And we're OFF!

Battening down the hatches for seven months took a little longer than we had anticipated. We had made a couple of trips to the trailer to stow things away, but those last minute preps still take so much time! We decided to totally clean out the fridge and discard anything we couldn't use on the trip. After cleaning the interior, we set the temps at their highest allowable settings. If there is a power outage due to a hurricane, no worries!

As we embarked on our journey, I popped Willie's 'On the Road Again' CD into the player, thanks Adra and Bill, and we had fun singing along to it and just being silly, well, at least I did. Mike always laughs when I sing along to the radio and tells me not to quit my day job. ;)

We were relieved to see that the Memorial Day traffic was not as bad as we had expected. Cruising along, making great time until about 35 miles into trip, we came to a screeching halt! We could see the traffic ahead of us, bumper to bumper for as far as the eye could see. Mike assumed the tie-up had something to do with the billowing smoke we could see in the distance...looked like a bad grass fire. Sure enough, I-95 was closed in BOTH directions near Palm City.

The grass fire delayed us by about an hour, but we finally made it to Sebastian Inlet SP around 7pm. It is a lovely park situated on a barrier island between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic. A beautiful sunset against towering thunderheads over the Atlantic Ocean greeted us as we approached our campsite. Mike made a perfect 10-point back in positioning of the Chalet. I told you he was GOOD!

Hungry swarms of mosquitoes were lying in wait for us unsuspecting souls since we had had the misfortune of arriving just at dusk, their dinnertime! Backwoods Off to the rescue! I was horrified to see three of these little blood-suckers alight on Mike's back and start feeding through his shirt! Quickly, we decided that we would complete the campsite set-up in the morning! Electricity and water hook-ups would be all that was accomplished for this evening!

After a dinner of leftover grilled lamb ribs, we retired early. First travel days are always LONG ones. Glad the drive was relatively short!

The new Vornado air mover fan is working like a charm! The Airstream A/C never gets the bedroom cool unless you have a fan to help out. We found this little gem at Costco for $30. It is lightweight, compact and does a great job! I got cold during the night and had to turn it off, a rare occurrence, indeed!

So far, all systems are go and everything is in working order, so we're off to explore!

What have we forgotten???

Tomorrow is the BIG day! And just like before any big trip, I'm starting to get 'too excited to sleep'! Our first stop is Sebastian River State Park which is situated on a narrow strip of land between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean, just south of Melbourne. Mike's big sister, Norma, and her hubby, John, live in Melbourne, so we plan to have dinner and a nice visit with them on Wednesday. Hoping to work in a tour of the Kennedy Space Center that morning!

All of the outdoor furniture and propane is stowed for the eventuality of a hurricane in the fall. Clothes are packed, tires are aired up, truck filled with diesel which was surprisingly hard to find today, supplies low for the Memorial Day weekend? Everything is just waiting for the Silver Chalet to pull up in front of our townhouse in the morning to load her up!

The shocker of the day was getting into a situation at Costco as we prepared to air up the truck tires. When we drove up, someone was there using the airhose, so we pulled along side of him to wait our turn for a few minutes. Since we needed to move closer to the air source, Mike told me to hop out and stand there so he could move the truck closer and others would know we were next in line. As he backed out, another car started driving into the parking spot with me standing there. I said we were waiting our turn and could they park next to this space. What ensued next, I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say that it was not pretty. At one point in being harrassed, cursed out and yelled at, I got the Costco attendant to assist us with the 'situation'. He finally told them that he would call the police if they did not calm down. The anger and rudeness of people will never cease to amaze and disappoint me! :(

Praying that we got our boorish experience out of the way early in the trip! I know the odds are not in our favor that we won't encounter more difficult personalities, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed! We are at the point that if we have forgotten anything, we can always buy it somewhere along the way! Time to relax and get a good night's sleep, I hope, I hope, I hope!

Countdown to Launch

Three days to launch! Preparing for a seven-month trip is a daunting task! Checking off the 'to do' list one by one! Mail forwarded, water turn-off affidavit turned in, Direct TV cancelled, Dentist and Doctor's appointments done, prescriptions filled, clothes packed, house cleaned. All we need to do is get haircuts and mani/pedis tomorrow, and do hurricane prep by stowing all outdoor furniture.

House key to the house sitter, my good friend, Mustang Sally! She and her GF's will enjoy coming over for a swim and a visit to the wine cooler from time to time! Last year, they pretended they were on holiday and created some pretty colorful narratives!

We have been pouring over our two books on scenic drives: 'The Most Scenic Drives in America, 120 Spectacular Road Trips' and National Geographic's 'Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways, The 275 Best Drives in the US' which we will use to guide our journey. Interestingly enough, I bought the first one twenty years ago...so, this desire to see New England's fall foliage has been a dream which is going to finally be realized this year!

I'm starting to get that 'too excited to sleep' phenom that always plagues me prior to any trip! Sigh...

Inspiration

For as long as I can remember, as a kid growing up in rural Texas, whenever I saw a travel trailer, RV,  or camper on its merry way down the highway, I always wondered 'where are they going?' 'what adventures lie ahead for them?' 'am I going to get to do that someday?'

When I met my future husband, Mike, in 1999, our mutual love of travel was an instant attraction and recurring topic of many dinner conversations.  Little did we know at that time, that we were forging a partnership that would ultimately take us on far flung adventures around the globe.

After almost a decade of travelling extensively, both internationally and within the US, in 2010, we decided to purchase an Airstream travel trailer so that we could concentrate on seeing North American in depth, spending quality time in various regions each year.

Mike hauled quarter horses for years in Texas, so he had some experience in towing trailers.  About the only thing I knew about them was from Lucy's mishaps in 'The Long, Long Trailer', a movie I remember seeing as a kid, which helped plant the seed that was about to sprout into a full grown dream come true.

Ken Burns's 'The National Parks, America's Best Idea' inspired us; autonomy in having our own little home away from home inspired us; the lure of the open road inspired us; the appeal of seeing this beautiful country in exquisite detail inspired us.

So, we made a huge leap of faith and huge investment in purchasing a brand new 2010 28' Airstream International and GMC 3/4 ton diesel truck to accommodate us on our Airstreamin' Dreamin' Adventure.