Million Dollar Motorhomes

Before I met Eddie my idea of RVing was a Winnebago, or perhaps a classic Airstream trailer. Over the past couple of years I have learned that there are Class A, B and C motorhomes. Then there are 5th wheels and trailers, followed by station wagons with tents and sleeping bags, which is what I was accustomed to.

Marathon Coach is the Mercedes of Class A motorhomes. Yesterday afternoon Eddie invited me to tour a couple of them that are on display at the Motorcoach Country Club.

Generally referred to as Prevosts, they are custom-built conversions of commercial bus chassis from Prevost, a subsidiary of Volvo. They are high-tech, super luxurious, and very expensive...the two we looked at were priced at $1.7 and $2 million.

Paul Newman, Michael Andretti and Whoopi Goldberg are among the many celebrities who have purchased these luxury liners, and they are the preferred entertainer coaches…leased by rock bands, film production companies and sports figures.

Obscenely expensive, but lovely to look at. I’ve posted some photos I took of the two we toured in Photo Albums…or just click here. Best view is slideshow/full screen.

Hasta pronto!

Last Days in the Desert

Now we’re at the stage where we are counting how many days of fun we have left. Today is Saturday and we’re leaving on Tuesday morning, so we’re packing it in...the FUN, that is! I was able to play golf for the last three days and on Friday I played twice.

Although Eddie is officially retired, he still has a business at home…and I’m still consulting…so we think of this time as vacation. However, for most of the folks at Motorcoach CC this is a lifestyle, and an enviable one, indeed!

This afternoon we joined the club residents for jazz, wine and appetizers, and met some more of the vibrant and interesting folks who live here in their motorhomes (and fabulously developed outdoor areas) through the winter. Everyone asks us “when are you going to buy?” Well, aside from the fact that this lifestyle is beyond our financial reach, we truly love where we live now, and wouldn’t want to abandon it for six months every year!

Nevertheless, after the afternoon event, Steve and Marjo took us on a great cruise of the resort canals and waterways…where we watched the sun go down and the moon and stars come up while listening to tunes from the 60’s...which make 60-somethings feel YOUNG again! This day reminded us of how much we enjoy our time and our friends here, and we decided that we will return for a full month next year.

For the latest photos click here or go to Photo Album at right titled Our Last Few Days in the Desert. Best view is full screen slideshow.

Hasta pronto!

Champagne Golf

Our caddy and cart boys were amusing and gracious! Click on photo to enlarge and see cigars and champagne!

The Men’s Group at the Motorcoach Country Club plays host to the Ladies’ Group every spring…complete with Mimosas, Bloody Marys, beer, iced tea or bottled water at every other hole, and caters a luncheon and prize presentation after the game. The Ladies’ Tournament also includes caddies and “cart boys”… the husbands of the ladies in the field.

Our caddies fetched errant balls (numerous), coached us on the tee (they love to do that, don’t they?) marked best balls, lined up our putts, and cleaned our clubs while the cart boys served us drinks. Unfortunately, June and I picked cards for different groups, but Gail and I both pulled the number 9, along with Deborah…whose go-to-club is a 9 iron. Christy, the hostess of the after-tournament party, showed up late and moved to our team on the second hole. It was magic!

There were 39 players in today’s scramble. We didn’t win, but we all had great fun and everyone in our group had a few bravo/high five shots. Thanks to Gail, who hit her first shot to just off the green and then chipped it in for a birdie on our first hole, we started off confidently.

Deborah’s 9-iron then found the green consistently for a run of pars, and I made a natural sandy par on one hole, thanks to our caddy who told me to PUTT it out of the bunker, over a hill and straight to the pin...and by golly it worked! Christy left us a couple of makeable shots from unlikely positions, and also saved us with a couple of remarkable clutch putts.

Okay…I know I’m boring the non-golfers in my audience, but this is a chronicle, right?

Our caddies, Joe and Gary, were instructive, patient and amusing and seemed to have a good time playing girl-golf with us, and the cart boys kept the cool drinks flowing until we finished up and got to Christy and Jerry’s lot overlooking the waterway for more refreshments, lunch and prizes.

