October 30 to Nov 2, 2001

Well, we finally did it! We got the house ready to leave (i.e., furnace clean & purring and hopefully not shutting down very often; alarm system in, functioning, and not false alarming; front steps repaired so they can be part of the main house entrance) and loaded everything we could think of into the RV. We finally broke free of the driveway at 9AM Tuesday October 30, 2001, and pointed the headlights South for Pennsylvania. It was SUCH a relief to finally be finished with the exhausting preparation work that seemed to drag on without end. It actually may have continued longer if the 25 degree nights had not arrived; freezing weather is not where this RV (or it's owners) want to spend much time. DONE is sometimes "defined" rather than "accomplished". :-) We did not wait to get a special ball mount for the bicycle rack...it can be bought in warmer climes. The bikes will ride South trussed up on the RV's rear ladder, using ropes and pulleys from our sailing days in the life BC (before children); yeah, we've still got the sailing stuff....but not the energy to use much of it.

We had been spending nights for a week in the RV in our driveway to see if the new house alarm system would false alarm (it did twice in one cold night, but we hope we fixed it; so far, it's good). We learned how to answer a cellphone call from the house in the middle of the night, and to reset the screaming alarm. We also accustomed our two cats to their new traveling home. Purry is a 14 year old fixed male, black & white long hair, smart, loving, good mouser, and most everything a cat should be except he's exhibited a bit of territorial marking behavior in the house ?. Pookie is a 5 year old fixed male, Siamese chocolate point marked stray, loving lap companion, spooks at his own shadow, and DEFINITELY cannot leap tall buildings in even several bounds; he's even been known to miss the 3 foot leap from the bed to the window sill. We found a lot of things we might have forgotten, and moved them aboard. The cats learned to live with hot pink harnesses and jingling cellphone numbered name tags.

By 4:00 PM on Tuesday we arrived in PA to visit brother Bob and Kathy. Wonder of wonders, we fit in the driveway, leveled easily with a few orange blocks under the starboard wheels, plugged the 110v in, and relaxed to enjoy Bob's delicious homebrew followed by Kathy's superb dinner. NOW I knew why we had done all that work for the past few months.... :-))

Wednesday niece Angi and her 2 year old son Ethan visited with us, and we all enjoyed Halloween, more of Kathy's delicious cooking, and took PICTURES...lots of pictures. Ethan is quite photogenic....even with his green and orange fanged Halloween teeth. :-)

Of course with Mom he doesn't look so fearsome....

Purry went for his first walk on a leash. It was slow at first, but by the second try he was walking like he'd been doing it all his life. Walking cats on a leash is as much training the walker as the walkee...when you must go to a certain place, best carry kitty.

Wednesday night we tried Verizon's Mobile Office package from the RV. We did not need it, as we connected to the net easily from Bob's phone line, but it was the end of the month with unused cellphone time about to expire; we just HAD to try it. We connected to the internet at 14.4 KB/s, even though the cellphone thought it was "Roaming" (hard to do with the National One Rate plan in the United States), downloaded email and our favorite usenet newsgroups on the laptop, and could even chat for a bit. This service seems to work quite well, as long as we have a Verizon digital tower to use. It is a bit slower than home, but it's usable, and there is no extra fee, other than the normal airtime use, and $70 to purchase the Mobile Office Kit (software and a cable to connect the phone and computer). We will use Verizon's promotional 3000 free weekend minutes to stay connected when we are in Verizon digital areas. It will be much more convenient to use than campground payphones or Flying J Truck Stop phone jacks.

Thursday we unhooked the power line from Bob's house, packed up the leveling blocks we used under the wheels of the RV, and backed uphill out of the driveway. We headed out for Gettysburg, PA to our first campground. We have a Passport America membership allowing half price stays for some nights in member campgrounds. We found one of these campgrounds in Gettysburg, where we wanted to see the Battlefield Park, so the bicycles will get their first workout. The campground driveway had a big speed bump, and it caused the refrigerator freezer to pop open and discharge a package of salmon into the bedroom. That was Claire's clue to broil it in the convection oven for dinner, and with rice and kale we had brought from the home garden, it was GOOD eating! I think we can take this hardship living! :-) We did find our first "forgotcha"; the weight for the Presto pressure cooker could not be found. We started a "buy" list. Both cats went for leash walks. Pookie had to be carried home when "Dad" was ready for bed. It was a beautiful almost full moon night, warm and pleasant. I think Pookie would have "catted around" the campground all night...but some of us cannot sleep all day tomorrow.

Friday we slept late, then biked the 6 miles into Gettysburg. We had downloaded detailed street maps of the area into the GPS unit, and it really was a big help as it constantly tracked our position; no more wondering if we really were on the right road; signs or not, we KNOW where we are. I am amazed how well it tracks just hanging around my neck...also gives our speed, but I'm not telling.....enough said that we will not be getting many speeding tickets. :-)

Even though the weather turned summery, with temperatures in the 70's, the season is late, and the crowds are gone from Gettysburg. We had our free run of the exhibits and museums. One crowd that did remain was the host of MONUMENTS. The Union and Confederate battle lines are permanently marked in marble and bronze for miles, commemorating the many units on both sides that fought and lost men here. Over 50,000 of the 163,000 men engaged on both sides were killed, wounded, or missing in 3 days...incredible to think about. The National Historic Park was well worth the visit, and RV and bicycle is a good way to do it too. We did not see it all...it was too much riding for our out of shape bodies, but I think we saw enough to numb our minds. One of the exhibits in the museum were the saddlebags used by Dr John Godshall from my birth town... eerie, yes. The tooth extracting tool resembling a corkscrew was not comforting either. Seeing more would not have added to the experience.........

We returned to the RV before 4PM, to watch another RV move in next to us. We must have been lucky here; we stopped on the campsite, checked for level, found it the best we have EVER seen and plugged in the power cord. However, that RV pulled in diagonally across the site to avoid tree limbs that hit his roof; it appears the sites here are set pretty level for the normal drive thru path only. Claire came up with another incredible meal; stir fried Chicken Bok Choy and brown rice. YUM YUM.

The weather here has been EXTREMELY dry; we are expecting showers tonight, but the forecasters lament that it will not much help the rainfall deficiency. Saturday morning before dawn it rained, and the automatic rain sensing roof vent worked.almost too well. It kept us dry by closing a designed, but it is not quiet enough to encourage sleeping late.

We will continue moving South; slowly as long as the weather holds nice, faster when it gets cold. We want to see the skyline drive area in VA, and the outer banks of VA and NC. How much we really get to do depends on the weather. We will leave this campground today heading for Southern MD.