Day 6-9: Spring Ridge Estates

In my effort not to overwhelm the inboxes with daily updates, I completely forgot my one-week anniversary of being on the road. Ah well. How quickly we forget! Especially when I had to focus on getting some work done as soon as I got back to camp. And that's pretty much what the past four days have been like, with a small exception.

First of all, let me tell you about Spring Ridge Estates near Newport, WA. Gary and Mary Anne Chantry own this RV retirement destination. http://www.nwlands.com/id446.htm. There are about 60 lots ranging from two to ten acres each. Each has water, septic, and electric as well as a nice level RV pad. At their most basic, that's it. But Gary and Mary Anne want this to be a summer destination for retirees (purchases are for those 55 and over). So you can buy a lot for between ~$85-150k. If all you want to do is come out and park your RV for a few months, that's great. But Gary also owns a construction firm and is happy to build to suit on your property. That can be anything from a pole barn to park your RV under to a retirement home.

My hosts are Jim and Mary Noh who bought out here four years ago. They were driving their motorhome up from California each year, but this past year decided to build their dreamhome. It's really beautiful, as you can see, and that's my little trailer just to the left of the house. It's a beautiful place and Jim is doing a ton of landscaping. He says that electricity is so cheap out here that he planted grass and waters regularly. Since it is well-water and cheap to pump, he figures all is good.

It happened that Thursday was the annual community barbecue on a lot for sale just across the road. The folks were very friendly and I met many people who were full-time RVers. Some had been on the road for four, seven, and even thirteen years. Something to look forward to!

Saturday I decided to take a little drive and went to Spirit Lake, ID on my way to Spokane to do grocery shopping. This shop was the highlight of the town, though the whole little village was a treat. Lots of home-baked goodies and quite a wide selection of books. Mine wasn't on the shelf, but since the owner wasn't working at the time, I couldn't get any placed there.

After the trip across so many dirty roads on Hwy 2 and through Glacier, the truck was pretty filthy. I had to swing into a carwash in Post Falls, ID for no other reason than the Post Falls Trojans cheerleaders were holding the fund raiser. From one high school Trojan to another, right? They worked for half an hour on First Exit and even put conditioner on it. ??? I guess it's all soft and silky now.

I intentionally went through Post Falls to go to the Buck Knife factory store, but of course I failed to read the fine print that it was only open Monday-Friday, so I couldn't go in and get a great deal on a knife. I went on to Camping World and then to Trader Joe's. That was my main reason for going to Spokane for groceries. I needed coffee. I'll have to figure out how I'm dealing with that in the future. That's the last Trader Joe's headed west until Minnesota and headed south until Las Vegas. I will need coffee again in that timeframe.

I'm currently working on fine-tuning Mark Sawyer's new book layout, "The Shiva Paradox." Also writing/rewriting a piece I did in the 80s called "The Props Master." It will probably end up in my adult section. Also, probably the first of those that will make it to print after a little clean-up and judicious editing. It's an occult fantasy set in 1969. Some fun!

I've got a template to finish for a client and just received a request for a bid on a new book from a cover designer I've worked with in the past. I'm looking forward to checking out the file on that one.

But first . . . Tomorrow night I'll post about days 10-11 when I did the Selkirk Loop. I'm currently ready to go to sleep in the back of the truck at a deserted truckstop on U.S. Hwy 95 between Coeur d'Alene and Moscow. I'll let you know how I got here!