Hello Canada! And Back To Washington!
Mari
Greetings from Whalen’s Campground and RV Park, Point Roberts, Washington!! Point Roberts is that teensy piece of land joined onto B.C., Canada but it’s actually part of Washington State!
Even though it was featured in the August 2004 issue of National Geographic, “Almost Heaven, Almost Canada,” Point Roberts remains one of Washington State’s best kept secrets. “The Point” is a tiny peninsula that dips below the 49th parallel off lower mainland British Columbia, Canada. We are only 35 minutes away from Vancouver, and minutes away from the BC Ferries…
Ty and I drove up from Bothell (north of Seattle) earlier today and got a kick out of crossing the US/Canada border twice in the space of about one hour.
I’d tweeted about a concern I had: we’d just purchased a bunch of groceries before we realized it could all get confiscated at the border. Hm. One of my Twitter buds suggested crossing at Aldergrove instead.
But, after viewing the border cams and wondering if we could take the extra half hour out of my schedule, we went for the regular Peace Arch crossing… and it worked out fine. No mention of food stuff - just weapons. I got a good laugh at my Twitter bud’s comment, “…almost makes sense. Our terrorists never carry tomatoes.”
And it sure made me smile when the customs official asked us where we live - and our response was in our RV! He asked us another couple times before it sank in. LOL.
We’re up in this neck of the woods to attend another seminar - Ray Edwards and Dr. Andrew Jones’ Speed Money Seminar, all about internet marketing - held at the Hilton Vancouver Airport hotel. Dr. Jones also runs a busy veterinarian practice in Nelson, BC close by where my mum lives in the Kootenays… and Dr. Jones is where she takes her cat! Ah, small world.
It’s been a wild couple weeks - as mentioned in my last post, we ended up driving 800 miles in just over 24 hours (not in two days as we first planned!) Amazing! We did get some decent rest in there. And then enjoyed a day of R&R before I plowed through a 3-day stretch of business calls, followed by jumping on a plane to Columbus, Ohio for six days …and we only got back late last night, as I outlined in our itinerary here.
Mari & Kevin Nations standing at vault door! 
/ Class from Big Ticket Blueprint, Columbus, Ohio.
American Towns, Canadian Towns, Dream Lifestyle, Income Strategies, Internet Business, Report from the Road, Where We Are | 2 Comments »
RV 800 Miles in Two Days - Can We Do It?
Mari
One of the interesting challenges of our mobile lifestyle experiment, is planning ahead that allows us enough time to enjoy the scenery and visit new destinations, and for me to run my consulting and training business. That means many hours in front of the computer and on the phone. Then, on top of the usual activities, Ty and I are attending several seminars as I blogged about here.
We left Aguanga, CA last Sunday, April 20 and made our way west to travel the glorious Pacific Coast Highway. See Our Map for our route and places we visited. My absolute favorite was Hearst Castle! Fab pics and vids to follow.
Because we stayed over an extra night at two different RV parks due to my work schedule, we’re now attempting to get from Sherman Island, CA to Bothell, WA in two days flat. That’s 800 miles. Here’s my LIVE blog of our trip!
See, since last fall, I’ve been striving to schedule 2.5 days of actual work so Ty and I remain parked up during that time and travel the rest of the time as we wish. We’ve learned it takes significant time to set up, break down, route-plan, find RV Parks, navigate… the works. So, it’s challenging for me to be productive during travel days, though I can do some work on my computer while Ty drives (as I am now!)
Stay tuned via the Live Blog… do you think we can do 800 miles in two days? (Averaging 55mph).
American Towns, Dream Lifestyle, Four Hour Workweek | 7 Comments »
We’re On The Move! Big Sur Here We Come
Mari
I’m delighted to share, Ty and I are now heading away from Southern California for extended travels in our RV! (Much as I LOVE So.Cal.!)
We leave Jojoba Hills RV Resort today and our target is to be in Seattle by April 30th. ("Huh? Seattle?" you say. "Haven’t you guys already been there done that?!") LOL. Here’s our upcoming schedule in a nutshell:
- Drive the motorhome to Seattle and stay overnight April 30. (Store the RV there through May 6.)
- Fly to Columbus, OH on May 1st to attend Kevin Nations‘ Big Ticket Blueprint event from May 2-5.
- Fly back to Seattle May 6, then take the RV up to Vancouver, B.C. to attend Ray Edwards and Dr. Andrew Jones’ Speed Money Seminar May 8-10.
- Begin our trek to Alaska up through B.C. and hang out up there all summer. (Assuming I can get good internet connection!)
