Wandering Wahls

We had a great stay on Coronado Island for the MOAA Career Fair. Not only did we taste the exquisite cuisine and shop the wonderful shops of North Island NAS, we were only paying $12 a night for the view pictured here. We stayed at Coronado Naval Base’s Fiddler’s Cove RV Park, which is located at their marina (we’ve noticed that the Air Force calls their RV Parks FamCamps while the Navy likes to use RV Park or RV Resort).

We had a little problem with our sewage holding tank though. Our toilet has a sensor for when the tank is full, and a light turns red when this occurs. The light turned red on the way to Fiddler’s Cove, and would flash on and off during our stay. Yet, we knew the tank was empty. The resulting problem was that when the red light was on, it stopped the toilet from being flushed. While the kids were crossing their legs and hopping around, I did find out that we could override the toilet sensor and force a flush. Thus, there was joy in RV-ville. Now we just have to get the tank’s sensor checked or cleaned – this seems like an episode for the “Dirty Jobs” television show.

The MOAA Career Fair was a very good event: great location, well set up; and, a good group of vendors/employers. We all went and I parked myself at a table and waited for the employers to stop by. Before long I realized though that I had to walk around and visit the employers. This really opened things up for me.

The Fair provided good access to employers and useful insights from them on how to explore job opportunities. In addition, MOAA offered seminars on job-search related issues. If you have an opportunity to attend a future MOAA Career Fair, I highly recommend doing so.

Other than Whidbey Island, Key West, and Newport, RI, we haven’t stayed at Naval bases. Our stays at these Naval RV parks have been among our best spots though – next to the water, well maintained, good prices, and relaxing. The last couple of weeks though have brought us to new Navy bases (and Marine, they’re all one family, right?). We stopped at Port Hueneme, Seal Beach, Camp Pendleton, and Fiddler’s Cove RV Park (part of North Island NAS). The Navy and Marines have some nice bases. One could come up with a dream tour for these guys: California, Hawaii, Okinawa, Florida, maybe a last stop in Okinawa.

Anyway, one of the places we visited at Pendleton and North Island was the exchange. As an Air Force family, we’ve had to get use to the AAFES BX system and their mundane Food Court selection. After seeing Pendleton and North Island, I think the Air Force might want to consider having the NEX system take over.

First, the NEX stores were well stocked, had a nice bookstore, and looked sharp. More important though, since I tend to travel on my stomach, was the NEX’s Food Court. It was nice to be away from the AAFES regulars and actually have some good-tasting food options: great Chinese, fresh Mexican, and even a “5 Guys” hamburger spot. Our kids have been missing 5 Guys since friends in DC took us to one.

Maybe it was just these southern California bases, but we enjoyed the on-base selections. Good job, Navy. Now, we’re headed inland though, away from the Navy’s presence and back to Robin Hood, Anthony’s Pizza, etc. Maybe we’ll go back to cooking in the RV.

Marines at Camp Pendleton

I’m writing from our beachside RV spot at Camp Pendleton’s Del Mar Beach and RV Park. It is a fabulous spot, we are parked on the beach, and out our front window is the Pacific Ocean. If this wouldn’t convince someone to buy an RV and hit the road, I don’t know what would (other than a free RV): The sun, the beach, the sound of the waves, and the melodic effect of the Marines running in cadence.

Camp Pendleton

However, in order to enjoy the outdoors and the full effect of the waves a hundred yards away while I write a few things, and due to the sun’s position, I have to enjoy the serenity by enduring sitting next to our hook ups and waste dump – somehow that takes away from the inspiration of the moment.

I also have to place my chair within the results of our latest misadventure. This morning I heard my youngest say that there was no water. This wasn’t good. It didn’t get better as I looked out the bedroom window and saw a stretch of wet sand. Finally, things got to their worst when I went outside and found the water spigot turned off – this wasn’t right because it had been on since we arrived. When I turned it on again, I heard enormous splashing under the RV. Sometime during the night, our new water hose sprung a leak, creating a lot of wet sand around us. Well, at least it was a cheap way to clean the undercarriage of the RV. Fortunately, our neighbor must have turned off our water this morning (another example of RVers watching out for fellow RVers, and stopping the water from spilling into his spot.)

Now it’s back to designing different resumes for the various employers at MOAA’s Career Fair this Thursday.

We made it to Santa Barbara for my niece’s wedding. This was done avoiding the curving and winding Highway 1 where, as one seasoned RVer put it, “we kissed our rear-end on some of the turns.” I was still able to enjoy the poor roads and heavy traffic though (sarcasm intended).

We get a lot of nice emails and a few have asked what our current Top 10 spots would be now that we’ve been on the road for a year. After a little thinking, I’ve come up with the following spots as our favorites to either visit or consider settling in – in no particular order and with a broad brush.

And keep in mind ten is a small number to include all of our favorites, so I hope no one is offended at having their personal favorite not listed.

