Drifting around the country aimlessly in a motorcoach with a cat and dog, wondering what is next in life is a soul-searching experience. Trying to figure out where to live, and what to do with the remainder of my days is complicated. Grappling with and reflecting upon my own mortality is daunting.
When I retired 10 years ago, I said I was going to drive around America. Well, I did that. I wanted to revisit places I’ve been before, but be able to stay in places longer than just the two weeks I was able on the bicycling tours. We did all the long trips and saw so much over the last eight years. Now I don’t know what is next, and I am lost. I feel as if I am preparing for a second retirement, this retirement occurring 10 years after the first one.
“God made the world round so we would never be able to see too far down the road.” – Isak Dinesen
I’m a misfit in society, with just myself, a cat, and a dog, living in a motorcoach with no plan or destination in mind. It’s a hell of a thing to get this far in life and have no idea of what you want to do next.
I’m done driving all over the country. Worrying about the weather, where to stay, and dealing with all the traffic is stressful. We drove out west three times, up to Michigan three times, and north to Maine twice. We even drove through New York City and across the George Washington Bridge. We’ve taken eight multi-month trips each lasting around 100 days. I’ve seen Yellowstone and Grand Teton three times, Glacier National Park, the Grand Canyon, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Great Heartland and central plains in between, and the Great Lakes. After driving 50,000 miles over 730 nights, and traveling through 46 states, I am ready to check into a hotel and say, “Room key please.”
Now I’m just using the RV as a summer home while I figure out what to do next with my life. My eyes are always open looking for a place to live between May and September. I will likely always return to my home of 44 years in Florida for the months from October through April.
The America 2023 road trip is like no other tour I’ve taken before. Instead of gallivanting across the country, we have found nice places to stay for one to three weeks at a time. When we set out nine weeks ago, I had no idea where we would be going. I only knew we would go north out of Florida to get out of the sweltering summer heat and humidity. Perhaps we would end up in Michigan again, or maybe out in Colorado. Both places would have had cooler weather. Instead, we are spending most of the summer in the Appalachian Mountains.
I am calling this the first non-driving trip in the coach. There is still a lot of driving, but 2000 miles is a lot less than 5,000 and especially less than the 10,000 miles required to drive out west and return.
After leaving Florida, we stayed a week near the southern edge of the Appalachian Mountains near Blue Ridge, Georgia. We visited with my friend Tom and his lovely wife Jeanie who have a beautiful cabin near Blue Ridge.
After a week at Talona Ridge, I drove north into Virginia where I stayed at my dear friends Erica and Chris’s place for 18 days. They were my RV traveling buddies for the last three years. This style of camping is called Moochdocking, where you stay on a friend’s property.
Out of respect for their privacy, I have not included any descriptions or pictures of my friend’s place. Spending almost three weeks with my best friends was wonderful. I really miss traveling with Erica and Chris. We saw America together, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. We explored the Pacific Northwest, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, the big skies of Montana, and Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. We enjoyed the cool weather of the upper peninsula of Michigan, Niagara Falls, the Atlantic Ocean in Maine, and New York City. We had a good run. This trip has just not been the same without them. I miss our meals together and our laughs. Leaving was sad. I know we will see each other again. Aloha my friends.
I always like including this photo from our travels together, the favorite place we stayed from over the 300 nights of travel. The photo is from the Bitterroot Valley in western Montana, at the Trapper Peak Harvest Host, about 100 miles south of Missoula. The owner of the place asked if we wanted to stay an extra night, which is not normally allowed at a Harvest Host. We all exclaimed “Yes” at the same time. We were in a beautiful mountain valley, with a stream and a farm behind us with horses. The time we spent here is my favorite memory of all our travels.
While at my friend’s place, I discovered my coach batteries were nearing the end of their life. The first morning I tried making coffee running off of the batteries. As soon as I turned on the coffee maker, everything went poof. The inverter tripped offline. The inverter takes 12 volts DC and converts the electricity to 120 volts AC. We troubleshot the inverter for over two hours, including soft and hard (remove all power to the unit) resets which both failed to bring the inverter back online.
