When we bought our RV, we were given a year’s membership to Thousand Trails, an RV resorts club. It gives us 30 free overnights per year, and after that it’s only $3 per night. The catch is it has to be in an RV resort on the Thousand Trails list, and it has to be within the U.S. quadrant you signed up for. You can change quadrants, or zones, once.
This could save us a lot of money this year, so whenever there’s a Thousand Trails park near where we’re going, we’ll reserve a spot there. We chose the southwest zone, which covers California, Arizona and Utah. When we move east, we’ll switch to the Southeast zone, which offers the most parks.
Our first Thousand Trails park was the Russian River RV Resort, near Cloverdale. Just inland and south of Port Arena, it was a good stopover on our way to Santa Cruz. Kelly came with us and took advantage of the membership she’d received with her new trailer as well.
Note: To those buying an RV from a dealership, ask for the Thousand Trails membership as a throw-in. Most dealerships have it to offer as a carrot to help close a sale, but ours didn’t offer it up front.
Hanging out by Kelly’s trailer with Kelly’s dog.
As RV campgrounds go, this one seemed perfectly nice. Decent sites, great bird-watching, and a pretty walk to two river beaches. We were able to nab two spots together on a hill that gave us the illusion of private territory. There were laundry facilities and very slow internet at a “lodge” that looked more like a church basement set up for bridge night. The ranger had explained that whereas most Thousand Trails parks have pools and an abundance of family activities, this particular one was set up for R&R. Perfect; that’s pretty much all we wanted. We’d reserved three nights, but it was so restful and relaxing that we ended up staying a week.
Sewing Projects
The one thing Kate really wanted to do on this year off was sewing. At home, it’s her main source of creative satisfaction, and she hoped to do more quilting. I wouldn’t begrudge her the thing that brings her joy, but I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t admit to some conflict this stirred up. Storage was an issue, as well as workspace in the coach. At home, Kate is free to keep her sewing room in the manner in which she is comfortable, which in my mind equates to heaps of clutter. Since my creative outlets require little more than a laptop and a camera, I approached the subject with what Kate found to be an edge of superiority.
Kate’s outdoor sewing room.
Fortunately Bessie offers a plethora of storage, both inside and out, and with some negotiating, Kate was able to procure enough room for her sewing machine, her serger machine, a small work table, iron, cutting mats, and about five tubs of material and supplies. Most of it fits tidily in one outside storage bin.
When we were on Linda’s land in Port Arena, Kate whipped together a doll dress for Linda’s granddaughter. Here, Kate threw herself into projects for Kelly’s new trailer. With ideal weather, she set up shop outside on the picnic table and went about making curtains and a comforter cover using material Kelly had bought. Seeing how happy she was, cutting, ironing, pinning, and stitching, I was so glad that we’d come to an agreement about the mobile sewing room.
Learning Leisure
Dogs in the river.
Our first day at the RV camp, Kate and Kelly headed off shopping, but I was content to stay put. I pulled out a lounge chair and relaxed for a bit. Here it was March, and it felt every bit like summer. I looked up through green leaves at blue sky and watched a pair of red-headed woodpeckers take food to a nest. I studied patterns in a madrone’s bark, and marveled at the peaceful quiet of the campground. Every time I felt inclined to get busy with something, I checked myself and realized that actually, I was perfectly happy just sitting. Sitting, breathing, feeling the sun, and letting my mind wander anywhere but to that ever-morphing task list that has taken up firm residence in my brain. There wasn’t one thing I had to do that day.
Through the week, we found plenty that we wanted to do. I loved riding my bike on the country roads, past vineyards and old barns and fields of orange poppies. Kate and Kelly enjoyed wine tasting at nearby wineries. And one whole day we spent driving back to Port Arena to fetch the iPad Kelly had left in a café. But mostly it was a time to regroup, collect ourselves, relish the last few days we had with our very dear friend, and practice this new-found skill of living leisurely.
I was the designated driver.
Slowest Farewell
If we didn’t have friends waiting for us in Santa Cruz, we might have stayed on at the Russian River even longer, each day postponing our final goodbye to Kelly, and to Bella, who is like a canine-cousin to Bailey. When we finally parted, we’d been traveling together for almost two weeks, and it was wonderful having all that time together.
That’s the hardest part of this: saying goodbye to friends. But from experience I know that we’ll pick up again in a year like we’ve never been gone.
My favorite part of this post was about the “mobile sewing room,” especially these lines: “At home, Kate is free to keep her sewing room in the manner in which she is comfortable, which in my mind equates to heaps of clutter. Since my creative outlets require little more than a laptop and a camera, I approached the subject with what Kate found to be an edge of superiority.”
There’s so much subtext about marriage in those lines. I was cracking up!
P.S. We really miss you guys! We’re keeping our fingers crossed you pass this way again. But we’re also excited for you when you reach the edge of the “known” world and set out into places where you have no plans and no people!