In July 2021, we ordered our new Forest River Wildwood Heritage Glen 369BL 43-foot fifth wheel. We were promised a pickup date sometime in October. If you read the last post or purchased an RV of any kind before, you know that the October date came and went, and our fifth wheel wasn’t ready. Go ahead. Put your surprise face on…I’ll wait.
It was probably a good thing that it wasn’t ready. We were not ready either! I’m not even sure we were ready in January when we did go pick it up, but we tried real hard. Tom was all over the internet, searching forums and videos and podcasts for any information on what we really needed, all while renovating the house so we could sell it after the new year. Me? I listened to podcasts while I walked the dog and went to work and watched countless videos on how to guide my husband while backing up and threw up every time I looked at the big picture of what we had done. Don’t get me wrong, I was very excited about our future, but I was also pretty scared. Talking about a grand adventure is a lot easier than taking one.
Anyway, we moved forward and got rid of so much stuff and bought so much stuff. Watch for a post about the Stress in Stuff coming soon. I’m a crafter. The amount of fabric, yarn, ribbon, lace, patterns, books, glue, paper, buttons, thread, sewing machines, and general craft supplies I had accumulated over the past few decades was insane. My dear husband’s collection of construction supplies and tools, after 30 years in the construction business, was worse. It didn’t all have to go before we picked up the rig, but it did have to go before we sold the house. So, that was also how we spent part of our wait time.
Did I mention that we also bought a lot of stuff? I believe the Amazon driver and the mail carrier got Christmas presents that year. It felt like something arrived every day for the rig. Hoses, a stink slinky, dog bones, power cord, “lego” blocks, another set of pads similar to a “lego” block but not a “lego” block, wheel chocks, and probably a lot more than I can remember. I was on household goods like a warm comforter, toilet paper, cookware, silverware, dishes, glasses, coats, etc. Some of that’s easy, but it’s really tough to wrap your brain around winter clothes when it’s 90 degrees out. All I could think of was how much stuff we were taking. In the end, we didn’t have enough.
By the way, yes, we did buy a hitch. Our truck is a short bed truck, and we weren’t convinced a regular hitch would be good. Sharp turns with a fifth wheel on a short bed could have the front of the fifth wheel hitting the cab. We got an slider hitch. If you have ever used or seen a slider hitch in action, you know that I completely wasted many hours watching videos. Nobody makes videos about them. But we blissfully didn’t know that. Hubby mounted the hitch in the bed of truck, and we were ready. For the record, nobody is ever ready.
Just after New Year’s Day, January 2022, we hit the road, me, hubby, and the dog. St. Petersburg, Florida, was a chilly 70 degrees. My dear husband was amazing and got us out the door at 5AM. I am not a morning person. I try occasionally, but years of working until midnight makes mornings a little challenging for me, and I did work the night before. He got us packed and mapped and tucked me into the passenger seat and off we went. The dog was happy. She loves a good adventure.
The first leg of our adventure was interesting for sure. I feel like the weather turned cold and snowy quick. We saw more RVs (heading south, of course) than tractor trailers. We missed a turn and took the craziest detour ever, zig-zagging through snowy back roads. We didn’t know at the time, but these types of detours later became a theme with us, especially if I am navigating. We also played the lowest scoring Punch Buggy game ever. Tom – 6, Me – 4. We learned how to use our phones for both music and mapping. We are not technology-challenged, we just don’t learn things until we need them. We learned that Sage, the dog, loves cold weather. And lastly, the first week of January is a bad time to visit South of the Border. The place was deserted and the only building open was the gift shop. So, I bought gifts and took pictures of some big ass chickens. Oh, and it was 36 degrees.
The next day started at 32 degrees when we headed out to I-95. I know that the map-savvy people reading this are thinking, “I-95 is not going to get you to Ohio.” Correct. We had a few family visits to attend to first, so we headed to Ohio by way of Edgewater, Maryland, and Hazleton, Pennsylvania. The temperature dropped, and I-95 closed. Those two things are probably not related, but they sounded so ominous together, I couldn’t resist. While we were parked on the interstate, we performed a crazy Chinese Fire Drill. Never let us get bored. When we finally crawled off the nearest exit ramp, we took a breather, and Sage got to play in the snow for the first time. She loved it! We rerouted, and off we went, and drove over a bridge that I never want to experience again. The delay didn’t allow as much time with family as I would have liked, but I at least got to see them for a little bit before we pushed on to Hazleton.
In Hazleton, we really noticed the extent of the damage done by the lengthy lockdown. We had been in Florida for it all. I think our lockdown lasted 3 months, but we were visiting areas that had just started opening up. Limited hours, limited staff, limited menus, limited everything. It broke my heart for the people there just trying to make a living. Yes, you know we tipped well whenever we went out.
The last leg of the journey to pick up our new rig started at 25 degrees in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. I’m pretty sure the temperature kept dropping as we travelled to Wapakoneta, Ohio. In fact, a highway sign warned of winter weather that evening. How exciting. I’m already nervous about hitching up our new home for the first time ever, and winter decides to pay a real visit. If life is not a grand adventure, then it is nothing at all. So, we pushed forward into Ohio. Tom very sweetly stopped at a very cool, very large candy shop for me. I bought a shirt for our grandson and yummy goodness for us. We checked into our hotel and prepared ourselves for our appointment the next day. We were so excited! Yes, even me. I can be nervous and excited all at the same time. Think every first day of school or first day on the job or wedding day or birth of a child. So exciting but a tad bit overwhelming as well. And the temperature kept dropping.
Well, that is enough for one day. Pick up day and the beginning of the journey back to Florida were very special and deserve a post of their own.
Thank you for stopping by!
Betty