Happy New Year?

It’s been a long time since I’ve written a blog post. That’s because we haven’t traveled much. The last two and a half years we devoted ourselves to caring for our parents. My mother and father and Bill’s mom. It was more than a full-time job. Bill is retired and I had to stop working. Being far from home became a non-option. 

Back Row: Diane Ducey Murphy, Mike "Jerry" Ducey
Front Row: Cecille Ducey, Marguerite Murphy, Bill Murphy 

We are not the first to sacrifice everything to the care of their aging parents and we won’t be the last. The only thing that makes our story unique is the fact that it is ours. This is not about self-pity. It's just what it is. It is also, I hope, an homage to all who walked this path before us and those who will follow in our footsteps. Because they are not alone and their struggle is not understood well enough. The truth is, Bill and I feel lucky to have been able to be there for our parents, but it was not an easy thing. It never is. 

We managed every aspect of their lives. We hired, fired, and scheduled the aides and paid them, we paid the household bills, we took them to all their doctors appointments, we knew the name of and reason for every drug they took by heart, we knew every symptom they exhibited, we became experts on their insurance coverage, we spent uncountable hours in emergency rooms, hospital rooms, and nursing home rooms, and as many hours on the phone fighting tooth and nail to get them the care they deserved, but would never get without our intervention. 

Even when we managed to spend a few days upstate in the RV at our favorite campground in Saugerties, NY, we were on 24-hour call to handle things. From the smallest issue to the most dire. 

It was relentless and often overwhelming, but we wouldn’t have had it any other way. They were our parents. That’s what love is. As hard as it was, neither of us could have done anything else. Additionally, we were lucky enough to be able to keep all three at home in the last years if their lives. A true blessing. 

I’ll spare you the details of two and half years worth of ailments and close calls, and give you the Reader’s Digest version of the last year. 

My Dad was diagnosed with terminal leukemia in mid October of 2017. He passed on January 16, 2018 - on Bill’s mom’s birthday. He was 85. My mom was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer in early August of 2018. She passed on September 10, 2018. She was 82. On October 1st, my Dad’s birthday, my first without him, Bill’s mom had a bad fall breaking her femur at the knee. She was 99 years old. She passed on October 5, 2018. To say it was a difficult year is an understatement, but we were holding our own. Until the new year rolled around and it all finally hit me. 

At the stroke of midnight, January 1, 2019, Bill and I began the first year of our lives without our parents. I didn’t cry much when my Dad died, or when my Mom died eight months later, or when Bill’s mom died four weeks after that. I think because I was numb. 

We both held it together quite well through my Dad’s fist birthday without him, my Mom’s first birthday without her, Bill’s first birthday without his mom, and our first Thanksgiving and Christmas without all three. But on New Year’s Eve night, when the hour struck midnight, I cried a year’s worth of tears. 

It made no sense. I couldn’t wait for the year to end. Prior to New Year's Eve, I was all “Good riddance 2018!” and “Hello 2019!”  I didn't know it until the moment arrived, but turns out I couldn’t have been more wrong. Saying goodbye to the worst year of my life was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Because it also meant saying goodbye to the last year our parents lived. And it broke my heart into a million pieces. 

-Diane 

Mechanic Of My Dreams

Only one man will ever touch that which is most special and precious. His name is Mike (https://www.facebook.com/EMowerAndSon/). 

He never fails to get the job done. He’s like a man possessed. There’s nothing half-assed about him. He works it until it's right. Always. He has the magic touch. Nobody does it better. For 3 1/2 years now he’s been the RV mechanic of our dreams, and today he proved himself the best yet again.

On our last trip we hit a tree and damaged our front steps and skirt panel.
(see my blog post "You Never Forget Your First" https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?blogID=8572702142685285626#editor/target=post;postID=2715598037103485777;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=1;src=postname).

We thought we would have to replace both. Nope. Instead of having to replace them, he straightened both and welded the steps back together. Aside from a minor war wound on the panel and some caulking, we’re good to go.

The man is a miracle worker. Truly. And he’s one of nicest guys you’ll ever meet. In addition, he’s become a good friend. 

His shop is in Saugerties, NY just minutes from where we store the RV and our favorite campground. He even makes “house” calls. What a lucky day it was when we found him.

So, if you're in the area and need a repair, look him up. I guarantee, you won't be disappointed.

-Diane 

You Never Forget Your First

So, it finally happened. Last Sunday Bill and I finally lost our virginity. They say it’s a rite of passage and was bound to happen eventually. We’d come close a few times, but somehow always managed to avoid it. No matter what others tell you about their own first time, nothing prepares you for the emotion of that moment. Or how it changes you forever.

After almost an hour of trying to back the RV into a very difficult spot, we hit a tree. Shaved the bark right off that sucker. The front door steps were crushed and probably need to be replaced, as well as the now crumpled skirt panel to the left of the steps.

Perpertrator

Then, in our haste to maneuver the RV away from the tree, we failed to see the large rocky outcrop just in front of it and nearly toppled her. Good times. 

Luckily, the damage was either superficial or easily fixed and covered by insurance. We had the back door steps, so we could get in and out of the thing. None of the damage effected the RV’s functionality, so we were able to live in it for the week and didn’t have to cancel our plans. Phew! 