1. Yellowstone National Park – this made the entire family’s list of favorites
2. Bryce Canyon National Park – phenomenal hikes among the park’s hoo-doos
3. Rocky Mountain region of Colorado – beautiful place to visit and/or live
4. Los Alamos, NM – little crime, great schools, access to multiple outdoor activities, and the ultimate gated community
5. Everglades & Disney World – can I include these together, they’re both in Florida
6. Nevada City/Grass Valley – house prices falling, pretty area, good schools
7. Maine – Acadia, Boothbay Harbor, Whoopie Pies, fruit pies: a great place to visit!
8. Stowe, VT – fantastic small town, wish someone there recognized my true talents and sent me a job offer
9. Rideau Ferry, Ontario – great fun with the Besches
10. Bozeman, MT – great feel to this town
11. Washington, D.C. – all Americans should visit D.C. at least once
12. Friends’ and families’ we’ve visited

The above list is not complete (and more than 10), and it would be easy to go on. But for now, this list will do.

I am sitting in the RV while my family completes origami cranes for my wife’s niece’s wedding and the Pacific Ocean is in view outside the RV window (too bad Santa Barbara is not affordable). It occurs to me though how nice it is that we have received so many emails from people who read this “travelblogue,” have gone to our website at and obtained our email wahlsacrossamerica@mac.com.
 
(As an aside: One person even obtained my email through the posting of my resume at the MOAA Career Transition site. So members; utilize MOAA’s benefits. If you’re not a member, join to take advantage of the many benefits MOAA provides military members and their families.)
 
Anyway, it is great fun to read the messages. They are supportive and encouraging, and some nice people have invited us to stop by. We also have a lot of fun replying to the messages asking for advice and tips about RV trips – I hope we’ve spurred some readers into an RV journey.
 
So, to all who have emailed us, and those who have posted in the “travelblogue” (or just read), thank you! One thing, the emails sometimes get squashed down into our Inbox. Therefore, if you have emailed us and we haven’t responded, please send us a follow-up email.
 

From our travels, I’ve started to associate areas with objects that seem to describe the essence of the town. As we stay in a town, I get a sense of what the people are like in terms of interests, particularly in terms of the outdoors. This sometimes presents a way to compare places we’ve seen.

For instance, we recently visited three outdoor type locations (all beautiful). The result: Bozeman, MT is kayaks, bikes, and Subarus; Coeur D’Alene, ID is jet skis and powerboats; and, Moab, UT is off-road motorcycles, jeeps, 4-wheel drive ATVs, and a smattering of mountain bikes thrown in.

Along these lines, other sights prejudice me against a town or areas. It seems like every time we’ve hit bad traffic or have gotten lost on city roads, we go away with a bad taste for the area. Or, as we drive through an area and see billboards, I can’t help but associate the billboard subjects with the area. I know Idaho is beautiful, but I can’t get away from associating it with all of the billboards warning about meth use (a friend wondered if the billboards were lit at night so the target audience could read them at 3 am).

Now, as we drive the Interstate from Utah to Las Vegas, I’m inundated with billboards. There are 300 between St. George, UT and Las Vegas (I didn’t count them, a National Park Ranger told us during a discussion of light pollution). I see gaming (something about taking a driving break to gamble doesn’t seem like a real rest), cheap food, and guns. One billboard appeared three times offering me the chance to try an automatic weapon. I’ve got to think that the strip+gambling+booze+the chance to shoot an automatic weapon can’t always come out positive.

On to the wedding and the MOAA Job Fair in San Diego (October 22 – mark that date).

Hindsight IS always 20/20

From Teddy Roosevelt National Park, we were headed westward. So we decided, “what the heck, it has been a year since we were in Yellowstone, lets go back!” Returning here was sort of monumental for us. Last October, we really were novices with this whole RV-trip. I’d make mistakes and not know until someone honked, or a fellow RVer pointed out the mistake – now I make the same mistakes and find them myself. Boy, I’ve come a long way.

Also, one year ago, we were just learning to appreciate the beauty of America, wildlife, and nature. Our visit to Yellowstone at that time was the kids’ first Jr. Ranger patch (they are now up to 50+). Our visit opened our eyes to our country’s natural beauty, the treasure that our National Parks are, and how the National Park system could become a major part of our kids’ “road-school” curriculum. So, we celebrated our one-year anniversary of the “Wahls Across America” trip with a second visit to Yellowstone.

We saw parts of the park we missed last year. We were also better prepared this time with our Alpen Spotting Scope, which we pulled out when we saw wildlife off of the road, and sturdier hiking shoes (a major improvement). Our early morning wildlife drives this time were rewarded with bald eagles (mom, dad, and juvenile – our kids identified the distinctions), wolves (and pups), elk, bison, moose, and a black bear! Check out the rest of the photos on our Web site.

Smarter than your average bear

We also made a trip into the Grand Tetons National Park. This park was stunning with its views of the mountains that rose up directly from the earth – there was no gradual elevation, just the mountains rising to the skies.

From amber waves of grain to purple mountains majesty!