Challenges of Communication - RV West Article

Another published article!  The challenges of communication while living on the road - RV West Magazine

-K

Musings - On the U.S.A.

While planning our Atlantic crossing, I find myself thinking back over our last five months in the United States.  As some of you know, our original plan was to leave from California and head directly to Europe but we paused and thought, “Hmmm, having never done this before, maybe we should stay in the US for a bit and see how it goes.”  So we set off and discovered a ton about ourselves and RV’ing but, surprisingly, even more about this country that we have called home for years.  Ok, decades.

First of all, it is gigantic and gorgeous and so very varied.  Due to the sheer size of the states, the geography changes slowly.   The people, though similar in their welcoming attitude, seem to share a defining characteristic state by state:  From the naturally healthy people in Colorado; to the Polartec-loving people in Washington; and down to the fiercely independent but extremely hospitable people of Texas; they all had one thing in common:  They were open to a complete stranger walking up to them and asking questions.

What struck me the most was how employed everyone is.  Like most Americans, we watched too much T.V. prior to our departure (a habit I do not miss at all particularly when the news bombards you with the “crisis in unemployment” twenty-four hours a day.)   But let me tell you, driving through the small towns and larger cities, you see Americans at work.  Most are working for someone else but a great number of them are working for themselves.  The sole-proprietor might be struggling but they are still out there running grocery, clothing and food stores, or businesses that keep America moving forward.  Contrary to my previous belief, the entire country does not shop exclusively at Walmart, Starbucks and the Gap.   (I, for one, have shopped more often at Walmart in the last five months than I ever did in my entire life.   But when pulling your 19’ home behind you, the large parking lots and one-stop shopping appear like an oasis.)

So off we go to discovery new countries!  The U.K. is first then I imagine we’ll be heading south as soon as possible, perhaps coming back up to Paris for Springtime.  Wow, how fortunate are we?

-K

Padre Island National Seashore (PINS) - Jan. 22-24, 2012

More pictures here!
Concerned that we were getting too soft, we decided to start doing mini-Salt trips in between Alan's knee treatments.  Since he has to have a shot once a week for five weeks, we have a lot of opportunity to explore the Gulf coast of Texas, three to four nights at a time.  


Truth be told, we were a bit anxious about how we would feel living in Salt after three weeks (yikes!) of luxuriating in a condo, but it felt wonderful.  Our adventuresome spirit was in high gear as we navigated Salt onto a ferry and began the short drive out to Padre Island National Seashore (PINS.)  True, PINS is only about an hour's drive away, but we still felt like we were "back at it."  


PINS is a remarkable place:  A 60 mile long, skinny piece of land, with a near empty beach on the east and the calm waters of the Laguna Madre on the west. It, like a lot of the areas around the Gulf, is heaven on earth for fishermen and bird-watchers.  


There are a lot of options for RV'ing, from the full hook-up sites found at Mustang Island State Park (on the way out to PINS) to camping right on the sand at PINS (courage not included.)  We opted for a middle-of-the-road solution; Malaquite Campground which does not offer any hook-ups but has potable water, cold showers and a dump station on site.  


Having returned to relatively warm and sunny weather, we are back on solar power (yahoo!) so we were good for 3-4 nights.  Sadly, not everyone loves solar like we do and the campground allows people to use their generators all day and until 11:00 p.m.  I can't figure out what these campers were doing all day (watching TV?) but it was irritating to listen to the generators.  (I am sure our P-90X work-out was equally irritating to listen to, not to mention the wonderful views offered by our contorted bodies, but at least that was over in 60 minutes.)


We drove over and fished in the Laguna Madre without any luck.  Clearly, the fishing to be done is right in the surf of the Gulf where multiple fisherman were pulling out multiple fish (and one over 20 lb Grouper!  )


There are two great highlights of the Malaquite Campground:  The number of pitches and the access to five miles of "No Vehicles Allowed" beach.  Many of the campgrounds we have seen in Texas are enormous and one, on South Padre Island, boasts 400 spaces.  That is not what we are after, so finding Malaquite with only two rows and maybe 40 spaces was refreshing.  Topped off with morning walks down the beach with The Noses and we too were in heaven.


-K

Musings – On Staying in Shape in 19’

Determined not to be the Fat Americans when we entered Europe, we started out last year by going on a diet.  By the time we set off on the Aventura (September 1, 2011) we each had dropped twenty pounds and were still heading in the right direction.  Indeed, four weeks into the new life, I had lost an additional two pounds.

