Resting...

Sometimes "full-timing" can be exhausting.  Let me explain...

Most of the time, being retired, we drive when and where we want.  We get a map out, take a look at where we've been, where we haven't been, pull out some travel books, check the weather and discuss what we would like to see, then mark a route and go from there.  That's our general life.  Then, occasionally, plans change.  Grandchildren get born, sisters move into a new home, friends get married, etc. and we have to zig and zag in order to get to these various locations at the times that these occasions are happening.  Routes change in order to fit family visits in as well.

None of this is unusual for the full-timer, except when you find yourself in upper state New York 15 days before you need to be in southern California for a wedding!  Driving through 11 states in a 36' motorhome with a toad during the height of summer is not fun!

We gave ourselves a couple of days "leeway", and it was a good thing we did, because "if something could go wrong....it would"....and it did.  We decided to spend a couple of days visiting our friends in Surprise AZ resting, and while there we had two surprises.  The first was a spider bite that got infected on my knee that I ended up having to go to the Urgent Care.  Luckily we were somewhere where we knew and felt comfortable with.  They identified the problem and prescribed antibiotics that took care of it in time.

The second problem happened the following day when our friend knocked on our door and showed Jack that we had "orange liquid flowing out of the underside of our rig".  Not good.  Luckily, we were able to get into the shop right away and find out what it was and have it fixed in a couple of days.  Again, right place, right time.  Just a couple days delay.

Driving day after day, doing "one night stands" is not fun and is exhausting.  We made it to California with a day to spare.  A shower and dinner with friends, then the wedding!

The wedding was beautiful, and I'm glad we made it, but I was glad when it was over and really needed the rest.  All I wanted to do was....nothing.  Go nowhere, see nothing, talk to no one...just not move.  Rest.  After 2 days, we moved from Temecula to Ramona and parked ourselves for 4 more days and didn't do anything.  Slept and read.  That's about it.

On the last day, we finally drove into the town of Ramona for lunch and to see some of their beautiful murals.  Having lived in San Diego for many years, of course we had been to Ramona before, but it had been many years.  It's really grown!  It's quite a lovely town, and had I been more in the mood to be a "tourist" it would have been fun to spend some time going through some of their cute shops.  But not this day.  This day was about getting my fix for a Rubio's fish taco and taking a few pictures, and that was it.

Well, I'm feeling much better, and we've dug out the maps & the books and we are "back at it", so we are off again on another adventure!  This time, though, we are going to take it a whole lot  s l o w e r !   We're headed to Colorado, via the north rim of the Grand Canyon first (never been!).

Aw, the life of a full-timer...


...on the road,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/