December 2023

 Admittedly, the holidays have always been a very happy time of the year for me, but this year is different. Karen and Mike have made it clear that their intention is to move to Connecticut. This leaves me feeling very sad and admittedly lonely, but I understand why they feel they need to make this move. More on that at a later time.

I have had my 2022 Jeep Wrangler 4XE for 17 months now, with 30K miles on it, and I feel like I love it more each day. I wish I could explain it, but even though it has had a recall that I had to take it in for, it is just a blast to drive. It is the fourth Jeep product that I have driven over the years, and it has been just the best. It is the most comfortable Jeep I've ever driven, and I've even owned a Jeep Grand Cherokee at one point in time in my life and I absolutely love the fact that it is a hybrid. I love being able to run errands and not use a drop of gasoline. I also enjoy the fact that it is super quiet. I really have no complaints about the vehicle. Sure, there are things I would change about it if I could like a flat folding back seat so I could camp in the Jeep, or a longer range battery, but we all need to remember, Life isn't perfect and life has it's trade-offs... and the things I love about the Jeep far exceed those couple of things that I wish were different. 

I especially love it when the weather cooperates, and I can take the freedom top off. 

As you saw in last months post, I started working on a sign stand, well this month I finished it. You see, years ago when I was married and we were down in the vicinity of the Yosemite Area, we found a wood sign maker who had some really cool looking signs. We asked him if he could make a sign with our motorhome on it and he assured us he could. Well, he told us there was a lot of labor involved which we understood, and so we paid him in advance. We then got the run around about getting the sign from him. We were persistent and even had to make a second trip down to Yosemite to get the sign once it was finished. This was at least 10 years ago. Well, for years it hung on a bear carved out of a tree and I didn't want to tote the bear around after the divorce, so I gave the bear to Carol. I still held on to the sign and needed some way to display it so that it wasn't hanging on the motorhome and banging on the paint job. So, I made a stand to display the sign and also serve as a way to hold up the banner Stand. You see, most RV parks have gravel or asphalt common areas, and it is really hard to drive it into the ground. So, with some scrap plywood and a little stain, I made the stand. I don't know how well it will hold up in the winter or summer weather, but hey, lets see how it does. 

I really wasn't sure how I was going to feel about living exclusively at Thousand trails Parks for the foreseeable future, and moving every 3 weeks. For me, the lifestyle works... quite nicely. The best part about the parks is the nature-esqueness of it all. Just about every park in this area is near some body of water and I just love being in the trees and the scenery. Two of my favorite parks is Lake Minden which is between Yuba City and Sacramento, and Ponderosa which is out by Placerville. Both are reasonable distances from my office and I enjoy both locations immensely. Lake Minden as I have mentioned before is a small lake that is about a mile in circumference and is a very enjoyable walk to get exercise first thing in the morning, and late in the afternoon. The sunsets at Lake Minden are always enjoyable and even though I've been coming here for several months, I never get bored with it. :-)  

I typically love the holiday season. It gives me a chance to decorate the motorhome, the Jeep, myself, and even Remi when she is willing to oblige. Because we are going into the office two times a week, I wanted to dress up one day for the office when we were scheduled to have a office holiday party. It was nice to get a group photo of everyone in my division and not just my team. This year I changed from wrapping the spare tire in lights to putting a properly sized Wreath for the spare tire on the Jeep and I absolutely love it. I found the wreath at Home Goods for $25.00. They were originally marked $95.00, but marked for clearance because the light set that comes with them don't work. 

Me, Louie, Hang, Katie, A gentleman I don't know, Sam, Carmen, Mark, Analee, Michael and Liana a student assistant. 

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This holiday season is filled with lots of mixed emotions. A little over a year ago, Karen and Mike adopted Woody from a horrible situation in Montague California. I was so glad they saved him at the time, but now Karen and Mike are pushing me hard to get him a new home. I came up to Ashland for Christmas and New years and it almost feels like since I'm the Rescue guy in the family, that it is my responsibility to find him a new home. I get that it is hard for them to have to re-home Woody, but I wish they understood just how hard it is. I did a marketing video of Woody for them, and I created fliers, but they didn't really do anything to distribute fliers or anything for him. I felt like they just waited for me to come up to Oregon during the holidays to find Woody a home for them. Karen and Mike have been so good to me over the years, and I am not bitter about needing to find a new home for Woody for them, but I am pretty hurt that they are not taking any initiative about this, but it is what it is I guess. I'm so sorry Woody that you once again have to find a new home. Despite what I must do for Woody, I still managed to put on a happy face for the family and enjoy Christmas dinner with the family. 