Myfitnesspal.com should get the most credit for our weight loss.  It is a simple on-line tool that allows you to enter the food you eat each day and compare it to the amount of calories you are burning.  Based on your weight, age and activity level, it comes up with a set number of calories that you can eat each day without gaining or losing weight.  If you want to lose weight you either have to eat fewer of those calories or burn more via exercise.  (Their comprehensive database has most foods already referenced and quite a few exercises.)   The best part of the program is, after logging in your day of eating and exercising, it provides you with, “If every day were like today, you would weigh XXX in six weeks.”  Let me tell you, that can be a great motivator - each day elicits either a "Yahoo!" or an "Oh My!"

A wonderful tool for us two A-type personalities however, you need an internet connection to record all the data and during the first month of the Aventura we were shy of an internet connection most of the time.  I think we continued to lose because we were hiking almost every day and eating fresh trout, grilled vegetables and very little else.  Unfortunately, when the cold weather set in and we headed North, we found ourselves inside most of the time—maybe getting an hour walk every day, most often not.  We also had fallen out of the habit of recording our food and exercise so we really weren't surprised when, four months after our start, we had gained back four of our twenty pounds.

Having by this time reached south-east Texas where an attempt at playing tennis landed Alan back at the orthopedist and hiking rarely involves a change in altitude, we needed a new plan.  Europe, after all, was closer than ever and we were fast approaching the wrong side of the Fat Americans.   So Alan, on a friend’s recommendation, ordered the P90-X training system.  A set of DVDs that promise to lead you to your best fitness level ever in only 90 days.  (For those of you familiar with the system, we are doing the “Lean” option, the other two options promising more muscle definition than we are after.)

Obviously, an exercise program that involves sit-ups, push-ups, lunges, yoga, martial arts, kickboxing and, my favorite, stretching (corpse pose, anyone?) is not being performed--even by one person--in a 19’ trailer.  So we took two cleansing breaths, bought yoga mats, set the DVD player on Salt’s doorstep and began our training; basking in the fresh air and curious stares of our neighbors.

I have never been so sore in my life, but it sure feels good.  

-K

P.S.  As you can imagine, The Noses are not thrilled with this new exercise regime:  River tries to walk underneath and lick our faces when we are in downward facing dog and Rosco constantly tries to sleep on the mats.  Worst of all, we are so tired when we are done that they aren’t getting their usual long walks.  Soon I hope we will be able to do it all.

Local Lessons: Filleting & Netting - Jan. 19, 2012

As I have mentioned, here in Ingleside by the Bay hospitality is a way of life.  So when Captain Joe offered his help with "whatever we might need" we knew just where to go for our fish filleting lesson.  


The day we caught our first edible fish, we jumped off the boat and into the Pepper, me driving while Alan held the iced-down Spotted Seatrout and Flounder.  Unfortunately, Joe was out on his aforementioned 30-mile bike ride and, as it was getting dark, his wife Polly told us to put the fish on ice and leave them until the morning.  Bright and early the next morning Joe stopped by (bright and early for us is 8:00 a.m. -- remember, we are not working anymore!) but Alan was still in bed, so Joe and I made plans to meet him at his house at 9:00.


Leading a life of the leisurely unemployed, it doesn't take a lot of appointments in a day to feel fully booked -- one or two does it.  This day we had planned a day of really important errands like visiting the UPS customer service office in Corpus, picking up our mail at the post office and going to Starbucks.  So I was a little anxious to get the filleting lesson completed and get on the road.


Joe met us outside and led us down to his fish cleaning station conveniently located next to his dock.  He proceeded to sharpen his fillet knife, something that has to be done quite often during this process.  He then gave us an expert lesson on filleting both fish.  I can see the benefit of filleting the flounder as it has such fine bones however, the trout?  I would have just cleaned the insides and put the entire thing on the grill like we did in California.  (If--I mean when--we ever catch another we will give this a shot.)


When the lesson was done, Joe offered to get us some mullet to use as bait for our next expedition.  Being now a little pressed for time (see?) I thought to myself, "We don't have time for him to fish the mullet out of the channel."  But what can you say to such wonderful hospitality?  


So we walked over to his dock and Joe proceeded to pull out a big net with weights on the end.  Never missing a beat of his story telling, he tossed the net into the channel as I thought, "How long will we have to stand here?  We have so much to do today!"  


Less than a minute later (yes, less than a minute) he pulled the net up and lo and behold there were six mullet flopping around!  


