Nowhere in Particular

People asked me where I was going before I set off on the America 2022 tour. I answered them, nowhere in particular. Then they asked me, how will you know when you get there. I told them that was a very good question, and I didn’t know. Then they asked me when I was coming back. I told them I had no idea. This is freedom. Traveling out on the open road with no particular destination, no plan, no schedule, or time constraints. We are figuring out the trip along the way, living in the moment.

My best friends I travel with, Erica and Chris, just sold their house. They are now living in their RV. One week after they sold their house, we hit the open road. Two days later we boondocked in a Bass Pro Shops parking lot in Macon Georgia. This was the first time I went to a Bass Pro Shop Store. The store was impressive.

Erica and Chris are looking for a new home on this trip. They are interested in the area around eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, and southwest Virginia. After leaving Macon, we drove to Bryson City, North Carolina. We stayed there for three days in a lovely small campground that backed up to the Tuckasegee River.

Next, we drove to the Ft Chiswell RV RV Park just east of Wytheville, Virginia. We are here for a week. Western Virginia is where Chris and Erica are very interested in living. We are in a pleasant quiet campground. The weather has been refreshing, with temperatures dipping all the way down to 39 degrees at night and back up to 70 degrees during the day.

This year I have a puppy, Rascal, traveling with me. This is his first road trip. He is still getting used to the RV. The first night he peed on my bed when I was brushing my teeth while I had my back to him. Rascal is adapting to life in the RV well, especially since we got to Virginia.

 

Next week we are heading to Duck Lake near Charlotte, Michigan, for the memorial service for Chris’s grandfather Dave on May 21st. This is the only firm date we have on the trip. We stayed at Dave’s lake house the last two years on our previous trips. Dave was a wonderful man. The gathering will be very emotional.

From Duck Lake, we will head up into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We will visit Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island. Then we cross the Mackinac Bridge on our way towards Iron River which is just south of Lake Superior. After a few weeks in the UP of Michigan, we will head back to Duck Lake for the Reed 4th of July family reunion.

After the family reunion, I don’t know where we are going. This trip will end when Erica and Chris go back to work or they find a house and move in there.

This is the first trip RV without Paso Robles. Robles passed away last October. This tour is very different without having her along. For a while, I considered selling the RV after Robles passed away. I bought the coach for her and Mountain Lioness. I had a hard time finding the motivation to use the RV without Robles. Life goes on.

Mountain Lioness and Rascal are getting along okay in the RV. I’m hoping they will become best friends.

This is the eighth year of traveling in the RV, and the seventh multi-month trip. I’m slowing down a bit now. I’ve been to most places I want to go. I don’t have the desire to go driving all over the country anymore. Now the trip is about who I am with instead of where we are going.

When the time comes to go home, I will know. One day I will wake up, or some evening while I am preparing for bed, and I will know the time to come home has arrived. At this point, the trip is over. Now I just have to make my way home.

Vida La Vida – Coldplay