I'm from America -- Day 337

We are back on the road, having completed our stay at Redwoods River Resort in Leggett, CA. We don't currently have jobs lined up for the rest of the year, so we've decided that we're on vacation! We met up with our friends that we made this summer in Ukiah to see the City of 10,000 Buddhas, one of the first Chinese Zen Buddhist monasteries in the United States, and one of the largest Buddhist communities in the Western Hemiphere (from Wikipedia).

When we left on Wednesday morning, the sense of adventure was back in full force. Anya had us all up and ready to go by 9:30, and we only stopped briefly for hugs and good byes at the office on our way out. The drive to Ukiah wasn't far, but Fezzik hadn't been on the road in a long while, and we wanted to give him plenty of time to warm up and get stretched out again. He complained a bit on some of the hills, but after the first hour, he was back in traveling form. Pulling into the Redwood Empire Campground (which we visited back in April on our way up) and seeing our friends' rigs already in the parking lot made it feel almost like home.

After getting parked and settled, the very first thing on my mind was: Jack in the Box. I hadn't had a #27 in five months and if you haven't treated yourself to this culinary delicacy, I encourage you to do so. #27 is life.

Photo by Foodspotting.com

We weren't going to the City until Thursday, so we spent the afternoon playing golf on the Xbox and then had a pizza delivered. (Because delivery pizza is superior, and that is something else that I hadn't had in five months.) Can you tell that I like food?

I had mentioned that feeling at home is difficult while on the road, but having good friends makes it easier. These folks that I met over the summer are a new part of our extended family, and no matter where the road takes us, we know that we will have our friendship. As our extended family grows, it expands the areas where we can feel comfortable traveling, since we'll have connections all over the place.

Fezzik with our friends' rigs

I wanna be a citizen of the whole USA. When people ask me where I'm from, I don't wanna be labeled, or pigeonholed, or defined by whatever location I tell them. You want to make assumptions about me? I can't control that. You want to know me? You're gonna have to actually talk to me and find out who I am.  There is no box for me to check anymore.

There was a woman here in this campground that saw our Texas tags and asked if we were from Texas. Because I knew that this woman was not actually interested in getting to know me, and we weren't going to spend any more time together than the five minutes of this conversation while I'm hooking up my water line, I said that we were from the Dallas area. She then confessed that she had a niece in Texas, but she doesn't like it there. Thank you, random stranger, I will be sure to let Texas know that it didn't meet with your approval.

We have enjoyed the small town of Ukiah, population 15,871. Seems like a booming metropolis, after the seclusion of our summer retreat. They have a lot of recognizable chain stores, as well as some unique shops and eateries. And then of course there was the City of 10,000 Buddhas. I didn't take any pictures, partly because I was afraid my phone was going to die, and partly because it just didn't feel right. It was a very cool experience, and I love that a place like this exists. It's a whole small town of Buddhism. You could feel the peaceful energy, from the wandering peacocks to the laughing children. I would love to create a place like this one day, only not Buddhist. Just peaceful and friendly, welcoming to all people.

Wouldn't that be a wonderful world in which to live? I feel like it starts with us. Our rig is a peaceful place, and we try to spread that energy wherever we go. As we build our community, eventually we will have a peaceful gathering of folks, a village, a town, a city. Who knows? Maybe one day we'll have a whole peaceful world.

April Wrap Up -- Day 185

So here we are on the doorstep of another chapter of our adventure. We're making the transition from constantly moving, to being mostly stationary for the next five months.

And it's nerve wracking.

Before I get into the new adventure, let me first wrap up April.

Viking RV Park in Kingsburg was a welcome oasis of green after so much southern California desert. It's a tiny little park, filled with mostly permanent residents. I don't think we would have found the place, had it not been for Passport America (did I mention the awesome 50% discount? Because if you don't have PA, and you're in a motorhome, you're doing it wrong.) The funny thing about PA parks is that some of them seem to have doubled their rates to account for the discount, but the discounted rates fit our budget and are generally acceptable. This place was very no-frills, and even had pay showers (!) but being surrounded by old green trees put a smile on Anya's face, and that is priceless, my friends.

