Season 3 Part 9: Head East Old Man!

Season 3 Part 8 of the Travels With Randy Podcast is here!

Head East Old Man!

Listen - a man who wants to circle the entire country can't stay in one place forever, right?

So it's been a fun 10 days or so of home-basing in Quartzsite, AZ during the week and then heading on over to Phoenix for some baseball on the weekends for Randy.  He watched several more Angel games and managed to get out and about, visiting some of the fascinating old mining towns-turned-t-shirt-souvenir-shop towns.  

This round he focused on the old mining town of Globe, AZ and its' sister city Paris, AZ.  No gold was found, however.

Now, it's time to pack up and wave goodbye to Quartzsite for the 'season' - Randy is headed east.  He'll be spending some time in New Mexico finishing up his original goal all those podcasts ago of visiting every US National Park - the Big 63.   He'll knock three of the four remaining ones off his list - White Sands, NM, Big Bend, TX, and Carlsbad Caverns, NM.  

He'll then drive down to the Texas border and basically follow it all the way across Texas and hit Louisiana as he heads towards New Orleans.

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Season 3 Part 8 of the Travels With Randy Podcast is here!

Spring Training Is Upon Us

Baseball.  Spring training.  California Angels Spring Training in Phoenix.  Randy is in Heaven.

That's right gang - spring training is finally here.  As you know, Randy has several goals for this year of travelling:   see National Parks, see his Angels play in as many different stadiums as he can, and visit every corner of the USA in Snuffy.   To say Randy is excited about spring training is a bit of an understatement.

He did manage to visit Oatman, AZ earlier this week.  Oatman is one of the many old towns littered across Route 66 that used to be a gold mining town but now sells mostly t-shirts.  He put tons of pics of it up on our Facebook page.

Mostly, though, the week was filled with baseball.  Randy drove over from his home base of Quartzsite, AZ to Phoenix for several days to watch his Angels play some spring ball.  Once again, he took tons of pics - of actual humans this time - that he has uploaded to Facebook.  You can just hear the excitement and joy in his voice as he describes the games.

The fellas also talk about several random topics like the border, credit cards and their insane rates, hotel points programs, and even a common scam to avoid.  Randy then lays out th eplan for the next few weeks of travel. 

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Have a great idea for the guys?  Want to sponsor us?  Want to be a guest?  Email bubba@travelswithrandypodcast.com 

Season 3 Part 7 of the Travels With Randy Podcast is here!

Viva Las Vegas!

Worlds collide this week as Randy AND Bubba visit Las Vegas at the same time.

Before the visit, Randy spent more time at his Arizona based home, Quartzsite and had a lovely date with Snuffy for the Super Bowl.  He also TRIED to visit a few Arizona landmarks but actually got snowed out. As a consolation he got to see the towns of Why, AZ and Ajo, AZ and a LOT of roadside memorials for fallen....somebody's.

After that, he headed to Vegas, where Bubba had flown to hang out with his son Connor for several days.   Bubba had a fantastic time at the Sphere, where he and Connor watched the Postcard From Earth film and were just blown away.  The next day Connor took him to his workplace where he met most of his co-workers and his boss and even got to visit their super cool warehouse that has been modernized with a robotic inventory system. It was stunning.  

Then Randy pulled up with Snuffy and they headed to a fantastic dinner at Cleavers along with Connors roommate Ryan and ate some incredible food.

The next morning, Randy, Bubba, Connor, and one of Connors work associates went golfing at Bears Best Golf Course in Vegas, which is a beautiful course surrounded by 5 million dollar homes and views of all the surrounding bluffs.  Randy and Bubba teamed up against Connor and Ryan and held firm until the back nine lol.   Later that day Bubba and Connor went to a Desert Dogs lacrosse game while Randy and Connors roommate Ryan headed to the casino.  They all met up at the casino later and played some craps and blackjack.

Saturday morning, everyone piled in Snuffy and headed to the Hoover Dam, which is a wonder of the engineering world.  After that Randy headed out to Buckeye, AZ to get ready for spring training and Bubba flew back home.

