Hello again!!
The balmy breezes at Quantico suddenly gave way to freezing temperatures with gusty winds by the time we reached our next destination at Yorktown, VA on Sunday, Dec. 28. Chris' grandfather, Charles Clark died in an aircraft accident at Langley Field in the late 1920s and she wanted to do some research about his life. He was the Captain of the 19th Airship Company that was stationed there and piloted what we know today as blimps.
Chris' family has a long history of military service dating back to the Revolutionary War. Clark Air Force Base in the Phillipines was named after her Great Uncle Harold Melville Clark (Charles' brother) who was also an Army aviator.
We celebrated the beginning of the New Year with our old friends Al and Suzanne Brassel and Jay took a side trip to see his friend, Harvey Orr's, new home and woodworking shop.
Next stop was Raleigh, NC where Jay attended an all-day Melaleuca seminar and Chris stayed in Sonny to recover from the madness of the last few weeks. However, North Carolina was not all-together what we'd hoped for. Upon our arrival at the RV Park, Jay was so intent on looking ahead at where we would park he neglected to pay sufficient attention to all that he was dragging behind him, i.e. 33 feet of trailer. Yep, you can almost visualize him taking that corner too sharply and sideswiping that tree. Correcting cosmetic damage is now another line item on our list of things to do. It was too painful to photograph so please excuse the omission.
Saturday's weather was sunny and warm, comparatively, and we were looking for things to do outside. In an effort to control the pet hair Chris successfully used the "furminator" on Max while he stood atop the picnic table at the campsite. When Jay returned from Raleigh, we were hoping for the same results with Little Miss.
Perhaps we should explain more about Little Miss. Eight years ago, Jessica got her from an animal shelter on Long Island, NY. Like most New Yorkers, she was a little difficult to deal with. She is the proverbial "scaredy cat". For months she wouldn't come out from under the bed when anyone was home. Eventually she would tolerate Jessica and other familiar faces but still disappeared when strangness was afoot. The trauma of the cross-country flight didn't help her psyche.
With this knowledge we proceeded with caution to take her outside to the "furminator table". With Jay wearing leather gloves, and Little Miss secured in a harness, we thought we'd taken all precautions to prevent an escape. All went well for the first 15 minutes and she was loving the experience complete with purring. As sometimes happens with older females a sudden mood swing occured. The tail twitched, a gutteral howl and out came the claws!!! While we were distracted by Jay's bleeding arm, Little Miss leapt from the table, squirmed out of the harness, with Houdini-like ability, and rapidly departed the scene.
Now this RV park is surrounded by dense woodland, with a cow pasture on one side. And like all good cow pastures, this one contains an ostrich. It is highly likely that Little Miss had never seen an ostrich. As she entered the pasture in an attempt to flee our grasp the big bird, with wings oustretched, immediately charged from the far side of the field, in defense of its territory. With Chris behind her and an angry ostrich in front she had nowhere else to go. Little Miss evacuated the scene the only way she could - straight up a tree.
With darkness setting in and temperatures plummeting we took turns trying to entice Little Miss from the tree. But she would not budge from her perch 10' above our heads. By bedtime Jay was convinced she would only come down with assistance and we resigned ourselves to seek a ladder in the morning.
Jay, the world-renowned feline expert, was proven once again to not know a thing about what he was talking about. In Jay's defense it rained during the night and Little Miss decided to find dryer accomodations elsewhere. A forwarding address was not provided.
Emotionally bludgeoned about the disappearance of a pet that had been entrusted to our care we felt we had to make a concerted effort to perform an exhaustive expanding square search ( a little Coast Guard search and rescue lingo there). We delayed our departure an extra day to distribute fliers, post her information on the local Craig's List and combed the area, often on our hands and knees, attempting to locate her to no avail. We would have stayed longer however the last time she got away from Jessica's home, she was gone for 3 1/2 months. We felt that if someone found her they would call and we would return immediately to retrieve her.
Rock Ridge Campground has way too much negative energy for our tastes. With heavy hearts, heads hung low and seeking warmth we reluctantly abandoned the search and continued south.
Next stop Savannah, GA.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Departure
Hi Everyone,
A little frazzled but happy, Jay is retracting the front support legs of Sonny as part of the last preparations for actually pulling out of the driveway.
Chris, Jay and Max just before getting in "Ol' Blue" and heading down the road.
Since we had so little experience with how well the contents of the trailer would travel, Chris spent the first 5 miles inside Sonny with a walki talki to tell Jay how it was going. We were pleasantly surprised at how smoothly it rode. Drawers and cabinets stayed shut and we arrived at the RV park in Fort Meade, MD and set up after dark with virtually no problems. Now just because our first day's journey was only 14.1 miles does not mean it wasn't a significant achievement. We were afraid Sonny had sat way too long and been so cold that it wouldn't move at all!!
