My 87 Mustang LX drag car that I wrote frequently about since 2012 has been sold as of the end of last August. The head gaskets got fixed, I had blast with it all summer, but other family responsibilities came up, and it had to go. It was a matter of priorities - a situation that many a gear-head faces usually at several times in their life. Another go-fast vehicle has yet to fill its shoes.What came out of the sale of the Mustang was a 1977 25 foot class c motorhome built on a Chevy 1-ton chassis.
Now you're probably asking, "What the hell did you do that for?" Fair enough. But due to my wife's health challenges, we had to leave the long cold winters of New England and venture south to see if things would improve. Not that we really wanted to do the snow-bird thing - we felt we were too young for that. In any case, it seems we picked one of the "best" winters in over 20 years (whatever that means) to travel down to Georgia. I must admit, overall, the RV performed admirably. In traversing over 5500 miles of all kinds of highways and back roads, we experienced only one tire blowout, one broken fan belt, and an ignition coil that reared a loose connection. We also replaced a seized fan clutch and cut off a stand-alone belt that went to the A/C compressor when the bearings inside the unit started squealing like a banshee.Getting back to the sentence, "we felt we were too young for that" reminded me of a number of things people have related to us over the past nine months as well as other assumptions and perceptions while on a serious road trip. One of the biggest assumptions was since we were RVing, we must be retired and have cake-loads of money. Half the time I felt like saying, "Look what I'm driving - does it look like I'm retired with cash just flowing out of my back pocket?" Not to say that our RV is a piece of junk - it's actually quite comfortable and serves it's purpose very well. But it's 36 years old, didn't cost 100 large, and has seen it's share of road trips long before we purchased it. In fact, most people who RV full time still work to pay the bills. That aspect of today's economy doesn't go away.
However, being in a retro RV gave us the ultimate excuse, (along with our borderline mandatory priorities), to take an extreme road trip - from just above Portland, Maine to the Georgia / Florida line and back taking two completely routes. We embraced everything - from the weather, (which included snow, sleet, hail, 60 mph winds, torrential downpours, tornadoes, and temperatures that ranged from 84 to -2 degrees), the locals, as well as cities and the countryside in the middle of nowhere. By the way, we took over 6,000 pictures.One thing I have to admit, any road trip - be it 2 days or 6 months, it gives you the chance to dismiss some of the unwritten societal rules - like your job, a certain time frame and/or schedule, and maybe even a road map. Who says you need GPS? And, for me personally, a road trip is never complete unless taken in an older, less than pristine vehicle. Why less than pristine? Then I don't have to worry about staining a beautiful interior, or worry the cans, bottles, and other assorted road food garbage that gets on the floors. Or trying to protect perfect exterior paint from various road debris.
It can also be amazing what aspects of your life can fall away, while other ones can intensify. Besides the food, hygiene, and what your vehicle may look like, (all of which are never that bad when you're back at home), you become more aware of your surroundings - like really taking in a beautiful sunset on a country back road, striking up a 90 minute conversation with the cool hotdog stand guy, and not caring that you shut off your iPhone.Stay on the road long enough, and you'll become a master at packing things for maximum efficiency in said vehicle, actually be okay with the fact you only traveled for 2 hours today because you spent three times that long sunning yourself on a warm day by a scenic river, lake, or the ocean. At that point, you have to sleep in the vehicle at least once. It's all about freedom... at least for a time.
Finally, the road trip is all about the experience - have a mindset like the main character did towards the end of the movie "Elizabethtown". Guess what? The road, the route, and this country isn't going to come to you - you have to find it. Take that road trip you've been planning for way too long before you can't do it. You'll thank yourself in the long run.
Until next time - peace out,
Dave
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