Home Safe In Ohio

The first image at the top of this post is of Sara and Kathy out on the side porch working on cutting material to be used in making masks.

It was a whirlwind February and March with our traveling in the coach from Arizona to Mexico for a couple weeks then back to Arizona by the end of February and by the first of March on over to Florida and ultimately up to Ohio (4800 miles total).

The Covid-19 virus put a screw in the works. When we left Arizona for Florida on March 2nd and traveled through New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama there were no precautions taken by us or anyone else that we knew for that matter … but that all changed shortly after we arrived at the Escapee RV Club Sumter Oaks RV Park in Bushnell, Florida.

Our home base for 2 weeks in February (Bushnell, FL)

From then on we were still able to take the car to visit friends and family but hand-shakes and hugs were strictly a no-no. As time went on we were hearing rumblings of “stay-at-home” orders and the possibility of closing state borders to keep residents safe.

Our original plan included a 3 month “layover” in Sylva, North Carolina where we were scheduled to Workamp at Moonshine Creek Campground starting April 1st and running through the July 4th weekend.

Kathy was going to be working in the office greeting new arrivals, handling check-ins and taking reservations in addition to working in the camp store. This would mean she would be face-to-face with customers every day. I would be mostly outside taking care of the grounds, helping arriving RV’ers get parked along with being responsible for the daily cleaning of the bathrooms in addition to the new added task of 3x/day disinfecting of same.

As we started hearing reports of the virus and the precautions that different states were taking, we started to use Social Distancing as well. We did not go anywhere that there might have been a large crowd – Ooops – I just remembered. We DID go to Weeki-Wachee near Brooksville Florida to see the mermaid show. We went with our good friends Matt and Sherry on March 13th. They had just checked into the same park we were at in Bushnell while traveling from Tampa Florida to their newly acquired RV lot in Hondo Texas. Matt and Sherry had plans of a trip to Ireland in April but by now they knew that wasn’t going to happen.

You can click on any of the thumbnails below to see a larger image

From that point on however we were only with our friends or family and at all times with only 1 other couple at a time. We always kept our distance and washed our hands regularly.

We have always fulfilled our Workamping commitments in the past and felt badly that we needed to back out on this North Carolina job, but under the circumstances felt it best for us to cancel. With all the uncertainty, we didn’t want to get stuck anywhere if they did decide to try to limit travel and close any state lines.

After visiting my sister Marilynn and brother-in-law Rick in Jacksonville, we left Florida and as we traveled northward we stayed overnight at Elks lodges two nights along with one night in an RV park. In all cases, we never saw or interacted with anyone in person. The arrangements for our stay were made either by phone or online.

We are back in Ohio. Although we claim Texas as our domicile now, Ohio is home in our hearts. Our children and their families are here along with so many good friends we’ve made over the last 30+ years living in Mount Gilead. We’ve missed them all so much and now we’ll have (hopefully) plenty of opportunity later this summer to make up for lost time.

The coach is at our son and daughter-in-law’s home about a mile down the road while we are living up in the bunkhouse above the garage at our daughter and son-in-laws home just north of Mount Gilead, Ohio. We made it here late March and spent the first few days getting the bunkhouse organized for us to live in for the next few months. We took some of Sara & Stu’s belongings over to the coach (for storage) and brought other things from the coach over here.

It was kinda funny actually and a good thing that our home on wheels is parked only a mile away. We’d make a list of things to bring over here and drive over to David and Lisa’s place to get those items. Later that day we were already making another list of things we forgot to bring. This went on for at least 3 or 4 days! We’re blaming that on old age …

The Bunkhouse above the garage

In addition to working on the bunkhouse, we’re keeping busy here helping Stu and Sara with the annual spring chores. There’s always springtime tasks like; raking out the flower beds, picking up fallen sticks and branches from the many trees around the house, cutting the grass, and cutting and splitting firewood for the next winter season.

I enjoy doing these chores … I need the exercise and enjoy working outside (provided it’s over 50 degrees and sunny) and the kids can use the help.

Moving firewood over to the splitter
Kathy, grandson Garret, and Herb splitting and stacking firewood
One of my favorite pastimes

The first image at the top of this post is of Sara and Kathy out on the side porch working on cutting material to be used in making masks.

