New Adventure begins

[moonshadow]

I took advantage of the nice weather today to clear our my service van of most of my personal belongings, tools, etc.

It was a strange sensation as I felt as though I was about to quit my job, when in fact, I'm not quitting the company, just moving (and with it a local [Washington] van)

I also received my new ultra quiet 4500 watt generator inverter today. I ran it for a few hours to break it in. I'm told electricity in the PNW might not be as reliable as I'm accustomed to. Maintaining electrical power is critical to keep pipes from freezing as virtually all water and sewer connections are above ground in an RV and require electric heat tape.

Be prepared.

[Myopic Bookworm]

If you're heading for South Dakota, I hope you can drop in at Wall Drug. The roadside advertisements for it seem to start several hundred miles away!

(We went there while on a road trip to satisfy my wife's wish to visit 'Little House on the Prairie' sites around De Smet, SD. Longest drive I've ever done: about 3700 miles there and back.)

[Elisabetta]

If you're heading for South Dakota, I hope you can drop in at Wall Drug. The roadside advertisements for it seem to start several hundred miles away!

(We went there while on a road trip to satisfy my wife's wish to visit 'Little House on the Prairie' sites around De Smet, SD. Longest drive I've ever done: about 3700 miles there and back.)

We'd love that. We love Little House on the Prairie.

[Grok]

There is also the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota.

[Myopic Bookworm]

If you're heading for South Dakota, I hope you can drop in at Wall Drug. The roadside advertisements for it seem to start several hundred miles away!

(We went there while on a road trip to satisfy my wife's wish to visit 'Little House on the Prairie' sites around De Smet, SD. Longest drive I've ever done: about 3700 miles there and back.)

We'd love that. We love Little House on the Prairie.

Oh, do go to the Ingalls Homestead at De Smet then.

[Elisabetta]

Tomorrow's the Big Move!! So excited but so bittersweet.

[Coder]

Good luck! Post some photos - I know it's not the best time of year for outdoor shots, but you never know.

If you are going through Illinois, and Casey is near the route, you should stop there. They have oodles of larger than life things - world's largest rocking chair - that sort of thing. A mailbox big enough to stand up in, etc... Not worth driving out of your way, but fun nonetheless if it's within your route.

https://www.bigthingssmalltown.com

[Grok]

Good luck!

[crfriend]

Best of luck to the pair of you! Please keep us posted. We care.

[Elisabetta]

Definitely will.

[FranTastic444]

Condolences to you and Moon on the loss of your father / in-law.

Hope all goes well with the silver lining that came with this cloud - the sights and experiences you will get to enjoy from travel and relocation in a different part of the country. I did a 3k mile relocate (across a big pond and to a new continent) 9 years ago safe in the knowledge that if it didn't work out it would be pretty easy to do something else or go back to whence I came - and it seems like you have set things up in a very similar fashion.

I visualize two "old hippies" such as us throwing what we can in the back of an old pickup and towing our small trailer clear across the USA. Stories and journeys like that make up the "soul" of American culture. Indeed, people write songs about this sort of thing. We'll see if it actually happens.

We have been watching waaay too many RV-related YouTube videos of late (Keep Your Daydream, LivinRVision, HappilyEverHanks and the like). We really want to spend a couple of years as full time RVers so that we can get to see parts of the US beyond the North-East bubble where we currently spend most of our time. If / when we can do this will depend upon a number of factors - the first of which comes on 11/9 when the new owner of our company provides us with information about the big re-org they are planning for their recent acquisition.

[Dick Ackerman]

Be safe and enjoy the ride.

[Coder]

Also, since you are traveling west, don’t get dysentery (esoteric reference to a video game).

[moonshadow]

Today the real fun begins...

We finally left our home region around 6pm yesterday... we pulled the trailer across the West Virginia mountains in the rain.

We made it to an Ohio rest stop near the WV border where we bedded down for the night.

I admit, this was the first time in my life I've done this... it was kinda neat... parked along the rest area off ramp along side of the big rigs, the hum of our new ultra quiet generator going in the background (it's quieter than the neighboring diesel engines idling)...

I lay awake at 6am this morning, my anxiety finally got the best of me and I couldn't sleep anymore... by the end of this day I will be in uncharted territory, lands completely foreign to me.

I have to remind myself.... "it will all be okay...". We have a nice tight little camper, a place to park it in Washington, and a good job waiting for me...

[denimini]

A great adventure for you both.