Chris then suggested we start up the generator which got rid of the low voltage fault, the inverter reset, and power was restored to the coach. Chris is a genius at troubleshooting problems. Most people just guess at solutions, Chris starts at the source of the problem and works from there. I miss the comfort of knowing he is on the road with me to fix the issues that invariably arise. The batteries were now only strong enough to power lights and the fridge. Twice a day I would run the generator to just try to keep the batteries above 12 volts DC.
Boondocking was a formidable challenge with compromised batteries. I was afraid to even open the fridge, the main draw on the batteries. I always had the lights off. We drained the black tank only once using the poop caddy (a portable 34-gallon waste tank on wheels.) I peed a lot outside. The Phaeton is well equipped to handle boondocking, but the coach is not meant to dry camp for weeks on end, only for just a few nights. The conservation efforts were worth it to stay at Erica’s and Chris’s house for a few weeks.
Managing to use less than 100 gallons of fresh water available over 18 days was a challenge. Most people use 100 gallons per day. I used the freshwater only for the toilet, to wash my hands and face, and to brush my teeth. I took limited showers and did a few loads of laundry in their house.
Not being comfortable heading farther away from home with compromised coach batteries, I canceled reservations in Petosksy, Michigan. Instead of heading up into Michigan or out west to Colorado, I decided to stay in places in Virginia and North Carolina for the next month.
After almost three weeks of moochdocking, I headed to the Deer Creek RV Resort near Galax, Virginia, right on the border of North Carolina. I walked across the street from the resort and was standing in North Carolina. The coach was plugged into shore power again, and the batteries were fully charged. The batteries remained an issue for the rest of the trip. I’m having trouble with the slideouts working correctly due to low voltage and current dropouts. I think I just need to stay plugged into shore power to operate the slides.
I lost one of the two GPS antennae while driving out from my friend’s house. There were so many low-hanging branches on the road leading out to the main highway. The coach has a clearance of 13’4″ and the GPS antennae are the tallest part of the coach. They are on flexible rods, and you can hear them snap back after they are struck by low overhanging branches. Seems one didn’t snap back this time. The Garmin Navigation unit is still operating. The system seems to still work with one antenna.
There are always issues with motor coaches. As Gilda Radner said, “It’s always something. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.”
While driving the coach, you are always looking up at overhead clearances. After returning from a trip, it takes a while to stop looking up everywhere you drive. The same was true when I used to return from bike tours. I had a mirror attached to my sunglasses that I would always look into to see what was behind me. For a few weeks after the bike tour, I would instinctively look up at where the mirror used to be to see what was behind me just to discover that the mirror was no longer attached to my sunglasses.
My stay at the Deer Creek Resort was peaceful. The place is beautiful, quiet, with temperatures between 50 and 75 and low humidity. Deer Creek is one of the resorts where people own the lots and build casitas on them. Some lots are available to rent for interlopers like me. The resort is smaller than others, with only 70 sites. Deer Creek is a tight-knit community. Everyone was really friendly here, making sure I had everything I needed, and inviting me to their social gatherings.
A full-suspension gallop means that all four paws are off the ground at the same time. Only a few dogs do this, including Greyhounds and Whippets. Horses and cheetahs run like this.
Now we are back at Hilton Head Island for the fourth year in a row. The Hilton Head Island Motorcoach Resort is tropical with many shade trees. There are few people here at this time of the year, with the hot temperatures and high humidity. The place is familiar to me now, kind of like coming to a home away from home.
I usually think of America’s mountains as being out west. The Appalachians are an impressive mountain range, running from north Georgia from where I was in Talona Ridge all the way into Canada. The range also includes where I grew up in Pittsburgh. I grew up on the western flank of the Appalachian Mountain range. In these mountains, coal was mined instead of the gold discovered in the western mountain ranges of America.
