San Bernardino To Acton, California – The Longer Way

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

I’m currently in my 22nd year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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Yesterday I drove the motorhome 104 miles from San Bernardino to Acton, California. The longer way.

 

My normal route would have taken me via California Highway 138, a drive of 69 miles. There is an unusual cold weather front in the area. Highway 138 crosses Mountain Top Pass at 4,810 feet of elevation. Because of the cold front chains were required yesterday morning. I have no chains and really have no interest in driving the motorhome in snow.

 

So instead, I took the longer routes of Interstate Highways 210 and 5 and California Highway 14 for a total of 104 miles. 35 miles longer than my normal route. The last 10 miles of the trip, I traveled on Soledad Canyon road which is very scenic and contains a number of commercial movie ranches and filming locations.

 

In 2015, I published a blog entry about Soledad Canyon Road which you can view by clicking this link…

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2015/03/11/soledad-canyon-california/

 

 

Here are a couple of photos on Soledad Canyon Road I took yesterday morning…

 

 

 

 

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then arrived at Thousand Trails Soledad Canyon RV Resort…

 

 

 

My parking spot…

 

 

 

And the usual dinette window photo…

 

I expect to depart here April 3rd.

 

 

 

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

 Forecast for today is partly sunny and 53 degrees. At 5 AM, this morning it’s 33.8!  Brrrrr!

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 700 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273?source=pwa

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2018

2011-2013 6th Circumnavigation Of The USA… Update #2 (GA54)

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

I’m currently in my 22nd year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

---

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails San Benito RV Resort, Paicines, California. I’ll depart from here April 19th.

 

 

Since my RVing life is changing (see above), I’m starting to re-visit previously visited places. So rather than constantly re-blogging past entries, I’ve decided to do something different.

 

 

In 2012-2013, Mary and I did a 682 day, 12,679 miles in the motorhome and 8,000 miles in the Bronco, circumnavigation of the United States, which I called The Great Adventure. I called it so because other than my oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in June in Connecticut, I didn’t know where we would be going or when we would be there!

 

 

So, unless I do something really different and unusual warranting a new blog entry, I’ll be posting entries from that trip.

 

 

 

This entry was posted March 19, 2012…

 

 

 

This Blog posting…which I will post from time-to-time…will be used to present my/our travels on this almost two-year circumnavigation of the United States…my 6th…Mary’s 2nd. During these circumnavigations, I try to travel on roads I’ve not seen before…I’m about 90% successful in that regard.

 

 

The only things I know about our potential destinations during this upcoming adventure is that I/we plan to spend a good portion of 2012 exploring the State of New Mexico. In 2013 we’re planning to attend my oldest grand-daughter’s high school graduation in June in southeastern Connecticut. Other than that…we’ll just have to find out one-day-at-a-time where our fates will send us.

 

 

The trip began from Murphys, California on November 29, 2011 with 35,956.5 miles on the motorhome odometer. In addition to showing the route taken, I intend to also document where I/we parked during this journey. My guess is that within the about next 700+ days we will park in about 250-500 different places.

 

 

 

 

Here’s the map so far which you may click on to see in a larger view…

#        Date          Location

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

 

 

 

001 – 11/29/11 – Bakersfield, CA – Loyal Order Of Moose – Lodge #2178

002 – 11/30/11 – Riverside, CA – Fraternal Order Of Eagles – Airee #997

003 – 12/01/11 – Thousand Palms, CA – Thousand Trails RV Resort

004 – 12/17/11 – Slab City, CA

005 – 12/18/11 – Winterhaven, CA – Paradise Casino

006 – 12/20/11 – Yuma, Arizona – About 12 miles north on BLM land

007 – 01/03/12 – Winterhaven, CA – Paradise Casino

008 – 01/09/12 – Slab City, CA

009 – 01/16/12 – El Centro, CA – Loyal Order Of Moose – Lodge #1033

010 – 01/17/12 – Winterhaven, CA – About 8 miles west on BLM land.

011 – 01/18/12 – Winterhaven, CA – Pilot Knob RV Park

012 – 01/22/12 – Winterhaven, CA – Quechen Indian Casino

013 – 01/23/12 – Yuma, AZ – American Legion Post #19

014 – 01/24/12 – Wellton, AZ – VFW Post #6790

015 – 01/25/12 – Painted Rocks Historic Park, AZ

016 – 01/27/12 – Ajo, AZ – VFW Post #3570

017 – 01/28/12 – Organ pipe Cactus National Monument, AZ

018 – 02/02/12 – Apache Junction, AZ – Loyal Order Of Moose #2039

019 – 02/03/12 – Apache Junction, AZ – Golden Sun RV Resort

020 – 02/13/12 – Tucson, AZ – About 20 miles north at Mary’s friend’s home.

020 – 02/17/12 – Tucson, AZ – Loyal Order Of Moose #1964

021 – 02/24/12 – Nogales, AZ – VFW Post #2066

022 – 02/27/12 – Lake Patagonia, AZ – Arizona State Park

023 – 02/29/12 – Sierra Vista, AZ – VFW Post #9972

024 – 03/03/12 – Douglas, AZ – Belle Starr’s Silverado Ranch

025 – 03/06/12 – Columbus, NM – Pancho Villa State Park

026 – 03/11/12 – Deming, New Mexico – Rockhound State Park

 

 

 

 

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! MARY WROTE A MANY GREAT BLOGS…SO WHENEVER SHE PUBLISHED A BLOG POSTING THE SAME DAY THAT I DID…YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ HER BLOG BY CLICKING THE BELOW LINK! DO IT NOW…!!!

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/beautiful-white-stuff/

 

 

 

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE INFO.

