5-4-3-2-1

I think the blog is back in business now....apparently it doesn't like 'cutting and pasting'....hardly a new concept!

5-4-3-2-1 --- I believe this is the REAL countdown to lift off this time! Monday is the day!  A few days delayed getting out of here for various reasons but that's okay!  No hard and fast time table.  Just need to be in Raleigh NC by July 2-3.

First stop will be Wayne National Forest near Athens, OH for one night... then onto Bartow, WV (Monongahela National Forest), for probably two nights...then to Powhatan Lake, VA for ??? nights...then on into Raleigh to see my diving buddies, Laine and Mary Ann.  We are going to their very cool house on Harkers Island for the July 4th weekend.  It will be really fun to see them....best diving buddies ever!

These stops are all "no hook up" sites.  Athens is $9/night, the other two are FREE!  YAY!  No hooks was on purpose.  I didn't want to start out doing everything the easy way.  Under that premise, anytime I have hookups - electric, water and/or sewer -- it will be a 5-star hotel experience!  Of course, I have the generator, but I don't want to live off that any more than I really need to.  Plan on keeping that usage to the bare minimum.  Will definitely make use of the new solar panel!

My very good friends, G&M, gave me a very cool vintage bicycle as a going away gift.  Mark shined up the fenders like new and put on new tires!  It's a 10-speed, Schwinn Varsity - probably about 35 years old.  They were manufactured between 1959-1986.  Looks great and rides even better!  Has the original basket on the front, too.  If  I'm not too far away from a town, I can tour around on the bike and pick up some grocery items, etc.....since I don't have a toad (towed vehicle).  A lot of parks have biking areas, too.  It will be great!  Here's a little interesting history:

Remembering the bike today, it's easy to forget that the first years of its production, the Varsity sales (combined with its slightly upscale brother, the Continental) were greater than those of all other U.S. derailer bikes combined.  When the production run was finally over, the Schwinn Varsity had been manufactured in greater numbers than any other single model of derailer-geared bike in the world - EVER, and still holds the record with 2 million sold.  Built with unique technology to meet an entry-level price point, it was the only bike in the national market in the 1960s that was simultaneously inexpensive enough to get non-cycling adults to give it a try, and well-built enough to make them conclude, "Hey, this is fun!"  The Varsity was the foundation of reintroducing American adults to the  joys of cycling and a cornerstone in building the modern adult cycling infrastructure of events, clothing, magazines, clubs, businesses, etc.  The Varsity is the single most significant American bicycle.

Mine is already on the back of the RV, but it looks like this WITH the cool, original front basket!

WOW!  I am going to feel very special riding this special bike!  Thanks, special friends, G&M!!

So, at this point, I'm just camping out in front of my house pulling these last few issues together.  Not hooking to electricity and not turning on the A/C....pretend boondocking!  LOL!

Won't be much to report until take off day.  Hopefully, anyone reading this up to this point will see that the whole RVing thing is possible...even if you don't know what the heck you're doing! That would be ME, but I've learned a lot over the past weeks! Say goodbye to "stuff", make a plan, take one day at a time and you will be at your lift off date, too!