We got lost again. My navigator had his nose glued to the window, barking out directions. He claims the Atlas is too big for his wittle paws, so he will just sniff out a new route.
Somehow, somebody took US-1 south instead of A1A south... Do you know that bridges are few and far between going east across the Indian River from US-1 to A1A?
I thought Harley was over his bridge phobia. We worked really hard on this at Hartwell Lake.
So, we drove south, south, south, then east then north, north, north... so that 70 miles later we were 27 miles from our starting point. It reminded me of sailing upwind, how you zigzag back and forth doing twice the miles to get where you are going.
Maybe my dog is a sailor. He can tie knots. He loves to pull on ropes. He enjoys slowly going nowhere at great expense.
A day at the beach for the wild things.
Later, while chatting on the phone, I was bragging to a friend how I had purged my drawers and clothing closet in the RV of stuff that was holey, ragged, stained and thread bare except for one sentimental shirt I should part with and just have not. It has traveled with me for 28+ years. Simply amazing. It is now pretty thin, when it used to be rather thick. Why can't I just throw it away? What could be so sentimental about a faded threadbare old nearly rotten shirt when space is at such a premium? Just for good measure, I have slept in that shirt on a warm night now and then. You can see right through it, which is not how it was designed.
My friend, who has visited in my motorhome several times, laughed and said "Is there anything left in your closet?"
"Of course there is, just that now there is lots of spare room too!"
My friend replied "I've seen your closet, what is it, about 12 inches wide? And you have, what two or three dresser drawers?"
We both burst out laughing. I measured. My closet is a whopping 16 inches wide and I have 3 dresser drawers underneath it. Amazingly the closet holds dresses, shirts, sweaters, tunics, jackets and shoes. With room to spare thanks to me throwing the rags out.
Lately my housekeeper has vanished.
Oops! I am the housekeeper. That part of me has left the scene of the crime. I've let everything just pile up everywhere, while I concentrated on the daggum medical mess appointments and the infernal paperwork associated with same. I've had to drive my RV almost everyday to and from the campground to appointments, as I don't have a car. I think of myself as "being green and eco-friendly" by not owning two polluting vehicles. This has worked out fine except juggling numerous appointments spread out over several days. Not my choice, but the powers to be don't understand why I want to schedule everything on one day and knock it all out at once.
The birds at Long Point Park Campground on the spacecoast in Florida are totally unafraid of campers and dogs.
Just for grins, I drooled over e-bikes again recently. I am saving up for an electric bicycle that can also be pedaled. Actually it's really a battery assisted bicycle with a rechargeable battery. I figure that way I can ride the bike, and if I get pooped out, I can flip a switch to use the battery assist to get back home again. Strangely enough, the "used" E-bikes in the classified ads are listed for sale at the same or higher prices than they can be found new. Am I missing something in this scenario? I thought used junk was supposed to be discounted.
I was hoping to buy a cheap E-bike, to see if this is going to work for me. Of course Harley wants a little front basket so he can tag along on trips. Add to that a bike lock, another rear basket for groceries or stuff like a jacket, a ding-a-ling bell and a night light in case I misjudge sunset and... suddenly the accessories add another 50% to the cost of the bike. Probably more, because I will also need a bike rack on the back of the RV and perhaps even a head helmet and knee pads. Good grief. I already own a 12volt air pump for the tires. It came with the RV when I bought it. At the rate of my erratic income, the E-bike may have to wait another year or two or more.
Well, in the interim, doggy and I walk when we can and drive when we can't. It is fun to take the dog everywhere. The day he was in the animal hospital for his alteration, I was sad, lonely and lost.
I have been trying to sell my used Blue Ox Aventa II Tow Bar Class IV (10,000 pound) 2 inch receiver that takes up weight and space on the rear of the RV for towing a car. It came with the RV and I don't own a car. I had this silly idea of selling it and putting the proceeds towards the E-bike. So far, in two years, I've had no luck of selling it. I place ads, they expire, I forget. I've had some buyers who contacted me after I had drove 300 miles away...
One buyer actually came out in person, was extremely rude, and told me in a very loud voice that "It's NOT new!" as if my ad had been misleading (it was not). It seems most everyone who needs a tow hitch, has one, so selling one is apparently problematic. However, if you want to buy it, I am in central Florida and here is my Email .
It used to be I would clean up the entire RV before I drove anywhere. Lately I've just been stashing the breakables, then driving the motorhome to my appointments, on my merry way. Anyone that dares to peek in my windows certainly gets an eyeful of what the aftermath of an indoor hurricane looks like. I've had to cough up tons of paperwork lately. Computers in the last 3 decades seem to have done nothing to abate the mountain of paperwork required to get simple things done.
I'm changing my residency again, a chronic problem for full timers in RV's. The USA refuses to accept that well over a million folks live with "no fixed address". The list of papers I need to switch over my driver's license is frighteningly long. I may need a file box on wheels to push into the license department, to accomplish this task. They have seemingly asked for everything except my DNA and first born child.
I try not to travel with breakables, but it's hard to live a semi-modern life without them. Breakables include stashing the laptop computer and components, tying up the circa 1994 coffee pot carafe, stabilizing the electric heaters, 2 are tiny but one is not and making sure the semi-fragile medical equipment is lassoed to prevent breakage. I have a few breakable dishes, but they live in a jumbo kitchen drawer and I have those thick and thin rubbery shelf liners to wrap around the coffee mugs so they don't chip or rattle or break in the drawer. I just can't seem to bring myself to drink coffee out of a plastic mug. I have spare ceramic mugs too, for company.
Recently I purged and rearranged my dresser drawers. Now my breakable electronics get to ride a in a comfy drawer with my undies as nice soft cushiony padding. Since RV drawers are designed to stay locked in place when not in use, this is working rather well. Somehow, in my cleaning and purging of the drawers, I ended up with a small EMPTY drawer. How did that happen?
A friend left behind a bottle of wine. I rarely ever drink, but might as well save it for a special dinner with company or a future gift. So it is living in a drawer with my leggings and socks now. On the sailboats, I worked aboard, the wine very often lived in the bilges. Sometimes it got wet and the labels fell off.
Shopping for food in all plastic containers is not always feasible, but I have built-in places for keeping the glass jars and bottles, as long as they aren't too big.
By golly, I think I am getting the hang of it all, this business of living in an RV that doubles as a car and home and dog house and office and hospice and cave and padded cell and...
Life is grand!
Great post! Maybe your navigator needs an update:)
ReplyDeleteOh now I want an ebike too!!
ReplyDelete