Tag: beach

2025 in Review: Miles, Memories, and Finding Our Rhythm

By The Buchanan’s Rolling Down The Road
December 2025

Every year seems to move faster than the last, but 2025 felt like it moved at highway speed. From desert mornings at Boyce Thompson Arboretum to lake days in Ontario, new states on the map, mechanical challenges, and finally settling into winter life on a quiet Mexican beach — this year reminded us why we chose this life.

Winter & Spring in the Arizona Desert

We started the year camped and volunteering once again at Boyce Thompson Arboretum. The desert welcomed us back with cactus blossoms, hummingbirds at the feeders, and the ever-present coati wandering through the grounds. Miss Laurie spent plenty of time rock hounding, while we both enjoyed the familiar rhythm of volunteer life.

January through March were filled with great company and simple adventures:

  • Kayaking the Lower Salt River with Ray & Karen, watching wild horses along the banks
  • Off-roading Box Canyon with Al & Carmen, followed by unforgettable Mexican food
  • Visits with friends in Show Low, Tucson, and Gilbert

Of course, no season is complete without a mechanical lesson. A leaking freshwater tank on Thunder turned into a full replacement, along with a new SeeLevel tank monitoring system.

Saying Goodbye & Heading East

April marked our final month at the Arboretum. A volunteer thank-you dinner, final walks among blooming cactus, and a special highlight — watching my grandson Andrew play baseball during a Phoenix tournament — made the goodbye meaningful and bittersweet.

On April 28, we turned Thunder east and began our spring migration back to Ontario.

The journey was a familiar patchwork of:

  • Walmart and Cracker Barrel overnights
  • Welcome centers and Harvest Hosts
  • Visits with friends and family along the way

We crossed back into Canada on May 8, settling into short stays until our summer site became available.

Summer at Sunni Bank RV Park

By mid-May, we arrived at Sunni Bank RV Park in Ontario, where summer truly began. Reconnecting with longtime friends Bob & Irena turned into a season full of laughter, food, and friendly competition.

Highlights included:

  • Kayaking the Grand River
  • Cornhole and washer board tournaments
  • Campfires and sunset conversations
  • An ongoing (very serious) search for the best Lake Erie perch

Spring rains left Thunder sunk deep enough to break patio stones, and our open site — great for solar and Starlink — came with the challenge of nearby roosters. Still, once settled, it felt like home.

Summer Curveballs & Small Victories

Summer also brought its share of challenges:

  • A leaking washer/dryer valve
  • A burned-out solar charge controller
  • Leveling system switch failures
  • Weak chassis batteries

Thanks to persistence, ingenuity, and Bob “knowing a guy,” everything was repaired. We also restored our Clam screen porch — a favorite spot for afternoon naps — and fully embraced cornhole as our new obsession.

Birthdays were celebrated, briskets were smoked, and long, slow summer days reminded us how important community is on the road.

Fall Travels & New States

October arrived quickly, and with it, packing up and climbing Thunder out of the spring ruts — literally. From there, we headed west on a new northern route, adding four new states to our travel map:

Nebraska • Wyoming • Colorado • Utah

Highlights included:

  • A charming $10/night city campground in Beaver Crossing, Nebraska
  • Climbing I-70 through the Rocky Mountains (with a bag of chips exploding from elevation)
  • Six nights boondocking near Goblin Valley State Park
  • Exploring Lake Powell and quiet desert mesas

Each mile reminded us why we still love long travel days.

Vegas, the Border & an Unexpected Breakdown

We paused in Las Vegas, splitting time between our time-share and keeping Thunder comfortable at the Elks Lodge — a perfect solution for us and Mister Sam.

Mid-November, we headed south toward Mexico. The border crossing at Mexicali was smooth… until one mile later, when a torque rod failed. With no good options, we strapped it up and carefully drove 185 kilometers south to San Felipe.

Sometimes the only option is forward.

Wintering in Mexico

We’re now settled at El Dorado Ranch Resort in San Felipe, Mexico, where life has slowed to a gentler pace.

Our days include:

  • Quiet mornings on an empty sand beach
  • Pool time, hot tubs, and water volleyball
  • Pickleball lessons for Miss Laurie
  • Cornhole games and fresh shrimp on the grill

While we’re still finding our social rhythm here, everyone has been welcoming and kind. Christmas was spent mostly on the beach — different, but just right for this season of life.

Looking Back at 2025

As the year comes to a close, we’re reminded that this lifestyle isn’t about perfect plans. It’s about adaptability, community, and finding joy in the in-between moments — even when something breaks, a route changes, or time moves faster than expected.

2025 gave us new states, old friends, challenges overcome, and a deeper appreciation for the road ahead.

And somehow, it still feels like we’re just getting started.

Day 3009

T’was the night before Christmas

And there was lots of things stirring

So the weather back home is looking a little frightful, but although a little cooler than it has been here we are nearly 20°C warmer here in Mexico and although we had some rain yesterday afternoon we are mainly sunny today. And we have a busy day planned, with pickle ball and some beach time on our schedule.

Too much cloud this morning for a sunrise photo, but I just dropped Miss Laurie off for her pickle ball fundamentals class and I have found my way to the beach and while the tide is out and there is some fog the top of the mountains to our south are in sight and the sun is peaking through the clouds.

I brought a sweatshirt with me this morning but I don’t think I will be needing it unless the breeze picks up. Three hours away San Diego is preparing for a lot of rain one of those atmospheric river things, and we know this because that is the closest English speaking stations to our location.

As much as I haven’t spoke about our IPTV streaming service much or maybe at all up to now it is proving to be an excellent addition to our entertainment when travelling. Allowing me to choose television stations pretty much anywhere in the world and it is saving us well over a hundred dollars per month. Stay tuned for an update on this system a long with our new phone service provider that is also saving us over a hundred bucks a month.

Thank you Mary and Julie for our happy hour remote last night, it was great to catch up with your travel to California as well as your Christmas adventures with the grandchildren. It’s amazing how fast an hour and a half can disappear, we watched “ELF” last evening which has became a yearly tradition and because to was a chilly day Miss Laurie prepared her taco soup for dinner and we had some homemade shortbread cookies while watching the movie.

A shout out to Matt & Sarah for the movie recommendation of “Roofman”, it’s not often that Miss Laurie and I both think a movie is well done and to be based on a true story was an addition bonus. We also just finished watching “Dune part 1 & 2” which we both enjoyed as we had listened to the 21 hour audio book on our trek south. I always find it amazing how they do the adaptation to film and these movies were no acceptation but the door was obviously left open “Dune part3”.

Much of our television entertainment through the fall has been our re-watching of all eight seasons of game of thrones as well as all of Yellowstone series. Our beach lunch today was an apple fritter from the bakery we found and yes it was as delicious as it looked.

Miss Laurie has made a trip along the beach scouring it for fresh shells, the breeze had changed direction and is now a blow your hat off wind. At least it is warm blowing from the South. The tide is coming in and there are whitecaps as it breaks onto the sand bars and is providing a constant roar. There is actually someone in the surf as the beach is almost empty again today.

Day 3004