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Ordinary, Extraordinary

by Brian on May 29, 2010 in Connecticut

I’ve never been here before, and it feels a little like an adventure. Not an “Adventure”, with a capital ‘A’, like an Indiana Jones escapade or even a gorilla trek in Gabon (on the to-do list, btw). But a small adventure of exploring something unfamiliar.

And it’s not at all about the destination. There isn’t anything at all “touristy” about this area and no reason why a traveler would venture here, except out of necessity. And indeed, I’m here on a perfectly ordinary errand; to pick-up Shannon at the New London, CT, train station. But it is that juxtaposition between the ordinary and the unfamiliar that has me excited. Every day now is a kind of adventure; an exploration of the unknown.

I wonder if it is possible for the unfamiliar to become routine. I hope not, this is too much fun.

Happy Birthday to Me

by Brian on May 18, 2010 in New York

For my 39th birthday we undertook the first hike of our new life. This hike, a fairly simple one, is to Kaaterskill Falls, a two drop waterfall in the eastern Catskill mountains of New York.

The hardest part is getting to the trail head, which requires braving oncoming traffic, along winding roads with no shoulder . . .

And navigating the wreckage from over-night storms . . .

But after a short hike, we arrived at the deserted waterfall (one of the benefits of being able to get here during the middle of a work day) and set up a nice picnic on a flat rock overlooking the falls and the pool of water beneath. Happy Birthday to me!

Settling in Nicely

by Brian on May 1, 2010 in Miscellaneous

Ever since we decided to do this we’ve worried that Tabitha might have difficulty adjusting to the new environment. For most of her 12 years, she’s lived in the same house and has rarely ventured outside. She’s not much of a traveler, and we didn’t know how she’d cope. But thankfully it looks like she’s settling in nicely, as we all are.

No Turning Back Now

by Brian on April 28, 2010 in New York

Yesterday we said goodbye to our beloved Hoboken. With the car packed to the gills and Tabitha crying in her kitty carrier (our other cat, Emma, passed away in January), we set out for Saugerties, New York, stop #1 on the RV adventures. Actually, our first stop was to pick up the RV at a storage place in Saugerties.

So far, so good. We haven’t broken anything yet, and Brian seems to have figured out which hoses to plug in where. It was surreal to wake up in a wooded Kampground of America, which we pretty much have to ourselves, with the sound of birds chirping instead of our neighbors’ kids screaming.

We’re here for three weeks, to see family before we head out to parts unknown and adjust to the fact that we now live in an RV.

Inaugural Voyage

by Brian on April 17, 2010 in How To, Planning and Prep, RVing

Point A is the location of the dealer where we bought our RV. Point B is our storage facility in Saugerties, NY, where we’ll be keeping it for the next month. The blue line represents the one-hour, 23 minute, 74.5 mile drive, I needed to complete to get the rig from Point A to Point B. Piece of cake . . . except I’ve never driven an 18,000 pound, 35 foot, Class A motor home before. Conceptually I know how to drive it; it turns wider because of the length; the back end swings out to the opposite side when turning because of the shorter wheel base; it’s wider than a car so I need to mind the right hand side; it stops much slower; etc. etc. etc. But as any college professor understands, knowing and doing are two completely different things. Nonetheless, today’s the day I needed to saddle up and take this puppy for a spin.

A couple of things surprised me about the trip. One, I didn’t wreck it. That was pretty cool, and an important first step in our plans. The second is the great visibility I had of the road. Not only in front, but also along the sides, and to a certain extent, in the back. Because of the large double mirrors and the high vantage point I actually had a better sense of where I was on the road than when I’m driving my car. But that high vantage point has a drawback . . . bridge overhangs look looooooow. Passing under bridges, even when the elevation is marked, feels like a leap of faith. I keep picturing the top of the rig getting sheared off by a low bridge. But not on this trip. Ship and crew arrived safely at their appointed destination with nary a scratch. So far, so good.