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Back in Twin Rivers

The final leg of the trip was easy enough—I've driven the Pennsylvania Turnpike many times. I did make a slight digression into Lancaster County to do a couple of hours of shopping at the Rockvale Square outlet mall. I picked up an assortment of tools and gadgets for Gertie at the Black and Decker store. And as my friend Judie had fallen in love with the little travel alarm/calendar/thermometer I have mounted on Gertie's bedroom ceiling (where I can see it even when I'm in bed with my glasses off), I picked up another one for her at the Casio store—I knew they'd be cheaper there than anywhere else. I also bought her and Gary a Casio labeler so that they could label all the "new stuff" in their big new motorhome, as I had labeled everything in Gertie. Refurbished, but looking and working like new, it was just over half price—can't beat that!

On the way back from there to the turnpike I got really lost for the first time in the trip. Having taken a wrong turn somewhere, I found myself trundling through back-country roads with no landmarks...nothing but farms all around. Finally I came to a tiny, old church and pulled into the deserted parking lot to get my bearings. Fortunately the GPS was working well, so I took the latitude/longitude numbers off the display and then went back to the lounge, where I manually input them into the Street Atlas USA program running on my PowerBook—the first time I had used this function. What a relief! It showed me exactly where I was on the map, and I was quickly able to figure out how to get back to the turnpike.

I got home in the late afternoon, just as the Memorial Day traffic was starting to get heavy—but I managed to miss almost all of it. I parked Gertie under a tree on Twin Rivers Drive, heaved most of my stuff into a couple of bags and walked to the house.

The first thing I did when I got inside the door was what I always do after a long trip: lie down on the floor and let Marie sniff me all over and rub her head against my shoulder...she couldn't get enough of me. For the next several days, she followed me around the apartment, purring more loudly than I have ever heard her purr. She did her best to let me know that she was glad to see me, and the feeling was mutual! (As my friend Chris said later, when I was gone for so long, Marie probably thought that a predator had gotten me...in her world, what else could explain such a long absence?)

Of course there were piles of mail—both physical and electronic—to plow through and respond to. Moving all these pictures and this journal from my PowerBook onto my G4 Mac was a high priority, though it has taken me another two months to get everything put together! But that has given me time to reflect on my experiences...

What have I learned?

Thanks to two years of intensive study (don't laugh!) and my friend Judie Ashford's skilled mentoring, I didn't have any disastrous adventures—only pleasant ones. It pays to do your homework! Nevertheless, I've learned a lot of things on this trip.

I've learned to be even more careful than usual when parking at the end of a long day of driving. I've learned not to plan trips that require driving every day. (This time, of course, I really had no choice.) I've learned that the cruise control actually does work if you push and slide its controls in the right sequence (something I discovered on my last day on the road!)

I've learned not to count my RVing accomplishments in miles. That people are generally very friendly and helpful when they find out you're a beginner and come from out of state. That I still have not found a really comfortable seating position for working at a computer in Gertie. (I've pretty much given up on using the standard keyboard and the Wacom tablet/mouse, and gone back to typing directly on the PowerBook, but it makes my shoulders hurt!) And that I don't understand Gertie's electrical/charging system as well as I want to.

I've learned that while Gary and Judie took extremely good care of Gertie overall, there are a few things (e.g., air conditioning, windshield washers and rust spots) that, either because of their lifestyle or their Arizona location, weren't important to them—but that are important to me. I've already fixed some of these and will be fixing the others in months to come.

I've learned that the gray water tank is Gertie's limiting factor when boondocking—but that I can transfer water from there to the black water tank, which fills much more slowly, to extend my capabilities. (I could reduce gray water even more by using paper plates and plastic flatware and showering in campgrounds instead of in Gertie, but I choose not to.)

I've learned that when I wait until late in the day to choose a campground, I tend to pick a commercial one out of laziness, because they are easier to find. But I was right in thinking before I started this trip that the undeveloped sites would be much more satisfactory—commercial campgrounds should be a last resort.

I've learned that the Nikon 950's "Best Shot Selector" feature can really save the day in low-light situations where it would normally be impossible to handhold a camera.

Here's a big one: I learned that I can actually find my way around a completely strange area without another person to help me, as long as I plan in advance and get my directions down on the pocket voice recorder. I don't know what I would have done without that thing! I would have been lost many, many times, that's for sure—whereas in this whole trip I don't think I made more than three or four wrong turns in 3,300 miles of driving, about 75-80% of it on back roads. Given my poor map sense and poor sense of direction, that's astonishing.

Of course I can't deny that I would have probably enjoyed it much more with a traveling companion. And it would have been easier in some ways. But having to do it entirely on my own this first time has given me a kind of self-confidence—especially about navigating—that I would not have acquired if I'd had someone with me to share the tasks.

I wonder where my next trip will take me?