Today I stopped by a bookstore and picked up the Steinbeck Centennial Edition copy of Travels with Charley in Search of America. I read this book many years ago (it was first published in 1962 when I was 12) back when I was in my Steinbeck phase. It was fascinating when I read it as a teenager or young woman (I don't remember exactly when it was). Did it plant a seed? Perhaps. Or perhaps just loosened the soil around a seed that was already there. I sometimes think if I knew where to look I'd find some "tinker" family back in Ireland that shares a common ancestor. I've recognized that there is something in me that doesn't allow me to be content with staying home; there's a searching or seeking part of me that surfaces. In fact, there have been times in my life when the wanderlust is almost overwhelming and I just feel the need to go someplace different for awhile. Even if it's just a drive to the coast for a day. Steinbeck refers to this in his introduction. Seeing jet trails overhead, hearing the blast from a freight train stir something in me, as well. Especially the jets. Where are they going or coming from? Who is up there and why do they get to travel while I am down here, consumed with the busyness of work and responsibilities. It isn't just men who are compelled to wander and explore, who have that disease of dis-ease in staying one place.
Steinbeck made his trip when he was 58, after becoming a well-known published writer. I am 56, will be 57 shortly after the adventure begins. I am a published writer but I am not at all well known.
More than half the people I have talked to about my plans are envious and excited for me and hope to do something similar some day. There are people who wouldn't follow this "wandering star" for love nor money. They shudder to think of living like a turtle, carrying your home and all your worldly goods with you wherever you go. And going constantly. Having traveled in the usual manner, with suitcase in hand, going from hotel to hotel, I much prefer the idea of having all my comforts along with me, of being at home while being away.
And knowing how thoroughly my Charlie loves to ride, I am excited to have him join me in this escapade. He, like Steinbeck's Charley, is a lamb, but he has a very deep, very intimidating bark. I will feel safe with him along. At the very least, I can be assured of being thoroughly protected from any marauding cats or squirrels.
At this point progress feels slow. I haven't gotten an RV yet. Haven't even talked to my credit union about how much they might consider lending me. I haven't made any headway in going through things to decide what I want to keep, what I want to take with me, and what I'm willing to let go of. I still have to get my paperwork together and do my taxes in the next couple of weeks. But I have the weeks marked on my calendar until I leave my job. I'm down to four now.
Travelin' Lady
Friday, March 30, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
A Day in the Rain
a walk in the park. Okay, I am starting to train for the marathon of traveling. Actually, Charlie and I are both in training. Saturday we left around noon to drive up to Ilwaco, Washington -- at the southern tip of the Long Beach Peninsula. This was a result of the RV show I attended with my friend, Colleen, a couple weeks ago.
I had entered some drawings -- and of COURSE they always follow up with a phone call to tell you that you won something. And of COURSE whatever you won isn't really worth anything, unless you upgrade for a few thousand dollars. What I won was a membership in Sunrise Resorts. I wanted to check out some of the membership programs anyway, so I drove up there. It was about 240 miles roundtrip from Portland. And it rained all the way up and all the way back.
Charlie went with me. He spent almost the entire day in the car -- and boy is he shedding!!! But he was good company. He stood in the back and rested his head on the divider between the two front seats or leaned against my shoulder. Contact dog. So we drove up I-5 to Longview, then cut over across the bridge there to Highway 30 and followed that to Astoria. Then we crossed back over into Washington over the Astoria bridge, which is very, very high and very, very long. This may seem silly but we actually picked the best/fastest route. We drove through Chinook, which is kind of a cute little town, up to Ilwaco, maybe 15 or 20 miles from the bridge.
Now I've been to plenty of time-share or membership presentations before, but this one was unique. There was only one salesman -- Moke -- who took me back into this kind of grubby little office and proceeded to explain the product (membership levels), why mine really wasn't worth much and how I really should cough up the additional $4,500 to buy the top-of-the-line package. He had this really terrible nasal condition, not a cold he assured me, and was very unpleasant to listen to and hard to understand so I tried to steer the conversation -- just give me the details, get to the point. What are you selling and how will it help me and how much does it cost? But NOOOOOO, he has to go through his whole routine. Drove me crazy. I ended up buying the next-to-the-top-of-the-line, for a lot less than $4,500 and really getting the same value as the best package. I will be able to stay in any of their 12 "resorts" for $1/night for up to 14 days and then will have to be out of their system for 7 days (or can pay $119/mo. and stay all month.) The resorts are mostly in Washington state, with four in Arizona, one in Nevada and one in Alaska (go figure!) But wait -- there's more! I also get Preferred Membership in the Resort Parks International where I can stay for only $8/night. Those are all over the place. Lots in Florida, California and Arizona, in particular. Only a couple in Minnesota, one or two in Montana . . . mostly in the "snowbird" areas.
