The time comes for all fulltimers when illness, advancing age, changing interests, family needs, or some other reason causes us to make the decision to hang up the keys.

Some fulltime RVers enter the lifestyle knowing that they will only be traveling for a certain amount of time before they settle down, while others hope to travel forever, and only leave the road when forced to do so.

Hopefully, Terry and I are a long way from reaching that point, but like most of our RVing friends, we know the time will eventually come. We have talked about what we will do at that time in our lives, and where we might want to to live.

We lived in the little mountain town of Show Low, Arizona before we hit the road, and my daughter and her family still live there. But we know that we don’t want to return there, and neither of us likes Arizona enough to want to live there again.

We love being around water, we want a moderate climate, and we don’t want to be in a big city. However, we want to be close enough to the services we will need as we get older.

If we had to make a decision today, I think the Rockport/Aransas Pass area of Texas might be it for us. We love the laid back small town atmosphere, it’s on the Gulf of Mexico, with lots of opportunities for fishing and kayaking, and the cost of living is affordable. Because it’s only about 30 miles from Corpus Christi, there is easy access to any kind of shopping or medical services one could want or need.

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However, we also have thought about Florida, for its abundant water sports opportunities. Florida is God’s waiting room, because there are so many retirees here, and they are an important part of the state’s political and economic base. But, it is God’s waiting room, and I don’t see us being happy playing bridge and comparing varicose veins forever in some retirement community.

Having had big houses, small house, mobile homes, and just about every kind of dwelling available, we have both agreed that we’re very happy living in the small size a motorhome offers. We’d be very happy to find a lot someplace and live out our days in our home on wheels.

We know some fulltimers who have already purchased a lot someplace, in preparation for “the day,” whenever it comes. We almost bought a lot (actually three adjoining lots) in Aransas Pass a couple of years ago, but we felt like that would be the first string that started to tie us down, and we’re not ready for that yet. We worked hard to cut those strings so we could live the fulltime lifestyle. We worry that if we had a lot, we’d feel like we had to go back there every year, because why have it if we’re not going to use it?

Of course, if all goes well, I’ll follow my original exit plan, which is to bounce my last check, burn my last drop of diesel, and have a fatal heart attack, all on the same afternoon.

So what about you? Have you thought about what you’ll do when the time comes to hang up the keys? What are your plans?

Thought For The Day – I have never been in a situation where having money made it worse.

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We have been sitting still way too long, and Terry and I are both itching to get back on the road and see some new places and new faces.

Yesterday I finished putting the new issue of the Gypsy Journal together, and once I got the hang of InDesign, our new page layout software, it went pretty well. Today Miss Terry will proof the new issue, and then we’ll send it to our printer in Flagstaff.

We’ll pick the printed papers up on Friday, spend the next few days stuffing envelopes, and as soon as everything hits the post office, we’ll be making tracks!

While we are excited to be getting back on the road, it is always very hard to say goodbye to my daughter Tiffany and her family, and we’re sure going to miss those two granddaughters of ours. But the great thing is that the road goes two ways, and we knew we’ll be back again.

We still have a lot to do before we resume our gypsy lifestyle, and we’ll be busy the next couple of days wrapping up some last minute details, paying a last visit on some friends here, and planning our trip.

We have to be in Vail, Colorado in mid-July for a family wedding, and Vail is almost due north of where we are right now. So naturally, we plan to travel west about 750 miles first. Don’t you travel that way? We once left northern Indiana, headed for Florida, and took the long route through Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to get there!

We want to pop in on my friend Mike Howard in Kingman, Arizona, and then we plan to go to the central California coast, around Pismo Beach and Morro Bay for a while. We haven’t had fresh seafood in months, and since we’ve had our kayaks in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, it only seems right that we dip them into the Pacific too, don’t you think?

Of course, like I always say, our plans are set in Jello, and who knows where we may actually end up, and when? Except for the wedding and our Eastern Gypsy Gathering rally in Elkhart, Indiana the end of August, we have no commitments, and we don’t want any.

We’ve been known to spot a interesting historical marker, and go off on a tangent that lasted a day or more, or to hear about some interesting place we never knew about, and take off in the opposite direction of our intended route to check it out. That’s the beauty of the RV lifestyle.

I’ve been so busy producing the new issue of the paper that I have not allowed Bad Nick near the computer in a week or so, and he has been building up steam, so I suspect he’ll have a new blog post anytime now.

Thought For The Day – It only seems kinky the first time.