The weather the next day was actually warm with a balmy breeze as we headed south. The traffic getting around D.C. was terrible (it was the first weekend after Christmas) we got to the RV park at Quantico Marine Base in Va to experience a most enjoyable sunset and evening at our lakefront campsite.
The six weeks leading up to and the first few days after we left home was much more hectic and stressful than we had ever imagined. One would think that with 10 months of planning and preparing for our departure we would be relaxed, have everything done, leisurely complete the final details and be on our way. Not to be!!!
Neither of our cars sold as quickly or for the money we wanted (based on Kelly Blue Book values) and the Honda was delivered to the new owner the day we departed. Chris made a 4,000+ mile cross-country trip with her daughter from December 6th to the 17th and her business made more demands on her than she had planned. These obligations cut into the time she needed to sort through and move the kitchen items and supplies, and her office papers and equipment to Sonny, thus causing way too much "last minute" work than we had expected. The weather in Maryland for all of November and December was much colder than anticipated and everything just simply took longer to complete and turned out harder than we thought it would be.
The good news is that even with last minute repairs needed in the house (a leaky pipe under the kitchen sink), in Sonny (the wintry temperatures caused water pipes to freeze) , Christmas and a hundred other little hurdles to overcome, we managed to leave by 5 p.m., Friday the 26th of December - AND WITHOUT A DIVORCE!!!
A little frazzled but happy, Jay is retracting the front support legs of Sonny as part of the last preparations for actually pulling out of the driveway.
Chris, Jay and Max just before getting in "Ol' Blue" and heading down the road. We are taking care of Jessica's, (Chris' daughter), dog (Max) and cat (Little Miss) while she attends the Coast Guard's Officer Candidate School from January through early May.
Since we had so little experience with how well the contents of the trailer would travel, Chris spent the first 5 miles inside Sonny with a walki talki to tell Jay how it was going. We were pleasantly surprised at how smoothly it rode. Drawers and cabinets stayed shut and we arrived at the RV park in Fort Meade, MD and set up after dark with virtually no problems. Now just because our first day's journey was only 14.1 miles does not mean it wasn't a significant achievement. We were afraid Sonny had sat way too long and been so cold that it wouldn't move at all!!
The weather the next day was actually warm with a balmy breeze as we headed south. The traffic getting around D.C. was terrible (it was the first weekend after Christmas) we got to the RV park at Quantico Marine Base in Va to experience a most enjoyable sunset and evening at our lakefront campsite. 
The next morning was spent retorquing bolts ...
and enjoying the scenery 
...
...
before we headed south to beat the forecasted miserable weather heading our way.
We'll update you on happenings in Yorktown, Raleigh, Savannah and Tallahassee soon!!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Preparations
Our new home:
We decided to purchase a 5th wheel trailer based on recommendations of numerous old-timers living the RV lifestyle. We discovered and purchased the perfect used trailer at an RV dealer 8 miles from our home. The first piece of the puzzle that just dropped into our laps. Made by Sunnybrook, we named it Sonny.
A tow vehicle was required which we found effortlessly on e-bay. Ol’ Blue is a two-year old, one-ton, extended cab, long-bed GMC diesel pick-up truck, and we bet you can guess the color. We found it on a Thursday and by the following Tuesday Jay was on a plane to Detroit to drive it home. He got 21 miles per gallon and an opportunity to visit his cousins in Ohio en route.
Although RV parks have electrical hookups to provide all of our modern day needs, we installed a generator to enable complete self-sufficiency if we happen to find an open field somewhere that looks like it needs someone to occupy it short-term.
We spent September, October and into November customizing areas of the interior to accommodate computer stations for each of us and maximizing storage areas. We removed the existing dinette set and recliner and installed our desks. The cavern containing the multi-function TV, VCR, DVD unit, that weighed a ton, became a shelved storage cabinet for our office supplies. Chris’ computer monitor doubles as our living area TV.
Experienced RVers told us that trailer tires have a propensity for blowing out at the most inopportune times. So, we decided to avoid the excitement and put on new tires traditionally made for trucks. Installing the monstrous (some assembly required) hitch in Ol’ Blue was the last major piece of the puzzle needed for us to take a test drive around the block with Sonny. All systems GO!!!
We were ready to show our friends and family our new toys via an Open House celebration. It was a tremendous success with many in attendance who Ooooed and Aaaahhhhed at the spaciousness and comfortable details of Sonny. At one point we had 20 people inside with room to spare.
Next we will be loading our clothes, food and other supplies then moving in to camp in the driveway while we work out any other bugs/discover things we need/and settle in. The weather has turned very cold (into the teens this week during the day!!!). Where is Global Warming when we really need it?