It was a fantastic trip and we'll get lots of pics up on Facebook for you

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Have a great idea for the guys?  Want to sponsor us?  Want to be a guest?  Email bubba@travelswithrandypodcast.com 

Season 3 Part 6 of the Travels With Randy Podcast is here!

Staying Put For A Week And Justice For Snuffy

Part 6 of Randy's yearlong adventure finds him still parked in the desert at Quartzsite, AZ

Finally, it was a pretty calm week for Randy - until it wasn't.

First, the rain came.  A massive storm hit southern Cali and made its' way across Arizona, narrowly missing Randy and his campsite.  Then, he gets a phone call....

....the police have found the man who stole Snuffy, Randy's van!  The man was arrested and had Snuffy's car key with him.   This fella is a career criminal who even led police on a high-speed chase on one occasion.  The man is now in jail and there's a SMALL chance that the police can locate the computer equipment, camera equipment, iphone, ipad, etc etc.  The beauty of modern tech is that Randy was able to disable just about everything so none of his devices could be hacked into and be usable by anyone else.    We'll keep you posted as this progresses.

Randy visits Lake Havasu City, where they have transported and reinstalled the actual London Bridge, and it's....slightly underwhelming.   Of course, it's surrounded by a beautiful town that is invaded by Canada's version of the Snowbirds every winter.   Cool, eh?

Randy and Bubba then Old Man Ramble about the economy, job reports, world conflicts, the effect of the media on us, and much more. 

They end with a discussion about health and weight loss - nutrition, IF, ice baths, 'use it or lose it' health at their age, etc.  

Come join the conversation on Facebook!

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Have a great idea for the guys?  Want to sponsor us?  Want to be a guest?  Email bubba@travelswithrandypodcast.com 

Enjoy!

Season 3 Part 5 of the Travels With Randy Podcast is here!

Season 3 Part 5:  Quartzsite Arizona - What A Gem!

Part 5 of Randy's yearlong adventure finds him staying in the desert for weeks.

Randy has put his life back together with ease after the theft and then recovery of his van (You didn't know that his van was stolen?  Go listen to Part 4!) - he's got a brand new camera and bag, a brand new laptop, brand new clothes, and the same positive attitude he's always had.

Since they last spoke, Randy travelled down to the California / Mexico border and attempted to visit the most southwestern point of the US, but recent heavy rains almost washed out the road and he could only get to a few miles away.   Hey, we're counting it!

Randy then drove across the southern US / Mexico border, avoiding illegals AND immigration police as he went, and landed in Yuma, AZ.   There, they botched some permitting he needed to camp at Quartzsite, AZ but he made it up there anyway and will be staying with hundreds and hundreds of other campers there for a few weeks.

The fellas have a good long general discussion about van life at Quartzsite and how some of the residents around his spot were living their van lives.

Come join the conversation on Facebook!

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Have a great idea for the guys?  Want to sponsor us?  Want to be a guest?  Email bubba@travelswithrandypodcast.com 

Enjoy!

Season 3 Part 4 of the Travels With Randy Podcast is here!

*****A Travels With Randy Emergency Special Report*****

Something happened this week that threatened Randy's entire year-long trip around the USA. We felt that was important enough for us to break our normal schedule and record a special report edition of the show.

On Sunday, Bubba and Mrs. Bubba were headed downtown to see the excellent comedian Nate Bargatze perform.  Mrs. Bubba, being from Wisconsin, was also trying her best to avoid ANY information about the Packers vs Cowboys game which was being played at the same time so she could watch it unspoiled after the concert. 

Everything was going according to plan when a text came in from Randy that said:

"Call me ASAP"

This was highly unusual and Bubba knew something was wrong, so he called Randy and was floored by what he was told....

This week we are also joined by Randy's OTHER friend Darren to help explain what happened.

Enjoy?

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Have a great idea for the guys?  Want to sponsor us?  Want to be a guest?  Email bubba@travelswithrandypodcast.com 

Enjoy!

Season 3 Part 3 of the Travels With Randy Podcast is here!

Working Full Time Remotely While Living In A Van

Part 3 of Randy's yearlong adventure finds him staying put for a week or two and going back to work remotely full time.

