still had to make a reservation or wait in a line. I also didn’t know the formal dining room takes 1-1/2 to 2 hours to eat in and since I didn’t want to eat at 9pm every night that forced us into the Windjammer buffet most nights.

The buffet staff was great and there was always seat availability but the food was seriously uninspired. It was the same main fare every night and the fresh salad items were extremely limited. I remember the buffet food being excellent on my previous cruises but I was really disappointed, with the exception of breakfast that was terrific. And unfortunately the Windjammer was the only choice. Every other restaurant (except a small Mexican area by the pool) cost extra and even room service was an $8 fee per order. The only 24 hour food option was a very small café that had a limited amount of small sandwiches and deserts which again I found very disappointing. I remember the food being much better and available at all hours on my previous cruises.

Anyways more about the food later, but that first night we barely knew anything but Lee had read that the best place to leave port from was the top of the Lime and Coconut club. So we bundled up (it was a little chilly) and staked out a place to watch the departure along with the dance party. It was a fun way to start the cruise and we were looking forward to all the things we had planned.

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

November 27, 2023 by Lee and Tracy

Ninth Year Recap

In the past I have really looked forward to writing my annual update posts, but since the last year has been different to be honest I didn’t even think about it until late in the month. Since we are still living fulltime in an RV I will recap this year, but as it was all in one place I am going to change this up a little bit. For those who don’t know we have been in Los Angeles the entire year waiting for the writer’s and actor’s strikes to be over so Lee can see if he can get a start in film or narrative TV. No one knew the strike length would be historically long but we have hung in there in the chance it could end at any time. Now that it finally has the really search begins. Here’s a map of the city and mostly we have been staying in Northridge. Those little areas are neighborhoods, not cities or towns.

Because we have been in one place I am not going to share my financial this year or get that much into the numbers. The purpose of that information was to help people who were trying to budget this lifestyle and since we have spent a year in one of the most expensive places in the country those numbers would be severely skewed to the point of being meaningless. I will say we have only pulled the RV twice for relatively short distances in that time period and all the miles we have put on the truck have been city miles. To put the cost of living in LA in context see the following:

Our monthly RV park fees – $1350+electric, and no other options within a minimum 60 min drive.
Diesel $6.50 a gallon on average
Lunch $80 minimum for any sit down meal
Ceramics $181 a month for studio time plus clay is extra

That’s just what things cost here and either you pay it or not. Thankfully we can afford to pay it. Since we got here we also got backed into by another RV and although we received a $5K check from their insurance we have some damage to our RV cap and our jacks which we have not fixed yet. The only major projects we did this year was remove the closet doors (which were cracked) and replace them with a nice curtain which I actually love and replace all the AC units which could not keep up with the LA heat and in all fairness were at the end stages of their life anyway.

Now that we have dealt with the numbers let’s talk abut the emotional arc. It’s been a tough year emotionally for a variety of reasons, but it started out with me getting sicker than I have even been in my life. When we first arrived here I had a kidney stone, that turned into a bladder/kidney infection and ultimately I felt like I might have been edging towards sepsis. I will say this, I was not in my right mind and absolutely terrified of going to a hospital in LA. Thankfully a good ER doctor ordered me some Cipro and I made my way out of it but it was terrible way to be introduced to a new city.

Lee, on the other hand, felt like he had come home. He has been dreaming about LA his entire life and this was the only major city in the US we had not visited. Issues like traffic, weather, crowds, and homelessness that have driven him completely crazy in other parts of the country didn’t even phase him and he was transported by the history and magic of the place. He is not alone in that. There is no place else like Los Angeles, and the people who settle here love it despite all its flaws. The post “Settling” in LA does a nice job of explaining his feelings (and mine) about the city.

Although we were in one place this city has so many things to do that we had plenty to keep us busy this year. We completed studio tours, saw many museums and other iconic Hollywood places. In addition I went on my first international work trip to India (fulfilling a lifelong dream of mine) and flew back to Charleston to celebrate Oliver’s fourth birthday. I even got to spend a week in Sedona with my Mom which proves you can stay in one place and still travel and see people and new things. Lee spent a few weeks working with his previous employer in various cities, and a little bit of work here and there in Hollywood.

One of the great things about doing this post is it reminds me of how much I have done in a year even if it doesn’t feel that way. The last year certainly hasn’t had the same pace as many other years of our travel, but we have still managed to see more than we ever did in any year of our non fulltiming life and particularly important to me we checked two more National Parks (Channel Islands and Pinnacles) off our list.

Still for me at least it feels somewhat less than other years although in all fairness that might just be grass is greener thinking on my part. Since the major way I judge my life is through my end of year pictures, let’s take a look at the top 10 moments and we can all decide how they stack up. As always thanks for following along and we will see how next year pans out.

Top 10 Things We Saw in no particular order

The Hollywood sign, and yes it is just as cool in person as seeing something this iconic should be. This year is the 100th anniversary of the sign, and for those who don’t know, it is 45′ tall, 400′ long, and sits atop……Mt. Lee.

I love this church in Sedona and it was wonderful sharing it with my Mom

Exploring the caves in Pinnacles National Park was super cool

The tour at Paramount was magical and one of the best things I have done while on the road!

Sitting on the Friends couch in Central Perk during our Warner Brothers tour was amazing!

Visiting Disneyland fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine and seeing the Mandalorian and Grogu up close in the Star Wars area made me giddy!

