Back in the rig and completely out of sorts
Sometimes life on the road is easy and thrilling. And other times … well, John recently returned to RV living and has a far different story to tell.
Here’s his tale of bad timing and a less-than-sunny attitude.
Adjustment issues
It was a cold gray day in late February as we boarded our flight to Palm Springs. Originally, I had planned to be skiing in the Washington Cascades at this time, but it had been a horrible winter, and I thought, “What am I doing here? This skiing sucks.”
So when Leslie came to visit me at our home base in Bellingham as I scuffled through one of the worst ski seasons of my life, I decided to cut my losses and return early to Palm Springs with her. After our 2.5 hour non-stop flight -- thanks Allegiant! -- we were basking in 70-degree desert weather and went to pick up our rig at the storage facility where Leslie had left it.
But as we started getting reacquainted with our RV, something felt wrong. Setting up for our weeklong stay at the Happy Traveler RV Park, I was lost, in the midst of an existential crisis.
“Where did I leave my sunglasses?” I whined. “Why did I bring all of this clothing back? Where is the sunscreen?”
Many of the things I did find were in chaos. Water had gotten into one of our outdoor containers and all of the tools were rusted. Much of my other gear was scattered in odd places all around the rig.
Inside, we had other issues. The mold-covered refrigerator resembled a science experiment gone bad and we tossed out lots of spoiled food.
After Leslie and I painstakingly cleaned and organized, I eventually got my feet on the ground. And anyway, the weather report from Palm Springs was lovely -- lots of sun and warm temps -- what’s not to like?
But I became obsessed with the weather report from a different place -- Washington state.
It seemed like the minute we left, winter finally got its act together in the PNW, bringing a series of snowy storms. Every day, it seemed like a new 14-inch dump fell at Mt. Baker Ski Area, my go-to resort. After a week, more than five feet of fluffy freshies had fallen. I repeat: Five feet.
Maybe there’s a lesson in all of this. Sometimes your timing is simply off and your only choice is to push on.
While I was torturing myself reading Cascade ski reports, I managed to have a good week in California. I ate wonderful farmers market-fresh meals prepared by Leslie, swam, biked, and visited with our Los Angeles-based grown-up kiddo while taking memorable hikes in Indian Canyons and at Joshua Tree National Park.
Following my bumpy re-entry, we’re now in the final leg of our big 2023-24 Going Mobile road trip adventure, spending the last weeks of winter exploring the magnificent California coast as we head home.
And hey, there’s always spring skiing.
Connect online
Please follow our adventures on Facebook and Instagram. And check out The Spokesman-Review’s Going Mobile Travel page for all of our stories, along with travel tales from our globetrotting pal, Dan Webster. Go to: spokesman.com/goingmobile. If you want to connect, send us an email at goingmobile@spokesman.com.
