Wandering Wahls

Well, we had another fun misadventure from our trip between the Coast Guard Petaluma station and Travis Air Force Base – actually a repeat misadventure. As both of my frequent readers will recall, we towed our Volvo from White Sands, NM to a New Mexico state park with the emergency brake on. It sure was a surprise to get in the car, drive into town, and pull up the brake – with no resistance I almost pulled it out of the console.

What had happened was that our procedure for driving the car onto our trailer/tow dolly and hooking it up was altered. Therefore, Mary Claire’s usual sequence of events was thrown askew and she forgot to set the brake. After that instance, my wife set up a process where she drives the car on the tow dolly, Joe and I set the straps and cables, give her the thumbs up, and she sets the brake and locks the doors.

So, here we were leaving the wonderful Coast Guard base and performing the usual tow procedures. We then drove 80 miles to Travis AFB, and unhooked the car so that I could back the RV into our spot. I was setting up the black and gray water hoses when MC approached me. I knew something was up because she stays away from this procedure. She told me she only wanted one thing for Christmas – new emergency brakes for the car. The foolproof procedures we set up weren’t so foolproof afterall! Oh well, no worries, just another misadventure on the road to add to our adventures. I just wonder how I’m going to wrap an emergency brake.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to All!
The Wandering Wahls

"Look busy and we won't have to help with the parking brake!"

We keep thinking we’ve come full circle on this trip, from meeting up with friends from MC’s first assignment, to visiting the friends who introduced the two of us. But, here we are at Travis AFB coming full circle two more times!

We arrived to visit our first “joint” friends from the military (friends we both met after being married). Gary and Bridgette Grabowski are retired AF friends (fighter pilot type and nurse) who we met during our early days at Nellis AFB (after meeting in the O’Club, they promptly “no-noticed” us later that night at our apartment and we’ve been friends, Godparents to kids, etc. ever since). They were also the first people we visited in the RV.

So, here we are at Travis thinking we’ve come full circle yet again. However, we went to church on base and sitting a few pews in front of us are Sonia and David Kuch – the people we bought our car from when we PCSed to Landstuhl, Germany. They’re now stationed at Travis, of all things. What makes this another form of “coming full circle” though is the car they sold us is the one we kept at my brother-in-law’s and ended up being burned to the ground at the local auto repair shop (through no fault of my brother-in-law). They enjoyed hearing that story.

It appears that there are many ways to come full circle. Maybe we should change the phrase to “come full concentric circle.” In any event, it’s a small world out there, especially after a military career.

You spin me right round...Coming full circle!

We are sitting in the RV settled in here at the Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma listening to Christmas music (Dean Martin singing Christmas songs always gets me sentimental.), writing Christmas cards, and admiring the frost on the ground – a perfect scene for the moment. In between the kids writing their Christmas cards to friends here and in Germany, and my wife and I writing the family’s cards, we’ve had an assortment of Christmas gift ideas – things an RV family might wish for:

• Full hook ups at RV parks with large “pull through” spots
• RV Parks with cable TV access, playgrounds, pool, and a hot tub (you can see what our kids are interested in)
• Courteous drivers who don’t cut me off while I am driving a 35,000 lb vehicle
• Drivers behind me who don’t take my “changing lane” blinker as a reason to change lanes themselves
• A nice house on an acre or so waiting just for us to buy at a low foreclosure price
• Someone looking to hire a person of my many writing, teaching, training, marketing talents (okay, making “talent” plural might be stretching things a bit)
• If I can’t have the above, at least the gift of a reply from people who received my CV/resume
• Safe travels on a wide and smooth road with little traffic
• Wildlife sightings
• Red Ryder BB Gun (I know, he’ll shoot his eye out!)

And, in the “better to give than to receive” category:

• Working blinkers for all these drivers in cars with apparently inoperable blinkers
• New pairs of glasses for those drivers who, apparently not seeing a 41-foot long, 12-foot tall RV, pull out in front of them

I’m sure we’ll have more later. But, to all of you we wish you safe travels and Happy Holidays!

We have made it to RV parks at Air Force, Army, and Navy bases; now, we’ve finally made it to a Coast Guard’s RV Park – and what a delight!

