Masters of our Destiny.

Well, that wasn't so hard.

We had our first lesson today. Our last lesson is tomorrow. Frank, our instructor, was sweet. We both did well.

I'm glad to have had the opportunity to learn to brake and make turns in a controlled environment -- and after that I drove through some windy hill country on a two-lane road, through a small town (only driving over one curb -- oops!) and on the freeway.

I am MUCH more confident now that I can deal with this huge thing. And it was fun! I backed up around orange cones . . . and didn't knock any of them over. Who knew?

Da boyz were so confident in my abilities, in fact, that they fell asleep while I was driving.

Destiny on vacation.

We've been spending the last month fixing up the RV and getting ready to take her on a real road trip. And now we're finally doing it!

We're on our way to RV driving school in northern California. In case you're wondering how we're driving it without knowing how . . . that's not exactly what driving school is about. You don't need a special license or anything. Everyone we've talked to and every book we've read (you can imagine how many of those) says anyone who can drive can figure out how to maneuver an RV (even a big one like ours) pretty quickly, and get comfortable in just a few hours.

And, in fact, Ross has done great. He confesses to driving over a few curbs in Phoenix when we first picked her up -- but I was driving the rental car in front of him and didn't see it happen.

This is more like taking a defensive driving class. And I'm not willing to get behind the wheel until I'm in a big parking lot with nothing to hit and a professional trainer sitting next to me. Just a complete lack of confidence. This thing is HUGE!

So this is more of a safety thing than a necessity.

We started out yesterday about an hour and a half late. (Hey, this is our first trip with the dogs. It took some real effort to load everything without our escape artists running loose.)

Da boyz figured out how to get comfortable quickly. Bob settled on my lap and Slick found an upholstered chair to curl up in. So, while the wheels were moving, it really was like a big version of our Mexico road trip in the Tundra. They enjoy being with us all day.

We stopped at a Walmart along the way for some supplies -- mostly food. We decided to experiment with leaving the dogs alone. They were calm when we got back and nothing had been chewed, so it looks like we're going to be able to handle it if we go out to eat or something. Yay.

I made dinner on our little stove last night. Everything is sort of Barbie-size. We have a double sink, but each side barely holds a plate.

Eating with dogs in the RV is a bit of a challenge because the dinette table is a lot more accessible than our dining room table at home. The benches allow them to jump up next to us. They really don't know how to stay off furniture. But we finally persuaded them to stay on the floor.

And we all managed to find our own space on the queen-size bed to settle in. It helped that da boyz were exhausted.

Today we're staying at the RV park on the Rogue River in Grants Pass, Oregon. The RV is backed up right to the river. I'm hoping it warms up a little this afternoon so we can take a walk along it.

On the road.

We're about to leave Chowchilla, California. We picked up "Our Destiny" on Friday and have been getting to know her ever since.

Some things aren't working . . . but it's likely because we don't understand everything yet. There was a lot of documentation of appliances, etc., but nothing about running the actual motor home. We're figuring out things as we go. We have an appointment to get it completely checked out in Seattle on Monday, along with an orientation. We're really looking forward to having some mysteries resolved!

We're meeting Karin, Mike and Corey in Eugene tonight. I'll write again soon!

We bought an RV on eBay!

Woohoo! We won! We won!

We won the right to spend thousands of dollars on this 1997 RV. We need to go to Phoenix to pick it up . . . but such a deal.

Coo-ba Libre

Yesterday, Ross and I went RV shopping. All the RVs for sale in the whole world are in Fife, Washington -- between here and Tacoma on I-5.

On the way there, we stopped at a chain restaurant called Bahama Breeze. They were playing calypso music, which reminded me of Harry Belafonte, which reminded me of our music "system" when I was a kid.

I don't know what to call that particular piece of furniture. It had a big radio that squealed between stations. We typically heard this squawk on Sunday mornings, while Daddy was tuning in Dr. DeHaan on the Radio Bible Class from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

We called it "The Radio," but I'm pretty sure there was also a record player in it. The records my parents played included Harry Belafonte (Day-O, aka The Banana Boat Song), Victor Borge (phonetic punctuation) and The Nutcracker Suite. I still have this particular one. I stole it when I got my own record player that could play LPs -- and took it with me to college and beyond. When I was small, I'd dance around the house to the music all year long. I had no idea it was meant to be a Christmas thing. I think I had a little girl crush on the beautiful blonde woman on the album cover.

What other records did my parents own? I don't remember. Maybe a sibling can help me out with this.

