The West Coast Tour

San Francisco has been calling to me. Maybe it’s the fact that the temperature rarely goes above seventy or below fifty, which makes it perfect for RV living. Or maybe it’s the fact that all of the smart young techies have congregated there. Maybe it’s the cheap(ish) flights to Japan or the abundance of healthy vegan restaurants.

Whatever it is, I’ve had an itch to go check it out. I’ve been there a few times before but didn’t explore much and certainly didn’t see it through the eyes of a resident. So this time I’m heading that way in the RV.

This Thursday I’ll head West from Austin, and hopefully drive 20 hours straight to Las Vegas. I love Las Vegas and have a few friends there, so it’s hard to pass up an opportunity to visit. After Las Vegas I’ll go to LA. I might stay for a few days, for a month, or something in between. I haven’t decided yet.

Then from Los Angeles I’ll go to San Francisco. I have a ton of friends there, some from middle school back in Boston, some from Austin, and a few from the old pick up days. I’m also hoping to make friends with some of the people involved in the tech community there. I’ve heard that parking won’t be easy, but my friends have a couple ideas on places that might work.

After San Francisco, I don’t know where I’ll go. I might make it my new home base, or I might take the RV East to the Boston/NY area. I’m hoping to take a one or two month trip to Japan from San Francisco. I’m making an effort not to plan too far ahead anymore, and to keep my plans as flexible as possible.

RV Preparations

To prepare for the trip, here’s what I’ve done to the RV:

• Routed the shower drain outside so that I don’t have to constantly empty my tiny 12 gallon holding tank.
• Replaced the four most used 20watt bulbs with 1-4watt replacements of equal brightness. Installed a 10’ LED light strip for general night time light.
• Put in three Mother In Law’s Tongue plants for air filtering, oxygen generation, and to keep me from cluttering the counter they’re now monopolizing. I’m in the process of modifying an automatic plant waterer to water the plants from the RV tank.
• Replaced the spark plugs and wires which fixed basically everything with the engine. Before that it would cut out, sputter, and make a scary beeping noise.
• Got the axle fixed. I had no idea it was broken, but when I got to the dealership they were totally amazed that it hadn’t broken on the way and killed me.
• New front brakes. Florida Auto Brokers claimed that they had just done the brakes  when I got it. They hadn’t.
• Replaced the shower head with an Oxygenics. These have amazing pressure and use a bit less water.

There were a few more modifications I really wanted to do, but I ran out of time and  I don’t want to keep pushing back my departure. The big project I wanted to do was to add a second water tank to double my total capacity. Next time.

Two days left in Austin to continue to get ready and to spend time with my family and friends.