A common cartoon has a child with a knapsack on a stick running away from home.  It may be that cartoon that inspired my wanderlust.  I love to travel and for ten years we lived in our motor home full time.  In 2010 we put a mobile home on a lot in Sandpipers Resort in Edinburg, Texas.  That transitioned us from full timers to part time RV'ers.  It also created a challenge in classifying our status, we are no longer snowbirds or Winter Texans as they called us in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.  Now we are Texans who flee the heat of summer.  I like the term summer chickens to explain our status. 

When we were full time, there were several occasions when we responded to family illness.  The first occurred just a week after we purchased our second motor home.  We were in Louisiana enjoying the bayou's and learning how to operate our new home.  Louise's sister called.  Their mother had experienced a sudden change in her health.  Louise's sister was staying with mom but she needed to return home.  Two days later we were in Lake Havasu, Arizona parked next to mom's house.  Breaking camp was a simple matter of disconnecting utilities and stowing any loose objects in the coach.  We were on our way almost immediately. 

Another time we performed this drill, we were located at Sandpipers Resort, on our RV lot.  We had taken an annual lease on the lot and were settled in with a storage shed, some patio furniture and other supplies for enjoying the winter in Texas.  We were just a few days from being ready to pack up for summer travel when we got word that Louise's mother was taken to the hospital with a heart attack.  She was in Denver by this time, staying with Louise's youngest sister.  Packing everything away and getting the coach ready to travel took us about 24 hours, we were on our way the next afternoon. 

Now we have a home, packing up for summer is an extended process.  There is more stuff to be stowed, the coach has to be made travel ready, a few items have to be relocated from the house to the motor home.  Now we start the real process about a week before our intended departure.  There is a list of things that have to be done before leaving the house, a visit from the exterminator, the semi-annual check of the air conditioning system, arranging for mail and lawn care, renewal of the annual contract and taking care of any maintenance items, last minute doctor's visits.  The list goes on and on.  When we do finally pull out of the driveway and roll down the road, things get simpler, we are once again living our RV lifestyle.  For the next six months we will travel, visit family and friends, wander around the country, ready to pick up and go anywhere, anytime.  Once more we are like the child with the knapsack, a really big, comfortable knapsack!