Late last year I decided that a "home base" other than Beaverton, Oregon would make sense. I love Oregon, but it's a little off the beaten path for me at this point. I looked at membership campgrounds in Arizona and California (I figured I could come and go anywhere from those two states) and loved the people and space at Park Sierra. It is about 30 miles from Yosemite and Sequoia, 12 from Oakhurst, and 30 miles North of Fresno. I am about 3 hours from San Francisco and 5 hours (depending on LA traffic) from Anaheim. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
One of the reasons for hesitation was the cost. I'm not going to be here much, so I'm essentially paying twice for somewhere to park (I have monthly maintenance fees here). The advantage is I can leave my seasonal "stuff" and my coach here when needed and feel perfectly safe in doing so. My coach was here for the month I was gone to Croatia and Egypt, and a very nice couple looked after it for me ... making sure the water lines didn't freeze and all was well. They even picked up my mail ....
Unfortunately, it has two disadvantages. One of the reasons I was looking for a home base was to establish my annual medial care and testing at the same facility each year. When I "moved" from Oregon to Florida, I transferred my insurance plan ... same plan. What I was not told is Florida excludes California from the plan, so I have no medical coverage here. I have to go back to Oregon for my medical care, or Florida. So now my choices are to buy a supplement for coverage here, or "move" to Texas, who doesn't exclude California.
The other "disadvantage" is you get very lazy when you sit still! I have learned many card and dice games, started cooking again for the potlucks, and have done lots of volunteering, but it's still a lot of sitting. I am definitely anxious to get back on the road. So anxious, I'm actually leaving way too early for Alaska just to get moving.
I thought I would get so much done (my "to do" list) being stationery, but it didn't happen. I actually get much less done ... there are those card games, and visiting and all kinds of distractions. ha.
You also order a lot more stuff you may or may not need, just because you have a place to send your mail and packages.
It is a lovely park. I am actually moving to a new site in the next couple of weeks before I leave (now I wish I had not cut the stay short). It had a lovely redwood deck extending the patio area, so I could sit out and waste more time!! The inspection deemed the deck unsafe so we tore it down. I am going to put in a retaining wall and pavers and make a large patio area .... to sit and waste time.
My super terrific son is going to come down from Oregon in a couple of months and do some work at the site - putting shelves in the shed mostly - so I can move my storage contents down here where I have access to them.
I'll be heading north at the end of the month. I have some annual service to be done on my coach and doctor appointments in Oregon (huh!). And then off to the border... I plan to cross on April 1st and then again on October 1st coming back. It should be an outstanding six months. I'll keep you posted!