Victim

Honestly, it was like we’d never done this before, and I think I know why. We’d become over confident. The last half dozen times we’d done this everything went so smoothly. Too smoothly. We got too cocky. 

And the last thing you ever want to do, when towing a 38 foot, 13k pound fifth wheel, is to get too cocky. Painful lesson learned. 

On a side note, two days later a series of macrobursts hit the area. We’d gone upstate for a little R&R, and it was one adventure after another. We spent three hours under a tornado watch. In the Catskills. That never, I repeat never, happens in that area. Crazy stuff. 

The campground owner made all the guests evacuate their campers and shelter in the rec hall. We got torrential rains, winds of 70+ mph and large hail. The road to the interstate was closed due downed trees and power lines, and the electricity was out everywhere. 

But just south of us got the worst of it. Poughkeepsie, New Paltz, Kingston, and especially Newburgh, got hit hard. There were reports of at least three tornadoes touching down. Newburgh got it the worst, though, resulting in three deaths. 

We had to live a day on battery power only. That means no TV, fireplace, microwave, etc. But who cares. Surprisingly, there was no damage to the truck or RV and we’re okay, so...

What a wild ride. 

And in spite of it all, it turned out to be a lovely week.

-Diane

Back In Baby's Arms

Today was the start of our first RV trip in far too long. Due to necessity, its a short trip into the restorative woods of the Catskills, but after so much time and all that's happened in that time, it feels miraculous. There were times we thought it might never happen. Many things were the cause of our delay. They were unavoidable things, but now that we're back at it, it's hard to image being away for so long.

It all started last March (2016). We were finishing up a month long trip to New Orleans and then Pensacola Beach. Two days before we were scheduled to head home we got an early morning call that my Mom was sick and in the hospital. We packed up, unhooked, and hitched-up in record time, and made a mad dash for the nearest campground to Staten Island, NY - where I grew up and where my parents still live. A marathon drive and 48 hours later we landed at Liberty State Park Campground in Jersey City, NJ. 

Seriously, it's criminal that they are allowed to call that a campground. Hands down its the worst RV Park in the world. It was nothing more than a poorly maintained parking lot with hookups, in a dangerous neighborhood, in the middle of a construction zone, surrounded by high-rises. But it served its purpose being only a 20 minute drive to my parents. 

We stayed there two days, visited Mom, assessed the situation, returned the RV to her Upstate storage spot, and then returned to our home in Long Island. And the next 14 months were a non-stop cluster-puck, with one crises after another with seemingly no end in sight. 

Due to a series of UTI infections complicated by several C-diff infections, Mom was in and out of hospitals and nursing homes repeatedly between March 2016 and September 2016. All the while, my father's and my mother-in-law's health were also declining. As a result, Bill and I became the full-time managers of their health and the lives of all three, and remain so. 

After extensive testing, we learned Mom had a golf-ball sized, badly infected kidney stone. She had surgery to remove it on January 3, 2017. By this time we had aides in place for my parents. The same level of care we'd had in place for my mother-in-law for the past year. And by the the end of January 2017 things seemed to be calming down and were under control enough for us to book our planned March trip to Utah. 

And then, in a freak accident, on January 31st, I injured both my ankles. I know, right? You're asking yourself, "Both ankles? "How the hell did she do that? Me too! This is how...

My father had fallen in front of his house. He lay helpless in the street. As I rushed down the front steps of his house to help him, I slipped and fell. I landed very badly. I did not fall forward, as you would expect. Somehow, instead, I came crashing down feet-first, dislocating and breaking both the tibia and fibula in my left my ankle, and chipping the bone in and badly spraining my right ankle. 

Fortunately, the 84 year-old popped up unharmed like one of those blow-up punching clowns from my youth. The 54 year-old, not so much. I was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital. I had surgery the next afternoon on my left ankle and spent 4 days in the hospital, and the next five months in rehab. 

And I'm still not fully recovered. As we speak, I can't walk without a cane and stairs are challenging, and I wonder if I'll ever be right again. But, I will not let this stop me from living my life to the fullest. 

And so I find myself finally, happily, in the bucolic woods of Upstate New York. Not only are we finally back where we belong, in the place that makes us happiest, but I'm writing again. As is apparent by this long past due blog post. They say home is where the heart is. Well, our hearts are transient. They live within the walls of this "vehicle" - as my Mom calls it. And we are delighted to let go and allow it to take us where ever it will...

-Diane 

Long Time No Blog

How do I explain why I've been missing in action for so long, when the events that kept me away have little to do with the reason for this blog - RVing?

Turns out, once I sat down to write this, it was easier than I thought. The truth is, everything has to do with our RVing, or our desire to be RVing, or the things that prevent us from RVing. That's because we are always dreaming about it and planning it. But you know what they say, "We plan. God laughs."

And so went this last year. We planned and God laughed. Over and over.

My mother got sick last March. We had to cut our last trip short and rush home to care for her. I'll spare you the gory details. Suffice it to say, every time we thought she was getting better, she wasn't. It became all consuming leaving little time or energy for anything else. She was in and out of hospitals and nursing homes with seemingly no solution and no good end in site. Until there was. Until that one doctor finally listened. Until someone who had the power to help did.

