It's how I got my name. My mother was so sure I was going to be a boy that when I was born, she was at a loss for a girl name. So my father said "all you did was rave on about a little boy, so, she is little "rave on". Changed the spelling around and TA DAH! Girl name.
We never stayed at the resort until now. So why the secret?!
When you own here, you can use the pool, hot tub, deck chairs, gazebo and BBQ's, 365 days a year.
There is also a restroom and a vending machine. I used to come here almost everyday after work. I would get a large ice tea, put my feet up, and watch the waves for half an hour. It was a wonderful way to decompress when I needed it. So basically, this was our private beachfront club.
We are using our week to stay at the Reef Club for the first time. It is a lovely place to stay. I am lulled to sleep every night by the waves crashing on the beach. Every morning, I have had coffee on the patio, while watching the sun rise.
In the past, we have always traded out for another vacation with RCI. One of our favorites was a houseboat on the St. Johns River for a week.
My mom and Ralph came with us. The houseboat slept up to 8 people, so for 4 it was amazing.
We could tie up anywhere for the night.
And Ian piloted the craft wonderfully!
But I digress.
Someone offered to buy our week. Due to traveling, we decided to say OK. So goodbye Jupiter Reef Club. You have been wonderful to us. I will miss you!
If anyone is interested in purchasing here, there is going to be a private sale on some foreclosures, very soon. To purchase one of these weeks, you must be referred by an owner, or be an owner. Contact Debbra Cates (561) 743-0185 and let her know you are referred by me. My closing date will not be for another month or two, so I'm still an owner!
I have been working in Rockledge, Florida, from July and extended through the end of September.
Wuesthoff Medical Center in Rockledge was a very enjoyable place to work. The OR staff are very gracious and kind. They work hard and maintain high standards. The anesthesia group is amazing and a joy to work with.
We were lucky to stay in 4 different areas of Brevard County.
Our first place was directly across from the beach. Ocean View RV Park in Satellite Beach.
This was a great place to start our adventure. The owner is a police officer. He was very kind and made me feel safe in an unfamiliar area. There was nothing fancy here, but walk across the street and step on the beach. Perfect.
This park is also on the beach, but, I really wanted to see the cruise ships going in and out of the port. My favorite was the Disney Fantasy. The captain would "blow the horn" on the way out. The horn plays different Disney tunes. Loved it.
The beach at Jetty Park is powdered sugar soft, and large. This park is very well utilized by the community. Weekends were packed, but weekdays were quiet. It was also fun to see the cruise ships arrive early in the morning as I went off to work. They glide in so quietly, still lit up, and beautiful in their own way.
After a month at Jetty Park, we moved to Wickham Park in Melbourne.
This is a large park with equestrian areas, lakes, community centers and more. They had a Caribbean Music Festival while we were there. But due to Irma, we were required to evacuate that park.
We evacuated to Disney World with the RV. We parked it in the parking lot at Bay Lake Towers and took "refuge" for 5 night in a stunning 2 bedroom unit overlooking the Magic Kingdom, and our RV.
Space Mountain during Irma!
My mom and Ralph joined us to be safe. Disney was amazing to all of us. They opened the convention center and provided games and movies. They opened the Wave restaurant and had buffet meals with gourmet food, including non-alcoholic drinks. Dinner was only $14 pp. When the breezeway between hotels was closed, they set up a room with food and drinks available at extremely low prices. I can't say enough about how amazing they were.
I forgot to mention, they allowed us to bring our pets to our hotel room. Zeus loves my mom!
Upon our return to the Rockledge area, we made a new reservation at The Great Outdoors Resort in Titusville, FL.
This is an RV community. We rented a pad for the month of September.
We also utilized a golf cart to get around this huge resort. We checked out the pools and looked at everything they have to offer. I like that you can purchase a pad, executive port or even a home where your RV is welcome. A 45 foot motorhome is quite conspicuous. Unless, it is in a garage!
This resort is right on a Florida's Nature Trail. I wasn't able to go on the trails due to Irma's damage, but cleanup is going fast. They have 2 restaurants on site, a golf course, open to the public and a ton of activities including woodworking shops, yoga classes, gyms, aerobics. Ok I could go on and on. I rather like it.
I could see a future here!
