Getting started

Freeda at Dana & Sam's
On November 2nd Eddie and I purchased "Freeda". So named for the freedom we would soon be enjoying. We parked her at Dana and Sam's and got busy cleaning, painting and loading. Dana did a WONDERFUL scrubbing and cleaning, Eddie did the painting, and I loaded. We painted the bedroom the same color as our bedroom in Point Roberts, and hung up some of Eddie's art work. It made it so much more homey.

Eddie's painting "The Boys"

Our bedroom in Freeda

Moving in to Freeda was slow going, so on December 6th, Eddie moved her to our front yard in Point Roberts so we could have more than just on the weekends to transfer our things over.

Freeda parked in the front yard at Point Roberts house

It was a tight fit, but he did it on one try. Unfortunately that same day I hurt myself at work and so the moving was still VERY slow going. Becca and Andrew came for Christmas and helped us A LOT!!!! We would not have been able to do it without them. Right before Christmas, it snowed. We ran out of propane, so there was a LOT of snuggling going on!!!! We had purchased a Mini heat surge fireplace, and it warmed Freeda up nicely. It also gives out a lovely ambiance.

Our fireplace in Freeda

Snowy motorhome

We left Point Roberts on December 24th and went to Blaine WA. Eddie and Steve Berman in Freeda, Andrew in the truck, Becca in their rental car, and me in the cruiser. It was a mass migration. When Eddie went to put Freeda in the same spot she was parked in before at Dana and Sam's, she sunk into the mud due to the recent snow. I couldn't look (ergo no pix). Steve and Anne have Good Sam roadside, so they called to get a tow truck to pull us out. The Berman's are just the MOST wonderful people!!!!! Several times they came over and helped us move things. Their daughter Clara was a godsend. The tow truck got us out no problem. We did call our insurance, Geico, and we already had road side with them. Good to know NOW!!!!
When I went to put out our living room slide, it didn't work. The next morning after eating a delicious breakfast made by Dana, Andrew and Eddie manually got the slide out. We enjoyed the holiday at the Turpin's with Andrew and Becca. Dana was a WONDERFUL hostess. We hated to see Becca and Andrew leave, but LOVED having them with us. Seeing as how it was Christmas, we had to wait until Western Travel and RV in Lynden was open before we could get anyone out to look at our slide. It cost us a pretty penny, but at least he found the problem fast. Our electrical board was bad. We got it ordered and Eddie was able to install it with no problems.

On January 9th we moved to Beachwood RV park in Birch Bay WA. That is our home park in the campground network we belong to. Staying at Dana and Sam's was great. We appreciated them so VERY, VERY much for letting us stay there!!!!!!! But being at the campground with full hooks ups was like heaven!!!!!!!!! We had not experienced the luxury of full hook ups before. Now that we have, we are spoiled. I got to use our washer/dryer combo for the 1st time. I love, love, LOVE it. It is SO cool to be able to start a load and not to worry about switching it to a dryer. We have to do small loads, but  it is only the two of us, so no biggie. While we were here, we had the Sister missionary's over for taco's. Greg Kendall also visited us. And Dorothy and Marty Gurney came by. It is always fun for us to have company and show off our little home. We loved spending time with our friends before leaving. 

Beachwood RV park in Blaine, WA

We stayed in Birch Bay until January 30th. We had hoped to leave sooner, but had to wait until the Doctor gave me the okay to travel. As we were preparing to go, Eddie had gone to run an errand, when I smelled something funny. I then noticed smoke. There was a leak that caused the plug box under the fridge to spark and scorched the corner of the drawer that is below the fridge. The park security helped me take care of it until Eddie got back. It was a good thing it happened BEFORE we were on the road.  We were able to get going and went to Tall Chief RV park in Issaquah, WA. While there, Eddie got a water proof plug box and installed it. We found and repaired the leak. It was our water filter. So another disaster was averted. We learned that most of our issues are 90% our ignorance and 10% real issue. We enjoyed the Super Bowl in the comfort of our little home. Got to hear the fireworks going off after the Hawks won. Good time!!!!!!

Cool tree at Tall Cheif RV park

We left Issaquah on the 3rd of February. Our water pump was not working. There was plenty of water in our tank, but nothing was coming out of the faucets. So we bought a couple of gallons of bottled water and roughed it. We pulled into a truck stop in Salem OR. We nestled in between two trucks, and crawled into bed. Just as we were drifting off to sleep, our carbon monoxide alarm went off. We figured it was due to the trucks exhaust. I had noticed a sign on the freeway about a rest stop about 29 miles up the road, so we went there and were able to sleep with no more issues. 

