Taking it with you

People always say this about taking a sea cruise: "Oh, wow, it was so nice to visit so many cities and only have to unpack once!".

Travel in an RV and you'll have exactly the same feeling.

Once it's packed with everything you need, you're never far away from what you otherwise would have forgotten.

And thanks to technology, good roads and Walmart, highway travel is pretty darn comfortable.

Here are some things that make our trip so easy.

No.1: A laptop computer

Where's the nearest RV park with a pool and laundry? What time is the movie playing at the Cinemax down the road? Good weather up ahead or should we change direction?

The answer to these and any question you can think of is right at your finger tips when you travel with a laptop.

And more and more today, wireless internet access is available just about anywhere you stop. And, it's highspeed.

"Little" things

A digital camera no bigger that a half a deck of cards. An "Ipod" with 893 of our favorite musical tunes. A compact microwave. A flat screen DVD-playing TV that's hooked up to a roof top satelitte dish. And cell phones, of course.

Oh, and then there is Tom's concert quality digital piano keyboard. We've not yet given an RV park concert...but we will. ("Show Tunes @ 7 p.m., Space 28. Gratuities Accepted")

Not everything is miniature.

Pancho features an electric kingsize bed. Push a button and the sofa turns into a pretty comfortable space for the night, given the air conditoning and all.

What a way to go.

In the summer of 1957, my family pulled out of San Diego in our 1954 Ford station wagon and headed for Duluth, Minnesota to visit grandparents.

We left at 3 a.m. in the morning to get across the California desert before the sun rose.

Mom didn't tolerate heat too well. Dad tried to cool off the inside of the car by putting a block of ice at her feet, right near the vent. Fifties A/C.

"You need to go to the bathroom a-g-a-i-n?" Annoyed at having to stop so frequently, Dad suggested Kenny use the hole in the floorboard right behind the front seat. Afraid of a bump in the road, Ken settled for the mason jar.

My dad would have loved this RV. And this trip.

Open for business

We're mostly loafing off. But not totally.

Our business website is still active (www.TomWatsonPiano.com)
and we pay Google to send us folks who are searching for a buyer for their Steinway grand.

We also scour local newspapers and the internet in search of Steinways for sale. So far we've not found the right deal but we have several prospects.

Got to buy at least one so we can right off some of our trip expenses.

Walmart

They may only pay minimum wage and not offer health benefits, but Walmart sure is a traveler's delight.

They stock everything you need--from AAA batteries to Zucchini--and the prices made possible by slave labor, while an afront to humanity, are a tribute to capitalism.

Plus, Walmart let's you park your RV over nite out front.

And some night we might.

The Y.M.C.A.

"It's fun to work-out at the Y.M.C.A., it's fun to work-out at the Y.M.C.A..."

Before we left San Diego we researched fitness chains searching for the one with the most locations. Golds Gym has 600 gyms across the country.

The Y has 2,000.

So, we joined the Young Men's Christian Association in San Diego and we've been welcomed in local Y's at every major city we've stopped.

Good facilities, too. Well-equipped weight rooms (Tom and I are not giving up without a fight), saunas, showers, the works.

Curious thing about any Y we've visited: Very immodest locker rooms. Unlike most membership gyms, at the Y it is culturally uncool to wrap a towel around your waist. You must be naked walking to the sauna and communal shower.

"It's fun to work-out at the Y.M.C.A! It's fun to work-out at the Y.M.C.A!...."

Prepared foods

Dinty Moore stew is still around. But also on the menu: a whole slew of decent foods that are ready to serve after a quick stop in the microwave.

Tuna fillets in lemon sauce, cooked chicken breast to a top spring salad, seasoned rice mixes, single serving pot roast and potatoes... Amazing variety and amazingly good.

We usually eat at home every night. Cheap, quick and easy.

The V.A.

Jim takes the rat poison known as Coumadin to keep his blood nice and thin for the mosquitoes and the occasional vampire bat.

Once a month, his rat poison level has to be checked. Tough?

Nope.

Just pop into any VA Medical Facility, flash an I.D., ask for a blood draw and bingo, your lab results are emailed to your rat poison technician in San Diego.

Okay, sometimes you have to wait, like an hour and a half, but what the heck. It's only one visit a month.

With an efficiency unknown at the federal agency known as FEMA, the VA has one of the most comprehensive health record systems of any medical provider.

Jim can get hit by a truck in any major city in America. As long as the truck doesn't crush his VA card, his records will pop right up at local VA.

Washington Mutual

Why do I keep dropping corporate names?

Because I'm looking for sponsors for this website. Expect to see pop-up ads here soon.

Wamu deserves mention because their on-line banking system allows us to pay the bills while we roll along. Most banks today offer this service. Wamu's computers are especially good and reliable.

(Note to Wamu: This space available for rent!)

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is a friend of mine.

Thanks to Apple Computer, the company he co-founded, I have a laptop computer that makes movies, easily edits and catalogues travel photos, and makes me dance.

Dance is made possible by the 893 songs we've downloaded on to the computer.

Way before Steve, you'd need a phone book, a pocket full of dimes, a stereo console with record changer, a dark room studio and a Super 8 film projector to be entertained like you can be with products from Apple.

Ain't life great?