My contract was up the end of September. I said "see you later!" to my new friends and we traveled up to Gainesville, FL. I was to be working at North Florida Regional Medical Pavilion, but the anesthesia group was purchased by a large corporation. So, the job fell through.
I had already made reservations in Gainesville, at the beautiful Lazaros Equestrian RV Park. For those of you who are not aware of this place, it is very exclusive! We will be staying here through November.
That is it for now, except, I grew tired of the long, colored hair, so....
Chopped it off and went for my natural color!
Between doctors appointments, The Reef Club and an upcoming cruise this October, I decided to not work until November, or December;)
Six months in Tucson, AZ. I must say, it was a great experience, and a beautiful area of the country. The food is outstanding, and the people are kind and generous.
Last trail ride in Tucson
Tucson has over 130 miles of dedicated, non-motorized, trails all around the city. We purchased two recumbent bikes off of Craigslist, and rode them around some of the bike paths. But I must admit, the food won out and certainly overshadowed the exercise!
On the road
Only about 5000 miles to go!
South rim of the Grand Canyon
Our first stop was the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We spent 2 days there, took a train ride, were "robbed" on the train by men on horseback. It was a couple of fun days.
Horseshoe Bend
After the south rim, we drove up to Page, AZ. I hiked over to Horseshoe Bend. I was amazed at the people that would just sit on the edge of a cliff. Scared the crap out of me.
Horseshoe Bend
I really was not keen on getting to close to the edge. We spent two nights at the Wahweap Campground.
Wahweap Campground
This is a beautiful place to stay!
Lake Powell
We took a boat tour up Antelope Canyon. This is one of the many famous "slot canyons" that are all over this area. Ian wasn't keen on hiking down into one, so going by boat was a great way to see some of the area.
From Arizona, we headed up to Utah to visit family and friends. It was wonderful to see Rita and Z (school's out for summer!). Both Rita and Z are getting up on their feet again after Dad's death last year. They both look great and are smiling again. My brother also hosted a get together at his house with everyone joining us! We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone. Special shout out to Jessica and Adam! It was great to see you so much! We also had a chance to visit my younger brother's daughter and her family. Chelsea, you are blessed with an amazing husband, farmer, chef, dad and lawyer. Congratulations on your amazing accomplishments. Completing your Family Practice Residency this fall, having all your babies, and working hard. Wow!
From Utah, we trekked (or is it trucked) our way to Canada.
Lake Huron at Jim and Allena's cabin
We stayed for 2 nights near Goderich, Ontario. We were able to visit with a long time friend of Ian's. We had a wonderful time visiting and seeing the area where their cabin is located. Stunning views from their deck at sunset.
From Lake Huron, we travelled on to Kingston, Ontario. Ian's brother Mike and his wife Toby, hosted a fantastic dinner at their home. We were able to see their kids and grand kids. It is amazing to see everyone growing up so fast!
We then went up to Ian's son's house. We were able to camp out in his driveway for a couple of days. Heather and Mark are amazing. We also were able to eat at our favorite fish and chips place in Merrickville, yum!
From Canada, we headed down to my brother's place in Virginia. We drove down a very narrow road with low hanging wires everywhere, to get to Ken's house. We camped out at the end of their driveway. Jen fixed us a delicious dinner, and we also all had breakfast together. It was a great visit. You would think I would have taken some pictures of all the above stuff.....
Nope
Oh well.
So we have come full circle. Just about a year ago, we headed off in our RV. We now are back in Florida, at Jonathan Dickinson State Park. The humidity feels so wonderful, my lizard skin may actually start healing. My next contract starts in July. For anyone who wants to do something like this, the paperwork is extraordinary.
Anybody up for happy hour? Somewhere? I'm going to the beach now!
I finally put together a short video of the whales that visited us at Scammon's Lagoon, in Baja, Mexico.
But I guess I should start at the beginning.
We left on a Friday March 24th, and drove to California, spending the night in Yuma, Arizona. Shangri-La was not what I expected, more like Shangri-blah, but it was only overnight. We drove on the next day to Potrero County Park in California. Part of our journey was on State Route 94, with BIG signs saying no trucks or RV's over 40 feet allowed. Well, we drive an RV, yes, it has a truck engine, and it is 45 feet long, hum.... It was a little scary, unbeknownst to us, this section of the road is known for it's curves, climbs and boulders. But we made it to Potrero unscathed!
