2016 Adventure Continues/Lessons Learned

 Lessons learned: 2016 adventure continues
*What is the difference between straw and Hay? Still not sure but straw glistens in the sun like gold in the
*Thankful we paid extra for the driver door when the auto retract steps do not work so you have to manually push them up. Only way without a small ladder is the driver door…works like a charm.
*A breaking system for the tow makes all the difference in the mountains. Soooo glad we purchased this at the Newmar International Rally and now we are legal in all states.
*Paper maps really do come in handy when you are lost and there is “no service” in the mountains.
*An apple tree laden with fruit right outside The Rectangle makes for great free snacking.
*Before visiting a favorite restaurant from 10 years ago and even though the outside has the same name you might want to check to see if it has the same owners.
*When the regular customer at the winery recommends a favorite always try it as it may be your favorite too. (yes brought it)
*Cats howling is the most woeful sound and breaks the silence of the night.
*When changing altitude coming out of the mountains one must remember to once again reset the number mattress.
*You know you are in the country when they pull the pickup next to the house to stand on and put the Christmas lights.
*When Mary drives The Rectangle the mpg goes down, nothing new here.
*Nothing dirtier than a dirty Rectangle.
*Learning to play the “pass it on” card game with other RVers at a rally can be fun even for those (David) who do not like games AND the most one can lose is $1.00 is a plus.
*It is a sad day when the bar b que meat at the restaurant only open for a few days is really dry, but then the surprise is the sides were so good you want to come back to get some to take out.
*It is angels sent to give comfort that always surprises us. Lunch with friends not seen for several years and conversation about everything and kids leads to talking about Granville, Ohio and all the unknown of a place no-one has been but will now be home to one of the kids. Then a woman from the next table comes over and says she is sorry but she overhead our conversation re Granville, Ohio and she is from there and begins to glow with the words of how wonderful the town/area and college there is and how lucky anyone would be to live there. See angels everywhere.
*Meanwhile back to the new breaking system, well…alarm goes off going down the road, code err come up and we call the company and they say Oppps not good, it has to be shipped back to the factory to be fixed. Really? We are a month and half from being home and we now have no system so we will (if stopped) not be legal? So, they say, just put it in the tow like it works an if stopped we can say we have a system and they will see it then when we get home to send it back. OK, so we are faking it till we make it back. The good news is we are out of the mountains on flat land.
*When you cross the state line back into Texas it is known you have a been waiting to exhale and the feeling you are “home” takes over even if you are many weeks from being “home”.
*The last week of travel is bitter sweet and that is OK.