Getting Ready to Launch

Moving Out of the Apartment

So this is my home for the two weeks leading up to my departure.  I’m setup at Bull Run State Park – just 20 min west of my apartment.  I got setup here on Wed, May 9th, and will be here until my official departure on May 23rd.  This gives me two weeks to get the apartment cleared out, and things that I’m keeping moved into the RV, while giving me a comfortable place to sleep/live during the transition.  I’ve made daily trips between the RV and the apartment during the day, shuttling stuff over.  In doing so, I have certainly come to the realization that I may be keeping more stuff than I should.  I’m starting to run out of room in the RV to hold much more.  Accordingly, I needed to take a step back and re-evaluate everything that I”m wanting to keep.  I’ve actually shuttled a few things back to the apartment from the RV that I have reconsidered taking with me on the road.  Those items will go to the kids, Goodwill, or the dump.  Actually some of the items I decided not to take were a collection of 10 or so books – all softback – all about RVing.  I’ve read them all, so upon reflecting,  keeping them and dragging them around the USA with me seemed pointless.  As luck would have it, the campground office here at Bull Run had a book exchange, so I donated all of them there.  Some other hopeful full-time RVer can now benefit from them.

A Rookie Mistake …

Well, despite the fact that I consider myself a skilled, seasoned RVer, I made a rookie mistake.  As I was pulling into my site here at Bull Run, I was working my way to get the RV as close to the hookups (water, electric, sewer) as possible, so as to maximize the “living” area on the other side.  In doing so, I cut my steering sharp to the left to bring the RV closer, and neglected to see the 4×4 post that was sticking up from the ground, and I ended up pulling the front left corner of the RV right into it.  Boy, did I have a few choice words to give myself.  I know better, I fully understand the physics of a towed vehicle and how it maneuvers along with my guidance.  I simply brain farted, was not paying enough attention, and this was the result.  I guess I could also say that perhaps I’m a bit to anxious to get this new adventure started, and it was that anxious energy that caused me to loose my focus.  At least the damage to the RV was minimal – crunched in the corner just a bit.  No harm to the landing gear or anything structural.  The 4×4 post also suffered some damage – some might say worse than the RV.  Oh well, lesson learned (re-learned?) and now that I’ve gotten this out of my system, I should be good to go from this point onward.  NO MORE STUPID MISTAKES!

Dinner Party with Former Co-workers

I was thrilled to host a dinner party with several of my former co-workers here at the campground.  This was sort of a sending off party with them before I hit the road.  It was very nice to have seen and spent time with them on a nice Saturday afternoon.  We enjoyed some fresh made margaritas, along with some great snacks.  Later in the day, I whipped up a batch of dutch oven lasagna and served that with a nice salad and toasted garlic bread.  It was a terrific meal that all enjoyed.  After dinner, a few of the folks were weary, and tested out the reclining chairs in the RV.  Looking pretty comfy there!

What’s Next?

From this point, I need to finish moving the remaining stuff from the apartment to the RV.  Ashley will be coming down this Sat with a truck to take out much of the larger remaining items.  I’ve also got a pile of stuff going to Sam that I need to get to her.  Then, it’s clean up the apartment, do a walk thru, hand in the keys, and off I go.  The next week or so is going to go by fast as I’ve got lots of things to get done.  I’ll certainly be ready for a vacation after all this work, and am looking forward to pulling into Gettysburg to get that vacation started.  Till then, be well and I’ll update you after I have arrived in Gettysburg.