We’re often asked what a typical day is like for us. There really is no typical in our life – we try to avoid having that word describe us. So it’s probably best to occasionally illustrate what some of our days look like. Yesterday, our first day back in motion after a few months parked in San Francisco, is a stellar example of what a day can be like for us.
Sample Day: March 28, 2009, transitioning from San Leandro to San Simeon, California
7am – Wake up and freshen up. Tidy up the house and get things locked down to be in motion. Including securing the swing arm on the monitor, taking down the suction cupped pictures from the walls, locking all of the windows, turning off the inverter, locking the bathroom and closet doors, making sure nothing is likely to slide around and securing the kitten in her carrier in the Jeep.
7:30a – Hit the road, leaving our host’s curbside in San Leandro. We stop for diesel, and then head southward down the twisty mountain road into Santa Cruz.
9:00a – We pull in across the street from the KUSP studio in Santa Cruz, and a fella on an electric scooter stops and is fascinated by the trailer. We give him a tour, being reminded – ‘Oh yeah, we have one helluva cool trailer – we must remember to keep it showable while we’re in motion, people like to see it!’. We have a great chat with him about nomadism and sustainability, and learn he owns Seabright Brewery in town. We exchange contact info. We get Kiki set up in the trailer for a comfortable stay while we’re away for a bit, she seems fascinated by watching cars and bicyclist go by her window.
9:30a – We arrive to the ready room at the KUSP studio and meet up with today’s geeks who will be on GeekSpeak. We catch them up with what we’re up to, and discuss the mornings tech news to decide what will be highlighted on the show. At 10am, the show starts and we’re highlighted during it as mobile correspondents for GeekSpeak.
11:30a – After the show, we invite the Geeks to come see the trailer. And then some of us head off to the brewery of our new friend for lunch. We’re treated to a sampling of microbrews. Afterwards, we capture some video clips for a yet announced project we’re working on.
2:00p – We re-arrange the Jeep so we can take some geeks to a bus stop. We’re now past all near term obligations looming on our schedule, for the first time in months. The feeling of freedom is refreshing, and we treat ourselves to some ice cream at Mariannes’s to mark the occasion.
3:00p – We then decide to start our journey south, taking Route 1 down the California Coast. Knowing that on a Saturday night it might be difficult to score campspace, we decide to risk it anyway. We’re itching to get on the open road and see where nomadic serendipity takes us.
4:00p – We pass through Big Sur, and not to our surprise – all campgrounds are full. And most notably the big state park in town is closed for control burns, which reduces the number of available spaces in the area by around 200. So we head southward to continue enjoying the amazing coastal views.
Late Afternoon – We stop at various vista points to take in the views, stretch our legs and take obligatory pictures of ourselves. Even Kiki enjoys the coastline. And several folks ask us about our trailer along the way.
7:30p – No luck finding campspace in Las Padres National Forest, we drive further south with the beautiful light of the setting sun. We keep our eyes open for a nice pull off that would be suitable for boondocking overnight, but when we pull into San Simeon all pull offs are clearly marked ‘No Camping’.
9:00p – Before taking a chance by being scofflaws, we checkout the nearby San Simeon State Park and are greeted by a delightful park ranger who tells us there are spaces available. For $11 we have a nice primitive camp spot for overnight. We put Kiki out on her new harness and leash and she enjoys running around while we prepare a bite to eat. We’re getting a variable cellular signal, so we turn on the amplifier system which stabilizes it out nicely so we can check e-mail and such. We settle in for the evening, load up the final two episodes of Battlestar Galactica on our media center and snuggle up.
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Great update ! Thanks.