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We’re getting hitch itch and are looking forward to getting back on the road in a week or two. Since we’re sitting still right now, I’ve been looking over past issues of the Gypsy Journal and thinking about some of our favorite routes from past travels. Here are my ten favorite RV routes.

Natchez Trace Parkway – They called it the Devil’s Backbone back in the days when Indians, outlaws, and renegades prowled this historic route, preying on unwary travelers But today, the Natchez Trace Parkway is pure heaven for RVers! Picture 450 miles of good two lane road that meanders through  hardwood forests and past charming small towns, with a speed limit of 50 miles per hour, and no commercial traffic allowed, with frequent pullouts large enough for any size RV, and you can see why we love this historic highway that winds from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. If you haven’t put this trip on your travel itinerary, do it now. You’ll be glad you did!

US Highway 101 – Further south in California, this scenic route loses much of its charm, but from Eureka, California to the tip of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, US 101 will take you through some of the most beautiful scenery you’ll find anywhere in the country. Take your time, because you’ll be treated to dramatic ocean views, charming small towns, lighthouses, fishing villages, and if you’re really lucky, even whales passing by just offshore!

LoLo Pass Trail – If I had to choose my very favorite route in America, in terms of scenery, it would be US Highway 12 between Missoula, Montana and Lewiston, Idaho, which locals call the Lolo Pass Trail. The excellent two lane highway follows the route explorers Lewis and Clark took on their epic trek west, with towering mountains on one side and the beautiful Clearwater River on the other.  Keep your camera handy for an opportunity to photograph deer, elk, moose, and whitewater rafters. 

US Highway 2 – If you love unspoiled forests, friendly small towns, scenic views of deep water, and a slower travel pace, you should take some time to travel US Highway 2 across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. For most of the 140 miles between Escanaba on the west, and St. Ignace on the east, you’ll be passing within spitting distance of beautiful Lake Michigan. It’s a good highway, and you can make good time if you want to, but with scenery like this, why would you hurry?

Great River Road – The Great River Road is one of America’s national treasures, and a route every RVer should take at least once. From the headwaters of the Mississippi River in northern Minnesota,  this series of local, state, and federal roads follows the course of the river south through ten states, to where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico, introducing you to beautiful views, wonderful small towns, river barges, and history every mile of the way.

Route 66 – Much of this historic route has been swallowed up or paved over by interstate highways, but there are still many sections of the Mother Road to be explored between its origin in Chicago, Illinois and its terminus in Santa Monica, California. You could spend an entire season tracing the many alignments of this nostalgic highway by RV and with your dinghy, and still not see it all.

Overseas Highway – The Overseas Highway, the southernmost leg of US Highway 1, carries you from Miami, Florida to Key West, affording views of the sparkling blue water of the Atlantic Ocean on one side, and the Gulf of Mexico on the other. Along the way, you’ll pass funky tourist towns, a dolphin sanctuary, beautiful beaches, cross over the impressive Seven Mile Bridge, and back into history. One note here, while this is a great trip, you’ll have to park your RV somewhere else at the end of your journey, because the streets in Key West, at the southern end of your route, are not suited for large vehicles.

Old Spanish Trail – Incorporating US Highway 90 in the east and US Highway 80 in the west, the route known to old time travelers as the Old Spanish Trail, is an interesting and memorable journey that will carry you from Jacksonville Beach, Florida all the way west to San Diego, California, as you trace America’s history from coast to coast.

Lincoln Highway – The Lincoln Highway was America’s first transcontinental highway, stretching from New York to San Francisco, and though the old route has been replaced by Interstate 80, you can still drive much of the original route, especially in the east and Midwest. It’s a slow paced trip to remember.  

US Highway 60 – Beginning at an intersection with Interstate 10 in Quartzsite, Arizona, and stretching all the way to Virginia Beach, Virginia, we love to take this slow, scenic highway when we travel east from our old hometown in Show Low, Arizona. Sure, we could go north a few miles and jump on Interstate 40, but what fun would that be? We prefer to take our time, stop for lunch in small town cafes, and experience the real America that the superslab bypasses.

So there you have it, my ten favorite great RV routes. Tell us about some of yours.

Bad Nick doesn’t have hitch itch, but he is pretty ticked off at the latest rip off coming out of Washington. Check out his new Bad Nick Blog post titled Adding Insult to Injury and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day -A bend in the road is not the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn.

