NL 32 

Oct 2000

I Made It!

Folks,

I started out on Sunday, trying to get a "HOP" out, Destination: Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton Ohio.  The show-time at the closest military airfield was no problem!  I set my trusty 110 volt super-duper Yamaha clock radio to O'Dark Thirty, the time I wanted to get up, and voila!  There was a power outage in the RV park from high winds that night!  Only in the RV park!  Everything else was shinin all around. 

Fortunately, guys have a genetic, built-in, body clock, that kicks in whenever it is gonna cost 1800 bucks if ya don't wake up (or if yer still workin, and have used up all yer sick days, and eight parent's emergencies and yer one personal death day.)  It works just like an alarm, except ya wake up every hour on the hour, and look at yer clock and tell yerself "Nope, still seven hours away from  . . . . ." and so on till it's time. 

Our alarm clock has a big red LED display that even I can read without putting on my super-duper Wal-Mart readin specs.  It's got stereo speakers and a gazillion watts of power so you kin set it loud enough that if you don't wake up to it, every dog in the park goes off about 10 seconds later, and if that doesn't work, about ten minutes after that yer trailer starts rockin' from all the other guys tryin ta help out (and satisfy their Significant Harassment's insistence that they go out and actually see what is causin that gawd-awful racket.)  Needless to say, I don't miss too many O'Dark Thirty calls with that system! 

Well I woke up at O'Dark Thirty and saw that the LED was dark so I went back to sleep and settled down for another hours sleep cause my "Body Clock was keepin track of . . . . .Oh No!!!!! 

I jumped up and it was 30 minutes to "SHOWTIME!"  So I immediately staggered for the caffeine machine (stepping on Bogart's paw, which caused him to shoot straight up, just as I was stepping over him!  Ouch! Then stubbed my toe as we tried to get untangled!) so it could brew while I was shaving my teeth and brushing my beard.  Accck!  No power! 

OK Plan B time again. 

It was time for our Boondocking-Dripolater-Antique-No power needed but propane-caffeine machine!  Of course only my significant harassment knew how ta work it!  But this time she had no problem with getting up and commenting on the total blackout, and immediately took charge of makin sure I made it to the Military "Pax (military lingo for Passenger) Terminal" on time, (with no high heels or open-toed shoes on), and asking me why I was holding myself in two places and to please stop squirting the shaving cream all over!  (rolling her eyes and shaking her head the whole time)

After she wiped the shaving cream off of Bogart, (who was runnin in circles wonderin why he had dreaded doggie "Foamy mouth")  and got me into and out of the shower with only minor irritation from the "rope on the soap," I was on my way, in the dark.  LOL!  Can't mess up an RVr up when we have 12-volt power and a full propane tank!  We thumb our noses at power outages!

So I got there only 5 minutes late which involved all of the folks with an even lower priority than me being given seats and me waiting on the second round of seat assignments.  I got one!  Yes!  They asked me if I wanted a "box lunch" which was $3.20 and would be received on the flight.  Since we'd be in the air, and landing and taking off for the next 8-12 hours, I got one of those too.

I got to Scott AFB that day by way of Miramar CA, Luke AFB, El Paso, San Antonio, Wichita Falls, then that night, finally, Scott in Illinois.  I was on a C-9 Medevac plane that only let us out of the aircraft on one stop the whole time!  And then they "escort" us in a line to the smoking area, herding us together and making a "head count" every two minutes.  Talk about security! 

Being a smoker I was prepared for the inevitable, and had brought along some "patches!"  I next landed at Wright Patterson AFB, in Ohio, and found I'd have a three day layover, so I headed to billeting (Military Motel) and got a room.  The billeting folks provide rooms with a fully stocked bar, microwave, fridge, and snacks.  Of course, you have to pay for em when ya check out.  Being by myself with no significant harassment around, I was gonna treat myself to a special dinner that I can't have if there is someone sleeping in the same room that night.  I knew just what I wanted.  I headed to the shoppette (That's an on-base Military 7-11), and found it- a 22 oz, mouth-waterin Hungry Man Mexican dinner!  And a six pack of my favorite, Old Milwaukee.  Mexican dinners are somehow connected to the "guy" body clock, cause I still got up every hour on the hour (except not to check the clock.)  

