Crazy Lady Journey Day 1

[tmw188]

What ever happened to the woman in CO. a couple of weeks ago too?


iPad using iRV2 - RV Forum

[okmunky]

Originally Posted by tmw188

Roadmagic is her handle not Crazy Lady, just to let you know.


iPad using iRV2 - RV Forum

Yes, but some of us other crazy ladies feel a kindred spirit with Roadmagic and like that moniker.

I hope all is well Crazy Lady and Atlanta was kind to you.

[Roadmagic]

Crazy Lady, Day 6

First of all, thanks to everyone who reads my posts, and to those who offer helpful advice and supportive comments. The single most useful advice was from Gordon Dewald, the pro bus guy, about where on the road one’s seat belongs, and to look further down the road. The same day he gave that advice was the day I thought I’d found the “sweet spot” by myself, but when I tried his advice, I instantly saw that there was wisdom in it. For one thing, it changed my posture. Looking closer at the lines, one’s neck is bent. Looking further, one has to straighten the neck and back so it’s less work to drive. Also, I instantly realized that watching closer is like watching your feet when you are dancing—it’s more awkward and causes one to micromanage movements. It took three days for me to unlearn the old way and for this method to, pardon the pun, seat itself, but once it did, driving is smoother, easier, more natural, and less painful. For the last two days, I only hit the wake-up bumps a couple of times, compared to the maybe 50 times on the first couple of days.

And yes, Gordon, you are right—that seating myself just left of center my dolly wheel tends to ride on the right-side road line. This morning (Day 7) I was able to clean my rear-view camera so I could better see the left dolly wheel and see that I had more room than I thought.


Crazy Lady Journey
Day 6

The nightmare before Christmas (December 23) was the Atlanta freeway. I used to say that if I wouldn’t do anything as artificial as an amusement park. If I wanted thrills, I said, or chills of fear, I’d just drive the Atlanta freeway. Momentarily I wondered why it was so uniquely dangerous. The highways though the Dallas-Fort Worth area are much worse architecturally, so why was Atlanta such a scary place to drive? Quickly I realized that it was because it was Georgia’s largest city and it was located in the center of the state. Compare Missouri to it. With two major cities on either side of the sate, traffic is sort of sane in those places. But if you merged them into the middle of the state, you’d have the Atlanta situation. Every major road both from within itself and to all the surrounding states all converged in Atlanta. The times I’d been there, I’d had the occasion to drive 85 in the fast lane, but that was only a little worse than the norm.

In 2016, the traffic was both worse and better than I had anticipated. I was there midday, when I hoped traffic would be the easiest, but I hadn’t taken into consideration about holiday traffic. Traffic was very heavy. If rush hour was worse than this, I don’t know how people bear it. I’d decided going in to go even slower than in St. Louis or Nashville—I set the cruise control on 50. Still it felt too fast. For mile after mile, traffic raced around me, horns sometimes blaring as I made too-slow moves or drifted toward another lane. It felt like I was stuck in a time loop, just driving like this was going to go on forever. I found myself having an odd but strangely familiar feeling. Tuning inward to see what it was, I realized that even though it had been nearly 40 years since I’d quit smoking, the feeling I had was that of craving a cigarette. I chuckled, understanding that my mind-body system was wishing for something, anything, to reduce the stress. Transcendental Meditation had eliminated the need to smoke and later in the day it would cause the day’s stresses to disappear, but in this high stress situation, that old craving fleetingly resurfaced. I marveled about how non-meditating drivers handled this commute daily. No wonder people die of heart attacks.

But there were things to marvel at. Since I was last there in 1996, I was impressed with the new methods used to help drivers navigate as many as 14 lanes of high-speed bumper-to-bumper traffic. These included active overhead messages (“5 miles to X turnoff, time: five to ten minutes”), highway markers embedded in the roadway for visual cues, and a lot of new entrances and exits.

Overall I was handling it pretty well, except for two things. One was that my habit of hugging the right side of my lane was seriously dangerous when traffic was moving in the lane to my right. The other was that I was growing seriously fatigued. Taking an exit into heavy city traffic could be even more dangerous because then I would be in stop-and-go, two way traffic on narrow streets, having to make left or right turns, having to watch for pedestrians, stop lights, and so on, with the possibly of ending up lost or stuck with no turnaround.

But fatigue is also dangerous. As the time in traffic wore on, the symptoms of it encroached deeper into awareness. I began to understand that what had happened back at the RV place a day or so ago when I was couldn’t think…it was tunnel vision. My consciousness of the world was shrinking dangerously. Seeing this happen, I began to feel a bit panicky.