She had surgery in early January 2017 and is getting stronger every day. But just as she was finding her way back to her old self, allowing us to feel it was safe to consider hitting the road, some dumbass (that'd be me) slipped on the steps breaking her left ankle and spraining her right one. The broken ankle required surgery. That was seven weeks ago. I'm one week into my rehab and won't be up and walking for another month at least.

But we are still dreaming and planning. Seeing no need to take any chances, we crossed our fingers and toes, knocked on wood, lit a candle to St. Jude and St. Christopher, and moved our timeline up yet again. And when we do finally head out on our next adventure, of course, we will take you along for the ride. Assuming you're still out there. And if you are, my sincerest thanks for sticking around.

-Diane

Should I Stay Or Should I Go

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog. The last two and half months have been a blur of activity, and there just wasn’t any time. A few days before we were due to return home from our last trip we got a call that my Mom was sick. We packed up, broke down in record time, and made a mad two-day dash back to NY. It feels like I’m just now coming up for air. 

Nana (Bill's Mom)

Bill’s Mom is 97. My Dad is 83 and Mom is 80. All have health problems. Bill’s Mom lives at home, but has aides that take beautiful care of her. Until a few months ago, my parents were mostly still independent. Dad has mobility issues, but he can get around on his own. Mom, in spite of her apparent memory issues, had few limitations. All that has changed. After ten days in the hospital and seven weeks in a nursing home, she came home two weeks ago. She is making slow progress, but needs assistance with everything. As a result, we have 12 hours per day of aide care in place. I don’t expect her to make a full recovery and know that their lives as they knew it is over. That means mine, as I knew it, is also. 

We haven’t been doing this long, but the few times we’ve hit the road for any considerable length of time, the thought that something like this could happen was always in the back of our minds. Now it’s more than just a fear. It’s a reality. So what now? How do we balance our desire to travel with the needs of our aging parents? More importantly, how do we do it without feeling guilty? 

Maybe we don’t. Maybe we just don’t go. Maybe we just can’t. Then again, maybe we have to anyhow. Maybe it would be a mistake to put our dreams on hold. After all, life is so short. But that takes me back to how. How do we find a way to do both? Be there for our parents and fulfill our RV dreams. 

Mom and Dad

My parents would be the first to say, “Go!” When Mom got sick they insisted that we not come home early. But really, there was no chance that was going to happen. There was no way we could have stayed and enjoyed ourselves. So, now that things are the way they are, how do we go in the future and enjoy ourselves? 

We’re thinking of Southern Utah next May. Five weeks away from home. If we go, and something happens, will we be able to forgive ourselves? But, if we don’t go, will we be able to forgive ourselves? Round and round it goes...

-Diane

Food Karma

We’d visited the historical sights. We’d admired the architecture. We’d seen the devastation in the ninth ward. We toured the unique graveyards. We’d explored the narrow and charming streets of the French Quarter. We’d listened to Jazz on a steamboat, in the clubs and on the street – even lucked upon a Jazz wedding as it passed by. We drank Dark N’ Stormies, Hurricanes and fell in love with Abita Amber, the local brew. New Orleans has so much to offer and we took it all in with relish.

However, if we had to choose a favorite thing, which is pretty much like choosing a favorite child, it would be the food. No matter how inexpensive or upscale, we never had a bad meal. We loved it all. And me, I loved it just a wee bit more. You see, there is this thing that happens to me with freakish regularity. I never get my meal as I order it. Not ever. No matter how simple or basic, it comes out of the kitchen with something amiss. Even when ordered from the menu without changes. Ask Bill. He’ll tell you. It’s simply bizarre. I think it might be some bad karma from a past life coming back to bite me. But in New Orleans my food curse was finally broken.

 The Ruby Slipper’s eggs came with a buttermilk biscuit the size of my head, stone ground grits and fried green tomatoes. It was the south on plate. Joey K’s red rice and beans was damned close to the homemade version a long ago boyfriend, Adam from Mobile, once made me – his Momma’s recipe. The Joint’s BBQ brisket melted in my mouth. NOLA Po’ Boys’ crawfish po’ boy was heaven on a cloud of bread. Court of the Two Sisters’ filet mignon was cooked to perfection and possibly the best I’ve ever had. The Mississippi River Bottom’s fried catfish platter was light and crisp and a delight on the tongue. And every delectable morsel came to the table just the way I asked for it. For me, that was priceless and elevated my experience from satisfying and enjoyable to rapturous pleasure.

It remains to be seen if this curse is truly broken, if this trend will continue beyond the Big Easy, but either way, the Crescent City will always hold a special place in my culinary heart.

-Diane

Uneasy Start in The Big Easy

We made it to New Orleans from the Catskills Mountains in just over two days. We arrived so early on the third day that after setting up we still had the whole day in front of us.

We stayed at the French Quarter RV Park located, as its name indicates, just blocks from the border of the French Quarter off Basin Street. The park itself is quite nice. Securely enclosed inside four walls, it is quaintly decorated and the staff is friendly and helpful providing concierge services including calling a cab, making diner reservations or booking a city tour. But as we were to find out, the surrounding area can be a bit iffy.

Using the map provide by the staff, we decided to take a stroll into the Quarter to see what we could see and get a bite to eat. However, due to deficiencies in the map and our map reading skills, we took a wrong turn and found ourselves in a very unsavory neighborhood. We quickly became lost and by the time we found our way back to the RV park we were a little shaken up.

