The End of an Era

 

A truly rewarding chapter has come to an end. We have now returned the keys to The Wanderer to its previous owner—our friend Roger—grateful for all it has given us over the past ten years.

Traveling the U.S. in a motorhome was our dream as we approached retirement in 2014. As luck would have it, Roger was planning to sell his small 2005 Lazy Daze at the same time. It was an easy decision to purchase it and see if that kind of travel was truly for us. Our thinking was simple: if we loved it, we could always upgrade to something larger.

On August 28,2015, we embarked on our first cross-country adventure in The Wanderer. After 12 weeks away from home—14 states, 6,078 miles, five presidential libraries and museums, 32 wineries, four football games, and nine Walmart parking lot stays—we were in love.

She became our home away from home over the past decade. Captain poured his heart and soul into upgrades and tweaks for comfort, while ABN added her signature bohemian touches. Of all the adventures we experienced on the road, the most meaningful surprise was the friendships we formed along the way.

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As she pulled out of our driveway for the last time, we sent her off with heartfelt wishes—that she continues to bring joy to Roger and his family.

While we may have aged out of RV travel, we have no intention of slowing down. The Beast—our Yukon Denali—is now our primary travel companion, ready for the next chapter of adventures.

It's not the same.

 

We miss The Wanderer! While traveling in The Beast is quicker (3-1/2 days vs. 9 days) and one could argue a bit more comfortable, especially for Captain, we tired quickly of hotels and restaurants. And we missed meeting other travelers at Harvest Host stays.

One thing we have learned is, all Hampton Inns are not the same. Having made many trips over the past 30+ years to Captain’s hometown in College Station, TX , we were familiar with the one in Texarkana, AR, so that was a no-brainer. However the one in Las Cruces, NM and the one in Midland, TX (a TRU hotel) are on our Never Again list.

Traveling the familiar route to Arizona, a lot of our conversations were about previous trips, so we revisited a couple of our past Harvest Host proprietors.

It was not the same as our memories were of sipping wine on the patio visiting with other travelers after the winery closed.

Our memory of this Harvest Host stay was sleeping in the parking lot, waking to a construction crew.

We did find an interesting brewery in Midland, TX.

On the other hand, there are pluses to traveling in a SUV over a motorhome, other than using a lot less gasoline; there is no worry about parking spaces; consistent high speed internet; and no need for dumping stations.

Even though we miss our “home”, in the vacation rental we enjoyed the full size shower, no laundromats and a full kitchen.

Our Airbnb in a retirement community was very nice with all the modern conveniences and many miles of walking trails.

We missed seeing the beautiful western sunsets, the view of the mountains, camaraderie of other travelers and the familiarity of our tailor-made comfort creatures. But we were conveniently located near Fry’s grocery, Trader Joe’s and many other commercial entities. Most importantly, we were located midway between our friends in Gold Canyon and family in Chandler, and we had the opportunity to share our space with other friends and family.

To live life to the fullest as we age, we are embracing the changes.

 

 

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Have you heard?

In case you haven’t heard, we had a “Winter Weather” event over the weekend. For us, that meant about 8 inches of snow followed with a bit of sleet and ice. Of course everything was closed, grocery shelves were cleared of bread, eggs and milk (it’s time for French toast) and children bundled up for sledding. (It didn’t matter that the temperature hovered near single digits.)

It was a great time to “chill.”

On Saturday, ABN provided the stage and played the role of sou chef to an aspiring 11-year old neighbor while Captain napped and watched basketball. Y’all do know the Texas A&M Aggies are leading in the SEC, don’t you? We are gloating while we can as next week they begin play against the tough teams.

While ABN enjoyed a pajama day in the craft studio on Sunday, listening to an audio book (Crossroads by Jonathan Frazen,) finishing projects, sorting and organizing stash,

and writing a blog post, Captain watched more sports, read the Wall Street Journal, worked on taxes, and, his favorite thing to do, planned a couple of  trips. No pajama day for Captain. (Someone had to keep the bird feeder filled and the sidewalk cleared.)

Enough of chill time! As our community braces for another round of Artic blast, we are headed to Sun San Tan Valley.