Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

So we're home now, and have taken some time to settle in.  The last leg of the trip was a series of celebrations- friends, family, fun, and all tempered with concern about whether we would make it over the Tejon pass, up the "grapevine" into the LA area. It's a long upward grade, and many cars overheat.  But we took it after midnight, and even took the precaution of unhooking the tow car and having me drive it separately over the roughest part of the road. And so we made it home, to a joyful reunion with our housesitting son Jared and our two dogs, early on September 1, 2011 after 28,712 miles driven since April 7, when Joe set out for his three weeks in Florida before starting out with Arby (the motorhome), Toad (the tow car), and me on April.

On reflection, I focus on two emotions -relief and pride: we made it.  I am amazed at Joe's persistence in the gargantuan task he set before himself.
The logistics of scheduling required 300 hours of his time, even before setting out to make appointments.  On the road, there was constant monitoring of the details of each appointment, and thank you notes to be sent, as well as constant blogging.  I got tired just watching him handle all this!

Though he's never enjoyed working with the mechanical operation of vehicles, he set himself to solving the entirely expectable problems involved with operating a 17 year old vehicle that has so many variables and vibrates constantly on the road.  He had put together a far-fetched project that JUST might work.  And he made it work.

He did virtually all the driving, as well as the physical setting up and breaking down of camp, which is the least attractive part of RV travel, and it was a nearly daily routine in some parts of the trip. He is a great driver, having had no collisions, and evading difficult situations in traffic and in tight driving spots.

For my part, I had researched and prepared by making sure we had certain safety measures covered.  We installed an electrical circuit surge  protector, which would manage power surges.  The sheer number of parks we stayed in made it quite likely that we would run into power problems, and we did.  And when we did, the problem was minor, as the variable electrical current only affected us briefly.

I made sure we had a water pressure regulator, after researching that very high pressure could tear the plumbing apart.  And we did hit high pressure, and the regulator did its job.

I helped with navigation, using the iPad 2's Google Maps feature, which for the most part worked fine.  There were occasional glitches, like the post office branch in Des Moines, Iowa, that according to the app was in the middle of a corn field. (It was housed in a Walmart, across the road from the corn field.)  A little common sense got us through these slight mishaps.

One function we had prepared for but didn't use- the sound system.  We had upgraded it to be very pleasant, but failed to project just when we would want to listen to it. Road noise prevented enjoyment of music, and when we were stopped, we mostly wanted to concentrate on the writing.

So instead of listening to music, or even to audio books, we fell into a pattern of his listening to me read aloud.  I read at least eight full books over the course of the trip, about two per month.  I enjoyed his reactions to the situations, and was glad to have him share the book experience with me.  I remembered not being able to read aloud to my classes for more than ten or fifteen minutes before I felt a strain on my voice.  Not true now-- I guess retirement took away vocal stress!

So, what now?

This phase of the project, the physical travel, seems quite done.  I've shampooed the rugs,  washed and polished the RV, and we're cleaning out cabinets.

I think we may be done with the RV lifestyle for a little bit.  Arby turned out to have lots more room than we realized, and lots more than we needed. We'll likely be finding another owner for our beloved home of the last four months.  I was surprised to find how much I liked the idea of coming back to Arby after we'd been staying with friends for a few days.   I slept well in the motorhome, and neither of us got sick at all, and actually slept pretty well - largely because the air conditioner was functional after we got the generator fixed in Louisiana!

We do like touring the United States, probably more than foreign travel, though I'm definitely looking forward to traveling with cousins for two weeks to France next May! There are endless delights in America. So many times we wished that we had the time to linger in delightful places, but we were on a mission, and the schedule was the highest priority.  We did see many terrific places, but only when we realized that we occasionally did have extra time to just relax and explore a little.

We're not ruling out getting back to an RV lifestyle somewhere down the road, but Joe's professional schedule rules out much time for that in the next year or two, and Arby's meant to be on the road, carrying someone to a delightful adventure.

