Sunday, July 17, 2016

Retirement Midadventures and Happy Trails of the Traveling Markleys: Rusty, Flo, Mini and Olive



The trailer, the hitch, the truck...locked and loaded

With wild wind-blown hair...ready to see the U.S.
Three hours after we arrived at Campers Inn we were hooked up and ready to hit the road.  My husband, is in transition.  No, he is not going to start wearing a dress, grow his hair down to his shoulders, or put his size 12 Shrek feet into high heels.  He is retiring!  After working with no more than 2 consecutive weeks off at a time since he was 13, he is stepping down from his position as president of his company and literally moving on!  And with the "transition" I am going to try to start calling him Rusty.  Yep, not sure what I think of that but will try.  It's his mid-west name.  It's what our granddaughter calls him, "Grandpa Rusty."  It's what all the family in Michigan and Indiana call him.  Not Kenny, not Ken, but Rusty.  I am ready and willing to support my transitioning husband having transitioned myself not so many days ago :)

So, these pictures are taken after 3 hours at Campers Inn.  Yes, 3.  The moment we arrived we were greeted by a smiling face at the front desk (and hot dogs!) and directed to the service desk where we were introduced to Brian.  Brian is a trailer tech and an amazingly patient human being who was going to give us the low-down our 21 foot Rockwood trailer in terms of how everything works.  "So, one more time, you flush the black water, then the grey then pump the toilet and put the blue stuff in? I asked him for the 2nd, maybe 3rd time finally taking notes in my notebook.   Patient is the key word to describe this young man but he was also trailer tech smart and friendly.

Brian, amazing trailer tech man - is he hiding from us and our unending "inquisition" behind those yellow shades?
"Boy are we lucky and happy to get you to give us the trailer tour," I tell him about an hour and 1/2 in.  "Yes you are!" he smiles.  Yes, we were, indeed.  Together we spent 2 full hours in the blazing sun while he demoed and pointed and talked about every feature on our new trailer.  By the way, along with Ken's transition name, Rusty, we have named our trailer Mini.  See, her name is already right there on our trailer :P  Anyway, after learning how to pump black, grey, and clear water; how to use the outdoor shower (hot and cold water!); how to push the slider out (just the push of a button and the slider and the awning wake up and increase Mini's living space immensely); how to pump the toilet and how much water to fill in the bowl before/after you take care of business; how to pull down the murphy bed (queen-sized mattress lays right over he sofa); how to start the stove (I have to nearly lay on the floor to light the pilot light because inflexible husband won't be doing that little job); manage the radio/TV system (with indoor/outdoor speakers and TV hook-ups); and how to manage the hitching system along with signing paperwork, handing over a check, getting a sales pitch for EcoRVPro  (waxing the exterior and microbe repelling the interior?) and insuring it, we finally hop in, Ken steps on, oops, RUSTY, steps on the gas and all we hear is, "Click, click, click,"  ala National Lampoon Vacation!   "Not a good beginning," Rusty (who?) looked at me and we both laughed.  We both smiled and laughed...what an adventure this is going to be!  Apparently when another technician (in a green outfit so he is the hitching guy, I'm thinking because tech Brian was in a blue outfit), I digress.....when he was working on our hitch he apparently turned on the fan to cool down while hooking, unhooking and fiddling with the trailer lights/brakes in the 90 degree muggy New England July heat and accidentally left it on for so long that it drained our car battery.  With a quick jump and smiling apologies, however, we were on our way.
Rusty....relaxed and ready!

Yep, I am loving retirement, so far....the misadventures of Rusty, Flo (yes, my crazy name for our camper trips...hey maybe it should be Flow...now I like that!), Mini and our outlaw dog, Olive (that story is for another blog entry).  Transitioning....that's for sure!

Wally World, here we come! 

2 comments:

  1. Happy Trails and Tales Rusty, Flow, Olive and Mini! So very exciting for all of you.

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  2. Thanks, Debbie Mae! Can't wait :)

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