Roadrunner Rewind: RVing and Camping Through The Years

Though we didn't really know it at the time, our first "RV" was a 1978 VW Westphalia camper.  We got it in 1983 while we were stationed in Germany and had it shipped to our next assignment in Hawaii.  We were there for 3 years and then it was shipped to our next duty station in California in 1986.

Here is young son Adam who must have been about 5 or 6

 Our neighbors in San Bernardino, Bob and Sue, had a green one that was the same year.  I remember one windy camping trip with them to windy Camp Pendleton.  We had a lot of sand in our food that weekend!

We took plenty of trips from San Bernardino to Albuquerque to see Reid and Amy (who incidentally had a green VW camper van like Bob and Sue.

Here one of those "not exactly sure where this is" pictures.

After we moved to Albuquerque in 1988, a co-worker had a newer VW Westphalia camper.  His wife hated the thing and he sold it to us.  We sold our yellow/orange one and got the goldish color van and loved it.  It also was underpowered (weren't they all) but the heater actually worked which was nice.  

I took it on one our our Cub Scout overnighters with a few of the dads and boys.

We didn't have it too long before we decided we needed more seating and we ended up with a Ford Aerostar.

Here we are camping down in Elizabeth City, NC.  Even though we had the VWs we always had tents.  In fact, Pam and I bought a pup tent 4 months after we were married and camped our way from Fort Walton Beach FL to Travis AFB, CA en route to our assignment in Kunsan AB, Korea in 1979.

Here we are with long time friends Kirk and Susan camping near Mammoth Cave National Park in 1994.

After we became empty nesters, we went tent camping at Fort Story/Virginia Beach in our Tacoma pickup truck.

I am finding that the longer we do this, the more I want to capture our experiences here.  It was a long time before I started thinking about our VWs as 'RV' but they very much qualify for that tag.  Too bad back then we had no clue about how to use them more fully.  They had a propane stove, water and electrical hook ups but we had no idea how to work them nor whom to ask.

It was much simpler to pack our things into coolers and pack a couple of tents and away we went.

But isn't that part of this lifestyle?  There are so many ways to do it and no way is right.  We enjoyed it then and are enjoying it now.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Great Places to Visit

You probably saw this one coming. Our experience has been great over the last nine months and we have found many great places to park the RV. Of the almost 40 places we have parked, most most have been fine. Some have been great! Here's a list in no particular order:

1. Camp Pendleton, California. We stayed at the USMC campground right on the beach where we had Christmas. Our kids flew in and we got to see Meghan again, plus most of our family at Chris & Rob's place in Del Mar.

2. Tucson, Arizona. We liked Desert Trails RV park (where we stayed in November) and are enjoying it here at Davis-Monthan AFB where we have been for almost three weeks. We love Tucson!

3. Quartzsite, Arizona. We found out what it is like to 'dry camp' / 'boondock' for almost three weeks and loved it. Even with no hookups, we really liked being out in the desert. We learned how to manage our water (showers are over rated) and it was no big deal to drive over to the dumpstation to empty our tanks.

4. South Dakota. We had a terrific time in Sioux Falls (stayed at the fairgrounds where we met John & Maryetta) and got to spend time with good friends Steve & Therressa. We also loved the Black Hills and stayed at Ellsworth AFB Famcamp.

5. Canada. It was great to seek the Bakers and explore Ontario. We liked Miller Lake and Tobermory and the Bradley Cabin. We also had a great time seeing Jeff & Tiffany Royce and their kids. Now that we know where Bayfield is, next time we will have to be sure and contact Al & Kelly.

6. Benbrook Lake, Fort Worth Texas. It was convenient to stay there and see daughter Kelly and my brother Brad & sister-in-law Sue.

7. St. Ignace KOA near Mackinaw Island. I can see why Mackinaw Island is the #1 tourist attraction in Michigan. It was a terrific place to visit.

8. Croswell, MI. We liked it because it was a cozy little town and we had a nice spot to park in front of Adam's place for a couple of weeks.

