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So it is the end of the first week of our adventure – one down and 51 to go?  LOL  And while I can’t say that we have it all figured out, we are working out the bugs and getting the last of the kinks worked out so that we are ready to head north in less than two weeks.

It’s funny how when you are open to it, inspiration can come from the most unlikely places.  Since Darryl and I are both trying to work along the way, internet and cell connectivity have become much more of a priority than we had expected.  We purchased a WIFI booster before the trip, and that has already come in handy to give us workable WIFI in the campgrounds that offer internet.  But state and national parks don’t always offer these kinds of amenities – and even cell signal can be problematic if you are even just a bit off the path.  And even though the state park we stayed at in Columbia is just yards from a commercial area, we were having problems getting our work done.

So we stopped at the Verizon store in Columbia to find out about personal WIFI hotspots and how it all works.  Have I mentioned how NICE everyone is in the south?  Our sales person was a stunning young lady with an engaging personality – and she could not have been more knowledgeable or nicer.  It is so nice when salespeople are actually helpful, no?  Anyway… we were still a little down about some of the challenges we were still working out, so we were telling her about our trip.  She said “you know, you’ve done the hard part – you started.  Most people never even start – they just talk about it, but never actually DO it.”

And you know what?  She is absolutely right.  And I don’t think any of us give ourselves enough credit for the things we do – big and small.  Sometimes you just have to say “yes” and see where you go from there… what a powerful message, and just the one we needed to hear.  There are angels everywhere – and she was ours that day.

We are still working to create our “normal” for this trip, and still working out the kinks.  But every day it is a little easier, and getting a little better.  It has helped tremendously that we’ve been in familiar spots, with friends and family close by to keep us uplifted.

We have been hanging out for a few days now in Charleston, SC with our good friends the Carretta’s – and decided to hang out for another night and rearrange a bit of our schedule for the next few days.  The weather here has been spectacular… time for a walk and a paddle on the pond!

It’s the end of Day One now – and we are still speaking to each other!  LOL

Up early in Charlottesville after a fairly restful night’s sleep (it’s GOOD to have Air Conditioning and HOT WATER!).  We are struggling a bit with all of the changes – we have no idea where anything is, even though we just put it there last night!  LOL  Packing up to head out didn’t take nearly as long as usual… because we don’t really have to pack anything up anymore!  Weird… it still hasn’t hit me that we won’t be coming “home” in a few days – and I’m not sure it will for quite some time.  It might not even be until we cross the border headed for Alaska… time will tell.

Today was another test of our patience and our ability to work together to solve problems – and I’m guessing we are going to get a LOT of practice at that this year!

The day started off well… got out of Charlottesville early, and on the road.  Stopped in Lynchburg to get gas and kept heading south.  We are caravanning during this part of the trip – I’m selling my Honda to a friend in Charleston and we’ll be dropping that off later this week – so I’m following behind.

I’m not sure which is more stressful – being in the truck and being worried about the trailer and everything in the back or being in a car following the truck/trailer.  Regardless, we pull out of the gas station and about a half mile down the road I see a kayak fly off the back of a truck.

Well…. Shit……

The kayak scored a 10 for the dismount – and all of the cars around us also scored 9-10 for evasive maneuvering.  The kayak survived with a few scratches after I rescued it off Southbound 29 and fortunately no cars were injured.  Darryl was able to pull off in a large parking lot, and we got the kayak strapped back in (double straps) and continued on our way.  Of course – we stopped at least every half hour for the rest of the day to check and make sure everything was still in place.

Top Gear Top Tip – check your straps every time you stop!

When you ride motorbikes, there is this “thing” called Motorcycle Miles… basically, 50 or 60 miles takes MUCH longer on a motorbike (for some of us at least) than it does in a car.  No idea why – you’re going the same speed – but it just seems to take SO much longer!  Same rules apply in an RV – especially when you are driving like a 90 year-old grandmother after Sunday School.  It took us FOREVER to get to Columbia today – but we did at least manage the rest of the drive safely.

Top Tip – Subway… NEVER eating there again… never, never never…. There will be NO MORE convenience food on this trip.

On a good note – people in the South are SO freaking NICE!  Once we got to Columbia, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up wine (of course we did – don’t be ridiculous!).  We must have looked lost, because a woman in the store (who did NOT work there BTW) asked if she could help us find something.  Really?  How cool is that?  In DC she would have run over you with the cart to cut in front of you at the check-out line!  And the cashier was just so lovely – just a wonderful southern lady.  The South has its flaws for sure – but it is just so NICE that they are so NICE down here!  I’ll take more of that this year please!

But the BEST thing about being in Columbia is getting to see Lexie and her boyfriend Matt in just a few hours for cocktails!  (sidenote – when you kids get older, it kind of sucks because that means you are getting older too… but it’s kind of awesome when you can go out for cocktails with your kids!  Trust me on this one….)

Hanging in Columbia for three days… yippee!  Let the adventure begin!

The Wine:  Cupcake Chardonnay

The Menu: BBQ Pork Chops with steamed broccoli and a side salad.  Pretzels with honey-mustard dip appetizer.

Well, we did it!  Officially off on our adventure!  You would have thought that by scheduling the house settlement at 9:00am we would have been rolling out of town sooner than 3:00pm – but I guess sometimes things don’t work out the way you expect.  It was a LONG day – finished cleaning out the house, and tried to squeeze all of our CRAP into one 20’ Airstream and the bed of a Ford F250.  Two motorbikes?  It was questionable – but we got it done. And by “we” I mean Darryl got it done – mostly I watched and played with the best neighbor dog in the world, Blue (who I will miss terribly, BTW).

You knew that at some point we just had to throw everything in and figure it out later – which is what we ended up doing.

God must have a sense of humor, because it took us over an hour just to get out of town because of Friday traffic!  But after a few hours made it to Charlottesville, VA – and the trip officially began!

Let’s get something straight right off the bat – neither Darryl nor I are what you would call, um, “handy.”  We aren’t exactly the best do-it-yourselfers – and if something does go wrong it falls to the one who is the least frustrated at the time to try to figure it out.  So, when we arrived and couldn’t get the AC to work… a good time was not being had by all.  Super frustrating… especially for our first night out – with no cell service and the amazing disappearing operations manual.

I’d like to think that we are made of tougher stuff than to be ready to forget it all and head straight to Denver and buy a house… but we are so tired and so frustrated that any little thing seems to set one of us off.  I hope it gets better – and I’m sure it will… but I guess the upside is that we had “that conversation” tonight.  “That conversation” that if this sucks and we hate this living on the road thing it is ok to say it and to move on to the next adventure.  It’s going to have to be open and honest this year or else it is going to be a very long trip!

But I guess the karma Gods were smiling on us – because somehow we figured it out and got it working.  Not going to bed hot, sweaty, and stinky?  Priceless!  Once we got the AC working and everything else set up, we spent a few hours sorting and unpacking, dining and wining, and – I’m very happy to report – had our first decent night’s sleep in MONTHS!  I’ll take that as a good sign.

Next up – Columbia, SC!

The Wine:  Monticello Gran Reserva 1985 Rioja (We’ve been saving this bottle for nearly 15 years waiting for the right occasion… it was worth the wait!).

The Menu:  Teriyaki Steak with mixed steamed vegetables