You are Home!

I want to go home, I want to go home, oh how I want to go home! (What was the song with these lines? Something to do with going to sleep last night in Detroit City.)

I have to be honest. There have been a few times on this trip when I have asked myself, “Tom, what in the hell were you thinking, when you decided to buy this rig and head off into the sunrise (we are going east mostly so far). Yes, moments of weak spirit do occur and have to be dealt with in a forthright manner when you make drastic changes in your life style. Admitting these moments of doubt to each other is good therapy as we found we each have these moments. Not necessarily in the same proportions but that is another story.

My moments of weakness are usually related to two things. Something on the rig stops working or when I stop at a gas station and get the bill for a load of diesel here in Canada. Suzy’s are also related mainly to two things, the internet not working or missing her daughters.

The cure for this weakness for me has been reading the works of Jack London via Kindle. London’s tales usually all have to do with some tenderfoot starting out on some impossible journey in the early 1900s and facing the elements alone. We are talking some minus 60 temperatures, chopping into one’s leg, being attacked by wolves, mugged by robbers or Indians, etc. etc.. It is hard for me to be feeling sorry for myself because the furnace won’t start when reading about some guy whose fingers freeze off trying to light a fire. I found that the safety device on the propane tanks had kicked in and cut off the propane. The turn of a knob was all that was needed to fix it. If this was what the poor guy in the Northwest Territories whose dogs had just frozen leaving him 200 miles from civilization and only two days food had to face, then my broken jack or noisy pump don’t look all that formidable. Thank God for Jack London and RV insurance.

As for the price of diesel fuel; Jack London doesn’t help much. Actually he worsens the situation by writing about all the guys finding gold in the Yukon and becoming rich. I am getting almost 13 miles to a gallon pulling the rig which is better then I planned for so what is the problem? Well, if you ever pulled away from a gas station after spending $110 to fill up, you would understand. Diesel up here is averaging $.99 a liter. And there are about 4 liters in a gallon and the exchange rate is only about 106%. For all you math challenged folks out there that is about four bucks a gallon. Remember last summer? Oh, I hear all the sobbing for me coming through the white birch trees. Quite comforting I must say.

The cure for this malaise I find is, remembering that we are not paying mortgages, property taxes, water, electricity, gas, and multitude of other expenses related to a home so we can afford to let a little of our gold dust go the Canadian oil barons. And that we are not getting up and getting dressed for work, just a workout in the dunes.

So we hang in there and usually around the next corner is a view so magnificent that we forget all our negative thoughts and marvel in the wandering spirit. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see North America and like the pioneers it is not without some glitches. So we continue to circle the wagons and hunker down when hardship or doubt come at us. Works good!