People

[Honda03842]

We're presently in an RV park on the west coast of Florida. On New Year's eve we attended a dance in the club house but left after a few hours since I'd been sick for more than a week and didn't want to push it. (The longest I've been sick in my life.)

We were in bed by 10. Shortly after mid-night the party broke up and the talking of the partiers woke me up in time to hear one say to the other as they walked by our little trailer "Can you believe they live in there?"

We are by a factor of 2 or maybe even 3 the smallest RV in the park. Yet we feel very comfortable in our 7x12 foot space. I smiled a little at the words and rolled over returning to my comfortable sleep. I'm sure this is a common thought by our fellow campers, though it's plainly obvious we're very happy.

As a sidelight, last week we drove up to Tallahassee, a very clean good sized city where ruralness is just a dozen miles outside the city, simply little suburban runup to the city. We went to see the University of Connectiut women's basketball team (no. 1) play FSU (no. 10). Since it was a night game, we stayed over in a Marriott. Of course we had a king sized bed; Ginny thought it was as sbig as our trailer. The bed was so big we felt like we were sleeping alone and were happy to get home to our 4 foot wide bed.

The game was very good and interestingly tickets were only $2 for everyone; normally $3 for seniors. This was a real bargin, particularly to see one of the best woman's teams ever. I suspect that there are many opportunities to see very good women's teams in the south. IN CT the tickets would be $20-25.

From our little space, joy to all in the New Year,

[emam]

Hey Norm, even though our 2499 is a touch bigger than your coach, Cindy and I get that same responce all the time when we tell people we live in it fulltime.

Once guy, who's slide on his Class A which was as big as our entire coach laughed when we told him we fulltimed and said "I'd murder my wife if we had to stay one night in that small of a camper."

They were only camping for the weekend in this 40 something foot Class A and he said that they thought that it was too small for them to travel comfortably in...?? I guess to each their own.

Personally, we both would like to move to a smaller sized camper, but have yet to find a floor plan that we like that still offers a made up bed, a full bath (No Wetbath) and a kitchen big enough to have a full sized refrigerator.

If you want to have a little get-away from where you're camped, come up to Cedar Key for a visit. We'll be here all winter long and would love to meet up with you and pick your brain on Labradore. We've got a nice spot for luxurious 7x12 space

[Honda03842]

Thanks for the invitation to Cedar Key. We have been there and find it a little of old Florida, far enough off the main travel roads.

This week will tell us if we'll be able to visit. We may have a New England family 'event' that we have to return for and should know by next weekend. Of course we prefer not to go north, particularly with this tough winter but as Ginny says "Life is what happens while you're planning for it".

I'll let you know our plans by next weekend.

Enjoy the stilted houses there,

Norm

[emam]

I wasnt going to say it because I knew we'd get bombarded with Northerners throwing snowballs at us, but whats up with these temperatures in the Low 40's??????

We had to break out the winter jackets I thought I had put away for the last time

Look forward to seeing you if you can make it

[Honda03842]

If you don't love each other, RVing may not be the right way to live. On the other hand it may be the opportunity to really love each other, to closely grow to know each other better and more warmly in the cooperative way RV living encourages.

Escaping in an RV for the most part eliminates the source of much of the outside distractions of life, be it relatives, kids or work, letting in the beauty that abounds, usually surrounding our every day that we are too busy to see in our normal working lives.

As well the things we used to strive for, cars, hurried vacations, crammed schedules, more knick knacks ...... are no longer a part of our lives. I wonder how we did it with our former driven schedules, trully insane, making me happy to be alive today.

Interestingly we are rarely apart now, even when we're home in the summer. Our lives now revolve around each other, our trips and all the little things we now do together, it's much like being 16 again.

We live on a lot less and enjoy it a lot more. Yes we love our family, kids and friends, ans in reality, not working and RVing, we actually can see them more than we did when we were working and reveling in money but not time.

Time is the commodity that we now have, something that no one can really buy. No RV is ever big enough for two unless you choose to open your hearts to each other and joyously share like you probably did when you first met. I'm sure when you first met no space was too small, not the back seat of your car or the front portch swing, all made your heart beat ever faster.

Life is a series of choices, chose joy and love,
Silly, romantic Norm,

[Honda03842]

We don't carry any winter clothes though we do have two heavy Nordic sweaters.

I religiously follow climate and weather and check for sunspots first thing every morning. We are three years late in starting the next sunspot cycle. Historically no sunspots means cooling, actually it's been cooling for at least the last 7 years and we have seen it in our travels.

