Thor has landed

A lovely gentle night listening to frogs and crickets.   The campground was very quiet,  only about half a dozen campsites taken so that was great!

The official photo taken at the dealership

In the morning we went to one of our favorites - The Best Breakfast in Oxnard and then it was off to the nearest AAA office.  They left about 4 messages the night before that we had to get the RV inspected and photos taken before they could insure us.  They seemed to be getting more hysterical as the evening went on.

Anyway,  done.

Then a meander home.

Sycamore Canyon Campgrounds

What a day!  We got to the site and had the orientation and then it was time for the test drive.  Horrors!  We were both very nervous – the rig felt so huge!  We went one exit on the freeway and then back to the dealer via surface streets.  Talk about sweating bullets!

Orientation - checking out the outdoor TV

 

The other side

Then it was time to spend two hours doing paperwork! Whew!  Don’t understand why there was a need for all that; should have been here’s your check, good-bye, but of course, they try to sell you on a bunch of stuff.

We got about a mile away and couldn’t figure out why the cameras weren’t working and why the radio wouldn’t turn on so I called the mechanic and left a message.  He called back in about five minutes and reminded us that he told us the radio and cameras work on the auxiliary battery and they had turned that off – well duh!   We felt pretty overwhelmed by that time so stopped for lunch and a breath.  Once we got moving it took about half an hour and felt very comfortable and we were fine. 

The Thor-master

Our plan was to go to either Hollywood RV Park or Walnut RV Park which is at the top end of Los Angeles County and up either the I-5 or I-650.  Well, the time was 2:30, traffic was horrendous and we missed a couple of instructions from the GPS so we decided to hell with it, we were going to Santa Monica and the coast where at least we know the area and don’t have the traffic madness to deal with.  We stopped at Trancas Market in Malibu and picked up dinner, ice and water.

We decided to try stopping at Sycamore Canyon Campgrounds as we had never stopped there before.  Turns out it’s a California State Park and I have a 50% discount pass for any California State Park.    It’s very quiet, which suits us very well and we are going to enjoy our first night.

Norwalk

So a first for us - we rented a car one way so we can both be in the RV once we pick it up.

Well, we really meandered today taking back roads to Carpinteria, on the highway to Oxnard then through Oxnard streets to Highway 1.  That took us through Malibu into Santa Monica and then the surface streets we normally would take to go to LAX.

We made a stop at the Marina Del Rey hotel for a fantastic lunch and a great respite by the boats.

In 2008 Gerald, Zoe and us stayed here for a night and had the most fantastic sunset!

Then we were off on the Imperial Highway.  Not a road I would want to go on again, at least in some parts.  Very improverished areas that didn't look too safe so very glad we didn't have to stop for any reason.  Thankfully the area we are staying is just fine and to make things even better - got a free night at the hotel with my Best Western points!

Turns out the hotel, Enterprise and the RV place are all on the same street and exactly in that order.  Go figure.

So we took 5 hours to get here by meandering and could have got here in 3-1/2 hours on the various freeways.  Not bad and certainly less stressful than the LA freeways although some parts of the Imperial Highway felt somewhat stressful.

So, tomorrow for an inspection and test drive and if all is well, it's ours.  Since Rob and Gerald were so prolific with their jokes, we have decided the name will be Thor instead of Big Bob.  Everything now depends on that test drive.