Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Thailand Bound!
As much as we love it, we're not only about RV'ing . . . we also budget for a couple of far flung trips each year, and so tomorrow morning we're off to Thailand. We're going to see temples and monkeys and visit an elephant rehabilitation camp, and even place our feet briefly into Laos and Myanmar. I'm very excited about this trip, in case you can't tell.
This is our second trip with Gate 1 Travel, and considering that their mission statement is Seeing more of the world for less, I was pretty impressed when I went online and saw how lovely all the hotels we'll be staying at are. I'm sure the niceness of the accommodations is a reflection of the travel bargain Asia continues to be, but regardless of the reason, I'll take it.
Here are some photos of our first hotel, the Century Park in Bangkok, including the lovely pool area:
As we did in China, we'll be traveling with just carry-on luggage. The weather in Thailand should be rather hot and humid, so I've packed primarily sundresses and sandals; lots and lots of both. I think of myself as a bit of a champion packer . . . there are actually nine sundresses and four pair of sandals packed on the left side of my carry-on suitcase in the photo below, plus pajamas, bathing suit, work out clothing and some just-in-case warmer clothes on the right, undergarments in the zipped inside lid compartment, and a raincoat and umbrella in the zipped outside lid compartments. I should be ready for all weather conditions and activities that await!
Actually, it's not the carry-on luggage limitations that present the biggest challenge, it's the carry-on liquid limitations. I've gathered a collection of 3 oz containers to fill with our various personal care products like contact lens solution, conditioner (my experience is that hotels generally provide poor quality conditioner) and hair gel. I've also accumulated a large supply of small sample size containers of toothpaste, mouthwash, liquid soap, hand sanitizer and lotion from prior hotel stays and visits to the dentist, believe it or not. It took me about an hour, but I eventually got everything compressed down into two her-and-his quart sized bags.
While we are away for the next two weeks, I thought I'd leave a link to my just-completed photo book about our recent trip to China, which was our first Gate 1 Travel trip. This book was such fun to make that I'm already looking forward to making one for Thailand just as soon as we return.
China Photo Book
(Click on the link above, then scroll down and click
on the View photo book link after the book loads.)
This is our second trip with Gate 1 Travel, and considering that their mission statement is Seeing more of the world for less, I was pretty impressed when I went online and saw how lovely all the hotels we'll be staying at are. I'm sure the niceness of the accommodations is a reflection of the travel bargain Asia continues to be, but regardless of the reason, I'll take it.
Here are some photos of our first hotel, the Century Park in Bangkok, including the lovely pool area:
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| The hotel entry |
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| The lobby |
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| The swimming pool |
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| Beside my carry-on, I'll be taking a second, smaller bag containing my camera, Kindle, passport and travel docs. I've also laid out the clothes I'll be wearing on the flight. Thailand may be hot, but I'm expecting the flight to be cold, and am dressing accordingly! |
While we are away for the next two weeks, I thought I'd leave a link to my just-completed photo book about our recent trip to China, which was our first Gate 1 Travel trip. This book was such fun to make that I'm already looking forward to making one for Thailand just as soon as we return.
China Photo Book
(Click on the link above, then scroll down and click
on the View photo book link after the book loads.)
Back in two weeks!
Saturday, January 26, 2013
An Intimate Look At RV'ing
I'll be the first to admit that RV'ing can be very different from vacationing via a hotel, motel, or rental unit. It's a much smaller space for one thing, particularly in the case of our petite little 2417 TrailManor. How small? Well, here is an intimate look inside of our trailer:
The rear area contains a king sized bed. We sleep in a double wide sleeping bag, rather than more traditional bed linens, because it makes tidying up each morning very, very simple. And, because it zips up along both sides, it also keeps us a bit warmer on cold nights. My luggage, purse and books are stored along the left side of the bed. I access everything by stepping up and over the dinette cushions. Mike's side is on the right, and he likewise gets into bed by stepping up onto the dinette (we store his luggage on the unused bed at the other end of the trailer). Not an ideal situation for some folk, clearly, but a trade off we were willing to make in order to have a super-light folding trailer that can be garage stored in just 15 feet of space.
