2021 Spring… Family First
Our plans for 2021 were going to be our Great Mississippi River Road trip. Having to cancel this plan in 2020, because of Covid, we had decided to just do the same route in 2021. With the announcement of the now expected birth of our first grand-child in June we had to make a few adjustments, though we were confident that we could get it all in. Not being in Boston for the grand-daughter birth, was not an option, so much of the schedule was dictated by that goal. We actually decided to add a trip through Ontario, CA, a drive to Quebec City, and then down to the Boston area. Our plans also included doing the “Mini Takes the States Road Rally in July”. With such an aggressive schedule we opted to camp host at Assategue State Park on the beach for August and Sept. in order to just slow down for awhile mid trip. The plan actually was 253 days and took a considerable amount of planning.
Just as we had finalized the plan in the RV Trip Wizard Planning Tool we received a very unfortunate call from Joanne’s Mom in Florida. Joanne’s parents are very vibrant “Octogenarian’s” who had been RVers for over 50 years. Unfortunately the isolation of Covid had denied them most of their normalcy in life, like most of us, for nearly a year now. Given their age they were practicing extreme pandemic protocols for the obvious fears we all have. They had just returned from their Doctors office and after some testing it was discovered Joanne’s Dad had Prostate Cancer.
As a family we were all devastated by the news. Aside from my Dad, who had died suddenly at a young age, Joanne’s parents and my Mom and Tom, her husband of over 36 years, are all healthy and all were at our daughter Caitlin and son-in-law Bruce’s wedding on Martha’s Vinyeard only 18 months ago. We really haven’t suffered a loss in the family of a loved one. We are a fortunate family for sure. The news of the diagnosis sent fears through all of us given his age.
We immediately booked a one way ticket to Florida to be with family and help in any way we could. We actually stayed in Florida for the month of March at Joanne’s parent’s house. During that time we helped with normal household tasks, doctors visits, and then some very strategic decisions for her parents.
While Joanne and her sister were in Leesburgh, FL, with her parent’s, my brother -in-law Tony and I were tasked with exploring elder care options. What an education we had over those few weeks. Understanding Independent living, Assisted Living, Memory Care, Home Health Care, Nursing Facilities and everything that goes along with this is a huge task for anyone. We literally became pseudo experts in questioning, touring, observing, scoring, and accessing a myriad of facilities. After touring nearly 20 options and doing drivebys of many others, we narrowed our list down to the best 3 and our #1 option. Situations like these are never easy and the discussions with family are challenging for all involved. Unfortunately, with Joanne’s Mom’s health challenges in addition to her Dad’s now, we all had agreed this was the prudent next step. Still is was an emotional process for all.
The plan was for us to stay for the month of March, then fly back to California to get our Motorhome and drive across the country to be back by mid April. Joanne’s parents had reluctantly decided to sell their home of the last 17 years and relocate to an Assisted Living facility in Bradenton, FL near Joanne’s sister. We would be tasked with helping Joanne’s parents pack, closing up the house, and preparing it for the realtor listing. It was going to be an emotional April/May….
Arriving back to SoCal on March 31st we immediately made a list of things we needed to complete before our departure East on April 5th. Getting the RV Washed and Waxed, Doctors appointments completed, Waste tanks cleaned & flushed and the new DrainMaster cam-lock system installed, saying goodbyes to my sister Pat and my Mom & Tom, saying goodbyes to our good friends at DSRV, pick the lemon tree clean, cleaning our lot for the storage season, finalizing our RV service appointment in Tuscon, AZ at Freedom RV, and many other action items… We had a lot to do in a few days for sure.
Saying our goodbye’s to my Mom & Tom…
First hugs for Mom after all being vaccinated before our Florida departure…
Harvesting our Lemon tree before Florida departure…
Yes we had some lemons to give away…
Saying goodbye to our hiking friends on the last hike of the season at Lake Cahuilla Hike…
Checking off the last item on our list as we leave SoCal.. (Getting Gas!)
Departing SoCal on 4/6 we had a first long day of driving so we could arrive at Tuscon’s Freedom RV for our scheduled service call… Back in Fall 2019, our first year as full-timers, we got caught in Southern Virginia as Hurricane Michael passed over us. It was a big learning experience about being more weather conscious while on the road. We narrowly escaped the torrential wind, rainfall, and debris that day though waking up in the morning we noticed a water spot on our bedroom ceiling. Although we remediated the problem with a complete RVRoof.com lifetime roof replacement, the water damage on the ceiling panel still seemed to have a small stain that would appear periodically. Things like that drive me nuts… The RVroof.com replacement is better than the original roof and we are so glad we made the investment. The inside panel though just never seemed to be fixed completely so I had asked Freedom RV to price replacing the entire inside ceiling panel. It had taken a few months to get the parts though I wanted to have the problem completely gone and Freedom scheduled the work.
