Toad Tales

Back in 2010 when I first began to learn about the full time RV life I quickly learned a whole new language as I began to consider class A, B, or C. Or maybe a travel trailer. A small fifth wheel?  While going through this decision a salesman who was trying hard to sell me a travel trailer made the statement “No matter how you go you will be pulling something behind you.”  He was right too, unless I had gone with a class B which is basically a big van.  I knew I would not be happy in that small of a home on the road. And while pull behind trailers and fifth wheels are roomier I would have had to purchase a vehicle to tow one of those.

After winnowing it down I ended up with a 24’ class C.  One big reason I selected it was that I could pull the car I already had behind it. I loved that car. It was a bright orange 2006 Chevy HHR. I bought that car new. My first new car ever.  Of course by 2010 it had nearly 100,000 miles and had been rear ended on the interstate once. So it was perfect for a car to be towed behind my RV. 

My first rig. 

It was my first “toad” in RV lingo.  And it was a beauty. It was the one I learned on. And it served me well through 4 years, 12 states, and 9 jobs. But even a toad’s life has an expiration date. My little orange pumpkin finally needed to retire. Her replacement was a sensible Honda CRV. After a Jeep, the most popular toad is the Honda. Not that I wasn’t tempted by the idea of a Jeep, but in the end I realized if I had a Jeep I’d just be going places I don’t need to go. 

It took a while to get used to this new toad. For starters, it wasn’t orange, or red, or even blue. Just gray. Just reliable. Just what I needed.   Gradually I got used to it and even came to love it. Which really made it painful when I took out a 12 point buck with it. Took two weeks to get it fixed. I was miserable without it, and I was thrilled to get it back. Then me and my toad (and by then my new RV) headed to a job in Louisiana and on to Arizona. 

Toad #2 at Great SaltLake. 

I was really falling in love with that car. Then one evening around dusk the little gray toad took out another deer. This time there was no saving it. I drove from Texas to Tennessee toad-less. In times like these I rely on big brother Clint and his vast automotive knowledge. And I was under the gun too. I needed to have a new toad ready for a trip to Gettysburg in less than a month. With big brother’s help the trip went off on time without a hitch.

So now I’m on my third toad in nine years. And I love him. I call him Howard da Beast. He’s a 2010 Honda Element. Clint had to do a few modifications to get him ready to be a toad (the manual said he couldn’t be towed). I was so grateful to Clint for all his work that I gave him Clint’s first name. He doesn’t use it anyway. I added da Beast after towing it 1800 miles in the first two weeks of toad life. It never gave me a problem. In Howard’s first months of toad life he has driven through eleven states and added 3,000 miles to the odometer. I think Howard and I are looking at a bright future together

But just in case I have put deer whistles in his front grill.

Howard da Beast sitting in Hohenwald

Duck and Cover Memories

Guess I’m showing my age again, but a recent museum visit took me back to elementary school days and the duck and cover drills. For all my younger readers who didn’t have the fun of growing up during the Cold War, I will try to explain. In a nutshell the idea was to train us from an early age to be aware that at any time the Russians could drop a nuclear weapon on the US. But we would know it’s coming because we would hear the air raid siren. And if we were at school we were taught to duck under our desks. Sounds a bit unsophisticated doesn’t it.

Don’t believe me? Go to You Tube and watch the Duck and Cover video. Now that you’ve seen the video and had a good laugh, let me remind you that our parents had just lived through a world war that ended with the US dropping the first atomic bomb. And we didn’t have all the instant info that permeates our world today. We believed our parents and more importantly, we believed Bert!

So all those memories came rushing back today while visiting the Titan Missile Museum. Yep, the missile is still there (albeit gutted) along with all the “state of the art” systems in the control room.

Looking down from the top of the silo. 

The tour took about two hours and placed a lot of emphasis on the fact that this was a weapon of deterrence that thankfully was never used.  That’s a good thing since they were programmed only to be fired if the Russians fired a missile at us first.

You’re three stories below ground and you know that somewhere above you at least two nuclear warheads have gone off. If the incoming blast hit close enough you won’t be able to go out until the silo is unsealed. If the blast was on the other side of the country you can exit the silo - when the next crew relieves you.

As I sat at the control board and listened to the scenario I felt really bad for the service men and women who manned this duty station and others like it - yes there were lots of them all around the country.  They knew the horrors that would exist if the Cold War turned Hot. All us kids knew was Duck and Cover.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Remember when school started back after Labor Day and your first assignment was the dreaded “Summer Vacation “ essay?  Guess that question shows my age. No one writes essays any more. They just post it all on Facebook. Since this return to blogging is meant as my own antidote to Facebook, I will tell you what I did.

