Runaway Home

Me with Jezibel, Ellie, Mr. Creme on floor and
Calvin on couch
July 2004

Lexi, Ellie and Grady catching some Z's

When I was a kid, I read a book at school called "Runaway Home". It was about a family who moved from New England to Washington State. The father got a new job. They decided to make a vacation out of the trip. They bought a travel trailer and took several weeks to see the country. The book was all about their adventures.

We are not moving, but we will start our RV trip today. We’ve been planning this for several months now.

Two years ago we took the month of July and traveled to the east coast and back. That was a fun trip. We took three of our cats, Taz, Jason, Kaci and our dog, Sheila.

Taz was a veteran because he had been with us when we moved to Virginia in 2002. That time we rented an RV one way and drove to Virginia. We had Rowdy, Calvin, Taz, Jezibel, Ellie, Lexi and Grady, plus our dog, Chelsi. That trip was not bad, but we made it as fast as we could because Charlie had to report to work at a certain date and we were paying by the day for the RV rental.

Jezibel planning an escape
August 2002 on the way to Virginia

This is what Jezibel did during the day
At night she rattled the blinds, paced and eventually
got herself put into the kennel for the night

Then, when we moved back to California in 2004, we still had Calvin, Taz, Jezibel, Ellie, Lexi, Grady and Chelsi. We had also picked up Mr. Creme and Toby. That trip was fun. We had a little more time and we owned the RV!

Mr. Creme relaxing at the campsite
listening to the rain
July 2004

Ellie, never far from the secure kennels
August 2004

It’s been two years now and we’re ready to go again. This time we will take Jason, Kaci and our youngest, Jonesie. Oh, and of course, Sheila.

When the gas prices started going up higher and higher, I’d look at Charlie and say “Are we still going?” He’d say “Yes”, so I continued to plan the trip.

I went online and mapped out the trip, made reservations at the KOA Kampgrounds, figured out the mileage, where we were stopping to visit and for how long, etc.

Then we’d watch the news and the gas prices kept going up. One night I asked Charlie, “Are we still going?” He said, “I don’t know, are we?” I said “Well, are we?” He said “You keep asking and I told you YES, we are going”.

So, I quit asking. We just figured if we didn’t go now, we may not ever go!

It should be fun to write about the trip and I will put something together each day.

Stay tuned...........