East Coast or Bust!!
Our new adventure started about 3 years ago when we decided to change our lifestyle and make the decision to become Nomads when we retired. That finally happened on Sept. 27, 2021 for Donna, March 18, 2022 for Mike.
As luck would have it, everything has a delay because of parts, labor shortages, and all of the worldly things happening.
We were expecting our Dodge RAM 2500 Deisel to be delivered to North Carolina (got the "friends " deal)at the end of April. Unfortunately, it's still in Mexico with a new delivery date of July!!! We ordered it in January 2022.
Our new Airstream is also delayed. New projected roll off assembly line late July. We might see it in California Late August. Original delivery was supposed to be April.
We decided to pull the trigger anyway and sold, gave away and donated almost all of our things, including our California house.
The stuff we saved and wanted our kids to have or they wanted, was loaded into a rented box truck along with our 1958 MGA and taken to Northern Virginia.
Driving a big box truck made a challenging adventure.
We departed Oceanside on Saturday morning March 26, and our house went on the market the same day. Blue skies and windy with a full gas tank of California ($6.25/ gal.) gas, with hopes of making it to cheaper Arizona gas.
The learning curves of freeway driving with the wind often times felt like I was at the helm of a sailboat.
Our first stop a McDonalds after avoiding so many big trucks with a stiff south wind, I underestimated the turning radius and got stuck making a U-turn. Lesson learned. We appreciate the help we received from a total stranger!!
Saturday night an old but clean hotel on old Route 66 in Seligman Arizona. A really cool little town being swallowed up by the desert. Dinner at the Roadkill Cafe was amazing.
Sunday morning had us up early. TV weather news had a big storm entering California behind us and had me a little nervous.
Donna and I took turns at the wheel following Route 40. We kept a steady speed of 60MPH and tried not to slow the big trucks down. We got a kick out of flashing our light so the big trucks could slide in front of us and got the flash of thanks. Lunch at a rest stop with tornado shelters was sandwiches with fixens from our Yeti cooler.
Sunday night March 27th was spent in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. With not many restaurants to choose from, there was a Mexican restaurant across from the hotel. The clerk told us not to order the chicken wings, they "tasted like a dog chew toy" she exclaimed. We ordered cheese enchiladas. By far the.... worst..... meal..... we ever tried to eat. String cheese sticks between barely warm tortillas with fire sauce called enchiladas. Good thing the chips and salsa were good!!
After a night of restless sleep, we were on the road early again Monday morning March 28th to Okemah, Oklahoma. Both of us shared the driving, we were getting good at scoping the gas station parking lots, and finding easy ways to get in and out. By the time we got to the hotel, it was after dark and the sidewalks were already rolled up. Our choice of dinner? Subway or McDonalds.......McDonalds it was because as many of you know, Donna makes the funniest face when the word "Subway" is even mentioned.
Sleep was not our friend. We both woke early once again and Tuesday morning March 29th we were off to Jackson,Tennessee. By the way, Tennessee has beautiful smooth roads. We thought we were losing teeth on Arizona and New Mexico roads. Pot holes big enough to swallow us whole!!
Donna is a great navigator using our new map. Thank you, Oceanside CERT, for the great and useful gift.
Cracker Barrel dinner outside of Jackson, was a great chance to have a hot home style meal. We both had giggle fits because Donna ordered a roast beef dinner medium rare. Our server said in his Tennessee draw "We don't do temperature on our meat. I'll ask the kitchen if they ever heard that before". The other guests in the restaurant must have thought those people from California are a little bit looney.
Wednesday March 30th we were off to Christiansburg/Blacksburg Virginia. Back in familiar territory (our son/spouse, son in-law all graduated from VA Tech and our daughter from Radford), we knew dinner HAD to be at Macado's - one of our favorites!! Years ago, we celebrated both of our kid's college graduations and post football games there.
The threat of severe weather was always over our shoulders with each morning's news reports. We were thankful it was behind us, until Thursday.
We woke up to rain and more wind Thursday morning, March 31st.
More stressful driving to Northern Virginia. (NOVA).
We were so proud of ourselves by not getting stuck in a strip mall in Purcellville, Virginia (pit stop) in the final hours before getting to our sons in Vienna.
Donna was an excellent guide as I backed the truck and auto transport into the driveway for the night. Unpacking could wait till morning.