We decided to purchase a 5th wheel trailer based on recommendations of numerous old-timers living the RV lifestyle. We discovered and purchased the perfect used trailer at an RV dealer 8 miles from our home. The first piece of the puzzle that just dropped into our laps. Made by Sunnybrook, we named it Sonny.
A tow vehicle was required which we found effortlessly on e-bay. Ol’ Blue is a two-year old, one-ton, extended cab, long-bed GMC diesel pick-up truck, and we bet you can guess the color. We found it on a Thursday and by the following Tuesday Jay was on a plane to Detroit to drive it home. He got 21 miles per gallon and an opportunity to visit his cousins in Ohio en route.
Although RV parks have electrical hookups to provide all of our modern day needs, we installed a generator to enable complete self-sufficiency if we happen to find an open field somewhere that looks like it needs someone to occupy it short-term.We spent September, October and into November customizing areas of the interior to accommodate computer stations for each of us and maximizing storage areas. We removed the existing dinette set and recliner and installed our desks. The cavern containing the multi-function TV, VCR, DVD unit, that weighed a ton, became a shelved storage cabinet for our office supplies. Chris’ computer monitor doubles as our living area TV.
Experienced RVers told us that trailer tires have a propensity for blowing out at the most inopportune times. So, we decided to avoid the excitement and put on new tires traditionally made for trucks. Installing the monstrous (some assembly required) hitch in Ol’ Blue was the last major piece of the puzzle needed for us to take a test drive around the block with Sonny. All systems GO!!!
We were ready to show our friends and family our new toys via an Open House celebration. It was a tremendous success with many in attendance who Ooooed and Aaaahhhhed at the spaciousness and comfortable details of Sonny. At one point we had 20 people inside with room to spare.
Next we will be loading our clothes, food and other supplies then moving in to camp in the driveway while we work out any other bugs/discover things we need/and settle in. The weather has turned very cold (into the teens this week during the day!!!). Where is Global Warming when we really need it?
!!! Five weeks to blast-off !!!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The Inspiration...
Welcome to our Odyssey.
We are Chris and Jay and are preparing to embark on a two-year cross-country trip in a 33' 5th wheel RV. Chris is a photographer and Jay is a retired Coast Guard helicopter pilot who has been trained in the precise nuances of packing Chris' tripod and camera gear over hill and dale while visiting pretty places to photograph. ;)
In February of 2008 we were painting our dining room and Chris was mindlessly sanding the window trim when the inspiration of leaving our home for 2 years to resolve a capital gains tax issue hit her. We won't bore you with the details but, thus the idea of the "Odyssey" was conceived. We have since solved the capital gains problem but decided to do the trip anyway as it sounded like so much fun. Having extensive experience living aboard sailboats and touring the Caribbean, moving into a land yacht is a natural transition.
Few people have the luxury of this type of experience. We decided to share our adventure with friends and family and anyone interested in a similar lifestyle, or having a desire to live vicariously through us.
You may ask, why would we take on such a project with the economy and fuel prices the way they are? Honestly, we have thought the same thing. However, everything is so effortlessly falling into place (and the fuel prices are coming down -- for now) that it just seems like the right thing to do. The why's and wherefore's will be revealed to us as our adventure unfolds.
We hope that you will join our odyssey. Please visit our blog often as we will be posting information about our experiences with photos, narrative and itinerary.
Chris and Jay
We are Chris and Jay and are preparing to embark on a two-year cross-country trip in a 33' 5th wheel RV. Chris is a photographer and Jay is a retired Coast Guard helicopter pilot who has been trained in the precise nuances of packing Chris' tripod and camera gear over hill and dale while visiting pretty places to photograph. ;)
In February of 2008 we were painting our dining room and Chris was mindlessly sanding the window trim when the inspiration of leaving our home for 2 years to resolve a capital gains tax issue hit her. We won't bore you with the details but, thus the idea of the "Odyssey" was conceived. We have since solved the capital gains problem but decided to do the trip anyway as it sounded like so much fun. Having extensive experience living aboard sailboats and touring the Caribbean, moving into a land yacht is a natural transition.
Few people have the luxury of this type of experience. We decided to share our adventure with friends and family and anyone interested in a similar lifestyle, or having a desire to live vicariously through us.
You may ask, why would we take on such a project with the economy and fuel prices the way they are? Honestly, we have thought the same thing. However, everything is so effortlessly falling into place (and the fuel prices are coming down -- for now) that it just seems like the right thing to do. The why's and wherefore's will be revealed to us as our adventure unfolds.
We hope that you will join our odyssey. Please visit our blog often as we will be posting information about our experiences with photos, narrative and itinerary.
Chris and Jay
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