After crossing much of the country now in our RV and pulling trailers and cars filled with furniture and personal items, the end was getting near. We had had more than our fair share of blown tires in a three day period and we were looking forward to reaching our final destination. Travel had been tough so far.
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We had left lush landscapes and lazy rivers behind in favor of parched landscapes in West Texas and now, the burning sun of New Mexico.

Around 10 o'clock he called me from the RV on my cell phone. "The air conditioner isn't working." I asked him if he wanted to drive the SUV, but being the gentleman he always is he declined. I really felt bad for him....it was hot outside already.
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I was deep in thought on a long stretch of highway. We hadn't seen more than a few cars all morning, when the RV, which was always in the lead, jerked a bit, slowed and pulled off the road.
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I put my car in park and waited for my husband to tell me why he had stopped. It was too early for lunch....Oh crap, now what was wrong. This little travel adventure was not what I signed up for.
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"I have a flat," was all he said and headed for the storage compartments under the RV where the tools were all the while muttering obscenities under his breath.
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This couldn't be happening again I told myself, but I knew I was lying. I opened my door to a suffocating dry heat and walked over to him. I know better than to talk when he's stressed, but sometimes I just throw caution to the wind, thinking he'll appreciate me commiserating with him. I'm usually wrong. I was that day too. He was pissed, and rightfully so.

Here we were, in the middle of nowhere, in sweltering heat and off pavement because the RV is huge and you have to get far enough off the asphalt so that oncoming cars won't hit you. Not only was the RV parked in crushed asphalt that wouldn't support lifting it off the ground with a jack, we didn't have another extra tire.
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We had to build up the surface of the shoulder of the road so we took to gathering rocks. In the process I found an interesting one. It was quite a bit smaller than the ones I was supposed to be looking for, but it looked familiar.
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I have good luck finding interesting rocks when we travel. Once when we were traveling in Utah we stopped by the side of the road and the first thing I picked up was a fossil of a trilobyte (I think that's how it's spelled). Since the pickings seemed so easy I tossed it aside in favor of finding an even bigger one. I hunted for fifteen minutes. Unfortunately I never found a bigger one. And I never found the one I tossed aside either.
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The interesting rock that day reminded me of dinosaur bones we saw in a shop in Moab, Utah. I showed my husband and he agreed I should keep it.
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After we finally found enough rocks to pile up, he backed the car I was towing off the travel trailer it was on and took off to the next town to buy a new tire. We had no  idea how far away it was. We'd been traveling for miles without seeing any signs saying how far the next town or city was. So I stayed behind in the RV to make sure no one vandalized anything. He reminded me the air conditioning wasn't working properly and I couldn't  turn it on. Lucky me.
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Less than an hour later, he returned with a tire. I was wilted by now. The idea to travel from the Chesapeake Bay area on the east coast to Arizona was starting to feel like a bad dream.

The next day we drove through Nashville. Well, we drove around it. I looked but never saw a single country singer behind the wheel of a $60,000+ car cruising down the highway beside me.
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Driving ten hours a day for days on end is probably not on the top of most people's list when they travel but I don't really mind. I have a lot going on in my head that keeps me busy. Books I want to write, things I want to do with my grandkids, memories of great times my husband and I have had over the years...and I love to see the countryside and new places. So, for me it wasn't a chore.
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But I was missing a good night's rest. Our RV sleeping arrangements were just not working out for us. A normal Queen sized bed is a few inches larger than the ones that came with our RV so as I mentioned, my husband's legs hung over the end of the bed, or if he slept on his side his knees dug into my back so I slept on the couch. Fine for kids...not so much for me.

This leg of the trip took us through Arkansas. Another gorgeous state with lots of green trees and bushes, many lining the banks of rivers and lakes. I told my husband I'd love to spend some time there on vacation and he reminded me of the humidiy and the bugs. Humidity I can take. The bugs? I pass.
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We were starting to make much better time now that the blown tire issues seemed to have been abated. We made it all the way to Amarillo TX that night. The lush green had been left behind hours ago. I flew over Texas on a trip once and saw miles and miles of green trees and water, but that was closer to Austin. West Texas was dry and hot with parched soil and scrub brush.
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Too tired to spend another night tossing and turning in beds that were not comfortable we found a motel. Mind you, we weren't traveling in a car. We were driving an RV that was hauling a trailer, and I was driving an SUV and hauling my car. Parking was going to be tricky. But the clerk said there was enough space around back for all of our vehicles and took our money. 
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We walked around to the back of the buildings, realized how wrong he was and decided we'd have to look for some place with much wider turning areas and longer parking spaces.
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I joined our little caravan to an empty lot next to the motel that had a no parking sign on a chain lying on the ground. I pointeed it out to my husband, but he thought that since it looked like it had been vacant for months, and we would be leaving early that it would be ok.
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I knew better. We went to our rooms and before we could even put our bags down someone from the front desk was ringing our room. My husband answered, promptly dashed out the door and ran down the stairs. I looked out the window and saw him talking to a security guard driving a tow truck who was getting ready to hook up the RV.
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When I arrived, the guard told us  how lucky we were that we got there in time. Since there was no parking anywhere near the motel we asked for a refund. Fortunately the desk clerk didn't put up an arguement.
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About twenty minutes later we were in our new room, our little caravan was parked legally down the street and as soon as our heads hit the pillow we were out.

