Sunday, November 12, 2017

What We Miss Most As Fulltimers

October 31-November 9, 2017
Acton, California

Other than some road construction in Victorville, our familiar drive to Acton, California is uneventful on Tuesday morning. This is our first time staying at the Californian RV Resort, about 30 minutes from our former hometown. At $12/night less than the closer park, it saves us a good amount for our first two weeks here. 

Terraced, level, concrete sites with 50 amp FHUs, nice pool and spa, and views of the surrounding hills, this is a good option for us. The spacing is "snug" with some road noise from Hwy 14. They are installing solar panels around the perimeter so there is construction noise during the weekdays as well. 

Maximus is out shopping and trick-or-treating with his parents and invites us to meet them for dinner. It's wonderful to see them all!


Maximus, 14 months.

Maximus and mom, Jillian.

With dad, Nick.
Ezra is out trick-or-treating with his friend Cal - they let their parents tag along too.


He's getting so big!
Wednesday is a full day of family. We meet Ezra and his folks for lunch, then take him with us to the park for a couple hours. After dropping him back home we meet three of Bill's boys, Travis (and fiance' Emily), Richie and Corey at a brewery to watch game seven of the World Series. Given the outcome, a packed venue in Dodgers' territory is not a happy place. The company and brews more than make up for it.

Of course I completely fail to get pics of the evening meet up, but we had a great time!


Ezra and PopPop - that look :-))))
These two wore each out. Ezra and Tessa.
I have lots of errands to run on Thursday, including Tessa's overdue grooming appointment. So nice to have a clean dog again! In the afternoon I pick up Ezra to come spend some time at our place. He is such a lovable little boy, and his excitement at spending time with us just melts our hearts! 

It's chilly outside, and keeping a two-year-old entertained in 350 square feet is great fun. All the buttons and switches on the dash are very tempting :-)


When a two-year-old can find the camera on a cellphone and take selfies....

He cracks himself up :-)))
Brian (Daddy) comes to pick up Ezra when he gets off work, and we have a good visit before they're both off for home.

We get more errands and a doctor's appointment out of the way on Friday. 

The next day Corey takes us out to breakfast and then we hang out at home until it's time to drop Bill off at a wedding, and I go to babysit Ezra. Shalise (Mommy) isn't feeling great so we all end up hanging out at their house. It is wonderful to spend time with this happy family. I don't take any pics.

Bill has a great time seeing old friends and three of his sons at the wedding, and we have fun sharing stories of our evening on the way home.


Bill with daughter-in-laws Emily and Jillian - happy man!
Being back here means slowing down, and in addition to our football Sunday, we hang out doing small projects at home for a couple days. We pick up a new printer, watch the solar panel frames being installed behind our house, and see the eye doctor. Normal people stuff. 


After lifting the beams into place with a strap on the end of a forklift, these guys secure them with large bolts. Nothing quiet about an impact drill! They're so close to us, that's our ladder shadow at the bottom.
Thursday is Gramma-all-day at Ezra's house - heaven! We spend much of it playing outside, then come in to watch movies and play with little boy toys. After his nap we share an apple until Shalise returns around 4:00.





There is no doubt what we miss the most in our travels. Grandchildren are so very special, and time with them is something we can't enjoy when we're on the road. We're having a great time with Ezra, and are looking forward to seeing more of Maximus. As much as we're ready to head out, it's going to be even harder this time!


We get some gorgeous skies here.


19 comments:

  1. What wonderful photos of your time with Ezra:) He is such an adorable little man:) Can't wait to see more photos of Maximus. Good that Tessa and Ezra enjoy each other. Leaving will most definitely be difficult.

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    1. We're sure loving having this time to enjoy them! Ezra is quite the ham :-)

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  2. Maximus and Ezra are simply adorable, Jodee. 😊 Solar panels, to me, are easier to look at than wind turbines..and both are much nicer than a smoke stack.

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    1. All of the new high schools in Santa Clarita have parking lots with solar panel covers and I agree they aren't bad at all. I grew up with the big turbines near Palm Springs so they're not so bad either - and yes, so much better than smoke stacks! And pit mines!

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  3. Ahhhh, what a sweet stopover getting to be grandparents in person for a while!

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  4. Those are great photos of your grandboys. They are so cute. I know just what you mean about leaving them being the #1 thing you don't like about fulltiming. How long were you able to be there? You said "first two weeks". Would love to know what you chose as your printer. We're on the verge of having to replace ours and it is huge and heavy so I'm not sorry.

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    1. We'll be here at least through December 6, but are moving into town on Wednesday.

      We got a small HP 3700s. It's white and less than half the size as our last one. It doesn't have the flat glass to make copies of things like driver's licenses, but copies, scans and prints better than the old one. Ink cartridges are $13 so we'll see how long they last. We don't use one that much, but when we do it's great to have it!

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  5. Your grandsons are quite handsome! How convenient that they live close to each other. I love Ezra's selfie photos :-)) I can only imagine how hard it will be when you part ways. Enjoy yourselves! We'll be going to So-Cal for work in a couple of weeks, weather permitting. If you're still around maybe we can pan a get together :-)

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    1. We would love to see you guys! We're here at least until December 6 except for time with family over the TG weekend. Let me know when you have dates!

      Having 5 of the 6 boys is definitely nice for getting caught up with all of them!

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  6. Sooooo sweet! Nothing like those little boy smiles! Such happiness!

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  7. Both those boys are heart breakers. Being gone for a while makes the visits even better.

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    1. They really are - and we do appreciate the time we get more now!

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  8. Hmmm...I guess I'm not getting notifications again so I'm glad you're putting recent posts at the top. As much as we love our full-timing lives, we do miss daily life with our families and friends. It's especially poignant with our grandson, because as you know, just a few months makes an enormous difference when they're young. Ezra and Maximus are darling -- and growing up so fast!

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    1. I heard from others that notices might not be going out again :-( He cancelled and resubmitted and now he's getting them again. Hate that people have to hassle with this! They do grow up waaaay too fast, and the walking/talking phase is so fun!!

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  9. I can only imagine how hard it is to leave those little ones. This is one thing we wonder about as we don't have any yet. But we're sure looking forward to it one day!

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    1. I think it helps that we were on the road before either of them arrived - but it gets harder to leave them each time!

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