Wes and Jan see the US Wanderings and Side Trips

Projects and preparation Sep 9, 2008

We are frantically trying to get ready to leave for the winter trip. I am surprised at how much preparation it takes. Our last trip in the RV was in April so I didn't think it would take that much work to get clean and load the fifth wheel. Wes had quite a list of "projects" he wanted to complete and I had a shorter list. I think we would have met our original departure date of September 9 if we hadn't encountered some more road blocks. Wes has been feeling really good, but even his stamina is wearing out and he caught a cold or flu somewhere along the way. He finally just gave in and had to have some rest. I have been having some problems with my lower back and hip and the closer we got to leaving, the more intense they became. Finally on Monday, I went into the doctor. I was hoping to just get an epidural or a cortisone shot and I would deal with anything else when we got home in the spring. But that wasn't happening! Our doctor determined that it was indeed my hip, with pain radiating to my back and knee and sometimes on down to my foot on the right side. So - I had to have an MRI. The mobile unit just happened to be at our hospital that day and so I was scheduled for an MRI. The wait for my turn was a couple of hours. When it was my turn, I went into the truck and remembered I was claustrophobic:-) Don't know why I didn't think about that before. I thought I could tough it out, but when they started moving me into that tube, I panicked. There was no way I was going to get my head into that extremely close, small place. It is beyond my comprehension how people do that. So, I had to be rescheduled for an "open" MRI the next day (our departure day). The open MRI lab is in Garden City, Kansas which is 85 miles away. Guess how much time that is going to take?!! At this point, I was ready to just forget everything - the hip pain, the MRI, the RV trip - all of it. I was pretty much at my breaking point. Since I was an "unscheduled" MRI, they had to work me in. I could have one that day and come back the next morning for the second one. I filled out the paperwork and while I was doing that, they received a call canceling an appointment for later in the afternoon. So, I got that appointment and waited around and got both MRIs done in one day. Results will be called to our doctor the next day.

I was also trying to get my new glasses before we left. After a mix up on that, I just pretty much said, "just hang on to the lenses. I will pick them up in the spring".

This was all on Tuesday. If we worked really hard Wednesday, we might still be able to leave in the afternoon. Well, afternoon progressed into evening and we decided we would have to wait until Thursday. Wes was feeling worse with his cold/flu and I still had a lot to do. He went to bed about midnight and I stayed up all night finishing my chores. I had a spurt of energy about 1am and got everything done and the house cleaned and all the laundry done. Then it rained! We had been getting rain about every day and our roads get pretty muddy. So, before we left, Wes drove the car to the highway to be sure it wasn't too muddy to pull the RV down. It was good, so we hitched up and left - finally!!

We made a stop in Lamar, Colorado about 60 miles from home to grocery shop for supplies and Wes took a short nap. It just so happened that they were giving flu shots at this store. There was no waiting, so I got mine. Wes still had some flu symptoms, so he couldn't get his. That finished, we continued on our way.

I must say, we are very pleased with the performance of our new truck. With the extra fuel tank, we didn't have to stop at all for fuel. We figured at 10 mpg, we could travel about 900 miles before we needed to refuel. What a relief not to have to be looking for a station we could get into every 150 miles. It pulled right up over LaVeta pass without even slowing down. We passed slower moving vehicles and made good time. The "trailer" mode made good use of the engine brake and we felt very safe. A great trip. Fuel mileage was great. According to the info on the truck, we were getting 12 - 14 mpg, but it is not always accurate, so Wes has to figure that out himself, but it was at least 10mpg which about double what we were getting with the old truck. This may seem like LOW gas mileage to some of you, but it is a great improvement for us and will actually save us quite a bit of money.

Before leaving, we had dinner with our good friends, Bill and Barb Davison. We grew up with them here in Tribune, but they moved away and ended up living in Connecticut. With their semi-retirement, they have made Tribune their summer home. Just another couple that have moved "back home" to Tribune. We had a wonderful evening and parted with the new "good bye" - "see you down the road". We are learning not to say good bye, knowing we will meet them at another time and place.

Shan's birthday was this past week also, and Myra had a birthday dinner for him. We have been trying to get together with them all summer and just couldn't connect, so we went to their house for dinner and celebration. Another good evening with friends.

One more short visit with my Aunt Ocie and our social obligations were done.

Projects done and on the road - at last!! I keep reminding Wes if we were full time, all of this "prep" work would not need to be done. We could just pull up the jacks and drive off:-) Soon, we hope.

We are looking forward to a great winter - spending time in some of our favorite places and exploring new ones. Meeting and visiting with friends along the way. Keep in touch.