So we decide to cab it instead. We dined on oysters and BBQ shrimp at Deanie's Seafood then wondered into Jackson Square. Here we enjoyed the Jazz stylings of Satchmo incarnate and, on a whim, jumped on the Natchez Steamboat and took an evening cruise down the mighty Mississippi. Not too shabby for our first day and, aside from an uneasy start, a foreshadowing of the delightful days to come.

-Diane

The Truck Stops Here

We were headed south to New Orleans. Our goal was to be there in three days. So on this - only our second long-term trip - for the first time, we opted to stay overnight at truck stops. It's an inexpensive and convenient time saver. You just park, eat, shower, sleep and go.

The first leg of our journey was a 600 mile, ten hour drive from Saugerties, NY to Wytheville, VA. We stayed at Love's Travel Stop. We arrived just as the last sliver of sunlight was disappearing in the sky. This location is large and busy with 140 parking spaces. We felt intimated and a bit out of our element. The lot was not full to capacity and we parked in a pull-thru with empty spaces on both sides. We hoped it would stay that way, but before long we were tightly nestled between two idling semis. It was a bit noisy but the low hum of the engines did not disturb our sleep. The only food options were Subway or Chester's Chicken. We went with the chicken. We put off showering until morning. In the morning we decided to put it off until our next stop for expediency's sake and because we felt a bit uncomfortable.

Another 600 miles, ten hours, and a time change later we landed at a TA Travel Center in Meridian, MS with daylight to spare. We immediately preferred this truck stop to the last. The parking area was easier to navigate, there was a nice diner attached to the store, and the showers were on the second floor along with a game room. It was a more inviting atmosphere all around. We enjoyed a delicious and relaxed meal at the Country Pride restaurant, showered and settle in feeling refreshed and at ease. Again, we had a semi one either side, but slept just fine.

All of the truck/travel stops have food and showers. The showers are available to anyone for a fee, which vary by stop. The food options also vary and can be very limited. However, the TA/Petro stops are consistent with either a Country Pride or Iron Skillet restaurant providing a sit-down experience with a full menu. The TA showers were full bathrooms with plenty of room to change and a good-sized walk in shower. They were clean and secure and even included bar soap and fresh towels. At the top of the list of things I thought I'd never say, "I took a truck stop shower - and I liked it!" The fee was $13 per person and worth every penny.

We will be using truck stops again in the future. We have yet to stay at any Flying J's or Pilots and would like to do so. However, based on our limited experience, will seek out the TA/Petro Travel Centers when possible.

-Diane

Sorry - That Does Not Register

We were driving south on I-87 headed home after a very long day. Bill turns to me and says, “So it seems we drove an unregistered RV all over the country. I responded, “In fact, the only time we drove it legally was when we moved her from the dealer to your brother’s property.” Then we laughed and laughed…

Flashback to 24 hours earlier. We were headed upstate in the morning to move the RV to a more convenient storage spot with a plan to stay the weekend. I was getting the paperwork together. We needed proof of insurance and the registration. As I pulled the registration out of the file the expiration date jumped out at me. According to the familiar yellow paper I held in my hand, the registration expired on 12/31/14. But we had gotten the registration on 11/24/14. That meant that the registration had only been valid for 37 days! How could that be possible? Weren't all registrations valid for two years? Something was very wrong. We pride ourselves on researching, self-educating, and learning to do all things RV related, or anything, the right way. This was a major failure and an affront to our inner control freak.

The next morning Bill went to the D.M.V. to straighten it out. What we learned: in New York State, RV registrations are only good until the end of that calendar year, something no one ever explained; we had to get new plates; we needed to get the RV inspected, which we’d never done; and we had to request a copy of the title, which we’d never received. So, yes Virginia, a registration can be valid for only 37 freakin’ days.
 
The registration issue having delayed us, I spent that morning on the phone rescheduling everything for the following day. On a referral from the campground where the RV currently resided, I made an appointment for the inspection with a local truck repair shop. Bill returned home and we hit the road several hours later than we’d planned. Due to a few unexpected but necessary stops and heavy traffic, we were way off schedule. Then the day got even better. We had been traveling about three hours and were about an hour from our destination when Bill realized we had forgotten the fifth wheel's battery. We had removed it and stored it at home to save it from freezing during the winter.

Without the battery we would not be able to operate the leveling jacks. We had no choice but to turn around and return to Long Island to retrieve it. With battery in hand, we were back on the road by 7:00AM the next day. We made good time and arrived around 10:30AM. Then we had an issue with the leveling system controls which hindered hitching up. With the help of one of the campground's employee’s we temporarily resolved that and proceeded to the truck mechanic. This is where our luck turned around.

We met two of the nicest guys you could ever want to meet. Mike and Rich of E. Mower & Son are the greatest. They are super friendly and knowledgeable and serve up old fashioned customer service at its best. In addition to the inspection, they offered some terrific advice and welded our entry step, which had been broken since March of last year (but that's another story). On top of that, they tried to bill us for only the cost of the inspection. We were having none of that. If you’re in the Saugerties, NY area and you need RV repairs, we highly recommend this shop. They made our day. Finally, we transported the RV to her new abode and, with a sense of great relief and satisfaction, returned to our own.