Before the Fix…
The panel removed…
The damaged old panel…
Better than new repaired panel… Thanks Freedom RV!
The service team at Freedom RV is top notch and we often stop there as we head to Southern California or when we depart. They are highly recommended by Newmar and always do a great job. Also, we can overnight in their lot if we need to, or sometimes we stay with my sister Melanie who lives in Tuscon.
Catching dinner with Melanie in Tuscon…
While they worked on the ceiling we also got a chance to get a hike in at the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area in the Coronado National Forest. Service work on the RV √, Visiting Family √, hiking √, and a spectacular sunset √ – not a bad couple of days dovetailing in Tuscon!
While they worked on the ceiling we also got a hike in at Sabino Canyon…
Tuscon, AZ Sunset!
Back on the road on 4/10 we really needed to pick up some miles the next few days on our trek East. When we are traveling like this we often use rest areas, Cracker Barrels, Cabelas/Bass Pro Shops, or any other convenient overnight stops. Our first overnight after leaving Tuscon was at Pecos County Recreation Rest Area. The location worked perfect and was easy off/easy on for I-10. It also was pretty quiet for the night.
Pecos County Rest Area…
Time for a relaxing beverage…
Our next stop continuing East was our favorite downtown in Texas San Antonio and the River Walk area. Last time we were here, a few years back, we stayed outside of the city, though this time we opted to be closer to town. The Travelers World RV Resort had good reviews, was very close to downtown, and the bus picked up at the park entrance for the short ride in. Perfect! We did the things we like again in San Antonio. Walked the grounds of the Alamo, walked the river walk, and had a Mexican meal at our favorite restaurant there Mi Tierra…
Travelers World RV Resort San Antonio, TX
Departing San Antonio we continued the long drive across Texas. Wanting to avoid the Houston Metroplex traffic and tolls because of our memories from our last time here we opted to do a more rural route today. Also, I had reached out to an old friend from Connecticut hoping to reconnect for a night in Friendswood, TX. We often say, reconnecting with family & friends, as full-time RVers, is one of the greatest parts of this lifestyle. We all are so busy in our lives though full-time RVing provides a convenience to visit people along the way that you might not be able to commit to travel to directly. Russ Merck is a friend of over 30 years who is an accomplished professional speaker, author, and without question one of the most disciplined people I have ever met in my life. We both have been busy with our own respective lives and had grown out of touch for several years. Our hope was to reconnect and get to meet his new wife, for the first time, on our visit and to see his new Texas home…
Although we only stayed for a night, it was so rewarding to get together with Russ and meet his wife Denise. No question we will make it a point to connect more frequently going forward!
The Merck’s…
No doubt these too will become friends with their mutual love of the beach!
Leaving the Merck’s and Friendswood, TX we had to really put our focus on getting back to Florida and Joanne’s parent’s house. Unfortunately weather had taken a turn for the worse and we had a lot of rain to get through. On the other hand we didn’t see any tornadoes which were widely reported a couple of days after we passed through this section of the country. Crossing over the Mississippi, through Alabama, the tip of Mississippi, we finally arrived at the Florida border. Those that know Florida recognize the border is a bit misleading since Florida is such a long state North to South and we had to get to the middle of the state. Entering Florida we took a quick stop at a Camping World. We had a coupon we we put towards new wiper blades. What a difference that made in the rain…
Crossing the Mississippi…
Plenty of rain through Alabama…
and still raining at the Florida border…
Our long driving days across I-10 enabled us to arrive back at Joanne’s parent’s house a day early on April 17th. Since leaving back on March 31st Joanne’s sister Deb & brother in-law Tony had been staying with them for about 10 days and then had passed the baton to Joanne’s brother Steve from North Carolina and her younger sister Karina from New York. Everyone in the family had come together to help MomMom & PopPop during this difficult time.
The Pembrooke Fairways HOA only allowed us to be parked for 2 days in front of their house though since this is a very friendly RV community they have a storage lot for home owners to store their rigs at no charge. Although the storage is only for owners, because of our extenuating circumstances, we were authorized to store our rig in the lot for our time here. This proved to be very convenient. Thanks Pembrooke! There are no hook-ups, though with excellent sun exposure, our solar system did a great job keeping all our systems charged and running for the month.