But then, good fortune! Few people call traffic slow-downs a blessing, but more and more, four, five, and sometimes six lanes on my side of the road creeped along, sometimes at forty mph and for a long, long way, it slowed to ten and fifteen miles an hour. The gift of this creeping pace was that, besides removing the stress of having to be on high alert at a break-neck pace, it allowed me time to stretch and change positions of my shoulders, arms, hands, legs, neck, back. It allowed me pet Toki’s silky hair (research shows that petting animals lowers blood pressure), and to look around and do more sight seeing that I’d been able to do in my entire trip. In a word, it gave me time to rest. By the time traffic resumed to normal, I was in great shape. All told, this was my longest day on the road, nearly six hours to go only 183 miles, but besides the rest I’d had in traffic, I’d also stopped at a rest stop to make lunch earlier. Those breaks and the slower pace in the southern half of Atlanta allowed me to last much longer than ordinary, and to get through what is possibly the most dangerous challenge I’ve had to handle. Overall, I feel pretty good when I spot a roadside RV park in Bryon, GA. The pipes thawed out yesterday so I now have water again. I pull over, planning to dump the gray and black tanks, take a shower, do some laundry and maybe feel “normal” again instead of feeling like there's some emergency that is making me run for my life.

[Roadmagic]

Crazy Lady, Day 7

Despite my plans to accomplish needed chores, once I stopped yesterday I practically collapsed with pain and fatigue. But with the six lanes of endless I-75 traffic running maybe 300 feet away the ground literally shakes here, vibrating all the way up into the motorhome to my bed. There’s perhaps seventy-five to a hundred other campers here, many who come here year after year as their campground of choice the owners have told me. I can’t understand how anyone can rest in the noise and whoosing energy of such endless motion. Even with earplugs I struggled to stay asleep. When I finally gave up trying to sleep, I was still exhausted. I didn’t want to stay here, but it is now Christmas Eve, traffic would be even worse. Feeling this tired, I wondered if it would be wise to stay another couple of days and try to rest up?

But the noise seemed to sap me more than allow me to rest. After morning meditation, I do the laundry, do a little housekeeping, try to walk with and play with Toki. Before we left Iowa, he and I had a fairly regular routine of walking and playtime, and I think I owe it to him to give him some attention. But I am too tired and Toki also seems distracted, even from his favorite squeak toy. There is no wifi here and, needing it to shop for a place to go in Florida (I had a place to go but learned on Friday that it isn’t going to work.) I feel frustrated. The days most everyone know the feeling when there is no wifi, no internet, no email, no phone messages. One feels deprived, berift, at loose ends, no longer knowing what to do with oneself.

But I am so tired that I set those feelings aside and just sit outside the RV park’s laundry room while my clothes dry. Resentfully I wish once again that I didn’t have to listen to the traffic and I despair of ever getting any rest here. But after years of meditating, my mind body system knows automatically how to find peace. Gradually, without my tryin got make it happen, my awareness downshifts from the traffic noise to the pines I am staring at. There isn’t much about this RV park that is pretty except those straight, tall, elegant symbols for Georgia. As I focus on them instead of what is going on in my intellect, figure and ground suddenly reverses. The noise and motion suddenly shifts to the background, to the awareness that these trees are full of silence. The traffic has not stopped nor is it less noisy but what now dominates my awareness are these dappled pines, a blue sky with a kindly sun, air that rubs my skin with a delicious coolness instead of biting it with wicked cold, and awareness of my own living, breathing self. Following the bark of the pine up into it’s lofty spreading greenness, I find that silence leaving me feeling more connected to myself. Over the next few minutes, let the worries about what to do next drop away as I open to a groundedness that infuses me with a sense of renewal and a greater intimacy with my own being. Once again, I am reminded that we get so lost in the traffic of our days that we forget that life is about more than to-do lists and measurements of success based on what we accomplish. It is only when we reconnect with ourselves that we rediscover what’s really important. I think this is why some people enjoy RVing, because it brings them more intimately into contact with the trees and mountains and waters of inner reality.

As I sit there feeling absorbed in the trees, I realize that I don’t want to stay in this spot. I enjoyed the trees but I don’t like the place itself and I don’t want to spend the sacred day of Christmas here. I also realize that my energy has been renewed enough that I can get back on the road. Suddenly I have a renewed purpose: I want to sleep in Florida tonight, and when I get there, I’m going to rest for a while.

[QuietWater]

Wow, what a day! I'm worn out just reading it. I hope you make it to Florida with no problems and can relax and enjoy your stay. I thoroughly enjoy reading your adventures. May the Force be with you!