When we awoke, there were some snow flurries, so we decided to see if we could get ahead of the storm. We made a pretty bad RV'ers mistake and drove 11 hours to Willow CA. Eddie was BEAT!!! We stayed the night in the parking lot of a Black Bear Dinner. They were very gracious and nice. The food was yummy and you get a LOT. We were able to eat on the leftovers for a couple of days.

February the 5th we arrived at Delta Shores RV park in Isleton, CA. Now for those of the faint of heart, beware of the driveway into this park!!!!!!! It is off of a narrow road with water on both sides.  The driveway goes down at about a 40 to 45 percent grade. Man O Man, I was SCARED!!!!!!!!! the park and people were awesome, but that drive way is scary. Eddie's cousin Lucy and her daughter Selena came over for a visit. It was good to see them!!!!!! Lucy is such a sweetie, and Selena has grown up to be a beautiful young woman. We also got to visit with them and his cousin Kiki.

Cousin Lucy

When we hooked up, we found that our hot water heater was not working. We used the camp ground showers. 

February 7th we left Delta Shores. A gentleman at the camp ground drove Freeda out for us. Even Eddie was concerned about getting out safely. We offered to pay him, but he wouldn't except anything. We hooked up the cruiser a bit down the road. They told us that people at the campground next to them had driven right over and into the water!!!!!!!

From Isleton, we drove the 101 to San Jose, CA. There we parked at Walmart. Our good friend John Duran met us there and took us to dinner at Red Lobster. Tommy Gee joined us, and Eddie was in 7th heaven being with his old friends. After dinner we went back to Freeda and visited some more. The next morning John picked us up and took us to his place to shower. After no showers between Salem and Iselton, we REALLY were thankful to John!!! We had breakfast with him, and got back on the road.
We had planed to go onto a campground, but thought we had better figure out the hot water heater and water pump issue. We went to Camping World in San Martin, CA. They are pet friendly, so Eddie, Suzy and I hung around there until they could fit us in. We have found that we REALLY like Camping World!!!!! Everyone there was VERY nice. Omar was the mechanic, and was GREAT!!!! It turned out it was a fuse and a valve. Again, 90% our ignorance 10% issue. Thank heavens it wasn't a huge expense, and an easy fix. We then spent the night at a truck stop in Gilroy, CA. This time away from running trucks. At least now we had water and could shower!!!!!

February 9th we stopped at Walmart in Santa Maria, CA. We got some meds refilled, ate lunch, and then got back on the road. Santa Maria was a very nice little town. It was the 1st place that we were able to open up our windows. 

Santa Maria, CA

Our next destination was to be Goleta, CA to visit Eddie's friend Oscar Guevara. We stopped to get gas, and when we were ready to go, low and behold Freeda would not start!!!!!! CRAP WHAT NOW!!!! I called Geico to get a jump, or at least towed out of the way of the TWO gas pumps we were blocking. We felt HORRIBLE, but pushing the rig, dolly and cruiser wasn't really an option. Geico got a tow truck there pretty quickly. He was able to jump start us. I found a Home Depot just a couple of miles down the road, so we headed there. We parked, but kept her running. Oscar met us there. Eddie & Oscar went to get a new battery. They got one and put it in. We shut her off and she started, but our steps, radio, mirrors etc still were not working. Home Depot didn't want us to park there, so Oscar found us a spot on a back street. We pulled in and up to a driveway that went into a storage complex. That way no one could/would park in front of us so we could get out easy in the morning. We had a nice dinner in Freeda with Oscar and then bed. I woke up just after 7am and looked out the front window. Some WONDERFUL person had parked inches, and I mean INCHES in front of us!!!!!! They were blocking half of the driveway into the storage place. I woke Eddie up. Luckily there wasn't anyone behind us, so still in our PJ's, Eddie backed her up enough to get around our "buddy" and we got the heck out of there.

State park at Carpiteria, CA

We drove down the road to find someplace to be able to check our fuses in the hopes that we could fix our latest problem. We followed signs to a state park in Carpiteria, CA. The ranger said it was 10.00 for day. Eddie asked about FMCA or maybe Good Sam discounts. He said no, but they do have discounts for the disabled. Hot damn!!!! So for 3.00 Eddie got a LIFETIME pass to ALL California state parks for half off!!!!!  All of our fuses's checked out. We would have LOVED to stay there, but we really wanted to get the electrical issue figured out.