Stu is (thankfully) still working during this time. His physical rehab work at the nursing home is considered essential and so he is still working. Sara, who was driving a mini-bus for the county’s transit system has taken a lay-off. Their normal crew of 18 drivers has been cut down to only five for the remaining runs to medical needs that include dialysis and other essential services.

For years before we left Ohio and hit the road full time, we made a regular Friday night ritual of having dinner with 3 other couples of very close friends. Often we went out to a restaurant and occasionally we enjoyed each other’s company and dinner at one of our homes.

We were certainly looking forward to meeting up with our “Friday Night Gang” again when we eventually got back to Ohio after our North Carolina gig. This would have happened right after the July 4th weekend.

But in the meantime, we’re using ZOOM to meet virtually. We tried it Saturday night and it worked great! There are four couples and each of us had a corner of the screen and we could all see each other during the whole 40 minute meet-up. It was great and so much better than emailing, texting, or even talking individually on the phone. What made it so special and fun was that we could all see each other’s expression and body language just as it would be if we were around the dinner table from each other. And when any one of us said something funny, we could all laugh together! Although we couldn’t give and get hugs, it was wonderful to have that personal connection again. We’re making a date for 7:00 p.m. every Friday night from here on out until we can once again meet in person.

Here’s an example of what the ZOOM app looks like on your computer

So we are doing very well under the circumstances. We miss seeing our friends, we miss being able to come and go as we please. We are staying on the grounds here at Stu and Sara’s home as Sara is doing the grocery shopping. There are plenty of projects to keep me busy, although Stu is the one to stop at Home Depot or Lowes on his way home from work to pick up any materials or supplies we might need.

I was saying to Kathy just this morning … I want to go out for breakfast again … but that’ll have to wait.

What about you? How are you handling the situation we find ourselves in? What are you doing to occupy your time if you’re quarantined? Are you still able to work either from home or at your work location? If you’re working away from home what are you doing to stay safe?

That’s the main thing – stay safe by staying home if you can. Use a mask if you go out in public while maintaining the 6′ distance from others and then wash your hands as soon as you get home. Use hand sanitizer as soon as you get back in the car so you are not transferring anything from your hands to your steering wheel and ultimately back to your face.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Our time in Florida and Covid-19

Things have changed dramatically over the past couple weeks. The virus has seemed to have exploded and as a result we’ve had to carefully consider our travel and visitation plans.

We are now in Wauchula Florida where as of yesterday all restaurants are closed except for take-out.

Social distancing and self-quarantine are the norm. The streets and sidewalks, although not barren, are considerably less crowded.

Before arriving here, we were able to enjoy visits with Dave and Robyn in Crestview, Matt & Sherry along with Larry & Darlene in Bushnell, Ed & Sandy in Orlando, Mike & Deb along with Chuck & Joanne in Wildwood, and Dane & Shiela in Bushnell.

Dave and Robyn. Dave and I have been good friends since grade school
RV’er friends Larry & Darlene, Matt & Sherry along with Kathy and me. We’ve known these folks since we started RV’ing and Workamping in 2016
Ed and Sandy. Ed lived across the street from me starting in 2nd grade
We’ve known Chuck & Joanne since 2017. (Sorry I missed getting a pix of Mike & Deb)
Shiela and Dane (who I’ve known since grade school)

But now things are different. We have to be super conscious of who we spend time with, and from what distance we socialize.

Although some might say we’re being reckless, the fact is .. we take our home with us, we meet and spend time with only one other couple at a time, and we’re careful to wash our hands often and be cognoscent of what surfaces we touch.

We moved the rig from Bushnell to Wauchula on Thursday because our RV friends Paul and Chris have been here a couple months and since we wanted to head to Fort Myers to visit Dave & Judy, Wauchula was a good overnight spot along the way and we could catch up on things with Paul and Chris.

We’re parked in Overflow. The shop and a unit in storage are behind us, otherwise we are alone.
Here’s another shot of the beautiful Florida SKP RESORT in Wauchula Florida

Unfortunately, the park instituted a new rule the day we arrived. Since we were coming from (who knows where) we are to self-quarantine and have no access to any amenities like the park clubhouse, laundry, or swimming pool. Think maybe we should get a credit against our 3 night rent?

We also couldn’t visit with Paul and Chris while we were here because of the new rule. Bummer.

So we stayed Thursday night, got up Friday morning and leaving the coach at the park, we drove our car down to Ft. Myers to spend the night at Dave & Judy’s home.

