Two Hams on the Road

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Sorry for my long absence.  I caught a cold in Disney World and am just now getting over it.  We're at my parents in New Bern, NC.

We left Disney on Tuesday, February 18.  We headed for New Bern and wanted to be there by Friday, as Steve had a flight out of New Bern for Indiana on Saturday.  We drove across Orlando to pick up Obi at the kennel.  It turned out to be a great kennel.  They thought he was wonderful and while he was glad to see us,  he wasn't frantic as he usually is.  They had also him groomed, so he looked and smelled good.  He would still rather not travel, but has mastered both going up and down the trailer stairs and even once tried to jump into the truck, but it's just too high.

We stopped at an RV campground in Brunswick, GA.  It was just off I95, which suited us as we were hitting the road the next morning.  We used to wonder who would stay at an RV campground next to an interstate, but find them very convenient.  And our RV seems well enough insulated that I don't hear the traffic.  Steve, of course, hears relatively little after he takes out his hearing aids.  It was perfect for us.  We had a pull through site, which along with the new automatic jacks, made setup time minimal.

On the road the next day, we stopped at a truck stop for diesel.  Truck stops can be amazing places.  This one even had laundry facilities for the truckers and a 25 person TV lounge.  Food was provided by Denny's, Subway and the normal truck stop hot dogs and pizza.  Showers are fairly common at truck stops and this one had plenty.  Our normal routine at truck stops is first to figure out where they want us to go.  Sometimes RVs go where the semi's go, sometimes with the cars and occasionally they have their own pumps.  Once we've figured that out, Steve pulls in to fuel and I give Obi a potty break.  Then I head in for the restroom and anything we need.  Truck stops are a good place to pick up milk or OJ if we need it for morning.

Now, with a big blue pickup pulling a white trailer, Steve's usually not hard to find when I exit the truck stop, even if Steve's moved away from the pumps.  Blue pickups are somewhat rare.  But I came out one time and couldn't see him, so I called.  He was pulling around and would be out front in a minute.  I saw him and headed that way, only to realize it was the wrong kind of trailer.  So I stopped and looked around.  Oh, there he was.  Headed that way again, only to realize that wasn't him either.  There were three blue pickups pulling white fifth wheels at that truck stop at the same time.

We took I95 to I24 to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, outside of Charleston.  Steve's nieces, Jennifer and Meredith live there and we set up a time to have dinner with them.  We had a day in Charleston.  I was still babying my foot and nursing my cold, so Steve took a walking tour of downtown and went out to Fort Sumter.  There's lots of history in Charleston, so we hope to return to it.

Leaving Mount Pleasant, we headed north on US 17, which will take us straight into New Bern, NC.  It also took us right past a church in Wilmington, North Carolina, where a friend of ours is assistant pastor.  We met Mark for lunch.  Mark used to be the Lutheran campus minister at Purdue before he moved to North Carolina.  He and Steve have kept in touch and we always enjoy a visit.

US 17 travels through North Carolina pine forests and isn't a bad drive.  We managed to get to Mom and Dad's in time for dinner.  Dad had arranged for us to park in his neighbor's drive way, which is on the circle at the end of their street.  That gave us extra room to maneuver the trailer into the driveway.  Steve's getting better at backing the trailer, but it's still an effort.

After dinner, Steve started packing for his trip.  He found it odd to pack for a trip home.  He wanted to travel with only carryon, so no lotions or toothpaste.  He has clothes at home.  But he packed his duffel bag and his backpack and I took him to the airport in the morning.   He had a board meeting on Monday in Lafayette and was flying on Saturday in case he ran into bad weather.  Luckily he escaped bad flying weather, but wasn't quite ready to enjoy the low temperatures in Indiana.  I think he had every hour scheduled on Monday, but managed to find time to see friends on Sunday.  Thanks to Mark and Mary Kay Davis, he even got a home cooked meal on Sunday.

Meanwhile, I was at Mom and Dad's, trying to get rid of my cold and helping out as much as I could. There's always plenty to do.  Their dog, Missy, is only 5 pounds but she and Obi mostly get along.  Actually, they mostly ignore each other, until one tries to eat.  Then we have to separate them.  But they will share Mom's lap.

Steve came back on Tuesday and it wasn't hard to convince him that mid March might be too early to return to West Lafayette.  I think we'd have to winterize the trailer unless we ran the furnace in it.  So we're plotting a trip back to Dallas through the northern south.  We'll celebrate my birthday with Natasha's family and say goodbye to Olga.  She's returning to Russia March 27 (I think) and plans to be there for a year.  Hopefully we can get her back for the holidays next winter.

I think we'll be leaving here on Tuesday and heading west.

More later!

Deb