You can't get a tall, non-fat, extra-foamy latte from Starbucks any faster.


-K

DITL - Fishing Ingleside, TX, USA

Finally a look at our fish!  A Day in the Life of Salt & Pepper Adventures brings you to Ingleside Cove in Texas for some fishing (and catching!)

Hope you enjoy - it is a bit long, but covers three days and three fish!


-K

(More) Fishing Ingleside, TX, USA - Jan. 8, 2012

"You won't go hungry in Texas", Captain Joe said as he hauled six netted Mullet onto his dock; and we sure won't.  Between our newly acquired ability to actually catch rather than just fish and the Texan hospitality evinced when our neighbor introduced himself by bringing over two pounds of freshly killed wild boar loin, not only will we not go hungry, but we might get a little hefty while we are here.  (Don't forget it all started with Michelle's rum cake!)


Our host, Clark, was concerned that our lack of catching was going to give his bay a bad name.  So despite being on a cruise ship, he asked Captain Joe to  stop by and see if he might be of some assistance.


Captain Joe is one of those people who inspire you to live a healthy life as long as possible:  A former marathon runner (raced all over the world) he has taken up bicycle riding (to the tune of 30 miles at a pop) in order to help his 74 year old knees last longer.  He is also the local fishing expert (and gardening expert--I warned him that when we were done with the Aventura, we would be back to have him teach us how to farm) so when he stopped by with an offer to give us some pointers, we paid heed.


We headed off in the boat armed with Joe's instruction and our own learning experience with regard to large freighters (see previous posting.)  Both came in handy.


We headed to a part of Ingleside Cove that I call the "pretty area".  Any fish in their right mind would want to live there.  After about 20 minutes Alan landed a barely legal (14.5") Spotted Seatrout.  We plopped him in the bucket (see how much we are learning?  We brought a bucket this time!  No more smashing the fish into the live bait box) and kept on fishing.  


A storm was blowing in and it was getting quite rough so we decided to head back across the cove to an area that Captain Joe had mapped out for us, using his oar handle, in the dirt of our driveway.


As we were turning around, I noticed a large freighter coming right toward us.  We were quite sure we could outrun it and cross in front but we had to get a move on! So we put the pedal to the metal and headed across.  We did make it, although it was a bit close for my comfort (plus, with the choppy water Rosco and I got drenched again.)


In Joe's spot, just before we were going to call it a day, I landed a (also barely legal at 14") Flounder!  Again with the ugly looking fish, but this time I knew it was going to be tasty:  I had seen it many times on fish house menus.


Feeling quite proud of ourselves, we headed in for our celebratory sun-downers.  As we were passing by the marina, a dog ran out to bark at us and River, who we all know isn't the sharpest terrier on the boat, decided to chase him.  Right off the front of the boat.


Everyone was startled, including River as she plunged under the water and came up sputtering.  I was trying to stop the motor before she got sucked under the boat and (ahem) suggested to Alan that he jump over to rescue The Roo.    I'm sure being in thigh-high water helped with his quick decision and over he went gathering up the dripping 30 pounds and plopping her back into the boat.


And we thought life in a 19' Airstream was a challenge with two terriers!


-K


P.S. Due to the aforementioned drenching of the Nikon D90, there are no pictures of our first edible fish.  But they will be in the Fishing movie, coming out soon!

Winter Camping Article in RV West Magazine!

My first published article!  The printed version will be out in a few months (it is a quarterly magazine) but here is the online version for now:


RV West - Winter Camping

-K

Fishing Ingleside, TX, USA – Jan. 3-7, 2012

More Pictures Here!

I believe there are boating people in the world; people who have an innate knowledge of the wind, tides, the steering of a boat and don’t seem to mind the lack of control. We are not two of them. But since that didn’t stop us from renting a boat in Switzerland and boating across Lake Lugano into Italy (by the way, there is a universal language and you don’t need to hear it to understand—but that’s another story) why should it stop us from taking out a flat-bottomed outboard for a little fishing in Corpus Christi Bay? We were hesitant at first but after two days of fishing from kayaks we did what any self-respecting almost-fisher-people would do and blamed the lack of fish on our vehicle. So off we went in the boat.

The first day went well enough, we even managed to dock at what we thought was the bait shack and pull up onto a small island for the dogs to stretch out a bit. We enjoyed a picnic lunch, lots of fishing but no catching.

The second day, however, became one of those times that, although I am thrilled to have Bloggie to record our Day in the Life videos, I am grateful we are not being filmed all day long.