- Meander back down to the US, likely veering over to the east and back along the sunbelt to return to So.Cal. for the late fall/early winter (yep, snowbirds r us).
We haven’t allowed much time for this first leg to Seattle. We’ll need to include a fair bit of freeway driving on the trusty I-5. Still, we’ll get better gas mileage. 
Our first stop, if all goes well, will be a state campground just south of Santa Barbara, at Carpinteria. It’s a ~200 mile drive and on a Sunday, we should be in good shape. Our goal is to drive up the coast route 101 a fair bit, at least to see Big Sur, which I’ve been wanting to see ever since my mum and step-dad traveled down from BC to San Diego!
Truth is, I’d actually love to be able to take the next 10-12 days and just focus on enjoying the journey and scenery and nothing else. However, along with all these seminars we’re attending, my business has been going through the roof lately!!
I’m having to dedicate huge amounts of time to managing the flow, setting up systems, and hiring support. It’s all good, though. I absolutely love what I do as a relationship marketing specialist and Facebook business coach.
In the last week or so, I’ve conducted many teleseminars, radio interviews, blog post interviews, and other media interviews (such as the American Medical News talking to me about physicians using Facebook!). I even got written up on Fast Company’s blog - they call me "the Pied Piper of Facebook." Love that!
And, yesterday, Ty and I attended a one-day event in Los Angeles by David Neagle. It was excellent, with a good turnout. I especially enjoying connecting in person with several of my most favorite women entrepreneurs. (See my photo album on Facebook; some here:)
[Mari & David Neagle] [Mari, Lesley Bohm (awesome photographer!), Lorrie Morgan Ferrero (she writes Red Hot Copy!), Dr. Cindy Brown (relationship expert, author The Cinderella System)]
[Ty, Mari & Melanie Benson Strick (Million Dollar Lifestyle Business Coach & totally amazing gal!)] [Mari & Alexandria Brown (I've been a raving fan of Ali, the Ezine Queen, for many years)]
[Mari, Kim Castle (top branding expert), Lesley Bohm, Alexandria Brown, Lorrie Morgan Ferrero, Dr. Cindy Brown]
Dream Lifestyle, Internet Business, Mari's Musings, Motorhome Tips, People We Meet, Personal Stories, Report from the Road, Social Networking, Where We Are | 3 Comments »
Jojoba Hills RV Resort: We Hit The Mother Lode!
Mari
When Ty and I began our RVing exploration last July, one of the first things we did was join Escapees. I discovered this popular RVing club on the internet while surfing.
I gathered a mound of valuable tips and ideas from fellow members on the active forum. I’d post a question late at night and the next morning there’d be a dozen responses!
Escapees owns several big RV parks throughout the US, called SKP Co-Ops. One of them is in Aguanga, close to Temecula - about 75 minutes north east of San Diego.
We’ve had this particular park, Jojoba Hills RV Resort, on our list of places to visit since last summer. And finally, we’re here! I am completely blown away by the quality of the resort and the caliber of the people. It’s incredible!
Escapees members have a policy to greet fellow members and friends with a big bear hug. Everyone is so warm and friendly.
And the park is like a 5 star resort! Two hot-tubs, huge swimming pool, saunas, gym, dance hall, crafts room, pool hall, lounge, library, miniature golf… you name it! Plus, daily activities, classes and events. All this for a mere $20 per night. Aaaah, this the the life!! I’m so loving the facilities and have been in the sauna and hot-tub several times. (I keep meaning to use the gym - ha!)
We’re told this is the best Escapees resort in the US. The regulations are fairly strict - which sure impacts the noise level. Though I think there are a few (grand)kids around and maybe small dogs, it’s absolutely, blissfully peaceful!
Visiting Escapees members can stay for up to just 28 days in any one year. (Bummer!)
The system works kind of like timeshare. If you’re over 55, you can buy a lot for a mere $23,000. There’s a two-year waiting list though - no surprise. Ty turned 55 in January… but the spouse has to be 45 and I’ve got a few more years to go.
We’ll see what transpires - much could change in a few years in terms of our whereabouts and lifestyle choice. And, to be honest, much as I really love this resort, I’m not sure this would be my first choice to "settle" for long-term. I think I’m too much of a dynamic, globe-trotting jetsetter to hang for too long with the over 55 crowd playing Texas Hold ‘em. LOL.
What say you? Would you enjoy living in a resort like this? Or just for a vacation?
Okay, next up - just wait ’til I share our PACKED travel schedule with you… starting next weekend. We’ll begin heading north for our journey to Alaska, but not before taking a few flights to attend more seminars!