9. Maynardville, Tennesse. How great is it when your brother-in-law carves out an RV pad so you can park on their property? I'll tell you--really great. We have bigger plans (power, septic ...who knows what else).

10. 4H Campground, Pontiac, IL - the campground was really not that great but we have such found memories there of our time with fellow NOMADS. And Pontiac is really a great little mid-western town in the mid-west. We loved it there!

11. Kirtland AFB Famcamp, Albuquerque NM. The camground was fine and we had plenty of room. It was well run and we'd go back. The real attraction is being in Albuquerque to see Reid & Amy. We had a terrific time there.

12. Fort Bliss Travel Camp, El Paso Texas. Another military campground that was nice. We'd stop there again.

13. Lake Buckhorn Resort, Kerrville, Texas. We loved the hill country of Texas. This campground was VERY nice and we were there for the RV-Dreams rally. How many RV campgrounds have a putting green 5 feet from your RV pad? Nice place.

14. Offutt AFB Famcamp, Omaha, NE. The campsites were fine and the campground was on a lake. Another place we'd try again.

15. Santa Fe, NM. We stayed at the Rodeo Grounds which isn't much to brag about, but we love the city and had a terrific time with our Care-A-Vanner building project with Habitat for Humanity. We met some great people there and look forward to doing it again!

Most of the campgrounds we have been to are a result of convenience. Sometimes you get a campground with campsites that have the 'it' factor. Other times they are near where we need to be. Rarely have those two criteria come together for us. But we love our coach and we always enjoy coming back home to the Roadrunner.

I think as we get more experienced at this we made hone our skills at picking campgrounds that are not too far out of the way and that have georgeous scenery. Looking for those places is half the fun of this life-style. :)

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles. Thanks for your comments. We may have to give Kansas another shot :).

If you have been thinking about it and haven't signed up to become a Follower, now is a great time to do that!

Redlands, CA

It was a travel day but we were not going too far so we were not in any rush to get started. I took some time surveying the beach and taking in the sights one more time. Since this is a USMC base, we saw a lot of Marines. There were some on the beach training.

Our job at hand was to finish packing up. I dumped the tanks while Adam and Meghan folded up mats

and helped me load up the Honda with the bikes and some excess firewood. We may use the firewood at Quartzsite in a couple of weeks.

We had about 80 miles to go and departed about 10:30. I checked my Pressure Pro Tire Monitoring System and my left front tire was low for some reason. I pulled over on base and got out the air compressor and filled up both front tires to about 105 psi. The other tires checked out fine.

While I was at it I cleaned the windshield and mirrors. They were pretty dirty after being on the beach for the last 10 days. Small inconvenience considering... :)

Once underway we made good time. Driving through busy traffic in Sun City and Riverside was not my favorite thing but I just went slowly (about 55 mph).
We tried something we haven't done before--we showed up at Mission RV park a day early. Uh oh...

But Joe in the office suggested we stay the overnight in overflow parking and move into our reserved spot after it is vacated. That was helpful. Overflow is $22/night while regular spaces are $38/night. Extra guests are $5/night.


Joe said he'd just give us the weekly rate at $228. It saved us $63. That was helpful too. :)


Then, the owner Mike came out and helped me sandwich the Roadrunner into place.

Not exactly scenic-- but we can work with it for a night.

After we got situated we went over to Bob and Soo's house.

They moved there 20 years ago and built a new house. Bob did most of the interior since he is such a handy woodworker. In fact, we don't know anyone who does more in the wood shop than Bob.

He showed us one of his projects - ornate handled reversible screwdrivers. He takes different colored wood, glues them up, cuts them another time and glues them again.

He then turns them on the lathe and puts some finished touches on his new creation. His garage is his haven and he spends 75% of his time at home in the shop.

When we lived two doors down from them in the mid 1980's (1986-1988) and our kids (Adam and Kelly) and theirs (Camille, Katieanne and Hillary) would play together often.

Katieanne and husband Ryan live nearby. Hillary graduated in June from California Baptist University and is takes graduate course while she lives at home.

