The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Everyday trials, tribulations, and JOYS of life on the road!
12/26/20238 min read


It's been a little over two months now since I loaded up all my gear, corralled and crated up all the critters, hitched up the R-Pod to the truck, and hit the road.
Starting out from Northern Vermont on Oct. 22nd, we just barely beat the snow and bad weather. My home area got their first real snowfall about 8 days after we left. I was pretty grateful to have timed my departure right and missed the sloppy roads. Little did I know, I'd spend the next five weeks trying to dodge one form of weather or another.
The first part of the journey, spent in Rhode Island was completely trouble free. Good roads, great weather, and plenty of time to just wander around in one of my favorite states where I have so many memories.
Leaving Rhode Island after nine days, we headed South to Trap Pond State Park in Delaware. Driving through New Jersey, I had several instances of seriously "white knuckle driving" due in part, to total and complete trust in Google Maps to always do the right thing by me. Clearly this navigating system doesn't like me nearly as much as I like her and that was born out while crossing through New Jersey.
For reasons that remain unknown to me, she routed me off the interstate and on to several different parkways. At first I thought, "Great! Less traffic, slower speed limits, and fewer tractor trailers blowing by me at eighty MPH!" Initially, all of that sounded great, until.... Until the command came from my trusted guide, "In a quarter mile, make a right to continue on (insert road name I have since forgotten). Made the right hand turn, and immediately the road became narrower, and the pavement far less desirable. After completing the turn, I was advised to continue for nineteen miles. Well, alrighty then, nineteen miles it is, and I was putting along enjoying the heavily forested scenery and continued driving for about seven miles.
Up ahead, I could see I sign and what looked like some sort of gate. As I slowed down and got closer, I could see that there was indeed a gate, which was open and a sign that read "ROAD CLOSED AHEAD" What the hell do you mean, road closed ahead? I could feel my heart begin to beat a little faster, and a little sweat break on my brow. I had nowhere to go! There were no shoulders to speak of, the road was narrow enough as it was, and I have had almost ZERO experience backing up this twenty-three foot house on wheels behind me.
Only then did I realize for the first time, I had not seen one single car on the road with me, traveling in either direction! Okay, Esme, deep breaths, stay calm. STAY CALM?? What exactly does "road closed" mean? Does it mean that I'll suddenly come up on some kind of a barrier like a rockslide, or construction debris? Or does it mean that just like in the old Looney Tune cartoons with Coyote and the Road Runner, the road will suddenly simply cease to exist and there will be a sheer drop off leading me to plummet inevitably to my death, or be forced to find a way to turn this entire rig around one inch at a time? I suddenly felt like I was in an episode of the Twilight Zone.
With no small amount of fear and trepidation, I looked at Bella, riding shotgun in the passenger seat and said. "Well, here goes nothing." She glared at me. Foot to the accelerator, and we moved forward through the gate. We drove very slowly, probably no more that thirty five mph for about three or four miles and suddenly I saw a car coming toward me from the other direction.
I looked at Bella, and said "Well he had to have come from somewhere, right?" I am pretty sure she rolled her eyes at me. She can be so condescending sometimes. Over the next few miles, I saw signage that informed me that I wasn't even on a parkway any more. I was cutting through a large state park! Very funny Google, very funny. I never did run into any place where the road was closed. It was no picnic to drive, but thankfully, it also wasn't closed.




