Weather is always a major factor for full timers and traveling brings it’s own concerns. While on the road we keep the weather radio on and pay attention to road conditions. This habit served us well during the fall of 2004 when we left Casper, Wyoming and headed for California. We wanted to arrive in time for Thanksgiving with our families.

We had spent nearly three months in Casper waiting for our new Teton to be built. During this time we got to know the area well. The fiver was due off the line in mid November and we had already had several snowstorms. We took factory delivery and spent several days there, getting organized and taking care of any problems that arose.

Our plans were to leave the factory and head directly for California. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating. It had started snowing on Friday morning and snowed off and on until noon. By 1:00 pm we realized that it was too late to hit the road, and the snowstorm was getting more intense. We called the campground we had lived in for the past three months and headed over to spend the night. We spent the rest of the day and the following morning trying to create some semblance of order inside our new home.

By noon there was about 4 inches of snow on the ground and a break in the storm so we decided to leave Casper. We made it to Green River, WY by late afternoon and there we spent the night. It did not snow much, but the temperature read 15 degrees when we left the next morning. The roads were dry and we made good time. We stopped for the night at a little campground in Utah and headed to Las Vegas the next day. We had not been on the road long when we got a call from our son Brian. “Where are you guys?” “In Utah with snow all around us…..it will be good to get to Apple Valley and no snow! I forgot how dirty plowed snow was……”

“Oh, Mom, guess what? We have two feet of snow on the ground and the kids are snow boarding across the street! We don’t even have to drive to the mountains…earliest snow on record!” “Oh, terrific…more snow!” say I……well at least Vegas is just wet…..

We had planned to meet some friends of ours in Vegas and catch up with all the news. Besides, they were anxious to see our new home. Jim and Valerie Gehlen are full-timers with a class 8 Volvo that they had re-worked to be an RV hauler. Jim started his project several years ago and it was now finished. Bright red and very handsome! It was good to see them again. Although it had only been 4 months or so since we had gotten together, it seemed like a lifetime. We now had our new “home” and were ready to show it off.

After a night in Vegas, dollars intact…we headed for the final leg of our journey to Apple Valley. We had not seen snow since Utah, so were unprepared when we found it again right outside of Vegas! The desert was an awesome place, with over a foot of snow. The roads were dry, but it was very cold. During our trip from Casper, we had left the front furnace on in the Teton. It was so nice to stop at a rest stop, go out into the freezing air, open the door to the fiver and be greeted by…warmth! All the way to Apple Valley, we wondered if we would have to shovel snow to get onto our pad at the resort. With only a small trowel and a kitchen broom, that would be a real trick! Fortunately, the snow was melted off the pad, with about 15 inches on the grass.

When we ordered the Teton, we opted for the Bigfoot leveling system. We are just getting too old to be crawling under the fiver to place blocks and boards to get level. What a good investment that has been, instead of the minimum 30 minutes to level, it is five at the outside. So, dressed in relatively light clothing for the weather conditions, we were setup, and inside our toasty-warm home in record time! Phone calls to the family and we were ready to face the rest of the day.

The first thing I did was get the pie ingredients out for the pies I was contributing for Thanksgiving dinner the next day. Several hours later three pies were ready and we headed over to my folk’s home to check in. Dad had been fighting cancer for nearly three years and we were very concerned about him. He seemed to be holding his own and very happy to see us, of course. Mom was her cheery self, bustling around, making everyone happy. We had a wonderful visit with Mom and Dad as well as our oldest son Brian , Eva and family. Kevin, and Janelle were eager to show off their game-playing skills. After several board games were worked over, we headed for home.

Thanksgiving day ended with a phone call from our youngest son Brent who lives in Ohio. He was very concerned about his grampa and felt he needed to come to California immediately. He had made reservations for a flight out the next day. Terry and I would pick him up in Santa Ana and bring him back to AV. We successfully negotiated the maze of freeways and returned safely. We had a great time visiting and Brian drove him to Las Vegas to catch a return flight the following Tuesday.

The rest of the year was hectic, naturally. Christmas shopping, planning for the holidays, scheduling doctor appointments…normal everyday living! The time flew by and suddenly it was time to head for our yearly camp host position at McGrath State Beach and three months of fun with my brother Art and wife Cindy.

It had been rainy and snowy off and on since the time we arrived in Apple Valley, and the day we left was no different. We skirted the mountains, to avoid the worst of the weather and arrived in Oxnard about noon. It started to rain just about the time we got settled in. By evening it had turned into a real gully washer. The river was rising…AGAIN and we needed to be prepared to evacuate! This is a regular event at McGrath………the ocean builds a sand bar across the mouth of the river, tidal water and the river back up into the estuary until enough water builds up to break the bar. Unfortunately, the campground is on low ground and invariably floods.