I managed to take a few pictures of the shotgun start, a few of the picturesque holes, and the after-party, but for the most part I just tried to PLAY…which is what I came here to do! Photos are in album at right titled Champagne Golf, or you can simply click here. Again, best view is full screen, slide show.

BTW… June reached the green on the first six holes. It must be the Pilates, girlfriend! Wish I could have seen those!

Hasta pronto!

A PJ at PC Day.

Watching the sunset...and the sprinklers...on the golf course as I finished a LONG day at the computer.


My desk was on fire when I got up this morning. Normally, I’m addicted to adrenaline. Normally, deadlines are a welcome incentive to get up, get moving, and get ‘er done…but today I quickly realized that I was going to be obliged to sacrifice play for work. I was hunkered down over the laptop from sun-up to sun-down.

I never got out of my PJs…they’re light, non-binding and, in a pinch, can pass for resort-wear. Fortunately, Eddie found some repairs and improvements to make, some shopping to do, and when he finished with all that he took off in the golf cart to check out the neighborhood and hang with Tommy.

I truly love what I do, and feel blessed that my business allows me to work from home or the RV. However, looking out our “picture window” at people playing golf was rather distracting and frustrating.

We had planned an early dinner at Outback, but getting dressed and going out was more than I could bear. I opted for a long, soothing hot tub in our splendid private patio…watching the sun go down and the stars come up…and again thanked the Universe for my fabulous, if at times frantic, LIFE!

Tomorrow I’ve been invited to join June and a few of her friends to a local event…a luncheon and Ralph Lauren fashion show in La Quinta. I’m still a working woman, not one of the “ladies who lunch”, but God knows I deserve to be after this day!

Hasta pronto!
Lisa

Fear of Flying.

Flying the green, that is. The Motorcoach CC golf course is, as I’ve mentioned, small but quite challenging, with water, water, everywhere! The first time I played it two years ago I put dozens of balls in the water. I’m doing much better this year, and yesterday only got wet a couple of times. And this time, most of those shots were over the green, rather than short of it.

This year they put in a gorgeous new ladies’ tee on the 4th hole. Only 58 yards and slightly elevated, the tee box is right in the middle of two waterfalls. For pictures of this hole (and my par shot) go to Desert Dogs and Golf in Photo Albums at right or click here. Since there was no one behind us, we also took the opportunity to practice with more than one ball on occasion. On one hole I hit 7 iron and flew the green, clubbed down to 8 iron and overshot, then 9 iron and overshot, and finally found the green with a pitching wedge.

June has invited me to join her ladies’ league scramble on Thursday morning and I don’t want to be the embarrassing guest, so I’m trying to play everyday and figure out which club to use on each hole. Today is very windy, however, so when June stopped to pick me up this morning we took a look at the palm trees bending to the right and said forget it!

Instead Eddie and I went shopping. I had a pedicure and then bought some cute golf shirts, summer golf shoes, and a bunch of cheap “water balls”. Now we’re inside the coach watching the 50 mph winds whip at the flags on the course. Hopefully I’ll get out tomorrow, but today I’ll have to content myself with watching golf on TV.

Hasta pronto!

Happy Campers!

View from our "picture window"

It was a failed $15 oil pressure sensor that turned off the engine and cast our ship on the rocks Saturday afternoon. On Monday morning, the diesel mechanics connected a laptop to a port in the Command Chair, asked the patient a few questions and that was that. It took most of the day to finish the repair, though, as the Cummins Engine guy had to come over with another computer and his proprietary software to re-calibrate the Electronic Control Unit after they installed the new pressure sensor.

I am currently developing a technical paper with a client on Automotive Networking Busses, so this actually MEANS something to me, and I found it all terribly interesting. Nevertheless, it was a relief to get out of there and get on the road again Monday afternoon. We drove only 2 hours to Bakersfield and on Tuesday morning we finished our run to the desert.