The three day layover was spent wandering around the base, and in surfing the net.  They have actually got data ports on the phones in billeting now!  Then I got a hop to Wright Pat as the only passenger.  And we only had two stops!

I immediately called the airlines and found a round trip ticket from Dayton Ohio (Wright Pat is there) to Ft. Wayne Indiana was $800.00 bucks!  And that was still an hour by rental car from my destination.  I checked and found that I should be able to drive there in 4 or 5 hours.  So I called all the car rental places, only Enterprise would come and get me, and they had the best price, too-kewl!  But they had to wait till a car came in.  They said it would be an hour and a half.  They got one in 45 mins and I took off, hoping to make it there that day, call Dick and Irene, and maybe even return the same day. 

Well, the delay in the car put the kibosh on that.  I did find the consignment lot the rig was on and got a quick look before I went to the ol Motel 8 and registered (cause they have a free Continental breakfast which sounded like a big meal, but turned out to be juice, donuts, and coffee.)  I called Dick and Irene, and arranged to see the rig, (and video it for my significant harassment) the next day.  (She had authorized me to buy it, but only if I video’d every nook and cranny for her to see on my return.)

The rig was just as they said, in fact better!  It was pristine, new, barely walked in, and the dealer there was servicing the whole thing out!  Dick was on hand and he was a great guy.  I got the video done, and headed back.  The trip each way was only three hours by car!  From Dayton to Ft Wayne was only two hours!  800 bucks airfare for a three hour drive?  I didn't even have ta take off my Keds to do that math!  Guess RV'n has made me reject those outrageous fares.  (I can drive five hours at highway speed with my rig, for maybe $50.00, and that's taking my house with me!)

I made it back in two days!  From Wright-Pat back to Scott AFB Ill. I got to ride in a military Lear jet as one of only two passengers.  Man!  That was a cool jet!  It seats seven and accelerates down the runway so fast that you start ta pull G's before you leave the ground!    

They had another Lear leaving for my final destination just an hour after we arrived at Scott!  Whoa!  And only two other folks were waiting for the same ride!  Well, we waited and they ended up with only one seat, which went to the active duty guy, so I headed to billeting for the overnight layover. 

After another O'Dark Thirty wake up, I showed, and got a seat on another C-9 Nightingale Medevac Bird (that's a DC9 rigged for patients and passengers, with the seats turned around so ya fly backwards) which was stopping six places before I got home.  <sigh>  Hey!  The price was right!

So we are no longer homeless, the rig is on the way, it is gigantic and 8 years newer than what we had.  Sometimes the worst things that happen can turn out to be a good thing after all is said and done.  And, after all is said and done, (Tax title license, transport, Hop expenses, and purchase price) we will have a net profit of about $8.43.  G.A.'s again.

It'll still be a couple of weeks before we are back on the road, heading back to Louisiana, in our essentially new rig.  It did indeed turn out to be a win-win.  But it was stressful there for quite awhile.  Thanks for all the emails and concern.  The only downside is our sentimental attachment to our HitchHiker, which we had customized exactly as we needed.  I hope it gets picked up as a lake house as it has new appliances, A/C, Fridge, etc, and one heck of an office space, but it'll have to be flatbedded out, it's traveling days are over. 

So we are better off than we started!  The adventures will continue, thanks to a lot of folks (Especially Dick and Irene, Connie at RV Consumer group, and the insurance folks from USAA,) and our ever present, hard workin G.A.s

See ya on the road!

RV/dg, Lynn, and Bogart the Wonder Dog