Practicing with the Drone

I have had the drone for almost a week now and it really is fun. I have discovered that there are a lot of restrictions flying the drone though. The main one is that if I am within 5 miles of an airport, I have to contact the airport manager or control tower to let them know I will be flying my drone in their air space. That is a big pain in the backside. as there are airports everywhere.

If I get a commercial drone pilot license, then I don't have to do a lot of these things as I can simply check the aviation charts and locate the restricted or controlled airspace and stay out of that area. That is much easier as most restricted airspace is above the 400 foot ceiling that drones are allowed to fly in, so except for airports in really big and busy areas, I can fly most places. There are still quite a few other restrictions, but I should be able to figure them out and follow the rules without too much trouble.

It will take a month or two to get certified but hopefully I can get it done and keep flying the drone as it is a lot of fun and as I get a little better at flying it and operating the camera, I can film some really nice video since we are in such a pretty part of america.

Enjoy the video, and I will work on getting my license and more video while we are here in the Pacific North West.

Having Fun in the Pacific Northwest

We have really been enjoying life in the Pacific Northwest. The temp has been perfect and the rain stopped once we arrived. I heard it is in the 110 degree range back in Las Vegas area and the folks are really suffering but not here.

Lance smoked up some Salmon for dinner a couple of days ago and it was great, he even cooked the corn on the cob on the smoker and it was excellent. I couldn't be more proud of that young man even if most of the credit should go to Lisa and those 5 kids. The grandkids got a fathers day card for Lance and one for me and each one of them wrote something personal on my card and it caught me off guard a bit and really made me feel good to read it. I am not a big card type guy but that is one I will save along with a couple from Pearl and some notes from the kids when they were young.

We have learned a new game called "Spike Ball", and if it doesn't kill us (Pearl has a broken or at least bent toe from it) it will definitely help burn up some of the calories we have been indulging in. You can't really tell how much fun it is with Pearl and I playing, but there is a couple of videos with the kids playing where you can kind of see how it works and how much effort it takes to win.

I got my drone a couple of days ago and finally got a little video with it. I only fly it up about 20 feet so far and just in our camp site but once I get to a clear spot and get a little more courage, we should be able to start getting some impressive video. It is definitely a lot of fun to fly but my old flying experience didn't help a bit.

We were talking about the house we sold in Vegas and asking each other if we missed it and we both agreed it is a non issue and we are loving this RV lifestyle where we can go and see the kids more regular. I asked Alex to try and get a couple of his buddies and come visit us in Oregon and we would rent one of the cabins for him for a day or two or three. He seemed to have an interest and if he can get some free time, I am thinking we just might see him up here in the next month or so. We sure hope so.

Steve and Jinxi own a condo in Eugene (or somewhere around there) so I am thinking we might be able to see them or maybe a kid or two or three sometime over the summer up here somewhere. The plan is to go down the coast and stop in to see Pearl's sister and other family around Sacramento this fall as the temps start falling as we head to South Texas for the winter. We are planning to hook up with lots of Texas family also in the November December time frame with just a little luck.

Enjoy the Video and feel free to leave your comments

We made it to Spring Creek without many issues except for a rain shower. The trailers were tarped down pretty good so no water damage in Nevada, but by the time we got to Bend Oregon it was raining hard and the tarps had started to loosen up causing things to get pretty wet and a little dirty. Hopefully things will clean up pretty good though.

Melissa had a great dinner made when we got to her house and it was delicious (we were starving) and plentiful. Pearl and I went to bed early since we have been on the go for several days to get moved out, and loaded up for the trip.

The second day in Spring Creek was pretty relaxing, and we got to go out to dinner at Ronnie & Melissa's favorite restaurant (a sushi restaurant) and we all had a delicious meal. Alex wanted to go to McDonald's but changed his mind after tasting how good the food was, I wish I had thought to take some pictures of it as it was that good.

Unloaded some stuff in Spring Creek and headed out to Oregon. The video shows part of the trip up to the Thousand Trails campground we stayed in (Bend/Sunriver RV Campground). It was a great trip and the campground was very roomy and nice but the next leg up and over the mountain on highway 22 to Salem Oregon was really magnificent. It rained and rained hard, but the road through the mountains was simply Outstanding. I haven't checked the video yet but it has to be really good. I will post it in a couple of days.

If I can remember, I will also get some video the kids and grandkids while we are here. I totally forgot when we all met and unloaded the trailers. I have totally forgotten every time someone has come over to visit and Sunday we are all meeting at Lance and Lisa's for a home cooked Salomon feast that Lance is preparing for Father's Day. Hopefully I won't forget again but it is certainly possible.

Until next time, enjoy the video and just remember that I am just learning how to do this stuff so it is still pretty rough around the edges. Hopefully I will get a little better at it and Pearl will still approve the drone purchase and I can have a really fun time flying the drone with the camera and editing my aerial photography....

We are getting real close to being moved out of the house and this afternoon I am hoping we can finish up moving into the RV and hitting the road about the time the sun comes up tomorrow.

