One of the questions folks often ask is “so, have you met a ton of interesting people along the way?” We’ve met some lovely folks, to be sure. Kenny and Emma at the RV Park at Napa Valley Expo turned a “no-frills” park into a delightful visit with their incredibly welcoming attitude, entertaining stories, and clear love of dogs (ours and theirs). Kenny was good enough to not only walk Harley (for free) so we could spend a day in San Francisco, but we found out later that he spent about an hour just hanging out in front of our camper with Harley (and we suspect feeding him more than a few treats!). Our neighbors in Borrego Springs run an organic garlic farm in British Columbia (and shared a delicious sample with us!). We had a delightful conversation about travel, farming, food, and what it means to choose another path in life after 30 years in the same line of work. In San Diego, Michele connected with two yoga buddies during the weekend fitness classes. One of the women was traveling in a motor coach with a large papier mache dinosaur on the dashboard—she told us that her son built it years ago in elementary school, and it’s become their travel companion. We recognized their rig (and the dino) again in Watsonville—sadly we were not able to reconnect with them (see below re: rain dampening connections). 

The other interesting people we’ve met along the way are those we already knew. We’ve been so grateful to those of you who have shared your local wisdom with us, and spent time catching up on local hikes and over delicious meals. It’s been particularly fun seeing the college students and recent grads we know—we continue to be inspired by the young adults in our extended circle (although we do feel old when we realize that after our 6 pm dinner date they’re going out to party and we’re going home to watch Netflix). 

All that being said, we have not made as many connections as we expected. We think there are a couple of reasons for that. First…weather. With a few exceptions, the weather has not been conducive to sitting outside since October. And if everyone’s in their camper, it’s tough to say more than a casual hello while walking the dog or dumping your trash. Also… time of year. As we did last spring/early summer, we find ourselves in between seasons in many places. While that’s lovely in terms of avoiding crowds on hiking trails and in restaurants, it just means that there are fewer folks to meet. Finally…we just need to try harder. And as the weather improves (because it has to improve, right?!), we’ll be outside, making that extra effort to expand our RV network.