Sister Camille and husband Erik live in the neighborhood. We went out to dinner with Bob & Soo, Camille & Eric and their little guy William. Then Camille & Erik gave us a tour through Chapman Heights where some folks still have extravagant Christmas lights up. The lights were synchronized with a local radio station and they flashed on/off according to the songs that were being played.

Have you ever seen something like that before? This was a first for us and it was amazing!

We then went over to their place for some tea and conversation before they brought us back to the coach. Adam and Meghan had left before dinner to go to Whittier to see cousins Nate/Angela and Ben/Leslie.

We watched a little TV and went to bed.

As the year comes to a close, we want to wish you and yours a Happy New Year!

Thanks once again for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Last Day in San Diego

It was our last day at the Del Mar RV campsites on Camp Pendleton and another very nice day at the beach.

Our new neighbor Tom is vacationing from Alaska and talked with Adam and Meghan before we left for some sight seeing. He and his wife Kathy flew in from Alaska for a few days.

A little before noon, we made our way down the historic Coastal Highway 1o1 and stopped at a scenic place in Carlsbad to watch the surfers and other people down on the beach.

We stayed long enough for a couple of sandwiches and set up the time delay on the camera for an unassisted picture.

We are frowning a little bit because of the sun in our eyes.

Then we went on to the world famous Torrey Pines golf course. It is one of the spectacular venues for big time professional and amateur tournaments.

Inside the golf store, I spotted one of my all-time favorites who won here as a junior golfer - Phil Mickelson.

He grew up not far from here as did Tiger Woods.

Next we took Adam and Meghan over to Coronado Island.

It is quite a view to look back at across the bay at San Diego and see aircraft carriers and cruise ships.

And the San Diego skyline.

We got to see Chris & Rob one last time and dropped by in time for dinner. Their eldest - Jackson - and I took a picture by the chimney.

One of Rob's friends from college (John, and his friend Hillary) also came by. In 1994 Rob and John and a couple of other friends stayed overnight with Pam and I when we lived in Virginia.

It was nice to see him again and meet Hillary.

We also got to see Irene again and have them all meet Meghan. Rob and Chris and Irene have been the perfect hosts during our time here. They have the gift of hospitality and are very generous. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with them and look forward to seeing them again.

Next, we are heading to Redlands, CA - about four hours up the road.

Thanks for checking in on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

More Goodbyes

It was a beautiful morning at the beach. Clear, warm - nice!

Then we cleaned up and got ready to take Kelly to the Long Beach Airport.

This is the hardest part of the Christmas time - saying good by after a great time with folks. I remember how much my mom used to hate that time after we went back to college.

However--we have had a hugely good time with family and are very grateful to be here.

Plus we were able to get an upated family photo:

which is only a small portion of the good times we had together. It has been a really great time for us.

It was time for us to head out to the airport.

She had a 12:50 flight to Dallas by way of Phoenix. After a sandwich and waiting a while, we finally said our good byes. :(

After we left the airport we checked with the other Warners and found out that we could meet for lunch. We found a Rubio's and it worked out well.

After lunch we went over to Nate and Angela's to hang out a couple of hours.

About 4:30 Heidi and Reid & Amy departed for the airport and more goodbyes.

That was a good time for us to leave and go back to Camp Pendleton. But first, we took Ben home and got to see his and Leslie's house. --Very nice (although I forgot to take pictures).

As we were making our way back to I-5 we passed a Korean area of town and decided to have dinner there.

Since Pam and I spent a year in Korea while we were in the Air Force, and both Adam and Meghan lived in Seoul while they taught English--we all love Korean food. This restaurant was recommended by Nate and it was a great one. But we had way too much food :)

Afterwards, we went got some Starbucks coffee for the 90 minute drive back to our campground and that was it for the day.

Thanks for checking in on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Weekend Out and about Near the Beaches

Over the weekend we had the chance to have friends and family come by the Roadrunner while we are at Camp Pendleton's Del Mar beach recreation area campground.Leslie and Ben were able to stay a couple of hours and then Reid and Amy came by. We got in a couple of games of 'ladderball' before they headed up to Whittier, CA.