The next morning, as I was making the bed, I heard a very ominous sound…drip, drip, drip!!! Oh, no………water was dripping onto the floor from the bedroom slide. I pulled out every towel we had and started sopping up water while Terry went outside to try to find where it was coming in. During a break in the rain he caulked every seam on the slide. I made progress inside with the help of a heater and blow dryer. Finally….dry again.

The next day the sand bar broke and we all figured that the flood danger was past. It was, in a sense, however we had so much rain that the dams upstream were overflowing and the river itself was flooding. We decided to close the campground and headed for our regular evacuation area, the day use parking area in Ventura. That day we saw massive numbers of emergency vehicles passing the lot on their way north. We tuned in our radio and heard that the community of La Conchita (15 miles north of us) had suffered a massive mudslide and many lives lost. Along with flood damage up river, general flooding and saturated ground, Southern California was really in trouble.

We were able to return to the campground two days later, after the river started to recede. We still had our leak in the bedroom, so my day was spent drying towels. At this time, we were really frustrated with the leak. After all the caulking, the only other place the water could be coming from was on top. Terry got out the trusty roll of duct tape and climbed up. He proceeded to tape the seams and voila! No more leaks! We had been in touch with the factory about the problem and we updated them. They would make the fix when we could bring it to Wyoming.

The decision was made by the state not to open the campground for several weeks, so we decided to go to Quartzsite, AZ and see our Alfa friends for a few days. They were all eager to see our new home, and we had a great time in Arizona. We reluctantly said good-bye and headed to McGrath…again! We stopped for one day in Apple Valley to check in on everyone. At that time we made the decision to bring my Dad’s car back to the beach with us. His health was deteriorating and we needed to have two vehicles in case one of us had to leave. Once back at the beach we settled in. The campground dried out and was opened to the public once again.

March 16 started out great. It was a beautiful morning and our last day of work (afternoon shift). Terry was out walking the area doing a camp check and I was doing laundry. I was contacted by radio and asked to come to the kiosk. When I got there I was greeted by friends that we had not seen in a couple of years! We were camphosts together. We talked for a little bit, catching up on things. They had to leave, as they were on their way to an appointment.

Terry and I went back to the fiver and started to get packed for a trip to AV for a day or so. The next day was Brian’s birthday (our leprechaun!) and the next week was my Mom’s. We had planned a party to celebrate both. The last load was in the drier and Terry’s phone rang. It was my brother Art. He was on the way to Mom and Dad’s to work on the sprinkler system and when he got there, he found that Dad had passed away a few minutes before. Dad had been outside getting together a list of parts for Art, and felt out of breath. By the time Art arrived he was gone.

Even though we were prepared for this it was a shock. We decided that I would leave as soon as I packed and head for AV with Dad’s car. Terry would work our shift and pick up Cindy and head out. Two hours later I was at the house. Art and I got started on the necessary paper work and phone calls. Mom was holding up well, what a strong lady……Folks started showing up and the hectic days began. Terry left the next morning with Cindy. They would be back in a few days. I stayed with Art and we handled everything.

We decided that we would celebrate the birthdays as planned, knowing that Dad would want that. We had many more guests than we had originally planned for, and had a wonderful time remembering Dad. A week later, after several days of family and friends, tons of paperwork, and a million phone calls, it was time for me to head back to McGrath for the last week of work. From there we went back to Apple Valley until it was time to leave for Casper, WY. We loaded up my Mom and headed for Laughlin, NV for a few days. It was good for Mom to get out. Art and Cindy met us there and we had a great send off.

When we started our fulltime life we knew that at some point we would be called upon to drop everything and deal with curves that life throws. We had now caught some of those curves. Dad’s illness was the storm brewing and his passing the deluge. Now the clouds were breaking up and sunshine was on the horizon. My Mom was handling he new status in life with grace and courage and urged us to go our way. We offered to bring her with us, but she laughingly declined!

April 15 found us in Casper, WY to wait for our appointment at the Teton factory. All issues were resolved in record time and we prepared to leave for Idaho. The night before we left Terry got very ill, the flu bug had found him. The next morning he woke up feeling worse than the night before. Unfortunately it had snowed during the night and we had four inches of snow on the slides. We knew we had to get the snow off and I sure wasn’t going to get up on the roof!!!! Terry ended up getting the ladder out and sweeping the snow off. I got the slides in and hitched the fiver up.

Terry got a pillow and a blanket, curled up on the front seat and went to sleep. I knew I would be driving the whole way to Idaho and I did not want to go thru Jackson Hole, so I headed south to Pinedale. The roads were clear and although there was snow and ice, we had no problems through the Rockies. By the time we got to our summer home in Ririe, Idaho we were both a bit tired. It was late afternoon and I checked in with the manager, (who could not believe that I drove that rig), and got settled in. Terry went right to bed and I had some time to sit back and reflect.

The next day we met those we would work with during the summer and had a look at our newest backyard, Heise Hot Springs RV Resort.

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