Lake Skinner

Lake Skinner Recreation area and RV site is run by the local council, at the entrance office a large sign on the door states "you are now in mountain lion country" ! The huge flat area is bounded on three sides by thick scrub covered hills, not a house visible in any direction, only the shop / laundry / toilet block.

I was sorry not to see or even hear a mountain lion, they are about, and they are dangerous, human deaths do happen but what I did see, I did not like one little bit, I was sitting outside in the warm sunshine, just thinking how nice this is and how lucky I was when I became aware of a movement off to my side, I turned to see what it was, in the split second it took me to look, I was up out of that chair and twenty feet away without my feet touching the ground, just like in a cartoon.

The movement I saw was to me, the biggest snake in the world, it turned out to be about 4 feet long, fortunately, the man living next door was a part time worker on the site, I told him what was visiting, he called the wardens who arrived a very long ten minutes later with a large red bin, they just laughed, oh he is just an old gopher snake, he is not poisonous, he would bite you if you annoy him, but he is a good guy, he eats rats and mice, we will release him further away. I now look everywhere I walk and sit.

The other wildlife I was aware of on site consisted of many "cotton tails" our rabbit, also "jack rabbits", our hare, and small flocks of Californian quail, they rush about at great speed, groups of seven or eight, the males with a tall curved feather sticking up from their heads, most attractive and so busy.

When I could not sleep one night, I got up and poured a glass of milk, it was a lovely moonlight night so I did not switch a light on, I sat there looking at the world through my vast windscreen, as I sat there I became aware of movement, I watched, hoping it might be a mountain lion, sadly it was a full grown skunk, going about its own business, moments later another couple of them, I was delighted to share my evening with them. Glossy black, two broad white stripes running along the back and up the bushy tail something a little different to my foxes and squirrels.

Setting Off

Drinking water, or city water as they call it, is stored in a 20 gallon tank, waste water from the sink or shower goes into a grey tank, requiring emptying once a week, the toilet goes into a black tank, once a week is good for it also, a small panel on the wall showed the various tank levels, letting you know when to fill or empty.


All the filling and draining is done from an external under floor locker designed for this purpose. All windows have insect screens on them and venetian blinds, there are roof vents and skylights as well, all very bright.


When parked on a sunny site there are pull out blinds on both lounge windows, and on the door side a huge pull out sun awning, everything for comfort, little did I think the day would come when I could not fold up my sunshades because they were frozen solid, I will explain later.


I am now giving a lot of thought to what next, when, where to, do I have the bottle to take this monster away on my own hundreds or thousands of miles.


On a few short trips to get used to the vehicle, I quickly discovered it did not like going up hills, I know it is a big heavy beast, but this was not good. On returning to Temecula I spoke to the local garage, they at once suggested changing the fuel filter, I took it out again, back down the interstate, great going down, like a new vehicle, on the return, back to the same problem, sitting in the slow lane getting slower and slower.


Crawling up the slow lane on a fast multi lane interstate being overtaken by huge 18 wheelers did not fill me with faith, looking ahead to a long journey I had planned, driving up some high passes, driving among the Rockies, being regularly at altitudes of around five and six thousand feet.


Maybe I am expecting too much of the old girl, maybe this is a normal pace for a vehicle of this size, maybe I should have been less ambitious and bought a smaller class of motor home, I hope I have not made a mistake, I love driving it and I love the comfort and space it provides, just please make it go.


While I have been unable to set off I am getting very used to driving it, well used to taking it in and out of built up areas and garages in particular, the size is no longer an issue.I am now getting rather impatient, I have spent a lot of money, it is not working and time is passing, I want to set off on my adventure.


All this time I am living in it, I am able to park outside my son’s house and plug into his mains power, giving me my fridge/freezer, my air conditioning and lighting. I don’t expect the neighbours were overly excited with the monster parked on the street but no one said anything.