Even the global warming activists say it will cool for the next 30 years. Of course the only thing constant about climate is change.

I've carefully watched how the people of Labrador and Newfoundland plant their small plots of potatoes and root vegetables, wondering if I'll ever need the skill, amazed by their yields. If the USA were Newfounland you'd see little plots of potatoes in the middle of the interstate and piles of wood cut for the next year beside every road, in some sense it reminds me of Ireland with the little piles of peat drying beside the road.

Stay warm and as I said to Ginny when it reache 50 here yesterday; in NH if it were bright and sunny and 50 everyone would be donning their shorts and running down to the beach to grab a few rays - temperature is relative.

[Mark]

Norm,

Its an interesting comment about space. Although I can't speak for Canadians , I have been authorized by birth to speak for Americans .

We are just used to so more space. More space, more stuff. And our stuff is bigger .

Now don't get me wrong, I am not commenting on excesses or too much money. As a "newer" country, compared with lets say Europe, we have plenty of space. Check out the average house size in Europe and you know what I mean.

And its worse in big cities, where the average apartment/flat is REALLY small . I lived in Paris for a six months, and my apartment was if I recall correctly, 40 square meters (430 square feet).

[Honda03842]

The USA is certainly a big, wonderful place. I'm definitely not opposed to big afterall we still have our motorhome and a house, though I would be happy to be rid of both.

I will say that houses in the USA have been approaching the ridiculous in size, particularly where we live. I swear more cars drive the Labrador highway in a day (about then people that walk through these rooms in a month. All rooms that need to be filled with stuff.

What I've learned in the last 9-10 years is how little we need, and I do mean to emphasize the we because Ginny has been a princess in first trying and second adapting to our new life style.

We have found we can easily live with less and more important are very happy, and partially because we have less.

Definitely North America is a place of space. I'm truly amazed by the emptiness of Canada and the USA.

I never worry about other's need for stuff but I am amazed to discover how little I need. As I grow older I wish I had recognized it earlier, mostly because it means I could have begun long range RVing earlier.

One interesting aspect of my life is I never had a job that lasted more or less than 5 years, actually outside of marriage I never did anything for more than five years, typically burned out by the excessive drive I put into everything. Now we're entering our 10th year of RVing with no end in sight. I have finally found my life.

[emam]

Hey Norm, I noticed you said you were into the climate.

I had a friend email a link because he knew I was into the climate also.

Granted this is a tad bit long, but it is probably the most interesting thing I've watched concerning the climate in years. It does a really good job in explaining the reasons why we're experiencing such cold weather in not normally cold areas.

If you have some spare time, sit back and watch it, I think you'll like it

[Honda03842]

The link is worth watching, very stimulating. Unfortunately it's conclusion doesn't match up with the reality of the last 6-7 years.

For the last seven years the world has been cooling, Europe is facing the coldest winter in a 100 years and not warming like the film suggests with the cleaning of the air in NA and Europe and it's reference to the hot summer of 2003. (Note the news carries little info about the deaths from the extremely cold winters Europeans have faced recently, of course cold temps are much more dangerous than high temps.)

As well, none of this expalins the 150 little ice age from 1700-1850 or the medival warming period when grapes grew in England, both events before man even produced appreciable CO2. Practically everyone in England is praying for global warming this week.

Unfortunately the predictors of doom and gloom are never asked to explain why their predictions do not come true. Where are all the hurricanes Gore predicted? Why is the Acrtic Oceans ice coverage increasing? Why is the antarctic ice coverage greater than normal? Why are polar bear populations growing?

I loved the stimulation of the raw data, unfortunately the conclusion does not align with the reality of the last 7 years of cooling.

I would love to see the sequel and will look into Global Dimming. Thank you for another direction and pray for warming.

[Honda03842]

Oops! I probably should have sent the previous as a private email. Sorry to anyone I offended.

[EMD_Driver]

Originally Posted by Honda03842

Oops! I probably should have sent the previous as a private email. Sorry to anyone I offended.

Norm,
Please don't feel the need to apologize, for being honest... We need more honesty and MUCH less PC.


Gary



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[Honda03842]

Burt Rutan

Burt is one of America's greatest engineers. He was first famous for designing a series of homebuilt foam and fiberglass airplanes, fast and very efficient planes. His fame grew with the Voyager One, the first plane to fly non-stop around the world without refueling. This was followed by Space Ship One the first privately funded spacecraft to enter space twice within two weeks. Four of his aircraft are in the National Air and Space Museum.