This cautionary tale of the perils of being an RVing novice is brought to you by the now slightly less clueless in the hope that we might save others from a similar fate.

-Diane

I Dream of Jetty

Atlantis Space Shuttle

The last stop on our maiden voyage was Cape Canaveral. We were visiting Bill’s cousin Pete and his wife Andrea. Our home for the week was Jetty Park, which is situated inside Canaveral Port with a view of the ocean and the Canaveral Air Force Station.

Bill & Diane at NASA

Since we’d arrive in Florida the weather had been ideal. On our first full day in Cape Canaveral it was rainy and chilly. I had to wear long sleeves, ugh. We took the opportunity to visit the Kennedy Space Center. We spent the whole day there. I've been to numerous museums in my life, but I have never had as strong an emotional response as this. And the Shuttle Launch Simulator was out of this world! The whole place blew us away. We never wanted to leave.

The rest of the week we spent lazy days relaxing, visiting with Pete and Andrea and exploring this lovely beach town. In spite of the unseasonably cool weather, we even made it to the beach one day. We got to see our very first rocket launch. It was a SpaceX satellite launch, not NASA, but we didn’t care. It was still thrilling. We were starting to really get the hang of this RVing thing.

This was the only time our campsite did not have a sewer hook up. As luck would have it, our site was mere steps from the bathhouse and laundry. We used our toilet and shower, but conservatively. If we were awake and dressed, then we used the camp’s toilet. We did good. We had room to spare in the tanks by the time we left. This was also our first time using a dump station. Not the most pleasant thing we’ve ever done, but at least now we know how.

Bill, Pete and Andrea

That week, and the month as a whole, flew by. It was a wonderful trip and its end was bittersweet. We'd come a long way in every sense. The trip home was the reverse of the trip down minus the snow, cold, and glitches. We were seasoned RVers by now, breaking down and setting up in record time. Well, at least for us. The final leg of our trip ended as it began. As we neared home it started to snow. Within minutes you could hardly see more than a foot ahead. We had come full circle, and all we could do was laugh heartily at the irony and longingly look forward to our next adventure.

-Diane


Catch up on the complete story of our first trip:

1) Baptism by Ice: Digging Out
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2015/12/baptism-by-ice-digging-out.html

2) Baptism by Ice: Murphy’s Law
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/baptism-by-ice-murphys-law.html

3) Having Second Thaws
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/having-second-thaws.html

4) It Takes a Village
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/it-takes-village.html

5) Fifth Planet from the Sun
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/02/fifth-planet-from-sun.html

Fifth Planet from the Sun

We were in Florida only one week, but it felt like we’d always been there. This second week would be spent in Jupiter visiting Bill’s younger son and his family. The campground we chose was a KOA a short drive from their home. The entrance to the place was a long, snaking road. The campground was adjacent to an African Wild Safari Park. It was definitely off the beaten path. That combined with the neighboring sounds of wildlife gave it an air of isolation. We loved it.

It was a large park and we got lost on our first attempt to leave. We ran into a fellow camper walking along and asked if he knew the way to the exit. Apologetically, he informed us in his best broken English that he spoke only French and was unable to help us. We then saw a woman riding her bike; we asked her the same thing. She also spoke only French and was unable to help us. We loved that, too. It was like that everywhere we went. We met people from all over the country and all over the world, and everyone we met was friendly and helpful. That’s the RV culture and we were thrilled to be a part of it.

This was a busy time for us. We spent our days visiting with the family. Bill’s grandson stayed with us one night. The next day we took him to the Wild Life Safari, which we all enjoyed. One day we barbecued at the RV for the whole family. It was a fun time. In the early mornings, over coffee and tea, we would sit on the porch and listened as the lions roared, the chimps chattered, and the African birds chirped and tweeted in the distance It was magical, otherworldly, and easy to forget we were in Florida only a short distance from a main highway.

This is when when first imagined the possibility doing this full-time. We had been through hell getting here, but now all that seemed so far away. This is what is was all about and we were hooked.

-Diane

Catch up on the complete story of our first trip:

1) Baptism by Ice: Digging Out
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2015/12/baptism-by-ice-digging-out.html

2) Baptism by Ice: Murphy’s Law
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/baptism-by-ice-murphys-law.html

3) Having Second Thaws
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/having-second-thaws.html

4) It Takes a Village
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/it-takes-village.html

 

It Takes A Village

Hell had frozen over. We knew because we had driven through it. We had one problem after the other and came close to regretting our decision to become RVers. Now we could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

We were on our way to our first stop in Florida in The Villages. As we drove south everything got greener and the snow completely disappeared. We delighted in watching the car’s thermometer as the exterior temperature rose making note as it got warmer and warmer When we crossed the Florida border we cheered and high-fived. Once again, the trip took longer than expected, but we didn’t care. It was warm, dry and sunny. We were happy as a couple of proverbial clams.

Naturally, just as we got within a block of the campground, the GPS got us lost. We were getting used to it by now. Once we found the place Bill got his first chance to back-up the rig. He aced it. Even the campground manager was impressed. I cannot express strongly enough how happy we were to finally be in the warm weather. The heater still wasn’t working, but we didn’t need it and had three more weeks to fix it. However, we were exhausted.