This time the garage decided they would drop the tank and clean it, not an easy job, access is ok, but the sheer size and weight of a 60-gallon tank, similar in size to a coffin. They cleaned it as best they could, sent me off to try it again, still no better, by now I had convinced myself I had bought a pup. The garage now said it would need to be replaced, I called the nearest Ford truck garage, (I had a Ford engine and chassis) and asked if one would be available, after all it was 10 years old, they said they could have one by tomorrow, but the price would be $3000 (£1500)

The short answer to this was a call to a company in LA, who specialise in re-furbishing tanks for vintage cars, a call to them confirmed they could do it, they also stated it would come with a lifetime warranty; all I had to do was get it to them.


Next day, with the tank hanging over the tailgate of my old Dodge, it was off to find this garage in LA, thank goodness for my sat nav, LA is one vast city. A long ten days later, they said it was ready, at a cost of $60, well worth the effort. With the tank re fitted, Off I went once more, down the same stretch of road, I returned with a huge grin on my face, I now had a fit motor home.


Now I have my motor home in good working order, I can see as far as John and Connie, it is now time I moved on, I have been living with them for almost three months, a long time for even a son to put up with his father, I also feel I would like my own space, somewhere to call home, somewhere to clutter up should I wish to.


I had considered buying a lap top, it would be great to be able to e-mail as and when, but as John explained, many of the remote places I plan to go to I will not get a hook up, one more expense I could live without, I will just use my trusty Verizon cell phone.


Before I set off into the blue yonder, I have decided to spend a week at the nearest RV site, it is situated at Lake Skinner, half an hour’s drive from John's house, I want to try and be able to use all the various systems and be self sufficient.

Motorhome

At the moment, I am still "full ahead" with buying a motor home and setting forth on my own, the more I look into it the more I have to consider, for example, when you see one with a marked price of say $42,000, this is not what you pay, on top of the price you will have to add a sales tax which is never shown, of 17% in California, the tax level varies from state to state, this at once brings the price up to about $45,500, plus road tax, about another $400, and of course insurance, it all mounts up and can start to run away.

Another thought, can I afford a small car to pull behind as most large motor homes do, the answer is no, I have to draw the line somewhere, a small car would allow me to go to the supermarket easily, go sightseeing with ease, instead of taking 33 feet everywhere, parking that at Safeway and Wall Mart is a skill still to be learnt.

So far I am happy with my decision to come to America, from what my other son tells me winter has shown its teeth a bit, so I have avoided all that, also I have not been living alone, and on top of that, I have my future plans to get my teeth into, if I was at home I would be sitting looking out at the weather, going nowhere, bored and lonely.

As far as keeping in touch with family and friends, I think it worked well, while at John's I would e-mail David every other day, I also used to keep in touch with some of my ex work friends.

One of the first items I bought when I moved out was a cell phone, once on the road on my travels I spoke to John most days, it also meant the family could contact me should they wish, it gave me a lot of pleasure once a month, I would call a couple of good work friends, I would look forward to calling them, and keeping in touch with home.

Decision time, final thoughts, can I do this on my own? Quite a daunting thought, going away thousands of miles from the security of John, in a foreign country on my own, with company I think it would be much easier.

When I have a spell of doubts, I ask myself, what would I be doing at home, then the answer is yes, I have been given this wonderful opportunity and by golly, I am going to take it, a life on the road, seeing new places observing a whole new world of mountains, lakes, rivers, deserts, forests and all the different wildlife living there.

I am not saying a lot about RV sites yet, I have not stayed on one, but what I am expecting is my own plot with a hook up for mains power, a hook up for my flush toilet, a "city" water supply, and probably a satellite hook up, anything more is a bonus, like a pool, a shop and a laundry.

I don't have a motor home yet but my plan is to head for the very green state of Oregon, that is my goal.

Before I was in a position to buy a motor home, I joined an over 55 club for company,(I must be getting old) they run monthly bus trips, arrange visits etc, the first trip I decided to go on was to the late President Reagan’s library, situated in the hills behind Los Angeles, a beautiful setting, not a library at all, more a museum, even his old “Air Force One” Boeing 707 was there, open to the public to walk through, on another trip we went to Las Vegas for a couple of days, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I meant to mention earlier my brush with the law, one day while out in my trusty old Dodge truck, I had just executed a turn at a very busy junction, suddenly I heard the siren of a black and white (police car) telling me to pull over, one’s thoughts go into overdrive, I pictured myself, legs spread, hands on hood and the officer with gun drawn.

