WHY DO I LOVE FULL TIME TRAVEL?

Each morning, I wake up before John.  I take the fur kids out for their morning walk and return to our coach for my cuppa tea.

Looking out our front window, I marvel at whatever sight might be there that day and I say to myself, "I absolutely L O V E  this life.

The freedom to see new sights and make new friends is remarkable.  These friends might not be with us for a long time, but we will see them down the road...maybe.  But whatever, they will always be friends.  

Being able to go to bed and have a view of the sky from the bedroom window is magnificent. Bright, brilliant stars and the moon in it's various stages.  Then to awake to either quiet, the sounds of the surf or bird's singing it's greetings to the new day.

Peace, peace.  Wonderful peace.  Sweet peace.  God has blessed us with this time of our life and we are both so thankful.

Where but fulltiming can we  experience geography and history lessons 365 days a year?  

We experience first hand fault lines where earthquakes have occurred and will happen again.  We even experience our first earthquake.     

Wild fires followed by mud and rock slides scour the sides of the mountains. 


In the southwest, rivers carve deep canyons.  





There are mines to explore.  The list goes on and on.  





Two years ago we parked next to a forgotten, sleeping volcano in Amboy, California on Route 66.  It was quite an experience to approach the volcano and walk over the hardened lava with the ripples and ridges showing it's path across the desert floor.  People view the crater and think it is a curious site.  Curious?  I don't think so...It is history.  OUR history.
When will the Amboy volcano awake, rumble and spew its molten ash around? When will Mount St. Helen's, Yosemite awake?



Petroglyphs  are a history lesson in pictures drawn on rocks hundreds of years ago.  But, what story are they telling?  Do we rely on what other's translations?  Do we use our own imagination?  


What would the giant redwoods tell us about the history of their lifetime?  The flat lands of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska?  How about the New England States?  

What about the Gulf States?  What would they tell us?  Would they describe the heartbreak of the thousands of lives extinguished during the Civil War battles?  The lives lost in the hurricanes?  What would these states say?  

The difference in the mountains is striking.  In the east, they are covered with trees, shrubs, etc. 





In the southwest the 
mountains are exposed 
sharing the beauty of the 
formations, fault lines and 
changing colors.  





The sounds of full time travel are amazing.  We hear the rumble of vehicles that share the highways and byways with us.  

The roar of the Pacific as it pounds the shore.  

As the water returns to the ocean.  we hear the tick, tick,tick of the pebbles being rolled over and over back to the ocean.

At the next location, it is quiet...we hear nothing!  Silence...total silence. 

These are only a few of the reasons we enjoy our new life of full time motorhome travel.  You just might want to give it a try if you have not yet had the experience.  

CLOUD HALOS THE MOUNTAINS AND FAIRY DUST IN THE DESERT

Stratocumulus clouds again surround Blair Valley.  A few Winds blow sandstorms over the dry lake coating everything.  Wind speeds are twenty to thirty miles per hour with gusts over fifty.  

We are prisoners here in Blair Valley, California. Advisories warnings state that driving high clearance vehicles is not advisable. Like it or not, here we are.  And I don't like it.  

I found this explanation of why the clouds are surrounding the mountains and find it interesting enough to share with you.  


Orographic Clouds forced by the earth's topography

Orographic clouds are clouds that develop in response to the forced lifting of air by the earth's topography (mountains for example).

Photograph by: Holle

Air passing over a mountain oscillates up and down as it moves downstream (as shown in the diagram below). Initially, stable air encounters a mountain, is lifted upward and cools through expansion as it rises. If the air cools to its saturation temperature during this process, the water vapor within condenses and becomes visible as a cloud.

Upon reaching the mountain top, the air is heavier than the environment and will sink down the other side, warming as it descends. Once the air returns to its original height, it has the same buoyancy as the surrounding air. However, the air does not stop immediately because it still has momentum carrying it downward. With continued descent, the air becomes warmer than the surroundings and begins to accelerate back upward towards its original height (beginning the cycle again). It is during the upper-most ascent phase of this cycle that clouds develop. In regions where air is descending, skies are clear.

Photograph by: Holle

The lifting of moist air can result in the generation of clouds, while lifting drier air may not produce any clouds at all. The oscillations continue as the air moves further downstream from the mountains but are eventually dampened out by mixing and friction.

The desert floor sparkles as if fairies have tried to send a bit of shiny cheer.  I am not cheered today.  It is grating on my nerves today.  I long for peaceful breezes, not howling winds. 

Our dust allergies are creating itchy eyes and much use of tissue.  Oliver and Olivia's eyes are runny from the stinging sand getting into their eyes.  John and I use our sunglasses to help keep the sand out of our eyes.  

If windows are left open in the coach, everything is coated with fine sand interlaced with minerals that sparkle in the sun. I love the sparkles.  I do not love the stinging sand.  

Yesterday, Sunday morning,  the weather was sunny and peaceful.  We sat outside and read.  It was a peaceful and beautiful calm day.  It did not last.  The wind started.  It grew more powerful blowing sand stinging our legs and faces. 

Sunglasses protected our eyes from the relentless wind and sand. A mask protects John from the blowing sand and dust.  

I am concerned about John with all the find sand, grit, fairy dust in the air. 

Just a year ago he was fighting for his life in the ACCU, Adult critical care unit of the hospital. Respiratory failure was the diagnosis. I am always concerned about him, but this is really getting me down.  

It is enough to be awaking during the night to check his breathing, trying to keep him active enough, but not too active.  

When we get closer to the San Diego area I am going to have to find a Physician to check him out.  His blood pressure and energy level has become erratic.  

Finding an unknown Physician is troubling.  What I will try to do is find an Internist at Loma Linda Hospital.  I believe, but am not sure that it is a teaching hospital.  Teaching hospitals are usually up to date on the best and latest treatments.  

On a positive note, John and daughter Jojo went into Julian, California and came home with two pies.  An apple cherry and a strawberry rhubarb.  Wonderful pies.  

Until next time....please keep us in your prayers....

God bless!