Long before I retired my fondest wish was to hang a sign on the office door which said:
GONE FISHING—BACK IN TWENTY YEARS.
The day finally came. We poured $300 worth of gas into the tank of our newly-purchased-but-slightly-used RV. We loaded up our four parrots, the dog, the little boat, all the fishing tackle we could carry and our cameras. We headed for the Rogue River in Oregon, with visions of landing legendary bass and salmon, of breathtaking scenic landscapes and wildlife photos to make National Geographic take notice.
Imagine the Freedom! No clocks to punch. No clients to appease. No deadlines to meet. I was on my way to fishing/photography heaven. We were truly On The Road [Again] , complete with Willie Nelson on the CD.
We made it a total of 99 miles before the RV through a generator belt. ARGH!@#%! By that time it was 4 pm on a Friday. I knew that we had a better shot at winning the lottery than locating an RV mechanic that late on a Friday.
So there we were. We spent our first night as RV travelers overlooking the scenic vista of Walmart’s parking lot, observing the local “wildlife” foraging for an evening meal at Applebees. I caught a can of Starkist in the cupboard and then spent some quality time teaching the parrots a few new words.
The next morning we found a mechanic who had us back on the road before noon. By late evening we were properly camped RV-style, at Turtle Rock in Oregon, just outside of Gold Beach. Sunday morning coffee on the beautiful beach at Turtle Rock, watching Melanie dog scamper in the sand and kick up her heels in the surf made the earlier inconvenience (not “the end of the world” after all) well worth the trouble. And it was only the beginning…
Gold Beach
Turtle Rock
Melanie’s morning
Travel easy, everyone and have a great weekend!
Love,
Bupu