How has this changed our life?  Some.  There's media attention; he's used to giving interviews, and it all feeds back into his goal of writing books that will be of interest to readers.  He's picking up his major league singing schedule again, after letting that rest for a few years.  He has already sung in 20 major league stadiums, and will likely challenge himself to get bookings for as many of the remaining stadiums as possible.

And will he get listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for his amazing feat? Sadly, no. To get listed, there would have been official signs for each of the appearances- something that would have needed to be arranged in advance. It wasn't a goal, so it didn't happen.  

But a terrific outcome was to appear a few years after: Joe created the Institute for Baseball Studies, a resource for scholars of the history of baseball and its cultural meaning.  On January 16, 2015, the Institute had its Grand Opening, and became the first scholarly institute for the study of baseball to be associated with a liberal arts college in the US.  Learn more at www.whittier.edu

Reading aloud to the driver

I'm very lucky; I don't get carsick, even when I read in the car.  That attribute is key to my enjoyment on this four month journey around the country. I'm a compulsive reader of a rather wide variety of texts: magazines, books, newspapers, and even, in desperation, cereal boxes. 

When asked what book I'm currently reading, I have to reflect on the stack of books on my bedside table. Which to claim? My habits in this regard are disturbingly like my tendency to greatly enjoy channel-surfing on satellite signals on the TV or internet surfing on any of a number of computers in my home. I would claim ADD but it's not true.  I'm just interested in everything.

To prepare for this jaunt across country, a few months ago, I began reading aloud to Joe in the car.  We began with a series of, a delightful series by Mark Schweizer’s "Liturgical Mysteries", in which a small town chief of police / church organist ingeniously solved murder cases in his small town North Carolina town.  The truly funny stories made the 35-minute drive to and from choir practice in Tustin very enjoyable.  Discovering that many others had enjoyed the same series intensified the fun - we could mention key words for funny scenes and everyone would bust up.

On the recommendation of a choir friend, Lee Ditkowsky, I read travel accounts to Joe, most notably "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson, a masterful author that every other habitual reader seems to have discovered much earlier than I.  Chalk that up to my tendency to read more vintage books, such as Sigrid Undset's 1928 Nobel Prize winner for literature, "Kristin Lavransdatter", my first choice after retirement; it's a three volume saga that you'd have to set aside some real time to stay on top of it. I was just as fascinated now as when I last read it at the age of thirteen, by its keen observations of daily life in medieval Norway and its characters' emotions. 

That saga was too long for car trip reading aloud, and both Joe and I wanted to brush up on writing narratives, so what better way than to read narratives, particularly of travel?  The writing voice has much in common with the speaking voice; one can pick up a rhythm and sense of organization from excellent writers much as an accent is picked up by listening to daily conversations.

By chance we picked up Charles Kuralt's "A Life on the Road", which was was a particularly good preparation for short vignettes suitable for blogs, and provided tips for RV living to boot. But now the current read is back to Bill Bryson – “At Home – A Short History of Private Life”.  It’s an amazing compendium of easily understandable explanations for things we’ve always wondered about – such as why salt and pepper are so highly valued as to be the only two flavorings to be added to the table.

If we don’t write as often as we had planned, it is definitely going to be because we are reading more than we expected.   As much as the travel and discovery of new places is enchanting, this bookaholic draws new delight from each page of a good book. 

Post-tour anthem singing starts Wednesday, Sept 14, 2011!

On Wednesday, September 14, the "post-tour" anthem singing begins.  Joe will sing the National Anthem for the Los Angeles Dodgers, for his sixth appearance there.  They'll be playing against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and it should be an exciting game, as the Diamondbacks are presently in first place for the National League West.

Wednesday will also be the appearance in the LA Times of Chris Erskine's followup column on Joe's tour. The original article appeared on April 27, 2011 - http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/27/sports/la-sp-erskine-20110428. 

We hope to you at this game! 

Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

So we're home now, and have taken some time to settle in.  The last leg of the trip was a series of celebrations- friends, family, fun, and all tempered with concern about whether we would make it over the Tejon pass, up the "grapevine" into the LA area. It's a long upward grade, and many cars overheat.  But we took it after midnight, and even took the precaution of unhooking the tow car and having me drive it separately over the roughest part of the road. And so we made it home, to a joyful reunion with our housesitting son and our two dogs, early on September 1, 2011. This was the completion of 28,712 miles driven since April 7, when Joe set out for his three weeks in Florida. I joined the tour as we left on April 29 in Arby (the motorhome) pulling Toad (the tow car).

On reflection, I focus on two emotions -relief and pride: we made it.  I am amazed at Joe's persistence in the gargantuan task he set before himself.  

The logistics of scheduling required 300 hours of his time, even before setting out to make appointments.  On the road, there was constant monitoring of the details of each appointment, and thank you notes to be sent, as well as constant blogging.  I got tired just watching him handle all this!

Though he's never enjoyed working with the mechanical operation of vehicles, he set himself to solving the entirely expectable problems involved with operating a 17 year old vehicle that has so many variables and vibrates constantly on the road.  He had put together a far-fetched project that JUST might work.  And he made it work. 

He did virtually all the driving, as well as the physical setting up and breaking down of camp, which is the least attractive part of RV travel, and it was a nearly daily routine in some parts of the trip. He is a great driver, having had no collisions, and evading difficult situations in traffic and in tight driving spots.

For my part, I had researched and prepared by making sure we had certain safety measures covered.  We installed an electrical circuit surge protector, which would manage power surges.  The sheer number of parks we stayed in made it quite likely that we would run into power problems, and we did.  And when we did, the problem was minor, as the variable electrical current only affected us briefly.

I made sure we had a water pressure regulator, after researching that very high pressure could tear the plumbing apart.  And we did hit high pressure, and the regulator did its job. 

I helped with navigation, using the iPad 2's Google Maps feature, which for the most part worked fine.  There were occasional glitches, like the post office branch in Des Moines, Iowa, that supposedly was in the middle of a corn field. (It was housed in a Walmart, across the road from the corn field.) 

One function we had prepared for but didn't use- the sound system.  We had upgraded it to be very pleasant, but failed to project just when we would want to listen to it. Road noise prevented enjoyment of music, and when we were stopped, we mostly wanted to concentrate on the writing.

So instead of listening to music, or even to audio books, we fell into a pattern of his listening to me read aloud.  I read at least eight full books over the course of the trip, about two per month.  I enjoyed his reactions to the situations, and was glad to have him share the book experience with me.  I remembered not being able to read aloud to my classes for more than ten or fifteen minutes before I felt a strain on my voice.  Not true now-- I guess retirement took away vocal stress! 

So, what now? 

This phase of the project, the physical travel, seems quite done.  I've shampooed the rugs,  washed and polished the RV, and we're cleaning out cabinets.  

I think we may be done with the RV lifestyle for a little bit.  Arby turned out to have lots more room than we realized, and lots more than we needed. We'll likely be finding another owner for our beloved home of the last four months.  I was surprised to find how much I liked the idea of coming back to Arby after we'd been staying with friends for a few days.   I slept well in the motorhome, and neither of us got sick at all, and actually slept pretty well - largely because the air conditioner was functional after we got the generator fixed in Louisiana!

We do like touring the United States, probably more than foreign travel, though I'm definitely looking forward to traveling with cousins for two weeks to France next May! There are endless delights in America. So many times we wished that we had the time to linger in delightful places, but we were on a mission, and the schedule was the highest priority.  We did see many terrific places, but only when we realized that we occasionally did have extra time to just relax and explore a little. 

We're not ruling out getting back to an RV lifestyle somewhere down the road, but Joe's professional schedule rules out much time for that in the next year or two, and Arby's meant to be on the road, carrying someone to a delightful adventure. 

How has this changed our life?  Some.  There's media attention; he's used to giving interviews, and it all feeds back into his goal of writing books that will be of interest to readers.  He's picking up his major league singing schedule again, after letting that rest for a few years.  He has already sung in 20 major league stadiums, and will likely challenge himself to get bookings for as many of the remaining stadiums as possible. 

And will he get listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for his amazing feat?  Just possibly so, once we get around to letting them know of his accomplishment.

