The long walk and helping the homeless

So one of the things that is a draw back to COVID 19, Teleworking and just our lives as we get older in general, is that we get less exercise. Fortunately, through COVID 19, I've managed to avoid the COVID-25 where some have put on weight during the pandemic, I none the less realize I need to get more exercise. With that in mind, and the fact that I realize that we spend entirely too much time whizzing by in the world and not really seeing where we are at, I decided to go for a walk to the local post office that is a little over 2 miles away and drop off some mail. 

The walk was to take about 40 minutes in each direction, and I was able to pretty much meet that mark. But on my way home, I came across a homeless man and his dog. Being one who always has a soft spot for dogs and also one who knows many homeless have just had a few bad turns in life, I carry a bag of dog food in the Jeep with a Subway card to help them out. Unfortunately, I was walking, and I didn't have the car or the bag of food, so, check out this video and see how I went about helping this guy and his dog out. 

Safe Travels all! 

Eric Anderson

First Christmas solo rving 2020

Merry Christmas everyone, 

Well, just like the rest of 2020, the Christmas holiday was like none other before it. This is the first Christmas that I can ever remember, where I was alone for the holiday, at least from that of Human companionship. Fortunately, Carol let me have Charlie and Pirate for the Christmas holiday which was nice. 

The three of us made the best of the holiday. I took the boys for numerous rides to go see Christmas lights in the Sacramento area and also for an occasional biscuit run to Scooters while dad would get a hot chocolate. 

I still broke out the vast majority of the Christmas decorations this year and did up the inside of the motorhome as I always do. I didn't do as many decorations on the outside because the squirrels tend to chew up the wiring and I also had planned to take the motorhome to Lake Comanche for the Christmas holiday, but as with everything COVID 19, that trip got cancelled because of stay at home orders. 

Here is a video of our Christmas holiday. I hope yours was a great one and free of strife. 

Safe travels everyone! 

Eric Anderson

Thanksgiving as a Solo rver 2020

For the first time in my entire life, I like so many others, found myself alone for Thanksgiving this year. Almost all of us were raised experiencing Thanksgiving with family members from birth, and I was no different. The last 21 years, even if I was not with my blood relatives, I was with my wonderful wife Carol. But, 2020 is the year that it was, I found myself alone, separated from human companionship. For me, I was fortunate in a weird sort of way in that Carol was spending Thanksgiving living with her friends Scott and Cheryl. Because she was not alone, she was more than willing to let me have Charlie and Pirate over the Thanksgiving Holiday. 

These two boys are the best companions anyone could ever ask for! I was fortunate enough in that I was able to fire up the motorhome and head a little ways north up I-5 to the town of Dunnigan and stayed over the holiday, with Charlie and Pirate at an RV park there. The Park is an older location, with a lot of full time/permanent residents, but it is a nice RV park. It's not a resort, but it is comfortable, safe and it appears that they are making an effort to upgrade some of the facilities at the park. 

Though the park is right adjacent to I-5, I really didn't hear any noise from the freeway at the camp site. I wanted to still make the most of the Thanksgiving holiday so I bought what I could to at least feel like I had a typical Thanksgiving holiday experience. I even managed to score a Cherry Coke Zero! :-) 

Here is a little video of my preparation of my Thanksgiving feast. I wanted it to show, that even though someone may be living alone, you can still experience some of the smells, textures and tastes of the Thanksgiving holiday. Enjoy! 

Safe Travels All!

Eric Anderson

Bumper Swap between the wranglers

So one of the last projects that I did before Carol decided to divorce me, I swapped the bumpers between the Jeep Rubicon 'Ruby' and 'Grey'. In July we had taken Grey in for an oil change and Carol saw Ruby and decided she wanted to trade our Chevy volt in for Ruby. Shortly after we got Ruby home, I started the process of swapping the bumpers. This was a project that I undertook early on in August of 2020. 

Though I didn't have a long breaker bar ratchet wrench, I was able to borrow one from one of our neighbors. I was able to get the bumpers swapped out. Here is a video about the swapping of the bumpers. 

