Merlin ‘n Me in an RV

Or so sayeth The Ancient One (my dad) when I texted he, Pat and Niece Nat a photo of the RV safely ensconced in its parking space at the Sierra Trails RV Park outside of Mojave.  We made it on our first leg to this wonderful little oasis. Fortunately, the notorious Central Valley winds were nil and the fabled high desert heat not evident.  I'd planned to get out of the house at 8 but missed it by 15 minutes. Then another 15 filling the other half of the apparently very large gas tank. What the hell, the trip is on. Af ter yesterday's drive from the rental place and my ring finger bruised from gripping the steering wheel. Not made any better, either, by the innumerable trips up and down the RV steps using my hands and arms as much as my legs. But by the time I had gone through the usual (even counter-commute) bottlenecks from I-580 onto I-205 connecting to I-5, I'd become comfortable enough to hold the wheel with one hand while the other reached for smokes or water (te...

Today was pick up the RV day from Cruise America day. I got all of my final packing and hauling stuff down the stairs done earlier than my friend Kay was scheduled to pick me up. So I checked and rechecked my checklists. A few times. I wandered around the house and deck aimlessly but with determination. I worked myself into a nervous tizzy.  I am so grateful to have Kay take me down there. She's an experienced RVer, accustomed as she was to traveling endlessly to conformation shows to put who-knows-how-many championships on her German Shepherd Dogs. As she talked about how much she liked her Class B (whatever that is), I found encouragement but little relief from my increasing anxiety. I grilled her about how, exactly, the toilet worked - why that became an obsession escapes me. I mean, really. I packed enough Immodium for a family of four (where did I put that again?).  Kay, champion that she is in her own right, said she'd follow me home. The RV controls were all fairly ...

Long gone are the days when I'd pack up the morning of a trip. For this, my long-desired and first RV trip, planning commenced weeks ago. I printed out checklists I found online in the course of trying to figure out what could go wrong and how to make it go right. I made shopping lists: for the RV itself, leaning on sage advice from friends in-the-know; essentials to take with us like water; for lunch and dinner the one day we'd actually camp out on the road. I made packing lists for me, for Merlin, for the RV. I got AAA maps and printed out a TripTik. And, of course, I put it all in a binder. Which I may forget to take. As the day of launch became imminent, I decided that Merlin needed a travel crate that is lighter than the van-wide wire crate he travels in. I popped into the Village* Pet Food Express. Not seeing collapsible crates and the manager asking if I needed help, I for once said yes. She showed me what they had, I settled on one and asked if she'd give me a 50%...