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RV vs. House: 3 Big Differences
Mari
I recently took a break from our RV and spent a couple days at my girlfriend, Carol Dysart’s, house in La Jolla, CA. (Ty enjoyed a week in Lima and Cusco, Peru with a team of investors researching a hotel project!)
I became acutely aware of three primary day-to-day differences between living in a regular "bricks and sticks" house (as us RVers like to call regular homes!) and a motorhome:
1. Water usage.
On board our RV with partial hookups, showers have to super short! In a regular house, though it’s good to be mindful of the gallons of water used in showering, it isn’t as critical to only use the minimal amount possible.
I stepped into the shower and automatically went to turn off the flow as soon as I was soaked down to lather up. Thing is, when Ty and I are on partial hookups, waste water is going into the holding tanks: 40 gallons of gray and 35 of black. Whenever we don’t have the luxury of full hook ups with full drainage, we have to be very mindful of water consumption - especially gray (from shower/sinks)… as I talked about here: Yikes! What’s That Coming Up The Drain??!!
2. Electricity usage.
We often have the luxury of our full 50 amps (the max capacity of the RV), but typically with a partial hookup site/park, we get just 30 amps for the whole coach. It doesn’t take much to blow the fuse with one too many appliances on!
While making dinner, I went to warm up some bread rolls in the toaster oven. As I already had some other appliances running, my immediate thought as I reached to turn the oven on, was, "how many amps am I already using here?" I almost laughed at myself when I realized this is really a non-issue in a regular house. Though, like water consumption, it’s also good for the environment (and your bills!) to be mindful of power consumption. See also my post here: Does RV Living Help The Environment?
3. Internet speed.
It’s rare we have the luxury of super high-speed internet on board the RV. We tend to rely heavily on our EVDO system from Verizon Wireless. That frequently provides relatively speedy upload/download rates. Though sometimes if we’re in the sticks, the connection can be only marginally faster than dial-up. Ugh! With a slower connection, I have a tendency to open a browser window, start a project and buzz off to quickly do something else… then end up coming back ages later to the first project. It’s actually a very inefficient and time-consuming way to function!
With DSL, sites load ten times faster and there’s no need to go off and start something else while waiting for loading. I noticed I’m able to be much more effective with the higher speed internet connection. (Duh!)
Isn’t it funny - do you ever find yourself waiting around 20 seconds for something that "should" only take 2-3 seconds to load in your browser? I get so impatient. I want to click a button and it loads instantly. Jeez, remember back in the day when we had, um, faxes, snail mail, telexes, telegrams, pigeon carriers? Ha ha. Hey, maybe it’s just me that needs to slow down?!
I could add more RV vs. House differences here - e.g. having instant access to a land line and corded phone (oh, how I wish!) vs. having to rely on spotty Skype connection and dropped cell phone calls. But, those can wait for another post.
Still, all is thoroughly enjoyable in our mobile lifestyle! Everything I wrote about here still applies: Living In A Motorhome: Top 10 Things I Love!
Tomorrow, we move out of Reflection Lake RV Park, in San Jacinto, near Hemet. Thankfully! It’s not a particularly pleasant park at all–though it certainly looks lovely from the pics above–it’s not the ‘ritz’ as I noted here, and I’ve since discovered we’re right next to two mega dairy farms… which means heavy eau d’livestock wafting over a lot! Eek).
Who knows where we’ll go next. Today, we’re taking the toad out to visit Silent Valley Club - Southern California’s Best Kept Secret. Hmm!
Dream Lifestyle, Mari's Musings, Motorhome Tips, Personal Stories, RV Maintenance, Report from the Road, Travel Tips, Where We Are | 2 Comments »
Our Own 300 Acre Lakefront Estate: Zero Maintenance!
Mari
At last, I have a moment to breathe and catch up on my mobile lifestyle blogging!
The past several weeks have been completely intense while I managed an Amazon bestseller campaign for my colleague, Mike Jay and his book, Upping the Downside all about resilience. (I contributed a chapter on relationship resilience!)
We got to #1 on the "Movers & Shakers" list and #30 on the bestseller list! Not bad from #2,000,000 the night before. (Note, these are Amazon rankings, not exactly number of books sold!)
Despite the heavy work schedule, Ty and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Lake Skinner Recreation Area from February 27 to March 10. This gorgeous sprawling park boasts 300 acres of lakeside parkland and a 1,400 acre lake.
Lake Skinner is one of my top 5 favorite RV parks to date. It feels like you’re in the middle of nowhere, but (for a County Park) they offer excellent amenities with full hook ups, strong EVDO signal (internet), very quiet, spacious, expansive… and less than 10% occupied during the off-peak weeks. All for less than $16 per night!
