Not-So-Sunny San Diego

Today was one of those simple days, the kind where you get a lot done and enjoy the work involved, where since I am alone I did everything for myself and relished the self satisfaction that comes with independence. Just what I really needed. The last few days have left me near exhaustion and as frazzled as I have been since this journey began.

Dan flew out Friday morning for Jackson, WY. Barbara Marie Goddard, my mother-in-law, had a birthday this weekend. Not just any birthday mind you, but one of those big ones where mothers want their children near them. Her request was to have a weekend with her boys, no wives, no grandchildren. While I am sure that rafting and fly fishing would have been fun too, I was perfectly happy to get some alone time and I had surf camp to attend.

After I dropped Dan off our friend Jack, who lives in San Diego, picked me up for a city tour. We drove all along the coast in Jack’s convertible Mustang and I marveled at how well it corners compared to our behemoth.



Parasailers above Black's beach.


Del Mar at sunset.

After dinner Jack dropped me back off at the truck which was parked in front of our friend Kevin’s house in Del Mar, my first ever night all alone in the camper. I awoke early Saturday and rushed off to La Jolla to find a suitable parking spot for my surf class. I have no problem driving our rig, but I am willing to show up an hour early if it means I donn’t have to back the truck. Since we are dedicating the next three months to the pursuit of surfing, I am very pleased to report that I didn’t suck. In fact I stood up on my first try and a few times afterward.

After class I procured the phone number for another friend and was very pleasantly surprised to hear that he was in town. This friend is Sergeant Michael Marcellus Williams of the U.S. Marine Corps, just back from Iraq. Not only was Marcellus home, but this very day happened to be his welcome home party. I drove out to Oceanside and after getting the “fertilizer bomb check out” at the gate was admitted onto Camp Pendleton Military Base. Marcellus’ party was a fabulous affair, celebrated by his family, his wife Shannon, their two boys Gabriel and Lacy, and the family of another returning marine named Adrian. The joy and relief among the families was palpable.

I ducked out of the party at around 11:30 so as to get some good rest before my next surf lesson, and because I was beat. Truth is I don’t sleep well when I am alone, so the night before hadn’t been very restful and my body was fatigued and sore from surfing. I was parked in the driveway of Marcellus’ neighbor, on the military base and no more than 70’ from Marcellus’ front door.


Part of what is so great about this trip is the opportunity to catch up with old friends. Marcellus (pictured above) and I went to high school together in Cincinnati, Ohio. He wants me to tell you all that he dated Carmen Electra (she went to our school too), I will refrain from further comment on the validity of this statement ;)

At around 3:30am I woke up because I heard some weird metallic sound. My mind likes to play tricks on me when I am stirred late at night, so I tried to dismiss the noise as something outside, wind maybe, but it hadn’t sounded like the wind. I fell back asleep…then I felt a movement in the truck, my cackles went up. Nahhh Rachel, your head’s playing tricks on you. Then, a few moments later another movement, this time I didn’t stop to evaluate, someone else was in my truck and that was one person too many. I went from flat on my back in bed to up through the emergency hatch and standing tall on my roof 11’ above the ground, this happened in less than a second.

“Who’s there? What is going on?” I yelled out. Then I saw him, a man crouching on the ground in front of my truck trying to figure out where the voice was coming from and then which way he should run. We saw each other at the same moment, he froze, I started screaming bloody murder, he took off.

I woke up half the neighborhood. While sleeping in your camper on a military base is seemingly not as safe as one might think, there is an amazing neighborhood watch system. Military wives, who have been living alone while their husbands are at war, are fast to respond. Had this been 1950 they would have run out with rolling pins in hand, since it is 2004 they came armed with cordless phones and flashlights.

The next hour was spent with the MP’s, Marcellus, Shannon and Adrian’s wife who was one of the first wives to come to my rescue. My best guess is that this guy thought my rig looked like a good truck to rob. My doors to the truck cab were open- (I realize at this point that many of you are thinking how could I leave the doors unlocked, I remind you I was on base at my Marine Sergeant friend’s house and when I went to bed 15 people were still celebrating 20’ from me), I assume this criminal had no idea anyone was asleep in there and when he heard me yell I am surprised he didn’t soil my seat.

