Our house in Hancock Maryland just before it was put on the Real Estate Market in late June 2004. Our listing agent is Keith Kirk (he moved from Century 21 to Remax a week after the house was listed and of course we and our house went with him! Great job Keith!)

10 July 2004

Hi guys,

It's Sunday morning, and if I haven't brought you up to date yet, sorry. Things have been busy.
In a nutshell, we've got a contract on our house and are waiting in limbo to see if it will go through. The contract has an engineering inspection contingency and a final sale of the buyer's property contingency. But if we somehow trip over both of those hurdles, we could be out of here by the end of August or early September. If not, we try to get another contract and go from there.

Where are we going? Well, the "plan" is to travel the USofA and Canada for a while in some sort of an RV. So while you are driving around in the future, and if you see a broken down RV, always check to see who is driving. Please.

This is a list. If you can't stand being on lists, I'll take you off. I realize how boring some of these e-mails could be.

Here's the first ... Stardate 0007/0010/2004.

Saturday we drove up to see an RV dealer in Altoona, PA, then zipped over to visit one of Donna's family reunions (the Minerd reunion) in Somerset, PA. We have visited a lot of RV dealers in the past few months, and the selections and options for long-term traveling on the road are so immense that each new visit gets you more confused. We will probably wait until the last minute and buy the one that's on sale (because it's a lemon).

We have gotten into the habit of visiting campgrounds while we are driving around. We look at the folks and the RV rigs they are driving, and try to see who is having fun and who looks miserable. On the way home from Somerset we popped into a small campground called the Mason-Dixon, west of Cumberland, MD. At one site, we came upon one of the giant bus rigs ... called a Diesel Pusher ... and met a gentleman from Bulgaria/New Jersey. He was hot and sweaty while he was carefully examining his clogged blackwater (sewage) drain pipe. He asked if we knew what to do about a clogged sewer line. I suggested a "snake," but he didn't have one. These big bus units go from $150,000 to the millions. They might get about 5 miles per gallon, and his was right out of the box. We asked how long he had had it and he said three weeks. He also offered to sell it to us for $125,000, right then and there. He said, "each day I find that these things are built cheaply and are engineered poorly." I told him there are sewage treatment chemicals that help to keep the tanks flowing. He didn't know about them, and finally said that the clog might have been created when they lost a roll of toilet paper down the john. Yeah, that could have done it.

Now, we could be crazy for trying this. But we need an adventure. At one time, before our kids were in school, we were going to do this for a year. However, a job offer came up and I took it, and we never did get on the road. Today, we are somewhere between working full-time/part-time and retirement. And I guess we have concluded that if we don't try this soon, we will just get too old and never do it at all.
That's it for the first Journal Entry. Will keep you posted. And we'll spend the rest of the day dealing with the disposal of "STUFF." It takes a lifetime to accumulate all your STUFF. And it seems like it takes longer to get rid of it than it did to acquire it. We are trying to get to a point where the amount of STUFF we will need to store is at a minimum.

Anyone got room for two cats?

Will be in touch ...
--
The Logans

Wow! Received a lot of replies to 001. Things like:

"Larry, We have a place for the cats... right on the firing range. A moving target would be fun! Send 'em down! (Har! You know how us Pennsylvanians like to kid around?) Seriously, we have room on the farm for the RV for a couple of days if you're down this way. We could set up a mud bog course so you can see what it'll do on off road terrain. Or, we have space in the driveway at Tilghman Island if you want to try the eastern sho' of Merland, but I'll bet you have exotic places in mind such as the Alaska Highway or the Pan Am hwy. to Punta Arenas. Well, keep in touch. It's nice for folks like us, who never go anywhere, to hear about your adventures. (what's with the star dates? Are you boldly going where no rv has gone before? Are you naming it the enterprise? Do I have to call you Captain? Can I borrow your Fazer? Will you replace the cats with Tribbles? etc. etc. etc.?) Yours in impulsive travel, Bruce" [Yes, Cabin Boy Bruce, you WILL have to call me Captain.] Anyway, if I didn't give you a personal response to all your questions, sorry. I'll try to include the answers in these emails. Such as ... "Of course we'll have email, Circus. We will be a rolling web site business as well." But all plans are "maybees" until they actually happen, and the house must be sold first. Today, the 13th, was the day for the buyers home inspection with their realtor, their engineer, and the pest control guy. But just before they arrive 15 minutes early, I drop a dish on the kitchen floor scattering shards of unbreakable Corellware all over the place while Donna discovers that the fat cat, Gizmo, has a nasty two inch laceration in his side -- no, not from the dish -- so, then our granddaughter attempts to help out by catching her fingers in the screen door. So we do a trip to the vet, who is our Mayor, and return to host the inspection until about 1:00 p.m. (I cleverly slip in to work for a couple of hours where it is much safer.) I think the inspection went well. But we'll know for sure when we get an official report back. Nobody said it was going to be easy. Okay, now I must install an air conditioner in one of the bedrooms as Jen is bunking here tonight, and summer has finally arrived with our usual 189% humidity. If I avoid dropping the air-conditioner on my foot, I will be in touch soon with the next episode. Other quick answers to email questions: No, we don't have any route plans. No, we haven't selected an RV yet. Yes, we know how much gasoline and diesel costs. The capital of Maryland is Annapolis. 831 elephants and 3 ducks. (Boy, you guys ask some strange questions.) Oops ... got to go. The NAPA auto parts store just called and said they received a 6 page fax about my account with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. This has been a very strange day. I don't have any accounts in Boston. Hope you all make it through the 13th. (I'll drive down to NAPA very carefully.) -- The Logans Or, we have space in the driveway at Tilghman Island if you want to try the eastern sho' of Merland, but I'll bet you have exotic places in mind such as the Alaska Highway or the Pan Am hwy. to Punta Arenas. Well, keep in touch. It's nice for folks like us, who never go anywhere, to hear about your adventures. (what's with the star dates? Are you boldly going where no rv has gone before? Are you naming it the enterprise? Do I have to call you Captain? Can I borrow your Fazer? Will you replace the cats with Tribbles? etc. etc. etc.?) Yours in impulsive travel, Bruce"
[Yes, Cabin Boy Bruce, you WILL have to call me Captain.]

