Deer and Tarantulas - Oceano, CA

One of the best things about this park is that we are less than 20 yards from the entrance to the Pismo State Beach dunes. Once inside the gate Ruthi can let Karma lose and the game of “ball” begins. When there are a lot of visitors and dogs in the park, like today, Ruthi waits to let Karma off leash until they have reached the crown of the entrance area, so that they can see just what else is out there competing for the great up/down dunes to run in, fly a kite, slide on disks, chase a ball, etc. etc. etc. Ruthi and Karma don’t go very far into the park because for every “down” there is an “up” in very loose sand.

Ruthi throws the ball and Karma gives chase at top speed. She (Karma, not Ruthi) gets sand everywhere and especially on her cheeks, nose and all over her tongue. But, she never says “let’s go home, I’m tired.” When Karma has completed her 2 duties (pee/poop) and senses that Ruthi is done throwing, Karma begins scanning the dunes for another sucker to throw the ball for her. Today she was doing a duty and was about to turn towards a family that was coming up the dunes when a mule deer ran out of the foliage on the edge of the park. The deer saw Ruthi and Karma or more correctly saw Karma and immediately did a sliding 180ᵒ back to the bushes.

Luckily, Karma did not see the deer. Karma was off leash and has never been good at the “recall” command. She would have given chase and who knows when she would return. Ball or no ball the deer running away would have been too much for Karma to ignore. She did sense that something was up because all of the humans on the dunes were reacting with various comments and yells. But, alas, Karma decided that the family she had sighted was close enough to be a part of her “chase the ball” game. Karma regularly dropped the ball in front of the mother first, then the daughter, and then the son in turn until they had climbed the dunes. Ruthi was able to thank the family for entertaining Karma and get the dog leashed for the walk back to the RV.

As we were all talking and commenting on Karma’s “sharing” ability, another member of their party came up and commented that they had found a tarantula on the lower part of the dunes. Ruthi just Googled “tarantulas on California beaches” and found out that it’s rare for a daytime beach sighting. Good thing cause with Ruthi’s spider phobia, Karma’s walks on the dunes would be over. For at least a few days, Ruthi will be much more aware of the animal life possible in the sand.

Foreign Travelers - Oceano, CA

At various RV Parks, and Rest Stops we have met RVers from other countries. This year we have already met more than the last 5 years all together. They are from Japan, South Korea, Germany and a large contingency from Quebec, Canada. The South Koreans rented a class A from a company focused on Korean visitors.

These visitors don’t seem to have the dog companions like the American RVers. We think Karma (at 50+ pounds) is at the large end of an RV travel companion. We have seen week-enders and full-timers with multiple dogs much bigger than Karma. Or, like our neighbors a few days ago with 4 dogs of many breeds (basset mix, standard poodle (looked a lot like Karma, except for the poodle puffy tail), Chihuahua mix, Sheppard mix).

Thank You - Interstate 5 in California

Driving an RV means that you sometimes are the parade marshal and have a number of cars behind you, especially on 2 lane roads. We try to be aware and considerate. When possible with “passing lanes” or “turnouts”, we move over so that the parade may “pass us by.” When stopped for road construction we try to allow for all the vehicles behind us to follow the lead car first; thereby ensuring that once we are back on the regular road, they won’t have to try to pass us. Sometimes the cars’ drivers thanks us by flashing their lights or waving a hand (not finger) at us as they pass. More times than not they just pass us and disappear ahead of us.

Yesterday and today are exceptions. We had about 50% of the cars we let get by us on the run down the canyon from Quincy, CA to Oroville, CA, wave or flash their lights in thanks. Then on Interstate 5, trucker after trucker thanked us for letting them know when it was safe to pull back into our lane in front of us. So, we are feeling loved on the highway!

