After three weeks visiting my son and his family, I am back on the road, headed for the Las Vegas area. As I was driving today, I was reminded of trips with my family when I was growing up. Frankly, we did not take many driving trips because we spent most summers and weekends at a cottage we owned, but we did take a couple of long trips when I was a child.
My dad's style was to get wherever we were going as fast as possible. Grand Canyon? Whoosh! No time because we have to get to California on time. Interesting museum? Whoosh again! No stops for anything other than a couple of quick pictures and some sandwiches to eat in the car.
I have learned lessons from my dad's style and tend to do a lot of stopping along the way. Typically, I plan my travels in my motorhome needing to drive only 150-200 miles per day. And I seldom drive more than one day at a time. While I am one of these people who likes to have reservations made months in advance, I also take the time to see things that were not planned for. I know of people who plan to drive 300+ miles a day, but I cannot understand that kind of hurry.
However, I have to admit that today was a 300 mile day. I have been over this route from Napa, California to Nevada several times and am in a hurry to get to one of my favorite campgrounds as soon as I can, so I drove longer today than I really like to drive. In addition, there are two big things which are pushing me--the first is that the days are very short right now and it gets dark early. The second is that while I have brake lights, head lights, backup lights, and flashers, I have no tail lights or running lights, so I cannot drive after dark, or even near dark. (Running lights are those required small yellow lights on the side and tops of big trucks.) I like summer better when I can drive until much later if I need to. The problem right now is that the campground I am heading to in Nevada is first-come, first-served, so it might be harder to get into on Friday.
It is a long story why I have not been able to get these fixed, but suffice it to say that Ford dealers will not deal with stuff that Fleetwood added, and RV dealers are booked up weeks and months in advance. I had one appointment at a Camping World in late November, but after unhooking and driving there early in the morning, the could not find my appointment and would not fix them because they were too busy that day. (Last time I will visit that dealer!) I really need to make an appointment somewhere in Las Vegas to get them fixed, if I can find someone to fit me into their schedule.
One thing I missed in my long day of driving today, was the ability to take long stops at rest areas. I often stop at least two or three times during the day to check my email, fix a meal or a snack and eat it, or stop at grocery stores. I did take one long stop today to eat, but I really needed to stop somewhere to get a new memory card for my camera, get a propane fill, and pick up some groceries, but I kept pushing myself to get where I am tonight before dark.
What I might end up doing is making tomorrow a short day so I can stop in Tehachapi to get a few things done. It will mean fewer days in my favorite campground, but it will be less stressful.
My rambling point, I guess, is that I do not like to hurry, but I like to get somewhere, so I am pushing my driving past where I really feel comfortable. I much prefer a slower and more relaxed trip.
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