November 12th-25th, 2023
We have so much to be thankful for, and we call it out almost every day. After two years on the road and living in a motorhome or two, we make a point to check in with each other to keep confirming we're happy with this life. And we've never paused -- we love the way we're living!
We get a new backyard every two to four weeks, we get to see so much of the country (and go to places we might not make the time for if we were only in town for a weekend), and we get to stay out of the snow and bitter-cold weather. Sometimes we miss the extra storage space of a sticks-and-bricks house, but we have a lot of storage in the coach and trailer. There really isn't anything we miss enough to go back to living in one place.
If we weren't traveling every few weeks, would we have been able to see the World's Tallest Thermometer? Probably not -- it's a bit in the middle of nowhere. But there it was in all its glory, on the road between Las Vegas and Anaheim.
As we got closer to our campground, the traffic got heavier. More lanes were added, and we were still bumper to bumper. That's stressful enough in a car, but things can get bad quickly when you're 72 feet long and 55,000 pounds. We took things slowly and carefully and got off of the freeway without incident.
In fact, our exit went straight into Canyon RV Park. And then we were in an oasis of sorts, in green grass and trees next to a river, right in the middle of the madness. A big highway passed above us and it was noisy, but the campground was really nice.
Monica was born in Pasadena (very close to where we were staying) and Margot lived in many places in the area when she was a child and a young adult. It was a homecoming of sorts.
We were excited to connect with Margot's brother's husband, Steven, and his sister Vicky. We were there for Thanksgiving but we couldn't make that day work, so we hung out with one or both of them numerous times while we were there.
We were also right down the street from the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, so we checked that out one afternoon. Margot wasn't a Nixon fan and wasn't thrilled about the visit until we got there and started learning more about Nixon and his presidency. He accomplished so many great things in his first term! But, it seemed like he got a little shady and let "politics" get the best of him as his second term began. It was sad to see a great man fall from grace so spectacularly. Apparently, that wouldn't happen these days.
We actually ran out of time and didn't get to see a lot of the museum (we hung out in the replica of the oval office but didn't get outside to the gardens and helicopter). We'll likely visit it again when we're back in the area.
Steven came to see us at our campground and then we went to get some awesome Mediterranean food (we've been finding that a lot lately, and it's been fantastic).
The next time we saw Steven it was at his house in Laguna Hills, and then we picked up Vicky on our way to eat at The Cliff Restaurant overlooking the water in Laguna Beach. We were on a level above where a wedding was being held, so we had that music and watched happy people dance to disco music. We sat next to the edge at a great table, watching the sun set behind Catalina Island. It was such a great night.
The last time we got together, we just met Steven at the Orange County Mining Company, a very popular restaurant. The food was decent, but it was all about the views. We had great views of Orange County below us in the valley as the sun set, and then we hung out on the deck for a bit just loving the cityscape. It was chilly, but really nice.
We really enjoyed our trip and visiting with Steven and Vicky. We'd spent six weeks right next to one or more busy highways, though, so we were looking forward to a quieter place to stay. It was a short trip farther west but still in California. Such good times!