The dinette seats both have storage underneath, and there is also gas heater under mine. The dinette table can be expanded (you can see the bottom side of the extra leaf where it remains stored underneath), but we rarely do so since its just the two of us. We sit upright at the dinette when we are eating, and sideways, like you would on a sofa, when we are reading or watching DVD's. It's really pretty darn comfortable either way.
The other side of the trailer, in the photo above, contains our kitchen galley (on the left), bathroom (on the right) and a second sleeping area (in the rear). The kitchen galley contains a sink with running hot and cold water. The top of the sink, currently holding our washrag, can be lowered and used for additional prep space. Next is our two burner gas stove, then our coffee maker and toaster oven. In the lower center of the galley area is a small, 3 foot cubic fridge. We gave up an oven, microwave, additional counter and storage space, plus a bigger fridge/freezer combo, in exchange for being able to easily store our petite little travel trailer inside of our enclosed garage, saving thousands of dollars in storage fees. At just 2,400 pounds, our trailer is also light enough to be manually pushed into position by Mike and I when necessary. And, because it is so light, we're getting about 18.5 towing miles to the gallon currently, which is just a couple of miles less per gallon than when we are not towing.
The cupboard under the sink holds our pots and pans, cleaning supplies, and two plastic bins full of cards and small board games. The three drawers at the end hold all of our cutlery, knives, utensils, recipe books, plastic bags, plastic wrap and tinfoil, plus measuring cups, spoons and wine bottle items. I keep everything tidy by utilizing dividers. The cupboard up top holds our dishware, cups, insulated coffee mugs, plastic wine glasses, dish towels, scrubbers and pot holders.
The walls of the bathroom area are utilized to hold hanging racks where we store our keys, cameras, flashlights and other small things we grab and use each time we go in or out, plus our toiletries, laundry bag and extra trash bags. Most of these items are hanging out of sight on hooks inside of the bathroom, which keeps our trailer looking neat and tidy.
The end area, which is actually the second, smaller sleeping area, holds stacking bins on the left for our food, and Mike's luggage and books on the right, where they remain nicely out of sight behind the bathroom wall. There is also a slim hanging cupboard running the length of the second trailer bed, where I store extra paper goods and warranty material for the trailer.
We also have an air conditioner, which we use not only to cool down the trailer on warm nights, but also to block the sounds of any outside noise on the rare occasion when we end up with rowdy neighbors. (Much less of an issue these days, since we are increasingly staying in private parks, or visiting public campgrounds during the less crowded workweek.)
We also have an air conditioner, which we use not only to cool down the trailer on warm nights, but also to block the sounds of any outside noise on the rare occasion when we end up with rowdy neighbors. (Much less of an issue these days, since we are increasingly staying in private parks, or visiting public campgrounds during the less crowded workweek.)
In exchange for living in such a small, compact space, we are able to move our rolling home around with ease, and get very up-close-and-personal with our surroundings. As an example, here are the views we enjoyed while we were in Malibu this past weekend:
From our patio area -
From the left and right side windows of our dinette area -
From our king bed sleeping area window -
There is definitely some work involved in moving around, and living in an RV, but it's miniscule compared with the duties that call our name when we're at home. The nightly cost of RV'ing is a small fraction of what we'd pay to stay in a hotel, motel or rental unit, allowing us to build many months of RV'ing into our travel budget. Preparing our meals in the trailer is also a tremendous benefit, from both a monetary and caloric standpoint. But I think the biggest RV'ing advantage of all is simply the ability to relax outside in our own private space at the end of the day, and enjoy gorgeous views like this:
Monday, January 21, 2013
Magnificent Malibu
Just one week ago Southern California was getting hit with temps in the 40's and 50's, and this weekend we were frolicking under sunny skies and temps in the 70's and 80's. Sometimes you just get lucky!  |
| Our beautiful ocean view bluff site at Malibu RV Park. The outdoor furniture is all laid down along the edges of our patio rug to prevent it from being blown away by the strong winds that arrived each afternoon. |
This stretch of California coastline is so ridiculously beautiful, you'd be justified to just pull up a chair and spend the whole weekend looking at the ocean.
