No RVs Over 30 feet!

When a sign says "No RVs over 30 feet" it's a good idea to continue on and look for another place to park. The experience we had a few days ago in a Newport, RI parking lot could have ended some marriages, possibly even lives. Sitting at the gate and seeing other RVs in the lot, I decided to ignore the sign and maneuver our ship through this mangled parking lot.
The lot was the site of some kind of gas line repair and as a result half of the lot was partitioned by some kind of drive-over plumbing. Pipes ran into one side then under the driving surface and out the other side. It created a type of channel to drive through, 10 feet wide with 1 foot tall curbs on either side. An ingenious design, that works perfectly, unless you are trying to pull a trailer over it at an odd angle.
The device, the lane of utility work, became my personal hell for the next half hour. With my patient wife on one end of our two-way radios and a women on a cell phone looking on, I drove onto the ramp. Once the RV made it all the way into the lane, it was time for the trailer to follow it through. This is exactly the point when things became interesting for the women on the phone and difficult for me.
On my first pass, the leveling jack on the trailer would not clear the corner of the curb, and looking back I should have backed all the way out and tried another approach. Instead, I made a small adjustment and tried to pull through again. This led to a series of back and forth adjustments, that would eventually end with a fresh dent on the front of the trailer where I pinched it with the rear of the RV. It matches the one on the other side perfectly. We also now have steps on the trailer that slant slightly toward the rear of the trailer after having collided with end of the ramp. That collision however turned out to be the spring board to finally freeing us this trap. After I bent the steps, I backed up in an attempt to just get out completely. Becky told me she thought the steps would now clear if we went forward, and we did. We managed to get into another part of the parking lot, a portion that we soon realized would probably trap us if a few more cars parked near us. It was then we decided it would be best if we just left.
There were times when we were on that orange utility torture device, that I thought we might never get off. I thought I might have to unhitch the trailer and leave it there. I had thoughts of putting out the awning and starting a campfire. We had already spent more time in that lot then we had in some of our campsites. I thought that it was slightly unfair that they charged me for an hour of parking, because we really never stopped moving.
Having made it out of the parking lot, I wish I had a photo of that pathway to share with everyone, but it really wasn't one of those moments when you think of grabbing the camera, unless that is of course you are the women standing there with your cell phone.

Better than TV

Okay, so it's been more than three weeks now and I haven't watched a television show. That sounds kind of weird. Back at home, Dan and I had a couple shows we watched each week, in the evenings. That's how we'd wind down after work. I guess most people do that.

I caught a little bit of the Office when I was in the electronics section of a store the other day. That's really the only time I've thought about TV lately.

Now that we don't have a TV, we write after the kids go to bed. I'd say this is a great replacement. Sure I wonder sometimes how the characters on our shows are doing. I wonder where the stories are taking them. But it's a lot cooler to sit with Dan and read over our travel journals to see where our trip is taking us.

When I talked to Mom the other day, she said one thing we should be glad we're missing is all the Michael Jackson coverage. She said you can't even turn on the TV without hearing his name. Great entertainer, but I'm not concerned with the details of his life.
I am concerned about the details of my husband's life and my kids' lives. I guess that's how I got where I am today - on a beach, in an RV in Cape Cod.

Enjoy the road you're on!
~Becky

First Road Friends

We've met a lot of great people on the road, very nice reporters, friendly campground owners, other happy tourists. But it was in New Hampshire where we met our first real "Road Friends." We'd been traveling for about 10 days when we arrived. It was to be the longest overnight stop since we started out. When we pulled into the Gunstock RV and Ski Resort near Laconia, NH it was like our navigation device always says, "You have reached your destination." Up to that point in the trip we were pushing forward each day, logging more and more miles.

We got registered and prepared to set up camp on Fir Lane for three whole nights. One of the first things we noticed about this campground was the number of NASCAR fans there seemed to be camping there. Dan and I don't follow racing so we started to wonder if we would have anything in common with our fellow campers. We don't have anything against NASCAR, it's just not our thing. We wondered if the other campers would question why we weren't waving our driver's flag and we wondered if anyone would talk to us. Our questions were immediately answered by our new camping neighbor Joe, a car-loving mechanic, who had come to Gunstock for a long weekend with his family. He quickly informed us that everyone was here to go to a race on Sunday at the nearby New Hampshire Motor Speedway. We had no idea.

