Driving into Spring

March 11, 2018

Driving into Spring

Here is what Steve wrote to David and Jessica in Haiti this past Thursday night:

A motor home is much like a boat. We were planning to set sail for SC in the morning. But the door won’t open. We crawled into the coach through the driver’s window. Thankfully I had purchased a ladder 2 days ago. The bottom of the window is 6 feet above ground level.

I took the interior plate off the latch mechanism and was unable to find any magic inside. A call to Newmar, the manufacturer, found a friendly man who did not have an immediate solution. He promised to find someone to fix the door latch tomorrow. He said, “It isn’t safe for a 66 and 67 yo to be crawling in and out through the window. It also looks bad for Newmar for new owners to have to enter and exit their brand new coach that way.”

We are comfy, fed, warm, and not distressed to be locked up together tonight.- Steve

We had locked the door that evening before leaving to give Peter the key to our storage room and say goodbye to Polette, Garvey and Alan and my Camry - that Peter bought. So Thursday morning we went nowhere. Some guy eventually turned up, removed a broken bolt, but could not replace it. So we could lock, but not with the deadbolt. And we could put away the ladder.

We knew we were going to have to ride separately the first day because Steve still needed an electric cable to charge the car battery as it is being towed, so it does not go dead after a day of traveling. And he did not have the cable.

Steve was tense the next morning when we were getting ready to leave. The motor home is like a boat: things fly around if they are not tied up, latched tight, or tucked in. And like a airplane in that there is a check list to go through to make sure you have not missed something that could cause a disaster. I was taking care of the inside- putting things away -including the remote to the TV which I now cannot find- and he was unhooking the tank hoses, unplugging the electric cable, turning off the propane, lowering the antenna, etc. His tone is different when he is tense. Not friendly or warm and I complained about it. He acknowledged he was tense.

It took me a little time to pair my phone with the Elantra so that I could listen to my music and get navigation. Then we took off. In separate vehicles. But it was time to leave and the towing could happen later. We were headed toward I-95 with me behind Steve when I saw one of the large bay doors on the bottom of the left side of the RV swing open and shut and open again. This door is so long it could hit an oncoming car and cause great damage to both the car and our RV. In a panic, I called Steve. He did not answer the first time, just kept driving. I started honking and flashing my lights and called again. This time he answered, I yelled at him that a door was flapping open and he stopped. Every door had been locked but one. He fixed it and we got on I-95.

I was shaking and had to calm myself down. The Chamber Singers came on singing John Rutter’s, “Look at the World, everything all around us. Look at the world, and marvel every day…” and that helped. Music cures a lot of things.

Two hours later when we stopped for gas, Steve came to the car window, kissed me and said, “We had a rough start. I am sorry I allowed my anxiety to rub off on you.” I love that he is so aware of “the state of our union.” Apologies cure a lot of things, too.

So we drove into spring. Through miles and miles of pine trees in North Carolina and into Spanish moss and palm trees, blooming azaleas, redbud, and pear trees in South Carolina.

Once we were parked at the KOA campground in Mt. Pleasant, SC, Steve’s daughter Elizabeth, her husband, David, and three children arrived to welcome us. Will is 13, long legs, and a little reserved. Henry is 10 and stockier. Meriwether is a bouncy, happy girl who hugged me immediately and announced her birthday party was the next day. She turned 7 the day before. They all explored the RV, joined us on the chairs under the awning, and we made plans for the next day.

We are enjoying getting to know the grandchildren better. Their parents are easy to be around but adults take more time to get to know. Bee City Zoo yesterday, breakfast together, biking and smores today. I experimented with the convection oven in the RV and made cookies that were a hit.

One of the most frustrating parts of our last two days is trying to find things we know we have somewhere.  Somewhere is the TV remote, somewhere are the marshmallow/hot dog sticks, somewhere……There are so many bins in so many bays and so many drawers and shelves. I am starting an Excel sheet to list what is in what bay and what bin. Have done one bay so far- ha!

The plan now is to stay here through Wednesday and explore Charleston. Thursday and Friday we will drive to Sarasota, FL. We plan to see Keith and Shannon (my sister) at dad’s place there on Saturday. Sunday we will go with friends, Wayne and Mona Pence, to see an Orioles game and spend some time with them. Monday we will go to Carol and Jerry’s in North Port.  We leave their place on the 22^nd and go to the Everglades. From there to Orlando to see Greta, Mike, Lexi, and Chase!!!!

We are looking forward to seeing so many friends and family! And we love these temps of 60- 70 degrees!

   

7 yo Meriwether