The Grey Jeep Wrangler tows perfectly behind the Motorhome just like it always has. 

Safe travels all! 

Eric Anderson

Sewing machine for the RVing Life style

I don't have a need to sew very often, but I had a couple of projects that I needed to get done. One of them was repairing the curtains in the front of the motorhome and another was making seat covers for the couch of the motorhome as well. 

This great little unit is small but surprisingly functional in doing sewing projects in the RV. Though I would suggest a residential unit for anyone doing a lot of making of outfits, this one sure does the job for small occasional projects. The unit is small enough to store almost anywhere in your RV. 

Check out my video review below. 

Safe travels all! 

Eric Anderson

getting my monthly COVID test

For the 3rd month in a row I have come down to Sacramento's Cal expo in order to get a COVID 19 test. I don't expect that I have come down positive at all but I'm just trying to do my part to aid and testing and if at all possible reduce the positive case count here in sacramento. 

Two of the times so far I've come back negative but you never know. I pretty much isolate in the motor home but, anything's possible. I do go out to restaurants on occasion, but usually eat outside. Now that the region is locked down even dining out isn't an option. 

This virus has been horrible. More lives lost than in World War II. The governor of California,  Gavin Newsom,  has really had to lock down the state. Many other states have had to do the same. It's sad and it has really destroyed the economy but I'm proud of the steps he has taken. People have not been behaving them selves with social distancing and wearing masks so he has to play the heavy hand. Some areas of California have had less than 5% of available beds in the ICUs. 

A vaccine is starting to be distributed now, but it will be months before it is available to the general public.  About the only thing the Trump did right during the 4 years in office was the expediting of the vaccine,  that's it... at least in my humble opinion.  :-) 

UPDATE: I got my results back from my test and I once again am negative for COVID 19. 

Safe travels everyone.  

Eric Anderson 

CHiPs for kids toy drive

Every year our local NBC affiliate KCRA TV in Sacramento coordinates with the California Highway Patrol in the annual CHiPs for kids toy drive program. The program which is put in by the California Highway Patrol allows for the CHP office in each county of the state of California to collect toys for underprivileged children in their particular county. 

KCRA always makes a big splash for the CHP so that they can have as good a turn out as possible in collecting toys for underprivileged kids in the Sacramento area. In the past, I have tried to participate in this when my schedule allowed. However this year with COVID 19 and the fact that I'm working from home, it wasn't as much of a challenge to make time in my morning to take some toys to the CHiPs for kids program. The toy drive was held on the 4th of December. I went to Target the night before and cruised through the toys section of the store. I managed to find 3 toys that I thought would fit into 3 different age groups. I found a Lite Brite, which was a toy that I had great fun with when I was a child. I also found a football as well  As a stuff school bus. I figured the school bus would work well for any child that was 3 is 7 years of age, according to the label. I also figured that the football would work well for any child that was 12 years or older. I then figured that the light bright would work well for any kid that was age 6 up through Maybe 12.

 I was very concerned that this year's collection might be lower the normal because they're so many families that are financially struggling this year. But I also was concerned that the need would be really great. In the past they've collected anywhere from 8,000 to 9,000 toys in the Sacramento area for the CHiPs for kids toy drive. Well, I was very pleased to find out that I was a very small part of a very successful story this year. 

It turns out that the folks in Sacramento really turned out to help the underprivileged kids in the area. There was over 10,455 toys that were collected by the chips for kids program on the morning of the 4th.  This was a wonderful turn out and I was glad to see such a great donation volume this year. This just goes to show the people really do care. I want you to consider the fact that even if you may be living on the road that you can make a difference in whatever community you're in. All we have to do is keep an eye on the local TV channel and see what's going on and take a few bucks and donate it to a worthy cause. I know that all of us want to help where we can. Check out my video below of my trip taking the toys to our camps for kids toy drive here in Sacramento this year.

    CHiPs for Kids toy drive

Have safe travels all! 

Eric Anderson