Jeepers...

We ordered a new 2007 Jeep Wrangler 4 door!!

We are getting 4wd (of course - it's just ~wrong~ that they even make Jeeps in 2wd now!), with an anti-slip rear differential, 17" wheels, a dual top (it's the indecisiveness tax... we couldn't decide between the "Freedom" 3 piece hard top and "Sunrider" soft top, so we are getting both), side steps, side air bags, automatic, power windows and doors (on a Jeep! Weird, but in a good way), tow package and Sirius Satellite radio...

We've changed our mind on the color several times, but are now ordering "Greystone" with a khaki interior. Light colors don't show dirt as much, and are cooler out in the desert. But I like "Rescue Green" like in the commercial at right (and after all - toads are supposed to be green!)

We are getting all the amenities and a new Jeep instead of an old beater for our toad because we decided it will also be our main multi-purpose vehicle, most likely for a while. We are selling our Toyota Sequoia to pay for the Jeep, so it needs to replace the Sequoia as a camping vehicle for long trips, not just off-road adventures. And also the new four door Jeep has actual cargo space, so we can carry Devin's Segway in the back, and all our camping gear. It does drive more like an SUV than a Jeep, which is nice for those longer trips.

Now we just have to get the kayaks to go on top so we look like "a new species"!

Life in the Trailer Park

So, we tried out trailer park life this last weekend, and, not surprisingly, found it wasn't exactly to our liking. I mean, it was a nice park and all - very clean, landscaped, by a lake... but it was a trailer park! Excuse me, an RV Park. But there were a lot of people obviously living there full time - Christmas decorations competing in the Trailer Trash Christmas Spirit Beauty Contest (not really, but I did find the award winner if they were!) and, even though it was clean and well-manicured... it was just... odd.

So to back up - why were we in a trailer park? Well, we are moving out of our apartment at the end of January to move into the MoHo and get ready to hit the road as soon as all the arrangements have been made, and we thought maybe it would be nice to have a local place to "hover" for a while during that transition period. So we booked a weekend at the East Shore RV Park in San Dimas to try it out. They only had spaces available in their "lower" section, where the sites are closer together and it's more dense. We may have felt a bit differently if we had a spot up on the hill, with views of the Puddingstone Reservoir and city lights, and lots of space between us and our neighbors. But down in the low rent district, we kept our shades pulled all weekend, didn't leave any camping chairs out... listened to redneck conversations of some of our "neighbors" that obviously lived there full time... and pretty much decided that is NOT what we got the RV for!

So, if we need to hover around southern California for a while, it will likely be out in the desert, or up in the eastern Sierra region, or maybe at the beach. We don't need hook-ups, cable TV, and a paved pad to park on.

Devin was the wisest when he said this:

Instead of staying someplace like East Shore RV Park for a 2-4 weeks, why don't we just go to some nice location and camp for free or for a very low fee. We could spend 2-4 weeks exploring semi-local areas of California. Instead of listening to the redneck neighbors in San Dimas, we could be exploring Death Valley or other areas we like. Being a local in some area other than the LA basin. We could live in Bishop for a month and see how we like it. There would be lots to do, unlike in San Dimas. Why waste the beginning of our trip in San Dimas? There is no real reason to have to "kill time" in redneck land.

If we do spend some time in the Desert or other local area, we will have a car to come back to deal with other things if need be.

I think the San Dimas experience really made me have some doubts because of the neighbors. I do not want to become those people and being there made me question if that is what we were doing. It is not though. We are going on a trip to explore new places, see new areas to live etc. San Dimas is not on the list of places that I intended to go :)

This is why I love him. He has the ability to put things into perspective nicely, when I sometimes lose that perspective.

The RV is kind of like real estate - it's all about Location, Location, Location! The same RV out in the desert, at the beach, in the mountains, is worth SO much more to us than in an RV park. I'm really glad we have our solar panels now so we can stay pretty much wherever we want!

More about our solar panels soon!