The sunsets each night were stunning. And the bright orange California-poppy-covered mountains are spectacular. I loved seeing the jackrabbits and bunnies - lots of Thumpers everywhere. The coyotes are sure loud at night - probably enjoying all the wittle wabbits. Aw.
We went bike riding every day - lots of terrific trails. (Though I learned the hard way what Confucius say, "Don’t ride bicycle with mouth open in opposite direction bugs are flying." Ugh. Think Wild Hogs movie. LOL).
From Fri-Sun, the park completely maxes out with all the weekend warriors from the local cities. Whew, talk about totally opposite RVing experiences - from peace to mayhem. Still, I was probably only so acutely aware of the noise level because of my need to focus at my computer.
One of my favorite aspects of RVing is the ability to change environment whenever we wish, and to enjoy tremendous beauty without splurging a million bucks on our own sprawling lakefront estate! It’s a great way to live simply, as I mentioned here.
We’re now at Reflection Lake in San Jacinto, near Hemet. We’re literally right on the lake’s edge as you can see from the pic on the left - I took this shot looking out our RV door! The fountain is a fun feng shui feature - they light it up red at night… reminds me of the Bellagio. He he.
This is a decent place - though not the ritz. Half the park is occupied by full time residents and lots of fisherpeeps flock in on weekends. I don’t know if it’s because we’re in/near a lower income area or what… but certain parks you can just feel a different vibe. Like people aren’t as mindful about picking up trash. One of my pet peeves. Grr.
By the way, at times when I’m quiet on my blog here - do check back for my rolling tweets from Twitter over on the right. (Email and feed readers, hop over to the my blog to see what I mean). Twitter is a micro-blogging platform - I update several times a day every day in less than 140 characters! (The @ replies are me messaging fellow Twitteronians - I made that term up. he he)
I also tend to keep our Travel Map up to date. And I’m active regularly on Facebook as well as my blog at WhyFacebook.
I’d love to hear from you - share your thoughts on RVing, simplifying life, keeping in touch via social networks, etc. Just post a comment on our blog! (Click on "x Comments >>" under any post to comment on that post).
American Towns, Climate, Culture, Dream Lifestyle, Income Strategies, Internet Business, Mari's Musings, Personal Stories, Report from the Road, Simplifying Life, Travel Tips, Where We Are | No Comments »
Could RVing Recession-Proof Your Lifestyle?
Mari
I had this thought today: living full time in an RV is a brilliant way to recession-proof your lifestyle! I mean, Ty and I don’t intend to live like this forever. But, it sure makes me grateful for the simple life when I keep running into people who are losing their homes and struggling to make ends meet. Yikes, such a tragedy.
We even have personal friends declaring bankruptcy. And, the other day I happened to catch a discussion on the radio about a brand new company that walks people through the foreclose process for a fee of $997. The commentator said he thought it was unfortunate this choice is becoming more mainstream, without properly considering consequences and all other options.
I really think the sub-prime mortgage companies are mostly to blame as they approved loans for people who didn’t really qualify. And, the fact people used their homes as ATM machines (especially in Southern California), pulling out all equity for consumables and liabilities.
As Robert Kiyosaki says, "If you’re in a hole, stop digging." There’s a ton of resources available; I believe it’s important to reach out and get help. In fact, that’s one of the tenets of resilience - reaching out.
On a lighter note, this morning we checked out of Rancho Jurupa Park - a Riverside County Park and Open-Space Project. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here at this delightful park with simple, beautiful, amenities.
Lots of ducks, geese, stocked lake for fishing (we’re not fishers - but fun to watch others), bike trails, horse-riding, and more. Quiet and spacious. Even over Presidents’ Day where it was maxed out with weekend warriors, visitors seemed to be mindful of their noise level.
Also, check out my video of the bird world equivalent of social networking!
Many County and State campgrounds have restrictions on how long you can stay, typically 14 days. With our Passport America discount, a mere $9/night for weekdays and $18/night weekends.
And now, we’re happily docked at Lake Skinner. We hit the motherlode with this park. It’s kind of out in the sticks, but not too far from the nearest town, right on the lake, unbelievably quiet and peaceful, full hook ups, good strong EVDO (internet) signal, even lots of free TV channels. And $16/night. All I can hear right now is the sound of a million crickets and the sky is filled with twinkling stars!
Here’s a shot I took of the glorious sunset tonight!
