A Horse with No Name

Hi Guys!  How are things? It's a beautiful day today! The sun is shining!

 First news!  I guess something about the desert (or maybe I can blame menopause) is making maintenance easier!  I'm now down to 131 lbs!  That's a size 4 jeans! Whoot! The other upside is that Jay appears to be having the hot flashes I'm supposed to get.  He's such a good guy to take those on for me! ;)

When we were speaking last, I mentioned chores that come with an RV.  One of those new to me is defrosting the refrigerator.

I remember as a kid that refrigerators needed that done, but I had never had to defrost one myself.  This is all about new adventures though, right?    The RV Dreams forum that I follow just happened to have a post about it. ;)  Total defrost time was about 15 minutes.

Just so you don't think it's only work...we did get into the desert last Saturday for a ride!  Many of our seasonal people here in the park have UTVs and there were two empty seats going out!  We asked Phil and Denise (our assistant managers) to cover for us and made a run for it.  All we knew was to pack a lunch.  No idea direction or time.  I guess when most people here are retired those things are not really important! ;)

"On the first part of the journey 
I was looking at all the life 
There were plants and birds and rocks and things 
There was sand and hills and rings 
The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz 
And the sky with no clouds 
The heat was hot and the ground was dry 
But the air was full of sound"

We had such a great time.  It was nice to get out and explore.  The park has been slow to fill up this year we're told.  We have people booked, but many people have run into bad luck getting here.  We hope everyone else gets here trouble free! 

Everyone has really made us feel welcome.  We now have about 91% of the park booked for a month or more.  when your season is 6 months or less, I think that's pretty good. ;) 

Did I mention it's a beautiful day? It does get chilly here at night.  We've even dropped down into the 20s and 30s, but during the day (as long as the wind stays down) it's still t-shirt weather.  We had a great potluck breakfast Saturday morning. We have some great fires at night.  We roasted some marshmallows last night. People ask why we did this? Well, this is part of the answer.  It's just a simpler life.  We've walked away from the chaos.  Even the light pollution is less here.  The sky is amazing.  You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but each night we get a spectacular sunset and then the most clear sky.  We can almost set our clock by when we can see Mars.  We watch the space shuttle cross over us like little kids.  

The second question everyone asks is "how much does it cost?"  And in all the research that I did I never got a really clear answer.  The reason? Well, it really does end up being different for everyone.  The cost of whatever rig you decide on.  The cost of an emergency fund. The cost of gas/diesel. The cost of your site. (does it include electric)...These things can be different for everyone.  Things like food, entertainment, and life extras (clothes, beauty supplies, alcohol, smokes) will basically be whatever they normally are for you. 

We have found that site cost varies greatly between the east and the west.  Right now "in season" for us(in this park) you can get a month stay for $265 + electric.  Back east, you'd be lucky to get a week for that "in-season".  Obviously, the simpler you live, the less expensive it is.  One thing is for sure, we are certainly not spending more than we did in our "old lifestyle".  

It still feels a little funny being called the "kids".  People here are used to the managers being quite a bit older.  Most of them have great grandchildren our grandkids' ages, and many of them have parents in their late 90s or older.  We get a lot of advice from the older generation.  We filter it the best we can.  Some is very welcome and some we consider but then decide we need to learn for ourselves. ;)  We really listen about the desert though.  We know enough to know we don't know much when it comes to this stuff.  

These looks so cute, but are super sharp and will send quills in your direction.  As Jay says, EVERYTHING out here has thorns or some type of sharp protection.  My hands are finally healing from the scratches I got putting lights on the tree.  

Gotta go get the office opened up now guys.  I'll try to add more this week if I can.  I hope you all are having a safe and healthy week.  Remember to hydrate.  Cold weather makes us forget sometimes, but we still need to get our water in!  As always thanks for coming along on our journey! 

~Mikki