Needless to say I could not sleep after that. At 7:00 I finally gave up and drove back down to La Jolla. I’d guess that I had gotten about 5 hours of real sleep in the last 48, so surf lessons sounded a bit daunting. Never the less I rallied and enjoyed another two hours of paddling, standing and generally getting trundled in the surf. After class I took out my new board tried and succeeded to catch 3 waves and then poured myself back into the camper to try and rest. No luck, I never have been a good napper.

I decided that if there was any chance that I’d be able to sleep I needed to check back into the RV resort/park we’d stayed in the week before. I procured a spot, set up camp and went and lay by the pool. Kevin called and invited me to dinner with he and his girlfriend Amanda. I left the pool and packed up camp enough to drive up to Del Mar. For the first time I decided to leave my water and sewer hookups in place, I would only be gone an hour or so and this is a nice place. Dinner was lovely and I excused myself before I had a chance to pass out in my salad plate. I got back to the RV park and went to my spot, only to find out that while I was gone someone had swiped my water hose, water filter and pressure regulator. However, they were kind enough to leave my sewer hose.

This is where I had a minor breakdown. Basically I was completely tapped out, and now I didn’t feel safe in this $70/ night resort. Also Dan and Kevin both had insisted that I stay at Kevin’s house, so I felt like a jackass for having been so stubborn. My argument was that I had to stay in the camper, and get over my newly heightened fear of being alone at night or I may never be able to sleep in the damn thing again.

The nice lady at the front desk moved me to the month-long stay portion of the park, where she assured me “only real nice people stay”. I pulled off a miraculous backing job, managing not to hit either the fence or the Class A that flank me by about 2' on either side. I put a DVD in the computer and watched a comedy I had seen before. Additionally I downed most of a bottle of wine as a form of self-medicating. Something worked because I got six hours of somewhat fitful, but satisfactory sleep.

Dan flies in tonight. He is forbidden to take a “bump” thereby leaving me alone for another night. Staying alone last night really was good for me; my intuition/ perception have been tested and passed with flying colors. If dan gets stuck in Salt Lake, I feel certain that I can find another bottle of wine and get at least 7 hours of sleep.

Tomorrow we leave San Diego behind. Goodbye Santee, goodbye refrigerator repairmen, goodbye would-be car thieves and water system crooks; I won’t miss any of you. Jack, Kevin, Marcellus and family, thank you for looking after me, you all I will miss!

Onward to Mexico where it’s safe!


Installation of our new circuit board

Final conclusion on the fridge. We decided to tempt fate and just put in a new circuit board rather than a whole new fridge, since then everything is working fabulously. Two days and four mechanics couldn't bring us to the conclusion that about ten people fellow RVers could after I posted to our favorite RV Forum.

If you RV and you have not visited the RV Forum link on here then you really must. In ten minutes I had more information from those who've been there before, then I could get from mechanics and manufacturers. Once again the forum has saved us, and this time it saved us about a grand and another day or two in Santee. Thank you to those who responded to my plea for help.

The hot stays hot and the cold stays cold...how do it know?

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The road to my own personal hell however, is paved with Dometic refrigerator circuit boards and cooling elements, additionally it seems to parallel HWY 52 and end up in Santee, California.

For months now our fridge has been prone to fits. It likes to stop working sporadically, and like a giant, evil Cyclops it stares at us from its centrally located "CHECK" light. This problem was addressed by us in Durango not more than ten days ago. However, the admitted $100 "stab in the dark" the repair guys took there has proven grossly inadequate.

As best as we lay persons can surmise, our fridge needs $1100 worth of repairs. Cost of a new fridge $850. So this is simple, we have buy a new fridge. It sucks, it's bad timing and in our travel economy it is akin to 21 days on the road. But when life throws you lemons you make nicely refrigerated lemonade right??? Of course not.

See it seems that when camper manufactures build a camper, or as we learned today even high end Class A RVs, they build the inside first. Then they put on jams and doors that are too small to fit the installed appliances through. Our fridge is 24" at its narrowest point, our door is 20.5". You do the math- not good is it.

Resolution? Buy a new fridge, totally gut new fridge, then re-build new fridge inside of camper. Nice huh? Don't forget that this will take time and labor to do. Cost of labor $85/ hour.

