A Last Hurrah (05-11-15)

Over the last 6 years, we have had numerous reasons to travel to Michigan on a regular basis- pretty much every year- and sometimes more than once a year.  When we started on the road, our doctors were here.  Gradually we have moved on to doctors in other states.  For several years our daughter lived in either Michigan or nearby Indiana.  She has since moved to California.


And then of course,  our “stuff” has been stored here- both the boat and our household goods- but of course- not for long.

Over the last week or so, we have been spending time with our friends, getting caught up on all the news.  It was bittersweet.  It was pretty evident to everyone that we won’t be coming back to Michigan on a regular basis anymore.  Not that we won’t ever come- we love the Traverse City area and the Upper Peninsula- but we will have no reason to come here on a yearly basis.  So, we have invited all our friends out to visit us in Havasu! 

In between the visits, we have continued organizing the storage unit. On Monday, several moving companies came to look at our stuff and give us quote.  They were impressed with our packing job. We had thought we would spend all day Tuesday re-combining our stuff back into the one unit, but we actually finished doing that on Monday!


So, Tuesday morning we packed up and blew out of town.
Before we could load up the boat and camper, we had to put the hitch on.  Look at the size of that thing!  It has to be that long to accommodate the length of the camper.










The next step is to load up the camper, which is always a fun job.   I will say though, we are starting to get the hang of it. You can see the hitch sticking out the back.












The final step was to hook up the boat.  He had taken just the boat for a short trip to make sure the brakes and lights work.











And so now, we are back on the road for the long trek home. My daughter asked me if it felt weird saying we were going “home” and it really does, but not in a bad way, just weird.

Michigan Road Trip-Days 3,4, and 5(05-03-15)

Day 3

Elk City, Oklahoma to St. Clair, Missouri

( 550 miles)

Yup, we drove, and drove and drove.  All day. The most exciting thing that happened all day was that Dozer calmed down and started sleeping all day…




We did have a little frustration at the end of the day.  When we were all tuckered out and ready to call it quits, we headed to an Elks Lodge that has one RV spot.  We  didn't call ahead since we figured if the one spot was taken, we'd just dry camp for the night.  Well, the one spot was taken and the parking lot was sooooo sloped, we couldn't find a spot that we could set up the camper!  Wow, now that is sloped!  We had to drive another 15 miles or so to get to the local state park.

Day 4

St. Clair, Missouri to Fremont, IN

( 454 miles)

Today’s exciting observation was signs of spring- the bright, vibrant green of new leaves on the trees…




Later in the day we started to feel like we were on home territory, as we passed Ball State University in Muncie Indiana.  Our daughter went to college there and we spent many a day driving to and from this school, back in the day.





  We almost made it all the way to our destination on day 4, but when we called the RV park we want to stay in, they were closed for the day and we couldn't confirm availability, and since we would have been really pushing it, and arriving at 8 pm, we decided to call it a day.

Day 5

  Fremont, IN to Ypsilanti, MI

( 121 miles)

This is more like the travel day that we are used to….as fulltimers, we usually adhere to the 2-2-2 rule; travel no more than 200 miles, arrive by 2 pm, and stay 2 nights.  In other words, slow down the pace. When we are on a “mission” that doesn't happen, and we can, if necessary, travel as fast as possible.  But we don’t like it.

Once we arrived at the RV park, we checked in, and got permission to take the camper off the truck. That doesn’t seem like a big deal, but some parks require you to keep a truck camper on the truck and many parks don’t allow truck campers at all.

Notice that although yesterday we had trees full of new leaves, in Michigan, spring hasn’t really sprung yet, and the trees barely have buds on them.

Our first priority is the boat.  Come hell or high water, it’s coming back to Arizona with us, and since it’s been sitting for so many years, we need to check the trailer, tires and brakes.

We remember that we packed it full of stuff-we vaguely remember that the yard rakes are in there, but we have no idea what else is under the shrink-wrap, and it isn't worth removing it just to take a peek.