[Stripe34]

Following your adventure Crazy Lady! Rooting for you. I think you'll do fine in FL traffic. You have the rare and invaluable gift of self awareness and a truly wonderful way of seeking improvement.

You go, girl!

- CC

[lenkerb]

great reading!! such interesting perspective!! Please continue! I am enjoying the story and wish you safe travels!!

[City Boy]

Merry Christmas RoadMagic! I hope you are enjoying a restful day in FL.

[jfran304]

Originally Posted by tmw188

What ever happened to the woman in CO. a couple of weeks ago too?


iPad using iRV2 - RV Forum

Last I heard the local police had stepped in and helped them out. They got them rooms at the motel where their motorhome was parked in the parking lot. Haven't heard anything after that.

[Roadmagic]

Originally Posted by Gordon Dewald

Ms Magic; Sounds to me like you have achieved the proper balance of fear and confidence to be a good RV driver. You understand and appreciate the issues of driving a large unit but do not let fear immobilize you.

Looking farther down the road is great. Keeping your seat just to the left of centerline will cause your right side to encroach on the shoulder or any lanes to the right. Sitting with your seat in the wheel path will position you in the center of the lane. It does seem like you are too far to the left but a quick glance in the drivers rear view mirror will show that you will be 18 - 24" from the line. That is about where you should be. The lanes are generally 12 - 13' wide and your RV is 8'.

I find that driving through multi lane areas the best lane to be in is the 3rd lane from the left. Or I watch where the trucks drive predominantly and follow them. Very seldom do they use the far right lane because of merging traffic. Many car drivers do not know or understand how to merge properly so there will be instances of them pulling in front of you with less than adequate space or adequate speed. If you are following the trucks they will pull around you if you are travelling slower than they are. I do not let the "go with the flow" proponents influence my speed. As long as I am travelling faster than the posted minimum speed (if there is a minimum posted) I do not let myself feel pressure. Pulling over to let traffic past (when safe) on two lane roads is the right thing to do.

We might be causing a minute or two of inconvenience for some drivers because we are slightly slower but if we speed up and have an accident there could be hours of inconvenience, property loss and possibly loss of life. I will drive the speed I am comfortable with.

Continue with your trip. The weather will warm up and soon you will be remembering the journey as a personal triumph.

Merry Christmas.

Thanks Gordon. Your advice has been tops. Everyone here has had something worthy to contribute, but yours was the most helpful.

[Roadmagic]

Originally Posted by Old Crows

Love your updates! Suggestions: if you don't have them, a Good Sam and Goodalls camp ground directories; Good Sam trip planner (on line w/ computer) and WAZE GPS app for your smart phone or android tablet.

WAZE is outstanding. If you have a street address it will find it (my Garmin & Rand McNalley sometimes does not). Gives you real-time traffic updates based on other user's updates. Accidents, lane closures, construction, detours, weather, etc..

I got a Trip Wizard but I couldn't figure out how to use it.

[Roadmagic]

Originally Posted by City Boy

Merry Christmas RoadMagic! I hope you are enjoying a restful day in FL.

Thanks. I did have a restful day in a lovely Good Sam park, with Christmas dinner in the club house. I hope all of you also had a wonderful Christmas. :-)

[Roadmagic]

Dear Friends,

Thanks again for all your support during my trip. I am in Day 8 and after getting some rest I am ready to get on the road again.

However, I learned on Friday that the place I expected to park for the winter isn't going to work after all, so now I am adrift late in the season. Do any of you know of relatively inexpensive places to park anywhere in Florida? I prefer the east coast because I have friends there (up and down) but I also have a smattering of friends on the west coast, and I lived for a couple of years in the Avon Park/Sebring area, so I have a few friends there as well.

I'd prefer keeping the rent, including all utilities, under $650 a month, and even lower if possible. Mostly what I need now is a place to stay long enough to get reoriented to Florida and find my own niche, so the cheaper the better.

Any suggestions?

[okmunky]

By chance do any of your friends live on some acreage out in the country? I've spent 2 Florida winters parked beside a friend's house on 5 acres. We added an outlet for my electric, a wye on their water faucet allowed my water hose to be added and about once a month I moved my RV over to a sewer line clean out to dump my black tank. I watered a lovey oak with my gray water. I paid them $150/mo for electricity and helped out with some chores.

Be careful where you walk. -- Florida has Fire ants! I spread granular Amdro in a 200' x 200' area where I parked to keep them away.

Good luck finding a roost for the winter!