June 26, 2002
Usually we limit our travel to around 200 miles per day. Usually. The run from Turner, OR, to Moses Lake, WA, is 344. A bit long for one day, but even so you'd think we could do the run in less than 12 hours barring any breakdown. But not yesterday. It took us all of 12 hours to get here. We're running around with a "For Sale" sign on the rear of the trailer and our phone number on one of the windows.
At a rest stop, a woman in a small truck stopped to mention she'd seen us on the road and thought that her brother-in-law might be interested in the rig. Well, Lois and I swapped information like phone numbers, etc. and she mentioned that her sister and her husband lived in Hermiston and sure would like to see the rig if we were going that far. The only Hermiston I knew about was in Idaho, and I had no intention of going that far. I did learn that Lois and her husband were running the salmon derby in Illwaco, WA, and got an invite to look them up this summer if/when we get to the coast. I promised we would, and then Lois drove off.
An hour or so later down the road Barb mentioned she was hungry and I was getting a little sleepy, so we pulled off into another rest stop, ate, and took a nap. And I left the phone in the truck by mistake. When I got back into the truck there were a couple of messages, one from a Louise who sounded excited about the truck and trailer. She was Lois' sister. I called and found that Hermiston was in Oregon about 5 or 6 miles off the highway we were taking into WA, so we made the detour. What a kick. Got lost on the way to Wal-Mart (how'd RV'ers ever get along without Wal-Mart?) where we were to meet, and when I stopped to ask a construction crew for directions, this gray Honda came by with a woman driving it waving frantically. I followed her to her home. Yup, Louise figured we'd gotten lost when we weren't there in the 10 minutes she thought it should have taken us, and she came looking for us. We don't hide very well and she easily found us. After she'd taken some videos of the rig and a brief tour, she invited us in for a cool drink. There was her sister Lois (from the highway rest stop) and their 97 year old mother. Olive, (the mom) was plenty sharp and we enjoyed the three of them for over an hour. Who knows if we'll sell the rig to them, but once again we were able to enjoy the almost instant friendships that this lifestyle affords. The sisters even have a friend who wholesales RV's and when we're ready to buy the replacement, they insisted (and we gladly accepted), that we call to see what can be done in that regard. We left with big grins on our faces, and gladness in our hearts.
And, about another hour or so later, we needed to make another pit stop, and found a truck stop that would be just fine. As we were leaving, a fellow and his two teenaged kids waved at us, and we stopped and enjoyed another half hour or so showing them the trailer. Gordon's a long-haul driver and has plenty of truck to pull the trailer with, and already has a Newmar product and is spoiled by its fine quality. The fact that our trailer has dual wheels impressed him. Again, we traded information like e-mail addresses, and we're looking forward to corresponding with them (they're from MN) even if they don't buy the trailer.
And that's why it took us 12 hours to drive 344 miles yesterday. It takes some time to make new friends, don't you know! What a lifestyle. You should try it.