As part of my trip, I wanted to make time for some of my friends that I have made in Siskiyou county. They were what helped me feel accepted in a very conservative part of the state. Of course, no visit to Siskiyou county would be complete without a visit to Rescue Ranch. I love what Rescue Ranch does and all of the dogs they have saved, but I am saddened by just how many dogs they are having to care for. They are having to care for over 200 dogs between the adoption center and the Sanctuary property. They have pulled  a lot of dogs from Siskyou County Animal Control, and one of those dogs was a guy named Romeo. Romeo is a super sweetheart and I hate seeing him still at the ranch after being pulled from the county shelter, but I am very thankful that they did pull him none the less. I've done a marketing video for him, but it hasn't seemed to help this pour guy. I love him so much and wish I could save them all. I worked with Romeo a lot at the county shelter and I think he recognized me. <3 Rescue Ranch really is well recognized for what they do. Some benefactor donated a bunch of kennels to help the dogs that prefer to be outside, warm at night. I am so thankful for all of the support that they get. 

I've learned a few things about myself since the divorce and been reminded of a few things as well. I've found that I am able to develop friendships, and I consider myself very lucky to have a couple of the best friends I've ever had in my life in Kat from Siskiyou County and Ally in the Central California area. Both ladies I have done animal rescue with. I've also reminded myself that despite if you have a pig with a golden heart that is well intentioned, even if you put lipstick on that pig, it is still a pig. I've found that it is possible for others to like me and respect me and all that sort of stuff, and love me because they know me, but loving me and being available to be in a relationship with me is a whole other issue. But, that is the extent that I will go into my struggles with my own self-image. All that aside, I consider myself very lucky to have Kat and Ally as two very wonderful close friends. During my visit to Siskiyou county, I was able to get together with Kat and have Remi and I go for a walk with her around Lake Siskiyou. I love this lake, and I always enjoy Kat's company. 

Though a lot of people in Siskiyou County would not understand me, I'm thankful that people like Kat do. Aside from my small cadre of friends in Siskiyou County, I love the area for its nature and beauty. I have so many favorite places in Siskiyou County, but Mount Shasta is definitely one of my all-time Favorite places. It really doesn't matter from what local I see Mt. Shasta from, it never ceases to amaze me.  Another cool thing about the Weed safety rest area is a monument dedicated to the military, fire and law enforcement personnel who work every day to serve and protect their community. This location has been many years in the making, but it is slowly getting there. 

Here is the VLOG for this months journey.... I hope you enjoy it! 

Safe travels all... 

Eric and Remi. 

November 2023

 Hi there everyone, 

We are approaching my favorite time of year, the holidays... I love the holidays because it means family get togethers, sending Christmas cards, and decorations. I truly love this time of year, because the holidays have always been a time of the year that brings some happiness. November started out a little rocky this year... the Motorhome ended up in the shop, and I got in a small accident with it, however the two incidents were not related. I've been driving the Allegro bus for 14 years now and I've put a lot of miles on it, so I guess I was due. As we arrived at the Ponderosa Thousand Trails park in Lotus California, I was backing it up into is spot, going up a hill and doing a blind side back, in other words, I was turning towards a direction on my blind side. Well, I hit a concrete pilon in the process, but it was only slightly more than a tap. About all I did was scratch the paint. 

One of the weird things we have had, virtually since the day we bought this motorhome, is it would occasionally get a check engine light in the weirdest times. I talked to the Freightliner dealer about it and they said it was probably an injector going bad, but they said that we would have to have a constant Check engine light to really diagnose the problem. Well, fast forward... 14 years, though the Check engine light was not on any more than normal, I was leaking diesel like a sieve. So, I figured it would be better to take the motorhome into the shop before it completely died in the middle lane of I-80 someday. So, I made an appointment and took it in. The Frieghtliner dealer found the leak and it was the fuel pump. So, while they awaited parts and Remi and I found a hotel that we could stay at while the motorhome was repaired. 

They told me that it would cost about $2,800 to get it repaired and they were pretty much true to their word. I found out that mechanic Labor rates have gone up more than my salary. Over the last 10 years my salary has only gone up about 20%, Labor rates have almost doubled over that same time frame. 

As you know, the main reason I returned to the Sacramento area is because I have to report to the office one day a week, and the commute from Yreka was insane. Though there is nothing wrong with the office that I have to report to, because we are hotelling (sharing our cubical with others), we can't personalize them. Plus, I've become more productive teleworking and most of the people I deal with don't work for CDT, so, at least for me, I don't see a benefit to reporting to the office. Some of the draw backs are is I spend way more on gas, I'm eating more fast food, and as a result my diet is going to heck. About the only thing good about reporting to the office, is I get free parking as well as there are charging stations at the office. Oh, and I LOVE the Jeep Wrangler 4XE... I'm 28,000 miles in and it is my favorite car ever. 