The beginning of the Trip Blog is below this blog...

en·ti·tle·ment According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary:noun

Meaning:1 [noncount] a : the condition of having a right to have, do, or get something ▪ my entitlement to a refund b : the feeling or belief that you deserve to be given something (such as special privileges) ▪ celebrities who have an arrogant sense of entitlement
2 [count] US : a type of financial help provided by the government for members of a particular group ▪ entitlements such as medical aid for the elderly and poor EntitlementFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"An entitlement is a guarantee of access to benefits based on established rights or by legislation. A "right" is itself an entitlement associated with a moral or social principle, such that an "entitlement" is a provision made in accordance with legal framework of a society. Typically, entitlements are laws based on concepts of principle ("rights") which are themselves based in concepts of social equality or enfranchisement."
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Okay, now we have the definition. What does it mean to seniors that retire and want to collect social security?
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The short answer is this: The govt stole the money we sent them that was supposed to be kept in a trust. They stole our money for their pet projects instead of keeping it and letting it grow, and now they are screaming that there isn’t enough money to pay seniors their social security checks.
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Over a span of 40+ years we have been sending the government a signigicant part of our paychecks, money the govt was supposed to set aside in an account that would build interest for seniors when they retire. Then at a specified age we would be able to draw an amount that was set by the social security on a monthly basis so we could retire after years of work and sending them our money. The optimum word here is OUR. That was the deal. Frankly, I’m sick and tired of them calling social security an entitlement. I’ve also paid into medi-care. Is that an entitlement too? According to them it is.
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If you put money into a savings account and over the years it’s grown exponentially with interest  does the bank have the right to deny giving you that money back in small monthly withdrawls every month? No.
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But if I did put hundreds of dollars a month in a savings account thatA bank sure as hell wouldn’t give me money I hadn’t invested. A stock wouldn’t pay me dividends either.  I think not…and I’m getting fed up with our polititians and pundants calling my forced payment into social security for all those many years an entitlement. And I don’t lean left either! But when I hear people like Rush Limbaugh or hosts of his ilk who are stinking rich try to insinuate I think I’m “entitled” to money from social security, money I’ve paid into the trust fund that was supposed to be untouchable by congress…as if it wasn’t my own money! It really gets  my blood boiling. How about you?
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Now, if I had not paid into social security because I  either didn’t work or I was getting paid under the table or with false documents as an illegal worker here does by taking jobs “no one wants” I would not have a right to get social security. And I wouldn’t expect if.  By the way, most of the jobs the illegals are being hired for today are higher paying jobs in construction at  $20+ an hour…Americans have been pushed out of the market  now by illegal workers and their “bosses” who are hispanic refuse to hire English speaking Americans. You can’t even find one of those day workers on the corner for less than $15 an hour! 
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Just as a side bar: In the Los Angeles and Orange County school districts, you can’t get an office job today unless you are 100% fluent in Spanish. THEY WON’T HIRE YOU! Don’t believe me? Try and get a job in the Anaheim or L.A. school district working in the office. They will ask you if you are fluent in Spanish. (If you don’t get that far you must not  have said your speak Spanish in your application)  If you aren’t, they will tell you that they can’t hire you because you don’t speak Spanish. If you say you do….be prepared to have a lengthy conversation with the interviewer (typically a hispanic) in Spanish that an average person will NOT be able to understand. I know, because that was my own experience. The only reason I was hired is because I AM fluent. And the interviewer was not happy that I passed the test (truly her face was angry) because I’m white. Are you from another state where you CAN get a job with the school district? Better get it now. In a few more years, believe me the hiring requirements will change as more and more Spanish speaking people who have or bring their kids here take up residency in your state.
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But illegal workers here (illegal means you broke the law when you entered this country, not people who come here legally) will be able to get social security! If we’re so broke, why did the govt  change the “requirements” and allow these people to receive social security if they can’t even afford to pay U.S. citizens?Ok, I’m getting off on a tangent but I imagine you have an opinion about this right? Click on the comment below and voice your opinion.

The second day of our trip started out with a beautiful day in VA. I always liked Virginia much more than Maryland, even though both are thick with green foliage in summer, dotted with scenic towns and rife with history and historic locations. My husband asked me one day why I liked Virginia more and I couldn't put it into words. The best way I could describe it was simply....it's more serene and inviting to me.

We were looking forward to a long day of driving. I was hauling my car behind the SUV on this trip, and my husband was driving the RV and hauling a trailer filled with our furniture and personal belongings.

