This sounds like me. I recently started participating in the iRV2 forums again since I want to take some RV trips this fall. All the posts complaining about the general lack of services, rude people in campgrounds, being broke down on the side of the interstate and no tow company wants to deal with RVs, the tire shortage, etc, etc, etc. Makes me want to put the "For Sale" sign on the motorhome and forget it. I've turned into a worrier in my old age. I used to head out by myself to drive the 1,000 miles in a single day to see my parents and didn't even bother to check the tires. Hope y'all have a fun and uneventful trip, Mary. Be safe out there.
The only event will probably be my husband strangling me. I need to remember to duct tape my mouth. I just wanted not to end up the subject of the Roll Call search party
Crashes are a daily occurrence, fairly frequent on earth. Earthlings must get used to it, hehehe..... The phones that automatically update travel directions with info on construction or accidents affecting traffic or even ability to get thru one way or another may be very convenient, but remember any government agency or hacker or corporation can "buy" information about your travel and your location all the time or at any time ....
This is my one and only trip out of state. I have heard flights keep getting cancelled so not worth the frustration. I usually just turn this phone off until I want it on. That way, I don't butt dial nor get bothered by calls I am not ready to answer. I can check what happened while it was off, later. Kind of like the good old days when you left your phone on the wall and answered it when you got home. How did we survive then?
No, I'm not on the road yet, since we won't be leaving until December 1 and, even then, we'll be on Amtrak more than we will be on the road. We'll be driving to Portland, Maine, where we will catch the train to Boston, spend the night in Boston, then catch the train to Washington, DC, after which we'll Uber to our hotel in Arlington. We'll be spending 6-7 days in Arlington, then reversing everything en route back home. I prefer driving to the train but there is so little that can be done with the car once we get to Arlington. The hotel charges $15 per night for parking and anywhere we might want to go will involve much larger parking fees, plus fighting the DC traffic. So, if we're going to be calling Uber once we get there, anyhow, we may as well leave the car in Portland and take the train.
My last Train ride was in around 56 or 57. I had to go to California and stay with my Mother for a year because my Grandmother was having some serious surgery, a lung removed. Linda stayed there at home and after my Grandmother recovered a few months my Mother put me on the Train to Houston. I remember it very well because I was handed a 5 dollar bill to eat on. So after the first day of traveling I fell asleep and woke up somewhere in Arizona and it was cold in the car because they had unhitched us to wait for another Train engine to hook us up and continue. It was an hour or so before that happened and late that afternoon I was getting really hungry so I ask for a ham sandwich and some potato chips. The porter brought it to me and I gave him my 5 dollar bill and I got a couple cents back. Two slices of bread and a thin slice of ham and a tiny package of chips and that was what that 5 dollar bill paid for. I was in shock because I had plans to use some of that 5 dollars to hit the movies when I got home. I can only imagine what it cost now to eat a ham sandwich on a train. To think back in those days the train wasn't paid for by the taxpayers it was privately owned much like every other transportation device in America. That pretty much set the tone as far as my Train Travels in the future, I just don't do Trains.
It was bittersweet selling the fifth wheel a couple of years ago after 10 years of RVing (4-5 months at a time every year). But, he was getting tired of the hitching and unhitching, setting up and breaking down camp, and at 10 years old, serious and expensive repairs and replacements were looming on the horizon. Things like the year we had three blowouts in five days made it less fun. We had taken good care of the old gal and got a really good price on resale. I really miss her, though. I got spoiled sleeping in my own bed every night and cooking in my own kitchen and using my own bathroom. I don't like motels or Air B&Bs.
This is why we hang onto our RV. It's also 10 years old and we should get rid of it, if only to save the ridiculous covered storage fees and insurance. But we just love the dang thing!
I shudder to think how much repairs cost on an RV. They were expensive 50 years ago. Most mechanics hate to work on one. They build the coach around the engine not giving any thought as to how a repair can be made. I was a automatic transmission repairman in Pahrump with all the snowbird traffic we did a lot of motor home repairs. I've seen some new ones that they didn't even give a thought as to how the transmission could be removed for repairs. One I had to remove I had to ask the owner for permission to use a cutting torch to cut the cross member out so the transmission could be removed. They placed the cross member bolts from the top of the frame and had about a quarter of an inch between the head of the bolts and the floor of the coach. Pure stupidity ! I cut the cross member out and re weld it back together. Not my favorite thing going behind idiots who sell that stuff. If it had been professionally built or engineered the cross member could have been modified while there was no coach installed. It reminded me of my first job working for Buick in 1970, we were still repairing lots of old 50s Buick's that had closed tube driveshafts. Built like a tank and to remove the transmission in one of those you had to drop the rear end and unbolt the tube to get the transmission out. Lots of fun memories, I sure am glad to not be working on any of this new stuff. In 1970 the old guys that had been at the dealer for 35 years were complaining about the new Rivieras and them not being able to bend over one to work under the hood. It was true there was enough room under the hood to crawl up inside and take a nap.
I recall you and your son took a stroll through Arlington Cemetery sometime back, @Ken Anderson. Does he live in the region? Is he gonna meet you two there?
That was my grandson and yes, their dad drives him and his sister down while we're there, and we all go to Arlington Cemetery. Usually, then, the kids would spend the night with us and we'd take them to a museum or somewhere the following day. They live near Baltimore so it's not too far. We didn't make it last year because nothing would have been open anyhow, and the kids are older now. I know the grandson will be coming but I'm not sure about the grandaughter.
We'll be leaving early tomorrow, so I don't think I'll be here again until we're in a hotel in Boston tomorrow night.