Some things in life actually exceed your expectations and the Hollywood walk of fame gave me goosebumps although I could have lived without the crazy crowds. We loved seeing how some of the starts are “grouped”, like above, George Burns and Gracie Allen, together forever.

The only RV friends we got to see all year were Steve and Deb who made a special trip to come and see us. I always love seeing these faces.

This year I would like to add two more to celebrate a couple of amazing moments. First was my trip to India which was truly life changing for a variety of reasons. The absolute best part of that trip was spending time in the real Pune with people who lived there and I will never forget it.

And absolutely nothing beats the look on Oliver’s face after I let him fill up a shopping cart full of toys for his birthday. That moment of all of them was priceless.

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

November 8, 2023 by Lee and Tracy

Hobbies on the Road

Since we have been sitting still for so long I wanted to take a moment and write about having hobbies while full timing. Working full time, going to school, and raising three kids didn’t give me much time for hobbies although trying glassblowing is what ultimately led us to being on the road. For that story read here.

So when we started out I was excited about trying a hobby. Unfortunately lack of space and a constantly moving lifestyle can make hobbies a bit challenging, but I made several people along the way who made it work. The serious hobbyists I met often had toy haulers and I knew several people with ATV’s and in one case radio controlled planes who used that space for their toys.

Others pursued hobbies where less space was required and I knew two people who spent a ton of time making bead jewelry and many others who crotched. I think I was the most impressed by the sewers/quilters who dedicated a whole are in their RVs for sewing machines. But for me none of these seems of interest and although I have a small cross stitch box and I have made blankets for my grandkids and a few items for my daughters inside crafts didn’t really interest me. We were in beautiful places after all and I wanted to be out there.

Which brings me to outside hobbies such as hiking (not a fan unless there is a waterfall at the end of it) and kayaking (we tried but it was never our thing) and of course fishing. Fishing is hugely popular and if you don’t mind the hassle of getting licenses wherever you visit its a popular pastime. Lee spent his childhood fishing though and for a variety of reasons is not a fan which left us with photography. Lee has always been an amateur photographer but wildlife photography was new to me and after investing around $1K in gear I tried it out.

Turns out I loved landscape and wildlife photography and we were lucky enough to be in many places where I could practice. Over the years my skillset has improved, although never risen to the level of Lee’s, and I loved that moment when you got a lucky shot or saw something really special through the lens even if you didn’t capture it. Turns out though that I am a bit of a purist when it comes to enhancing pictures and although I will occasionally punch up the colors a bit I don’t do any major changes to them. Still for me it fulfilled a creative need my younger self didn’t even know I had until we hit LA.

There are green spaces in LA but compared to other places we have been its just so so and frankly with the threat of homeless encounter always looming I am just not comfortable in those spaces especially not without Lee. So for the first time in years I found myself with the time for creativity but no good outlet.

When it became clear we were going to be here for awhile I started looking for an outlet and looked into ballroom dancing, dance classes, and ultimately pottery. I have talked about it here but pottery really does something for me and the combination of relaxation, incredibly nice people, and the tactile sensation is terrific. I am going 3-4 times a week now and getting better with every visit.

One of the cool things abut pottery is its variety. You can work on a wheel, hand build, or use molds and the possibilities are endless. Ah and the glazing ..which can create different colors every time for a variety of reason is always a surprise at the end. For a person who likes to try different things it allows for nearly endless possibilities.

That being said I am fully aware that this will be a difficult hobby to take on the road if we start traveling again. If we are in a place for awhile and if they had a studio I could pick it up again in another town but to carry it with me will be tough. They do have pottery wheels I could purchase but I would need an outside throwing space with power and that is definitely weather dependent. Firing the pieces though is the big challenge because despite lots of research I haven’t yet found a traveling kiln that would work for me. They are big, they are expensive, and most require a dedicated circuit all of which is tough in an RV.

Actually for the first time I kind of wish we had a toy hauler so I could make myself a studio. Even if I could though there is a reason we RVers stay away from breakables in our rigs because they are a pain in the ass to wrap up every time you move and no matter how careful you are a shaky house tends to break things.

I’ll keep thinking on it though and either way I feel like I will find a way to keep this in my life long term even if I need to take breaks from it now and then. For now it is absolutely the best part of staying in one place for so long (11 months and counting) and I know pursuit of hobbies is one reason some people travel less and stay in place more. Now I get it.

Speaking of staying, as of this writing the actors strike is still in force. There is a solid offer on the table but AI is still a sticking point. Because the out of work crews have flooded the ancillary work opportunities it has been tough for Lee to gain any traction. Our deal is we wait until the strike is done so he has a fair shot at pursuing his dream and e will see what happens. I’ll just say waiting around is not my strong suit and I am really grateful for pottery for giving me something to throw all that restless energy into. Here’s some pictures of my work. I am getting better!

Plate for my sister with a heart stong I found that represents my nephew Bryce

This was supposed to be for wine but way to short. Dad is using it as a candy dish

I took a gnome making class and this is what I made. So cool I didn’t know I had it in me

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

Travel Tales from Working Full Time RVers

Author: Lee and Tracy

First Time at Los Angeles County Museum

Royal Caribbean Cruise Summary

Ships Tour

Sea Days

First Time on a Jeep Excursion

First Time in Mazatlan

First Time in Cabo

First Time on a Royal Caribbean Cruise

Ninth Year Recap

Hobbies on the Road