I realize this is a bit of a rant and I do try not to complain on here, because really, what on earth do I have to complain about. Mainly I post this as an FYI. If anyone should be reading along and thinking "I'd like to do what they are doing" then I offer this advice. When you visit your local RV dealer, bring along a tape measure.

Thanks go out to the following folks; Bob and Mike at Double-D RV. Rob, Lenny and Rob's wife (sorry I didn't catch your name) at Howell's RV Appliance Repair. And especially Wyn, a very nice man who was having his RV repaired and invited us to his house for a full hook-up and a place to call home while we await repairs. Yet again we are astounded by the kindness of others.

Chapter Two

Our trip has a few legs, or chapters. The first chapter was from day one of unemployment through our trip down the Grand. This new chapter will take us through this fall and Mexico.

Zion National Park/ The Subway.



We met up with Brother Pat, his friends Eric, Chris and Joyce, and our beloved Meredith, Friday afternoon in Hurricane, Utah. We kicked off the weekend with a nice bike ride out on Gooseberry Mesa outside of town. From there we headed up to Kolbob Reservoir Near the Northwest corner of Zion park.


Fly fisher on Kolbob Reservoir.

The morning before we met everyone we visited the backcountry permits' office in the park and procured a permit for The Subway. This is a canyoneering hike 9-10 miles in length. Saturday morning we rallied early and headed for the trail. Little did I know how truly amazing this day would be.

The hike begins in a conifer forest and then opens up onto a slick rock basin, before dropping into the slot canyon that the hike is known for. During the hike we scrambled over boulders, swam through deep 45 degree pools and even rappelled a 30' cliff face. Here are the pictures.


Joyce walking along the slick rock section.


This was the first technical move. A shimmy/ fall down a 12' boulder.


Pools along the route.


One of the pools we waded/ swam through.


We tried to straddle over this pool, we all ended up swimming at least some of it.
From here we swam another pool, probably 100' long and 4' wide with a boulder chalked in the walls above the pool, this proved to be the longest pool.


The actual "Subway".


To access the rappel, you must cross over a 30' falls by walking over a fallen tree which acts as a bridge.


Dan posing on the rappel.


Have I mentioned that I am not a big fan of heights?


Pat made a friend along the way- and no he didn't really eat this guy.


Cascades on the lower section of the hike.


Brother Pat really liked all the frogs, he took this picture.

Sunday morning we were all a bit slow to rise. The Subway hike had taken us almost eight hours to complete and we were all feeling muscles we had long since forgotten about. After breakfast we decided to hike another canyon, albeit a much shorter hike than the previous days'. Our hike took a detour when we realized that the canyon we had intended to hike was filled with smoke from a nearby fire. Instead we hiked a maintenance road to get a view of the fire.


The canyon we meant to hike.


Our Group.


The fire that thwarted our hike.


Last night we decided a culture shock might be fun, so we said goodbye to our friends and the wilderness and headed for wild life. Vegas baby, Vegas. Dan had never been to Sin City. We found a nice spot in a casino parking lot, easily accessible from I-15. This particular casino lot, which is adorned with various medieval flags, has no overhangs, no fees and is a nice enough place to catch a few winks after walking the strip.

Despite my inherent loathing for this town, it does fascinate me in a morbid sort of way. Additionally per various conventions I have attended here, and a class I took in college, I know a lot about the place. I gave Dan the .25 cent tour of the strip complete with a few free shows. After an all-you-can-eat dinner we headed for a craps table. Two hours later I was right back where I started with $20 and had "earned us" eight free beers. Really, what more can you ask for? Our night's sleep in the parking lot went undisturbed. This morning we had biscuits and gravy, 3 eggs, hash browns and toast for $6 total- I suppose this town does have a thing or two going for it after all.

Currently I post this from I-15 while traveling at 65mph in the Mojave National Preserve. We hope to hit the beach tonight.

On the Road Again

We are slowly recovering from 5 days of (it pains me to say the word...) WORK. Yes we were offered a chance to earn some moolah once we returned to Durango and we felt we couldn't turn it down. Thanks to our buddies at The Ski Barn for always employing us, and for making work as painless as possible :) We spent last weekend in Breckenridge selling ski equipment. This proved to be a wise decision on our part, since our brakes had been squeaking and as we feared they needed replacement. Additionally our fridge has been acting up. Total cost of needed repairs approach. $600.00. Total earnings for the week about $700.

