Paso Robles, Mountain Lioness, and I are heading north for the summer, I don’t know where we are going or when we will return. “Somewhere Out There” is where we are going. Freedom is traveling with out a plan. There are no schedules, no reservations, and no deadlines. My guideposts will be the Weather Channel Website, heading for places that are 50-70 degrees with calm skies. The general plan is to head north through North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New York while visiting friends and family along the way. From there we will probably head into Vermont, New Hampshire, and then visit with some friends along the coast of Maine. After that we may head up into Canada to New Brunswick, Quebec, and Nova Scotia.
After returning from the trip out west last spring, I found that Paso Robles, one of my cats, had a serious medical condition which required a lot of testing and adjusting of dosages of her medication. Her condition and testing prevented me from traveling for almost a year. Just a few weeks ago, Robles tests all came back great, so she is now cleared to travel. Now we will travel up north to escape the hot and humid Florida summers.
These are my travels since I retired grouped together into four phases.
Phase I:
During my first summer of retirement in 2014, I went on a bike tour in Montana and Wyoming, climbing the awesome Beartooth Pass trying to recapture the magic of those 18 Timberline bike tours I took from 1996 to 2013. But I found you can’t put lighting back in a bottle, and that was the end of the bike tours for me. The tour cost for a 10 day tour seemed high now since time off work was no longer a constraint. I figured I could go somewhere for a month on my own for the same cost as a 10 day group tour.
Phase II:
The next year I drove out to Frisco Colorado and rented a ski condo for a month in Frisco Colorado in the summer of 2015. I enjoyed my time out in the mountains of Colorado. Renting in the off-season was a bargain. But no one will rent you a place if you have cats. After three weeks I missed the cats so much I came back a week early. I drove over 2000 miles from Frisco Colorado to St Petersburg Florida in only three days. That is when I looked into getting a RV so I could travel with the cats.
One of the main reasons people travel by RV is so they can travel with their pets. Just about every RV I’ve seen in the last 3 years have dogs in them. I’ve seen a few cats in RVs, but not nearly as many with dogs. When I pull into a campground, they park manager always asks how many people are in the coach. I answer, just me. Then they ask, how many pets, and I answer, two cats. At that point I usually get a weird look from the office person. They are probably thinking, okay, here is a guy driving all the way from Florida with two cats. I don’t care what they think, I find it amusing. I only bought the RV so the cats could travel with me.
Phase III:
The next two years traveling in a small Class C RV worked out well. During 2015 and 2016 I took trips all through Florida, as well as up through North Carolina on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and into western Pennsylvania. I visited with my brother and sister in the house we grew up in, located in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Then I drove up to Grove City College, and visited where I went to college 40 years ago. The link below “This Is Not A Dream” leads to a blog entry written about that experience. This blog entry is perhaps my favorite of all of the posts on this site. Reading the post linked below is worth a few minutes of your time.
In 2017 I drove all the way out to the Grand Canyon and north into Idaho over two months. During the trip I was hoping to find a town to move to in the summer. While in northern Idaho, and almost in Canada, over 3500 miles away, I became homesick and decided to drive home to Florida. I knew after that trip that Florida would always be my home. Sometimes you have to leave home to appreciate where you live.
Even the Norway hiking tour in 2017 seemed too costly. Seeing Norway was incredible, but the whole group tour thing, being on a schedule that is not your own didn’t work for me anymore. I figured for the price of a two-week European tour, I could upgrade into a larger RV instead and use the larger coach for an entire summer.
Phase IV:
Now I am ready to take the leap into living in a RV for months at a time, going wherever the weather is comfortable. I traded up from a 26 foot RV to a 42 foot coach. I like to think of the first RV as a starter kit. That RV provided me with the basics of how a RV operates. Being on the road for an extended time was a valuable learning experience. I learned how to navigate, find places to stay, how to refuel and replenish supplies. Most importantly, I learned once again that traveling alone is a lot more difficult emotionally than physically. I would very much enjoy having someone to travel with.