Parked in front of their house before heading to the storage lot for the month…
The next few weeks were going to be tough given the recent diagnosis of Prostate Cancer for Joanne’s Dad, coupled with her Mom’s couple of falls, and the collective decision to move from their home to an “Assisted Living facility” in Bradenton, FL. We had a lifetime of packing to do with everything having a story or the conjuring up of so many memories. We spent many days and evenings hearing stories and history of the family. We all shared many laughs and several moments of tears during these days of packing. Although Mom & PopPop would tire easily they were surprisingly very helpful in getting the move done.
Everyday MomMom & PopPop embraced before a meal… (Their LOVE for each other is a lesson for all of us!)
MomMom & PopPop were always most comfortable sitting at a picnic table or campfire and enjoying the outdoors and RV life!
Having so much company in their house over the last few months I’d be lieing if we all didn’t need to find some private time during our stay. Joanne and I usually would do a short walk in the afternoon and then a much longer walk after dinner. This allowed them and us to have time to talk as couples regarding this very trying time. Reflecting back we all needed this private time to process through the entire situation. The Pembrooke Fairways community is very well kept and there is a myriad of wildlife to be observed every day… Our favorites were the alligators by the water shed banks and the many sandhill cranes that frequent the area. Little question why Joanne’s parents love it here so much
Monday May 3rd was the day Joanne’s parents were scheduled to leave the house for the last time and take the 2 hour drive to Bradenton, moving into their new Assisted Living facility. It was an emotional day for sure, though a necessary next step in their “Life’s Journey”. We all hugged and cried, as they said their goodbye’s to their home in Leesburgh. The plan was for Joanne’s sister to drive them down while we remain to finish packing the house, coordinating the moving company, charitable pick-up, all the cleaning, and hand off to the realtor for sale. The work had to get done and we were happy to do it aside from the terrible humidity and heat that happened that week…
The worst part of the week was the unexpected call we received the second day after they had left. Joanne’s Dad had taken a fall in the facility and had been taken to the hospital. A plethora of tests ensued and the results and feedback were not good. Aside from his Cancer, he apparently had a severe heart issue none of us were aware of. The family was devastated just as we had thought everything with the move had progressed so well.
Our plan was to stay for a few days, after leaving the house, at Lake Griffin State Park. We had hoped to have a few days to decompress before heading to Lake Manatee State Park for a few weeks closer to their Assisted Living facility. We did have time for a few hikes at Lake Griffin area before the terrible news regarding Joanne’s Dad.
Lake Griffin State Park…
Lake Manatee State Park…
Arriving at Lake Manatee the drive to the hospital and Assisted Living facility turned out to be nearly an hour one way. We hadn’t planned on needing to drive in every day when we made the original reservations, though you do what you have to do for family in these tough situations. Joanne was visiting with her Mother at the hospital nearly every day and sharing with me the feedback late at night. Unfortunately her Dad was not doing well and about 2 weeks post fall we had a family conference call with his medical team. Suffice to say his Cancer was the least of his issues and the prognosis wasn’t good. He had been on a drip for far too long and we were encouraged to have them remove the drip and move him to hospice. We were all heart-broken…
Moving PopPop to Tidewell Hospice started a family daily vigil to support Joanne’s Mom and for everyone to get a chance to share a few moments with PopPop. We all had a chance to say our goodbyes though it was a very tough few days.
Joanne’s Dad was the family Patriarch for sure. His life’s journey is complicated like each of ours. His lessons and legacy are centered in his love of Family and the Love of his life (Joanne’s Mom) for 67 years of marriage. We are RVers because of Joanne’s Mom & Dad. He will be missed by each of us though his influence will continue to live in us, his grand children, and his great-grandchildren. His obituary can be read here…
When we flew to Florida a few month’s earlier we had no idea the events that would transpire during this Spring. We love the freedom full-time RVing provides us and the flexibility to be able to be close to family when we need to. We are so thankful for our opportunity to travel though even more thankful for our family’s love, support, understanding, and help.
I will forever remember the last thing PopPop said to me while in hospice. “Mike, I always considered you another son… ” – with that I thanked him for all his help and for allowing me to marry his daughter, the love of my life.
I have always believed life is about… Living, Learning, Loving, and leaving a Legacy… PopPop’s legacy is big part of this continuing Revolutionary Journey …
PopPop…
A toast to PopPop at Paddy’s on the water in Bradenton…
Our final night in Lake Manatee after PopPop’s passing…
In typical Navy Man fashion… PopPop would always say “Red sky tonight, sailors delight…”