I'm always up for an adventure and I have always wanted to drive across the United States so I have to admit I was disappointed with my husband's rush to get as far away from the east coast as possible.

My idea was to take a mini vacation trip, stopping at select towns across America and spending even an hour or so soaking up the local culture. After all, we were already there and the idea of taking another cross country tour was probably not in our future. I knew I could convince him to make a few short stops but anything more would be out of the question.

I do have to say that summers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee are incredibly beautiful. They're also hot and sticky, but when you're sitting in an air conditioned car with miles and miles of green vegetation, lakes and rivers streaking by, you don't mind the heat!

Although the first day of the trip started out with high hopes for an uneventful day of driving, around 3:00 the tire on the tow dolly for my car blew. 

So we did spend an hour on the side of the freeway on the outskirts of Knoxville Tennessee.

I guess I need to be careful what I ask for.

My husband worked a half day the day he retired. Then we had to pack our things into the trailer and a few items in the RV. We thought about sleeping in the RV in the driveway but my husband wanted to say good-bye to everything that day and retire. Getting on the road was significant to him. It was around 1:00 by the time we waved good-bye to the Chesapeake Bay.
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We drove about a hundred miles. We would have gotten in another hundred or more miles, but we ran into some problems.
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We had a flat tire on the tow dolly for one of our cars. My husband is good with most anything mechanical and he's changed a lot of tires over the years, but there wasn't much room to pull off the road and the wheel was sitting in soft muddy dirt so he was having a hard time getting the jack to work. I called a tow truck to help out. It took them an hour to get to us and by that time my husband had pretty much raised it enough to make the change.
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We were back on the road again...for awhile at least. Then a tire on the RV blew! I won't bore you with the details but let's just say that Virginia residents have attitude, especially mechanics transplanted from D.C. who don't like RVs.
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It was dark now. We decided to pull off the road, have some dinner and hit the sheets for some much needed rest.

My husband is 6'4". Sleeping in a queen bed made for women 5'7" was challenging. We still loved having the RV, but at 2am we decided we were going to have to figure out the sleeping arrangements.

I made the sacrifice and told him  I'd sleep on the couch. He didn't argue. We were just too tired.

So our first day of retirement came with some obstacles but we got past them and we were still happily and officially retirees.

Last year we thought we would be going to Mexico to find a condo on the beach. We bought an RV to live in while we checked things out. We wanted to make sure the move was the right thing for us before we invested money in a country that had a reputation for simply going in and taking property away from American investors and although we had learned a lot about how to hold title etc. we were still skeptical.

We were living in Maryland at the time. We took the RV on a couple of dry runs after we spent a lot of money getting it ready for the long journey. The thought of getting stuck somewhere in the Mexican desert because of mechanical problems was terrifying.

At first we thought it would be a fun adventure driving down there and living by the beach, but things have a way of changing. First, the sleeping arrangements were uncomfortable. I guess if you're an average sized man of anywhere from 5'7" to 6' tall, it would work out just fine. Not for someone over 6'5".  And not for two people in the same bed.

Then we had to decide what to do with all of our furniture....do we store it at over $400 a month, do we sell it....?

And then the final blow. Mexico became so violent that there was no way we were going to subject ourselves to being on the business end of a gun or machete. As much as we love the people and the country it just isn't worth it.

So we sold most of our furniture, packed up just the things we wanted to keep and left gray summer skies and cold winters for a sunny place in the west.
More later

Is anyone else out there having a hard time settling into retirement? I can't seem to change gears. My husband has slid into it with ease, but I'm still having a hard time finding myself.
In the past, I would never do anything with friends when my husband was at work because I felt guilty having fun while he toiled away so I mostly stayed home, worked at my home business, cooked, cleaned, grocery shopped and took care of the household finances.

I still do the same things....

As a newer senior it struck me a few months ago that my junk mail has changed over the years, and the differences are more pronounced now that I'm 60.

When I was in my forties, it was mostly solicitations to get a credit card, open a bank acct, travel,car insurance and things like that. Yesterday as I was going through my mail I noticed mailers for hearing aids, aarp, diabetes kits, cialis....things like that.

Anyone else out there noticed any changes?

Our society has changed and people find themselves living in different cities and states from their children and grandchildren. Do you have any experience or suggestions about maintaining a good relationship with your grandchildren living far away?

Two of my cousins are very active in helping to raise their grandchildren. One babysits weekdays, the other has full charge of her grandchildren because the parents work and go to school. Hers as it turns out has a very sad ending. Her son and his wife decided to leave the country because the other grandparents don't like America and they are now living thousands of miles across the ocean in Japan. She doubts she'll ever see her grandchildren again.

We have some articles on other pages here. Click on the  men or women over fifty pages. There's even a link to grandparents raising grandchildren. Please click on comments and tell us about your own experiences with grandchildren. You can also read other visitors' comments when you click on comments.

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