Our application for the Thousand Trails camping pass is almost finished and we were able to make a couple of reservations up in the Pacific Northwest. It appears that it is just about the peak of the season up there (which is a good time to be in Oregon or Washington) but we may have some trouble getting into the parks we want as they are full.

Now that we have the pass we can make reservations up to 180 days in advance so I am thinking we may be able to stay ahead of the crowd for most reservations in July, August and September if we get started planning out our route.

Hope to post an update on our location and what all is going on in Spring Creek after we have had a day or two to visit with Ron, Melissa and Alex. My understanding is they may have some interesting news to share so stay tuned to see just what is going on up in Northern Nevada.

Getting Closer to getting on the Road

We are hoping the third time is a charm, as we have entered into contract for a 3rd time with a couple to purchase our home. The Professor and his wife seem to really love the house and have spent over a thousand bucks in appraisals, inspections even installed an upgrade on the septic system. But they asked to back up the transfer date a week just a couple of days ago so who knows what is going on with them.

Anyway, we are going on the assumption that they will be able to get act together and follow through with the purchase on the 15th of June and we will need to be moved out of the house and into the RV. We have given the RV the name "Mosey" partly in honor of her older Sister "Cozy" and partly to the fact that that is how we get 'er done as we "Mosey" on down the road.

I have started trying to learn how to edit videos a little bit so as we are traveling around, we can take lots of pictures and videos and share them. If you watch them, you may have to put up with some pretty goofey editing and transitioning effects but hopefully the content will be interesting. I may have to hook up with Aiden and get some pointers from a trained professional. I am sure he will be able to give me some tips and techniques to help it go a little more smoother.

I hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day Week-end.

Thousand Trails Membership

We are getting closer to having the sale on the house finalized and trying to figure out just how and where we will be traveling the next year or two before settling down in a new home and new retirement location.

Some of the main areas we will want to travel to are:

• Pacific Northwest to view the the beautiful country and the Northwest Caddels
• Southern California to get some time in the beautiful weather, ocean beaches and the California Caddels
• Texas to check out south Texas winter weather and stay away from the cold and the Texas Caddels & Canadas
• New England just because we haven't been there and want to see it
• Florida to winter in the nice warm weather in 2018 or 2019 (most likely)
• Northern Nevada to visit with friends and Family every chance we get in Reno and Spring Creek (our new official address will be Ronnie & Melissa's ) to do a little maintenance and pick up the mail. Ronnie and Melissa are checking out locations to retire to in a few years, but until then we are hoping to be able to drop in for a few days on occasion to catch up with their projects and simply decompress a bit.

We have decided to join the Thousand Trails campground group. We purchased a membership and should get all the paperwork in a couple of weeks, but the main highlight on how it works is that now that we are members, we pay $600 a year and get to camp free all year at any of their 80 plus rv parks scattered around the country (in exactly the areas we want to travel to). I have attached a map of their locations (hopefully the link works)

Our Thousand Trails Campground Locations

There are a lot of additional benefits that allow our immediate family to also camp for FREE as well as rent their cabins, yurts for about 50% off. Once we get all the paperwork and understand it better we will be able to post more specifics on the family benefits.

Many of the Thousand Trails campground are older and dated but many if not most are in the places we want to be and even though we won't be camping there exclusively, we will be able to save a hugh amount of money by staying free in these parks and not paying for RV sites when we can. WE love FREE

Headed back Home

All good things must end, we had to leave Ventura (and the beach) this morning and it was a bit of a problem. When we parked there was about 8 or 10 feet empty in the camp site behind us so it wasn't too hard to maneuver into place. But a different camper had set up and was less than a foot from the line, so we had about 3 feet total to try and get out of our spot.

I don't know if we could have made it or not, but luckily the folks behind us came out just as we were about start maneuvering and I asked it they could move their tow vehicle so we could try and get out without damaging anything and they happily accommodated us. Took less than 20 seconds once they moved their pickup.

We had our windshield replaced last (2016) January. It had a 1 year warranty so naturally it popped out from one of the corners a couple of days ago after the warranty had expired. I made several phone calls but no luck, so we have a windshield technician coming the house tomorrow morning to put it back in place. It juggles but doesn't seem to be in danger of popping out completely and we are staying on the interstate highway hoping it will be a smooth and uneventful drive.

We are 100 miles from Las Vegas and the traffic is backed up for miles going the opposite direction because there is a Motor home burned completely to the the ground with nothing  but the metal frame smoldering. The firemen are still squirting water on it. WOW that is a eye opener.. We have now driven probably 5 miles and can't see the end of the traffic jam. Hope the individuals are ok as it was completely burned down. (the traffic was backed up for 9 miles before we got to the end of it)

Here is the view of the Burned Down RV we passed on the way home today. If you view the short video in Full Screen Mode, you can clearly see the fire trucks and look behind the white car going the opposite direction as us and you will see the metal frame of the RV sitting on the wheels and that is all that remains of someones dream. Hopefully they were  able to pull over and get out in time and since it is sitting on the road, I am pretty sure they probably just stopped and got out asap once they discovered their vehicle was on fire.