We’ve known Dave & Judy since high school

We had a wonderful visit with Dave and Judy. They took us for a drive Friday night down to Old Town Ft Myers where we were planning on having a nice dinner .. unfortunately the restaurants got the order from the governor at 4pm that afternoon that ALL restaurants in the state were to close their dining rooms. Fr Myers was like a ghost town as we walked the streets.

Almost NOBODY downtown Ft Myers Friday night

Tomorrow we will leave Wauchula and head up to Jacksonville where we’ll spend a couple days visiting with my sister Marilyn and her husband Rick.

After that we’ll move on up to Jekyll Island Georgia where we’ll spend a couple days with friends that we attended church with in Mt Gilead over 30 years ago. They live in Iowa now but usually winter at Jekyll Island.

From there we are scheduled to move on up to North Carolina for a Workamping gig in April, May, June and through the July 4th holiday weekend. We’re having 2nd thoughts about whether that’s a wise move or not. More on that later as the time gets closer. Actually … the decision may be made for us by others (government)

More later .. in the meantime if you’re traveling then safe travels to you. If you’re staying put, then our best wishes for your good health through this difficult time.

Making Progress

Were doing a lot better than this trucker we saw today.

On I-10, crossed the median and rolled.

It was raining almost as soon as we pulled out of Deming, NM and still hasn’t totally stopped now in Sonora, TX.

We came across this poor soul that I’m assuming just didn’t handle the slight (slick) curve on the highway and the huge load of steel oil field pipe he was carrying just had so much momentum that it just pushed him to the left off the road and through the barrier. Thank God the road was lightly traveled and nobody in the eastbound lanes (including us) were hurt or worse.

We were only planning to drive about 300 miles or so each day so we made our way to the Pecos Rest Area on I-10. It’s a very nice, new, well lit and secure rest area with 24 hour security and surveillance cameras. It also a a great visitor center.

The Visitor Center inside the Pecos Rest Area

Even though we had driven 311 miles, it was only about 1:00 pm so we grabbed a snack out of the fridge and continued east a total of 471 miles to the Sonora Rest Area where we will spend the night.

Our home for the night at the Sonoran Rest Area
They have a lot of these nice picnic shelters at Pecos

There’s a little more highway noise here because we don’t have that nice big visitor center between us and the roadway. But we’ll deal with it. Beggers can’t be choosers, right?

The on-board engine monitor

I’m happy with the way the rig is performing. My Tire Pressure Monitoring System assures us that all the tires (including the one I took a chunk out of) are holding up well and we seem to be running somewhere between 7.5 and 8.0 miles per gallon average on our recent trips.

We’ve moved into the Central Time Zone and it’s a little after 8pm. I still have to look at our trip tomorrow to see how far we might get and I need to reach out to our friend Dale in San Antonio to see whether or not he’s working tomorrow and if we might meet for coffee or lunch on our way through town.

For now .. take care and travel safe. We’ll be in touch soon.

Heading East Night 1

I had a last-minute medical test Monday morning that should’ve taken about 45 minutes but it end up being about 2 hours due to some miscommunication between my doctor and the hospital. But in any case it led to a delayed departure from the Roost.

The rig was all ready except to pull the plug at the pedestal because we had worked much of the day Sunday getting organized both in the rig and the shed.

When I got back Kathy had everything inside tucked safely away in it’s appropriate”travel” location so all I had to do was turn the key, pull the rig out to the street so we could hook up the car, and then head east out of Arizona and into New Mexico.

Our plan is to drive about 300 miles a day to get us to Bushnell Florida by Saturday night. We realize that’s a perfect world .. there may be delays and we may not be able to do 300 mes every day. But that’s our goal.

We pulled in to the Escapee Dream Catcher RV Park at Deming, NM about 6:00 p.m. Park Manager Kyle greeted us and got us checked in to a nice dry camping site for $8.50 for the nite.

The clubhouse has an honor system canteen with candy bars and ice cream which we will refrain from visiting because we already had our ice cream today when we visited the Dairy Queen counter at “The Thing” roadside attraction and convenience store on I-10.

The Bowling Travel Stop featuring “The Thing”

Here’s some pix of the store inside. Talk about tourist stuff – Wow! They have it all

Shirts, hats, mugs, and more
The entrance to ‘The Thing”

While we were parked at “The Thing” and we took the opportunity to stretch our legs going in to get our (small) Mint Oreo Blizzards, we also ate our “healthy” lunch back in the coach.