After Kingsburg, we had some bigger city needs, so we stopped in Fresno. The turtles, Luke and Leia, needed some companionship and exercise, so we picked up minnows and ghost shrimp. We added 20 new creatures to the turtlearium (that's the scientific word for their habitat. Don't bother looking it up, it's way too technical to be on the internet.) Out of the 20, almost half were consumed in the first day, because Nature is a violent place sometimes. Fresno is a rough town, if you're a ghost shrimp.

One of the things that you have to do from time to time is splurge to maintain sanity. I was craving Snuffer's (famous Dallas burger joint) and thought that Fresno might be able to offer something of a local equivalent. There was a Farmerboys® in the parking lot of the PetSmart in Clovis, and Yelp said that it was good. And while it was good, it was no Snuffer's.

The next day we drove to Arena RV Park in Chowchilla, because I really dug the name of the town. It was a quaint little place, and the site we were in was super narrow, I couldn't even get Fezzik's whole body in the lines. But they had wifi, and nice bathrooms, so it was worth the overnight.

This is from Fahrens Park in Merced

While I love to disc golf, the parks are not often designed to accommodate a vehicle as impressive in stature as our dear Fezzik. The fair citizens of Merced, being no different, had a very cool natural boulder barrier to set off the parking lot from the disc golf course. I noticed that there was plenty of room when we arrived, and didn't think that lots of people would be coming out to disc golf in the middle of the day on a Wednesday. When am I going to learn that disc golfers don't adhere to a typical 9 to 5 schedule? Trying to leave the full lot was not fun, and I wish I could say that I pulled it off without incident. Sadly, Fezzik now has a not-so-straight bumper and the roof access ladder is a little broken.

Undeterred, we ventured forth to Fisherman's Bend in Newman, CA. If you ever want to be off the beaten path, this is the place to go. It was a little run down (Anya didn't feel safe leaving the rig) and it totally seemed like the perfect place for a meth lab, so if you're looking for secluded and out of the way living with chickens and goats, I have found the place for you! I didn't take any pictures (for fear that at some point my phone may get taken into evidence), but trust me when I say the place was really green.

Ready to return to civilization, we hit up the Flag City RV park in Lodi. The sad thing about civilization is that it often resembles a parking lot. This place had ALL the amenities: nice bathrooms, laundry, swimming pool, clubhouse, flat paved sites with full hookups. But it was ugly, and the pool was freezing! Also, even with the Passport America discount, it was really expensive.

Would you like to know the remedy for a parking lot camping experience? Disc golf. For us, it was the beautiful and grueling Taylor Mountain course in Santa Rosa. 

"Before disc golfing, we spent the night at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. After getting our butts kicked by the Mountain, we headed off to Alexander Valley," Anya reminded me. It was a really physical course, with lots of elevation changes, and some spectacular vistas.

Alexander Valley RV park was right on the banks of the Russian River.

For me, being in the Alexander Valley was a dream come true. Back when I was first learning to appreciate wine, Alexander Valley Vineyards was my first favorite Cabernet. After three glorious days, we drove up to Ukiah to the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds. 

This picture just doesn't do it justice

The energy up in Northern California is so awesome. It just really feels like we belong here. While I do miss the ocean, I am loving being up in the mountains amongst the trees.

Our final week of this stage of the journey was spent at the quaint little Sleepy Hollow RV park in Willits. It is a very cool, if tiny, place with not much by way of amenities. We also got to spend time with some of our new best RV friends that we had met back in December in south Texas. It's one thing to make friends when you stay in one place. It's a bit of a different experience making friends on the road because you never know when your paths will cross again. It was really great to get to spend time with friends that we met 4 months and 2000 miles ago. 

 Some of the local residents came to see us off

And now we're here at the Redwoods River Resort, just off Hwy 101 between Leggett and Piercy, CA. New jobs, new friends, and a new way of life.

Tomorrow starts the new adventure.