2005 Journal Archive
January, 2005: Davis, California, USA
We have been staying with Jim's sister, Lois, since we returned to California in December. We ordered our Scamp travel trailer just before Christmas and expect it to be delivered by the 8th of February. Then we will take a week or two to get everything ready to start off on our next adventure. We haven't been doing much during this month. We did make a trip to Oregon to visit Jim's parents, and showed pictures of our travels to the residents at their retirement community, Linus Oakes. Along the way, we stopped to take a look at Mount Shasta and the interesting cloud formations above it.
In looking through the photos we took before we left the Philippines, we found two that we hadn't yet posted to the website, that we thought you might enjoy. First is a chinese junk that is under construction. It has been in Tambobo Bay for many years, and is now nearing completion. And, during our last week at Kookoo's Nest we experienced one of the great sunsets for which they are justly proud. The sunsets aren't always this magnificent, but they are always beautiful.
We hope to have much more to report next month, after we set off on our travels.
February, 2005: Death Valley, California, USA
We have completed preparations on the Scamp and have left Davis for the beginning of our new adventure. Here we are waving goodbye to Jim's sister Lois just before our departure on the 28th of February.
We started by traveling south through the central valley of California. We spent our first night in Bakersfield, and our second in Barstow. We stayed in a campground at the Calico Ghost Town, a tourist attraction that attempts to show life as it was during a silver boom in the late 19th century. They do a pretty good job of it. There were very few tourists, and most of the ghost town was shut down during this slow time of the year. We went for a walk early in the morning, and were the only people in sight. It felt like a real ghost town.
We will have a difficult time getting our reports posted while we are staying in the desert, so they may be a little late at times. We will catch up whenever we are in a town with internet access.
March, 2005: Pahrump, Nevada, USA
After we returned to the US at the end of December, we ordered a small Scamp travel trailer (caravan in British) which arrived in February. We were able to set off on March 1st to begin our exploration of the United States. We started by spending 2 weeks in Death Valley, and were lucky enough to arrive just as they were having the greatest spring wildflower bloom in recorded history !!
Next we moved on to southern Nevada, visiting Las Vegas, Red Rock Canyon (photo above) and Hoover Dam. While we were traveling through Red Rock Canyon, the cell phone rang. Jim's previous employer (Jeff) was calling to tell him that his old job at YCPARMIA was vacant and he wanted to know if Jim would come back to work. He really seemed to want Jim back, offering more money, time off for traveling, etc. As Jim told Jamie what Jeff was offering, he could see her face light up, and could not disappoint them both.
So, Jim is going back to work on April 11th. Jamie is also applying for work; we are looking for a house to rent; we need to buy a car, and our travel plans will have to wait for a few more years. We had a good run at retirement, but it is back to the daily grind for now. At least Jim is going back to a job he enjoyed with co-workers he likes. And the money will come in handy, especially after our big losses on the sale of the boat (and all our boat gear).
During our time in Nevada, we attended a "Scamp Camp" with other owners of Scamp trailers (along with some similar Casita and Boler trailers). We had a great time meeting new friends and seeing what they have done with their traveling homes. Jim now has a long list of improvements he wants to make to our Scamp. We will be getting together with these folks again next year.
December, 2005: Woodland, California, USA
We have both been working at our old jobs since April of this year. We miss the adventure of traveling, but are having a good time settled back into our suburban lifestyle. We will be taking short vacations from time to time, but will not be doing anything of interest for most of the time. Jim is still taking photos, and some of them will be posted here. Otherwise, our website will be largely on standby for the next few years.
Jim has been trying to update our website to keep up with changes in the standards. This includes using the latest version of XHTML and Cascading Style Sheets in coding each page. You will notice a difference in the appearance of our most recent entries, including this one. We hope you like them.