American Towns, Climate, Culture, Dream Lifestyle, Mari's Musings, Money Matters, Personal Stories, Report from the Road, Simplifying Life, Where We Are | 6 Comments »
Our Mobile Marriage Bootcamp - Part 2 of 2
Mari
You may wonder why I call living full time with your spouse on board an RV a "marriage bootcamp." Both Ty and I agree with author, Barbara De Angelis Ph.D, when she says, "Relationships are the best seminar in town."
And, as one of my favorite marriage experts, Dr. Harville Hendrix, says, "Marriage is the best vehicle for spiritual growth." (Oprah calls Harville her favorite marriage therapist!)
[Photos: (L) Mari and Barbara De Angelis Ph.D at a talk in San Diego 1/07. (R) Ty, Dr. Harville Hendrix, Dr. Helen LaKelly Hunt, and Mari at the 10th Annual Smart Marriages Conference, 7/06.]
Ty and thoroughly enjoyed meeting Harville and his lovely wife, Helen, in the summer of ‘06 at the 10th Annual Smart Marriages Conference. Harville was one of the keynote speakers, and it was heartening to hear him say relationships are hard!
Actually, Ty and I have an affectionate joke about the fact marriage brings up so many chances to look at oneself and learn - we call them "AFGOs." Another F’ing Growth Opportunity. LOL See, when you adopt a good sense of humor, the rest is easy!
As promised, here’s the second half of my Top Ten Rules About Marriage and Living Full Time in a Motorhome. These five apply to any marriage, whether you’re in an RV or not.
- Know your shared purpose. It used to be the #1 purpose for marriage was procreation. Nowadays, more and more couples choose not to have children. Or, once the children are gone, the marriage loses its focus. So, it’s even more important to deliberately choose a purpose for your marriage. Your purpose may change over the years, whether you have kids or not, and that’s okay.
- Practice regular connection rituals. A solid marriage contains many special rituals you each enjoy and come to expect, as Dr. William J. Doherty explains in his book, Take Back Your Marriage. For example, Ty always says the most precious extemporaneous grace for us at dinner, and we do our celebration dance anytime there’s something small or big to rejoice about.
- Conduct heart-to-heart talks. Our friends, Layne and Paul Cutright, authored a beautiful book Straight from the Heart. In a long-term relationship, it can be easy to take one another for granted. By creating time and a safe space for meaningful conversation, you’ll prevent complacency from setting in.
- Be willing to walk. This is a more controversial concept called "walking," described in The New Couple by Maurice Taylor and Seana McGee. You need to be emotionally and financially independent such that you’d be willing to walk away from your marriage. You don’t walk, but knowing you could makes your relationship all the more stronger. My role model in this area is Kim Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad author, Robert Kiyosaki’s, wife. He’s so proud that she has such independent wealth. (I got to co-host a radio interview with Robert several years ago).
- Seek help if you need it. If you haven’t figured out already, both Ty and I are seminar junkies… well "veterans" as we like to call ourselves. We’re huge fans of self-help books, audios, classes and seminars. The more we know, the more we grow. (I’m not the biggest fan of therapy, unless there is a very strong match between therapist and the couple.)
- Turn fighting into FUN! Another favorite marriage expert of ours, Dr. John Gottman, spent the past twenty years studying married couples in his Love Lab. After just five minutes’ observation, he can predict with 95% accuracy whether a couple will stay together or not. The key is not how often you fight, but how you fight. Some couples actually enjoy bantering back and forth. And, at the end of the day, they always have fun.
[Photos: Rancho Jurupa Park, Riverside. Sunset 2/22/08 and 2/24/08. I *love* palm trees and sunsets!]
As for our travel update, we’re choosing to remain in Southern California for a few more weeks — we’re headed to Lake Skinner in a few days, then on to Reflection Lake RV Park after that — while Ty continues to pursue real estate investing possibilities.
Ty just got an opportunity to fly to Peru on March 11 for a week with a group of investors to check out a big hotel project! He offered to take me with him… drat, I would’ve loved to have gone, only my big book launch is right in the middle of that week and I can’t know for sure I’ll have internet access and other resources I need. Oh well. Ty will take the camera and get good footage for me to share on the blog with you!! Plus, as I said in Rule #3, we’re fanning the flame by having a week apart!
Let me know your thoughts about these Top Ten Rules - did you get any aha’s? Can you relate to AFGO’s?
[Email and feed readers: please come to the blog to post your comments and get a link back to your site!]
Book recommendations from this post:
American Towns, Culture, Dream Lifestyle, Mari's Musings, Marriage, Motorhome Tips, Personal Stories, Report from the Road, Where We Are | 1 Comment »
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