Separate Ways

“Don’t cry because it’s over: smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss

 

While pulling out from Fort Chiswell, Virginia, and leaving Erica and Chris, I expected to have tears in my eyes. We had said our goodbyes the previous evening after our farewell dinner of meatballs and pasta prepared by Erica.

Instead, I was concentrating so much on the drive, checking gauges, including oil pressure, pneumatic pressure, tire pressure, engine coolant, fuel and DEF levels, and navigation settings and routes, that I didn’t cry. Driving a Class A Motorhome is not like operating a car. The coach is a 40,000 lb, 42 ft long bus. I was on the road at exactly 7:09 AM. I knew Erica and Chris would soon awake and see an empty spot next to them where I had been. The reality that I was now gone would then set in for them. 

Settling into a melancholy mood while I drove, I had a lot of time to think. The drive to Hilton Head Island was almost 400 miles. Many years ago I read a book called Soulmates. The author wrote that melancholy is the natural state of the soul.

This year Erica and Chris are not returning to Florida after the trip. They are moving to Virginia just north of Bristol. This was not a normal RV trip. This trip was about Erica and Chris finding a new home. They had sold their home before we left and are presently living in their RV full-time.

We drove to places they envisioned they might like to live, including Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. After almost three months they found their perfect forever home, a beautiful mountain cabin on 40 acres. Much of the property is already fenced in. They will be able to have barnyard animals, and set up and run a rescue preserve for animals.

This was our third trip together. We’ve spent somewhere around 300 nights on the road and traveled over 17,000 miles through 45 states. We have traveled all the way to the west coast to California, up to Washington, and back across the top of the country, up into Maine, and on our craziest drive ever, through New York City.

I have not decided whether I am going to keep my RV. I’ve been RVing for eight years. This might be the time to try something else. Now is not the time to make a decision this important after being on the road for over three months. I will gain a better perspective after being home for a while.

I bought the RV so I could travel with my cats Robles and Mountain Lioness. Losing Robles last year was a tough blow I still have not recovered from. Rascal has mostly done well in the RV, but he is still a puppy and it’s hard for him to be cooped up in the RV.

Erica has been my best friend since I retired almost nine years ago. She is like a daughter to me, or a little sister I never had. I am really going to miss her. I am so happy and excited for Erica and Chris. They will have a wonderful life together in their mountain cabin setting. Erica can fulfill her lifelong dream of fostering and caring for animals with plenty of land and pastures. This is her passion.

I’ve always said retirement is not just a decision, but a process. I discovered that this phase of life is not all that different than the other phases of life. Human beings still want the same things they had in life before. They want to feel like they are making a difference in people’s lives. People need to feel appreciated, valued, and that they have a purpose in life.

The whole point is that this stage of life is not just a decision, but a process that you work through. The difference is that during this phase, there is not really time for a do-over. Having some kind of plan or idea for what you want to do is important. I saw a sign once that said, “Life is two periods of play, interrupted by 40 years of work.”

I am unsure what the next phase is for me. As Charles Kuralt said on his On the Road Show, “I keep thinking I will find something wonderful just around the bend.”

I learned from traveling with Erica and Chris that it’s not about where you go, but who you go with. I could write much more, but writing about the separation is not easy now. I am just going to attach a bunch of photos from our trips over the years. You can see the joy and happiness in our faces.

The place I’m staying in Hilton Head is beautiful. This is my third time staying here on my way home from multi-month trips. This year the place seems a little less bright and empty now that Erica and Chris are gone. I guess I just miss my friends.

 

 

Separate Ways – Journey