After giving it a couple of test laps around the parking lot, Paul deemed it road worthy and we took it back to the campground with us so he can finish working on it there. 

That’s one less thing we are paying to store!

That was enough excitement for one day so we put off going to the storage unit for another time.

Michigan Road Trip-Day One (04-30-15)

Lake Havasu City to Albuquerque New Mexico

(520 miles)

We were anxious to get out of town, so we were up and moving pretty early.  After buttoning up the trailer for a month long abandonment, we hit the road.

:

Within a short time we came across a recent accident. The police hadn't even arrived yet, but it didn't look like anyone was hurt.

  Standin’ on a Corner in Winslow Arizona.  I did that, while Paul fueled up the truck.  It wasn't the corner and there was no girl in a flat bed Ford, either.

This is the corner, but it isn't my picture.  I stole it from the internet because we blew by at 30 mph, so my picture came out blurry.

Driving through Winslow, and not stopping to see “the corner” again ( we drove by it a few years ago) reminded me of a feeling that I had about 11 years ago.  That feeling is a huge part of why I wanted to RV full time when the opportunity presented itself.

About 11 years ago, Paul’s parents gave us a car.  The only thing we had to do was go get it.  The car was in El Paso, and we lived in Massachusetts.  So, we both flew out to TX, spent a couple of days visiting his parents, and then took off for Boston. 

We drove 13 hours a day- from sun up to sun down, to make it back in 4 days.  We needed to get back to the kids as soon as we could.  So along the way I took pictures- pictures of Welcome signs. 

Lots of Welcome signs.

I got my first glimpse- and just a glimpse- of the Mighty Mississippi, as we drove by at 65 mph.

So many places looked intriguing.  I had never been to Nashville or Memphis (you can bet I have since remedied that!).

We drove past places I had heard about in songs- like the Blue Ridge Mountains, and West Virginia…













The signs enticed us to get off the highway…..












….but we didn't.  We kept on driving. Past it all.  We didn't stop to see anything.









It was on that trip that I realized that there was so much to see in this country, that we needed to find a way to explore it. When we got home, I told Paul I wanted to do that same trip some day, but I wanted to take a month to do it- not 4 days.



Of course, real life delayed the realization of that dream.  We had two teenagers at the time, Paul was entrenched in the corporate world, and he soon after that trip he was informed that he was being relocated to Michigan. I wouldn't trade that time of our lives for anything. We enjoyed Michigan and have great memories of our 4 years there, but when Paul got the notice to retire in 2009, we knew it was our chance to escape the rat race and explore all the amazing things that this country has to offer.  And that’s just what we've done!



Ok, that’s enough of that.  See what happens when I have too much time to reflect???

Back to today- after 520 miles, we called it a day when we made it to the Elks Lodge RV parking in Albuquerque New Mexico- pretty satisfied with the amount of miles we got under our belts.

Speaking of miles- today the odometer on the truck passed the 100,000 mile mark.  Paul forgot about it, so no pictures, but he says its the most miles he has ever put on a vehicle.

Road Trip to Michigan (04-29-15)

One of our conversations with  Wes, our house builder, was regarding when we would have a free 3 week block of time that we wouldn’t need to be in Havasu for the build of the house.  His answer?  “Right Now.” 




So, we took a deep breath, spent a full 12 hours fixing up and packing up the camper, and left Lake Havasu City 3 days ago.

Michigan is where our jet boat and household goods are being stored. Of course we are antsy to pick up the boat, so we can start using it on the lake, but we also need to organize our storage unit.  Its been 6 years since we stored everything and went on the road.  Although we packed most things with the assumption that they might land in a moving van, we have since pawed through many of the boxes and they are now somewhat discombobulated.

We may also try to cull out what we don’t want, although we really did that 6 years ago, so we aren’t sure we’ll be able to ditch much.  Also on the agenda: check all boxes to make sure tape is holding up, and contact moving companies.  We are hoping that the next time we come, we can fly, and not drive.

We’ll have 3 to 4 weeks to make this trek, which is about 4100 miles round trip.