Ducks in the Crosswalk - Marysville, CA

Getting from Quincy to our overnight in Patterson, CA, we pass through Marysville’s downtown section. We were waiting at a particular red light with a city park on our right when up to the crosswalk 2 hungry ducks appear. They are either eating grain left on the pathway and edge of the road or consuming grit for their gullets. Either way, they appear to be getting ready to cross the busy highway as soon as the “WALK” sign is illuminated. So, Boots (the driver at the time) watches carefully and creeps into the intersection being careful that she doesn’t commit duck-icide. Thankfully, the ducks are too focused on their eating to pay any attention to the traffic or wanting to cross the road. So, no “Why did the duck cross the road jokes?” here.

Sunny the Dog – Quincy, CA

The kids have a wonderfully relaxed “floppy” dog named Sunny. He is a German short hair mixed dog, with great marking and a smaller head that is beagle colored. Little seems to faze him. Unlike Karma’s need to “police” all locations and errant animals (rabbits, cats, squirrels, and armadillos) with barks and chases, Sunny just works with each of them to develop a play pattern. Karma and Sunny get along well but have different interests. While Karma will chase the ball again and again, Sunny would rather get the first one and bury it for future play. So, we always start with 2 balls and then after Sunny’s first throw is finished, Karma continues.

We went to pick up the kids (Bodhi 8YO and Tara 4YO) for an afternoon of biking and movies at our RV. We were busy loading the bikes into the back of the truck and hooking up the booster seat for Tara. Then we were getting the kids into the truck and Boots got in the driver seat. She noticed that Sunny was laying down in the passengers’ foot space. He didn’t want to be left behind so he got the best seat he could find. Like Karma, he hates to be left home.

What a difference 20 years makes - Quincy, CA

We have 7 smart, handsome/cute, successful - :) :) :)- grandchildren (5 boys and 2 girls). Now they, or at least the older ones are producing the cutest great-grandchildren in the world (of course). The oldest grand-daughters is a 24 college student while the other is a 4 year old in pre-school. When the 24YO (Kashmere) was in grade school she was asked to write a story about her family. Kashmere chose to write about us, her grandmothers. She had spent most week-ends with us after having lived with us for her first year. Kashmere wrote about how much she loved us and admired who we each were. Her teacher contacted her parents and informed them that her essay would not be posted because of the content. What the teacher missed was that by her actions, she made Kashmere into a strong fierce ally for LGBT people and issues. Kashmere stood up against bullies and the ignorant from that day forward. She wasn’t going to let prejudice get away with hurting anyone else and especially her grandmothers – us. Recently she researched and presented the topic – Civil Unions & Marriage, What Are The Legal Differences – in one of her college classes. So, while the elementary teacher’s motives were suspect, her actions really made the right impression on Kashmere.

That brings us to our youngest grand-daughter, 4YO Tara. We only see her for a month each year when we travel to her hometown and visit with her, her 8YO brother and parents. When we picked her up from pre-school for an afternoon visit, her teacher shared that all of her classmates were envious of Tara’s 2 grandmothers that lived together in an RV. They all wished that they had 2 grandmothers that lived together. So, not only is Tara lucky to have a better teacher than her cousin, she is growing up 20 years later than her cousin. We like to think that her cousin, Kashmere, has in some ways made Tara’s path smoother!

Cleaning the RV - Reno, NV

Living full-time in an RV brings with it the challenge of keeping it clean – nooks and crannies, etc. While Boots was in Alaska getting her driver’s license renewed, Ruthi set about wiping every surface, sweeping every errant dog hair, vacuuming floors/window coverings, washing the floor on her hands/knees, etc. etc. etc. - two days of intense cleaning. Afterwards, she was thinking, hmm was it all worth it. One shake of her body, Karma sends little black hairs everywhere, even though she had just been groomed/furminated.

Keeping dust and grime out of the RV is next to impossible, Besides the windows, doors (without porch/arctic entry) letting in dust and grime from each RV site, our flip flops and Karma’s paws carry more into the rig. Ruthi has flip flops at the door and another pair outside because with walking the dog, she has a tendency to go off paths and sidewalks to pickup presents left by Karma.

Short of sealing the RV inside a large bubble, we live with dust, grime and dirt with continual wiping/vacuuming!