The Adventure Begins

We are now officially living in the RV. It's still parked in the RV dealers lot, but we are sleeping here and running almost all the systems. We're having some trouble with the fridge not staying cold, and it seems to warm up over night for some reason. We also can't move to the RV park yet, as we are waiting for a riser for our hitch. This lifts the front of the RV up high enough so that it doesn't crash into the sides of the truck when going over bumps. No one seems to have anticipated this problem.

We've had some nice adventures into the surrounding area, a really beautiful part of Illinois. Classic farms and baby corn plants everywhere. The area has had tons of rain, so the vegetation is lush and green everywhere. And some evidence of flooding as well.

                                                             Had our first tail gate party.

Also found a superb place for barbecue,
with the best baked/smoked beans ever.
It's called the Crystal Lake Rib House,
on Rt. 176 in Crystal Lake, IL. Doesn't
look like much on the outside, but the
inside is clean and homey, and the service
is great.







Tonight I tackle the washer/dryer!

Motel-limbo

So, right now we are living in a motel. The RV is not quite ready for us, and we have been ousted from our house by the estate sale ladies. RV issues include no mattress, a generator that works but is not charging the batteries, a trucker's antennae that isn't set up correctly yet, only 20 amp service and no water hook up where it's parked now. We're also waiting for a riser for our hitch because the current one does not lift the 5th wheel up quite high enough to safely and predictably clear the sides of the pick up bed. Can't move the trailer until we get that riser. So we are being patient and improvising. Nice motel room though - it has a jacuzzi :).

Just the Facts, Ma'am

Well, that's all I have time for anyway.

Who: Rick, Kona and Lenore
Where: Back and forth on the road between Naperville and Holiday Hour RV, Cortland, IL.
When: Every day.
What: Truck loaded with stuff, stuff, stuff.
How: Excited, stressed, and sometimes grumpy from the stress.

Additional facts:

May 22: Sold my Toyota.
May 24: Probably my last actual day at work.
May 27 and 28: Estate sale.
May 31: House closing and formally my last day at work.
June 1 - (circa) June 15 - NW KOA, Union, IL.
June 11 - Bon Voyage/Trailer Warming party, NW KOA, Lenore & Rick's trailer. All are welcome.
June 15 (we hope) - Leaving the lovely state of IL.

P.S. If you are coming to the party, please let us know so we can be prepared. Also, sign in at the KOA office before you come to our site.

Retirement Party

 A card from a colleague, Andrew Causey

Last week there was a grand party for my retirement, with many friends, colleagues and students attending to say goodbyes and good wishes. I was very touched. Will say more soon...

Loading up the RV!

We spent a relaxing and very satisfying weekend bringing some of our belongings out to the dealer and loading up the cupboards and the basement of the RV. On Sunday the weather was finally warm and sunny; the dealership was closed so it was very peaceful. Kona (our dog) went for a swim in the pond and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting out under a tree in the grass. It was idyllic. My son Mark even called to wish me a Happy Mothers Day. Couldn't wish for more.

The truck (3500, GMC Sierra dually diesel) is driving beautifully. Even though it's really big, it's smooth and quiet, and does feel really powerful. Rick had the chance to pull the trailer with it a few days ago when he got the orientation from the RV dealer. He learned how to work all the RV systems: electricity, appliances, slides, water, heaters, air conditioner. Then he came home and tried to tell me all about it. He did a pretty good job, but I still have to try it all out myself. Today we hooked up to the electricity and ran the slides all by ourselves today without incident. Boy it's eerie watching the walls of your home fold in on themselves the first time. Walls are not supposed to do that!

We're finding, as every new fulltimer must, that we need to be inventive about how to load the cupboards, which are oddly shaped in places. Nothing is quite like it is in a "sticks and bricks" home. The challenge is to use the odd spaces efficiently, and keep things from sliding around and crashing into each other. Especially the dishes. There aren't enough drawers, and there are too many cupboards. Rick and I both have ideas about where things should go of course, so this is requiring creative collaboration, compromise and flexibility.