 Yesterday was mostly cloudy and 64 degrees. Forecast for today is mostly cloudy with a shower and 62 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 700 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273?source=pwa

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2017

Ivoryton, Connecticut – Day 5

The motorhome is parked at my son’s home where I’m expected to remain until July 17th.

Mary has been in Las Vegas, Nevada for her grandson’s high school graduation for the last several days. She returned to her home in Murphys, California yesterday.

For the short while I’ve been here, I’ve seen not a whole lot of my family as they are all so busy with their lives. Oh well, I’ll catch them as I can.

If you are a regular follower of my Blog, you’ll remember a few months back I became a life member on the Veterans Of Foreign Wars…aka VFW. I’ve found the guys like to wear hats identifying where they served…so I thought I would follow suit…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Here’s my new hat…

I was a Radarman stationed aboard USS Boston from 1959 – 1962. You can read all about the USS Boston by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Boston_%28CA-69%29

Here’s a photo of me in 1960…

There’s a nice Veterans Hall only a couple of miles from my son’s home which I visited last Sunday. I plan on going there regularly while here.

Enjoying visiting with my fellow veterans is another joy of the full-timing lifestyle!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Connecticut. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

One Year Ago…Today…

Happy Memorial Day. Freedom is not free. If you love your freedom…thank a Vet!

The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails Hershey RV Resort in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. We expect to depart tomorrow morning.

One year ago today at about 12:45 PM in Canyon de Chelly in remote northeastern Arizona, Mary and I survived a terrible accident.

Neither of us are the same person as before the accident…we move a lot slower now.

I remain suffering from a still slightly swollen rib cage with a constant mild burning sensation. In addition I suffer with a mild constant pain in my right hip. Mary is still suffering from an assortment of items including headaches, sore neck, back and hip. One person was killed at the scene and several were severely injured.

Here are a few of the photos that you will see in the below Blog entries…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

If you missed the postings, I’m re-presenting them here…

Jim’s postings…

May 28 – http://wp.me/pDCku-4Eh

May 29 – http://wp.me/pDCku-4Ep

May 30 – http://wp.me/pDCku-4EE

May 31 – http://wp.me/pDCku-4FD

Mary’s postings…

May 29 – http://wp.me/pDCku-4EB

May 30 – http://wp.me/pDCku-4Ft

May 31 – http://wp.me/pDCku-4Gc

As much as I hate the thought…I expect all future Memorial Day weekends will find me reliving the horrific accident at Canyon de Chelly in 2012. On the other hand, I can be thankful that Mary and I did in fact survive that terrible accident and live to tell about it. Like it says on my Bronco license plate…1DAAT…One Day At A Time! It’s the only way to go.

Enjoying traveling with no accidents is another joy of the full-timing lifestyle!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Pennsylvania. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

CROSSING PENNSYLVANIA

Memories of Pennsylvania come back to me as we set our wheels westward pressing for home. My last visit to Pennsylvania was to a little coal town called Commodore, where we visited my husband’s daughter Kathryn McCracken. It was green and hilly and pretty. I remember also that you could not buy a bottle of milk, in 1970, on a Sunday, near Commodore. We had to drive to a nearby city for milk, I think it was Punxsutawney, a considerable distance in any case. The neighbor children in Commodore came to gawk at my husband, a man who drank beer. They hadn’t seen one before, but knew of a black sheep uncle who drank beer. Commodore is part of the  “Bible Belt”.

From Newburgh, N.Y. to Towanda PA is approximately 150 miles. We headed out early with good weather. As usual, Jim checked the tires before we hit the road. One tire had lost half its air. It delayed us an hour to get a new valve extender on the inside wheel of the motorhome. The plan is to drive 150 miles a day until we reach Murphys.
Above, we crossed the Susquehana River leading into Towanda, PA. Nice, green, hilly.  Yesterday was tough because Jim is allergic to bee stings and his leg, for the second time on this trip, swelled up and became heated and painful from a bee sting. We stopped at a drug store for benydryl. He spent the evening with ice on his elevated leg. Not fun.

Towanda has pictures of their hometown heroes on each lamppost. It is a well meant gesture but it seemed grim to me to look everyday at a banner cemetery. Heroes they are, but constant reminders, I don’t know how I would feel about that if it was my son’s picture on that lamp post?
Our intended billet for the night was too steep and we had to change plans somewhat. All in all it was one of those kind of difficult days that every traveler experiences. But, hey,  99% of the time, things go quite well. Its still happy traveling.

THE ISLAND COMPARED TO NEW BEDFORD

I’m sure this doesn’t surprise anyone that Marthas Vineyard is a playground for the well heeled. We sat in the ferry terminal to be loaded with the trucks and watched as this woman took her horse to line up. Bus after bus load of people loaded onto the ferry. And this is still the off season. We were jammed in the ferry so tightly, Jim had four inches on one side and six on the other while I held my breath sure we were scraping the truck next to us. We couldn’t open the door, (nor could anyone next to us,) to get out and walk around for the 40 minute ride. Makes me shiver at the thought of being trapped in a motor home should something go terribly wrong.
On the island, we drove around and gawked a bit before we got to our campsite. Jim just got the bikes hooked to the back of the Bronco before the rain started. Even so, the difference in this place and New Bedford is starkly apparent. Both have beautiful harbors, but this is play land and New Bedford is a working town. The wealth of nations is always built on the backs of the working man. New Bedford, the wealthiest city in the world at one time, has a history of those men in their Seaman’s Bethel. Here, seaman came to pray before they stepped aboard their boats and kissed their sweethearts goodbye. When they didn’t return, they placed engraved plates in the Bethel to honor and remember them. There were many, many of these to tell the tale.