Going North!

Today officially starts the “return trip”. We are half way through and an interesting time to reflect on some of our challenges. We must of done a good job planning, because there have only been a few challenges.

1st was the cracked windshield on Melbaru (the car). Not a major mechanical issue, and insurance still covered over half of the cost, but the logistics were challenging because we weren’t in one place very long, and it was hard to find a place that would allow us to disconnect the camper while they worked on the car. That was more of a surprise, and it took us making 3 appointments with different vendors before we found someone that would approve us hanging out with a disconnected camper for the 3 hours it took them to do the work.

The 2nd challenge came about quietly. While eating breakfast in Santa Barbara, Melissa suddenly made a funny expression and spit out her mouthful of food into a napkin like there was something really wrong with the food. Actually, there was something really wrong with her mouth. One of her crowns resolved into several pieces, and we soon learned there were too many pieces to rebuild the crown. There was no significant pain, clean break, so this was not an emergency situation. Luckily, only 2 days later, we found a dentist in a small town in California that will give her a temporary crown. We scheduled it early on a travel day, so there should be no impact on the schedule other than to start a little earlier so we can make it to the dentist in time.

Not in order of importance, but the camper had a little glass breakage problem too. The glass cover on the stove, the part that allows you to use it as a counter when the heat is off, shattered on its own. We were able to clean it up easily enough, but since it is a new stove, and we did not make the mistake of putting the glass on a hot burner, it should not have shattered. We called the camper manufacturer and put in a warrantee claim which they denied. Luckily, the day before, we had agreed to be a Casita ambassador, that is, because Casita does not sell through dealerships, they send potential new customers to existing customers in their area. There aren’t too many Casita owners in upstate New York, so Casita was excited to have us as in their ambassador program. Well, a little of the right leverage at Casita, and we got our sales person to pressure the service manager, who over rode the warrantee manager and Casita put a new stove top in the mail. We can fix it up before we show the camper!

I also had a chance to think about the tools we are using for this extraordinary adventure, and wanted to pay a little homage to our mighty steed “Melbaru” 🚙 (Melissa’s Car), and our Casita camper. They have been performing fantastically, and most nights we are very happy to have both of them with me. The other times we are just too dead tired to appreciate how much fun this is.

OK, time to get to the normal post. Waking up early again (at least for west coast time zone, we met the wedding party for a farewell breakfast of really good bagels, cream cheese, lox, tomato’s, capers, and other fixings. (Yum!). Jewish weddings have their advantages! We wished the bride and groom well, said goodby to some new friends, and hugged old friends saying “we will see you at home in a few more weeks”. A beautiful walk along the beach back to our camper, packed up and hit the road. Not a super long drive, but the route took us back into some metropolitan areas which always makes driving a little more interesting.

As we approached our destination, we stopped at a Walmart in the last town before where we would camp for the night, and Melissa found a battery powered blender she had been looking for, especially critical now as we don’t know how long before she can chew again 🦷. Stocked up on some food items and went to the campground to cook a fantastic 4 cheese ravioli dinner. Our site overlooks a lake, and the sun set right across the lake behind some mountains. Made some great views, and we watched the colors become more and then less vibrant until the milky way splashed across the sky!Read more