So Far So Good!

We made it!

We got up this morning and said our goodbye's to some friends that we were staying with and shed a few tears on the way out. You don't realize how great your friends are until you have to say good bye. Our Landlord, Amir, was very good to us. Dinners cooked for us every night and he even trusted us with a key to the house. Funny thing was that he didn't bother to tell his mother that he took the key off her key chain and she was locked out of the house the other day. That's a true friend! To our surprise we even got our security deposit back when we left this morning!
After arriving at the RV this morning we started putting things away for the trip. Anything that would fall over, brake or open up had to be secured. Then we started opening up all the compartments underneath to secure everything there.

That being done we fired up "Road Hazard" and started to get the Pick Up ready and attach the break lights and tow bar.

Finally the big moment...I drove it. Because of the parked cars on the street I decided to drive up the street and drive around the circle and come back down and hook up the pick up. The thing is so big that you can't feel if you drive over anything, like I experienced, when I drove on the neighbors newspaper, lawn and curb. Its all right, I'm not going back there anyways.
The drive down was great. I only felt uneasy once when we were sandwiched between two semi's on the Beltway. You sort of hold your breath and look straight ahead. (A little bit of white knuckles.)
Don't worry, we took this picture when we were still parked.
The other incident was that Reta and I couldn't figure out how to turn the heat on in the cabin area for our feet. By the time we made it down here my feet were frozen and Reta had her feet on the dash to keep it off the cold air blowing on our feet. Later, when our friend was exploring "Road Hazard", she informed us that we had to turn the heat on for the motor home part. Now the best part that she told us - the Co-Pilot's chair opens up like a Lazy Boy chair. How cool is that? Now I have TWO Lazy Boy chairs. Its like Christmas came early this year.

Training will continue tomorrow as we learn how to "dump". No, the RV. I already mastered that part years ago.
So, it's OK to breathe now and the Beltway is safe to drive again.

* Thanks for the vote of confidence on the poll. So far we only ran something over! Please vote on the new poll.*

Ready to Roll

We have finished with all the necessary paperwork, forwarded our mail, set up on line bills, put the new tags on our "Rig" and had the tow bar attached to the Pick up truck. I think we covered everything so we are ready to roll.

After dinner with close friends this evening and a good night's sleep we are scheduled to hit the road at 10 on Friday morning. I hope you won't be watching TV tomorrow morning and see the Road Hazard on the news. All we would need at that point is a white Ford Bronco following us!

Stay off the roads tomorrow and look for our next blog to hear how my first experience driving turned out.

By the way...if you are wondering about the Montana tags send me an email and I'll explain.

Two Days until "Drive" Day!

That's right! Two days until the "Road Hazard" hits the streets.

Remember growing up the feeling you had a couple of days before Christmas? You were excited to wake up and rush downstairs to open all your gifts. (My Jewish friends will have to use your imagination...Peter). That is how we are feeling right now. I am also excited because I am anticipating driving this thing. That's right, I haven't driven it yet. Some of you have expressed their thoughts as to why and I am amused by your ideas. The truth is...HAVE YOU SEEN THE SIZE OF THIS THING YET? Did I mention it is 40' long?

For those of you that don't know my family history of driving big rigs, here it is in a nutshell.

My father was driving a big truck about 2 years ago. He took a right hand turn and in the process took with him a light post. I'm talking about those big street aluminum light posts. Needless to say he never heard or felt anything and continued on his way. When he arrived at his destination he was being followed by a couple of police cars because someone had reported what had happened. Long story short, they wanted to arrest him. But I think because of my fathers broken English, no one would be able to understand him and therefore it wouldn't make a very good episode of COPS. After many hand gestures and speaking English very slowly they gave him a ticket instead. So, you see, there is a little fear factor involved. I applaud Reta for stepping up and driving it. I have no problem sitting in the back while she drives us around the country.

For those of you wondering where we are today, we are back in beautiful Rockville, Maryland. We will be here until Friday. Check back to see what I hit first.

Happy Hour

I finally got the chance to upload the pictures that we took at the Happy Hour we had at Clyde's in Rockville. It was great to see everyone and remember some great stories.
I think the pictures will speak for themselves.
Enjoy!

Our First Pre-Trip Trip

Ocean City, Maryland. Its nice this time of year when it is 42 degrees and the wind makes your nose freeze and your cheeks numb. But, if we don't experience this one last time we won't be able to appreciate the warm weather when we finally get there.
This long weekend has been great to get away from it all and forget about the lists of things still waiting for us when we get back. We find ourselves asking each other what we are going to do or how are are going to feel once the trip finally starts.
We are very fortunate to have good friends that let us stay here in OC at their place, since we have become homeless. We hope to get back to Rockville on Monday and start the preparation of the RV so that we can hit the road before next weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving

Last night was our first good night of sleep. We have both been stressed out over everything and because of that we haven't been sleeping the whole night. Even though Reta makes up endless lists, it seems that there is always something that is missing.