As it turned out, I did not even get out of my vehicle, no gun, he told me the tax sticker on my number plate was showing on his computer as being “off the road” he asked for my driving licence and when he looked at it very pleasantly said get it taxed and off you go, I think my strange licence was going to cause too much paperwork, I am glad to say, my only brush with the law in over 7000 miles.

I think the tax sticker system is good, firstly it is very visible to a following police car, no need to stop and look, also colour coded for the year, easily checked.

Instead of a disc stuck on our windscreens, the American system is a brightly coloured sticker stuck on the top right corner of the rear number plate, when re-taxing, the new sticker in a different colour is stuck on top of the old one (no, they do not pick off)

Surprise surprise, I have bought me a motor home With John’s help, he is better at haggling than I am; it is the 17 of April, a day I will remember.

The vehicle is more than I ever dreamt of, it is far bigger than I had planned, but it was beautiful, it was in good condition and it was within my price range.

It was 35 feet long, built on a Ford truck chassis, powered by a 7.5 litre V8 petrol engine, weighing in at around 10 tons, it was 10 years old, done 20,000 miles and ran on 8 brand new tyres (triple axle) fitted by the garage without me asking.

When I stood in the showroom and looked at it I suddenly thought how big it was. It required 5 steps to go from ground level to the floor level, The salesman gave me a walk around, explained all about the two warm air heating boilers, the two air conditioning units, the hot water system, about the generator, the hydraulic corner jacks, the slide outs and I don’t know what else, it all seemed to go in one ear and straight out the other.

The day I collected it, the salesman handed me the keys and bade me farewell, John by this time had left for home, I was on my own.

I sat in the driving seat and looked around, yes it looked very long, but I was not bothered by that, what did bother me was the width, I could get up and walk across to the passenger seat, it looked wider than the lanes on the highway.

I started it up and drove out of the showroom onto a quiet country road, within a hundred yards I was on to a busy interstate route with heavy, fast traffic. Don’t panic, let’s go, if I can just keep within the two white lines (they are actually yellow) other drivers will avoid me, I am much bigger, that was my plan and it worked.

I quickly discovered I appeared to be as wide as the lanes, each time a coach or an 18 wheeler passed me it seemed we had only inches between my mirror and theirs, all requiring constant attention, I am glad to say, after a week or two it got a lot easier and driving was a lot more relaxed sitting there in my armchair.

By the time I collected the “bus” and drove home to John’s house I was tired and my shirt was fairly damp, I wondered if I had done the right thing, maybe I should have gone for a smaller class C motor home similar to the one I hired in Canada instead of a class A, the largest class, over 40 feet requires a special licence, mine was a baby at 35 feet.

This would be a good time to give you a guided tour of the interior, you could almost divide it into three, the lounge at the front, the kitchen/rest room in the middle, and the bedroom at the rear.

The lounge has of course the two front seats that swivel and recline and so can be used as 2 lounge chairs, there is also an L shaped sofa that can convert into a double bed, across from that is the dining table and chairs. The entertainment side is covered by a 26-inch colour TV built in to a cabinet, beside it is a tape deck and radio. The floor has a plain sage green fitted carpet and pale grey carpet on the ceiling. When parked on site the wall and floor can be moved outwards by about 3 feet at the touch of a switch, giving quite a lot more floor space.

The lounge of course has its own dedicated warm air heating or its own air conditioning.

Moving on to the kitchen area, an L shaped counter top with a four burner gas hob, a double stainless steel sink, a microwave, a full size fridge / freezer, storage for all the crockery and glasses, just everything, even filtered drinking water.

The “restroom” had a half size bath with shower above, a triangular wash basin and various cupboards and of course a flush porcelain toilet.

The bedroom, which has a slide out like the lounge, had a queen size bed, a mirrored wall of wardrobes, two chests of drawers, a dressing table and another 26 inch fitted TV, access to the restroom was from the bedroom en-suite or from the lounge.