Traditionally the month of November is when I start to decorate the motorhome and send out Christmas cards. And while this year, the decorations are the same, the decorations and the emotions related to the holidays, never get old. This year, sadly, I didn't get to go to Oregon for Thanksgiving because Karen and Mike went back to Connecticut. So, I bought myself a hungry man TV dinner, and it actually was pretty good. 

As lives go, I know I've got a pretty good one. Remi and I are very comfortable in the motorhome and we get to stay at some really very pretty RV parks. Just about every Thousand Trails park has some sort of water feature near it. Lake Minden and Lake of the Springs both have lakes. Ponderosa has the South Fork of the American River and Snowflower has Snowflower lake. Some of the sunsets that we experience just can't be beat. Remi and I have really hit a rhythm with our stays at Thousand Trails parks and we are getting to live a pretty good life and enjoying the scenery along the way. And, as a bonus, I am permitted by the good people at the City of Stokton Animal shelter to work with some amazing dogs, every single week! 

Please check out our VLOG for the month of November. 

Safe travels all... 

Remi and Eric too! 

October 2023

I don't know if it is good news or bad news... but it could be said that Remi and I have kind of entered a routine into our life. That routine is that typically every three weeks, we move from one Thousand Trails Park to another. And, I gotta admit, at least at this point in my life... it works for us. Remi is a pretty easy keeper. As long as she has her couch to lay on, and her dad is nearby, she considers her life to be a good one. 

This month we find ourselves starting out the first half of the month saying at Snowflower Lake Thousand trails park. This is without a doubt, my favorite Thousand Trails Park I've stayed at so far. The only drawback to this park is that it is just east of Nyack. And anyone who travels to this area at all, knows that in the winter time, this area gets a lot of snow. As a result, this park closes at the end of October and doesn't open until spring time. Regardless, this park is simply amazing. 

The area that we chose to set up camp, is a part of the park referred to as the Cliffs. As you look at the following pictures, you will get an idea as to why it is called that. The park has a lot of tall pines and cedar trees throughout it, and since I telework 3 days out of the week, I really needed a site that didn't have a lot of tree coverage. As you can see, though it is nothing more than a glorified parking lot, it truly does have a stark beauty all its own. 

One of the things I want to put on my bucket list for some time is to stay in a yurt. I think when I choose to do that, I will stay at one of the Yurts here at Snowflower lake. 

There are so many attractive features of about this park,, one of them is the lake itself. Remi and I found ourselves up here almost every day enjoying the beauty of the lake. Another thing that is fun about this park is that they have good old ranger programs. Every weekend, they have a campfire to do marshmallow roasting (when permitted by the forest service) and it is so fun to see all the families having such a great time. 

Snowflower lake is just a little bit over an hour from the office in Rancho Cordova. Though that isn't a short commute, for staying up here for a week or two and only going into the office two days a week, it isn't too bad. One of the things I love about Ranch Cordova is Brookfields restaurant. It is just good casual dining and the food is always good as well as the service. As you can see, I always park the jeep in such a way to pass along the good word about Adopting and not going to a breeder for dogs. 

There are always times in our lives when we get frustrated, and I certainly have had those times. If there is one thing I have come to appreciate the last 2 or 3 years, is the people who have come into my life to enrich it beyond my wildest dreams. When I relocated to Yreka, I made so many new friends in the rescue activity, I have just been bowled over by the amount of love in the hearts of all the people involved in this activity. I was very sad, and still am, about leaving the Siskiyou county area, but I am truly enjoying a new partner in crime that I am spending a lot of my Sundays with doing dog videos. Ally O'dell is someone that I first met when I lived in Sacramento and Carol and I were volunteering for Chako Pit bull Rescue and Advocacy. Ally has been such a joy to work with. She is a great dog wrangler and she has a compassionate heart of gold, that is also pragmatic. She is becoming a good friend, and I hope I never lose her as a friend, because she is very wonderful. 

Despite being sold a bill of goods about my new job at California department of Technology being 100% telework, I must admit, I work with a simply amazing team. From our MMBI Project Manager on down, everyone works so hard and gets along so well. Speaking of our project manager, who is a guy named Robert Payne, this guy is amazing. His family owns a Lavender farm west of Sacramento, and they hosted a "Pot Luck" for everyone to come and celebrate the progress we are making on the project. Robert's contribution, was roasted pig done in an underground pit. 

The following is a video of some of our adventures in the month of October, and there is some great aerial video that I shot with my drone at Snowflower Lake. Check it out. 

Safe travels everyone! 

Eric and Remi too!