Missing Our Motorhome(s) and Introducing . . .

 

Our First Motorhome, 40' American Eagle

It has been 3 full months (and a few days) since we have been "Motorhomeless".  Oh, the pain we feel...  WHY does it hurt is something I explore today...not listed in any order...

Second Home 

All of our motorhomes (3 of them) have been a second home to us.  It is nice to be on the road and yet feel like you are still at home.  The hardest part is when it breaks and you find yourself in a "Motel" for a few nights.  One thing that is very nice about a motorhome is...if you don't like your neighbors, move on...which we have done a few times.

Our Second Motorhome, 32' Jayco Melbourne

Safety Valve to escape Hurricanes

When you live in Hurricane Country, you like having an escape.  "IF" a hurricane comes to close to where you live, but does not wipe out your home, you could be faced with living with no electricity for a prolong period of time.  Frequently after a Hurricane passes, the temps climb back up into the 90's with Humidity also in the 90's which equals HELL!  Having a motorhome means you can leave before it hits, come back when it is all safe again, and all the while, living in the comfort of your second home.

Visiting Friends and Family

When we travel, we frequently are visiting friends and family.  Not only has it allowed us to spend countless months in Sacramento lending a helping hand with mom and when he was alive, dad...but visiting children, brothers, sisters, cousins, and long-time friends.  We will be always grateful for the ability to help with mom and dad, to be there when dad passed from this life to the next, but Marcia was able to visit her hometown area and see cousins and other relatives and a friend or two throughout the country also.  

Visiting Interesting Places

When we got married back in 2011, Marcia would have never imagined that she would visit places like Alaska, National Parks and National Monuments too numerous to name.  Yet some of our special memories also lay in areas around Truckee, Quincy, Gold Beach, Lake Pleasant and many others where it was just peaceful and kicked back areas.  One of the last library conferences I attended was out west, and Marcia and I drove, by car, there and back.  On the way back, on the spur of the moment, we drove over to Moab and drove through Arches National Park for a quick 90 minute visit.  As we left she had me call mom and the excitement in her voice as she told hereeverything we saw.  She had NO IDEA what laid in store for her over the next 13 years!

Our Third Motorhome, 28' Dynamax Isata

Interesting People

There have been so many interesting people we have met along this path.  Fellow bloggers, some of whom we 'wish' we knew they were in the same area, sometimes the same parking lot, as us and we did not connect.  If I start naming names, I would leave someone out...so I will leave it at that.  There were also some interesting people that we never knew until either we pulled up next to them, or they to us.  Here are just a few special ones.

Maxine from Ontario:  Maxine is/was this lady in her late 80's.  She pulled a small trailer with her little Toyota SUV or Wagon.  She drives up, pulling that trailer, from Ontario each year to Seward, where she parks in the large boondocking campground there.  She was such a wonderful neighbor.  This is where Skruffy got real sick, and we had to cut out and get to Soldotna where my next 'special person' saved Skruffy's life.

Veterinarian, Dr. Marie “Meezie” Hermansen:  One of the most important people we met because it was HER that saved Skruffy's life...her and prayers.  I wrote a blog post about her which I will refer you too...it says it all.  Skruffy’s Doctor -- Born to Fish, Vet by Choice, and a Storyteller

Unnamed Traveler:  This lady I met walking the dogs at a KOA doggie park.  I never did catch her name, but she was a talker and had stories to tell.  Her husband was a Captain in the L.A. Fire Department.  They traveled for over ten years in a large Class A gas motorhome….visited every state, every Canadian province, and even a few states in Mexico.  Then her husband got a hernia…had complications….died from it.  She downsized, and goes out for months at a time alone, despite her age of mid-70's to mid-80's…with her two dogs. She told me this story of how her husband made her change a flat tire in the Class A.  As a firefighter, he wanted her to be able to be self sufficient.  So she got that side up on motorhome's levelers so the tire was up off the ground.  He taught her how to use her leverage, along with the proper tools, to get the lugs off...how to get the tire off...how to get the good tire back on.  He, in the meanwhile, was down under the motorhome just checking things out when a CHP Officer drives up and approaches her to help.  "No," she says, "If I did that, my husband would have to kill you..."  That startled the officer until he hears this laughter coming from under the motorhome.  Her husband slides out, introduces them as his wife continues to do the work, and he explains the situation, which the officer just nods and walks back to his car and takes off.  She told me that she was around 60 when this took place...what a lady she was.

Small World Folks:  Amazing how many times we met someone who either lived by one of us, or lived by and know some of the same people we know.  Like while in Alaska we stayed at a RV Park for an extended time while Skruffy was sick.  We had her out on "furlough", which turned out to be permanent, and while sitting out in the sun one day a lady and her young daughter came over.  The lady asked if her daughter could pet the dog...I explained that she was sick, and the lady already knew all about it.  I asked where she was from, she said Blue Springs Missouri...right where my cousin Casey lived, right where mom and dad use to live, and come to find out she went to the same church as mom, dad and Cassie and her dad and my dad were good friends.  Or the time at Devils Tower when I see a couple with Arkansas license plates.  I dropped by say hello and see where they were from...it was White Hall...where my kids were raised, where one of the Libraries I was over is located (both used the library all the time) and their home was less than a mile from the house my kids were raised in.  Another took place in Bakersfield while we stayed at the Orange Grove RV Park.  Here is how this encounter went:

Asked this guy in the new truck with older 5th wheel where he was from…

    “Sacramento” he said.
    “We are headed there…” I said.  “Left Florida Wednesday night.”  Got that look….
    “Wow, that is some traveling!”
    “Yep…headed for my sister’s backyard in Citrus Heights…”
    “Well, that is really where I am from…where at in Citrus Heights?”
    “Off Antelope…” as I described the area.
    “Heck, that is just down the street from me…I live right by the old Van Marin homestead….”

We talked some more…but what a small small world this is.  He ate at the restaurants I worked at, he knew of Arny’s Corvette Body Shop on Auburn, etc. etc.  But he did not know Arny, although they both have lived within 1/2 mile of each other for years and years.
 
The Motorhomes

Above you can see the three different Motorhomes we have owned.  The American Eagle we had from November 2011 to May 2013.  After a major breakdown, and realizing that I was not enjoying driving such a large vehicle, we stepped down to the 32' Jayco Melbourne.  We had that Motorhome from June 2013 till March 2014 when it was caught up in a RV Storage Fire which turned her to ahses.  A short month later we purchased the Dynamax Isata, which we kept from April 2014 until February 2024 when we donated it.  We put nearly 100,000 miles on that Motorhome, and she was a good one.  So, where does that leave us?

Introducing the 2024 Thor Sequence 20L

Yesterday we put a $5k down payment on this Silver Sequence 20L.  It is on a Ram Promaster 21' Chassis, and if everything goes right, and it should, we bring her home on Tuesday.  This is the first Motorhome that we did not pay cash for...but we will put more than 50% down and expect to pay it off in three years (it is a five year loan through our Credit Union).  Will plan to take more pictures and post more about it next week.  The memories will continue...see you all down the road somewhere, some place.