Eddie was a little uneasy at first, but eventually he relaxed and began to trust that La Casita had made a full and complete recovery. I made a very short little video of him on the road. Short...because he didn't want to talk, okay? Click on the link below to see him decline being interviewed.

Eddie Drives the Rock Star Bus

The Mojave Desert is in full bloom and there were swaths of blue, orange and yellow fields of color everywhere. However, there were also huge flocks/swarms/herds of butterflies everywhere. It was sad to see them crash and splat all over the windshield, and it was clear that they were feasting on yellow flowers. The windows looked like a Jackson Pollock painting after an hour or so.

Arriving at Motor Coach Country Club was a beautiful thing after spending two nights in the asphalt service yard in Fresno. Palm trees, piles of petunias, emerald fairways and greens, sparkling waterways and, of course, gorgeous, fully-functioning luxury motor coaches were a sight for sore eyes.

Our friends Tommy and June welcomed us and three other couples to their beautiful outdoor home and a fabulous St. Paddy’s Day celebration of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, leeks, green Guiness, and assorted green desserts. A few photos of our DRAMA, our arrival and the party are posted in the photo album at right titled St. Paddy's Day...or just click here. Slide show view is the best view, of course.

Before, over, and after dinner, there was a lot of discussion about what “full-timers” and other folks who spend considerable time in their motor homes are going to do…now that so many of the major coach manufacturers have gone out of business. Service facilities, parts, and trained mechanics will no longer be available and that has caused a certain amount of anxiety in the luxury liner crowd.

The former owner of Country Coach (our coach manufacturer) is an industry pioneer, and although he sold his company several years ago, he still feels a commitment to his customers and has opened Oregon Motorcoach Center with a service facility in Eugene and mobile service fleets. This may help ease the pain and keep folks on the road.

On Wednesday morning the Bumble Bee crew arrived to give La Casita a wash and wax and we now have a clear and glorious view of that wretched golf course (a little par 3 nine-holer, but with 7 forced carries over water….aaargh!) that I will start playing tomorrow. I tried to get out for a little putting practice this afternoon, but my mobile desk was on fire after two days of delays.

Eddie did some fiddle-faddling on the rig, went to Walmart and Trader Joe’s, and then hung out with his good buddy Tommy so I could get a handle on my projects. Tonight we’ll sup on some of June's incredible leftover corned beef and vegetables, get to bed early, and tomorrow I’ll just work for a few hours and start enjoying this glorious desert retreat.

Hasta pronto!
Lisa

Detour de Force*

We set off on Saturday before 10 am, expecting to arrive in Bakersfield 4 hours later…a reasonable pipi-stop/feeding/resting lapse for the hounds…and spend the night halfway between home and our destination of Outdoor Resorts in Indio. Halfway down the grade from San Luis Reservoir a light on the “Command Chair” told us that we had low pressure in one of the dualies. I’m not sure how to spell that, but the rig has dual tires in the back, and the inside one…which you can’t even SEE…was apparently low on air.

Eddie assured me, however, that since we have FOUR tires in the back, hurtling down a 6 degree grade at 65 mph did not pose any risk. Nevertheless, he pulled into the first truck stop he encountered in Santa Nella to check it all out. He just had six new tires installed on the rig in December and was aghast that one of them was already leaking at an ALARMING rate, but it turned out to be a loose valve stem. Apparently that’s not so good, but it was fixable and we prepared to drive on.

While having the tire work done (as I naively and happily stayed in the rig and checked my email and Facebook postings to the tune of the compressed air squawks) Eddie chatted with a flatbed trucker who was having a lube and oil change on his rig. This driver's family owns bee hives that they transport around the country to pollinate crops and he was picking up a huge load of hives that had just finished their job in California and he was taking them home to Florida.

About 35 miles south of Santa Nella, after a bit of conjecturing about why bees make wax and honey and resolving to learn more about bee-havior, we felt La Casita’s engine hiccup and Eddie said uh-oh. I hate when he says that. More lights on the Command Chair were showing up, including the STOP ENGINE light. Eddie pulled over. Then he restarted, got back on the highway, watched the ENGINE WARNING turn to STOP ENGINE signal and then the motor just QUIT!

