A Week of RV Life – On the Job in California

After weeks of more time on the road than I can count, between travel days and exploring, a week on the job site was a completely different speed for us. Here’s a look at what life is like when we aren’t playing explorer or on the move in Williams, California.

DAY 1—ARRIVAL DAY

We arrived to the work site, a rice farm nestled between a small town along the interstate and mountains that stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions. The customer had arrived shortly before us, so the afternoon was spent working out logistics of where both rigs would park so we would have access to water, electric and sewer, and their rig would be close to work. Bonus was that both spots were under a shade tree, which was nice for a week expecting clear, sunshine skies and temps hovering at or above 90 degrees.

The quiet of the farm country was a different quiet than the desert we’d become accustomed to, but was just as peaceful…mostly. That first night, on our evening walk, we were introduced to the local population of mosquitoes that reside in the rice fields. It makes total sense to my Florida brain when I think about it, but until our host said it out loud, it didn’t don on me that standing water for the rice crops meant plentiful mosquitoes all day. In spite of keeping our Skin So Soft handy and on at all times, we spent the week treating bites.

As the sun was setting, we also spotted another local creature–a barn owl that apparently either resided or frequented the tree we were under and it was not happy with us. Fun fact, barn owls don’t hoot, they scream like someone is being murdered. It was well after midnight before it stopped and Luna calmed enough for us to sleep.

DAY 2

BJ awoke early for his morning run and to get a start on his day. He found the tuft of fur the owl left for us on our steps. Message received. He went through getting started for the solar install and Luther and I helped, talked to the customer and our host, and explored. Farms are incredible places, teeming with life and we were intent on enjoying it. We found more than TWO DOZEN owl pellets in our immediate area and it was fascinating to see what was in them–quite different than the ones sent to science classrooms from owl sanctuaries on a controlled diet!

BJ went about working on the job and I settled into a rest day filled with walks, naps and reading, finishing my book by the end of the day. I also took the time to take inventory of our grocery supplies and planning meals that would be quick when he got hungry around work, but also good!

DAY 3

After a restful night sleeping, thanks to the owl seeming to have abandoned its efforts for the night against us. We both started our day with a run, then BJ was working on the install and I took to managing the chores and time with Luther. Luckily we had hookups, so I was able to get some laundry done and work on the blog and videos. Luther had walked before me and left me some messages to motivate me for my run. With no rain and little wind, I got to enjoy these all week.

Luther and I took some time to go out walking and exploring around the farm, one of many such experiences. We found all sorts of animal tracks and were fascinated exploring the rice fields, canals and water flow areas from the trails around the fields. The farm itself was busy with the workers preparing the equipment for the upcoming harvest. We also spent time gazing out in the pastures at the cattle and horses that wandered around, watching us with curiosity, especially when Luna was out and about walking with us.

We also realized the Luna’s prescription food was due for a refill, so we talked to our host about getting a package delivered and they were good with it, so we got it ordered, only to find out her prescription had expired and our vet was no longer in Chewy’s network, so we needed to get a written prescription and then upload it.

DAY 4

After BJ got started with work, I continued on with catching our laundry up and then Luther and I sat down to start gathering plans for his upcoming high school year. We unschool, which in Florida means we are part of a private school that gives us free choice on what curriculum and pacing we use, which works well for both his learning style and our lifestyle. We opt to follow Florida’s guidelines for minimum requirements, just in case he ever decides he want to return to public school (college or graduation won’t be an issue for us as Florida Unschoolers is accredited and he gets a real diploma, we just keep our own portfolio and transcripts). Once we had that info, we found a free printable worksheet for us to fill in our course plan, which we will do here in a couple more weeks when we can all sit down together and map it out.

We were still waiting for the prescription for Luna to be approved, but realized if it didn’t go out today, it couldn’t get to us in time. So, we did a bit of travel planning, set up our next stop, and set up delivery there for the day we’d arrive.

Later that evening, one of my virtual Bible study friends and her husband were going to be passing through the area on their way home, so we had a planned meet up at Granzella’s Restaurant (gelato for us, dinner for them). She and I had only met online, so sitting down together for the first time in person was great, and felt just like old friends catching up. They needed to get on the road, so our visit was over pretty quickly and they headed for home while we headed back to the RV and I got started on my new book.

DAY 5

BJ was up with the sun for his run and to get started on the job so he could get a lot done before it got too hot. I had a virtual doctor’s appointment, so got that done before my morning run. It was a productive day with BJ getting the bulk of the install done at this point and just waiting on a part to come in and I worked on laundry, the blog and videos, and the RV workbook at bit more.

With him getting close to finishing the job, we cleared with the host about staying an extra day, if needed, whether to explore or be there in case the customer needed us for anything with the rig (we’ve had some that stay their first night at the install location to get practice with the system before leaving).

DAY 6

Well, we woke up in the wee hours to hear our owl friend again, but it was short lived, so Luna wasn’t too stirred up. We then woke up shortly after sunrise to a plane dusting the fields, so went outside to watch it for a bit while BJ did his run.

Louie and I went for our morning walk around the farm and I noticed bee boxes I had somehow missed before. I should have sat down to be productive then, but I was deep into my novel and I ended up finishing my book.

BJ finished the install up, including the late arriving part, which was a quick install, then they did the walk through with the customer. They were ready to go with plans to leave for a trip today, so we changed our reservation to head out tomorrow.

With the customer on their way and our plans set, we went into town to explore Granzella’s (the restaurant and store we had dinner at with our friends) where I got another flavor of gelato. Then we stopped at Orv’s farm stand to check out their merch and Luther found some macarons to enjoy. We needed a couple of supplies and checked the local grocery, but it was pricy, so we went over to Grocery Outlet, a first visit, and were impressed. Finally, on our way back to the RV, we stopped at Charter Family Farm Stand our host told us about and got some fresh produce.

Later that evening my virtual Bible study group met for a summer catch up since we’ve all been pretty busy.

After dinner, we were wrapping up the day and I saw a great horned owl landing on the tree just outside the RV. BJ was able to grab his camera and I grabbed my iPhone so we could slip outside. We followed it around the property, snapping photos, and a second one flew over to meet it. After a few photos, we headed back in to escape the mosquitoes and start prepping for travel the next day.

DAY 7–DEPARTURE DAY

We were up with the sun to get our morning runs and breakfast done. Then we got the RV packed up and left for our next campground, Thousand Trails Russian River.

It was only about 90 miles away from us, but the direct road was pretty treacherous and not recommended for RV’s, so we took the course north on 20, around the Clear Lake, then back south on 101. There were lots of mountains (with steep grades at 10%!) and extra travel, but it was worth it to ensure safer travel. Watching the landscape change from farmland to mountains to wineries was beautiful. We enjoyed lunch at a park we found on the lake, and saw temps of 105 degrees in some of the valleys.

We arrived just in time for the heat of the day, so were glad for a spot not only with shade for trees, but a clearing for our Starlink and close to the bathhouse since this spot didn’t have sewer hook ups (a necessity for us for showers and dishes if staying more than 3 days). While we set the RV to cooling down, we went into town to drive about a bit and explore before going home for dinner and rest.

As far as weeks go for us, this was surprisingly busy for a work week. But it was nice to sit in one location for a week after a few weeks of moving across the country at a pretty fast pace.

Now that our timeline isn’t so rushed, we’ll be able to slow down in our travels and enjoy and explore more places on the west coast. We plan to find some cooler spots on the coast, as well as some of the national parks we’ve been excited to check off of our list.

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