Over the course of the next three evenings, Joe, his girlfriend Linda, her mother Barbara and Linda's grown children Roxanne and Craig shared their campfire with us late into the evening. We laughed and told stories. We sought out our common interests in hobbies and jobs. And poked fun at our differences in language and dialect. Dan and I never should have doubted that we'd fit in with this group. They are people just like us.

When we came back from a daytrip on Saturday afternoon, even our camper fit right in with the rest of them on the row. That's because our new road friends bought us a racing flag and hung it on our camper. They signed it too and asked us to have the other people we meet along the way sign our flag.

People told me before I left on this trip that I'd get to see a lot of really inspirational things. This was one of them.

Skipping Stones

Life on the road is not one big vacation. I don't mean that in a negative way. I just mean that I can tell the difference between a vacation and real life. After just a week on the road, I can see that already.

We don't eat out everyday. We still have to stop and pay the bills. We still correct our kids. Before we left Dan and I talked about Our Trip and it was all very exciting. We talked about the great things we'd see, the attractions we'd visit, the places we'd want to eat. And while that is really happening some days, there's something else going on too.

Here's the difference: A month ago, or a year ago, I didn't have the time to skip stones with the kids. Not like I did today. We skipped stones at the beach until my arm was sore. We all made a contest out of it. Who could skip the most times, who could skip the highest, the farthest? We had an endless supply of smooth black skipping stones too, because that's what this Vermont beach was made up of. Dan said the kids would have stayed until the entire beach-ful of rocks were in the lake.

The day we skipped stones was Father's Day. It was also the day I tried to teach the kids the difference between presents and presence. Dan didn't unwrap a gift that day. But like vacations, presents can be really special, but life and the gift of our presence is even better.

Over the past 15 months or so, Dan and I have been dreaming, planning, talking, reviewing, revising, researching, figuring, budgeting and sharing our fears. For many months, he and I were the only people on earth who knew about Our Trip, it was our secret dream. We needed each other so much in those early months to work through all these emotions that kept sprouting up.

A couple of weeks ago Dan and I were talking about the great changes we've seen in other people after revealing the news of Our Trip. We are constantly amazed by the support and the number of people who say they wish they could do what we're doing. Deep down we really want them to do whatever it is they dream of too because it feels great!

As we continued to talk about the changes Our Trip will bring to us personally, and in our marriage and with our children, we agreed to welcome that change. Then a light came on for Dan and after reflecting on our months of planning, he said:

"You know, Becky, we haven't even left the driveway and Our Trip has already started."

It's All Relative

Today Becky had a great conversation with a group of people. It seems they understood exactly what we are doing and how we feel about it. They told stories about their families and lives, and felt the enthusiasm that Becky and I have about Our Trip. A friend of mine, let's call him Tom, related Our Trip to a graduation. I think that analogy works on many levels. If you remember your high school or college graduation party, you were surrounded by many people. A lot of them you didn't know very well, but they all had wonderfully encouraging things to say to you. They told you stories of the dreams they had, the things they did, and places they visited. They related to you, and that is exactly the kind of interactions Becky and I have been experiencing since we starting telling people about Our Trip. Not since my own graduation party have so many people made an effort to come up to me or call me and say something positive, inspiring or appreciative. It makes me feel very excited and encouraged to go out and see this country, not just for us, but because there will be so many people that follow along with us. To everyone that stopped what they were doing to say something to us about Our Trip, Thank you.

Dan

Family and friends get us where we're going

Our children are one of the biggest reasons behind taking a trip of this magnitude. When I reflect on that it brings me real gratitude for the people in my life who have taught me the value of family. From parents and siblings, to nephews and nieces, even my own children have opened my eyes to the unselfish, unconditional love of family.

A good friend told me recently "I'm convinced now more than ever that family is the most important thing." How perfectly simple.

There are a lot of problems in the world and we can dwell on them and try to help solve them but ultimately we have the most impact on the people closest to us - our family and friends. These are the people who get us where we're going in life.

So while it's true that Our Trip is just the four of us, it's taken generations of family members and countless friends to get us where we're going. Thank you!