On the Road with Red and Blue and Gabi

I was given a hat. Camp more Worry less, it announces. I'll wear the hat, but it is lying. At least to begin with. Maybe I'll get everything down to a worry-free science, but for now camping in an all-electric camper pulled by my two-door Jeep Wrangler has been the focus of my attention and worries for the past several weeks.

Red pulling Blue

I am eager to get the hang of it and go worry-free to get some kind of sense of who Rachel without Michael is. I have a wonderful home in Wise, VA still, surrounded by the people who learned to love Michael in the couple of years he was active with them. They enveloped me and him with hugs, prayers, songs, food, faith, belonging, and hope. I love the community of Wise, but I went there with Michael and because of Michael. So, I need to figure out who I am without him now. I'm hoping camping in a pull-behind house powered by electricity that I have a very limited understanding of, in a country I am only sort of familiar with, will give me time and space to think about who I am without Michael - undoing and reorganizing 40 years of learning who I was with him.

How we ride!

I am not, however, alone. I'm taking my puppy, Gabi (rhymes with lobby), wherever I go. That also complicates my life. Gabi came to us when Michael was visiting near the church in Pound. A family had a couple puppies they needed to find homes for. At that time, I was still mourning my sudden departure from Ethiopia and loss of so many friends nearby. 
When he texted me, "Do you want a puppy?" with a picture, what could I do!? That was before the tumor. Gabi has been with both of us since shortly after we arrived in southwest VA. She's a complication I enjoy (most of the time) and I have found willing puppy-sitters when I've needed them.

After purchasing the camper in North Carolina, I took it home, went about getting stuff to use on a camping trip, and made a quick dry run to Camp Bethel, on the edge of Wise. I learned I had a lot to learn. So after learning most of what I needed to learn I set off. It seems to me that a reasonable trip should be about four or five hours. That should give me time to wake up in the morning (not something I do easily), organize and re-organize everything that needs organizing on a pull-behind camper, set my plan for the next stop, and drive off. Four hours away from Wise was a campground behind a TA truck stop near Lexington, VA on my way to Tidewater, VA where our daughter, Lydia, lives. 

That's where I had my first melt down. 

Because everything was going so well and I didn't want to mess that up, since I was only there to sleep the night, I left everything hooked up. Including the electric brake controller. It drained my battery overnight. If I had read the manual, I would have known that. Thankfully, nearby campers helped me out. Getting a hold of myself after melting down on the phone with Amira, who just happened to call at the right moment, I walked over to some neighboring campers and got a jump to get poor old Red Jeep going again. I took a deep breath and pulled off, Gabi at my elbow on the console of the Jeep.

Truckstop camp site near Lexington, VA

My next goal was Chesapeake, VA, not very far from Portsmouth, where Lydia was setting up in a new apartment. I took the scenic route most of the way, after loosing GPS signal right when I was supposed to get off the highway to go visit friends south of Richmond. Virginia lowland scenic roads are fairly easy to navigate; not so many twists and turns as in the highlands. Chesapeake Campground was our home for a week. And we enjoyed several visits with Lydia at her house and at our camp. 

I felt very successful hooking up to power and water, navigating life with a dog that barks at every sound she doesn't recognize (every sound, in this case), and learning how to use the induction stove in the camper - all by myself! My tiny, fat hands even twisted the grey water drain in place. But it took my breath away for a moment as my mind saw Michael's big, strong hands (until weeks before he died he had a strong grip) twisting the drain hose together. The campsite was a pull-though, so I didn't have to back up. I'll get to that hurdle eventually. I was thankful to avoid it for now.

I enjoyed slow mornings sitting under the pine trees, listening to

music, reading, thinking, and journaling. I missed Michael and cried. I picked myself up and did the next thing. 

Camp Chesapeake

 And then I successfully undid all the hook-ups and re-did the hitch-ups. I was so proud of backing up to the hitch and getting the tow ball on the Jeep exactly under the hitch of the trailer! Nothing toppled over and I didn't leave with anything still hooked up. I smiled as I left.

 After a lunch stop with our friends, Peter and Patty Ford, I drove on to a Cracker Barrel campsite. I knew that Walmart allows overnight campers. My camping video research made me aware that Cracker Barrel does the same thing. So I headed for a Cracker Barrel about four or five hours from where I needed to be next. It wasn't Gabi's favorite campsite. So many noises! Other campers pulled in till at least midnight. And there was something sniffing around out there - evidenced by the cleaned-up parking lot in the morning. Gabi was restless all night and drank at least two full bowls of water. 

After her morning walk and re-attaching the electric brake controller (I won't repeat that mistake!) we headed off towards Pennsylvania. I would be going to New Wilmington Mission Conference north of Pittsburgh and I had gotten a message that someone would be flying into Pittsburgh airport about the time I could be going past there, so I put PIT into my GPS and headed off. 

Only, I had forgotten that I had set my map to "avoid highways and tolls". 

The roads to Pittsburgh from northern VA go directly through West Virginia - not straight through, because no road in WVa is straight! And all roads go either up or down along with

round and round! My white knuckles steered Red Jeep and Blue Camper to PIT arrivals just as my passenger was emerging from the terminal. I blocked traffic in the middle lane while he got his bag behind the seat, greeted my over-excited puppy, and settled into the passenger seat. I was grateful for the four lane not-highly-trafficked road to New Wilmington. 

View from my chair

I dropped him off there and set my GPS to Franklin, where my sister, Peggy, lives about 40 minutes north. Forty minutes if there's no storm. But there was a storm. Just as I pulled out of New Wilmington on the Amish buggy rutted road going north, the skies opened up and rain poured down. I learned later that behind me trees were snapping and creeks were rising dangerously. White knuckles once again did their job of keep both Jeep and Camper from bouncing off the water-logged road even as water splashed blindingly over the windshield. I took two breaks along the way to let the rain die down a bit. And a little over an hour later I arrived at my sister's house where the sun was shining and parking places had been cleared for Red and Blue.

They sit there now as I am getting myself together to hit the road again. So far I've learned that I can, in fact, do harder things than I think I can or want to do. I've also learned it's easy to do things if you don't know how hard they are going to be!

Last week I spent a very fruitful week at New Wilmington. That's a story for my next posting.