The mountains formed almost 500 million years ago and used to be as high as the Rockies and The Alps, They were part of the original supercontinent Pangea. Seven hundred million years ago Pangea separated, forming a shallow sea to the east of the North American Plate. That is why shale formed by layers of sand can be found in the mountains. Then the North American continent shifted direction, went back east, and collided with Africa forming the Appalachian mountain range. Three hundred million years ago, the North American continent shifted west again, forming the Atlantic Ocean. The mountains were five miles high. After three hundred million years of erosion from the wind and rain, the Appalachian Mountains are now around 3,000 feet above sea level, and the highest peak is 6,000 feet.
I have to mention Mountain Lioness. She is a real trooper, having been with me on these trips since the beginning. Starting back in 2015 when she was three years old, ML is a travel veteran of over 730 nights in the RV. Now she is eleven years old. She did six tours with my dear Paso Robles who passed away in October 2021. She was hiding in the back of the coach away from the dog last year and again this year. Now she comes up into the living area and sits next to me on the dinette bench. ML is a wonderful, sweet, affectionate cat with a loud purr.
Living like this is kind of crazy, traveling around the country without a plan or a destination. This RV trip is a metaphor for my life, drifting around without knowing where I am heading next. I don’t know what is next in life. I don’t know where I want to go, or what I want to do. Maybe I will move to a mountain cabin or maybe I will stay in Florida. Maybe I will keep the RV or sell the RV. I have no direction in life. For now, I am just living in a motorcoach on the road, walking my dog, petting my cat, and living in the moment. I will figure out tomorrow, tomorrow. Some days I just want to come back home to Florida. On other days, I never want to come home. I’m in an outlaw state of mind, hiding out in a RV in anonymous places. In these places, no one knows who I am, and no one knows I am there.
Outlaw State of Mind – Chris Stapleton
I read there are three main reasons people stop RVing. The primary reason is people find out that living in a RV is a lot different than what they thought the experience would be like. The large mural at LZDays of Grand Teton National Park in the lobby entices people to think they just turn the key and drive off into the sunset. RVing is hard work, both physically and mentally. Finding places to stay, navigating, driving, getting food and supplies, and dealing with the weather can be stressful. The average RV is only used 17 days a year. RVs are expensive, but they are terribly expensive if you barely use them.
The second reason is health concerns. As people age, medical conditions inevitably arise, and they are unable to continue. And spouses or traveling companions sometimes die off.
The third reason is the one for the lucky few. They have been everywhere, have seen it all, and are just done. They have traveled thousands of miles, been to the four corners of the country and the heartland in between. They are ready to move on. I am approaching that stage. I’ve spent over 730 nights on the road, the equivalent of two years. I’ve spent about one-quarter of my days in a motorhome over the last eight years. The only thing that is keeping me from selling the RV is that I still want to travel but I don’t want to be separated from my cat and dog. I am grateful for the times I have had traveling across America in a motorhome. I am a fortunate man. I know I am closer to the end of my RV days than I am to the beginning. The same applies to my life.
Recently I saw Clint Eastwood’s latest movie, The Mule. A few days before the shooting of the movie, Eastwood and Toby Keith were playing golf. Eastwood told Keith that the movie would start shooting in two days. Eastwood’s 88th birthday was also in two days. Eastwood’s energy amazed Keith. Keith asked Eastwood what motivated him to keep him going. Eastwood said, “I just get up every morning and go out. And I don’t let the old man in.” Keith remembers, “And I thought, I’m writing that. And instantly, I wanted to write a song about that. So, I came home, wrote it, sent it to him, and now it’s in the movie.”
Not “letting the old man in” could mean several things. The old man could be the grim reaper. Or it could mean not letting yourself think of yourself as old, that age is just a number, and it’s your attitude that determines how you feel. So I am trying to not let the old man in and live in the moment.
