We’ve had some interesting new experiences over the past two weeks here in Southern California.  I was recently offered a position as a writer with a newspaper in the town where we are currently park hosts.

After pitching them a story, meeting the owner, and having my story accepted, I wrote the  article.  A week later, I received a phone call from the owner offering me a job!  I’ve been there for almost two weeks now and I totally love having this new experience.

Some obvious perks of the job are getting more writing and photography experience.  I am getting paid to learn how to be a journalist which is pretty darn cool.  Since we want to continue traveling in the future, establishing my writing career and expanding my experience is an important step to being able to make money on the road.

Another recent perk: my boss gave us VIP tickets to go see the rodeo!  I’ve been to a couple of rodeos before but Andy hasn’t.  He had a blast.  He was so excited to see the different events, including one I had never heard of before: mutton busting.  This is where they bring out children 4-5 years old to ride sheep.  Hilarious and adorable.

But that’s not the only big news.  I was recently published in my hometown newspaper, the St. Paul Pioneer Press.  This was huge for me!  They are the first paper to officially accept an article from me and they opened the door to more writing jobs.  Wonderful experience.

http://www.twincities.com/2016/05/22/what-we-learned-during-early-retirement-traveling-the-u-s-in-our-rv/

Aside from the crazy, busy writing side of things, we’ve been trying to get back on track with our hiking and biking.  We didn’t do a lot when people were in town since we were so busy touring around and doing other fun activities.  We decided to explore a new trail in Santa Ysabel, the Open Spaces Preserve.

Aside from our couple of hikes, we figured it was about time we visited the Safari Park (owned by the San Diego Zoo) since we are members and it is very close to us.  We went in the afternoon so we didn’t get to see the whole park.  That’s OK with us since we can get in for free and this way we get to take our time!

We liked the open habitats of the Safari Park and the Africa Tram ride.  It was a neat experience and we are excited to go back and explore the rest of it!

The only downside of going to places like this is that we get to see how many people are actually here.  In our little town, California feels less crowded but once we leave it we see how many people live here.

“You know what I hate most about traveling?  Tourists.  I know I am a tourist but other tourists are way worse.”  Said by Andy after our last zoo visit.  Made me laugh a lot!

My last note: we are talking about taking a break from the park for a short trip, packing up the RV and pets to travel again, all recommendations of places to see are welcome!  We plan on taking a week over the summer.