On The Road Again

Here's the truth. And it kind of snuck up on me.

I Love RVing!

Don't get me wrong. I pretty much figured I would enjoy it, but there was a question mark in my mind as to whether I would like it more or less than simple car and motel travel.

When we first started looking at RVs, it was an interesting process. At one point I realized Larry and I were looking at very different things. He looked at the construction and the floor layout (meaning the amenities that were offered.) Some of the interior things that tripped his trigger were things like a desk and a fireplace, or where the TV was located. As for me, I looked at Storage. I wanted to know where clothes would go. Pots, pans, cooking utensils, FOOD?? Where did it go? And I also cared where the TV was located. It sounds silly, but go look at a few RVs. It may be over the driver's seat, or in a wall separating the living area from the kitchen area. Some take up good usable storage space. We wanted to maximize all the usable space and make things convenient for everyone.

Once we got a handle on what each other was looking for, the selection process became a little easier. And the more we looked the more we were able to fine tune what was important to us. But, through it all, in the back of my mind, I would wonder if the convenience of an RV would outweigh the convenience of a hotel. (In a hotel, they clean up after you, wash your towels, vacuum your floor, clean the bathroom....and provide breakfast.) In an RV, I was pretty sure, most of that would fall on my capable, (but willing??) fingers.

I was right. I sweep the floor, daily. We are pretty independent, so we each fix our own breakfast, but I still clean it up. I wipe down the shower, and make the bed. But....and here is the epiphany... I don't care! I love the RV.

In a hotel, the room is always either too cold, or stuffy. Larry and I never agree on the temperature. I've yet to figure out why, in a hotel, he likes the room at 58 and at home, the thermostat is set at 68. I just know I have to pack my thermals, heavy socks, and winter robe when we travel in August. In a hotel, you get up, hit the shower, and hustle downstairs to get a luke-warm, prepackaged, but 'free' breakfast. We stay at nice hotels, and one of our favorites, has several pillows of various densities. With all that selection, I've yet to find one that feels right. And no matter how nice they make the rooms, it just isn't homey. I never feel quite settled.

In the RV, the temperature is set and stays fairly stable. The bed is VERY comfortable, and the pillows are ours. I often sleep better in the RV than I do at home. And then there is morning. Larry is up before the sun.

He fixes his coffee and settles in to watch whatever is on at that hour. I get up considerably later, when the sun is up and television has resumed it's regularly scheduled programming. (Meaning Good Morning America is on.) He gets his cereal, I work out or walk, and fix my tea. Eventually, we decide its time to plan the day. Life is so relaxing.

But one of my favorite parts is simple. In a hotel, every day you pack and unpack. In an RV you only do that on the first and last day of the trip.

On week 3 of our trip we were getting ready to move on to the next stop and all I could think of, as I tucked the coffee maker back into the cupboard and made sure there were no potentially flying objects sitting on the counter, was I LOVE THIS! This is so much nicer than living out of a hotel.

So we packed up to leave the Orlando/Sanford area and go to Savannah. We had seen old friends, had dinner with neighbors from PA that had moved to Florida, spent time with the grandkids. Now it was time for the next leg, where we would hook up with another friend. I felt like Willie Nelson singing "On the Road Again".

And I was loving it.

Day 4--Hit the Ball and Drag George

Frog and Toad getting ready to leave home. (But the brake lights are on and they shouldn't be!)

My father loved to play golf and he always had some good golf jokes to tell.  Good golf jokes allude to the Never Say Die spirit of the guy playing golf. Golfers will play through almost any situation.

This is one of my favorite of his golf jokes.

A man went out to play golf with his buddy, George. He was gone all day and got home rather late. His wife asked him how the day had gone.
“Oh, it was terrible.” The man said. The morning was gorgeous. The sky was blue. The temperature was perfect. The first 3 holes went fine. But just as we were about to tee up to the 4^th hole, George grabbed his chest and keeled over!”

“Oh no,” cried the man’s wife. 

“I know,” said the man. “The whole rest of the day was ‘hit the ball and drag George’.

OK. I know. You are out there screaming OMG, That’s AWFUL!!!  and yelling at me and telling me that was the worst  joke you've ever heard. But you're laughing too, so don’t blame me completely.

As poor taste as that joke is, I can never get away from that punch line. Often it is a metaphor for life. When things go wrong you just have to keep on plugging. (Hopefully, with a little more sensitivity.)

It’s been kind of a metaphor for this trip too. We got the Honda to Iowa, but most days it was just “hit the ball and drag George.”  First trip will be to the hardware store where we can buy a fuse puller. It was the one thing the most prepared man I know didn’t have.

We are here. We are happy! And the Toad’s new name will probably be George.

Frog and Toad in Iowa! We made it.

PS: The road was clear as we drove down it. 

That's how I like it!

RV Hunting

This past weekend Larry and I went to the Pittsburgh RV show. I've discovered even after 40 years of marriage, you can learn a lot about someone when retirement nears. Talk to anyone who has experienced the life changes that come with retirement and they will have lots of tales to share with you!

We are no different. I'm not worried about retirement. One thing I think makes the transition easier is if you both make a big change. As for us, we plan on moving to North Carolina which means that we will both be developing new daily routines and making new friends. HE won't be 'invading' MY territory, which seems to happen a lot. In fact, when my brother-in-law retired, my sister, who had been a housewife most of their married life made a conscious decision to retire as well. For her, that meant throwing out the To-Do list that said, "if it's Monday, it must be laundry day". Instead, each day was a new day to plan out and some days, they planned together. Other days they did their own thing. It was a smart plan.

North Carolina appeals to us because of the mountains, the seasons, but AND the short winter! Besides buying a mountain home, Larry also would like to buy a large 'home-away-from-home' style RV. I think I would like it as well. I've always imagined this as a possibility because Larry's favorite form of travel is driving.

The RV show was interesting, but we've found we don't need to go for long. We have narrowed our interests enough that we quickly identify the pros and cons of each one we look at. He looks at the bed size, the placement of the TV, the couch, the kitchen table, the construction, the driveability, and the size of the shower. I look at the kitchen, the storage, the size of the bathroom, the floor space, and the convenience or usability of the space.

I can tell Larry is really ready for retirement. He talks about it all the time. He spends most of his spare time searching on-line for the perfect house or the best RV layout. However, it seems that the closer to retirement he gets, the bigger the RVs that we are looking at. The houses in North Carolina that he eyes on the internet, seem to be getting bigger too. As for the RV, as long as it has the specifications that I want (workable kitchen, decent storage, bathroom big enough to shut the door when I'm in there) I don't care how big it is. I will learn how to drive it, but he will do most of the driving. I'm going to have to rein him in when it comes to the house! After all, even after he retires I'm pretty sure I know WHO will be cleaning it.

All this talk about retirement means it must be just around the corner, right? Not exactly. He still has 3 years to go. Could be the hardest part about retirement just may be waiting for it to arrive.