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!!!

Summer weather is upon Orlando, Florida and it is only May 11th.                                                  I’m outta here!

Several commitments   dictate that I arrive in New England in June. I always enjoy visiting with my sister and brother-in-law in Connecticut, and my sister-in law in Massachusetts. My daughter lives in New Hampshire, and I will be taking her to the NH Philharmonic POPS concert on the 4th. Then comes her 50th birthday celebration the next day…it must be a VIRTUAL 50th, ‘cause I sure ain’t no 74 !!!!

Anyhow…our family has a 60+ year tradition of getting together on Fathers Day. It began north of Boston, Massachusetts about the time my sister was married and had her first born baby. Then my brother and his wife bought a house about a mile north in the same city for their budding family. Mom and Dad had a small house…but a BIG back yard. Half was devoted to aisles of flowers (half of that was for a victory garden filled with vegetable plants during the WW2 era) and the half nearest the house and porch was the croquet court!

We BBQ’d on the brick fireplace…my brother-in -law had the chef’s duties. We all sat around in lawn chairs amidst tables of food prepared on site, and imported from the various kitchens of family members from near and far. The wickets were placed, and a wicked game of ‘Poison’ ensued! Aunts and uncles attended. Then sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, even as my parents went from being grandparents to great grandparents. After Mom was gone, the moveable feast traveled to my sister’s home west of Boston. Thence to northern Connecticut when my brother-in-law was transferred there. We met each June and it became so much more than a Fathers Day as we all caught up on each others lives, and enjoyed the season and the general joie de vivre.

We also got the whole family assembled for 30 years in Lincoln, New Hampshire at Loon Mountain, in a time-share condo my folks had bought in 1976. With family activities and schedules it is difficult for everyone to have the same day free….but somehow we made it work. My daughter and I loved to cook the “big meal” on Saturday evening, and most of our loved ones attended.

Fathers Day morphed and moved to New Hampshire when my daughter and her husband moved from the upper Connecticut valley to a central New Hampshire city.

Things and circumstances change! This year we will all be together in a different spot…my niece will host…the same niece that was that new baby when it all began. I’m getting teary-eyed now.

I’m not picking on Florida….I just happen to spend a lot of time there.  My observation pertains to other places as well, but here goes.

Maybe you have noticed what I have about driving in Florida. It doesn’t seem to matter that the roads are generally adequate to handle lots of traffic. If you are attempting to enter a road by crossing two lanes to get headed in the other direction,… you cross to the median….AND WAIT…AND WAIT…AND WAIT. The traffic may be thin, but do you think ANYONE cares that you are waiting to join the fun? They cannot be bothered to move over to where they are supposed to be in the first place. The ONLY lane they ever deign to move their precious butts in.. is the PASSING lane! So we wait.

Hence, my contention, that all the four lane roads are kind of worthless if every selfish creep is only using the left lane, and you can’t get to the right lane ’cause they won’t let you in. If it were an occasional thing you could grin and bear it with a few choice expletives sent their way. BUT  it seems to be the rule. And the police are the worst offenders…the right hand lane does not exist for the police. So the multitudes (poor drivers take note) use their example, and refuse to get-the-hell-over except when passing.

What if there were traffic cones in all the right lanes throughout the state. Wouldn’t make a lick of difference….it would just enable what is the habit, and expected practice of these NASCAR rejects. There isn’t a car they DON’T want to pass as soon, and as fast as they can. So, I guess my whole premise may be wrong!  These boobs are not just born to pass…they’re always PASSING SOMETHING…. so they don’t have to get-the-hell-over for anyone.  Makes perfect sense to me.

I have been an active RV enthusiast since 1960. My first trip across 5 Provinces of Canada, in a ’55 Chevy, my wife and I sleeping “into” the trunk from the back seat, was my first RV trip. It led to many drawings for vehicles converted to RV use. Ultimately, it led to  nearly 37 years of full-time RV living (including the present day).

There were not many Walmarts, then. No Walmart Supercenters. But there was Sam Walton, and as his empire took shape, he espoused that he would never disallow an RVer an overnight parking space. It was good business, if nothing else. RVers are very loyal customers, and reward the stores , buying most of their traveling needs, and making fuel purchases at their gas stations.

I began reading Trailer Life and Motorhome life in the early 70′s. My champion was the owner and publisher Art Rouse. He took a courageous stand that probably cost him his position,ultimately. He insisted that the Trailer Life Campground Directory indicate the locations of federal, state, city and other local camping sites that were NOT associated with private campgrounds and associations. The opposition was angry and spiteful. Many advertisers pulled their listings and display ads. They wanted all the business, not just most of it. That controversy nearly broke the publishing house, and after Art took on an Emeritus position, the new folks in charge (sons!) kow-towed to the CG interests.

Well, fast-forward to the turn of the century, and to 2011. The inheritors of Sam Walton’s realm have evidently decreed that Sam’s promise to RVers no longer matters. ” Those in RV’s must find camping facilities for their rigs for the overnight stay!” seems to be their new mantra.

Campground groups have descended on cities and towns decrying the old Walmart practice as “bad for their business” , and fomented the passing of ordinances and restrictions preventing what is called “OVERNIGHT CAMPING”.

Let’s be clear…most of these are UNCONSTITUTIONAL measures, and are based on supposed state statutes which really do not apply to the situation. But the CG groups have cowed the authorities into actions that boost their bottom line.

