Adieu to All That

Today is our last day in the Philadelphia area.  Tomorrow we vote early then hit the road with the RV to take it for annual servicing and inspection in the Lancaster area.

This has certainly been an unusual stop.  We've been here our usual amount of time - just about 2 weeks - but instead of focusing on hikes, bicycling, backpacking or other outdoor activities, we've had to spend our time with servicing appointments (the truck, the RV, our bicycles) and doctor and dentist appointments.  Of course, we have had time to catch up with family and some Philly friends.  And we also were able to squeeze in an opportunity to visit the new home of the Barnes Foundation on the Parkway in Center City.  But what was originally already a very tight schedule to accomplish all that needed to be accomplished became something of a manic jigsaw puzzle when Hurricane Sandy decided to join our party.

We were out of power essentially from Monday through Friday - only 5 days.  We have a generator on our truck, but we had to really boondock for two of those days because it was essential to give up the truck to get it inspected and serviced.  So, an unexpected adventure in all of this was to discover all the nuances of boondocking.  Kathy put it pretty succinctly when she said, "I know we can do it, and I know the rig is built to do it, but I don't WANT to do it unless we have to!"  Wise words.  Seriously, though, we now know exactly what it will require, which will help us make better decisions about when it will be worth boondocking.  We also now have a very keen appreciation of how well we can survive power outages and so on (which, all in all, is, "very well").

Today Kathy had an eye doctor appointment and I fueled up the truck.  We packed the 5th wheel away to ready for our trip, and drove over to pick up our bicycles (tuned up and just like new!).  Had lunch in Keswick Village and now hanging out at a local coffee shop.  After a dentist appointment for Kathy this afternoon, we'll stop and (finally) use our gift card for a dinner at Cracker Barrell, then spend the night at Eileen and Tom's before getting up at o'dark hundred to vote.  Thank heavens the political ads will be over.

Then off to Lancaster.  We'll stay in a hotel with the cats for a couple days while the RV is serviced.  We suppose we'll watch the election returns Tuesday night.  Wednesday we'll visit with our good friends Dick and Evie who, while they were lambasted by Irene in 2011, were practically unaffected by Sandy.  Thank goodness.

On Thursday, November 8, if all goes well, we'll take the RV on down to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, where we'll hang out for two weeks or so, and get back to some serious day hiking, bicycling and battleground exploring, topped off by Thanksgiving at the home of Kathy's brother Steve and his wife Lea Ann.  After that, we head on down to the Richmond area.

Our next blog post may not appear until late this week from Harpers Ferry.