We did do an awful lot of that for sure, seeing lots of dolphin and even two whale in the process (which was very exciting!), but we also spent a good amount of time hiking in the adjacent Santa Monica mountains. The nice part about hiking here is that the ocean is rarely out of sight, making it a very different hiking experience from what we normally encounter. Both hikes below were done right out of camp, without having to get into our car and drive anywhere. I love being able to do that . . . it eliminates any concerns about how early we need to leave to make sure there will be room to park when we arrive at the trailhead, and it eliminates any day use fees from having to be paid.
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| Our lunch time resting spot with ocean views on day one, when we did an 8.5 mile loop hike from the RV park up to Mesa Point and back. |
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| A shaded portion of the trail in Solstice Canyon, ocean views temporarily hidden by the trees, where we hiked to on day three. |
In addition to having access to miles of trails right from the RV park, we also had foot access to what I think is the best fish and chips stand in L.A. County; Malibu Seafood. We walked down a short dirt trail from the RV park, and had dinner there with our friends on Friday night, where we sat for hours talking and enjoying the ocean views and gorgeous weather, before walking about 500 feet along Pacific Coast Highway back to the RV park. (It was too dark by then to navigate the uphill trail back, so we took the road instead.)
We visited the historic and beautiful Adamson House one day, and although we did have to drive a few miles to get there, parking along Pacific Coast Highway once we arrived was plentiful and free.
The Adamson House is perched along the ocean, just south of a row of ocean front homes in a gated community called The Colony. Many movie stars have called The Colony home over the years, including Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio and Sting, and they value their privacy, so getting to the public beach fronting these homes can be a bit of a feat.
First you have to find public beach access, which nicely enough, the Adamson House was alongside. Then you have to pass under this forbidding sign to get to the beginning of the public beach pathway through The Colony, ideally at low tide so you can walk along the wet sand rather than in the water. Apparently walking on the dry sand above the high tide mark is a no-no here!Initially we were hoping to give the impression that we were locals as we walked along the beach, but the cameras in our hands were a pretty dead give away that we weren't, so eventually we gave up trying to look cool, and just started taking photos like the tourists that we clearly were.
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| Look , mom - we're in front of famous peoples houses! |
In spite of the RV park fees being a bit on the high side, we easily came in under our target spending goal of $100 or less per RV day:
- Malibu RV Park, Full hookup, WiFi, Full Ocean View site for 4 nights/5 days: $257.60
- Gas: $31
- Groceries: No change from what we'd spend if at home
- Ice for our portable cooler (where we keep our produce and beverages): $6.50
- Adamson House Tour: $14
- Dinner at Malibu Seafood: $19.33
- Lunch at John's Garden: $12.47
- Two days of hiking in the Santa Monica mountains, walking along the beach, visiting The Colony, dolphin and whale watching, sunset viewing, reading by the ocean, Malibu Farmers Market - Free!
- TOTAL FOR 4 NIGHTS/5 DAYS: $340.90
The long weekend was such a perfect mix of weather, activity and friendship that we hated to breakdown and pull out of the RV park this morning, but we'll be back again next year for sure.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Back To Malibu for the MLK Weekend
And temps are looking to be in the mid-70's our entire trip . . . hooray! No pool or hot tub at the Malibu RV Park where we'll be staying, and probably just a smidge too cold to lay at the beach, but we'll be in a bluff site overlooking the ocean, and plan to spend as much time gazing out at the sea as possible.
This RV park is normally quite pricey at $145 a night for a weekend stay, ocean view site (!!!), but in the winter the weekend rates drop to $67 ($62 for Sun - Thur). Still high, but holy moly, the location can't be beat, so we are willing to shell out for a short winter stay each year. We like visiting over the Martin Luther King weekend to better accommodate some still-working friends that will be joining us, plus it allows us to extend our stay and avoid the brutal traffic trying to get from Malibu to our home in Orange County on a non-holiday Monday would normally require.