Let’s be clear on another point. People living in their RVs are not CAMPING! The RVs have all the amenities of the houses  in which most Americans  live. Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be…Many RVs are much more luxurious! They are self-contained and sanitary vessels, and pose no threat real or imagined. When I first motored south from New England to Florida in the mid-70s, one could check-in with the manager at any supermarket, from Albertson’s to Publix et al, and permission to spend the night in the parking lot was almost always extended. We bought the evening groceries there, and what ever supplies we needed for the next day’s trip. Has this concept completely escaped the consideration of today’s super chains? Or KMart and local markets with big parking lots that stand empty at night?

I know that personally, I reward the merchants who welcome me. I avoid being where I am not welcome.  That makes perfect sense, and is self-defensive with all the new NO RVS signs popping up all over. Florida has finally had the full effect upon me. This is the last year I will visit Orlando, in particular. It has become anti-RV, almost entirely. This resort area wants and needs business. But it does not welcome RVs any longer. There were two HUGE campgrounds in Orlando back in years a bit. They’re gone. The KOA land is still for sale. The other is now developed into commercial businesses along Interstate 4. If you WANTED to find a local campground in Orlando, you would have a difficult time. I know of a few not too far away, but all of them could never contain the RVers traveling from all over North America to this area! You can insert the LAS VEGAS area into this context. Once welcoming…now disdaining the business generated by those visiting in their own rigs.

Sam, you had the business sense, and the horse-sense to embrace the budding RV phenomenon. If only your family and assigns had the same foresight!

A lot of new traffic light cameras are going into service in Orlando soon. It’s not a good thing;  not because they won’t provide millions in REVENUE,…they will, but the reason should be for safety….red light running is rife in the City Beautiful. Every morning one can hear of the accidents at all the usual places, primarily because those idiots are trying to stretch the spectrum from yellow to just-before-RED ! With opposing left-turn traffic, that’s not a great idea!

I grew up in Boston which is known for erratic and crazy driving. There is a major difference between those in the Northeast and those in Orlando. The Orlando drivers are also reckless, self-centered, speed-oriented and unwilling to give an inch, however they lack talent and driving skills. They are just BAD drivers.

In a world of high gas prices and lots of hyperbole about being green, one would think that jack-rabbit starts and stops,and speeding into red lights would become less frequent…given that much fuel is wasted with those practices. Doesn’t matter here! Since I got my license to drive in 1949 I have always tried to save gas by letting up on the gas pedal when sighting a distant red light, or yellow-turning-red. Cruising up to the car ahead with just a modicum of forward momentum can save a tablespoon of petrol, and even extend the life of the drive train of any vehicle. It simply won’t work in Orlando. The reason is ridiculously simple…the drivers here don’t look ahead to the condition of the lights ahead. And if they detect slowing or stopped cars upstream, they jockey to be in the shortest lane….no matter which one has the fewest cars…even to gain ONE DAMN SPACE!  It is stupid and maddening!  I am in the right-hand lane, generally, where I belong…watching all the action up ahead, and sensing the changing colors of the traffic lights and the relative speed and location of all the vehicles around me. As a light goes to yellow and red upstream, I slow to a cruise, so as to accelerate on the green. BUT WHOOPS…the guy speeding in sees the empty space ahead of me and takes immediate claim to gain a space. I end up braking for this freak of nature (not so freakish in this city, unfortunately), and my gas bill goes up commensurately.

One could play the game, as many here do, of speeding up slightly to prevent this hopscotching activity, and disallowing the creep his favored lane. But that is one more cause  for the  frayed nerves and some fender-benders.

And human nature (in-human?) dictates that if you need to change lanes or merge into traffic, the oncoming freak will speed-up to disabuse your notion. If you SUCCEED in getting into the traffic ahead of him or her, that jerk will STREAK AROUND YOU, and glowering as if you ruined the day, will pull into your lane just ahead of you to prove, once-and -for-all,  that HE REIGNS SUPREME on these friggin’ roads!

So why aren’t these cameras a good thing… because they are NOT traffic officers, and cannot testify in court that you broke the law. You MAY have broken the law…but maybe you didn’t!

I was ticketed in Delaware last year when my RV ticked-off a camera at an intersection on US 13. The resulting color pictures clearly showed my wheels over the line on RED. What was not so clear was the truck approaching and entering the intersection from the right with a load of PortaPotties, and I had no idea if he was going to proceed straight into the intersection, or turn right…but he wasn’t stopping! Instead of proceeding easily and safely through the yellow light, I was forced to BRAKE through the space, and over the line after RED. The official who reviewed the tape agreed with me that a shade of grey existed, and that I could successfully challenge the ruling. BUT….. I’d have to go 1,000 miles to Delaware for the ensuing court date…or pay $125. to avoid doing so.  This is wrong.  No camera can determine shades of grey; safety officers can do that. I oppose those new cameras on the pretext that there is no actual witness to what happens, and Big Brother should find other sources of revenue. In Orlando, where the State Police hide and wait for the slightest infractions to fatten the coffers (this is a proven published fact), more so than in most other areas, they’ll work less hard, as the friendly lenses  vicariously capture the action. Police would be the cause of slower driving and better driving in accordance with the existing traffic laws if the were MORE VISIBLE, moving WITH the flow, and not ALWAYS in the LEFT LANE, exceeding the limit as if they were above the law.

Cameras don’t show this behavior, but you and I know it happens. Who writes those tickets?