Spring 2022- The View From The Arfpod

Spring 2022- The View From The Arfpod

It’s Spring 2022. I’m writing from my winter roost beside the ocean in early May. This spot is nestled in the fir trees on Helen’s beach where I have the good fortune to winter every year. It is so peaceful and very beautiful. I honestly can’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else. All the sounds here are songbirds and robins happily singing to each other, eagles chattering, and the loons calling to each other from the water in front of the beach. This morning I was happy to hear our local sea lion barking away. Later in the afternoon I watched his flippers extend above the water as he napped. It’s a strange sight when sea lions nap in the water. They manage to get their flippers and tails to stand in the air above the ocean, while the rest of them gently floats around under the water on the tides with heads above or below the water.

Spring 2022- Sponsored By Orwell’s Dystopia

Apart from this beautiful sparkling place on the edge of the Strait of Georgia, the rest of the world seems to be in a sort of Orwellian upheaval. Cities and towns everywhere are suffering from drug related crimes and just crimes in general. At the same time housing prices have soared to levels that have made it impossible for many people to consider purchasing a home. Many can’t even afford to rent anymore.

The ongoing pandemic is hitting both the dutifully vaccinated and the unvaccinated while Russians are out to “denazify and demilitarize”the entire planet, starting in the friendly country of Ukraine. To this effort, the Russians have destroyed Ukrainian cities, terrorized/tortured/killed civilians, stolen 1/3 of the grain stores and a lot of farming equipment as well as toilets and socks. Apparently by stealing a good chunk of Europe’s grain stores, President Putin is hoping he can pull off another Homolodor. Except this time Russia will be starving most of Europe, not just Ukraine. Russia is saying that they have liberated the towns they have smashed to smithereens, and the people who lived there. They are also insistent that Jewish people are Nazis. We are living in the very dystopia that Orwell wrote about in his book, 1984.

Covid Bed Ridden

Truth be told, it’s May now and I am cancelling appointments and haven’t done much but binge watch Ozark on Netflix for the last week. It’s about a middle class family guy who gets mixed up with the Mexican drug cartel. I’m having an unpaid Covid vacation. In bed. Maybe thanks to some anti-vaxxer…maybe not. All I know is that Covid is sure a crappy virus either way, with everyday bringing a new and different discomfort. I am still hoping to have the Arfpod ready to go East at the end of this month.

Trip Planning Apps

Crazy fuel prices will have me planning travels a bit differently than in past years, with an eye to keeping under a tighter budget . Two of my favourite trip planning Apps for RVing are RV Trip Wizard and GasBuddy.com. RV Trip Wizard lets me plug in the distances I’ll travel everyday and tells you where you can stay and what there is to do within a budget that I tell it. It also shows where there are gas stations and/or truck stops along the way. So I won’t have to drive along with a low gas light, wondering if this will be the time when I run out of gas.

Gas Buddy is handy for finding the lowest price on fuel in any area. While it doesn’t tell if stations are RV friendly, it’s helpful for finding gas in unfamiliar places

This year I am cutting daily travel times down to 3-4 hours, and I plan to spend more time camping in places, seeing the sights, and enjoying hiking, biking and dog parks with the dogs. Anyhow, this is going to be the end of this post. I have to go see what’s shaking in the creepy but intriguing Hell-scape of Ozark now.