I was able to locate a RV repair shop (Thank heavens for Siri) in Santa Clarita, CA right off of Magic Mountain parkway. I called and they could fit us in so we headed to Always on time RV repair. The mechanic there was Louis. Again another REALLY great guy. All that was wrong was a stuck solenoid. We were in and out in no time, and didn't cost much.
We went on to Banning, CA where we stopped to get a bite to eat at Del Taco. We asked the manager if we could stay there the night, and he said we could. Our next stop was Cathedral City, but we were done for the day.
February 11th we awoke early, ate breakfast and headed to the Desert. We stopped by Little Sisters truck wash and got Freeda and the cruiser cleaned. We were pretty road dirty!!!!!! We filled up our propane at Flying J and then onto Cathedral Palms RV park. We were going to be there for 7 glorious days of full hook ups and rest!!!!! Margaret and the little girls came by for a visit. It is SO good to see them!!!!!!!

Mommy & Birdie

Eddie kicking back

We got set up and actually used our awning and AC for the 1st time. It was good to know that both worked no problem and the AC cooled the rig down fast. The little girls couldn't get over the fact that we "live in our car, and dive our house". They left us with plans to see us again, and all go to the Date Festival together. We were beat, so we hit the sack early. Once again just as we were drifting off to sleep, another alarm went off. This time it was our LPG alarm. Now don't laugh, but I thought it was because of the AC. We had already turned it off cause it had cooled down, but I didn't know of any other reason it would go off. We opened all of the windows, and turned on the fans.

The next morning a lady from the park came by to invite us to go out with fellow park goers for dinner. Before dinner, I hit the pool. It had been calling my name, and I could no longer ignore it. Small world alert. I met a fellow in the pool that has a cabin in Point Roberts, WA and lives in Ladner, BC!!! they even own some of Eddie's Art & Music festival posters.
At 5:45 we met up with about 40 others at Hibachi City Buffet in Palm Desert. It was AWESOME!!!!!!! The food was good, but the company was the BEST. We met some REAL nice people and had great conversation. this is what we had been looking forward to as fulltimers. I mentioned our alarm going off, and voiced my theory about the AC. Bless their hearts, they didn't die laughing. But I was told that the AC wouldn't have caused that. What it turned out to be was that our propane tank had been over filled. Then in the heat expanded. Fellow RV'ers suggested using the stove, or hot water to reduce the propane level. Fortunately no more alarms went off and we were okay.
February 13th Eddie and I met up with Father Ned for lunch. It was a wonderful visit. Ned doesn't look a day older than the last time we saw him. We dropped off Suzy to get groomed. She was pretty hot, so we asked them to trim her up. they certainly did!!!! Not so sure she can be called a long haired Chihuahua anymore!!!! But at least she is cooler, and she does look cute.

Suzy after her "spa day"

Eddie & Suzy

When we got back to Freeda, Margaret, Robbie and our little loves were all there. Eddie and I can not put into words how much we adore the Phillips family. Margaret and Robbie are such WONDERFUL parents, and those little girls are the most precious beings EVER!!!!! We are SO blessed to have time with them.

Olive, Robbie & Mable

February 14th we met up with them again at the Date Festival. It was a VERY hot day. Eddie had gotten a cold, and wasn't feeling well, but we didn't want to miss out on a day with our family. We totally enjoyed seeing the little girls on the rides. It took us back. We also ran into Jenn Fenstemaker and her family. It was a real treat to see them

The beautiful little girls

February 16th Armando and Sylvia came by for a visit. We had visited with Mando on the 15th, but didn't get much time with Sylvia, so it was good to see them. 

February 18th we traveled to the Silver Strand state beach park and took advantage of Eddie's half price pass. I was VERY grateful that the GPS had us go around and NOT over the Coronado bay bridge. Eddie would have to shoot me with an Elephant tranquilizer before I would have gone across that bridge in the rig!!!! It is a beautiful spot, right on the beach. there is only water and power, no sewer, but we are only there for four days. 

Silver strand camp site

Our Buendia family sign

February 19th. Visit with my daddy day!!!!!!! I had been looking forward to this day. We got the Cruiser washed then went to get my Daddy. We took him back to Freeda. He was THRILLED!!!! He LOVES our new home. He kept saying how proud and happy he is for us. He took the "grand tour". We visited for a bit at the rig and enjoyed the beautiful sunny day at the beach.



My Daddy!!!



Silly daddy

Dad at Freeda

 We then all went out to lunch. Dad had a shrimp pasta dish that he just loved. I just loved being with him and my honeybunch. My two favorite men in the WORLD!!!!!

Lunch with Dad