Ahhhh, to wake up in the Walmart parking lot – what a dream come true for these tree hugging, union proponents! We pulled into the Porterville, CA Walmart out of a sheer need to find a place to stay. Our California hot Springs destination was too far in the dark, so we decided to bag it all and “dry camp,” i.e., no electricity or water. And in the parking lot of our much disliked corporate America. I shamefully admitted it to Alex last night – who laughed at us!


I must read at night so off we went to “the Wal”, as Dane Cook calls it, to purchase headlamps, movies and an adapter for my picture disk so that I can now upload pics. We feel better as humans after viewing humanity in “the Wal.” Judgments we don’t like to make, but consciously do. We can understand why the stats say SOCAL is 50% Hispanic – very much so! Our favorite pastime was watching the security guy roam the parking lot in his little white truck with the yellow flashing light. We felt safe. Tony also notified the Wal manager that we were there – she was quick to point out that they’re not responsible for anything…OK!

Our sleep was remarkably good, however. I GOT UP at 2:00 AM, after a beautiful four hours hard sleep – whodathunkit? Got my book and pillow and trudged to the couch. At 3:00 the night stockers at the Wal come into play. What a lonely time of night to work. Went back to bed soon after watching the shift come on, slept great until 8:20 AM.

Up and at ‘em, I strolled to Starby’s for some quads to go. I drove my AM shift, through more beautiful, rolling, golden hills, with boulders and cows everywhere. The orange groves are gone, the hills are alive. No one on the road, just Tony and I happily cruising. We found the Hot Springs and headed straight for the RV park, which is pretty cool. I backed Blue in and we set off for the Lodge.



Mr. Cranky Pants at the front desk, none too helpful – burned out from summer hoards? We’ve been here several hours and Tony has happily been working steady on numerous fixes and changes. I made a lovely breakfast – see pic – with our fresh squeezed orange juice. I’m telling you, it was exhilarating to drink fresh juice. Took six for two full glasses.


We’re now pretty much set and plan to head to the huge pool and hot spring pools for an afternoon of effing off. I’ve got spaghetti cooking, air conditioning on, trees and birds all around. Love this life.