Passing the time and miles
The decision was made to start heading towards our sailing lessons in Santa Barbara. Before the end of the Xmas week we had already left the solitude and adventures of the Mojave and headed South towards Joshua Tree. Sure there was [yet another] government shutdown going on but we were not headed into the National Park this time around. Instead, we stayed the final two work days in the dry lake bed North of town. I’ve never stayed here before so I was curious… until I saw the place – trashy, busy, and blah. I don’t get why anyone stays here. There are so many spots available that are many times better… to each their own, I guess. If I stood facing just the right way I could crop an image to make it look somewhat Okay…
I was happy to move on after our second night – into town for some restocking of the fridge and showers for us. That night (Saturday) we rolled into the local Moose Lodge in Lander, CA where we stayed the night and got Kerri out of bed only minutes before the 10:30 AM cutoff for breakfast in the lodge. It has become a tradition to eat at the local lodges when we stay at one. Not that the food is anything amazing, but sometimes the people are. We ate alone this morning.
Pioneertown was our next stop, specifically to pickup a few more of those awesome coffee mugs from the potter in town. We stayed the night as well since Sunday evenings are when the house-band plays and Kerri was hoping to see one of her favorite singers who pops in to play with the house band at times.
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Monday was all about driving. We had nearly five hours of driving to do to get to our work-week destination. Originally we planned to make small hops each evening after work, but with the limited places to stay along the way (it being the greater LA area and all) we opted to just make it in one larger hop. It didn’t have to be such a long drive, but we decided not to take the Interstate passage and took the longer and more scenic way – roads I had not traveled in my past. This big move opened up the option to stay at Rincon Parkway in Ventura for the work week (which we did, obviously) leaving us with only a half hour drive on Friday night to the RV park that we would call home during our lessons the following week.
The above images do not show the whole picture of Rincon Parkway. Images show such a small slice of reality that can turn into a huge lie. So here is some honesty: We were the smallest thing there, and they were lined up nose to tail for a mile or more. Most nights we had generators running until 9 PM from *both* of our neighboring big-rigs.
Rincon Parkway is one of those places where you don’t look behind or in front just out the door facing the water. Being “right there” makes it worth while …
It does. Until I stayed here for the first time (2016?) I didn’t get it. From the outside it looks awful, but one you are parked and sitting in your camp-chair, all you hear and see is the ocean. Pretty amazing place for street-camping.
I tried camping there a couple of years ago but got evicted for not having a blackwater tank. Maybe I’ll fake something up someday.
Yeah, they are strict about that. We thought we may be questioned on that too but they never did