The larger coach has limitations that the smaller one didn’t. I could take the smaller one anywhere, and the smaller RV was easy to drive. Now I am driving a bus. But when I get to a place and set up for a week or two, living will be much more comfortable. I may even end up doing what they call work camping. Work camping is where you live in a place for several months, receiving a free campsite in exchange for working in the office checking people in and out, or working in a National Park gift shop.
Who knows where this adventure will lead next, the results of the last ones were not what I expected. Life never turns out the way you plan it.
I spent a lot time of researching RVs. I saw so many on the road in the travel parks over the last three years. There were several ones I finally narrowed down the search between.
I finally settled on the Tiffin Phaeton, named after some Greek God, the Son of the Sun God.
“PHAETHON was a youthful son of Helios who begged his father let him drive the chariot of the sun. … But his inexperience proved fatal, for Phaethon quickly lost control of the immortal steeds and the sun-chariot veered out of control setting the earth ablaze.The plains of Africa were scorched to desert and men charred black. Zeus, appalled by the destruction, smote the boy with a thunderbolt, hurling his flaming body into the waters of the River Eridanos. Phaethon’s sisters, the Heliades, gathered on the banks and in their mourning were transformed into amber-teared poplar trees.
After his death Phaethon was placed amongst the stars as the constellation Auriga (“the Charioteer”), or else transformed into the god of the star which the Greeks named Phaethon–the planet Jupiter or Saturn. The name Phaethon means “the shining” or “radiant one” from the Greek verb phaethô “to shine.”.”
Perhaps Phaeton is not the best name for huge chariot. Sure hope I don’t set the earth ablaze.
Hello Rob,
Glad to hear your back on the road to adventure. I was wondering what you were doing down in Florida, when you are planning your next escape. The weather is always cooler up north, enjoy your travel. I will look forward to hearing your stories. Stay safe
Thanks Sue,
Its good to be out again. Due to some health issues with one of my cats, I was unable to be away for extended periods for almost a year. But the cat’s condition is now under control, very fortunate that I had a great vet who worked very hard on her issues.
Good luck with being on the road again, Rob. I remember communicating with you during your trek to investigate Couer d’Alene, and how much you wanted to get home. Sometimes road trips are exhausting, and I just want to get home for a good night’s sleep. But then wanderlust raises its head again and it’s time to once again put on our Exploration and Adventurer Hat. I’ve been planning an escape from Houston on the 21st of June for a drive to Newfoundland. IDK. We’ll see. As you said, sometimes it can get a tad bit too lonely on the road when traveling alone. It’s all good though. Good luck and have lots of fun!
Yes, I remember you Joe. Its been over a year since my last post, was held up at home dealing with health issues of one of my pets, but that has been resolved now. Hope you make it out Joe. Thanks for the good wishes.
Great blog post Rob! That was a nice recap of your adventures so far and I really enjoyed the Phaethon historical info. PLEASE don’t set the world on fire! But please DO have a wonderful (and safe) adventure and let your dreams take flight. I will watch for updates. Happy trails and tails!
Thank you. I will do my best not to burn down civilization.
Enjoy your trip Rob! Are you going to have a “toad” behind your big rig or is the 42 footer going to be your only motorized transportation?
Thanks Dale, not towing, at least not this year. Will rely on Uber or renting a car.
Carpe Diem!
Happy travels! Looking forward to seeing you!
Sounds great!
Glad to hear that all are doing well and OKed for travel. Michele and I are in PA this time around (Philly area). Hope we get a chance to see you and the new rig this summer.
Thanks Wayne. Too bad you are not home in SC, I will be in SC in a few days, around I-95 and I-26. I am headed north, not sure which direction I am headed after SC. Once again taking it day by day. I am definitely going through western PA to visit family and friends. Not sure which route I am going to take to get there. I have to be bit more selective with routes and campgrounds with this rig.
Actuall, Rob, I’m in SC right now. Had to come down for cataract surgery. Will be here till the 20th. Let me know if you come through, we can at least meet at the Cracker Barrell on 26.
Wayne, I am already in North Carolina, almost in Virginia. Headed into the Shenandoah Valley tomorrow. Oh well, it would have been good to catch up with you.