O didn't have school on Thursday or Friday since parent teacher conferences took place on both days. Monday was Columbus Day, so again, no school. My husband and I met with Mrs. M early Thursday morning, and then O and I traveled to Kansas to visit family shortly thereafter.
Being in Kansas, I was reminded of some of the many joys of my childhood as I watched O and her two cousins. Through their excited eyes, all the reasons I looked forward to our family trips in the motorhome became apparent. Yes, I’m a closet RV enthusiast.
We started traveling in motorhomes when I was five. My dad, the car salesman, had and continues to have an obvious love for automobiles, but his favorite passion is motorhomes. All of my life, my dad has bought and sold all types of RV's from GMC's to Winnebegos. Every fall he would invest in one and we would take it to Colorado snow skiing in the winter and camping at my grandfather's lake in the summer, and then he would sell it only to buy another when the leaves would start to change. Just like the business of buying and selling cattle (truth be told he’s all hat no cattle, in terms of being a cowboy). Unfortunately, my mom didn't love the investment for different reasons as each coach often cost more to fix than it was worth, but she often acquiesced whenever dad would find a "great deal". Usually, that was because he had already paid for it and parked it in front of our house.
These days, Dad usually just buys and sells RVs as a hobby with a few local trips built in here and there. Please note, these are not the motorhome/buses like the ones you see advertised on billboards. These are ancient 1960’s and 1970s RVs – the kind you might see criminals being taken down in on shows like America’s Most Wanted. In fact, the one he owns now is a 1977 – only 34 years old. The curtains are a faded pale pink. The seats are made of polyester or pleather, and the seatbelts in the front are the type that one presses a metal square button in the middle to release. The carpets appear original and have gone from being a pretty navy to a faded blue. Every motorhome initially smells a lot like the musty lavs on airplanes, however, one gets used to the smell a few minutes after entering.
So this weekend when O arrived at Nana and Bapa's house in Kansas, the first question she asked was, "Bapa, can we go out to eat in the motorhome again? Please Bapa? Please Bapa?" Anyone who knows my dad is fully aware he can't say no to his grandchildren.
So Bapa would set off across town to go get the motorhome in the storage garage where he keeps it. Meanwhile, back at the house the digital cameras were flashing as the grandchildren climbed up on the couch, peered out the front window and waited for Bapa to drive down the street. They started shrieking as soon as they saw the coach or as soon as they heard the horn. Bapa pulled up, parked it and threw open the door of the RV while the kids ran towards him still shrieking. They would run inside it and run to the front and run to the back, and then they'd race back in the house to hurry us adults. My little brother and I used to do the same thing. Stepping into the RV is like stepping back into my childhood. The same sight, sounds, smells and feelings come flooding back. The anticipation alone is truly awesome.
Once we were inside the RV, O and her cousins would be asking and telling, all the while checking out every nook and cranny looking for all the things that are similair or different from their own house and car, including, and especially, the toilet. The motorhomes from my childhood memories always had an eight track tape deck and there wasn't a day spent traveling in them that we didn't listen to Willie Nelson and/ or Waylon Jennings. "On the Road Again", "Suspicious Minds", "Good Hearted Woman", and "Lukenbach Texas" were just a few of the many played and sang. In fact, by the time my little brother was three, aunts and uncles would pay him a nickel if he could sing the entire song "Put Another Log on the Fire" beginning to end. He was always one to bargain, so he would tell them he wouldn't do it unless they paid his imaginary friend, Teddy too, so the cost would be two nickels. Then he would add if they wanted him and Teddy to wear their cowboy boots and hatst that would cost a whole quarter. They always paid.
Unfortunately or fortunately, the motorhomes my dad owns today doesn't have eight track players. However, the routine continues on CD as Bapa always has Willie Nelson cranked on the stereo and it doesn't take long before the grandkids make requests for the songs they know. Bapa drives and the kids sit in the back or the front, or run between every five minutes. Even when they are told to sit, they find reasons to move to another seat. All the while, they giggle and smile from the excitement of the freedom of not having to be in a car seat or a booster seat, but moreover, just being in a vehicle that has the comfort of one's house. I too am smiling as I drink my "traveler" cocktail.
The kids were relentless in their requests to take the RV for a ride, so every night this past weekend we went somewhere in the motorhome. We drove the coach to get dinner and/ or ice cream. One night we didn't have a reason to go far, so we just drove around the town listening to music, honking, waving and giggling at whatever came our way.
I have many wonderful memories of my family's trips in RV's. My friend Jo makes fun of me and always giggles when I start a story with, "Did I ever tell you about my childhood road trip in the motorhome when..." I learned a lot of important rules while traveling in motorhomes:
- No dress code for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
- Pack VERY lightly.
- Wear deodorant because without a washer and dryer everyone's clothes get raunchy.
- Organization is key in small spaces.
- Wash hands unless the water tank is empty.
- Taking the time to fix my big Kansas bangs is completely unnecessary as one never knows if the shower will drip on one's curling iron causing the fire alarm to go off.
- Share everything; even pillows and blankets.
- McDonald's is a lifesaver when one's blood sugar drops.
- If you are tired of talking to the people inside the vehicle, use the CB but make sure you know you're call sign beforehand. Mine's Yoko.
- Microwaves ARE awesome.
- Don't procrastinate or you will be doing homework on the way home from the trip.
- Singing and dancing is more fun with country music in a moving vehicle.
- If something is broken, tell someone that can fix it, but don't EVER tell mom until it is fixed.
- Getting to a destination goes much faster if you sleep at least halfway through it.
- Play fair even when playing solitaire.
- It's more fun to play games than to watch TV, unless I'm playing with people as competitive as my brother and my best friend.
- Hitting and tickling others are never in my best interest, as there's never any place to run and hide.
- Honor everyone's space especially wasps, spiders, mice and snakes; you never know when one of them will catch you off guard.
- In an argument with one's brother use uh-huh and uh-uh instead of yes or no, so the winner is never defined.
- My true personality comes out when traveling in an RV; only my best friends will stay and deal with me.
- All company including, my immediate family, starts to smell like fish after a few days.
- Don’t drink and drive; just pick one.
This past weekend I was able to drive the motorhome allowing me to understand why RV's are my father's favorite vehicle and why his face always lights up every time he gets behind the wheel of one. Looking in the rearview mirror all I could see were children and adults singing, dancing, smiling, and giggling. It felt a little bit like kindergarten.
Today O woke up with a smile on her face. She couldn't wait to tell her teacher and her class that she got to ride in Bapa and Nana's motorhome. I woke up wishing I could tell my teacher that I drove an RV this weekend, but I don't have a teacher to tell. Kindergarten SUCKS!
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