But, I still don't have a motorhome to take there.
Moke has a buddy who just started a business where he kind of makes matches with buyers and dealers who have what buyers are looking for. (I wasn't completely clear on how it all works.) He called the guy and Brad and I chatted about what I'm looking for: preferably a Monaco Coach, late model, with at least 2 slides. He can get me a much better deal than I could get for myself. Well, we'll see. I'll give him a little time to come up with some potentials. Of course, I may have to fly down to Vegas or somewhere similar and drive my new rig back home. Whatever . . . He assured me that a diesel engine was the best choice. They last longer, have better resale value and less maintenance costs.
On the way to Ilwaco I had stopped at a dealership and looked at some new rigs. They were all gas and the salesman there assured me that gas is a much better choice because diesel is so much more expensive. Most of their salespeople and rigs were across the freeway at the Clark County Fairgrounds for an RV show. But the show prices were in effect. I could have bought a brand new rig for $78,000 or so, even though the printout said $102,000. I'm thinking there's quite a margin in these rigs.
So today, after church, I drove down to Charbonneau to look at the Monaco Cayman I've been talking to the owner about. Thank heavens the sun was shining and it was a really pretty day. Charlie stayed home this time, although he really begged to go along. This particular coach was suggested to me by a woman who works in my building. She knows the owners and knew they were selling. It's a very nice rig and he took me out for a little jaunt. I could get used to that. Love the visibility -- you sit high over the crowds, huge windows, great mirrors to see the lanes on both sides, and a cute little backup camera that shows you wants behind you. Very handy.
Well, I think it's a bit overpriced but it is a nice rig. We'll see what Brad can find. At least he can hopefully find me some similar quality rigs and I'll figure out how much overpriced this one is. Probably between $10,000 and $15,000, maybe more. Still, it's bargaining power.
And the "selling the house" thing. That's a whole 'nother post. Ahhh, decisions, decisions.
Travlin' Lady
I had entered some drawings -- and of COURSE they always follow up with a phone call to tell you that you won something. And of COURSE whatever you won isn't really worth anything, unless you upgrade for a few thousand dollars. What I won was a membership in Sunrise Resorts. I wanted to check out some of the membership programs anyway, so I drove up there. It was about 240 miles roundtrip from Portland. And it rained all the way up and all the way back.
Charlie went with me. He spent almost the entire day in the car -- and boy is he shedding!!! But he was good company. He stood in the back and rested his head on the divider between the two front seats or leaned against my shoulder. Contact dog. So we drove up I-5 to Longview, then cut over across the bridge there to Highway 30 and followed that to Astoria. Then we crossed back over into Washington over the Astoria bridge, which is very, very high and very, very long. This may seem silly but we actually picked the best/fastest route. We drove through Chinook, which is kind of a cute little town, up to Ilwaco, maybe 15 or 20 miles from the bridge.
Now I've been to plenty of time-share or membership presentations before, but this one was unique. There was only one salesman -- Moke -- who took me back into this kind of grubby little office and proceeded to explain the product (membership levels), why mine really wasn't worth much and how I really should cough up the additional $4,500 to buy the top-of-the-line package. He had this really terrible nasal condition, not a cold he assured me, and was very unpleasant to listen to and hard to understand so I tried to steer the conversation -- just give me the details, get to the point. What are you selling and how will it help me and how much does it cost? But NOOOOOO, he has to go through his whole routine. Drove me crazy. I ended up buying the next-to-the-top-of-the-line, for a lot less than $4,500 and really getting the same value as the best package. I will be able to stay in any of their 12 "resorts" for $1/night for up to 14 days and then will have to be out of their system for 7 days (or can pay $119/mo. and stay all month.) The resorts are mostly in Washington state, with four in Arizona, one in Nevada and one in Alaska (go figure!) But wait -- there's more! I also get Preferred Membership in the Resort Parks International where I can stay for only $8/night. Those are all over the place. Lots in Florida, California and Arizona, in particular. Only a couple in Minnesota, one or two in Montana . . . mostly in the "snowbird" areas.
But, I still don't have a motorhome to take there.