I was reasonably sure that any cause for "white knuckling" it was behind me now as I was traveling on a main thoroughfare which was smooth, had ample shoulders, and adequate signage. Wrong! Five miles after I got on that road, there came yet another ominous sign that read "Caution-Low Clearance- 9'10" " What??? Clearance under 10 feet? Well, I am clearly screwed! The clearance of the R-Pod is 10'6"! Once again, no place to turn around, no driveways to pull into so that I could back up and head the other way, nada! I slowed to about twenty-five mph and crept toward what I was sure was impending doom. The kind of doom that will shear off your roof vents and air conditioning unit! I continued driving and passed a small, class 2 side road with a sign again saying "Caution-Low Clearance".
It would have been nice if they would have let me know a few miles back that it was a side road and not the road I was traveling on that had the clearance issue!!! Heart rate slows. breathing normalizes, and as Bella senses the change in my stress pheromones, I get the familiar "eye roll" as she settles in, and lays down again. So judgey, that one.
We enjoyed stress free travel for the rest of the day, saw some beautiful countryside as we traveled briefly through Pennsylvania, before entering Ohio. Our destination for the day was Hamilton, OH where the RV Nation Service Center is located. I had a scheduled appointment for 8:00 am to have some warranty work done on the Pod. I had warned them I would arrive the night before and camp in their parking lot to insure I would be right on time for my appointment the next morning. The technician on the phone laughed when I told him. Apparently, he thought I was kidding. Apparently, they don't know me!
Due to some road construction, well, actually not some construction, a lot of it, we lost daylight and I was traveling to my destination for the night after dark. I don't make a habit of driving after dark anymore. It's just too tiring and stressful for these sixty-six year old eyes.
Finally arriving at RV Nation, I pulled my rig into a large parking lot just outside their main gate, and began settling in for the night. Once the dogs were walked and fed, the truck locked, and the trailer stabilized, the critters and I settled into the trailer for the night. I made myself some soup and crackers for dinner, and was finally able to release all the stress of the day. The R-Pod was warm and toasty compared to the 29 degree outside temperatures and soon everyone was comfortably ready for sleep in their designated spot. Kasper sleeps in his crate as he has slept in a crate since puppyhood and that's his happy space. Opal, the parakeet in his covered cage, Bella on the bed with me, and me snuggled under the blankets. I drifted off to sleep in very few minutes and never moved until my alarm went off the next morning.
We all rose when I did, and followed our usual morning routine...a potty run for the dogs, breakfast for them, and coffee for me. The gate to the main parking lot of the dealership was now open so I made ready to get inside. The bird was put back in the truck, everything inside the RV secured to avoid what I have come to call the "travelanche" where things become displaced while on the move, and kind of free roam inside the camper. Figuring out how to manage this was a learning curve, but I've become a pro over the past couple of months.


When I had originally booked this appointment back in September, I wrote it off on my calendar as a stationary day, assuming that I'd be stuck at the dealership for the entirety of the day. Thankfully, I was very wrong. When I went into the office I was greeted by the service manager, and two service techs. They all chuckled as they shook my hand and the manager said, "You must be Esme! We couldn't believe it when we came in a little while ago, there you were, camped out in the parking lot just like you said you would be!" Yes, indeed...there I was. We talked about the work that needed to be done and they got right to it. I was walking the dogs around outside checking out everyone else's rigs because I'm nosy, lol! Within two hours, just two short hours, one of the techs came and found us and said, much to my delight, "You're all set!"
I couldn't believe it. We were ready to hit the road again, and not only did they fix the warranty issue but also remediated some minor annoyance issues that I was having and had complained about. I was thrilled! I went back into the office, expressed my gratitude, shook everyone's hand and we rolled out of their main gate at 10:20 am with the whole, beautiful, sunny day ahead of us!
Because of the persistent cold nighttime temperatures, I made a decision to drop down further south rather than take the usual route to Arizona, driving through Missouri, Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle and upper New Mexico. The route I chose would now take us through Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana, and lower Texas before hitting Roswell, New Mexica. And Roswell, my friends, deserves an entire post all it's own! The route was a good decision for us as it provided much warmer nighttime temps and there was a major winter storm due to hit Albuquerque, NM right around the same time we would have been passing through. Following that storm on the Weather Channel, they ended up with freezing temps, 8" of snow and freezing rain that lasted for two days. No thank you! The route change added hundreds of unplanned miles to the trip, but that's okay...we were all safe, warm, and happy.
Before this post gets tediously long, which it's already threatening to do, I'll wrap it up for now. Be looking for a Part 2 soon, where I'll talk about the literal day from hell, towing a 23' trailer in high winds and dust storms in Texas. I honestly cannot remember the last time I was so afraid of anything!
But for now, as I write this, life is beautiful and everyday brings a new adventure. I am ever grateful for this journey, and my decision to make it! We are currently in beautiful Arizona, and likely will be until mid-late February. Until next time...stay warm, stay blessed, and always stay grateful!


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