Heidi Eliason - Confessions of a Middle-Aged Runaway: An RV Travel Adventure

An RV Travel Adventure

Heidi Eliason

Copyright 2019 by Heidi Eliason.

All rights reserved.

HeidiEliason.com

Runaway Publishing

Martinez, CA

RunawayPublishing.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by anymeans, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning,or otherwise, without the prior written permission of theauthor.

Distributed by Smashwords.

Cover and formatting by ebooklaunch.com .

Print ISBN: 978-1-7336410-0-5

eBook ISBN: 978-1-7336410-1-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019900862

For Cammie, whose strong, independent, andsupportive nature made this journey possible,

and

For Mom, who passed on her wanderlust to me, and whounderstands the dream.

Contents

In writing this book, I relied upon blog posts andnotes written during my travels, researched facts when available,and relied upon my own memory and the memories of others. In someplaces I have condensed events in order to make a five-year journeymanageable for the reader.

To protect privacy, the names and identifyinginformation of almost everyone has been changed. Some people I lovedearly do not appear in the book at all, but their omission doesnot affect the substance or veracity of the story. I did sothinking it would maintain peace and harmony, and avoid hurtfeelings. Well, you know what they say about best-laid plans goingawry.

Writing a memoir can be a scary thing. Many peopleheld my hand and helped bring this book to life. Many thanks to myeditor, Aja Pollock. Her professionalism, support, keen eye, andthorough research dressed this book up and made it presentable.Thanks also to Lyn Roberts for her feedback on the first thirtypages.

I am deeply grateful to my dear friend Nancy Hume,who enthusiastically followed my travels, got me started in myfirst writing group, and whose unwavering support sustained methrough difficult times and cheered me through the good ones. Muchappreciation goes to my other writing critique partners, HeatherStill, Marlene Jackson, Debra Fliehmann, Wiennie McMullen, MelissaChristensen, Matt Vande Voorde, Mark Hagerty, Alicia Watson, andDenise Kalm; and to my beta readers, DeAnn Cossin, Steve Austin,Sherri Wilson Oakley, Rand Stadtman, Barry Hampshire, and AliciaWatson. Without your constructive feedback and support, I mightstill be fussing with the first chapter.

I owe a debt of gratitude to my sister, Julie, whotaught me to love nature and who was my role model in thirsting foradventure. You taught me well, and I still enjoy our adventurestogether. My parents, Amy, and Gray all helped raise, support, andform the person that I am today, and we shared my first camping andtravel adventures. Cammie gave me the encouragement and support Ineeded to roll off on my own. I love and appreciate you all.

Dan encouraged me, reassured me when I was feelinguncertain, and was the champion in my corner the whole way through.Thank you, Sweetheart.

August 2006

Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.

Michael Hyatt

I stared at the Green Monster as excitement meltedinto fear. The driving instructor Id scheduled for my firstbehind-the-wheel session had just canceled, and there was no oneelse to teach me how to drive this gigantic motorhome. Its two-tonegreen stripes stretched the thirty-foot length of this brand-new,shiny machine. It was something to be reckoned with, and I wasabout to sign on the dotted line to make it mine. Now all I had todo was drive it over the Rocky Mountains.

I am so screwed.

I paused, took a deep breath, and enteredthe lobby of the Las Vegas RV park to meet Mike, a friendly guy inhis mid-thirties whod just delivered my motorhome. As we finalizedthe paperwork for the sale, I peppered the sheaf of papers hepresented with my signature, and he handed me the key with aflourish.

Its all yours now, he said.Congratulations! Do you have a trip planned, or is it back to workafter the weekend?

Theres no work to go back to. I just quitmy job, sold my house, and got rid of all of my stuff. Im planningto take a year off and travel in the motorhome full-time.

Wow, all by yourself? Mike raised hiseyebrows.

Just me and my dog.

Well that takes guts. Good luck! He shookmy hand and stood up.

As I watched Mikes confident stride towardthe door, I remembered the canceled driving lesson. I resisted thesudden urge to throw myself onto the floor behind him and grab hisankles. Except for a couple of brief, white-knuckle test drives, Ihad never driven a motorhome. The sum of my driving experienceinvolved small Toyotas and HondasI had never driven any kind ofbig vehicle before, and now there was no one available to teach me.This giant was going to tow my car, which meant maneuvering morethan forty-five feet of vehicles. To make matters worse, I couldntback the thing up. Backing up can cause major transmission problemsto the towed vehicle when using a tow bar. Being unable to back upthe motorhome added twenty more layers of stress to drivingsomething that big. If I pulled into a parking lot or gas station,I had to exit it going forward. Without a driving lesson, therewasnt going to be any training. And now Mike was leaving me alonewith the Green Monster.

Wait! I called after him.

He turned around, a quizzical look on hisface. Did I forget something?

No, I, I I stammered as I stalled fortime. Im just wondering if you have any parting advice for me.You know, on how to handle this thing. I was sure he could hearthe hesitation in my voice, smell my sudden fear.

Dont worry, youll be fine, he said witha smile. These things are built really solid. Just have fun.

I exhaled, not realizing I had been holdingmy breath, and gave him a weak smile. Thanks. I watched himleave, then went outside to the parking lot, where the GreenMonster was waiting for me. I slowly walked the considerable lengthof the motorhome. Its just you and me now, I said under mybreath. Behave. The beast was silent.

It was August 2006, and my schedule wastight. I was going to pick up my twenty-one-year-old daughter,Cammie, at the Las Vegas airport the next day and then immediatelydrive to Minnesota, where I grew up, for a visit with my parents.Cammie only had a week of vacation from her job in the SanFrancisco Bay Area, so I couldnt wait. With or withoutinstruction, I was on my way, and I had 1,800 miles to drive. I gotRylie, my small border collie mix, from the car and walked back tothe motorhome. After settling Rylie into the passenger seat, Iwalked around to the drivers side.

Youre not going to mess up my plans, Itold the Green Monster. I opened the door and hoisted myself intothe drivers seat with the help of the grab bar. I peered throughthe windshield at the cars below me in the parking lot, thenglanced over at Rylie, who looked at me expectantly withintelligent brown eyes. His cute face was mostly black, except fora white, freckled patch on the right side of his nose and a thinwhite streak that ran between his eyes from his nose to the top ofhis forehead.

I can see so much better sitting up thishigh, I said to Rylie. I think I like this. Rylie looked like heagreed with me. Hold on, here we go. I took a deep breath, mynostrils flooding with the unmistakable smell of new vehicle andput the key in the ignition. The Green Monsters E-550 engineroared to life. I slid the gear shift into drive and, afterrepeated mirror checks, eased out of the visitor parking spot. Idrove from the parking lot to my campsite without incident andbreathed a huge sigh of relief. After three hundred feet, Idsurvived my first trip!

Id wisely reserved a pull-through site, sono backing up was required to exit. I could drive straight through.Even so, with such a wide vehicle, the site felt as narrow as aslaughterhouse chute. I knew that I would be responsible forcajoling the Green Monster over the Rocky Mountains and beyond, toMinnesota. And that was just for starters. My plan was to drive itall over the country. Suddenly, my heart did a triple step.