 It's been fun. 

We're so close to the end, and now as we head into California, I am particularly grateful to all the friends and family who have chosen to support the tour with their attendance.  I'm from Northern California, (hometown: Watsonville) and all my family is in the bay area, so the San Jose game was a chance to have many special people attend.

Stephanie, Wesley, Dan and Joe behind! 

Wesley's a charmer!

We had just come from Salem, Oregon, where my niece Stephanie and her son both attended their first ball games ever!  Her husband Dan had trouble understanding why it had taken her so long to have such an enjoyable experience- he's been a baseball fan a long time!

Ann, Jerry and Joe in front of Arby, our motorhome.

On the way down to San Jose, we got a chance to stop for lunch with Ann (high school friend) and Jerry in Concord, CA-

Once at the game, I got some fun time with my nephew, Bryan and his daughters, Maya and Madelyn. I wished Jocelyn could have come!

Bonnie, Maya, Madelyn and Bryan.

These girls DO know how to have fun.  And ball parks are glad to provide equipment to make that possible.

Madelyn!

Maya! 

Sisters!

Good friends are very important.  Jerry and Missy are very strong supporters of this tour, having joined us now for games in Trenton, New Jersey, Burlington, Vermont and now San Jose!   They plan to come to next Tuesday's game in Sacramento (Aug 30) and the last game of the season in San Bernardino, (Sunday, Sept 4).  They definitely win the trophy for most games attended as fans!


   

Missy, Jerry, my brother Chris, and his friend Joe Rafferty!

My brother Chris George has been a great supporter too!

Aunt Rosemary, me and my cousin Nancy.   

Nancy's very focused on the game. 

Nancy's brother Doug, her mom Rosemary, and Nancy herself get very active in the YMCA audience participation exercis!  

 

Last but not least, I was thrilled to find some of my best friends from Watsonville High School in the audience-  

In front, Noris and her husband Doug- behind, Kathy and her husband Ed.  It's been great staying connected through Christmas cards for 45 years!!

It just doesn't get better than this for me.   

   

The Home Stretch! Adding another blog and media links as well...

Joe and I are both sitting here late at night, as usual, plunking away on our laptops.  Tonight's a good night. The wifi is functional and the pictures are loading up pretty quickly.

Howard and Leslie Fisher, from Whittier, now in Port Angeles, Washington, joined us for the Everett Aquasox game in Washington State. 

We're in Sunnyside, Washington, in a teeny tiny RV park that's really just a narrow parking lot sandwiched between two industrial park businesses in a small neighborhood on the outskirts of a small town.  We've been parked here for four days, saving the difficulty of driving Arby over two major mountain passes each way on our trip to Everett, Washington, just north of Seattle where Joe sang last night.

Tomorrow we set out for Salem, Oregon and are already scheming about handling the ascent to Satus Pass.   We've discovered while navigating the Rocky Mountains and neighboring ranges that Arby doesn't enjoy long upward grades.  We just tuned him up and he still labors intensely.  Our plan tomorrow is that if He's working way too hard (as evidenced by repeated overheating of the motor) we'll separate the vehicles and I'll drive Toad, the tow car, until we're beyond the mountainous part of the drive.

Joe sang in Yakima tonight and in Pasco Washington three nights ago, which is the basic reason that we parked in western Washington.  We're in the home stretch, feeling pretty good about having kept the schedule, but also about finally reaching the western states with lower temperatures and MUCH less humidity.  But the drives on this side of the country really stretch out.  As my older son Jared said about driving across Oregon, "It doesn't LOOK all that big on the map, but it takes forever to cross it."  I'm sure that's true, so am preparing for tomorrow and the next day.  We practiced by crossing Nebraska in one day- which was no picnic.

I've neglected writing this blog partly because I've started another blog that's specifically designed to support travel interest by providing a sequential map of where we've been.  My friend Liz Lower-Basch in Washington DC chose this for her blogging on her recent trip to China and Japan with her family, and I found it easy to follow.  It has a table of contents at the bottom of the display, which helps the reader follow more easily how the travel flowed.