We spent the night in Potrero, and met up with our little caravan group. Our tour was through "Baja Winters" touring company. John and Becky Smith are the tour operators and made this a great experience for all of us.
On Sunday, March 26th, five motorhomes, with Becky and John in the lead (in their truck), we went to the border crossing at Tecate, Mexico. We stopped and exchanged dollars for pesos before crossing the border. Then each one of us crossed through. As Ian and I crossed through, one of our cats decided to use the litter box, in a big way. It is a unique way to prevent border guards from spending time in your rig inspecting it. It really smelled bad...
From there, we all met at a grocery store parking lot, after that, we all followed the "wagon master". We all had CB radios, Becky called out stop signs, stop lights, potholes, 18 wheelers and crazy drivers. Also, pointing out local flora, fauna and the occasional stray animal in the road.
Deceptively nice roads.
Our 1st night was in Estero, on a beautiful bay.
We went to a natural blowhole called La Bufadora, that turned out to be a huge area for vendors to sell trinkets. The tide was out, and the blowhole wasn't "blowing", oh well, it was a nice drive and an interesting area.
We had an excellent meal, at the resort restaurant. Afterwards, it was a beautiful walk back to our rig. I then proceeded to the incredibly hot, hot tub, with just bubbles and stars all around. It was so quiet a peaceful. Then a group of folks showed up with coolers, music and their kids. It was late, I went back to our rig.
The next morning we drove to our next camping spot. To my delight, it was directly on the beach! We pulled our rig up to the dune that peered over the ocean. The RV park is called El Pabellon.
This is the view from our front window.
I'm standing on the dune looking back at our motorhome.
Unfortunately, it was really windy!
We were going to have a potluck on the beach but Ian and I ended up inviting everyone to our rig. We now know we can feed, and sit, 14 people comfortably in our motorhome! With a few extra chairs, we all shared a potluck meal along with tamales and margaritas supplied by Baja Winters!
The next day was a long trek down to Guerrero Negro. With Becky calling out the crazy drivers, 18 wheelers, donkeys, dogs, cacti, potholes and people bicycling the wrong way on the road. We carefully watched the edges of the road, actually, there are no edges of the road, just a ragged drop off.
We went through some beautiful scenery of boulders and cacti
After a long drive, often at under 40 mph, we made it to our next campground.
Malarrimo
This campground also has a wonderful restaurant, hotel rooms and RV sites with iffy water and spotty power. But, they also were the providers of the whale tours! So we couldn't ask for more! We all decided to eat dinner there our first night even though we were all eating there again the next night courtesy of Baja Winters!
But the real attraction, was the whales!
To have these massive creatures, come up to you, is a once in a lifetime experience for me. To think that humans virtually hunted these whales to extinction. In this lagoon, the mother whales come up to your boat first. They turn on their sides and look at you, then she would allow us to stroke her. She then allowed her baby to come up to us. She actually would go under her baby, and lift the calf up to us. No one seems to understand this behavior, but to have a 40 to 45 foot whale, look you in the eye, and bring her young to you, is life changing.
We were able to spend 2 days visiting the whales, an experience none of us will ever forget.
After our second day of visiting the whales, we packed up and drove up to Rancho Santa Ynez Ranch. We were served a "bunkhouse" dinner and stayed overnight in their fields. It was a wonderful quiet place to stay after the excitement of 2 days of whales.
The next day we drove up to Santo Tomas Winery, we were able to park near the vines and had a "Sensory Wine Tasting Tour". I really enjoyed their wines and ended up purchasing a case! Ahhh, consumables, not collectables! Life is good. Ok, I did get a wine glass also. I have to many wine glasses and had to give one to Lisa, one of the wonderful folks on this trip. I hope she enjoys it!
Our last night was spent at Rancho Sordo Mudo. They have an RV park that take donations in lieu of money. They run a school for deaf children. Ian purchased many things that they needed. I'm glad we could do some good.
We spent the afternoon visiting wineries, eating at an amazing food truck at a winery, driving down crazy dirt roads and looking at the beautiful views of the wine country.
The next morning, a few of us chose to eat breakfast with the children and the staff at Rancho Sordo Mudo. It was a humbling experience and we were so impressed at the dedication of this mission. http://ranchosordomudo.com/
We decided to leave after breakfast and pass on the other vineyards we were to visit. Thank goodness we did. We broke down in El Centro, California and had to have our muffler system put back on our RV. That, is another story!