Tthe following link is to his 6 part talk on Global Warming. It is long and requires attention. What makes his talk important is that he is a man of science, interested in data and it's implication, a person above minipulation and bias, capable of independent thinking.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/01/0...ng/#more-14774

Now if you're not interested in Global Warming, you might want to Google Burt Rutan. He really is a great American. His designs are revolutionary. Now if he would only design a trailer. He made really unique airplanes powered by as little as an 18HP engine. The VW powered version of the 2 seat Quickie could reach 180MPH.

[Stan47]

Originally Posted by Honda03842

Shortly after mid-night the party broke up and the talking of the partiers woke me up in time to hear one say to the other as they walked by our little trailer "Can you believe they live in there?"

Norm, this sort of snobbery is why Peg and I have never been especially sociable when traveling. I prefer not to put myself in a situation where someone will say something to which I would simply NEED to respond honestly, and I'm too old for fistfights.

[Honda03842]

Stan,

There's some humor for me in how people percieve us. It may date back to my approach to things.... for example, building and living in a geodesic dome off in the woods or quitting a good job to build musical instruments.... I guess I'm used to friends and relatives thinking I'm a little off center but that's OK.

I no longer feel I have to stand up to the non-believers of my life style like I did when younger. I've grownup, very gradually, to feel good about myself and find most everyone interesting, atttempting to learn what they know.

As to snobs, they're everywhere and that's OK as well. I will admit that Ginny and I do not attempt to be at the center of anything, though I do write on this site a lot. Generally we are content to be alive and share time together. l am feeling very comfortable with each other. I admit our relationship, though never bad, has grown even deeper on the road.

Happy in our little Sunline,

[Stan47]

Norm, after a few trips of two to four months, I appreciate what you are saying about the togetherness business. Our trailer was such a personal space for Peggy and me that I found it difficult to invite in even relatives and close friends for a visit.

Now, to put that into perspective, our non-mobile house is the same way. We probably have not hosted "company" for more than 20 years, and IIRC the last holiday gathering here was in the late 1970s. Close as I am with my sister, she does not generally feel free to drop in without advance notice. She and her husband (also RVers) are quite the opposite.

I quit a well-paid job in the defense contracting business at the age of 40, to pursue my own interests. For six years I sold houses for a living, then bought a used-book shop, which I ran for another 8 or 9 years, also managing several rental properties we'd bought. We cast all that aside in 2003, and I did no paying work whatsoever, except for some odd-jobs, until taking a contract job just over a year ago.

It's been 22 years since I turned forty, and I am happy with the decision I made. Frankly, I don't think I would have survived another five years in the 9 to 5 world, much less surviving to retirement age.

What sort of instruments do you build?

[Honda03842]

Very interesting work history. We are similar in that way for sure.

I sincerely hope you and Peg find a new solution to your 'traveling private space'. Certainly creating a space together would be beneficial and fun.

[Stan47]

You neglected to tell me what kinds of musical instruments you build.

I am a trumpeter, 53 years now. Never made more than beer money playing until last year.

My current job is bugler for veterans' funerals, which can keep me busy up to six days a week. Last year, I sounded Taps at 286 funerals, plus about a dozen memorial services. There's a lot of driving involved, but the pay is a bit more than I'd make as a greeter in Wal-Mart, and more than I paid myself when self-employed.

As a kid, I was stuck with an awful trumpet that my dad had bought in a pawnshop for ten dollars. As an adult player I've become a sort of horn junkie, swapping and selling instruments, and always owning more than I will need. At the moment I own 14 horns (primarily trumpets and cornets) and two concertinas.

BTW, I have one trumpet that stays in my work vehicle, in case there's the odd opportunity to practice. It was in the Suburban, in an unlatched case, when we crashed. It did not pick up so much as a single new dent in the wreck. Of course, it just might be the ugliest trumpet in the western hemisphere in the first place...

[emam]

Originally Posted by EMD_Driver

Norm,
Please don't feel the need to apologize, for being honest... We need more honesty and MUCH less PC.
Gary

I couldnt agree more Gary and Norm! This isnt RVNet and I doubt the moderators are going to scold any of us for a good conversation. I agree with you Norm about the predictions and the actual outcomes.

Just thought that might be of some interest and you might get something out of it.

I asked Cindy to read this entire thread and she agree's with everything you've said about being together in such a small space. It does really make two people realize how much they love one another and makes you look at collecting stuff in a much different light

[emam]

At the moment I own 14 horns (primarily trumpets and cornets) and two concertinas.

Stan, you're going to need to move up to a Toy Hauler just to bring all those horns with you when you go out on the road