Friday, May 30, 2008

A Trip to Forget - Part I

This is my first attempt at blogging, and the hardest part of this whole process will be figuring out where to start. So here goes.....

For the past 5 years, my wife and I have criss-crossed America from every angle. We have been in every state except North Dakota and Alaska. What a country! We are SO very proud to call America "home."

Our travels are made possible through the generosity of a company we used to work for. We do trade shows for them all over the country, and our free time is ours to do with as we like. For example, this year we spent almost a month in Florida. Between working the shows, we got to spend time in PA with relatives, saw some friends in NC, and then more relatives in SC. Well, you get the idea. It’s a job that most people can only dream about. While on the road, we live in our fifth wheel, which is almost like taking your home with you. We have all the comforts of home this way, get to sleep in our own bed every night, and don't have to live out of suitcases. We travel in our 34-foot fifth wheel with triple slides, which is pulled by a Ford F350 truck. Below are a few photos of our current rig, as they are so called.



We are transplants from the Rochester, NY area to the state of Arizona since 1969. We spent the first 30 years in and around the Phoenix area. Yes, it is hot in Phoenix, but it's a dry heat. In 1999, we moved to the White Mountains where we built our dream home at an elevation of 6600’ and loved it. Three years later, we had to move back to the valley for family reasons. It pays to be flexible. We moved back to the mountains in 2004; however, this time we are in the Prescott, AZ area, and again, we love it!

I really intended to start out with our current trip; however, I have since decided to start with an experience we had on a previous trip while traveling in a 26-foot travel trailer. Photo below:


Our first trade show in 2004 was in Mobile, AL, which meant travelling I-10 East out of Arizona. We really had our trailer loaded, because we were going to be gone for four months. Our bicycles were securely mounted to the back of the trailer with a new bike rack. Finally, we were ready to go! So we set out for our journey, leaving behind our home and friends for a long time. By the time we got through Texas, we were feeling pretty good about ourselves, everything was going great.

Still on I-10 and now in Lousiana ,the road began to really get bad, kind of like a roller coaster, up and down, up an down. All of a sudden a car pulls up beside us with their window down and arms waving at us. At first we just waved back, thinking that they were more than likely from Arizona, seeing our license plate and were just being friendly. But they kept it up and pointed to the trailer, motioning us to pull over. We're on a busy freeway now, and you can't pull over just anywhere. Up ahead, there was a wider shoulder, so I slowed down and came to a stop so that we could investigate their concern with our trailer. A quick glance back didn't show anything wrong, but after walking around to the back of the trailer, we saw, with disbelief, what they were waving about. We had been dragging our bicyles for who knows how long down the freeway. They were beyond repair, I mean totally ruined. Fortunately, we had them chained together. That constant back and forth movement is what did it. I got off at the next exit, and it was close enough to the woods that I just threw them both into the edge of the woods and drove on. I know, I know, but what was I supposed to do with them? I didn't have room to pack them in anywhere.

This was only the beginning of the trip we wanted to forget. I'll tell you about the rest of the trip in my next post, so stay tuned! Thank you for visiting my blog, and please do come back!

Lyle