Reorganized and ready to go.

Okay, so now I'm better organized and actually have WI-FI again, so thought I'd do an update.

Sharon and I have left Hawaii after buying a home in Florida, getting married, selling business, combining households and shipping stuff.

Leaving our family and friends, Doug's son Douglas and daughter Elisa and their spouses, Amy and Greg, was a hard task and I still tear up, even as I write this (I'm an old softy). As well as Sharon leaving all her clients of many years and the community of friends that had been nurtured and supported over her 15 years on the island was emotionally and tearfully tuff for her..  But, the future is just around the corner and adventure is calling.

We landed in LA, collected the Jeep and the dog and travelled around a small part of CA looking for a small trailer. We meandered, as we have over a month to kill as our household wends it's way east to the new house in Florida.

Thanksgiving Day found us heading towards Death Valley. But the highlight of that day was when we drove along - as we thought about and missed the family and traditional turkey dinners - knowing we'd have something very simple such as crackers and cheese, perhaps with a peanut butter garnish - when we passed through Trona, California.

Well, Trona is famous for mining soda ash and apparently equally famous for not having many residents. But, as we drove through, I spied a few POW flags, American flags and an ELKS emblem emblazoned on the side of a building. And, wouldn't you know, there was a sign stating "Thanksgiving Dinner 2-6 pm." As we drove by, Sharon suggested we stop and we did. What a great group of people, good turkey and fixin's mixed with tales of how this one and that one used to hula back in "the day." We shared laughs, my same old three jokes and made it out of there about midday, all the richer for the experience.

After leaving Trona, we continued on our way to Death Valley. The ride was longer than we had thought (having gotten on the road well after 2pm), the scenery was beautiful, but rugged, and when we got to the valley it was just past sundown. The stars were incredible as there was no light pollution and we could see the Milky Way as clearly as I used to when a kid. The valley was cold and arid at night - I can see how it got it's name. We have been to the lowest point in the US and left our mark.  

We escaped alive and headed towards the nearest Motel 6 (dog friendly chain). 

The Internet led us to a fellow (John) living in Isabella Lake that owned a Scamp trailer. John was an affable gentleman, living an easy modest life. We inspected the trailer, ended up staying overnight in another town (again because we got on the road late) then worked a deal over the phone. Later, we picked up the trailer and began our terribly terrific travel trailer trip towards Tampa.

Not having any list, we stumbled upon Soda Lake on the Carrizo Plain (http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/bakersfield/Programs/carrizo.html). Our iPhone AroundMe program laid out the roadway to take. Up the semi-paved road to the oil pump fields, through the wells onto dirt roads over the undulating hills. We dragged the Scamp, held our breath and climbed the mountains and down the other side, while towing the trailer. This was wilderness and the open range. No humans, just gopher holes and vast expanse. Finally after more than an hour of back trails, washed out ruts and sand pits, we spied the soda lake glistening in the far distance (the park is over 250,000 acres). We kept driving, hoping to get to the lake as storm clouds grew behind us and started climbing over the hills we had just traversed. We feared the rains would wash out our escape route and give validation to the sign we had seen back in the oil fields that had simply said "Roads Impassable During Rains." We remembered the Donner Party from years earlier and new it would be a long hard winter on that side of the hills...

With the dimming light, (as it gets dark here early, and......again.....we got on the road late in the day)....gathering storm clouds and disappointment we headed back out of the valley. We had fun, the dog dug for gophers and chased birds and the jeep was warm and cozy (did I mention we were freezing our butts off).

We survived the escape over the mountains and started looking for a campground, Walmart (many allow campers overnight) or an Elks lodge with hook-ups for trailers.

As we travelled down the well paved two-lane highway we noticed a sign "Soda Lake Road - 7 miles. Yup, there was a friggin' paved road that drove up to within 75 feet of the soda lake. Soooooo, as Nixon said {explicitive deleted}, we drove comfortably to the lake, parked easily and walked out onto the salt. Bandit (that's the dog, by the way), went nuts. The cushy, for wont of a better word, surface felt good to her feet and she became a racehorse. We also loved the walk and, yes, I tasted the salt. We didn't have to go over the hills, rocks, sand, ruts and cliffs using the back trails - but sharing that adventure with each other was the best. I guess the journey is the best part.

Here's Sharon bundled up on the salt with the Scamp in the background.

After sunset, we headed back towards the coast (West, that is). We had now been in California for six days and were about 200 miles from our original starting point!

Stayed the night in a Walmart lot with brief interaction with other travelers and the next morning had breakfast, coffee and were off to visit our good friends (recently moved from Kailua Kona to San Luis Obispo), Jacquie and Ralph. Their house is shown below - beautiful gardens in back, large rooms and positively welcoming. Jacquie keeps teasing that we have to stay until Spring - so if you don't hear about us back on the road in the next week you better call the cops.

Well, that's about it for now - we should be in Florida around the end of December.

Write if you have time.

Stay warm - it's cold here!

Aloha,

Doug and Sharon