We’re at the Coast Guard Training Center in Petaluma, California, about halfway between Petaluma and Bodega Bay on the California coast. The latter is where Alfred Hitchcock filmed “The Birds.” We saw that movie a few weeks ago by chance, so our stop in Bodega Bay was fascinating to the kids. We’ve also been wary of anything flying that might be flocking around us.

The base is the country’s largest Coast Guard base and they provide training here for such things as medical, cooking, and law enforcement. Since I tend to lead with my stomach when I travel, so to speak, I particularly enjoy the Galley. Given that they are training cooks, the food offerings are extensive and really, really good. If this is the food they serve up on Coast Guard ships, sign me up.

The Training Center is a beautiful base in a prime location. We’re lakeside, nestled among trees with deer roaming around us. We’re also close to the coast and Point Reyes National Seashore (one more Junior Ranger program knocked off, along with a bobcat sighting).

Finally, the friendliness and service of those who serve here has taken us aback. The lead cooking instructor (I’m sure he has a more appropriate title) made sure we were taken care of and satisfied. The Chaplain was friendly and welcoming. And, Mark the engineer came out to thaw our frozen water hose (we hit sub 30 temperatures), and he came back while we were sightseeing to replace a faulty gasket he found in our hose. Wow.

If you’re in the area, be sure to stop by the Galley. But lunch is between 12:00 and 12:15 so be on time.

An unexpected highlight of our trip is that we seem to have inspired other military associated families to take a similar journey. I don’t whether we’ve started a trend, but we’ve been receiving emails over the last few weeks from current and future military retirees picking our brain about a full-time RV trip. Of course, maybe we didn’t start the trend.

Possibly, our exposure allowed others to come out of the closet and feel comfortable proclaiming to friends and neighbors that they, too, were going to spend a year-plus in a 40-foot RV, with three kids, seeing the country, dumping black waste, and living their own reality show – full-time RVers unite!

Okay, sorry for the diversion, back to my entry. So, the emails ask about the trip, where we stop, choosing an RV, budget, etc. Heck, I’ve written enough emails that I can write a “How to Make a Military Retiree RV Journey for Dummies” book (or, “How to Retire Without Settling Down”).

Our emails span the globe. We’ve heard from a retiree living in France who wants to show his French wife our national parks, as well as a member stationed in Saudi Arabia who is planning his family’s future trip upon his retirement. We’ve even heard from a couple of families starting a trip. We’ve been able to share tips on national parks (“Will it fit a 40-foot RV?” is an important question to ask prior to visiting a national park with a car in tow) and places to see.

And, I have to say, we’ve heard from non-military families who are interested in the same type of journey. Unfortunately for them, they don’t enjoy the benefits of a military career (e.g., the pension, base access, etc.).

To finish up this “travelblogue” entry, we enjoy responding to the emails. There were many people who helped us when we started our trip, so we feel good to be able to help others as they plan. Feel free to email us at: wahlsacrossamerica@mac.com.

In the rear view mirror: We were caught between a rock and a hard place...errrrr...RV.

We’re in the coastal city of Cayucos, California presently finishing up our holiday stay with family. After turkey, pies, local fish tacos, a visit to the Hearst Castle (photos will be up soon on our Web site), and a polar bear plunge into the Pacific by our boys, we embark from here on a house hunting/site recon mission.

The first place we’ll stop is the Grass Valley/Nevada City area of California (east of Sacramento into the foothills toward Lake Tahoe). This area is outside the urban setting of mid-California, close to Beale Air force Base, close to family, and offers houses with some land at affordable prices for California. Also (and readers might be interested in this) California has a veterans benefit that allows dependents of a veteran with a VA disability rating to attend a California university (either their state college system or the universities) tuition and fee free! With tuition at about $10,000 (and having three kids), that is a pretty good benefit to consider when deciding on a state. We have not found that specific benefit matched in other states.

On the other hand, the cons of California relate to the state’s financial situation and the cost of living. Things are just more expensive here. And, if the state’s deficit keeps spiraling down, day-to-day fees may increase or see services taken away. Regarding the latter, we’re concerned that the state might eventually take away the tuition benefit mentioned above in order to save money.

So then, it is off to look at places to settle. After Grass Valley, we plan to head to Ashland and Bend Oregon. I’ll summarize their pros and cons later.

We're not thinking about college quite yet...