GTW surprises

I have now had a week post-GTW to think about the experience. I find that some of the things that were most memorable about the adventure were the things that surprised me. Such as:

• The trip was wetter and cooler than I expected.  As Jett noted the other day, “I expected to be wearing shorts the whole way.”  Me too.  I really thought that fall in Tennessee, Texas and the southwest would be warmer than it was.  It really wasn’t all that different that what we would have experienced in Massachusetts.  We wore jeans about 80% of the time.  Of course those violent storms in California and Oregon were not typical, but added to the overall disappointment we felt with the weather we encountered.
• The landscape can change very quickly.  I was struck by how rapidly the countryside changed from green rolling hills to flat scrub brush as we traveled west in Texas.  Or how we could travel for hours in the San Joaquin Valley in California, then suddenly be in rugged mountains.  And, of course, the dramatic transition of the Grand Canyon where you walk up a normal-looking small hill and are suddenly confronted with a gaping hole in the ground.
• There sure are a lot of different types and brands of RVs out there.  I should have kept a tally of all the different names we saw on RVs – it would have been in the thousands, I think.  And almost none of them were Open Ranges.  We saw, I think, one Open Range trailer and four Open Range fifth wheels.
• Our fifth wheel was not as durable as I expected.  We certainly didn’t plan on replacing all four tires – all less than 3 years old and all with less than 1,000 miles of wear.  We also didn’t expect to have four slide cables break.  All of those things supposedly had service lives that should have easily carried through to the end of the GTW but didn’t.
• Speaking of unexpected expenses, I was shocked at how much we spent on food.  I still don’t understand how we could eat more while traveling than we could at home.  I will have to keep a close eye on that and see if it stabilizes now that we are more settled and are aware of the problem.
• We used XM radio very little.  I expected that we would spend our time on the road listening to country music or 60’s oldies.  But we mostly passed the time listening to books on tape (CD actually).  Now that we are settled I am listening mostly to news radio during my commute (which is less than 20 minutes, BTW).  I think the XM subscription was a waste of money.
• I haven’t used either the golf clubs or the bicycle as much as I thought I would.  I golfed once and rode the bike twice.  Again, now that we are settled maybe I will use them more.  But with the short, cool days it doesn’t seem likely that I will use them much for a while.
• Jett never really got used to hauling the fifth wheel.  Every travel day was a white-knuckle day for her.  I was hoping that she would relax on the GTW and enjoy the ever-changing view, but the idea that we had that 39-foot trailer behind us prevented her from enjoying the scenery.
• There are some REALLY nice RV parks at casinos.  Arguably the best park we stayed at (twice) was Seven Feathers in Canyonville, OR.
• RVers are a pretty friendly lot.  I am not really surprised at that, I guess, but some of the people we met on the trip made it more enjoyable.  Perhaps I am more surprised that we didn’t run into more jerks.
• Living small is not so bad.  I was describing our fifth wheel to one of the accountants yesterday and he was amazed that we could live – with two dogs yet – in 400 square feet.  But it is entirely possible and is actually pleasant.  Mostly.

We are already thinking about how we are going to get back to MA next summer.  One current thought has us traveling in a series of 1-week hops, with me working during the week and then traveling on the weekend.  It would probably take us 8 or 9 weeks to make the trip back to MA if we go in a fairly direct path.

So the planning for the GTE (yes, the Great Trip East) is already underway.