After the fun of Xmas and New Years, Randy has gotten back to work full time - but that doesn't mean the van life stops!  Randy talks about the differences between vacationing in the van and working in the van remotely full time.   From his stunning view in Temecula, CA, Randy discusses his daily work schedule - up super early, coffee and breakfast in the van, crawling 4 feet to his office, firing up the Starlink, and getting to work.  He changes his work desk several times throughout the day, mostly based on where the sun is at in the sky.  He eats meals mostly in the van but will still venture out to a restaurant often for a scenery change. One day, he will actually learn to cook food in the van - most of his meals are microwaved something-or-other.

From Temecula, Randy will be venturing into Joshua Tree National Park, then back to the coast again for more stationary work as he impatiently waits for baseball Spring Training and Arizona.

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Have a great idea for the guys?  Want to sponsor us?  Want to be a guest?  Email bubba@travelswithrandypodcast.com 

Enjoy!

Season 3 Part 2 of the Travels With Randy Podcast is here!

The Oregon And California Coast And The Stars At Death Valley

Part 2 of Randy's yearlong adventure finds him headed south on 101 from Washington into Oregon and then into California.

The weather was very poor in Oregon and so Randy didn't see many opportunities to stop and take scenic pics.  He'll try the Oregon coast again some other time.  California, though, was a completely different matter.   Randy travelled down the entire Cali coastline over several days, marveling at the beauty of the northern Cali Redwoods and the creepy Humboldt County winding roads and scenery (see Murder Mountain on Netflix ) .  He then visited Bubba and Mrs. Bubba's favorite places, Mendicino and Little River.   He continued to follow the coastline down past San Francisco and San Jose and Monterey to the Lompoc area and Vandenberg Space Force Base.  Randy then turned Snuffy east and drove across the state to Death Valley, where he experienced the most incredible night sky he's ever seen.  Finally, Snuffy came to rest near Camp Pendleton, where Randy will stay and work for a while until it's time to head to Spring Training!

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Have a great idea for the guys?  Want to sponsor us?  Want to be a guest?  Email bubba@travelswithrandypodcast.com 

Enjoy!

Season 3 Part 1 of the Travels With Randy Podcast is here!

The Drive Around The USA In A Van For A Year Begins

Whelp, the time has come for Randy to put his foot where his mouth is and hit the gas on Snuffy and hit the road - for a full year!  Christmas Day was as good of a time as any for Randy to start this epic trip, and so he did.  

Part 1 covers his time in northwestern Washington and the first several days of the trip.  He started in Sedro-Woolley, took a ferry over to Olympic National Park, and slowly made his way around it.  First stop was the furthest point northwest the USA reaches, which is Cape Flattery, WA.  After a good hike he backtracked to Port Angeles for the night, then set out around the coastline to places like Forks and Cape Alava.  He stuck to Hwy 101 and Hwy 105 to Raymond, where he spent the night at a Harvest Host spot (brewery of course!) and then left for Oregon, which will be Part 2.

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Enjoy!

Season 2 Ep 9 of the Travels With Randy Podcast is here!

Two Weeks Until 365 Days On The Road

It's getting close!  On Dec 26th Randy hops in his van and will spend a year on the road visiting literally every corner of the United States!

Bubba has had a very eventful few weeks in his e-commerce business, and not the good kind.  He spends a few minutes explaining the latest wackadoo event that has thrown his business off course during the most critical time of the year.

After that, the fellas talk travel!   Randy has decided to alter his plans slightly and will now drive completely around the perimeter of the US - over 10,000 miles - to see the "corners" of our great country.  Don't worry - he'll still be visiting a ton of National Parks AND Angels baseball games in various stadiums across the fruited plain.  

He has posted a detailed map of his upcoming trip on our Facebook page, and that post has gone viral.  Looks like a LOT of folks want to travel along with him.

Come join the conversation on Facebook!

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Have a great idea for the guys?  Want to sponsor us?  Want to be a guest?  Email bubba@travelswithrandypodcast.com 

Enjoy!