But never fear dear reader, this was a temporary affliction and we are happy to be posting this evening from Zion Nation Park in S.W. Utah. We are on our way to once again meet up with Brother Pat. (Some of you have written to tell us that you, on occasion, live vicariously through us. Would someone please let Pat know that this is best done from afar, and via computer?) This visit is special though because my dear friend Meredith will also be joining us, and the three of us can surely manage Pat.

We left Durango yesterday and boondocked in Dixie National Forest.


The spot was absolutely devoid of other people and it was a fabulous first night back home in the camper.


Lunch in Bryce Canyon

Today we drove through Bryce and Zion, both firsts for us, and both on the must see list. Hiking and biking are plentiful in both parks and the rock formations are surreal.

While in Bryce we hiked up Mossy Cave trail, here are some pictures from the hike.


Waterfall and rock formations along the trail.


Arches, there were actually three windows/ arches here.


Dang in the window seat

Tonight we are camped in South Camp in Zion. Tomorrow we have a 7am date with the backcountry permits' office across the road.

The Grand Cayon 2004

For this 21-day tour we have amassed a team of seasoned professionals.

Here's the team: (as you read this to yourself it helps use your own personal boxing ring announcer voice...)


Our fearless tripping leader, and dutch oven master. Bjorn "D-John" Sutton


The beautiful and talented co-tripping leader, and owner of two boats, Mrs. Brook "Floozie/ Flippy" Sutton.


The court jester and beholder of frightening amounts of trivial knowledge, Sarah "Swiller" Henrikson.


Ever even keeled, (with the possible exception of tequila night) Colin "Sutt" Sutton.


The Dapper Don of our crew, Ryan "Dodger" Dodge, a.k.a. Mr. P.


The only woman tough enough to tame the Dapper Don, Jonika "Nadja" Horton.


The anti- tripping leader, class clown and man my husband is no longer allowed to call his friend, Eric "Weinklos" Weink.


The second best kayaker on the trip, the ever tolerant and lovely Mrs. Jamie "Hymee" Weink.



Safety boater extraordinaire and nine-time canyon runner, Mike "Skumby" Werner



The only woman crazy enough to put up with Mike, the not-so-into-spicy, Carol Viau.


Perhaps the only person who is really qualified for this trip, the ruggedly handsome and boatedly endowed, Kipp Ertl


In this corner, the ginger-haired waif from southeast London, John "Blades" Williamson, a.k.a. The Ferrel Cat Slayer.


Bestower of all things NRS and stasher of copious amounts of Coors Light, Juan "Cheezemo" Cullum.



The only person who really ever knew where in the heck we were... and the only person whose last name I do not know.... Val.


Guardian of the groover, beholder of germs galore, the toilet ticket from Page Arizona, Crapper Crab.

And finally the home team...


The love of my life, guide of all guides, weighing in at 31 going on 71, Daniel "Dang/ Bunny" Goddard.


And yours truly. Barer of few clothes, consumer of too much vodka and co-flipper extraordinaire, Rachel "Ratchet/ Honey Bunny" Goddard.

Now that we've met the team let's get on with the show.

(In an attempt to make this as easy on you, the reader/ viewer, I am going to upload segments masked as different dates, so that there are never too many pictures to upload at once. Hope this helps. )

Note: Alright I have now dedicated many hours to this series of postings. I am no longer able to proof read my own typing so I am certain this is riddled with errors, I trust you will all overlook these. Anyone want to offer to correct all of my posts for me?? It is my hope that any errors will not detract too much from the general content.

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The Big Ditch Part One

Ditch Journal.



Day One En Route: We awoke at 5:45 and loaded into our fully laden vehicles for the five hour drive. We made a pit stop in Page, AZ for last minute provisions including river costumes. Once in Lee’s Ferry we met our ranger, Ray, and began the seven-hour task of prepping and rigging our boats. About two-hours in we were treated to a torrential rain storm. We all mobilized to cover the beer with tarps, so as to save the cardboard boxes, before we sought shelter. Ranger Ray would site this event the next day in our official ranger meeting.