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Muskegon, Michigan is located on the shore of mighty Lake Michigan, and the city’s history and personality were greatly influenced by its maritime heritage. Even though it is not as busy at it once was, the waterfront is still a busy place, though these days the pleasure boats far outnumber the working vessels.

In addition to the big lake, the area includes several smaller lakes and the Muskegon River, so everywhere you look there are people in fishing boats, sailboats, canoes, kayaks, jet skies and every other imaginable type of watercraft, as well as several I have never seen before.

Several retired historic ships are berthed in Muskegon, including the USS Silversides, one of the most famous World War II submarines, which we visited at the Great Lakes Navel Memorial and Museum and featured in the November-December 2008 issue of the Gypsy Journal. Also at the museum and featured in that issue, is the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter McLane, which saw service chasing whiskey smugglers during Prohibition, and Japanese submarines during World War II.

On this trip to Muskegon we toured another historic World War II veteran, the LST 393, one of only two World War II LSTs still in existence. The official designation for this type of vessel is Landing Ship Tank, because they were designed to carry tanks, trucks and other heavy equipment right to a beachhead, though their crews referred to them as Large Slow Targets. LST 393 made 30 round trips to Omaha Beach during the D Day invasion, and landed 3,248 vehicles during her wartime service. We’ll have a feature story on this historic ship in our next issue.

Docked right behind LST 393 is the cargo ship Paul H. Townsend, which spent the last fifty years carrying concrete from Duluth, Minnesota to Great Lakes ports. Built near the end of World War II, the ship is currently used for concrete storage, because it is cheaper to move cement with barges powered by a tug boat. We were talking to a gentleman at the dock who told us that the ship is still commissioned and can be made ready to sail within a matter of days. Meanwhile, he said, Inland Lakes Management, Inc., the company responsible for the ship, pays a watchman $300 a day to live aboard the Townsend to protect it from vandals or burglars. If I ever stop traveling, I want a job like that!

Seeing so much activity on the water had us eager to get our kayaks wet, so yesterday we introduced my cousin Berni Frees and her husband Rocky to paddling. They rented a couple of kayaks, we hauled ours out of the van, and off we went up the Muskegon River. Rocky and Berni both took to kayaking like ducks to water, and we had a wonderful time. Here is a pictures of Rocky and Berni enjoying their first paddling adventure.

Since it was their first time paddling, we didn’t make a long excursion, but in the couple of hours we were on the water we probably covered a little over three miles.

Until now, Terry and I have only paddled in the Florida Keys and the Gulf of Mexico at Aransas Pass, Texas. We learned that paddling a river is much different. Going downstream with the current is pretty easy to do, but fighting our way back upstream against the current our last half mile or so was hard work! We all had sore muscles by the time we pulled the boats out of the water, but all four of us were already talking about our next expedition!

Thought For The Day – Love, not time, heals all wounds.

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In yesterday’s blog I wrote that visiting the Four Corners area, Monument Valley, and Canyon de Chelly, all in Arizona, are on my personal Bucket List. You know what a Bucket List is, right? It’s all of those things you want to do before you kick the bucket, as in the great movie by the same name starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.

All a bucket list is is a set of goals you want to accomplish in your life. Things you want to do and places you want to see. And hopefully, as you cross some things off your personal list, you’ll find some new things to add to it. That way you never get bored.

I’ve been lucky in that I’ve crossed a lot of stuff off my bucket list already, including jumping out of an airplane (and surviving), driving in a stock car race (I won my one and only race and retired a winner), overcoming my terrible fear of public speaking, traveling fulltime in an RV, making my living as a writer, visiting Washington, D.C., visiting Key West, starting my own business (done that several times), buying a classic Corvette and driving it on old Route 66, and finding my soul mate, to name a few.

There are still plenty of things I have left on my list, including visiting (in no particular order) Cape Cod, the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Mystic Seaport, Santa Fe, Yellowstone National Park, Valley Forge, and Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

I also want to drive to Alaska, take a cruise ship vacation, follow the Great River Road from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, kayak in Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp, spend a few nights camping on the beach on the Texas Gulf Coast, learn to draw, learn to play the saxophone, and see a live Jimmy Buffet concert.

I’m sure if I gave it some thought, I could come up with a couple dozen more to tell you about, but instead, why don’t you tell me what’s on your bucket list? What places do you still want to see, and what things do you want to accomplish before you give that bucket its final kick?

Thought For The Day – If you can’t combine business with pleasure, you’re in the wrong business.

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