Looking through one of the huge empty kitchen cupboards

Our plan is to move completely into the RV on about May 23, right before the estate sale. The RV may still be at the dealer at that time, as there are a few more things that need to be done to the truck and hitch before we can move it out. The dealer has a couple of spaces with water and electricity for folks to stay while they're working on their rigs. We hope to move to the NW Chicago KOA as soon as possible after that. Looking to leave the state on about June 15.  Thank goodness we have this transition time to get used to the whole things before we pull out on our own.

Shredding paper: The epitome of purging.

Bags, bins and boxes full. Who knew we had so much sensitive paper to get rid of? Well, I guess we did, but were avoiding doing anything about it. It's the last of the throwing out process. To shred or not to shred? Its a scary question. What if we need it? Well, we haven't ever needed any of it before, so we're taking the risk.  Rick is going to a community shredding event to get rid of much of it this morning.

File drawers are our biggest space issue in the new RV. We just don't have any, although we planned on it. The manufacturer told us at one point that we could, but when it came right down to the final plans, they said it wasn't possible with the design we came up with. So, we got over it and now have to bring those portable file drawers, bankers boxes, and other less than handy methods of dealing with the last of the paper.

Other than this paper problem, the hardest thing right now is how much I'm thinking about all at once: health insurance, bank account changes, address changes, what to bring and what to leave, house repairs, truck prep, technology choices, legal issues, parties, getting stuff to my son - not to mention the normal end-of-semester pressures at work. I have to keep reminding myself to stop, to trust that it will all get done. We're working on a couple of deadlines - first the estate sale and then the house closing, which also happens to be my last day at work.  They all seem to be coming fast and furious. My self-care skills are maxing out.

It's beautiful

We spent a few hours today just sitting in the RV, parked at the dealer, taking it all in, looking in all the drawers and cabinets, sitting on all the chairs and the sofa, opening and closing windows, raising and lowering the shades. It's just perfect. Better than I imagined.

Parties Parties Parties

First there's a Retirement Party at work on May 4. Then I'm throwing a Birthday Party (with cupcakes!) at my office on May 10, (4-7 pm) which will double as a fundraiser for the new "Lenore Hervey Artistic Inquiry Award" (an award for Columbia College Chicago dance/movement therapy students who are doing artistic inquiry for their thesis). All are welcome and donations are tax deductible.  I will also be giving away books, art work and file cabinets worth of articles. No purchases necessary. So come and bring your check book!

Then, the final Bon Voyage/Trailer Warming Party on June 11, 2-8 pm, at the North West Chicago KOA in Union, IL. It is located off Route 90, next to Wild West Town. We will be staying at that KOA probably from about May 24 to June 12, getting our trailer legs and figuring out how everything works. So if you can't make it on June 11, why not come out for an overnight of camping at the KOA during that time.

Our New Home Has Arrived

It's now at the RV dealer, in Cortland IL. Rick is going to today to pay for it and see it for the first time. I hope to see it this weekend. I'm nervous and excited about seeing what it's really like, if it's really what we imagined (and ordered!). Rick is going to take pictures, and we'll post them here tomorrow.  He has to drop off the truck with the dealer to put on the hitch and install airbags under the back end. We already had the bed lined - sprayed with a product called Linex that protects the bed, and had a roll top cover for the back installed too. Now we're looking at various toolboxes for the bed.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, I'm still trying to find some health insurance to replace the policy that's been covering us through my work. I may have found something out of South Dakota - a company called Medica that uses the United Healthcare network nationally. Many companies want you to have a permanent residence somewhere, and want you to use their local network, which doesn't work for us. Now I just have to wait and see if I'm accepted. I hate the whole insurance company racket. And that's about the closest I'm going to get to a rant on this blog.

Why dance?

Dancing is a perfect metaphor for life, for love, and for this adventure.  Of course I'm not the only one who thinks so. Anne Murray sings the song that I lifted this blog's opening quote from: "Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?" I sang that one to my husband right after our wedding ceremony, and I think of it every day. I want to dance for the rest of my life, and this adventure is part of that dance. I am blessed to have a dance partner to go through this part of my life with, who has an adventurous spirit and a courageous heart.

We met at a contra dance in Massachusetts (see the link on the right), and we still love to dance, but it has been hard to find good contra dancing in Chicago. Sometimes we travel to a contra dance event like in Madison WI, and even Hawaii (on our honeymoon). On this cross country adventure we hope to find contra dances with great music and great people. If you know of one, let us know here!