“D” Day +1: Home Sweet Phaeton

Friday, 7 July 2017
Advanced RV Resort — Pearland/Houston, Texas

Stats @ 9:30p CDT … UTC 2:30a (7 July)
Temp: 86F (30C)
Position: 29.35.42N / 95.22.49W

No one realizes how wonderful it is to travel until he comes
home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.
~ Lin Yutang ~

I just had a déjà vu moment.  Mui’s sleeping in the bedroom.  He must have turned over in the bed as the motorhome swayed a bit.  For a second I thought I was back on Insignia.  Alas, no.  We are no longer on the ship … we are at our ‘condo on wheels’ … adjusting to being on land.  I used to get a case of ‘dock rock’ after returning from a voyage.  Two days on land now, and I don’t even have that as a reminder of having been at sea for a while.  Perhaps the frequency of our ports of call on this last segment did the trick to eliminate it.

We were up shortly before 7:00a.  The Sheraton has very comfy beds, but I did not sleep well … tossing and turning, and never going into REM sleep.  Missing the movement of the ship?  Perhaps.  Or, maybe just the difficulty I always seem to experience on the first night of any stay anywhere.  In any event, we got ready, grabbed a quick breakfast in the club lounge, and checked out of the hotel.

Simple buffet … but everything is fresh and will  sustain us through our chores.

Our Uber ride picked us up around 8:30a and off we went to the storage facility to pick up the Phaeton.  Before long, we were unlocking the door of our motorhome … our fingers crossed that no unwanted guests — read, mice — had moved in during our absence.  All was clear ;-)

We set to work preparing the coach for the move to the RV park.  It was hot — a humid 84F (29C), with the sun beating down on us.  We didn’t complain.  The forecasted high for the day was 95F (35C) … with a 40% chance for rain.  So, while we were hot, it could have been worse … and wet, too.

The first order of business was to start cooling down the motorhome.  At 94F (34C) inside, it was going to take a while for the temp to come down.  Cranking up the generator, we started up the A/C units and went back outside to complete our chores.  Having done this many times since beginning our full-time-traveler lifestyle in 2012, we have a system that allows us to make short work of everything on our checklist.  The only exception this time — Mui disturbed a wasp nest on the rim of the boat stored next to us.  Luckily, he didn’t get stung.  A can of wasp spray took care of the ones buzzing about.  By 10:45a, we were on the road.

Checking the fluids … important after six months of storage.

Once we jump the batteries of the tow car, we’ll be ready to leave.

When we arrived at Advanced, we ate some snacks and set to work cleaning the Phaeton.  What can I say?  No cabin steward to make sure things are spick and span, so it’s now up to us to spiff up our home.  The beauty of living in a motorhome is that cleaning doesn’t take long.  By 3:00p, I was mopping the floor and Mui was on his way to pick-up groceries to tide us over for a few meals.  With the fridge still in cool-down mode, the big shopping run will have to wait until tomorrow.

Chores complete, I set up my Mac … oh what a joy it is to have a big screen again!  I set up my laptop, too … oh the joy of having two screens to work with!  First order of business — track down our Luggage Free shipment.  The good news … the bags left Miami last night.  Delivery is expected on the 11th.  Our planned departure for Alabama is the 14th, so we’re on schedule.

Something else that was accomplished today — the mail.  Living in a motorhome, our mail gets delivered to a service and forwarded to us on request.  This worked out exceptionally well for the RTW since the US Postal Service does not hold mail for more than a month or two.  Mui has already sorted it all out.  His first job tomorrow will be to review the tax paperwork.  He’ll send any updates to our tax preparer so that they can get started on the 2016 tax filing we extended before leaving on the RTW.

OK … I really do need to get to bed … it’s 10:30p.  I’m all caught up with today anyway.  Hoping to get a good night’s sleep tonight!

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