"Gotta love old age ... .  No :-)

What choice do we have?

On Mon, Oct 18, 2021 at 7:47 PM Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:

> Richard,
>
> