Over the Mountain

After months of thinking, conspiring, planning and a bit of dreaming, I am on the road. I am traveling solo, but not alone, as I wander down the road under God’s grace. The last bits of advice from mom and dad issued, good-byes and thank yous said, last minute care packages from mom (a bag of groceries she took out of the cupboards that included extra crunchy peanut butter, a can of tuna, rubber gloves for cleaning out the waste system and a couple more dish towels—like I am going to be washing dishes) packed, a few photos taken of me and the RV and I was on my way at 10 am headed for the east coast. If I stayed much longer, mom would have managed to smuggle a few more things onboard (I have four knives), dad would have fretted a little more and I, as my sail captain use to do before he set sail, would “wig-out.”

The trip did not launch uneventfully. A mouse slipped out from underneath the RV when I pulled out into the road for photos. Great. What the hell did it chew up? Moments earlier, both cats had slipped out the door and escaped The Rig. They were not in pursuit of the mouse. Fortunately, they did not wander far; Diablo was distracted by the grass and Phoenix hunched beneath the axle, just out of my reach as if taunting me. Neither cat was too pleased with the motion of their new abode, especially Phoenix, but she settled in before we hit Vermont, only occasionally emitting a painfully loud meow.

My first call to home came after being on the road for about an hour. In Cambridge there is a trestle with an eleven foot clearance. I had no idea what the RV clears. I stopped to call my dad before attempted the approach. He seemed to think it was twelve feet. Sooo, under I went, with room to spare. Dad advised me, however, not to pull through the drive-in at McDonalds. Check.

The engine light came on as I summitted the Green Mountains, sinking my heart that I had blown the engine (283 books and four knives weigh quite a bit). Visions of sweltering in the heat along side the road for hours while I waited for a tow truck swarmed into my head. I pulled over, peed in the toilet, fed the cats, ate a fruit cocktail, pondered the situation, and decided nothing was wrong with the engine. I cranked it up. The light went out and did not come back on until Milford, NH. I checked the oil. Smelled around for something peculiar and surmised the engine light was faulty, not the engine. Maybe the guys in the shop messed up the light when they worked on the manifold. Tonight after talking with mom she said the light always did that. Boy, what a relief. All that praying for nothing! Well, not exactly, because there was nothing wrong, just like I prayed for.

Tonight, I am staying with Jessica Werner and her family. Jess and I were in the Peace Corps together in Micronesia. Her mom, Susan prepared a great meal—chicken Caesar salad and corn on the cob—set outside on the back porch where we enjoyed the cooler air of the evening. Good conversations. Watched the moon set. Day one.