Long story short. We tried to find Roadside Assistance, but diesel engine techs are, in the main, trained to work on tractor/trailers, not RVs. In fact, they won’t touch them. So, after Officer Mello, the young, kind, funny and absolutely charming California Highway Patrol officer knocked at our door and suggested we call a tow truck, we did.

Short story long. It took about two hours for them to load the 40 foot long, 16 ton motorhome on to a Peterbilt tow truck (with 500 HP Caterpillar diesel engine…for those who care) and another hour and a half to SLOWLY drive across the central valley to Fresno.

We unhitched the tow car and Eddie followed as I rode inside the motorhome with the dogs…eating the last half of the Trader Joe’s White Cheddar Popcorn, which would be my supper…as the sun set. The amazing tow truck driver, David, backed us into the RV repair lot, which has electrical and water hookups so one can wait for service (in this case, on Monday).

In lieu of our planned dinner of ravioli and homemade spaghetti sauce we had cocktails (and tried to remember all of the idiomatic phrases we could for what we were doing…drowning our sorrows, wetting our snouts, throwing back a few…please share yours) and went to bed happy that we were not sitting on the side of California’s Highway I5.

Today, Sunday, the first thing we did was go to the sales office of Paul Evert’s RV Country empire to meet our angel, Lynn, who gave us the gate code and special instructions so we could limp in and settle down in their repair lot to wait for service. When I was on the side of the highway trying to find road service she answered the phone and stayed in touch with me throughout the ordeal. That’s another story.

After that, we made the best of our situation…walking and playing with our doggie girls, a great lunch at Sweet Tomatoes salad bar, shopping at Trader Joe’s, washing the tow car, meeting some of the other folks in the repair lot who are dealing with the reeling of the RV manufacturer’s industry, and, tonight, watching The Changeling in the new flat screen and DVD setup that Eddie has engineered in La Casita. After all, it was a great day in beautiful, downtown Fresno.

We may be crippled, but we’re not dead yet!

Hasta pronto!
Lisa

*tour de force (feat of ingenuity)

Cajun Cookin'

During the 1990s I traveled frequently to New Orleans on business and became a big fan of Cajun cuisine. Among my favorite dishes were Bananas Foster at the Royal Sonesta, beignets and chicory coffee at the French Market, Turtle Soup at Commander’s Palace, Strawberries Romanoff at Le Madeleine, fresh oysters at Acme Oyster Company, mufalettas from Central Grocery, and boiled crawfish at Whitey’s Bar.

I returned over and over for those dishes, but I only ate Boudin sausage one time…at a little hole-in-the-wall café on a bayou road. They listed it on the chalkboard (no menu here) as Hot Boudin. It is a mixture of ground pork, rice, green onions, parsley and various spices stuffed into a hog casing. Steamed in a crock pot, it is one of the best “peasant foods” I’ve ever tasted.

Well, since Eddie has become obsessed with sausage making I asked him if we could try to make our own Cajun Boudin. The most difficult part of this venture was finding a fresh pork liver. That is a very long story, but Eddie was determined and he finally found a local slaughter shop where he could purchase one.

On Saturday we stewed the pork shoulder and pork liver, made 12 cups of rice, and chopped the onions, garlic, and parsley. Then Eddie ground up the meat and the vegetables, mixed them with the rice and spices and we started stuffing. He’s become quite expert with the hog casings, which look like little shriveled up worms when you start working with them.

His technique is put the nozzle of his air compressor in one end while I hold the other end until they blow up like one of those clown’s twisty balloons…only about 5 feet long. Then we come back in the house and feed the casing on to the stuffer.

The rest was simple…he fed the stuffer and I held, twisted, and cut off the links. We ended up with about 30 sausages, most of which we vacuum packed and froze. For pictures of the process and the finished product go to the Photo Album titled Louisiana Boudin Sausage.

Eat your heart out, Emeril!