Our spending target remains the same - $100 or less per RV day - so we'll have a bit less to play with this time around since so much is being spent on the campsite itself. It shouldn't be too much of a problem, though, given that in addition to our close proximity to the ocean, the Santa Monica mountains will be in our backyard. The plan is to spend two days hiking, and one day sightseeing at a nearby historic home my girlfriend heard about, called The Adamson House. The budget should also allow for a fish and chips dinner, and lunch at John's Garden, a sandwich shop that gets high marks on Yelp for freshness of ingredients and taste. We'll also be dropping by the Malibu Farmers Market on Sunday morning, where we just might catch sight of some movie stars in and among the produce stands.
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| The Santa Monica mountains will be literally right behind us. Which, in conjunction with the ocean views, is why we are willing to shell out $62/$67 a night to stay at this RV Park. |
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Palm Springs Wrap Up (And How Much Did It All Cost?)
In spite of being unseasonably cold the last few days of our stay (temps were in the 50's instead of the more seasonal 70's), we had a great trip, and have already added it to our calendar for a re-do next January.
Having the International Film Festival tickets to fill up our late afternoons and evenings made the trip especially fun. It allowed us to go slow the first part of the day, knowing we were going to be busy in the evening. We fell into a pattern of lingering for a few hours in our warm, cozy trailer, reading and scanning the internet via our individual Kindle Fires (and the RV Parks complimentary WiFi) while we waited for the sun to warm things up, then a nice long workout, then a soak in the hot tub, showers, lunch, and some more reading, before heading out to a show and dinner. On the warmer nights we'd hop into the hot tub again upon returning home, before heading to bed.
On the days we didn't have movie tickets, we'd head out to do something interesting (Joshua Tree, the wind farm tour, nearby S. Lykken ridge hike), then enjoy a leisurely remainder of the day at the RV park. Sort of the reverse of the days when we did have movie tickets.
Considering how much we did this trip, and in particular, how many nights we dined out, I think it was an incredibly well priced trip overall:
- Happy Traveler RV Park full hookups site for 7 nights/8 days: $290
- Gas: $60
- Groceries: No change from what we'd spend if at home
- Ice for our portable cooler (where we keep our produce and beverages): $4
- Tickets to 3 movies for two at the Palm Springs Int'l Film Fest: $60
- Tickets to Les Miserables, plus a Q&A with the director, Tom Hooper, and Eddie Redmayne, who played Marius: $50
- Palm Springs Wind Farms Tour: $66
- Dinner at Grind Burger Bar: $33 (The sports bar where we watched the BCS Championship game)
- Dinner at Birba: $32
- Dinner at Las Casuelas: $40
- Takeout from Bills Pizza: $12
- Frozen yogurt from Eddie's Frozen Yogurt: $5 (I bought a $10 Groupon voucher for $5. It was enough for us to visit Eddie's twice. Fabulous frozen yogurt!)
- Rugula from Sherman's Deli: $3
- Fresh dates & date shakes from Oasis Date Gardens: $11
- The Basic Gym: $10 (For Mike. I went running the days we didn't hike)
- Hiking the nearby South Lykken Trail, running along the base of the San Jacintos, biking, hot tub soaking, sunbathing, swimming, Palm Springs Village Fest, Joshua Tree National Park*, Palm Springs Art Museum**, Happy Traveler onsite social events - Free!
- *We have the National Park Annual Pass
- **2nd Sundays and every Thursday between 4:00 and 8:00 PM
- TOTAL FOR ONE FUN FILLED WEEK IN PALM SPRINGS: $666
What will we do different next year? Skip the dinner at Birba and go to Bill's Pizza twice instead. Birba is a beautiful, outdoor restaurant, but we felt like we ended up with very little food given the cost (The bill reflects two modestly sized ala carte entrees, and no beverages whatsoever . . . we drank water). We'll also skip the somewhat greasy dinner at the sports bar, and instead enjoy that second pizza from Bills and watch the BCS Championship game at the RV park's clubhouse.
We'll also spend more time at the Palm Springs Art Museum during their free admission days. This privately funded museum is terrific, with exhibits on modern art, western art, glass art, photography and architecture, and it offers wonderful docent tours.