It started out nicely enough, floating around Ingleside Cove casting out and drifting our lines along. I even saw a fish follow my line once, so that gave us hope. Then a stand-up paddler came by and said he had seen all kinds of fish just outside the bay in the Corpus Christi Channel and suggested we head that way. Off we went, stopping briefly on the island for a quick dog run.

We got out into the channel and enjoyed watching a giant freighter cruising out of Corpus Christi—not close at all, but I did admire the giant white-capped wake it was leaving far behind itself. He blew his horn a few times as he headed up the channel but, just like in Switzerland, we did not recognize the sound as something that mattered to us. So we continued fishing.

Soon, however, it became apparent that the freighter’s giant wake was about to overtake us. So Alan turned us back toward the cove and we tried to outrun it. No such luck, the waves were approaching too fast. So we slowed down, turned around, and faced the on-coming waves as bravely as possible. I had a dog in each hand as we went over and down the first wave. Not too bad. Unfortunately, the nose of the boat didn’t quite make it back up before the next wave hit us, so it came right over the top. Oh. Yes. It. Did.

Our backpacks (including our fancy Nikon HD camera) and the lunch cooler got washed to the floor of the boat where they were floating (and sinking) into 12” of water. The dogs and I got drenched. River, who was becoming quite a good boat dog before The Incident, retreated underneath Alan’s legs. Rosco hung tough with me in the front as we rode out the next few waves.  (Sometimes I imagine Rosco on a talk show where they are showing Stupid Human Tricks – he would certainly trot out this as an example.)

Eventually the waves lessened to the point where we could turn and high-tail it out of the channel. I made my way to the back of the boat where I unplugged two holes so the water could drain out. (For the life of me, I cannot understand the two holes at the back of the boat: If left unplugged, the boat fills with water when you aren’t moving forward. So I MacGiver’d them with some dog bags to keep the water out.)

And this was only the first time that day I had been thankful we weren’t constantly filming the Aventura.

After many deep breaths we gained enough control to start fishing again. So we started in an area that looked quite promising, keeping a look-out for any more freighters. We weren’t having any luck so Alan suggested we try another spot. As I reeled in my final cast, I fealt a dead weight at the end and said, quite despondently, “Well, I have something – probably a piece of wood.”

As it got closer, it looked almost round and quite white so I thought it was a shell. As it came up to the boat, Alan said, “You caught a fish!” and sure enough, there was a fish at the end of my line. His many, many fins were spread out as far as possible making him appear almost round. He had the ugliest face I have ever seen on a fish; a large, fat head with bulging eyes, bumps and little horns out the side. He was so unsightly I whined, “But I don’t want to keep him, he’s so ugly!”

And that’s the second time I was glad we weren’t filming all day.

-K

P.S. The local expert reports that the fish is a Searobin, “either big head or barred.” I couldn’t decide if “big head” or “barred” fit him better, he has so much of both.

DITL - Sailing Corpus Christi Channel

Starting 2012 right with A Day in the Life movie!  Sailing in Corpus Christi Channel with Clark, Michelle, Mark, Christi & Bart.

-K

Ingleside on the Bay, TX - Dec. 31 - ?, 2012

More pictures here!

One of the great pleasures about traveling across the U.S. before heading to Europe is that we get to meet up with friends around the country. (And one of the interesting parts of our former careers: They enabled us to connect with people well beyond the local office.) You know we headed here for Clark's birthday, but I am not sure I reported that they offered up their water-front condo for our use "as long as we want it". (Note those quotation marks, Clark and Michelle!)

It is delightful - not only the ability to spread out and stay still for a week but the sun is shining, the air is warming every day (low 70's today), there is a tennis court and a Lowe's in town. What more could you ask for?

As for our hosts, they took us on a great sailing trip on the first day of 2012 (what a way to start!), introduced us to their friends Bart, Christi, Deb and Mark (the latter two hosted us for dinner after the other four had left--have to love this Texas hospitality!), gave us a quick lesson on fishing in the bay then had to return to their lives in San Antonio. The worst thing I can say about the Haleys is just before driving away they had left half a (delicious) rum cake in the condo. You see what I am talking about.

So here we will rest for awhile. This stay might be a Trip Saver as you all know I was getting close to having enough of Salt. But being back in the sunshine, with the dogs tied up outside and all kinds of outdoor activities to entertain us, Salt's not looking too bad anymore.

Particularly when I view her from the sun deck of the condo.

-K