The RV Has a Name!!

Well, after some 6000 miles and considerable thought, our RV has a name.  A huge THANKS to Joyce W for her thought to name our RV “NEMO”.  The inspiration for the name came from looking at mapquest’s drawing of our route for this trip.  I’ve included a link to mapquest today below.  See if you can figure it out.

            The more I think about the name Nemo, the more I like it.  Captain Nemo came to us in the story from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  Nemo in Latin means “no one or nobody”.  And, of course, my recent favorite is the movie “Finding Nemo”.  “Hey, no hurling on the shell man, I just had it waxed!”  And if you’ve seen the movie, you know Nemo had a great adventure, just like we have had.

            THANKS JOYCE!!    

    

Here's the link:  http://mapq.st/N3LyAq

            

Kim with 2 of hers, Matt and Lee

  We had a Typhoon Party at Kim R’s place last evening as more strong storms moved through this area.  Ohio has been hit very hard with rain and high winds and there are hundreds of trees down.  A Typhoon Party was what we used to have on Okinawa when a typhoon came across the island.  Gary and Joyce, Muggy and I were at Kim’s place when the storm struck last evening, so we hunkered down and enjoyed snacks and stories. 

            So, today it’s on to Charleroi PA.  More later!!

Just Chillin'

Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Wow!  A great night's sleep for both of us.  First night we have actually spent in this RV.  A very low key day.  Lots of reading, conversation, walking, swimming.  I'm reading "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich"; an absolutely amazing book!

We realize we really aren't too keen on the prospect of long term stays in RV parks.  This is a really big park and there are LOTS of RVs here.  And it appears that a lot of these folks stay for an extended period of time.  There's definitely a positive, social aspect to it as there are activities that one can choose to get involved in.  The neat thing about it is that there's no rules as to how you're supposed to enjoy it. For one person it may be fishing from the shore or boat alone, for others, it's card games in the activity center, for others it's something else.

For us, it's hitting the road again.  We pull out tomorrow morning, first to have some necessary preventative maintenance done and then, by noon, to be on the road to Tupelo, MS.

I spoke with my nephew tonight.  He blessed our socks off by sharing a memory from his younger days and some things that Muggy and I had discussed with him.  He and his wife are in a discipleship class and are recalling the influence that others have had in their lives.  And to talk about sharing the experiences and the love of Christ.  I told him we were looking for the divine appointments God had for us on this trip and he's the first appointment.  How cool is that?!?!?!

We are well and pray that all is well with all!!

We're Doing It!

We casually approached the morning; just not in a big hurry as we want to set a pace for this trip that says "take your time".  At 9am, Erik bid us farewell in the driveway and we were off.  We headed west to Columbus and thought we were going to have an easy day (best laid plans of mice and men!).

The first hour or two was pretty quiet as I think both of us were grasping the reality of what we're doing and that we are actually doing it!!

There was and is some concern about the RV as the farthest we've ever driven this one from home is about 10 miles.  A slight acrid smell in Columbus; thought it might have been a belt, but we pressed and the rig ran great.

An error in calculations today had us spending much longer on the road than we cared to.  Number 1 was forgetting to calculate time change from eastern to central.  Second item and a note to self here, when a street name says it's a road and a drive, MAKE SURE you know which one you need!  We finally rolled into Mountain Lakes Resort at about 5 (Central time, so 6 eastern, making for a nine hour day.  Way too long!!  We will set a goal to never duplicate that feat again on this trip.

Tonight we are parked (see pic below) near Gunthersville Lake (all 63,000 acres).  The scenery we drove through today was beautiful. We plan to stay here two nights and just begin to relax and take a few deep breaths!


Muggy prepared a great meal for us using a convection oven for the very first time and it was superb.  A walk by the lake, a quick swim in the pool and now for some quiet time to read.

We are incredibly blessed to be enjoying this opportunity and we simply must express our thanks to God for His creation and our opportunity to enjoy it!

It's a Big Deal

It's Sunday, May 6, 2012, just one more day before we depart on the trip of a life time.

I have a sense this morning of the significance of this trip we have planned.  This is one of those things you/we all talk about for a lot of our lives.  We want to take a trip, an adventure and not be pressed for time.  This is exciting and as it has drawn closer, I have felt the excitement growing.

Even this morning was different.  I didn't sort the Sunday paper the way I usually do.  Normally, I separate the ads from the stuff worth reading and then, separate the coupons separately from totally worthless stuff telling me about the things I can't live without, but I'm doing just fine without; so thanks very much!

Today we will hook the car up to the RV and make sure everything's working correctly (for the 3rd or 4th time!!).  We don't have a name for this one yet, but we've decided that we need to be on the road with it before we can decide.

Not sure how many others have named vehicles.  My tradition of naming cars began with my first; a 1950 Pontiac Silver Streak 8.  It was a blue, 4-door.  I had a great uncle living across town in Minneapolis who didn't drive it anymore.  It didn't run, but my step-father and I hooked a tow chain to it and dragged it home.  It sat in the driveway for almost a month with penetrating fluid in the cylinders to unfreeze the engine.  Meanwhile, we were charging the six-volt battery in the garage.  After about a month, El (pronounced "AL") said "Let's give it a try!", and don't you know, that old straight 8 engine started up!!  I was definitely excited.

For those who don't know what a straight 8 is, I'm reasonably certain you've heard of an in-line 4, or six.  That is, the cylinders are in a line as opposed to a "V-shape".  Well, the Pontiac had eight cylinders in line.  The hood on that car was loonnnggg!!  I've posted a picture of what my car looked like.  Admittedly, the body on mine wasn't as pristine as the one in the picture.  Afterall, it had seen a lot of years of exposure to Minnesota winters and salt on the icy roads.  But I did love that car!  And, after driving it for awhile, I decided she needed to be called "Rosie".  I haven't named every car I ever owned, but have decided that naming the RV is an important step.

So, we're ready to hit the road and the trip will soon begin!!!

Thanks for reading!!

Preparations

Muggy and Ken Hanson will depart Warner Robins, GA on May 7, 2012 for an extended trip around and whichever way the wind blows across America.

We will travel in a 32 foot, 1997 Georgie Boy class A motorhome in an effort to do our best to stimulate the economy by spending a small fortune on gasoline over the ensuing couple of months.

There are two "must do" things for this trip:  One is Albuquerque, NM from 18-21 May 2011.  We will be there for the total eclipse of the sun on May 20th.  The other is the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Utah.

We will travel through Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Tennessee and finally home sometime in July.

Check back regularly as we'll be providing updates and pictures