Today was another typical day here in Arcturus. We visited Manassas Virginia and learned about how the South whupped the Union not once but twice in 1861 and 1862 on the same battlefield. It happened to be an important railroad junction and close to Washington’s back door. Then we drove on to Front Royal Virginia, stocked up on groceries and fabric and entered the Shenandoah National Park to drive the Skyline Drive.

I thought that today I would give you a glimpse of what fills up our day, and why I couldn’t possibly hold down a real job anymore.

We have two kinds of days, travel days and stay put days. They all start out about the same. We usually come awake about 6:30. I jump out quickly and turn up the heat and then dive back under the covers for some quality snuggle time. By seven or seven thirty we are usually up and moving around the coach.

We breakfast, get e-mails, and listen to the news if we have internet and power. If this is a stay put day, then we plan the activities for the day. It could be bicycling or hiking. Occasionally we drive to a museum or trail head. On these days we might eat lunch out, or pack a lunch depending on the potential for a decent café where we are at. We try not to do McDonalds!

If it is a travel day, I am usually in and out of the coach a dozen times before breakfast going through my pre-launch check list. I do a very thorough job of checking over the coach before we ever start it up. Tire pressure, fluids, belts, hatches, antennas, trailer hitch, cargo secure; every thing that can go wrong or come adrift on the road. Many times it is miles before we can find a spot wide enough to get off the road to correct something.

When breakfast is done and the dishes cleaned or stacked securely then we draw in the sliders, retract the jacks, roll up the power cable and pack our blocks. Finally we start the engine and check the lights and do a 360 degree walk around for good measure. We have learned to place Judy on the ground with the radio if there is anything nearby that can snag us as we go by. Most days we drop by the dump station and clear out the gray water tank as we leave the campground. That way we are always ready to boondock for several days at any time if the need arises.

As we travel we try to have a couple of places to stop and visit museums or hike to waterfalls; anything to break up the day. We are pretty comfortable going a hundred to two hundred miles on a travel day. We set the limit around 250 miles and we have to really need to be somewhere to do that. We avoid busy interstates like the plague. Most often we are on state highways doing about 55 miles an hour. That means we go through just about every little burg along the route. The good part of that is I can almost always find a wide spot in these towns to get off and let “those who need to push the speed limit” get by. We occasionally find a good sized grocery store on a travel day and replenish the food supply. We try to practice “just in time inventory.” It means we shop every few days. The frustrating part about that is no two stores are laid out the same. You also get to try new brands all the time. Some are good and then there are others. The biggest variable is probably the produce department. Some places the fruits and veggies are just plain “tired.”

On travel days we like to get to our destination campground between two and four in the afternoon. If it is coming on the weekend, we will even try to call ahead and make reservations. Most times we just show up and we seldom get turned away.

We can set up camp in about forty five minutes. We then try to hike or bike around the new camp and see who we can visit with. Judy practices something we call “Planed Overs” for our suppers. She cooks enough for four or six servings and the extra goes in the fridge.

After supper and the day’s dishes are clean we start our evening activities. Occasionally that will include some TV, but usually it is crafts, reading, writing a blog or playing guitar. It can also include pouring over maps and researching guides and internet sources to decide where to go next. Most days we go to bed by 10:30 or 11:00. Now I ask you, do you see anywhere in there that I could possibly hold down a regular job? Of course not!

It is time to put this in the mail and update the web page. Remember that I place each one of these on our web page, and you can get to that at www.dinsmore-enterprises.com. You can link to our travel blog, and look back at where we have been.

Now we close with love to all our friends and relations.

Gary and Judy Dinsmore