Today, we have much to be thankful for. So, when you are gathering around the traditional bird with knives at the ready, take a moment to reflect on the small things in life that we take for granted everyday.

Thank you and don't forget to thank the bird as well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

New Chapter

After many months of planning, endless hours and countless lists we have finally done it!
There we are, in this windowless room, across the table from these strange people that are so excited to be moving into their new home. Our home... but because you have just spent half an hour signing on the dotted line it is no longer ours.
I think it hit me, what was about to happen, last night. After 14 hours of packing, scrubbing and vacuuming the house for the last time it started to sink in. When we started flipping light switches to leave and looking into every room for the last time. It wasn't a surprise that we both looked like we had just peeled an onion. OK, I'll say it, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to leave our first home. After all, this is the place that we called "HOME" for 9 years. What makes it more difficult is that with this change we know that we will also have to say goodbye to our close friends as well. How do you say goodbye to people that you have spent hours with, at work, hanging around and on the volleyball court. Hours spent talking about the things, that at the time, would make great episodes on Seinfeld but will be remembered for years.
I leave you today with a thought that was sent to me from my, now, former boss about 8 months ago. Reta and I had to make an important decision that day and it would set our dream in motion.

"Find out what your passion is, then begin to visualize yourself already living your dream. Eventually, combined with a good work ethic and some patience, your dreams can come true."

Lets not say goodbye but lets create new memories by staying in touch.

Still Packing

Sorry for the few days with no Posting but we have been busy boxing everything and moving items to our storage unit and new home. I stopped and took a picture of us during one of the many trips we took to the unit. You'll notice the box of JD in the middle of it all!

This has been a really stressful time for us. Trying to get everything packed and with Reta having to finish with work it seems that we will need a few days to settle down before we can even think about starting our trip. I keep telling Reta that she needs to slow down. She has a tendency to pick her fingernails when she is stressed. I'm afraid she is going to end up like those parrots that are so stressed out being in their cage that they start picking their own feathers. Can you see Reta doing this?

I guess its better than picking your nose. At least the end is in sight. Soon our stress will be deciding what to have for dinner.

New House - First Trip

After much anticipation we finally picked up our new home. After getting some more helpful hints, do's and don'ts, we were off and running. Well, we had to figure out how to adjust the mirrors. This thing has more buttons than a brazilian stray dog has fleas! It was a few minutes of flipping switches and looking around to see what we just turned on or off. After all that, Reta was the brave one to adjust the steering wheel and take us home. Funny thing though, she kept hitting the accelerator and we weren't moving. After I looked over I noticed that she was still in Neutral. Again, more buttons. She just didn't put the RV in (D)rive.
We made it home safely and didn't even take out any signs or cars! Reta said "I can't believe I drove that big thing!" She hasn't felt that much power in her hands since our honeymoon and...
get your mind out of the gutter, since she drove my uncles tractor.

Two Days until Unemployment

We sit here watching TV while our minds are focused on the long list of things that still need to be taken care of before our trip can start. Packing, putting things in storage, stopping all utilities, setting bills up online, investments and who knows what else we are forgetting. We get comfortable and take for granted all the little luxuries that make up our life. Now, we have to either stop the service or figure out how we are going to take it with us.
The big thing that secretly makes me nervous is the RV that we are going to pick up tomorrow. We are excited and nervous about how we will drive this huge box on wheels. Will I be able to turn? Will I take out cars or people when I do turn? Lets just hope that what ever happens it will not end up being the start to a story that will be told many times over followed by roaring laughter. Not now at least, I am sure the journey will yield many stories. We have added a survey on the right side of this page. Vote and see if you guess correct.

Big Announcment! ! !

Hello,

As most of you may have heard already, my wife Reta and I are moving out of the area. We aren't sure where we are going to land but I promise it will be somewhere warm with a body of water close by. We are guessing somewhere on the Gulf side of Florida.
We have been planning this adventure for over a year and finally the opportunity presented itself and we decided to make the leap. We'll be cruising around the country visiting all the places that we have dreamed of seeing. Our home for the next 6 months (or more) will be a 40 x 8 foot box. We calculated that for the 11 years we've been married, 320 square feet of space, should be enough that we don't kill each other.

I know we will be OK because at a friends recent wedding, someone took our picture while we were in church with one of those new camera's that you can actually see what people are thinking...

Now, I know some of you may have questions to ask so I am going to try and answer a few of them below.

1) No, we are not running from the law.
2) No, you don't need a special license to drive that big thing.
3) No, we are not sick or been told by the doctor we only have a few months to live.
4) No, we didn't hit the lottery.
5) No, Reta is not pregnant.
6) No, we have not joined a "cult"
7) This is the only way that Reta will allow me to get a Lazy-Boy chair (thanks Hossein for adding this question to the list.)

We have sold the house and will be hitting the road sometime after Thanksgiving.
My email address is:
eliaselton@msn.com
Feel free to ask more questions, give me a call or invite me out for lunch. After this week I will be unemployed so handouts are accepted.

Thanks and hope to talk with you soon,
E