Our typical On The Road lunch😁

I know it doesn’t look like a “healthy” lunch but it’s a lot better than a big bacon cheeseburger and fries. Yes, we have the blizzard and some Veggie Stix, but we’ve also got celery, string cheese, pickles, tuna (in the pink bowl), and cottage cheese.

Dinner tonight will be tossed green salad and Kathy’s homemade Cabbage/tomato/onion/celery/carrot/potato soup.

We enjoy staying at Dream Catcher RV Park.  It’s an Escapee park (discounted stays), you can walk next door to the motel to get a drink at the bar or dinner at their restaurant, and it’s a very E-Z on and off to/from the interstate.

Our dry camping site for the night
The clubhouse at Dream Catcher

The sun is setting, it’ll be an early night tonight. Since we are dry camping, we’ll have no hook-ups to disconnect in the am.

So I know I’ll be up before sunrise. I’ll make our coffee and watch the early morning news while Kathy’s still asleep. Once she’s up and out of the shower well turn the key and keep heading east.

Our plan for tomorrow night is to stay at an eastbound Rest Area just west of Fort Stockton, Texas.

Till then … Be safe out there. Thanks so much for riding along.

Oh by the way … Have you ever been to see “The Thing”? Let us know in the comments section below.

“Driveway Surfing” Is A Blast!

Not sure if there’s an official definition of Driveway Surfing, but my definition is; When an RV’er spends the night on someone’s (often a fellow RV’er) property rather than in a commercial campground or RV park.

Our spot near Ocala, FL in the coolness of the towering pines

This is not only a less expensive alternative to commercial facilities, but much safer than the often-used boon-docking (dry camping) at Wal-Marts, Cracker Barrels, Truck Stops, highway Rest Areas and the like.

The term “Boon-docking” by the way, also known as “dry camping” in the RV’er’s world is stopping/staying at a location that does not offer any utilities or other amenities.  Most RV’er’s are traveling in self-contained units meaning they carry their own water (and waste) tanks and have a means to provide limited electricity to the unit for lighting, water pumping, and sometimes more.

We’ve found that the big added benefit of these overnight stays are the wonderful welcomes we get from our gracious hosts.  We often spend the afternoon and into the evenings together sitting around the bonfire trading stories of our RV’ing and life experiences.  Sometimes we even have dinner together.

Although Kathy and I first became aware of this wonderful benefit of full-time RV life through our membership in Boondockers Welcome, we soon found out that there are other opportunities out there as well.  We’ve found that the Airstreamers (Wally Byam Caravan Club International) along with FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association), and Escapees RV Club members have programs similar to the Boondockers Welcome program.  Another program mentioned to us by many other RV’ers is Harvest Hosts.  Although some of these programs require a nominal annual membership fee in order to access the database and reservation software, others are free to club members.

Here are some pictures we’ve taken as we’ve traveled and met other RV’ers using our “Driveway Surfing” privileges utilizing BoondockersWelcome.com.

Roger and Jan – Randall, Kansas

We were warmly welcomed by our first BoondockersWelcome hosts Roger and Jan to their farm near Randall, Kansas in spring of 2016.  Roger and Jan have a beautiful “earth” home that they custom built on the family farm that Roger was born on.  While Jan prepared dinner for us (a very welcome surprise!), Roger took us on a tour of the 1000+ acre farm that their son now manages and farms (along with Dad’s occasional help).  Roger and Jan have traveled all fifty states, 6 of the 10 Canadian provinces, and down into Mexico.

Click on any of the pictures to see an enlarged view

Coyote & Angel – Ocala, Florida

Our next fantastic visit was to Coyote and Angel’s log cabin retreat near Ocala, Florida.  And what a treat it was!  They’re both retired now, but both have a colorful past and have enjoyed rebuilding over 30 classic and antique cars and trucks in their retirement.  They’re also very creative and have built a wonder-filled outdoor experience that  the pictures below can only begin to explain.  Utilizing BoondockersWelcome, they invite RV’er’s to come and spend the night and they offer their retreat to host car shows, weddings, and other private events.  Since our visit Coyote and Angel have sold their motorhome and bought a vintage Airstream travel trailer and are planning on taking a trip up to Michigan this summer and we’re looking forward to seeing them again up there while we are at our Workamping job at Baldwin, MI.