 We were in The Villages to visit some friends and had to call and tell them we needed a day or two to rest up. We slept, lounged by the pool and shopped. The first thing we bought was patio furniture for the porch. We lived out there the rest of the trip. The porch as was also a hit with our fellow Rvers. They would stop by to see and admire it. We met some really nice people and got a lot of great tips and advice.

Here was where we first learned that leaving room to open the porch meant that our connection hoses and cables might not reach said connections. We bought extensions. We treated ourselves by dropping the laundry off at a wash-and-fold. We got the truck washed removing the last reminders of the snow and ice and mud and road salt.

Of the five days we were there, we only we only able to see Tom and Kathy twice. We spent a lovely day visiting at their house and then had dinner out once right before we left. By the time we arrived to in Dunedin, we were fully recovered, totally relaxed, and for the first time, truly able to enjoy the experience.

-Diane


Catch up on the complete story of our first trip:

1) Baptism by Ice: Digging Out
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2015/12/baptism-by-ice-digging-out.html

2) Baptism by Ice: Murphy’s Law
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/baptism-by-ice-murphys-law.html

3) Having Second Thaws
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/having-second-thaws.html

Having Second Thaws

After a week of dealing with ice, snow, freezing temperatures, and a number of problems with the RV, we were eager to be headed to our next stop in warm and toasty South Carolina.

We got a late start because of the weather. We arrived in the dark. After we got off the highway, the GPS wanted to send us down a very long, very narrow, under-construction, unlit road. There was no campground entrance in sight and we were unsure if there was anyplace to turn around if necessary. We rolled forward very slowly – keeping an eye out for places to turn around. At one point I got out of the truck and walked ahead. After a terrifying ½ mile we finally saw the entrance!

We found our site and set up only to find that heater wasn’t working. Ugh! We were delighted to be out of the snow, but it was still cold at only 38º. We ran the fireplace heater all night, slept in our thermals and used both blankets. Right around now we were starting to wonder what the hell we had gotten ourselves into.

During the night the temperature apparently dropped below 32 degrees because the water froze. It was a quick fix and our spirits rose with the temperature which broke 60 degrees that afternoon. We opened the back porch for the first time. We had no furniture, so we used two of the dining room chairs and sat out there for most of the day barbequing and eating our dinner off the top of a cooler. We stocked up on groceries, ran a few other errands, and unsuccessfully tried to resolve the heater problem. 

We’re not sure if the heater issue was ever resolved. The igniter seemed to be working OK. You could smell gas coming from the unit when it was trying to start, and we’ve started it up successfully a couple of times since then. Hopefully, it won’t rear it’s head again when we need it most. By the way, after the trip was over, a Camping World mechanic told us that the propane doesn’t vaporize sufficiently in very cold weather. I understand that things vaporize better at higher temperatures but seriously? Not working in cold weather would be a major drawback for a heating fuel. Can anyone confirm that this is remotely possible?

Anyway, things were finally looking up and would only get better. Florida here we come...

-Diane

Catch up on the complete story of our first trip:

1) Baptism by Ice: Digging Out
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2015/12/baptism-by-ice-digging-out.html

2) Baptism by Ice: Murphy’s Law
http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2016/01/baptism-by-ice-murphys-law.html

 

Baptism By Ice: Murphy's Law

After a horrendous couple of days digging out the RV and taking it down to New Paltz (see previous post, “Baptism By Ice: Digging Out” http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2015/12/baptism-by-ice-digging-out.html), we drove back to my brother-in-law’s house in Lexington. We were leaving the next day. It had been a challenging few days, but we were finally starting to feel excited. We ran a few errands in the early afternoon gathering together some last minute supplies. Then we heard that we would be getting another six inches of snow.

We were an hour away from New Paltz and, come morning, we would need to close up and winterize the house and drive down the mountain. Closing up the house and driving to New Paltz would take at least a couple of hours; so, with the coming snow, we decided it would be best to close the house then and spend the night in New Paltz. I made a few phone calls and found a motel a block from where the RV was parked. I made a reservation. We packed up, closed the house and headed there. By the time we arrived it was dark and the snowfall was near blizzard conditions. We checked into the motel, ordered a pizza delivered to our room – what a cool thing – and settled in for the night. Neither of us got much sleep. We were excited, like kids on Christmas Eve kind of excited; but, we were also worried about the weather and what we would find in the morning. 

We were up at 6:00 AM. We had a quick breakfast and we drove one block to the RV. For the second time in as many days, but not the last, Bill cleaned the new fallen snow off the roof. We hitched up and headed to our first stopover; Millersville, MD. The trip down was uneventful and we made good time, except for the fact that the GPS got us momentarily lost just blocks from the campground entrance. We’d been to this campsite once before so we figured it out fairly quickly and safely arrived with some daylight to spare.

Aside form the couple managing the campground – Brian and Sue - and a family in one of the cabins, we were the only guests. It was our first time hooking up and we were doing it in the ice and snow. It took hours. The 50AMP electric connection wouldn’t fit on the RV connector; it took forever to figure it out even with the help of the manager, Brian, and our dealer, Chuck. Once we got that done we found that the TV and fireplace weren’t working and half the outlets were dead. Bill was on the phone with Chuck a dozen times during all of this and in the coming days - Chuck was really great. Brian and Chuck insisted that it was a GFI problem but Bill told them that the GFI outlets were working. They couldn’t find the problem. We finally gave up and went to bed.

