175. Oct 2016. An Apology and promise

      As usual Ruthie was correct again, even with the reduced work load to recover from minor surgery try as I might I was falling further behind on my blog. What to do? Let’s try this. With a little background leading up to today. Oct 29 sitting at the Delta Gate in Minneapolis Minnesota waiting to board a flight to Phoenix at 9:25 AM anxious to start our 2016 winter trip. This will at least keep me from falling further behind and with the anticipated lighter schedule at our winter residence. I can by posting current posts and as time allows catching up and publishing old ones until I have one continuous time line. As you have probably already noticed our lives do not flow like a book anyway so you won’t be missing anything. There will be something's that will be mentioned that will be clear once the missing posts are published.
     After spending the last two winters at the Arabian horse ranch in the Coachella area events made me promise myself that I wouldn’t put Ruthie or myself through that again. Searching for a way to reply to friends and relatives asking if we were going back to the ranch again forced me to come up with a less detailed and polite answer.  “It was an amazing adventure. We seen and experienced situations that only people of wealth and privilege are used to. We witnessed the abuses of the same and realize that wealth and riches don’t guarantee happiness or good manners.   We met some wonderful people that we hope to see again, while a few we will strive to avoid. Yes an adventure indeed. And like the roller coaster ride,  it was fun and exhilarating I choose not to ride it every day.”. 

With that in mind we started searching for lodging in the Coachella valley area. At first Ruthie and I thought we would be content with a studio style or perhaps a casita adjacent to a home. With the help of our new friend Marge (met at the lunch area of the College of the desert street fair) providing us with classifieds from the area we started our search. We found that even very small accommodations were quite costly and a year’s lease was quite common. At some point Ruthie reached the conclusion she would like something a little bigger or at least something that would give us the option of entertaining an overnight visitor with some privacy. A new search was started using craigslist search engine, setting new filters and expanded the search area. We searched south of Phoenix trying to stay some distance from Yuma knowing we didn’t care for that area. We searched the area south of Los Angeles down to San Diego and East toward the mountains. Since we had enjoyed the climate the last two winters our biggest concern was committing to an area and then finding out it wasn’t a comfortable climate. The list changed daily as apartments came and went, we expanded the search filters to include mobile homes and trailers. A few started showing up that were promising. Not knowing specific areas we shied away from some in large cities. I was content with our progress however I could tell my partner was getting a little antsy not having something locked in. With a new sense of urgency (got to keep Ruthie happy) I narrowed it down. A fifth wheel trailer on a private acreage seemed very promising and a smaller RV toy hauler trailer on a small ranch looked like it would work. A toy hauler is basically a RV trailer with a drop down ramp at the rear so you can load motorcycles, all terrain vehicles, or any toys you would like to take along on your camping trip.  The garage area used to haul the toys doubles as living and extra sleeping space.   The contact for the fifth wheel said they would contact the owner to see if a six month lease would be acceptable and I sent an email to the toy hauler. The toy hauler had mentioned in the ad that due to the size of the trailer they would prefer a single tenant.

I sent this:

Good Morning,

Your place sounded so desirable I thought I would send this email with some information on us to see if you would consider a couple, we are small and don't take up much room.  Just teasing.   

Just checking

         We are a middle age (70) married (50 years) nonsmoking couple.   For the past 5 years we have been riding a trike like the one you see pictured.  Leaving Minnesota in the fall and going south for the winter months trying to find an area to our liking. The last two years have brought us to the Southwest.   At times we have traded our work skills for lodging. Work such as horse training, foal imprinting, general repair, computer skills and maintenance.    A life time of experiences gained thru Navy training, home, business ownership and maintenance/repair occupations have made us adept at numerous tasks.  On more than one occasions I have been labeled McGuyVern and Ruthie constantly says “Vern can do it, he can do anything”. (Which I’ve encouraged her not to say.)  Last winter found us on an Arabian horse ranch.  In addition to training and caring for the horses we did numerous repairs and maintenance at the ranch and luxury rental homes in the Indio area.  While Ruthie did everything from light housekeeping to assisting with catering.  Our duties also included running courier type errands such as depositing checks, delivering documents and shopping for clients using our three wheel vehicle.   At the present time we are checking out the possibility of winter rental. We generally leave Minnesota in late October and return late April. 

         I included a link to the blog.

Thank you for your consideration. 

Vern and Ruthie 

     The day passed with no replies. Ruthie was getting nervous. Contacting the fifth wheeler we found out the owner was in China and hadn’t answered as yet. We had performed a search of a 30 foot toy hauler like the one we seen in the picture and looking at the floor plan we decided we could make it work. After all we had been watching the show tiny houses and they seemed to make it work. We have not only been amazed at the size of the tiny houses and the type of money they spent to build them. They've got to be seeing something we don't. I sent another message to the toy hauler asking if they had received my email, they hadn’t seen it yet. We emailed back and forth a couple of times and she mentioned that her husband was calling us. A pleasant conversation ensued, he mentioned his concern about the size of the unit using an example that if he and his wife were cooped up in there for a week of rain that perhaps it wouldn’t be very pleasant. This didn’t deter me however the promise of a week of rain made me nervous about the non-paved road to their ranch. Of course I was thinking dirt and the mention of a week of rain took my mind to red dirt road and muddy ruts, now I was nervous. A reply to my inquiry reassuring us that the roads were sand and became hard packed if it rained and it hadn’t rained there in seven months. I felt better. He had mentioned that instead of a six month lease we would go month to month in case we didn’t like them or vice a versa. The only problem I seen was if they didn’t like us I would be hunting for a residence again. I guess I better be on my best behavior. Wandering around later that evening or early the next morning when I was unable to sleep. I seen we had received an email letter. It was a very detailed letter telling about our host couple, the ranch and the area we would be living in. And most importantly it said they felt after our conversation that we would be a better fit than the other applicants. Included was a note that a deposit would hold it until November. 
      We did as much due diligence as we could until we felt comfortable sending the down payment using PayPal. A confirmation reassured us that we now had a place for the winter.
     With some relief we started the next phase. Even though I had mentioned I was going to be traveling South with my electronics bag only I was noticing items of mine being packed for the trip. Already concerned with the room on the trike we had waiting in the garage of our neighbors Warren and Barb. When I rode out of Indio last spring I was completely full including the seat that Ruthie usually occupies. I mentioned my concerns to Ruthie however it did not seem to curtail her packing. Plan B: We would have to come up with a way to move the extra baggage to our new home in California. Checked on rental vehicles, seemed pretty spendy for a one time gig. Searched the internet for small trailers to pull behind our trike. A new aluminum one seemed promising however it would mean some assembly on arrival and building a wood platform to put our luggage on. Finally one day a cute little pull behind trailer popped up on Craigslist. I had never seen one quite like it. Looked to be factory built somewhat like a pod.

I started to type in the phone number. Now here is where it gets spooky, remember we are talking the Phoenix area almost five million people and as I'm typing in the number a name is prompted by my phone, Hugh miniature horse, Paris. Thinking its just a common area code I keep dialing and the name stays to the very end. What are the chances that I have already met the person I'm about to call? We had a short visit about the trailer. I called the next day and sealed the deal making arrangements to send a money order and he would have it ready when we arrived in Arizona. I told him his address and I think I spooked him a little. I explained that I had met him two years before as he was thinking about having me train his miniature horse Paris some tricks. At least it was reassuring to know this person actually existed. My Harley neighbor Wes had been teasing me since he had seen the movie “the Craigslist Killer” on TV ( what kind of a person does that? ) and he heard he was now somewhere in Arizona.