Our only full day here at Shooting Star Drive-In started with a visit to the park office to use their Internet so we can take care of some business. Mark, the owner of the resort, graciously let us take over the gift area for a couple hours while we got re-acquainted with the outside world.
Our 3-day stay at the Hitch N Post Campground has come to an end. This campground is a simple but charming little place. The owner of the campground had just taken ownership back in March of 2012 and as according to Marlene, “He might be the nicest person in the world.”
We got a fairly early start this morning considering both of us went to bed well after midnight. I actually only got about 3 hours of sleep but I am not going to let that get in the way of our big plans today. Our destination today is Bryce Canyon National Park about 20 miles up the road from us.
It was nice to wake up at a full hookup campground and we are starting to settle into our groove. The kids got to watch some movies in the morning while we got breakfast ready. On the agenda today, not much.
Last night we boondocked at a Walmart at the edge of Cedar City, Utah. It was a great feeling to finally have some relief from the heat. At 5,800 feet, the outside temperature dropped into the 50s just before sunrise. It was so nice to be back in the Mish again and everyone slept in.
After 5 nights in a Vegas hotel, we have finally had enough of room service, housekeeping and electronic key cards. We are eager to get on the road to finally do some exploring. The kids had a blast playing and swimming with their friends and we parted ways shortly after a late breakfast. This is probably the last time we will see them this year but we were excited to get the show on the road.
The day has finally come for us to leave California. We have been ‘free-loading’ at Marlene’s parents’ house since we sold and moved away from our last home. Almost 40 days later, we have tied up all loose ends and prepared one last BBQ before heading out.
One of the more significant tasks we are taking on during this trip is homeschooling our own little kindergartner. Ava is now 5-years old and will officially start kindergarten in the fall. We began researching different types of homeschooling programs when we decided to go back on the road and were really lucky to find a great program for newbies like us at Ventura Charter School.
Ava’s first-ever set of official school books.
We are down to the final stretch before leaving our possessions and family behind. We are filled with excitement, last-minute jitters and, ever so slightly, a bit of doubt. OK, maybe doubt is not the right word to describe it as it has little to do with the actual trip itself. We are quite excited to get back on the road. The main cause for our concern is Luka. There are a couple of small but lingering health-related problems we were hoping to resolve.
Luka at his 3 month’s check up today with an off-the-charts weigh in.
Getting your trailer ready for some serious boondocking usually calls for some type of replenish-able, off-grid power source like adding solar panels and a generator. However, power generation is only 1 part of the formula when considering ways to build up your off-grid power. You will also need to consider ways to increase power storage capacity as well as items to help lower your consumption. The latter two are frequently ignored even though they can be more cost efficient.
We recently started corresponding with a young family like ours from Dayton, Ohio who are thinking about some extended traveling in a new RV they just purchased. Like us, they have young children and are looking for a more rewarding lifestyle than the typical 9 to 5. We are always eager to share our experiences with families who are contemplating taking the plunge. I thought someone else might be interested in my response as it might give you an insight that I don’t think I have shared before on the topic of working from the road.
After a couple of weeks of playing hide and seek with LAPD parking enforcement in San Pedro every 72 hours, we hopped on the saddle and went back to our old stomping grounds for the weekend to do some proper camping with some old friends at Lake Casitas.