Anyway, if I didn't give you a personal response to all your questions, sorry. I'll try to include the answers in these emails. Such as ... "Of course we'll have email, Circus. We will be a rolling web site business as well."

But all plans are "maybees" until they actually happen, and the house must be sold first. Today, the 13th, was the day for the buyers home inspection with their realtor, their engineer, and the pest control guy. But just before they arrive 15 minutes early, I drop a dish on the kitchen floor scattering shards of unbreakable Corellware all over the place while Donna discovers that the fat cat, Gizmo, has a nasty two inch laceration in his side -- no, not from the dish -- so, then our granddaughter attempts to help out by catching her fingers in the screen door. So we do a trip to the vet, who is our Mayor, and return to host the inspection until about 1:00 p.m. (I cleverly slip in to work for a couple of hours where it is much safer.) I think the inspection went well. But we'll know for sure when we get an official report back.

Nobody said it was going to be easy.

Okay, now I must install an air conditioner in one of the bedrooms as Jen is bunking here tonight, and summer has finally arrived with our usual 189% humidity. If I avoid dropping the air-conditioner on my foot, I will be in touch soon with the next episode.

Other quick answers to email questions:

No, we don't have any route plans.

No, we haven't selected an RV yet.

Yes, we know how much gasoline and diesel costs.

The capital of Maryland is Annapolis.

831 elephants and 3 ducks.

(Boy, you guys ask some strange questions.)

Oops ... got to go. The NAPA auto parts store just called and said they received a 6 page fax about my account with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. This has been a very strange day. I don't have any accounts in Boston. Hope you all make it through the 13th. (I'll drive down to NAPA very carefully.)

--
The Logans

14 July 2004

Who would have ever thought that planning to live on the road would result in gifts?

Well it has. A few weeks ago, my son presented me with a gift. It was a black T-shirt with glow in the dark green lettering and a picture of a house trailer. The lettering read: "Your Trailer Park Called ... and Their Trash is Missing."

I guess we will have to be careful about how we share our plans. If we say we are getting an RV, that seems to give people one impression. But if we just say we are getting a trailer, some other impressions and connotations seem to enter their minds.

For example, just today in the mail I received a book from Amazon.Com, and it turned out to be a gift from my Cousin Glenda in Australia. Glenda had not responded to any of my e-mails. But it appears that her response was in the form of the volume: WHITE TRASH COOKING by Ernest Matthew Mickler. Now, some of the recipes look pretty good, but there are others ... like on page 46:

FRIED SQUIRREL
Make sure all the hair is cleaned off the squirrel. Cut it up. If it's old and tough, put it in the pressure cooker for about 15-20 minutes.
Salt and pepper it. Cover with flour and fry in a cast iron skillet on a medium fire until brown and tender. This is a real sweet meat.
You can smother a squirrel just like chicken.

I guess this book has done well, because there is a second volume called White Trash Cooking II - Recipes for Gatherins

Well, thank ya Cuz, and thank ya Josh-Boy. Them gifts was fine. Lordy only nos what we'll git fer um at the yard sale.

Damn it's been a long week. And it's only Wednesday.

Well, got my T-shirt on and cookbook in hand, and I'll just mossy over to the ice box and see what I can russel up. (Jus hope we be out a squirrel.)