Winding down in Klamath
This is likely to be a top-5 view of the entire trip.
We're back from Thanksgiving break this week and crawling back into something shaped like a routine. Monday we all had to remember how to do school and work; there were tears. We continue to end our days completely wiped out. The sun sets at dinnertime and in the cold dark of November by the water the RV feels pretty small. The kids want to horse around but there just isn't space, they miss our big basement play space from the house that was so critical in the winter months. They've been making do with the bunkroom play area tonight which is encouraging and somewhat gratifying after spending the time and effort to get such a big RV.
Thanksgiving break was excellent and sorely needed, but it wasn't the lounging about on the beach that would have been really restorative for K and me. We have to remind each other that we've only been "really" on the road for a week and a half, those first three and a half weeks of moving and cat panic don't count. Come to think of it, last Saturday was 1 month in the RV! We moved in here on Oct 28th. Today marks 5 weeks and I guess only 1.5 of them count, or something. I know a year is long, but I feel a little frowny about having 3 of our 50-odd weeks eaten up in transition costs right at the outset. But of the plausible catastrophes this year I can't complain.
Anyway two weeks here is fantastic, and we'll be a bit sad to leave. The weather's been wonderful and we get to go to the beach every day, and watch the birds and the river light as long as the sun is up.
But necessity draws us south to bigger cities and other destinations. Shopping, for example, is a hassle. Want to go to Target? Well it's an hour away, and nowhere near a place you want to camp. Still want to go? Sheila could use an oil change this month. Where's a reputable dealer? Again, anywhere near where you need it? How far are they booked out? It's a huge, multidimensional traveling family problem. So far we've seen the wisdom of having minimal reservations too far out, as you can stay available to solve the needs that come up as you go.
We're holding increasingly lightly the idea of making it to Florida to see the manatees in February/March. Florida, it turns out, is very far away from California! It would be a lot of travel days to make it out there, and when we can only really travel on weekends due to my work, we can't exactly chew up the highway miles. I think such a target would be exhausting so early in the trip when we're still overwhelmed with novelty.
