Pictures from home - staying connected

Thank goodness for technology that allows us to keep in touch with family and friends who are not with us while we're on the road in our motorhome. As we were leaving Arizona and the southern California area I wanted to spend just one more day with family, knowing that it would probably be months before we would hug them again. We were lucky to have some family visit us at the Thousand Trails Rancho Oso (Santa Barbara) RV park. This photo was taken of my sister, Erin, her husband Tim, and sons Josh and Ryan. Last week Josh had his 5th birthday and the next day Ryan turned 2. As Quincy of Little Einsteins says, "Un-be-lievable!" They are growing up so fast. Josh starts kindergarten this year. He's been able to read for a while now and he's so smart he won't have a problem with the schoolwork. Ryan will be with my mom, aka Grammy, while Josh goes to school. In addition, Grammy will be a Grammy again any day now. (I think that makes 10, if I don't get too complicated.) My sister-in-law Anna, married to Mark, is having a baby boy any day.

What would you do without email? We use free aol email primarily for communication with friends and we also have a free Google email account that we keep for business. Free email is a money saver and they are both quite reliable. This last week we received email from friends we used to work with. Many keep in touch on a fairly regular basis, while others surprise us every so often with a 'hello' from the past. It was nice to get email and pictures of our friends kids last week. Others have also sent pictures and it's a good way to stay connected with what's going on "back home". My sister sent new photos of their recent vacation trip and they all look so happy. I just have to share.

And thank goodness for cell phones! When we first started travelling back in the 1980's we did not have a cell phone. We had to find a pay phone (remember those?) and use dimes and quarters. For years I carried a cell phone for emergencies only, but now I use it to call friends from the river - when I'm not fishing. It's reassuring to be able to call and check on friends and family. We use Verizon and have had very good coverage and great customer service. When you call another Verizon customer it doesn't count against your alloted minutes. Nights and weekends are also free. More and more of our family has Verizon which sure helps.

We access the Internet with a Verizon 720 USB air card. And we use a CradlePoint 350 wireless router (from 3Gstore.com) so that both of us can use our laptops at the same time. Our Internet access does not use our cell phone like some people we've met. And our Internet access is almost as fast as DSL. There have only been 2 locations where we've had to hook up our Wilson antennae to get a stronger signal (Thousand Trails Whalers Rest and Thousand Trails Rancho Oso). We have unlimited useage and unlimited downloads. Rick still kids me about resisting the Internet when it first became popular many years ago. I said I didn't want to use it or learn about it, and now it is so much a part of everyday life.

Then there's the US Postal Service for keeping in contact. Every once in awhile we get a special handwritten letter or package from friends and family and they are a treat! I've tried to send some snail-mail to our family, especially our young nephews who are growing up with email communication instead of letters and postcards.

Send us a comment if you have questions about the technology we use to keep in touch with the world while we're on the road.