On the Road with Bob

I am about to drive my Class C RV to storage. In what seems like an eternal quandary, my interests have a national scope, as this post will make evident.  Summer will be the usual over-heated, humid season in Florida, and I generally depart for more moderate climes before now. There are things I need to get done in my “home” state of Massachusetts; doctor visits, mail pick-ups, friends and family considerations are what have me heading north in my car…leaving my mobile house in Orlando.

It’s the price of gas which has dictated the course of action. It would be better if I had a tow-hitch behind the RV so as to tow the little car north. I have not yet decided to weld a hitch onto the RV structure, but it now is becoming more of a practical decision to do so.  As it stands, I will drive the 1600 miles (the Saturn gets a phenomenal 40-45 miles per gallon!) in a quick trip to Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  If I drove the RV (it gets 10-12 miles per gallon) I would pay an additional $450. in fuel.…based on a proposed June average of $3.75 per gallon. I can drive round-trip for $150. LESS than that one-way cost in the RV.

At the latter part of June I will either leave the Saturn and fly back to get the RV, with the prospect of staying in New England until early Fall, or drive the car back to central Florida to swelter through until September, preparing the RV for a longer journey west to Arizona/Nevada. I want to spend the Winter in the Southwest, and plan on living half of the year there, rather than Florida,  parking the RV when sojourning.

Quandary:  Do I weld the hitch and pull the Saturn, or drive them separately? Do I fly back to New England for visits, or do I drive cross-country when necessary? I have been wrestling with all of this for more years than I care to think about. Living in the West is easier and less expensive in an RV. And there is room to breathe! The open panorama and big skies have been beckoning for a long time, and this time I want to do more than just visit.

Help!!!

Peaceful Flow

Cannot wait to get back into my RV to move down the road some more !

But in the meantime, I am recouping from wrist surgery in the Granite State. With dense woods, quiet roads to walk, streams to meander and waterfalls within earshot, it doesn’t get much better.

My cast will come off and the stitches will be removed next week, Then I can begin the rehab and use of my new metal parts. I’ll be grabbing my steering wheel like “Jaws”.

When you are attended-to the way I am, by my daughter Andrea, it makes this whole episode a lot less harrowing.

The surgeons have been great and the entire staff at The New England Baptist Hospital has been friendly and cheerful. A truly remarkable experience all the way through from last December when I first learned of the possibility of relief.

I had a capacious single room with bath, and a room service menu to choose  from. Four pages of really good selections for every meal…and breakfast all day!  This was not at the Ritz Carleton, downtown, but at NEBH Room 554 !

I had  a wonderful view of the Boston skyline, however, from atop Parker Hill.  Andrea and I have had some memorable times in The Hub, though less auspicious ,and we will probably have more before I get back on a flight to resume my RV lifestyle and travels.

These are RV  Tips And Stories, right? Well the only story here is that yesterday, I drove my house to Ocoee, Florida, and left it in storage! Then got back into a plane or two (what…again?)..headed for Manchester NH.  (These should be Airline Tips And Stories)

When full-timing as long as I have been, you have everything just where you want it, and in an RV, that is usually at an arm’s-length . The pattern of daily living is often rigidly established, even though the scenery can change overnight. So it is a sea-change, and a cultural shock, to move in with family for even a temporary stretch of time. I am habituated to the rhythms of my life, and compromise is not high on my agenda, but situations dictate change. Surgery has made the New England stay a necessity, and my daughter (et vir) has adapted to have me in-house, as opposed to my parking the RV down the hill and out of sight;  a situation where I could do my usual puttering, inventing, changing and adapting with all kinds of projects….the right tool within easy reach.

An annual family-gathering has brought me to New England two weeks ahead of my pre-op appointment with the surgeon who is to do my wrist-replacement. After that date I will wait 18 days before being admitted. The post-op will occur 13 days afterwards and hopefully, if the Xrays and observation show the expected recovery….I’M OUTTA HERE! We’re talking a conservative 40 days in the unconventional world (to me) of immobility, so there are likely to be more posts to follow. No need to hold your breath.