I drove. I drove a lot. I drove up into The Chiricahua Mountains to see completely dark night skies at night and look for Montezuma’s quail in the morning. The stars were breathtaking, but I never found the quail. Then I drove across the southern edge of New Mexico which takes only a couple of hours. I stayed in El Paso for a little while to rest before heading south to uncharted territory. I had always wanted to bird southern Texas and this was my chance. Finally saw the dickcissel and green jays. I birded my way across the bottom of the state then through Houston and Baton Rouge before turning north to cut Mississippi in half.

After a rest stop to visit friends in Ripley I moved east by south to pick up Darlene for our magnificent adventure. We drove up through Tennessee and most of Kentucky before turning east to tour across West Virginia. That’s not  a route I care to repeat again. EVER!  Finally we reached Maryland to begin our Civil War journey. Loved Antietam and was amazed by all the history packed into tiny Harpers Ferry (of course Darlene found a Hohenwald connection).  Three days in Gettysburg was not really enough but almost overwhelming. Eventually, like the rebs we were following the path of, we had to turn south.

Manassas, Richmond, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, and finally Appomattox.  Whewwwww.  Two weeks on the road moving every day then finally back to Hohenwald where I rested a few days before driving south into Alabama and east through Georgia to spend time at big brother Mike’s. Enjoyed seeing the home he and Kay have built together and getting his help on some projects in my tiny home on wheels before heading north again to my favorite Kentucky farm home. Lots of good times visiting with my cousins and eating too much southern cooking. I’ll pay for that later!

The culmination of this trip south was the Wade family reunion in Gallatin. Good to see so many of my cousins again. But the next day I was driving once again. By nightfall I was in Arkansas. By the end of the week I was hunkered down in Oklahoma City waiting out very angry wind and thunderstorms. It’s not a good feeling when you check in to an RV park and they circle the tornado shelter before they point out your site. The wind and storms battered me all the way to Albuquerque. By the time I got back to Arizona the storms were gone.

Of course the heat is still over 100 everyday. But it’s a dry heat -or so they tell me. At least I’m through driving for a while.

Rebel Girls Head North

Bullet holes from the war in Fredericksburg  

One of my goals when I bought my first RV was to see a lot of the places I had taught so much about in my classroom over the years.  This summer I had the chance to really keep that promise.  And to fulfill a promise to my dear friend and stepdaughter, Darlene.  She is big on Civil War history and I am just big on history so we decided on a trip that would make us both happy.

The main objective was Gettysburg but there were lots of places to stop along the way there and back.  We were on the road 11 days and put another 1800 miles on my RV as well as over 700 miles on my car.  Not sure of the exact number of battlefields we did visit but the biggies were Antietam, Harpers Ferry, Gettysburg, Manassas, Fredericksburg, and Appomatox.  Despite all my years of teaching and studying the Civil War (as well as being married to a Civil War scholar for 12 years) I learned so much.  And felt so much.

Darlene on the bridge at Manassas

One morning very early Darlene and I walked a trail down to the creek at Antietam.  It was so hot and humid.  But no matter how bad it was for us I just couldn't help but think of those soldiers walking through those woods to the cool creek.  We were not wearing hot boots and wool uniforms.  Our breakfast had been hot and filling.  And most of all, no one was shooting at us.

At Gettysburg there was a lot to see and learn.  I think I enjoyed visiting the farm that had been converted to a field hospital the most.  Amazing to think of what those medical teams had to handle with the little tools and knowledge they had.  And just as you would expect for June at the most famous of all Civil War battlefields, the place was buzzing with visitors.

We planned the trip so that our final stop was Appomatox.  It seemed appropriate and it was a good place to end the tour.  Even though there were lots of tourists here as well, somehow there was this somber feeling that permeated the air.  Even the children seemed to be more settled around the buildings.  We walked the grounds in silence then went back to the car taking one last long look at where it all ended.  On the way back to the interstate we stopped at Washington and Lee to visit the Lee tomb.  Now the trip was really over.  But oh my, what a trip.

Darlene chats with a reenactor at Appomatox  

Steps walked across battlefields and through cemeteries:  75, 585

States visited: Kentucky, West Virginia (never again), Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia

Days it took me to recover once we got back home: 3