Sunday, April 17, 2005
Leaving Gold Canyon:
It's all over but the shooting match, as they say (I just realized I have NO idea what that old saying means!).
We'll "hit the road"---and in some ways it'll be the toughest transition yet. There are a number of factors: 1) after two years at one place, and a full 6 months here, we've almost grown roots 2) we have a number of friends in place, some of which we know will not be back here next year, and some, indeed that we'll likely never see again, 3) this is a gorgeous place (Arizona right here) and one of our favorites, 4) our rig and truck grow older and with that the possibility of mechanical issues always arises; so far we've been incredibly lucky 5) the cost of diesel is a shocker. Our daily fuel cost will more than equal all our other expenses combined! 6) other than our friendly SKP campgrounds, and the fields/lawns of our relatives, campgrounds have grown expensive at a rate far beyond the government's stated "annual inflation" figures. Indeed, almost everything WE buy seems to be inflating at much higher than the "official" rate. 7) we've gotten fat and complacent with TiVo on our TV and high-speed internet and a landline, and.... 8) greater Phoenix provides us with that "specialty shopping" we've grown accustomed to: Trader Joe's, AJ's Fine Foods, Whole Foods. (Yeah, I know, all things to eat!!!)
I can see the "evolution" by which so many RV'ers have thrown in their rig keys and bought a park model here. I hope this doesn't happen to us....yet. But then, we're only 6 years into this full-timing, and most of these people held out a little longer than that.
There is one great incentive to leaving, though. Phoenix turns on the radiant heater about now, and it can make your head swim. Being in the direct sun is very akin to holding your face about 12" in front of a full-tilt electric coil heater. And if you touch the surface of a car with bare skin, you'll be nastily surprised, if not frankly burned. To say the whole place "thins out" would be a gross understatement. If you stayed, it'd be as one of the die-hards and it would be a "whole 'nother world." (Might be worth it to see/experience it....nah!)
This will be the least-planned summer of our RV'ing career, though. There's always something good about THAT. It's always good to indulge in a bit of the old wanderlust. If we can just learn to "take it easy" and stick to our 150 mile-per-day maximum, life will be okay.
Stay in touch. Use the "email us" button!!
It's all over but the shooting match, as they say (I just realized I have NO idea what that old saying means!).
We'll "hit the road"---and in some ways it'll be the toughest transition yet. There are a number of factors: 1) after two years at one place, and a full 6 months here, we've almost grown roots 2) we have a number of friends in place, some of which we know will not be back here next year, and some, indeed that we'll likely never see again, 3) this is a gorgeous place (Arizona right here) and one of our favorites, 4) our rig and truck grow older and with that the possibility of mechanical issues always arises; so far we've been incredibly lucky 5) the cost of diesel is a shocker. Our daily fuel cost will more than equal all our other expenses combined! 6) other than our friendly SKP campgrounds, and the fields/lawns of our relatives, campgrounds have grown expensive at a rate far beyond the government's stated "annual inflation" figures. Indeed, almost everything WE buy seems to be inflating at much higher than the "official" rate. 7) we've gotten fat and complacent with TiVo on our TV and high-speed internet and a landline, and.... 8) greater Phoenix provides us with that "specialty shopping" we've grown accustomed to: Trader Joe's, AJ's Fine Foods, Whole Foods. (Yeah, I know, all things to eat!!!)
I can see the "evolution" by which so many RV'ers have thrown in their rig keys and bought a park model here. I hope this doesn't happen to us....yet. But then, we're only 6 years into this full-timing, and most of these people held out a little longer than that.
There is one great incentive to leaving, though. Phoenix turns on the radiant heater about now, and it can make your head swim. Being in the direct sun is very akin to holding your face about 12" in front of a full-tilt electric coil heater. And if you touch the surface of a car with bare skin, you'll be nastily surprised, if not frankly burned. To say the whole place "thins out" would be a gross understatement. If you stayed, it'd be as one of the die-hards and it would be a "whole 'nother world." (Might be worth it to see/experience it....nah!)
This will be the least-planned summer of our RV'ing career, though. There's always something good about THAT. It's always good to indulge in a bit of the old wanderlust. If we can just learn to "take it easy" and stick to our 150 mile-per-day maximum, life will be okay.
Stay in touch. Use the "email us" button!!
