Back in the Saddle, Northwood, NH

9/14/11

I’m feeling esoteric and dreamy this evening. Sometimes my mind gets caught up in a tornado of all the places we’ve seen/been, the people we’ve talked with, the food we’ve eaten. Then I think of all the MORE we’re going to experience and it leaves me in wonderment. Which leads to how lucky, lucky, lucky I am to have had such an outstanding career with WSF – mostly fun, lots of great peeps, good public service; to be able to retire at 54 years old; to spend day after day of quality time with the man I love and respect; to have a daughter who we’ve been fortunate enough to watch grow, mature, laugh with, cry over, who is a wonderful citizen of the world (as I like to call raising a good kid); a family I love more each day, who are funny beyond belief, bright as the sun in my eyes, loving and kind; to have held onto such creative and deeply loving friends throughout my whole life; traveling in this apartment on wheels is pretty comfortable and very unique.

I think about the three years we planned this adventure – and now we’re doing it! I spent three years with this dream in my big head, and this dream was surrounded by a golden glow. That halo effect means that all is well, all will be well, everything will be as you dream it will be. Your future holds endless days of blue skies, aqua pools and sunshine. Unfortunately, that’s not really how it rolls in life; we’ve have endless days of sun which equals sweltering humidity and many bug bites; very few pools….three so far, I think…..not enough anyway; and the skies have been blue, the buffalo have roamed. There are skeeters with all of the above, big spiders, and sweating like we’ve never sweated before. So, it’s not disappointing exactly, it’s just different – and that’s what life serves up for your lunch almost every day.

I’m never bored, and I love that! How fortunate we are to have Facebook for instant postings and keeping up with family and friends, email, texting, cell phones – what a beautiful way to connect with everyone. This ain’t no Calamity Jane/Deadwood days where the mail was delivered via horseback that took several months. I’ve been such a social person my whole work life, and that has come to a screeching halt while traveling. Yes, you can talk up your neighboring rv’ers, but I haven’t felt the need, most of the time. It’s nice to have all of the above electronics at my fingertips, as it makes me feel social, even with no direct contact with people. I do look forward to settling in Florida, or wherever it’s warm, and instigating a community around us. Tony does a lot more talking to folks than I do. I mostly find them boring and mundane and predictable, so why waste my time? If I hear one more 60’ish man say, “Yes Dear! Ha ha ha!” about his wife I’m going to puke!

Some random pics of Concord, NH:

9/16/11

Long, long day at Camping World (CW) in Chichester, NH. A two hour oil change and tire seal lasted about 7 hours. And poor Roku had to be put in his cat cage the whole time. The system at CW doesn’t bode well for customers: many repairs during a day, little to no communication from our service rep. Dropped Blue off at 9:00 AM, first conversation with our rep at 2:00 PM. Left the place at 4:45 PM. Way too long. However, it did give me time to drive to UPS in Manchester to pick up a package of coffee from Nespresso.

On the road a short bit to Saddleback Campground, Northwood, NH. Route 4 absolutely a great drive, with more quaintness, a beautiful lake, and a great ice cream place. Saddleback has proven to be a true gem of a campground. I learned more about the intricacies of RV life from owners Les and Nancy than I have from being on the road. They enthusiastically answered so many questions about campgrounds, rates, clubs, inspections, etc. Roku is in pure heaven here, able to roam and explore not only woods, but a pond and other camper’s sites. We caught him taunting a dog at another site last night, little rascal.

We’re off to York on the Maine coast today, to start our way up to leaf peeping, as they call it here. Tony and Roku are still sleeping, and being awoken at 5:00 am by Mr. Kitty Boy, I’m ready for a nap!