Click on any of the individual pictures to see an enlarged view

Perry, Ginny, and Georgia – New Boston, TX

Now Perry and Ginny (along with Memaw Georgia) eagerly welcomed us to their home near New Boston, Texas and they showed off their southern hospitality by treating us to a great BBQ rib dinner.

We also enjoyed meeting another Boondocker couple there (Brad & Elaine) who had just returned from a month long trip to New Zealand to visit their daughter.  We all had a great evening together talking and laughing.

Be sure to check out the video below of Ginny and Perry’s “Alpine Village” that they’ve put together over the years.  Ginny told us that after we leave they were going to take it all apart to dust and clean and then put it ALL BACK TOGETHER AGAIN!  Glad it’s not MY job!

Click on any of the individual pictures to see an enlarged view

 

Germantown, OH – Lynn & Jackie

On our way back to “the old home place” in Ohio this spring, we took advantage of the invite by Lynn and Jackie at Germantown, Ohio (near Dayton).  They had us in for a wonderful home-cooked spaghetti dinner and the next day (we stayed two nights) Kathy and I toured the U.S. Air Force Museum adjacent to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.  We also toured the Wright Brothers Museum and the original Bicycle Shop, then spent the late afternoon at Carillon Historical Park where they have nearly 35 buildings there originally built anywhere from the 1870’s to the 1930’s.  The second evening we went out to a local Mexican restaurant and then Jackie and Lynn treated us to a wonderful farewell waffle breakfast just before our departure!

Click on any of the individual pictures to see an enlarged view

Jason – Fairhope, Alabama

This stop was different in that we were not in the driveway of someone’s home, but rather their business.  Jason, a former school teacher turned restaurant owner is a RV’er wanna-be.  Having some restaurant experience in his past life, Jason opened this restaurant about 11 years ago and now is ready to sell and hit the road.

He’s joined all the RV clubs out there, is constantly reading RV’ers blogs and watching YouTube videos about the RV lifestyle and invites RV’ers to his restaurant so that he can have the opportunity to meet and learn from others.

RV’er friends of ours (that we had met in Arizona in 2016) were staying at an Escapees RV park just a few miles away, and so they came on over and we had a great night together enjoying shrimp PoBoys and fried clams.

In the morning, I went on over to the kitchen early while Jason was prepping for the lunch crowd.  I followed him around enjoying the fresh hot coffee and talking about our life histories and RV’ing.

Click on any of the individual pictures to see an enlarged view

 

As we’ve said before, “although seeing the sites as we travel around the country is great … the really wonderful experiences are the new friends we make along the way”, and we thank Boondockers Welcome for helping us to that end.

Driveway surfing is just one more way to experience the good life … maybe you’ll try it someday yourself!

 

WOW! What a Blast – Friends We’ve Seen Along The Way

The reason (or so we thought) that we embarked on our full-time RV lifestyle on Labor Day of 2016 was to fulfill our desire to travel and see as much of this beautiful country of ours that we could.

We’ve seen a lot of sites since then, but there’s still so much more to go and we could spend a lot more time in any specific area to allow us to explore more deeply, so it’s very likely we’ll be going back again to many places in future years to do so.

A HIDDEN BENEFIT

But what has really turned out to be a wonderful benefit of traveling and not being on a “vacation” type schedule (running from place to place) is that we’ve been able to meet up with and spend time with family and “old” friends (not to say they are OLD by any means!).

This blog post features some pictures of those we’ve met up with along the way. Some are “NEW” friends and some are our “OLD” friends.

Unfortunately, although I had every intention of taking a “selfie” of us altogether at every meetup, we occasionally parted company without remembering to shoot a pix, so I’m listing those folks as well.  If I’ve missed you in this post, I apologize.  If you’re reading this and you can send me a picture of yourself, I’d really appreciate it.  My email address is herbsells@gmail.com

I know many of you won’t know any of these folks, but I also know it’ll be fun for those that are in the pictures to see some of the others and remember times past along with the brief time we spent together in the last year or so.

I’m going to post the pictures into a collage, you will be able to click on any individual photo to enlarge that particular picture to see a “zoomed in” view.  The zoomed-in view will also let you see a brief description of who they are and our relationship.