After they left, Rob and Chris (with her friend Allison), Elena and Marty, and Matt came by. We had a few more games of ladderball and lit a campfire.We had enough left overs from New Year's Eve and had dinner in the Roadrunner.On Saturday we took it easy in the morning, filled our small propane tank, then went over to Chris and Rob's. It was a nice afternoon, so we walked from their house down to Del Mar for some coffee and then on to the park.
We watched the sun set and got some good photos.At the park above the beach at Del Mar looking down the coast...
Another beautiful sunset.

It got a little cool after the sun went down and we made our way up the hill from the beach to Rob's house.
Del Mar is a very pretty little town on the Coastal Highway.

We had dinner, played a couple of rounds of 'Apples to Apples' and then went back to our campsite before it got too late.

It was another great day seeing family and friends. Hope you are having a good holiday too and thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles.

Christmas Cheer

We hope you are enjoying the holidays. We sure are!

We are at Camp Pendleton, CA at the USMC Del Mar Beach recreation area campground. It has been coolish but still pretty nice here.

About mid-afternoon we got together at Rob and Chris's home in Del Mar outside of San Diego for family time and Christmas Eve dinner. They had 17 of us over.
It was a squeeze but we got everyone in the group photo.Later, we went over to St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church where cousin Kevin is the senior rector. He and wife Sue and their four boys relocated to the area four months ago from Michigan. We made sure we got to the church early.

Afterward, Marty, Reid and I got a photo with Kevin. A bit of family history: Our dad had two brothers and a sister: Don, Jean and Roger. Kevin is Roger's oldest son. Afterwards, Kevin and Sue invited everyone over to his place but we declined--not used to staying up this late. The RV-lifestyle has spoiled us... :) We got back to the coach by about 1:30. I guess Santa was still making his rounds.

We hit the rack and I don't remember any sugar plums or anything-- we were all pretty tired.

But it was another great day!

Happy New Year! We hope you all are safe and warm and having a good time this holiday. Thanks for viewing.

-It is still not too late to join in as a Follower on the side panel! My goal of 100 Followers by the end of the year is still in reach! :)

Cool in San Diego

But who is complaining? It IS San Diego... And it is supposed to warm up some in the next few days. And we don't have any ice and snow and it is not blowing at the moment and we are very grateful to be here!

We drove over to cousin Rob and wife Chris' house in Del Mar and got to see their kids and Chris' mom for a couple of hours. And I found a new best friend - their dog Murphy decided to come over and make herself at home.Right on top of me. Chris and Rob are getting geared up to host 17 of the extended family for Christmas Eve dinner. Should be fun!

Next, it was shortly before noon when Pam, Adam, Kelly and I went down to Old Town San Diego for lunch. We found the restaurant (Casa Guadalajara) where Pam and I had dined a couple of years ago on a previous visit.Not sure that was a good idea. We at way too much for lunch. :)We got the OK from the manager and left our car in the parking lot while we went over to Old Town to look around a bit.
We did some sightseeing and Kelly and Adam did some Christmas shopping.

Later in the afternoon on the way back to our campground, we decided to see our friends Joel and Roxie from 25 years ago. We were all together in Hawaii in the mid-1980's when our kids were pre-school age.

Now they live in Carlsbad (not far from our campsite at Del Mar Beach at Camp Pendleton). We had talked about getting together after Christmas but we had some time in the afternoon, so we changed our mind and dropped in. It was great to see some of their kids and to catch up with them. Hopefully we will get to have them out to our campsite for another visit.

Kelly got a Red Box movie last night called 'Julie & Julia' which was partly about a blogger. I can relate. I am also a big Meryl Streep fan.I did pretty well -- probably watched over 50% of it before I nodded off a time or two...

So here we are, able to enjoy one of the best things about this lifestye -- seeing friends and family.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and very Happy New Year,

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