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/bonnie.price/1/tpod.html

Also, Joe's received enormous amounts of media attention, and I've posted the link to his blog in a side bar here which links to the articles, but I'll also embed it here:

http://anthemtourblog.blogspot.com/p/media-links.html

Asa Eames, Fort Wayne, IN, age 4. Fascinated by Joe, he kept asking me, "Where did your guy go?"

Every visitor coming through Dell, Montana should have a breakfast or lunch at this  cafe in a former one room schoolhouse.  Freshly cooked home comfort food.  Fresh yeast CINNAMON ROLLS. Don't miss it. 

Nebraska Storms are Scary!

 In Omaha, we found a lovely campground- Walnut Creek RV Park, well maintained and with a space for us at the top of a hill. The manager of the camp had set it aside, thinking we'd like a view of the lake,  which we did.  It was a hot, sunny afternoon, and I fell asleep.  Joe didn't want to wake me, and left for the ballpark around 6 PM, only to find there that they'd moved the game time up a half an hour without telling him, so there was 8 minutes to performance time when he arrived! 

That wasn't the problem that defined the day, however.  He had said earlier that he'd planned to take down the awning, which cooled one side of the RV from  the hot sun, as we wouldn't need it at night.  But he didn't want to wake me so he left it up.

I woke to raindrops and a wind starting up and in no time at all the wind was howling and the awning was flapping.  It rocked the RV back and forth as the sky darkened and the wind howled.  I hadn't ever retracted the awning, and panicked, couldn't remember which switch it was.  I pushed a bunch and nothing happened, as the wind howled and I feared that the RV would be pushed over. I'd read enough horror stories of awnings and high wind to know that there was real danger. 

This is the first storm that came through while Joe was at the game.  The next was to be the one with 65 mile per hour winds - a short but powerful burst. 

As I looked out into the lashing rain, I saw the arms of the supports bend and realized that I couldn't do anything. I tried to call Joe but could hardly find the numbers to poke on the tiny iPhone pad, and miscalled three times. when I finally got through, the awning suddenly was GONE.  I was really rattled, and Joe said he was on his way home. Thunder and lightning was everywhere, but at least the RV wasn't rocking as badly as before.

He got home a few minutes later, and said that the awning had ripped off the front support and blown over the RV roof where it sat. We were able to get storm information and the winds were blowing at up to 60 miles an hour. Later, people in the park said that this isn't unusual for the Nebraska plains. 

There was nothing to do but wait.  A huge mercy was that it hadn't broken the air conditioner, which continued to work all night (without it, the humidity and heat makes it almost impossible to sleep.)  It was a little hard getting to sleep, as the thunder continued for hours. 

In the morning, when we could see the damage- all the metal parts were bent beyond fixing - we weren't sure about how to remove it or dispose of it.  At 24 feet long, it's a sizable fixture, and heavy. 

The damage seen the next day- Those supports were supposed to be straight out, holding up the awning. It had ripped away from the front support- you can see it pulled up over the top of the RV. All those metal pieces had to be cut off and discarded. 

And this is when we were so glad we were in a regular RV park.  As the morning warmed, folks walked around looking at the damage from the storm.  Two men, older than we and more experienced, came to chat and offer help.  They brought a ladder and a reciprocating saw (as full time RVers with big pickups, they had just about everything they might need.  We had a lot, but we didn't have a saw.) I retreated to the interior of the RV to let the men work on it.  

As he pulled on the awning to dislodge it, the spring caught Joe's thumb and smashed it so hard that it turned purple and cut him.  It's throbbed for two days now, and he'll soon lose the nail. 

Working together, the three men got the entire apparatus removed, and duct taped the exposed wiring in case we wanted to install another awning again later. Then they cut all the long pieces into smaller sections and one of the men put all the pieces in the back of his SUV and took it down to the park dumpster.  What angels. 

We have the easy days and the harder days, and some days, like today, are a mixture-- and we’re on our way for one of the longest days of the trip- across Nebraska, which in Arby takes about nine hours.