Sea Fishing at Dana Point

On a day out from Dana Point, just south of Long Beach, LA, my son and I went out for a day’s sea fishing.

We joined 15 or 20 others on a boat that can take 50 fishermen easily.

The sea was calm, just a gentle swell, enough to let you know you were on a boat.

We went out a couple of miles to the edge of one of the big kelp beds, somewhere the fish feel safe, they can dart into the kelp if danger appears.

I think in the whole day a couple of yellow tails were caught, not by me I might add, I was quite happy, it was sunny and warm and I love boats.

Later in the day the skipper saw some action on the surface further out; I think he was a bit embarrassed at taking us to a “no fish” area so he announced we might be close to dolphins feeding, let’s go and look

After 10 minutes we were drifting quietly, engines off, with 20 or 30 dolphins all around the boat, they seemed quite oblivious to our existence, I believe they had found a large shoal of sardines or similar, the surface of the sea was boiling, dolphins breaking the surface, fish trying to escape, pelicans just as desperate as the dolphins and hundreds of gulls snatching anything silver.

The whole half hour spectacle more than made up for catching no fish.

All day I had kept an eye open for something a bit different, this part of the Pacific is home to grey whales, killer whales and great white sharks to mention just a few, unfortunately I did not see any of them, but we did enjoy our day out.

San Diego

San Diego boasts a waterfront shopping village called “Seaport Village”, it is made up of many small shops and boutiques selling a vast assortment of items, it also supports a number of eating places including a couple of fairly up market restaurants, one of them built on an old wooden pier.

Running through the village are watercourses with bridges and of course ducks and turtles, a lovely place to sit and enjoy a coffee in the warm sunshine.

San Diego has a number of interesting features, I think the best way to see them all is by taking a ride on the “trolley” for an hour or so, a green and orange replica of an old trolley car, all wood and brass, the driver is obviously very expert on all things San Diego, and all drivers have a great sense of humour as well.

During your tour you are going to start probably in old town which is the terminus, it is old, it still has some original Mexican adobe built buildings etc, very interesting.

You will also be shown the gas lamp quarter, not as old as old town but still rather quaint, a great area for eating and drinking in an evening.

Another area covered in the tour is Coronado Island, not quite an Island, it is joined to the mainland by a narrow causeway. The Island is home to the officers of the nearby Naval Air Station and also the famous old wooden Coronado Hotel, many famous people have stayed there including royalty and film stars.

If you are lucky enough to be in San Diego at Xmas time you might be surprised to see a Xmas tree, about 20 feet high made entirely of Poinsettia plants, a beautiful red tree, also as you walk along the sea front in your shorts and t shirt you will notice “merry Xmas” banners on all the lamp posts, meanwhile the temperature is in the low eighties, this place would do me fine, not the Xmas temperature’s I am more used to.

San Diego is a haven for animal lovers, you have Sea World, full of interesting animals, performing “Orca’s’ “or killer whales, Beluga Whales, Walruses, Polar Bears, Penguins and many more interesting animals, a full day is needed here, most interesting.

Another animal lovers spot is the famous San Diego Zoo , a day long visit is the minimum, you can have a rest as you are driven round in a double deck bus in what is a very hilly zoo, the alternative transport is by cable car, gliding silently above tigers etc.

Still not finished, San Diego Wild Animal Park, owned and run by the zoo, this is a huge open area outside San Diego in open country, where the animals are free and the humans are caged.

It is set out in two vast areas, the continent of Africa and the continent of India.

Take the African continent, herds of all kinds of Antelope, herds of Zebra, Giraffe, Elephant, rhino, in fact anything you can find in Africa except any of the big cats, the Indian continent is on the same lines, quite amazing to see, you could believe you were on safari, instead you are transported around in a train running around the perimeter, taking fully an hour to circumnavigate the park.

For the very adventurous there is a rather novel way to get right in among the animals, you can get yourself a journey by open safari type truck driving slowly among the animals, many coming over to see what tasty little tit bit you might have, I would think this would really give the impression of being on safari and a great opportunity with a camera.

All in all, San Diego is a haven for those of us interested in all types of wildlife.

