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Restless

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-Gramps-

Entry posted by -Gramps- ·

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I suspect that many readers of this here blog of mine (notice my use of a bit of Southern Speak) wonder what most of my last few entries have to do with motor coaching. My initial response is: not much.

However, there might be a connection.

I have a restless nature. I can't sit still for long periods of time doing nothing. I have to be reading, writing, watching something very interesting, and usually commercial free, on the LCD. I might play a World War II FPS online. For you non computer gamers, a FPS is a First Person Shooter. My restless nature may have been a large contributing factor that helped produce the mindset that led me to become a citizen of the RV community. I have always thought about places that I have not been to and places that I want to return to. I think about places that are anywhere except where I am at the moment. That has to be one of the reasons I bought a Motor Coach. What does a MOTOR coach do? It takes you to other places. My restless nature also contributed to the purchase of my motor coach lot. I love where it's located, near the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Parkway is a road. What do roads do? They lead you to other places. I can take the coach down that road or some other road at a moments notice.

Well sometimes I can do that. The reality is that I am still constrained by time, money and business responsibilities. But those things don't stop me from dreaming and planning and hoping.

As I said, I have a restless nature. I am sure that I inherited it. My mother and father were the youngest of seven and six siblings respectively. My Mom was the only one of her family to move away. My Dad was one of two. Every other sibling stayed very close to the place where they were born. There is nothing wrong with that. I am still living just across the water from the city I was raised in. I am presently living in the city I was born in. There was a time I couldn't wait to get away from here and leave my parents behind. I did just that and then I moved back, close to my parent's home, but not too close. Then sometime later, my parents became somewhat restless living here so they moved away, back to where they came from and left me behind. They live in Lexington NC just north of Denton.

Dad did manage to see a lot of the world long before they settled down here and then again in their cabin in the woods. My Mom saw some of it with him. The part she saw was inside the borders of this country; however she could not allow herself to travel with Dad overseas. The pull of family, and those country roads, was always too strong. The ties to Denton just would not stretch to Sicily or Manila or Barcelona.

I wonder to this day what my life would be like if part of my childhood had been adventurously spent in Italy or somewhere. I wonder even more when I think about the places I have traveled to and the people I met there. Yes, I have had some opportunities to feed my restless adventure craving nature.

I have been around the world in ten days. Diane and I have been on numerous cruises to many islands surrounded by a Caribbean blue sea. I have been to the west coast many times. Many years ago I met Danny Thomas, Ephram Zimablest Jr, Francis Ford Coppola. Many years ago I was friends with Kathy Lee Gifford before she became Kathy Lee Gifford. I used to work for Ted Turner before he became rich and famous. Diane and I worked for Jim and Tammy Bakker back when they first started and traveled with them over most of the Eastern half of the United States. I worked for Pat Robertson as a roaming news videographer. I have installed phone systems on merchant vessels in the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic. I have taken weapons classes just in case the ship I was on was attacked by pirates. Diane and I have been camping in our first coach during a terrible Cape Hatteras nor'easter. I have seen fall colors while driving the coach around Grandfather Mountain that are so gorgeous it made me want to shout. We have been to some great coach rallies. I have been to Disney World multiple times. I felt like a kid, and loved every minute of it. I have been awed by the Grand Canyon.

All of these experiences, friendships and encounters now seem short and sweet.

What it boils down to is that my restless nature, at times being transported by plane and now by coach, has driven me to collect a lifetime of experiences that constantly fly through my mind.

When I am sitting in front of my computer and mulling all these memories I look out the window at my coach, and ask myself the same questions.

The First question gets overridden by all the following ones.

First One, how do I keep paying for that thing?

The following ones: Where is that thing going to take me to next and who am I going to meet when I get there? When is the next time our coach is going to add to my collection of dreams, hopes and memories?

I always hope it is soon.

I think you might be starting to understand why I write so much about my past. My past, your past, each has so much to do with who we are, what we believe, what we hope for, and what we will become.

I sometimes want to retire now, retire from the phone game and become a full timer, free to go pretty much where my coach can take me. Once I get there, if it doesn't work out the way I thought it would or if I just feel like it is time to leave, then I may just pack up the rig and go.

That is what I would like to do, but I also inherited a sense of responsibility from my parents as well. I have to look after my family until all members can look after themselves. I have to be settled and stable. What I want to do, when I can do it, and what I have to be now seems so far apart. I don't want to give up, but there are times I think the distance between responsible reality and my dreams is so great that it might drive me crazy.