The water pipes froze that night and the next night in spite of the fact we left the taps open and dripping. Determined to resolve the electrical issue, Bill decided he wanted to check the campground connection. Brian said he had never heard of a receptacle being partly dead. Bill worked for Con Edison for 36 years and, although he wasn’t in the electric department, said it was a fairly common occurrence. Reluctantly, the manager checked the campground receptacle and it turns out that one of the “hot” legs to their receptacle was dead. We ran an extension cord to the site next to us, and viola, everything worked. The manager and Chuck kept saying, as one thing after the other went wrong, “I’ve never heard of anything like that happening before.” It was a phrase we would hear often when retelling our story.

Our relief was short-lived. On our second day in Maryland the snow started falling around 1:00PM. By 8:00PM it had let up some, but was expected to continue until midnight. We now had eight inches of snow on the roof and the temperature was predicted to fall to -8º overnight. Bill was afraid that the snow would freeze and decided to clean off the roof that night instead of the next morning as we wanted to head out early. By now he was experienced at cleaning off the roof, but this time he also had to clean off the slides. And we didn’t have a ladder. As many of you know, you can’t safely reach the top of the slides from the roof, so a ladder was necessary. At 8:00PM in the dark and the snow, in a place he didn’t know, Bill headed out to the local Home Depot. As he later told me, he and the snow plows were the only things on the road. The GPS again got him lost (see Bill’s post, “GPS Blues” http://countingstarsrvlife.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-gps-blues.html). He made it back around 9:00PM and was finally finished cleaning off the RV around 10:30PM.

Anxious to get out of the cold and snow, our next stopover in South Carolina was calling to us. However, we woke to find that, due to the icy conditions, all lanes of I-95 South were closed because of a tracker trailer accident. We weren’t able to take off until 11:00AM. What was supposed to be a seven hour drive turned out to be 10 hours…

-Diane

P.S. Oddly enough, I took no pictures in Maryland. I think maybe, subconsciously, I didn’t want any reminders. I regret it now, but at the time we just had too much going on; little of it pleasant.

Baptism By Ice: Digging Out

Here in NY this winter has been unusually mild. It was 65 degrees on Christmas Day and we’ve yet to have any snow fall. As we look forward to our second trip just two months away, I can’t help but compare this year to last. It was a brutal winter. We seemed to have a snow storm every few days or so, and the subzero temperatures assured that the snow would stick around well into the spring. The RV was stored at my in-law’s house in Lexington, NY in the Catskill Mountains. It was very generous of them to let us stow it there and at the time it seemed ideal - until it came time for us to hit the road.

We were leaving on Wednesday, March 4^th and heading down to Florida for the month, but before we could do that we had to dig out the RV from her frozen slumber in the hills. Bill, I and my brother-in-law met at his upstate home the Sunday before we were scheduled to depart. The plan was to plow a path from the driveway to the RV, a distance of about half a football field. We‘d then move her to the front of the house for easy access. We expected it would take a few hours.

However, it proved to be more challenging than any of us expected. The first issue was plowing the path. The snow was a foot deep and partially frozen, and it took half the day to reach the RV. Once we did, we quickly realized that during the warmer weather the RV tires had sunk 6 inches into the ground which was now frozen around the wheels. Bill and his brother chopped at the frozen ground with crowbars, hammers and shovels. They had to smash the chocks which were firmly frozen into the ground.

I had a clear view of all of this through the sliding glass doors in the living room. I provided them what support I could, running tools and hot coffee to and from the house, making phone calls to find a storage spot for the RV a little further south and rescheduling campgrounds reservations; because we now knew we’d need more time at our stopovers. The weather report was predicting more snow all along the east coast over the next week, and we decided we had better not take any chances. All the while I wore a path into the living room carpet as I paced and watched, paced and watched; and worried.

After much work to release the wheels, Bill hitched the truck to the trailer and gave it a tug. She didn’t budge. They went back to chopping and digging. Bill tried again with no luck. There was more chopping and digging. On the third try she rocked forward a bit but failed to come free. It had been dark for hours by now, it got colder by the minute, and it was snowing again. Finally, my brother-in-law hitched his truck to the front of our truck - which was hitched to the trailer - and on the count of three they both floored it. Eleven hours after we began the process, the RV lurched forward and was at last liberated.

There was no celebratory cheering. We were too exhausted. There was, however, a great sense of relief. The thought that we would not get her out, that we would have to cancel our trip, crossed all our minds that day more times than I can count. Mind you, in the week prior my Dad was in the ER because of a severe blood sugar drop and my mother-in law had broken her hip. Mere days before, after a month long search, I had finally found an RN to help my parent’s manage their meds and my mother-in-law had successful hip surgery. So, we were already stressed and the possibility of canceling had already loomed.

The next day Bill cleaned the snow off the roof. Then, with a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, we towed her down the mountain to a gated, paved, regularly plowed, rented, Extra Space Storage RV parking space in New Paltz, NY. That parking spot was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

We thought we were out of the woods - pun intended - but turns out, not so much...

-Diane

  

Gifts of Christmas Past

Last year our Christmas was all about the RV. All our gifts consisted of practical things we could use in our travels and funny cute RV themed items. I’m not usually into kitsch, but this year was the exception. I loved it all. The cutest thing I got was the RV Salt & Pepper shakers Bill got for me. 