The cabinet that held these wonders was huge (or, anyway, it's huge in my memory). If I had been naughty and was told to stand in the corner, the corner made by The Radio and the wall was the one I stood in. So that means it was taller than I was.

The Radio was a symbol of both delight and terror. Yeah, I'm exaggerating again. I was embarrassed by having to stand in the corner, but not terrified.

The music we heard yesterday also reminded me of Lucy and Desi. We recently watched The Long, Long Trailer and it's still very funny. He's very Coo-ban.

Which brings us back to to the whole RV shopping trip. We learned a few things. I learned how much I dislike being sold. It's a little distressing to realize how much I prefer to buy things from people I like. I wish I could be more rational than that. Better yet is buying from no one in particular -- by which I mean "on the Internet." So we're putting in a bid on an RV on eBay today. If it works, we'll get a much better deal, without the aggravation of working with a salesperson.

Best of all would be not having to go halfway to Coo-ba to pick it up. But that's a trade-off I'm willing to make.

Wish us luck!

You've got to have friends

My lonely post has been top of the list for toooooooo long. I get it. I just haven't had a whole lot more to say. And Ross is gone again. He left on Monday and won't be back for another week.

The good news is that he will be bringing both his parents back to their home before he returns. His dad has been through a course of radiation and will be allowed back home. And his mom is lucid and gaining weight and strength. They say she can leave the nursing home late next week. Ross will get her settled in and come back here on Saturday or Sunday.

It's pretty great -- and surprising -- that they've both made such a recovery.

When last I wrote . . . I told you about ordering pizza for the Friday night group. Well, they deserve better than that. So I cooked! (I wasn't entirely sure my cooking would be better than Pizza Hut, but I was willing to try.)

Since I don't get Friday's off, I needed something I could make ahead. I was in the mood for black bean soup and I found a great recipe online, along with complementary cornbread muffins.

I made the soup on Wednesday. Fortunately, we have a practically empty fridge downstairs to store it in. I had to make the muffins when I got home for work . . . and I had a meeting that ended pretty late, so I was in the middle of preparations when the first people arrived. Roupen and Shirley began setting the table immediately. (I was worried about doing that the night before, because I thought the dogs would pull everything on the floor.) Todd and Linda came next and finished making the muffins. Anita brought a salad. Donna brought something else. Others came with dessert offerings. Peter and Kristy came all the way from Argentina!! (They just got back after being gone several months.)

It was a more than full house. We kept adding place settings until no more place settings could be added. There were 14 of us!

I think everyone had enough to eat. We were on seconds when we ran out of soup. One lonely, little muffin was my breakfast this morning.

There were dog adventures, too. Soup was spilled and I got a snarl when I pulled a dog away from the clean-up. The door didn't completely latch after I said goodbye to one guest and Slick got out long enough to snarl at a nice dog in our front yard. (I had the presence of mind to yell, "Do you want a cookie?" and he came running back in.) The dog's owners couldn't have been more gracious. I couldn't have been more mortified.

In short, a wacky time was had by all.

I think we'll have to do it again next week.

Photo is by Kevin Dooley. Found on Flickr Creative Commons.

I was a little lonely.

Ross is gone. He's in Tennessee right now to help his parents, who are both ill. He left on Wednesday to visit a client in Atlanta. Since he was partway there, he just went up to Tennessee.

I don't do very well when he's gone. I stay up too late. I'm not very productive.

But tonight our Friday night group rallied round -- even though our chef wasn't here. Ross was cooking for his dad and the nephew who has been taking care of the house while Ross's parents were in the hospital.

I ordered pizza and made a salad.

We talked about a lot of stuff. I think I did most of the talking. When I'm alone here, I talk to myself too much. I hope I got most of it out of my system.

The first night Ross was gone, we had a weird wind storm. Storm may be an exaggeration, but it was definitely eerie -- like Halloween should be. Clouds scudding across a night sky. That sort of thing. I also could have sworn I heard footsteps IN THE HOUSE! This seriously got my heart pounding.

Last night, no wind. But a very quiet house. And then . . . FOOTSTEPS! I start talking (to the dogs, of course) hoping to let whoever it is know there's someone here. Hoping they'd leave. Yikes!

Tonight, I'm busily preparing for the arrival of the group and when I see Slick jump from a chair, he sets it rocking and I hear . . . what sounds exactly like footsteps, unless you know it's the rocking chair.

The photo is from Flickr Creative Commons.