Additionally Ranger Ray informed us that we could expect flows of 16,000-18,000 through the end of August, then the flows will drop to 6,000- 8,000.

That evening we enjoyed a “last supper” of sorts at the Marble Canyon Lodge. I opted for chicken fried steak smothered in green chili and my last ice-cold bottled beer for 21 days. We spent the night in the rafter’s campground along side the river and were serenaded by the hundreds of frogs there.


Entrance Bouy.

Day One River: Up early. It’s launch day. Our meeting with Ranger Ray was scheduled for 9am, but he showed up early and sat in on our group meeting. After our meeting was over the love fest began. Ray LOVED us! He waved us through, sighting the previous day’s comradery and attention to detail when we sacrificed ourselves for the beer cases. This was particularly cool because there are hundreds of ranger check-out horror stories out there. Groups forced to drive back to Page to buy new life jackets because theirs are slightly faded for example. But not us, we got the green light and hit the rio at noon.


The entire group at the put-in.

We floated a mellow 11 miles, the first 100’ were the most pristine green waters ever but then Pariah Creek came in and muddied the river to the color and consistency of a latte. The river would remain this way until we hit the lake 293 miles downstream. We floated under the Navajo Bridge the only automobile bridge we would pass. Now 1600’ deep the canyon walls rose above and I realized, wow…after all of the years of waiting and anticipating I am in the Grand Canyon!!!

Mile 7.4 marked our first Grand Canyon rapid. Generally accepted river ratings are I-VI. Class I being lake water and VI considered unrunnable in a raft. The Grand has so many rapids and they are so big that they use a 1-10 scale. Our first rapid was Badger a 4-6, a big wave train, it was a blast. Our first night’s camp was above Soap Creek Rapid.

Day Two: Our plan is to have early mornings and get on the water before afternoon showers and winds kick in. We woke up per the plan and hit the river. Dan and I were alone on our raft today which was nice since we are a bit shell shocked being around people again. Our social skills leave a bit to be desired after two months mostly alone.

This was an amazing day, filled with rollercoaster waves and ever deepening canyon walls. We are six layers deep in rock now and I am not convinced that we are seeing the top of the canyon from down here.

Two big rapids today. House Rock and mile 24.5 both have huge waves and the Prince William, our only bucket (non self-bailing) boat got swamped, the bilge pump got a heck of a workout. The rapids seem tame compared to the eddy lines down here. Each eddy has the power to suck us in and stops us in our tracks. Top Gun quotes started flowing right about here. A boat sucked into an eddy while another passes by in the current solicits a “we’ll hit the breaks and they’ll fly right on by”. A boat getting spun in an eddy line gets a “ Maverick, we’re entering a flat spin”. And if all the boats pass a boat stuck in an eddy cries of “never leave your wingman” can be heard.

Day Three: Eric’s 30th Birthday.
We hit the water early and made good miles to Nankoweap., mile 52. Only one rapid along the way, President Harding is essentially just one big rock in the river which you skirt on the left.


Our Nankoweap camp.

In camp we lounged in the river until it was cool enough to hike up to the graineries and the most famous (if you rate fame by number of postcards with the same picture on them) grand canyon view. The view is all it cracked up to be.



The view.


Nankoweep Graineries.

We returned to fully decorated camp and the birthday party began. Everyone put on their birthday party costumes and traded in their beer cans for margarita glasses.

A very fine day indeed.


Kip's raft early on.

Day Four:
A shorter river day today. Half of the group got dropped off to hike the Carbon Creek trail. The remaining folks rowed the boats down to camp where the hikers would be meeting us later. Among those of us in camp early was Blades. Blades lives in Aspen and I had never met him before. He kept us entertained with stories from his rugby days in England and we became fast friends. Dan and I served Groover Gin and Tonics. A groover is a portable crapper. Originally they were simply ammo cans which left grooves on you butt cheeks. The new generation groover is essentially a giant plastic water bottle. So before it has EVER been used for its intended purpose it makes for a nice cocktail tub. We have six groovers for this trip and we will fill them all.


Vasey's Paradise.


Catadyn Filter, our water source. We collect clear water where we can and filter it for drinking.


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