But the best was the miniature replica of our rig that I got for Bill. He said he wanted it as a learning tool. He thought that it could help him better understand the dynamics of towing and driving the RV, specifically making turns and backing up. However, I think maybe, he just wanted it because it was super cool. Either way, I think he liked it.

Whatever your wishes this year, we hope they all come true.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

-Diane and Bill

The Best Laid Plans

Even before we bought the truck or picked upped the RV, we knew our first trip would be a month in Florida visiting our family and friends. Planning our route, coordinating visits, and booking the campsites fell to me. Little did I know this would be an adventure all its own.

I did not have the Big Book of RV Campsites. I knew nothing about truck stops. I had no knowledge of apps or other RV resources. I had no idea that you had to book the March before to go south the following February. Eleven months, that’s the magic number. Seasoned snow-birders know it. We didn’t.  We actually thought four or five months was plenty of time to plan our first RV excursion. We were so naive.

The first step was to plan where to stop on the way down. Bill didn’t want to drive more than six hours a day. That makes me laugh now. Did I say we were naive? Boy, oh, boy, we were so clueless. I used Triple A’s TripTik Travel Planner to find campsites and approximate how far each location would be from the other. Based on this, I chose a site in Maryland and a site in South Carolina as our stopovers. I booked one night at each stop. As you will learn in future posts, due to many factors, assuming that one night each would be enough time was like wishing on rainbows and fairy wings.

We were visiting four places in Florida: Cape Canaveral, Jupiter, Dunedin and The Villages. I contacted the people we would be visiting and set up a schedule. We would stop in Cape Canaveral first then in Jupiter. Next we would head to Dunedin and up to The Villages. Going home, we would retrace our steps and again stay in South Carolina and Maryland.

Sounds grand, yes? We thought so, too - until I tried to find campsites and make reservations that matched our timeline. You see, we knew we couldn’t escape the entire NY winter, but we had our hearts set on missing at least part of it. That is why we bought our rig. I’m chuckling to myself as I remember the ensuing insanity. At least, I can laugh about it now. It was the beginning of what would be a series of challenges we would face on this trip.

Anyhow, I soon realized February was a no go. So, we rescheduled everything for March. After what felt like a million hours online and a trillion phone calls, I managed to piecemeal together a trip that looked surprisingly similar to the original, but in reverse: The Villages, Dunedin, Jupiter, and Cape Canaveral.

We learned a lot from this experience. We booked our upcoming trip much earlier. Thanks to the RVers we met along the way, we know that truck stops are an option. We know that the drive time is never going to be what the online map says. We have better resources and are much better prepared. Most importantly, while nothing ever goes as planned, we now realize that’s part of the adventure and we welcome it.

-Diane

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're thankful for many things.

The people we've met through our blog is one of them.

Thank you all for your support.

Happy Thanksgiving wherever you land.

Bill and Diane

Last Train to Trucksville

After we bought the RV, we needed to buy a truck to tow it. Bill did all the research and shopping around. I went with, but he was the one who did all the hard work. He’s good like that. As you know, we decided on a Ram 2500 with a 6.4 Hemi engine. What you don’t know is that, even though we live in Long Island, we bought the truck from a dealer in Kingston, NY. Kingston is a good 2 hours north by car. 

Danny Boy

Begnal Motors did not just offer the best deal, they also offered the most comprehensive customer service. They are still operating on old fashioned principles. I have always hated car buying. It’s a torturous, frustrating experience. Not this time. These guys are fantastic and remain so a year after our purchase. We still keep in touch with our salesman, Dan. https://www.facebook.com/Begnal.Motors.cpov

Because of the great distance, when it was time to pick up the truck, we planned on driving up in our Honda. Bill would drive the truck back while I drove the Honda. I am not the most experienced long distance driver and the trip back would have been a challenge. I would have done it, but I wouldn’t have liked it. But what choice did we have? Well, the guys at Begnal offered us another option. They suggested we take the train to Poughkeepsie, half an hour from Kingston, and they would arrange for someone to pick us up. Not only did this make things easier for us, but it made for an exciting adventure.

Grand Central Station

It was late November. The day started out clear and sunny, but chilly. We took the LIRR to Penn Station, rode one stop on the local subway to Grand Central Station, then boarded the Metro North. I had never been to Grand Central before. I have lived in the NYC area my entire life, but I’m a downtown girl. I’m comfortable there. When I’m uptown I feel like a tourist. After nearly two hours of the most stunning scenic views, we arrived in Poughkeepsie. It was bitterly cold and snowing. Jim was our ride to Kingston. He was a lovely man, and as we chatted, we learned he was retired and worked part time moving cars for Begnal.

We pulled into the dealer’s parking lot and our truck was parked right by front the door. The paperwork was quickly completed. Keys in hand, we climbed into our beautiful new pick-up for the first time. Dan took us through all the features and even set up our phones on Bluetooth. Then he offered to take us out to celebrate. We drove to a spot a few blocks away and the three of use toasted our new purchase. 

Brown Betty

We spent the night at my brother-in-law’s in Lexington. The next morning we drove our Brown Betty home. The heated seats kept my buns nice and toasty all the way.

-Diane