Do you understand what I am trying to say? Do you understand how your past pushes you to dream for something better only to find that it may be slipping away? You may have to let go of it because it is the responsible thing to do.

I am quite sure that my Parents know exactly what I mean.

How is that for a lead in to the rest of my story?

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-Gramps-

I posted a link to this entry over at RV.net. I received this response:

Speechless!! Just plain speechless!! Thats exactly where I am. I did what I thought was right and believed I paid my dues. Grew up in New York City and beat the odds. Raised by a single parent along with a younger brother and two younger sisters, graduated high school, achieved college degrees, honorably served 23 yrs in Coast Guard and retired. Somewhere, somehow something went terribly wrong. Well maybe not wrong but....okay here it is......been married coming up on 16 years, daughter who just moved back home (with young grandson), son who still has six more years til he graduates from high school. Let me break it down for you....married for so many years means I have a mortgage; daughter back home because financially she can not stand on her own,this means I STILL must provide for her and grandson (when she left there was no grandson); twelve year old son is too young to (legally) get a job yet old enough to ask for pairs of sneakers that cost the same amount or more than filling my RV gas tank up. They don't know nor do they understand that underneath this calm, peaceful, poised, gentle, caring, exteria is a calm, peaceful, poised, gentle, caring husband,dad, granddad that wants to just go.

No more hard times, no more bad times, no more sad times, just the open road to whereever and whenever I want, being seen through the windshield of my motorhome...............speechless!

If I was granted just one wish that came true........

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Darius....the "Rookie RVer"

U.S. Coast Guard Retired

"RVing....cause life's a trip"

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dalltop

It is difficult. I am still young but old enough now that certain doors are starting to close. Your past does define you but it can be used as an excuse or an excuse to do better.

We had a daughter late in life. I feel like we are enjoying her more then we would have when we were in our 20's. Both my wife and I moved a lot as young people with no roots. Now we have roots, but like you, we have the wandering lust for the open road. We have passed this passion on to our child and if nothing else I believe the experiences of travel, different people, places, will give her something she will never get from a book.

WWII FPS, humm, snow storm is on its way this weekend. I may have to fire up the computer and dust of my mouse. It has been awhile since I played. My online name is Hardtop. Always enjoy playing teams better then the free for all. See you online.

David

IT Regional Systems Manager

Still working and loving my Job!

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-Gramps-

David,

Team play is for me as well. I was part of a big gaming clan that played Medal of Honor-Spearhead and Call of Duty. But like a lot of good things it life, it died. People got older, had more responsibilites, games got old, some members couldn't afford the PC upgrades to keep up.

So now I play a free simple cartoon shooter called Battlefied Heroes. Its an online team based game. If you care to try it, I play as LtGramps, or PvtGramps or HerrGramps.

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pianodan

I have always been a wanderer......that is, up until I retired from the Navy. When I retired, and we moved up here in North Central MN, where my wife grew up, I was so enamored with having a home that I own and close to 4 acres of property, I had a hard time pushing myself to travel very far. I sort of became a recluse, the thought of going anywhere near a military base almost scared me. I'd had enough of govt., more than enough of large noisy ill mannered cities, and besides, up here, it was just very beautiful and peaceful. For the first time in my life, I've lived in the same place for more than 5 years.

I've been over half the globe aboard ship, as far west as you can go when turns into the far east and the mid-east, down to Australia south, up to the Arctic waters north, at times following Soviet subs into Russian territorial waters off of Siberia, eating the foods of all the locals in every port visited. When I retired, I was ready to quit traveling, but my wife wasn't. So, gradually, over a period of years, we started traveling again (even during that time period I ended up going coast to coast, our son was stationed at Quantico, my mother lives in CA, our daughter was in college in WA). I still wasn't comfortable traveling, but I gradually lost my aversion to it, we went through tw truck campers and a borrowed pop-up trailer before we bought our motorhome in '03. My wife immediately wanted to full time, put the house up for sale, and go. I dragged my feet, which turned out to be a good thing due to some problems that surfaced during that time period. Now, we're both ready to full time, but she's getting her MBA in Quality Systems, and owes her employer the next five years for their assistance there and the house isn't sold yet anyway.

My itchy feet have reappeared, so now we're both on the same page. I hate to have the motorhome sitting not being used, but if we don't use soon, we will be out again with it in April.

On the gaming subject, I've never played on-line games, I've been content playing the X-Box my daughter bought me. I'm going to pick up a Wii to play, my grandson has one, it's a lot of fun, and there's also good exercise to be had there, and my wife will even play that one.

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