After working through Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and St. Patrick's day (that really should be a day off). I decided to take a short vacation. We are very close to Mexico, and decided to take an opportunity to see some of the Baja Peninsula. We are joining a tour that consists of a group of RV'ers. The tour is called "Wine and Whales" http://www.whalesofbaja.com/ITINERARY.html.
Two of the most incredible things, in one trip, and never leaving our home! Get it? We're like snails, with expensive diesel propulsion. Wow! We couldn't pass this opportunity up. Well, OK, Ian won't be drinking the wine, but I'm pretty freakin excited!
We spend 2 days with the whales. http://www.malarrimo.com/en/tours/whales These grey whales stay in protected bays during the spring, to mate and have their babies. The giant grey whales actually bring their young up to the small boats we will be in. Most people have the opportunity to interact, and touch these massive creatures. If we are lucky, we'll have that chance also.
Our itinerary changed a little and we will also be staying at Rancho Sordo Mudo http://ranchosordomudo.com/, a residential school ranch for deaf and mute children. It has been operated since the 60's by a Baptist mission.We are donating things they need, soap and lotion and cleaning supplies. In return they allow us the opportunity to meet them and stay on their grounds. Ian has already gone out and purchased some great items to donate to them.
The other nights will be spent in Vineyards, actually between the vines. We will be able to sample and purchase wines http://santo-tomas.com/ Their wines look amazing, I hope they taste as good as they sound!
Our last night will be spent in Guadalupe Valley. This is a area with sixty vineyards. Sixty.....
It will be tough to leave.
We have just started our trek to California. Tonight we are in Shangri-La. A barren wasteland of an RV park in Yuma Arizona. It's near Quartzsite, a place I would like to go in the future, or if we have time, on our way back from Mexico. I hope to have internet access to update photos of the places we are visiting. If not, we will upload everything when we return in a week.
On a gentler note, this coming week is the week my father passed away. Marking one year of massive changes in my life.
I looked at my first posting.
Dad died. Quit my job. Selling the house. Bought an old RV. Downsizing to tiny home status. Started a company. First job is August 8, 2016. Rapidly going broke in the process.
It is interesting to see that I have survived the job change. I love that I work for myself and can choose the jobs I want. The old RV is a sturdy bus that is comfortable to live in. It is great to have such a small place, it keeps me from purchasing things we don't need. I am not going broke, and in fact, am able to take more time off between contracts. My dad would have been proud of me!
It doesn't matter, mornings or evenings, the sunrise and sunset sky is amazing.
We visited the Titan Missile Museum that explains itself with a curious message of "Peace Through Deterrence."
There is a copper mine near us. They stress how "eco-friendly" the mine is. The massive loaders are run with electricity.
They expect this mine to be working for at least 20 more years
I keep taking pictures of the cactus plants.
We went to the Pima Air Space Museum. My Dad would have loved this little Bumble Bee airplane!
We also visited the “Boneyard.” Its official name is the Air Force’s 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group—the caretakers of nearly 4,000 U.S. military aircraft headed for scrap, storage, or potential rebirth, all parked on 2,600 acres of Arizona desert. I don't have any pictures of the boneyard. But, it is an incredible array of aircraft that you can only see by bus.
We went to this lovely place for breakfast one weekend over the holidays.
Once again, I like the cacti!
We decided to take a drive to Mt Lemmon. It is only a 45 minute drive that quickly changed from desert scenery.
To snowy mountain road!
We stopped at the ski resort, stepped out of the car to stomp around in the snow!
It was a white Christmas for us.
I can't believe I am nearly 1/3 way through this contract. It is 48 degrees this morning and raining. A good day to stay in and finally catch us with this blog. My job is, well, wild! I work at the only level 1 trauma center in Tucson. I work four ten hour days a week. What is up with people shooting each other? The patient population is very ill. This is a teaching facility. Everyone seems to work very hard and want the best for their patients. All name tags are first names. As nice as that is, I have no idea if I am addressing the tech, or the surgeon. I'm working on it. They seem to be putting up with me. They scheduled me to do a transplant on Monday, I recommended they pick someone who has done one recently instead of me, weird, all the residents disappeared right at that moment. Seriously, I am enjoying learning new things, but more than anything, I am enjoying the Tucson area.
