Yesterday, I wrote our daily journal early, an unusual thing for me to do but I was inspired to write before we went out and we had plans for the evening. After I posted the entry, we headed over to Palm Desert to meet Rich and Laura Ouellette, (friends we hadn’t yet met) from Detroit, Michigan. Rich and Laura, like us, decided to go “fulltiming” while they are still young (quite a bit younger than we are at that!) and able enough to enjoy the many recreational opportunities available. While crossing the United States, they have been maintaining a BLOG (click on their highlighted names above to link to it) which I have been following and I contacted them last week once I realized they were nearby. Unfortunately, I was about two days too late when I did finally get a hold of them otherwise we could have given them a coupon that they could have used here at Catalina Spa. (They had made reservations elsewhere by then) It would have given them a five night stay for the cost of $25, a great bargain for any RVer. However, as it turned out, they both ended up being sick over the past week so we wouldn’t have had much visiting time anyway.

Last night, we met them at their motorhome (or “moho” as they affectionately refer to it) where we also met their Cockatoo,(not to be confused with a Cockatiel) companion Snuggles. From there we headed to a local sushi restaurant for a delicious dinner and great conversation. We learned that Rich is able to continue working while on the road thanks to a cell phone and a computer and that Laura is looking for a career change. They are travelling around the country to find a new place to live and settle down in (once they get over the travel bug). They are avid cyclists and each carry two bikes with them for either mountain trails or road paths and they use them extensively. Snuggles is a great travelling companion and they are enjoying every minute of their time on the road exploring and experiencing the country with their “guard bird”.

It was so nice to get together with another couple who understands the reasons for doing this while they are still young and comparing our experiences. (We have many places that we have been to in common.) We parted knowing we can follow each other’s travels (thanks to the Internet) and we know our paths will cross again (if not in Quartzite, Arizona in January then in Pomona, California in March!)