Preparing for the Adventure…
What a month it has been! Preparing for a year long adventure in a motorcoach is no easy task. I need a vacation from planning our vacation! We have a good friend staying at our house while we are gone for the year and I wanted him to be able to personalize the space and have plenty of room for his things. Which meant that I didn’t need to pack everything up, but I did need to purge unnecessary items and pack away our personal belongings. A task that proved to be much greater than I thought it would be. We accumulate so much STUFF! Do you really need three food processors (small, medium and large)? NO, NO, NO!
I must admit that the whole experience was very freeing. The fun part was determining what we would take in the coach and then “moving in.” I am amazed by how much storage is in the Tiffin 34PA! We even have room for our favorite popcorn maker!
I’m sure there will be things that I realize I need, that I don’t have; but so far, so good. I should share that I’m not one of those women who could only bring 5 t-shirts, 3 pairs of pants, 2 sweatshirts, and 1 coat. And don’t even ask how many shoes I brought. Fortunately, the coach has a very large closet and under bed storage!
We have planned our adventure in four, three month blocks. The first block is the Southwest, (CA, NM, TX culminating with 5 weeks in Peoria, AZ for baseball spring training. Go Padres! Block two is UT, CO, MO, WY and ends in Idaho; Block three is the Trans-Canada Highway traveling to the East Coast for fall colors; and our final block will be working our way back to our daughter’s house in Boerne, TX going through PA, TN, KY, GA and Red Bay, AL. I look forward to sharing my experiences and reflections as we travel across this beautiful country!
Hot Tip #1-We purposefully planned for the first few nights of our adventure to be close to home…in case we forgot something or our tenants moving into our house and guest house needed anything. We also have our car with us for the first couple of weeks so we can easily get to the store and anywhere we might need to go. Our first stop was Guajome Park, a beautiful RV campground in Oceanside. Last night we stayed at our first Harvest Host (Corona Heritage Park), and today we are heading to Bonelli Bluffs RV in San Dimas.
Hot Tip #2-Be sure to bring duck food and comfortable walking shoes as Guajome lake is filled with ducks, geese, swans and beautiful trails all around the lake.
Hot Tip #3-Visit this Harvest Host on a Saturday before 2:00 PM and visit the incredible Corona Model Railroad Museum! Their HO scale model railroad depicts Corona and Southern California circa 1949 when Corona was "The Lemon Capital of the World" and America's railroads were in transition from steam to diesel. Their railroad set up features the Santa Fe Third District with the cities of Corona, Fullerton, and Riverside modeled. It really is impressive!
Our focus these first couple of weeks is staying in places where our family members can visit us and say goodby, since we won’t see them for a while. Our daughter and her husband joined us last night in Corona, as they live in Riverside. We BBQ’d the most delicious steaks and had a lovely evening.
My dad lives in Glendora, so we will be able to visit with him while we are in San Dimas at Bonelli Bluffs; and our son and his wife will join us in Joshua Tree next weekend before we leave CA.
A perfect way to spend our first two weeks on the road, with friends and family!
Hot Tip #4- Sunday mornings are the perfect time for “Musings and Mimosas!”
So...Grab your mimosa and join me every Sunday morning as I chronicle Coach Addie's Big Adventure and share my reflections and Hot Tips from the week.
I have watched all your YT videos and I am encouraged to try to make the bread. Wish me luck. d
We have a 34PA and I need to know which cabinet you have fit your instapot in? Mine is under the bed.
Thank you for sharing your journey with us. I love the purging wisdom. Five years ago we downsized from four bedrooms to two and I agonized over the sell/donate/discard decisions. Turns out I don’t miss any of the discarded stuff. I feel freed up by no longer having 20 tablecloths. (Included six for Christmas alone.) Less is definitely more.