the maiden voyage

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(While we are having a wonderful time with this new adventure, our hearts are heavy about the tragedies in Haiti and elsewhere. How lucky we are to have such silly problems while others suffer so deeply.)

We got the car hooked to the rear of the motorhome and left Durham at 8:25 AM on Friday, January 15. We are now (Tuesday, January 19) at an RV park a few miles west of Savannah, looking forward to taking the car in to spend time in that glorious city. We can't walk as much as we'd like, because of Linda's healing broken ankle. But we will surely enjoy our time there.

We have learned quite a few things along the way...
- Day 1, as we passed Baltimore, we drove through a tunnel marked "Maximum 5 tons gvw." John did not heed my warnings, but I later made him look up our gvw, and the RV weighs 20,500 pounds. Oops! That night, we slept in the RV, parked on a street that was not especially wide, by his brother's house.
- The next day, we rendezvoused with Deborah and her sons at a Metro station in DC, for a brief visit. Then we had to thread our way through DC. Driving a bit too close to a bus, we rearranged his mirror. Then we came to a turn for a tunnel, posted 13' maximum height. Because of our recent weight goof, I made John drive through city streets instead. We have yet to measure the height of this thing. We got hooked up at an RV park, and all seemed fine until a neighbor alerted us to the water pouring out from under the vehicle. Somehow the fresh water tank was overflowing.
- Awoke next morning to torrential rains; really grateful to have "graduated" from our tent. When it ceased, we set off to drive in to town (Selma, NC). BUT. John had accidentally left the car key set at "acc", where it must be for towing, and the battery was dead as a doornail. To no surprise, a neighbor helped us jump the battery. (Linda for the first time drove an electric wheelchair around a store; a man asked if I had a license...)
- John asked Linda for her keys, and they were missing. We looked everywhere we could think of. Linda was a bit "down" all day as a result.
John wanted to get the fresh water tank checked, so we exited 95 to get to an RV dealer who had been advertising on billboards for dozens of miles. BUT there were no signs once we exited, and we turned right. (Linda is making some progress with their new GPS, but has not yet figured out how to locate RV dealers.) It soon became clear that the dealer was not in that direction. So we turned around, and John pulled in to a gas station to ask directions. Yes, we should have turned left. But first we needed to get out of the gas station. We drove forward and would have turned in a lot ahead except that it was very muddy because of the recent rain and Linda panicked about getting stuck in mud. So they went forward to a motel, despite signs that said "No semis" and "No trucks." We soon found out why. There was no passage around the motel. So John unhooked the car, drove it back to the gas station, and returned to carefully back the RV out. The motel owner was very sarcastic with us, but at least he did not call the police on us. We followed directions to the RV dealer. We skipped the first entrance, only to find that the other two were blocked. So we just continued on our way.
The highlight of the day occurred when the young man who led us to our plot at this RV park said John is the only person who has parked his RV correctly the first time.
- While I have been writing this, John dropped my keys in my lap!!!! Last night, I had suggested that we might check in my boot, which had been just in front of the little table where I was pretty sure I had left the keys. (We had put the boot back in the car, because we are starting to get temperatures in the high 60's to 70's - sorry, you guys who just had nearly a foot of snow...) He replied that that was a pretty far-fetched possibility. So he finally checked this morning, and eureka!

Indeed, John has been remarkably calm as we have encountered each challenge.

I have no plan to continue to be so verbose on every day of our trip. I just plan to write about the actual traveling, and we are only 300 or so miles from the place where we plan to stay for a couple of weeks. A friend said we would learn a lot on our first trip. How true.

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Comments

[Judy M. from Catonsville]

You are on your way!
Well, after reading your first post, I was actually tired. I guess there's a lot more to owning an RV than just "going places." I forgot about having to watch out for small bridges, height restrictions, turnarounds, etc. Have a wonderful time on your trip. I'm looking forward to your next post. Judy

[Chuck and Joni]

Hope you have no more calamities, and we'll see you tomorrow! Hugs, Chuck and Joni

[Lynn Glase]

my sides are splitting
This is hilarious! It sounds, however, that you cane out well. Love, Lynn

[Jane Davidson]

love the blog!
Hi Linda and John, I love reading your blog, and am jealous of the two of you. Linda, you had me smiling a couple of times with your descriptions, as I could see John's reaction to things. Glad for you that you are in the sunny south, as it was -1 here this am. Hey, we have another grand daughter, Lilyanna Jane Davidson Jacobs, born on Jan 19th, weighing 8 lbs 5 oz. She was c-section, and is still in the hospital, as she has had a few minor complications and they are monitoring her for a few more days. Lilyanna, Hanna and Adam are in love and doing well. I look forward to more commentary about your trip. As always, Jane and Rick in the cold tundra of northern NH