Moke has a buddy who just started a business where he kind of makes matches with buyers and dealers who have what buyers are looking for. (I wasn't completely clear on how it all works.) He called the guy and Brad and I chatted about what I'm looking for: preferably a Monaco Coach, late model, with at least 2 slides. He can get me a much better deal than I could get for myself. Well, we'll see. I'll give him a little time to come up with some potentials. Of course, I may have to fly down to Vegas or somewhere similar and drive my new rig back home. Whatever . . . He assured me that a diesel engine was the best choice. They last longer, have better resale value and less maintenance costs.
On the way to Ilwaco I had stopped at a dealership and looked at some new rigs. They were all gas and the salesman there assured me that gas is a much better choice because diesel is so much more expensive. Most of their salespeople and rigs were across the freeway at the Clark County Fairgrounds for an RV show. But the show prices were in effect. I could have bought a brand new rig for $78,000 or so, even though the printout said $102,000. I'm thinking there's quite a margin in these rigs.
So today, after church, I drove down to Charbonneau to look at the Monaco Cayman I've been talking to the owner about. Thank heavens the sun was shining and it was a really pretty day. Charlie stayed home this time, although he really begged to go along. This particular coach was suggested to me by a woman who works in my building. She knows the owners and knew they were selling. It's a very nice rig and he took me out for a little jaunt. I could get used to that. Love the visibility -- you sit high over the crowds, huge windows, great mirrors to see the lanes on both sides, and a cute little backup camera that shows you wants behind you. Very handy.
Well, I think it's a bit overpriced but it is a nice rig. We'll see what Brad can find. At least he can hopefully find me some similar quality rigs and I'll figure out how much overpriced this one is. Probably between $10,000 and $15,000, maybe more. Still, it's bargaining power.
And the "selling the house" thing. That's a whole 'nother post. Ahhh, decisions, decisions.
Travlin' Lady
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Getting Ready, Week 2
Last week I turned in my retirement plans to the bosses, notifying them I'll be leaving the end of April. This week it was announced to all our staff (Oregon and DC). Today they made a decision about how to split up parts of my job so I'll be able to introduce my replacement to the right people before I leave, thereby making sure that my work continues. It will be in good hands.
I still haven't gotten to see the RV I'm interested in looking at. But I did go to the RV show this weekend and looked at lots of them. It's amazing the variety of quality and prices -- everything from about $80,000 to $300,000 for a new one. Some are huge, bigger than I'd want to deal with,
Little by little I am telling friends. I saw a friend today that I only see occasionally but have known for 35 years. He gave me some good suggestions for selling the house (his wife is a realtor) and thoughts about hauling my Rav4 with me and how that might impact the mileage. Also I mentioned I wanted to get Charlie certified as a therapy dog and wasn't sure whether to do that now or wait. He suggested doing it now would allow Charlie access to more places; he's right, come to think of it. So one more thing to do before mid-May.
Got an e-mail from someone I serve on a board with and she might be interested in the house. My realtor is sending me a market analysis so I'll know if we're on the same page. I have my own thoughts on what the house should be worth. We'll see what she thinks. Just got it and we're not even close to the same page -- She's about $70,000 low, in my opinion, based on what I've seen in my neighborhood. Clearly we'll have to discuss this.
When I think about all the things I need to take care of, I get overwhelmed. Better to just take them one step at a time. I should make a list . . .
Travelin' Lady
I still haven't gotten to see the RV I'm interested in looking at. But I did go to the RV show this weekend and looked at lots of them. It's amazing the variety of quality and prices -- everything from about $80,000 to $300,000 for a new one. Some are huge, bigger than I'd want to deal with,
Little by little I am telling friends. I saw a friend today that I only see occasionally but have known for 35 years. He gave me some good suggestions for selling the house (his wife is a realtor) and thoughts about hauling my Rav4 with me and how that might impact the mileage. Also I mentioned I wanted to get Charlie certified as a therapy dog and wasn't sure whether to do that now or wait. He suggested doing it now would allow Charlie access to more places; he's right, come to think of it. So one more thing to do before mid-May.
Got an e-mail from someone I serve on a board with and she might be interested in the house. My realtor is sending me a market analysis so I'll know if we're on the same page. I have my own thoughts on what the house should be worth. We'll see what she thinks. Just got it and we're not even close to the same page -- She's about $70,000 low, in my opinion, based on what I've seen in my neighborhood. Clearly we'll have to discuss this.
When I think about all the things I need to take care of, I get overwhelmed. Better to just take them one step at a time. I should make a list . . .