Traveling with Rascal has been wonderful. Being together 24/7, we completely bonded. This early morning photograph of the silhouette of Rascal and I was taken by accident. I must have pressed the camera shutter button when I put the phone back in my pocket. The photo is an optical illusion. The shadow is actually on the ground, 90 degrees from upright. The silhouette perfectly displays his long snout, bulging chest, narrow waist, and long legs.
Rascal has been through a lot during his two years, but he is tougher than he looks and is all muscle. He is still here and doing great. He is the fastest dog I have ever seen. Watching him steal a ball in a dog park and seeing the other dogs try to catch him is great entertainment. Rascal has not yet been caught by another dog. When people tell me Rascal is just a dog, I think of this quote.
“Because of “just a dog” I will rise early, take long walks, and look longingly to the future. So for me and folks like me, it’s not “just a dog” but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment. “Just a dog” brings out what’s good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day.” – Richard A Biby
Don’t Let The Old Man In – Toby Keith
“Many moons I’ve lived, my body’s weathered and worn. Ask yourself how old you’d be if you didn’t know the day you were born?” – Toby Keith
Thanks Rob. I always enjoy your stories.
— Rollins
Thanks for reading Rollins. This was a difficult post to write, and I went back and forth whether I wanted to post it or not. Hoping the post ended on a positive upbeat tone, looking forward to what is next.
Always enjoyable to read your comments Rob, and I am glad you found a quiet site at HH after concerns about construction traffic near the road. You will figure all this out, but I certainly understand your sentiments about the RV and seeing the places you have wanted to visit.
Hugs to you, ML, and Rascal!
Debbie
Thank you Debbie. HHIMCR is quiet, there are not many people here, I think most of the owners are not here in summer. The drive from Lake Toxaway to here was difficult, rain most of the way, and a lot of construction. Happy to be here to just relax for awhile.
Well you’re definitely one of the lucky few whose been able to travel and see it all. Listen to your gut/soul on what’s next on this journey we call life and keep fighting the “old man”.
You are correct Leila, I have been fortunate. We live in a vast beautiful country.
Rob, when you were at Deer Creek you were probably no more than 3 miles from my house. Wish I would have known! Have not seen you since I retired in 2011. Always enjoy reading your travel blog.
Dale
Very well written, Rob and aptly descriptive. I really enjoyed reading and hearing about your perspective on life. I am glad you live “in the moment” as that is how we all should live, You are introspective and self-reflective. I got to know you even more. Can’t wait til you return and we can talk about your trip!!!! Miss you……Annie
Thank you Annie for the kind words. Miss you too, looking forward to coming home.
Rob,
Always enjoy reading your travel accounts! Donna, me and grown kids were in Blue Ridge GA June 2022 and had a great time. Look me up when you are in town in St. Pete next for lunch.
God Bless,
Jb
Acts 4:12
Thanks Joe, glad to hear you enjoy the travel stories. They come from the heart. Looking forward to meeting you for lunch when I get back, will get Gary Z to join us too. Take care my friend.
Spee, A good article. You’re dearest old friend from Pitsburgh enjoys your travels even if you don’t know where you’re going. But again isn’t that life in general. I agree with don’t let the old man in. You know the average age of most Corvette owners is pushing 70. Maybe they are trying to not let the old man in too. And remember the old saying, “It’s not how old the tire is, it how much tread is left on it.” Give Rascal a good scratch for me.
FRED
Thanks Fred. Yea, we are doing well keeping the old man out. I just gave Rascal a scratch for you. He is doing well on this trip.
Spee, found another quote that may give you some comfort. Tolkien wrote, “Not all who wander are lost.” Wonder where evolution will wander us next.
FRED
“You have to be careful of you don’t know where you are going, you might not get there.” – Yogi Berra
We miss you down here in Florida. Hope to see you soon Rob! – Michael & LoRee
Thank you Michael and LoRee, I miss you folks too. I think I am ready to come home now. See you soon.