Oceanside

One of my favourite places locally is Oceanside, one of surprisingly few ports on the Pacific coast, it is about 45 miles away from where I am living.

It has a very busy harbour, sailboats, sport fishing boats, whale watching boats (grey whales pass up and down this coast to breed in the warm waters off Mexico) and if it eats fish it is here, pelicans, herons, egrets, cormorants and of course the noisy ones, sea lions, it happens humans can get very good fish suppers as well.

Oceanside also boasts one of the most fabulous white sandy beaches to be found anywhere, it stretches in both directions as far as the eye can see, Interspersed with clumps of tall palm trees and the odd lifeguard tower, looking straight out to sea the next place you would come to is Japan.

My ultimate all time favourite has to be San Diego, about an hour’s drive away down Interstate 15, a vibrant, busy, bustling compact city, it has a tuna fishing fleet, a busy cruise ship terminal where huge white cruise ships push their bow over the harbour front, a floating maritime museum where one of the ships is the “Star of India” a three masted sailing ship built in the Isle of Man would you believe.

One of the ships I saw was “The World” a ship serving as a residential community owned by its residents, it is 43,524 tons and flies the flag of the Bahamas, it has 165 residential units, sailing the world staying from 2 to 5 days in each port, it is not inexpensive.

Temecula Old Town

If you live in Temecula and you want some manual yard work done, laying irrigation pipes for your sprinklers for instance, not a job for the faint hearted, the ground is baked hard and the temperature could easily be 100 degrees or more, go down to one end of “old town” you will see a group of Mexican’s standing, ask who could do the job, one will walk forward, agree a price and off you go, they make first class workers.

"Old Town" is where the tourists come to, many antique shops, how can you have antique shops in a young country? Shops selling "Indian" crafts, (should I say Native American) it is all neatly laid out, wooden buildings, wooden sidewalks, even wooden lamp posts, western diners and restaurants, bars and cafes, even the Greyhound coach stop.

While I have been living with John and Connie, I have been actively looking into mobile homes for sale, in class A,B,C or D, trailers, or 5^th wheels, to get a look at what I might be able to afford is difficult, Temecula being an affluent city, the various vendors are only selling new ones, I am looking for one around eight to ten years old, it sounds old, but when you consider many are used for only a few vacations a year, wear and tear should not be a problem, nor rust, they don’t do rust in California.

All the time I have been staying with John, I have been most fortunate in having unlimited use of his work mate, Brian's old Dodge pickup, great for running around but not up to interstate driving, a bit worn and tired but legal.

Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival

Another summer event in Temecula is the balloon and wine festival.

The area round Temecula is all wine growers, I believe at last count 25 wineries, so once a year they all have a wine fair, advertising their wine, wine tasting, selling the product.

Most mornings, not long after dawn, the first thing you notice is the sound of a big gas burner, if you look up you will see a huge multi coloured balloon drifting over the vineyards, usually there will be half a dozen of them, champagne dawn flights.

In the evening, a number of tethered balloons have the burners lit, lighting up the inside of the balloon in all the fantastic colours, a balloon burn off.

Temecula "Old Town" Classic Car Show

The “old town” classic car show consists of dozens and dozens of owners pride and joy, old cars that have been lovingly restored to a state superior to the day they were first built, they appear to have so much paint on them you could dip your fingers into it, under the hood is usually a replacement all chrome V8 producing masses of noise and power.

There are also a number of home built “hot rod’s” nearly always open, as with no roof open, remember the climate here, always only two seats and always once more a huge chrome V8 engine, every other part that is removable will also be chrome.

In America unlike here it is legal to drive about the streets in a car with no wings (fenders) no bonnet (hood) in fact they almost consist of two seats and an engine.

As with the above, there is a regular “Harley” meet, old town is closed to traffic, both sides of the street are lined with every possible model of Harley, every one with more chrome than the last, riders walking slowly along checking out the competition, all black leather with fringes and coal scuttle helmets that they insist on wearing.

At every street corner is a striped stall selling that little bit you have not managed to get chromed, the cars and the bikes live in a climate where frost and snow are rare, where salt is never spread over the highway, consequently rust is a rare sight.