February 17, 2007 at 8:14 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Well, the female 2/3 of this family did manage to fly back to Vermont today.
It’s hard to reconcile the reports I hear of weather in the northeast. Big snowfall, cold weather, Lake Champlain frozen … while here Rich C and I were out exploring the cactus-covered Catalina Foothills in the hot sun at nearly 80 degrees. Is one of these scenarios just a special effect?
Emma had trouble understanding that it was two hours earlier here when I was talking to her on the phone tonight. In her end of the country it was dark and cold, while I was pacing around outside the Airstream in shirt-sleeve temperatures and watching the sun set slowly over Mexico.
I think I can relate to her confusion. Sometimes I’ll reflect on the incredible diversity of this world. While I am occupying just one tiny pinprick on its surface, billions of little dramas are playing out in infinite climates and infinite settings. It both staggers and inspires my imagination.
The next two days are a chance for that sort of thinking. I find it useful. Time alone, whether here in the Airstream or out in the Foothills, is an opportunity to get a new perspective on things. It’s also a great chance to work utterly undisturbed, so I’m getting a lot of editing done for the Summer magazine.
I have also been left a few tasks, since I’ll be the last person out: eat the leftovers, put away the bikes, fill the propane tank, pick up the forwarded mail, and clean up the trailer. It feels a little sad to be sealing up the Airstream, perhaps because I hate to leave it behind for even a few days. It’s like a glimpse into the future, to the end of our odyssey. Fortunately, we’ve got months to go — even if we find a house — before we’ll move out of the Airstream.
February 16, 2007 at 9:14 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Amidst the house-hunting and work, I am also making some of the final arrangements for our trip into Mexico. I heard from Bert & Janie and Adam & Susan today but unfortunately none of them can make it. On the bright side, Ken & Petey Faber have asked to join our little caravan, so that makes three Airstreams going now. The Fabers will be a welcome addition because they’ve been to Mexico before, on a Vintage Airstream Club caravan all the way to Belize.
One of the things I needed was a notarized document from my corporation certifying me as a bona fide employee and authorizing me to take the company vehicles into Mexico. This would be a minor nuisance but for the fact that we happen to have a resident notary here in the park. I just walked down to his site last night and got him to witness my signature while sitting at the picnic table. It’s amazing what services you can find among the residents of these places.
Tomorrow we shall try again to get E&E into the sky. Vermont hasn’t warmed up any (still brutally cold with mounds of snow everywhere) but they seem to be looking forward to the visit. Personally, I am still enjoying the warm sunny days of Arizona and don’t have any desire to leave.
The sunset bike rides have become a regular feature for Emma and I. Right around that time all the residents seem to come out and walk their dogs or chat with their neighbors before dinner, and everyone appreciates the gorgeous sunsets along the Santa Catalinas and the Rincons.
Once in a while Emma takes out her camera to capture it. This evening we went over by Rich C’s trailer and he followed along on his skateboard as we looped around the paved roads of the park. Whatever we do, this little sunset ritual puts a nice cap on the day and I’ve come to appreciate it.
February 15, 2007 at 9:14 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I dropped Eleanor and Emma off at the airport this morning, and 10 minutes later I was swinging back to pick them up. Snowstorms in the northeast wrought havoc on flight schedules, and the end result was that their flight was impossible today. So they’re going to fly on Saturday instead.
That made today and the next few days into bonus days. That’s a gift. We took the hint and went out for breakfast to discuss whether we really wanted to buy a house.
See, from one point of view, not buying a house would be a financially responsible thing to do. Our living costs are lowest when we live in the Airstream and travel moderately. Having a home base means obligatory payments: taxes, insurance, upkeep, utilities. It’s a luxury. It’s nice if you can afford it, but for many full-timers having a house, even a small one, doesn’t make financial sense.
But we also recognize the investment potential in real estate. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a home base that is also a good long-term investment? So we’re looking in that direction.
The other bonus of the flight delays is that Eleanor and I have a few days to ensure the last vestiges of our colds are gone. We’re both pretty well at this point, but a couple more days of rest wouldn’t hurt. And I could use some time to work on the Summer 2007 magazine. People are getting the Spring 2007 issue in their mailboxes right now, but I’m deep into editing the next one and need to have it wrapped up by March 8, which is right around the corner.
February 14, 2007 at 10:12 pm · Filed under Travel / lifestyle musings
A lot of people commented to me privately about our house hunting process. Interestingly, nobody begged us to stay on the road and not buy a house. I’m interpreting that as meaning that our friends are supportive — rather than a hint that we are on the road too much!
Of course, you already know we won’t get off the road permanently. My intention is to keep the blog going for a long time. We also haven’t bought a house yet, although we are deep in discussion about it.
Whether we do or not, we have some very interesting plans for this fall that I’ll share with you later, once they firm up. But here’s a hint: I’ve been buying books to plan the next major expedition …
Eleanor and our real estate agent chat about a house
In the meantime, I have been thinking about how we got started on this adventure, and what we’ve learned. Most people who have RV travel experience already know that traveling this way is not like the average person’s view of travel. I’ve always winced when people refer to us being “on the road” because it rarely feels that way.
“Travel” evokes images of glamour and suffering: exotic locales arrived at through uncomfortable means of conveyance. The constant uncertainties and dependencies inherent in traditional travel will wear you out. As someone once said, travel is like cream: broadening but too much will make you feel sick.
By contrast we mostly float seamlessly through the country, courtesy of our Airstream. It often doesn’t feel like travel at all. I know that’s hard to believe, but keep in mind that we couldn’t possibly have lasted this long (16 months at present) if this had really been just one big road trip. It’s a lifestyle.
