SOME MUSINGS FROM THE ROAD…..

When you go off in an RV for almost 2 months, you quit being a neophyte.  Setting up and breaking down become a rhythm almost like brushing your teeth.  As with any specialized activity, RV’ing has its own vocabulary.  Somewhere about Lake Powell, I realized I was throwing out RV terms with the “best of ‘em”… LOL   Here ar some of my new terms…

Diesel pusher Airstream Mercedes trekker Toy hauler Pull through  Full timers  Stop and drop

5th Wheel  Class A, B, C Towdolly vs. tow bar Hook ups (not sexual!) Hi/low Pop up Pop out Slide out

On the Southwest…

The Southwest is a beautiful place.  Around every curve is a natural wonder.  However the desert is a harsh and unforgiving environment.  The Native Americans seemed to adapt to the land better than the White Folk.  We were fortunate to see Spring in the desert, and our pictures do not capture the delicacy and colors of the blooms.  When we found shade and trees for camping under, we felt truly lucky and missed our Carolina Pine and hardwood forests.  There sure is a lot of land out here, and if they could find a use for sagebrush, folks could be rich.  There also seems to be endless opportunities for solar and wind power, but there are not many folks out here to use it!

California, on the other hand has its own culture, in fact many cultures.  I can understand why folks would love the climate, though I would miss having seasons.  The trees out here are actually comical, and often between the palms and succulents, I felt like I was living in a Dr. Seuss story!

Why can’t we “pretty up” our sound walls and interstate bridges like they do out here… I guess you use your art where you spend your time!!  One time we counted 20 lanes across an interstate in San Diego!! 

Fun Signs We Have Seen: 

·         Toad Suck Park

·         Come in for beer and fireworks!  ( a lethal combination if there ever was one!)

·         Booneslick Lodge

·         Bowling Ball Yard Art 1 mi.   got my camera ready and everything…. Never saw it

·         Hogshooter Creek (near Bartlesville OK)

·         Welcome to Texas where farting is a competitive sport

·         35 minutes from Heaven (Utah)

·         Friday is Bike to work day (seen as a DMV sign on a 14 lane interstate!  What are they going to do, put one lane for bikes?  Hope not!! LOL)

The Best Stuff We Brought…

·         The segways… They are great for seeing a lot of territory in a short time.  They also are great “people meet-ers”… we will miss them this summer.

·         Dave’s new camera.  He’s had so much fun with it and has some really great shots and panoramas.  We’ve got to come up with some way to use some of them.  Another panorama over the front window?  Tiles downstairs? 

·         “Myrtle” – the GPS… sometimes she gets “confused” but she is very patient with us and will recalculate without ever getting upset with us.  How on earth did Mother and Daddy do it with paper maps and “dead reckoning”?  How did they stay married?!!

·         Both the heavy and light-weight bedspreads.  We’ve used them both and have even used both “throws” (which I originally thought was overkill.)  In fact in the desert, there were several days when we used both the heater and air conditioner in the same day!

·         This laptop. It has been my newpaper (thank you Charlotte Observer for the new Observer on line that feels almost like a real paper), our research tool,  it has entertained us, and most importantly, we used it to video-chat with Abbie , Ella and Granddad Clay!

Things I wish we had brought…There’s really very little… and what we really needed we got in the first week or so at various Wal-Marts!!

·         A sweater.  I brought several jackets, but often wanted a warm “comfort” sweater.

·         A fireplace poker… Dave keeps burning his best sticks.. lol

·         More socks… I didn’t know I would be wearing tennis shoes almost exclusively.