Travelin' Lady
Sunday, March 11, 2007
The Dream Unfolds
It has been just over a week since I decided to retire and hit the road. Charlie (my lovely golden retriever) and I have lots of work to do before mid-May. My job working for a U.S. Senator (for 10 years) ends April 27. We have to sell the house, the furniture, go through all the files and shred almost everything, research rv organizations that give discounts at rv parks, learn more about biodiesel, find an appropriate motor home and plot out our first trip. Oh, yeah, and learn how to drive one of those big monsters!!!
So, last weekend after more than a year of hemming and hawing, thinking and praying, I decided to fulfill the plans/dreams my late husband and I had to travel our wonderful country for awhile. I have the opportunity to retire early, nothing to tie me down to Portland (except my parish, St. Ignatius and that will be a hard one to leave). Probably at first I will just go out for three or so weeks and come back -- a fledgling trying out her wings.
I want to keep a journal (hence this blog) of what I go through as I begin to get ready for this life-changing, exciting adventure. And to allow people to accompany me on this journey . . . prilgrimage . . . thing.
For those who stumble across this site accidentally, I lost my husband in a terrible accident 3-1/2 years ago after 33 years of marriage. Our two kids are grown up and on their own. I qualify to retire from my job March 17 (St. Patrick's Day -- a good omen since I am part-Irish on three out of four sides of my family). Charlie is the golden retriever I bought for John (my late husband) for a combination Fathers' Day/Birthday gift in 2002. Charlie picked us out. He just leaned against John the whole time we were looking at and playing with the 12 gorgeous puppies. So Charlie -- named after my grandfather Chuck or Charles F but whom John always called Charlie -- is the one who came home with us and became part of our lives.
Charlie and I have been through some rough times, so knowing how much he loves to go for rides, I decided we would take a long-term ride and explore. I've spent alot of time in the Northwest, and California, Arizona and Montana/Idaho, but not much anywhere else. Never been in the south, just visited the east coast (Boston and DC) a couple times. So lots to explore. I'll get to see friends I haven't seen for years!!
In a sense John will be traveling with us, as I truly believe he will be with us in spirit, but more than that, I will carry his ashes with me. No, I don't plan to sprinkle a little bit at every place we visit. I have a special place in mind, a beautiful spot in So. Central Washington state that John really loved. I will consult with our daughter and son before I do that, however.
So thank you for joining me on this journey. I hope to post some photos as well as comments, possibly some art, poetry or whatever else I'm moved to create during this time of travel and reflection.
The Travlin' Lady
So, last weekend after more than a year of hemming and hawing, thinking and praying, I decided to fulfill the plans/dreams my late husband and I had to travel our wonderful country for awhile. I have the opportunity to retire early, nothing to tie me down to Portland (except my parish, St. Ignatius and that will be a hard one to leave). Probably at first I will just go out for three or so weeks and come back -- a fledgling trying out her wings.
I want to keep a journal (hence this blog) of what I go through as I begin to get ready for this life-changing, exciting adventure. And to allow people to accompany me on this journey . . . prilgrimage . . . thing.
For those who stumble across this site accidentally, I lost my husband in a terrible accident 3-1/2 years ago after 33 years of marriage. Our two kids are grown up and on their own. I qualify to retire from my job March 17 (St. Patrick's Day -- a good omen since I am part-Irish on three out of four sides of my family). Charlie is the golden retriever I bought for John (my late husband) for a combination Fathers' Day/Birthday gift in 2002. Charlie picked us out. He just leaned against John the whole time we were looking at and playing with the 12 gorgeous puppies. So Charlie -- named after my grandfather Chuck or Charles F but whom John always called Charlie -- is the one who came home with us and became part of our lives.
Charlie and I have been through some rough times, so knowing how much he loves to go for rides, I decided we would take a long-term ride and explore. I've spent alot of time in the Northwest, and California, Arizona and Montana/Idaho, but not much anywhere else. Never been in the south, just visited the east coast (Boston and DC) a couple times. So lots to explore. I'll get to see friends I haven't seen for years!!
In a sense John will be traveling with us, as I truly believe he will be with us in spirit, but more than that, I will carry his ashes with me. No, I don't plan to sprinkle a little bit at every place we visit. I have a special place in mind, a beautiful spot in So. Central Washington state that John really loved. I will consult with our daughter and son before I do that, however.
So thank you for joining me on this journey. I hope to post some photos as well as comments, possibly some art, poetry or whatever else I'm moved to create during this time of travel and reflection.
The Travlin' Lady
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