A generic update!

It’s been awhile, friends. Work has been keeping us both busy, and there just hasn’t been a lot of energy leftover for blogging. Which is great in some ways— David loves his job as an RV tech! And tiring in others— I’m a tax preparer, and I haven’t had much of a break thanks to covid. Living with chronic illness and disability means I’ve got time to work or time to take care of myself, but not both. (Let this be a lesson to anyone who thinks full-time RV life means full-time vacation!) We are still in Crescent City, California. We absolutely love this area, and hope to explore more of the Pacific Northwest when we are able. We’ve decided to spend the winter here in Crescent City, and experience a PNW winter firsthand. One of the reasons we’re sticking close to our current favorite city is Covid-19. It had …

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Tour Through Tree, Klamath, California

This tree is centuries-old and a cheap ($5) tourist attraction worth seeing in the Klamath area. Small cars can drive right through the tree, but there’s no way our truck would’ve made it. So we just enjoyed hanging out in the shade of a tree that’s already outlived us 10 times over. Truthfully, it made us a little sad to see such an ancient living tree butchered like this. The tree still produces sap, constantly attempting to heal the damage. It continues to grow, with one branch in particular that resembled an entire new redwood. These trees are just incredible. When you visit the tour-through tree, do NOT bring your RV! The hill to get to the tree is steep, narrow, and there’s not much room to turn around when you get there. However, we had no problem taking our Ram 2500 up to the parking area next to the …

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New favorite phone app for exploring nature!

We’ve been loving the Seek app for identifying plants when we’re out exploring. The app uses your camera and image recognition technology to identify plants, animals, and fungi. It’s a fun addition to stopping and smelling the flowers. It “gameifies” being outside, by giving badges for discoveries and offering optional challenges. They’re cute features but the coolest part really is the identification of plants, animals, and fungi. Seek doesn’t store or transmit location data, and you don’t even need to create an account to use the app (but you can if you want to). The app is totally free from iNaturalist, which a collaboration between the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society. It’s available for iOS and Android, and it does require internet in order to access the iNaturalist database and use the app. We haven’t had luck using it for bugs or animals yet (except humans …

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The Last Camp of Hi Jolly (Hadji Ali), Quartzite, AZ

We visited the Hi Jolly monument in Quartzite. Arizona. The photos tell the story of Hadji Ali (note the whitewashing of his given name), a Syrian Muslim camel expert who helped the US Army with a short-lived attempt to use camels in this part of the country as beasts of burden military purposes. Hadji became a bit of a legend around Quartzite, and when he died, they built the monument to honor him, and the town’s cemetery is named after him.

Happy Pride Month! And a PSA.

Here’s a rainbow we saw on our travels this week, directly overhead! Despite more people than ever staying home, police violence against Black people continues just as it has since the country was founded. People have reached a tipping point and are collectively standing up for justice because black lives matter. Remember the campsite rule: leave your site better than you found it. What can you do to leave this world better than you found it? The RV community (especially the RV community online) has a whiteness problem, and we need to change that. Find outdoorsy accounts/blogs/channels run by Black folks and follow them. Challenge 10-year age limits at RV parks (which disproportionately affects lower income RVers, and lower income people are more likely to be people of color). Reconsider your RV park reviews complaining about “long term residents” which is often code for “poor people” (who are more likely …

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A Visit to the International Independent Showmen’s Museum in Riverside, Florida

We recently visited the Independent Showmen’s Museum, which was entertaining and educational, and worth it’s very own blog post.

The museum is over 54,000 square feet of artifacts, relics, art, and ephemera documenting the diverse and fascinating history of sideshows, spanning over a century. It is completely wheelchair accessible, with the exception of an example of the manager’s office, which has several stairs, and is an extremely small part of the exhibition space.

The view of the museum from the second floor, with a large carousel and ferris wheel, and many displays.

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