Happy Thanksgiving!

Boondocking with the Millers
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

We hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We did!

We did decide not to take the FMC on a maiden voyage that included spanning the state of California, crossing the Sierras, and tackling the legendary Tioga Pass. We were feeling nervous and consulted Jim Black at RVS about our fears. He agreed that taking any vehicle we didn't know well on a trip like that would be foolish. We stuck with our 4WD GMC 3500 pickup with m/s tires instead. It did beautifully and we came home and back with no worries!

I think this summer we'll tackle that trip with the FMC, however. The other problem we need to solve is a 4WD tow vehicle as we love going into the Boonies and NEED 4WD for the types of roads we enjoy!

And, the FMC was represented on the trip. Note Greg's sweatshirt in our family photograph!

So, Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Fill 'er up!

Fill 'er up!
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

On our way home from the Rally, we filled our gas tank for the first time. Ouch! We stopped at $75 because the pump wanted to anyway. I think we'll just ease into this whole expensive gas thing gently!

Greg was hamming up the pained expression on his face. Note the FMC windbreaker and hat!

A fitting tribute!

Jim Evans took my pics and Stephan Heindrick's pics and put together a slide show about the Felton Rally. It's got my all-time favorite song -- Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi as the background music. Totally fun!

Here is a link to it.

Felton Rally Slide Show

Fun times.

A re-visit!

We were delighted to get a call yesterday from Ron and Louise still camping in Felton. They invited us for dinner. We brought wine and chips and salsa and enjoyed a delightful evening with them. Talking, eating good food, enjoying the cool but not cold mountain air and Ron's endless supply of wood from the trunk of his car. It was fantastic.

We feel so lucky to have met such a nice group of people who share our passion for the FMC!


Thanks for the nice evening, Louise and Ron!

Happy sleepy kids!

Happy sleepy kids
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

The kids were both nestled, all snug in their bunks!

They had such a great trip! The bunks were a huge success.

Our plan is to take them both out and move one of them to over the table area. Then the kids can sleep there and we will have the back area to ourselves.

I think its a good plan but I think we may have a lot of bickering over who sleeps in the bunk each night. :)

At the West Coast Rally, Felton, CA!

At the West Coast Rally, Felton, CA!
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

We made it! After school on Thursday, Greg and the kids headed down to Felton to the West Coast Rally of the FMC Owners Club. I came down later -- in time for dinner.

The Rally was just about 9 miles away from us in Felton, CA. An easy first trip -- anything we forgot was just up the road a piece! We were thrilled to meet a wonderful, kind, sharing group of people who liked our kids (phew!) and shared their thoughts and ideas freely (yay!) and make a fantastic breakfast (yum)!

Everyone was so nice and Greg got so much good advice. He tells me that when we got pulled in (at just almost dark), a parade started. The men were going around the vehicle poking and prodding and peering at it. The women started going around the inside of the vehicle looking in cupboards and drawers! Good thing it was nice and clean, huh?! But, I returned the favor by poking around the inside of almost all the others as well. We saw LOTS of ideas that we'll likely implement.

We are so glad to have found a great group of people who share our obsession! We have FMC sweatshirts, windbreakers, and hats now so I'd say our indoctrination into the cult has begun!

It was a great trip! Thanks to all the other west coasters for making it so!

More pictures available here . . . [click]