The only time I feel that old familiar feeling of rush-rush travel is when we need to fly somewhere … as this week. We are still monitoring Emma closely for signs of congestion that would prohibit her flight on Thursday, and there’s a heavy load of snow in the northeast that shut down half a dozen major airports today. Eleanor has been pressing hard to complete her obligations today and be ready for an early departure, all the while wondering if they’ll even be able to go. It’s a pain.
I’ve moved my flights. The congestion is clearing only slowly, and I doubt I’ll be ready to fly on Friday, so now my flight is Tuesday. Hey, I could drive to Florida by then … but I think I’ll just sit here instead and enjoy a rare few days alone in the Airstream. Hmmm. … maybe a few movies, some good guy chow, and Rich C and I can hang out for a while. He’s right across the park. Or maybe the Titan Missile Museum this weekend.
February 13, 2007 at 10:00 pm · Filed under Travel / lifestyle musings
We seem to dividing our days three ways: working, hunting for houses, and lying in bed. Actually, I’m doing most of the lying in bed since I seem to have the worst of the virus. (I can hear all you women saying, “Oh, men are such babies when they get sick!”) But really, Emma seems perfectly fine and Eleanor is bogged down a little but pretty functional.
I’ve shaken the cold but the sinus congestion hasn’t cleared, and I’m afraid it may be another week before I can fly, which means there’s a good chance I’ll have to stay here and miss the Florida State Rally. E&E should be good to fly, and their major worry is snowstorms in the northeast.
The house hunting is going well, perhaps too well. We’ve found two houses we like. Now the problem is deciding to commit to one or keep looking for something even better. That’s a hard call.
View of the Santa Catalina Mountains from one of the houses we are considering
It’s also hard to face coming off the road. I was exchanging email a couple of days ago with Leigh of www.63flyingcloud.com and she made a similar comment. Leigh and Brian are preparing to build a house after 600 days of full-timing. Leigh said, “The problem with 2 years on the road, is the idea of being stationary anywhere for more than 3 months is pretty unappealing.”
We could make an offer on a house tomorrow and be in it next month. But obviously we’re not driven to that, because we haven’t made an offer despite having found good houses. It’s interesting that the full-time lifestyle is so appealing — even with its many compromises — that we find ourselves hesitating to re-enter the traditional world.
But it is inevitable. We need to establish a base camp. The compromise will be that we won’t settle down fully. We’ll be on the road, and in the Airstream, for probably 4-5 months a year, including all summer.
On our way back from house hunting the GPS suggested a shortcut. This should be a good lesson to those of you who trust your GPS a bit too much. Sometimes they don’t know what’s best. In this case, the GPS sent us to a road clearly marked “DEAD END”, but we decided to pursue it anyway because the road did continue in the form of a very bumpy dirt trail down a hill into a wash.
Hey, what’s the point of having a high-clearance vehicle with 4WD if you don’t have some fun with it once in a while? The road eventually bottomed out in the wash and we took a short drive in it, and then continued onward. The GPS was right, it was a shortcut … but not one I’d recommend without plenty of ground clearance.
February 12, 2007 at 9:43 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I thought that water would only be a big deal when we went to Mexico, but here in Tucson it’s an ever-present factor too.
We arrived with the Airstream bearing mud from the Hill Country west of Austin, and never got a chance to wash it off. Now that we are here and have time, it’s not so easy to get the water to clean it up. At Beaudry’s we were prohibited from washing — only approved contractors could do it (at a premium price).
At our current residence, we can wash but we need to obtain a permit first. Rich C arrived today, fresh from his cross-country journey from Massachusetts, and his trailer is a mess with road salt, so he’s going to inquire about the wash permit.
Sunset over the trailers
If you own land here and strike water in a deep well, you don’t own it. The state keeps all subsurface water and mineral rights. New developments have to pass a test to “prove” a 100-year water supply before they can build. Apparently they’re not having any trouble doing that, because there’s a ton of new development happening all over the area. Tucson is growing into a much more sprawling city.
In fact, I’ve been astonished at the number of swimming pools here. There seem to be as many as we would find in Florida. And so far, of the houses we have checked out, nobody seems to use a simple pool cover to reduce evaporation. I’m mystified by this. The air here is normally arid enough to suck the moisture out of anything left exposed, so one would expect the pools to have a high evaporation rate.
A rain shower?
This is the dry season, so we aren’t expecting rain anytime soon. But yesterday I noticed what looked like a bit of rain in the late afternoon. It was a very isolated little shower up by the Catalina Foothills, if any moisture reached the ground at all.
Well, we’re learning about the differences between life in the desert and life in humid green New England. It’s an interesting experience — part of the value we get from pausing long enough to really dig into the local community. Both Eleanor and I are looking forward to more.
February 11, 2007 at 9:02 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Yup, Eleanor has the cold too. I was thinking that being sick would eliminate the chance of any adventures, but what it has really done is force us to find the small adventures in our surroundings.
It has been cloudy all day, unusual for Tucson. But in the late afternoon the sun dipped below the overcast and gave us a show. Suddenly the Rincon Mountains, ten miles away, lit up red in the setting sun. For five glorious minutes, the scene was absolutely surreal with flaming mountains and blue skies. I haven’t seen anything like it since last summer in Gunnison Colorado.
Another resident of this park introduced herself and invited me to join their bi-weekly Camera Club outing on Thursday. I can’t go because I have to shuttle E&E to the airport, but the thought was intriguing. We’ve never stayed anywhere long enough to join up with local clubs and organizations, but now there’s a small window to do that.
And since we are actively looking at real estate here, we spent hours online today reading up on zoning, HOAs, neighborhoods, local construction methods, etc., in an attempt to understand the local market. So today was well invested even though we didn’t go much of anywhere.
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