And finally, we'll skip the pricey one time $53 Film Fest special event, and instead buy another 6 pack of Film Festival tickets for about the same price. There were dozens and dozens and dozens of interesting sounding films to choose from, the procedure for lining up an hour ahead of time was fun in that everyone was very chatty, the directors came to many of the showings in order to do Q&A's afterward, and it was all just very well organized and easy to maneuver.
Palm Springs has two more film festivals scheduled each year - the American Documentary Film Festival in April, and the International Short Fest in June. We won't have time this year to attend either one, but would love to hear back from anyone that has ever attended either. There's always next year if these turn out to be don't miss events as well!
Palm Springs has two more film festivals scheduled each year - the American Documentary Film Festival in April, and the International Short Fest in June. We won't have time this year to attend either one, but would love to hear back from anyone that has ever attended either. There's always next year if these turn out to be don't miss events as well!
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| My favorite work from the western art section of the Palm Springs Museum. Although it looks to be made of old branches of wood, it's actually cast in bronze and then painted to resemble wood. Artist: Deborah Butterfield |
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Visiting Palm Springs' Wind Farms
.As much as I would love to regale you with some of the technical details Ken shared with us throughout our two hour tour, why not just watch the Huell Howser show he was on instead to get it straight from the horses mouth? You can view the show in it's entirety by Clicking Here.
Otherwise, what I can tell you is that this $33 per person tour was terrific, fun, interesting, and a photographers dream. We were able to get very up close personal, not just with the wind farms, but also the areas' solar farms and natural gas plants, all of which are working to move America away from oil and coal, and toward cleaner, alternative sources of electricity.
The wind turbine on the left was built using old technology, while the windmill on the right was built using more recent design standards. The biggest difference? The wind turbine tower on the left was built with steel braces and lots and lots of bolts. Which loosen over time as the towers are repeatedly buffeted by the wind. Meaning that some of them lost enough bolts that they actually fell down. Not good! So, they were gradually replaced with the towers on the right which are built of heavy duty fiberglass instead.
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| Nearby residents might disagree, but I found these wind turbines to be works of art in and of themselves, particularly positioned as they are against the San Jacinto Mountains |
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| Yep, definitely a good, windy place in which to build wind farms! |
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
A Day of Palm Trees and Dates
We are midway through our stay in Palm Springs, and having a wonderful time. So far we've had two chilly days and two warm days, seen two Film Fest viewings, run along the base of the glorious San Jacintos, soaked lots and lots in the RV park's hot tub while getting to know some of the people snow birding here for the winter from parts up north, and hung out at a sports bar watching Notre Dame humiliate themselves against Alabama. Sigh. Poor Mike. He waited so long for this day!
So today we took a break from urban life, and headed out to Joshua Tree National Park for a bit of quiet hiking and communing with nature. The plan was to hike the Lost Palms Oasis Trail, a 7 mile out and back hike, then shoot over the hill via picturesque Box Canyon Road for some hiking recovery therapy - date shakes from Oasis Date Gardens in Thermal.
We headed for the ranger station first to check on the weather and trail conditions before heading out. When the ranger found out we were doing the Lost Palms Oasis Trail he warned us to be prepared for a four to six hour hike. I was shocked and said, "Really? Because my hiking book shows it as a 3.5 hour hike, and we're normally a good bit faster than the book." The ranger said he'd just done the trail in four hours, and had fallen going down the last little descent because he was going too fast, so 3.5 hours seemed rather unrealistic to him.
As we got back into the car to drive to the trail head I told Mike I was a bit worried that I hadn't packed enough food for six hours on the trail, so we agreed that if we started to feel concerned the hike was taking too long we'd turn around and head back early.
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| Mike at the start of the Lost Palms Oasis trail. |
Some photos from the trail:
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| Glowing red barrel cactus |
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| Ocotilla. In the spring these will be covered in bright red flowers. |
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| Cute little hedgehog cactus |
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| Date shakes and almond stuffed dates with coconut |
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| Date palms |
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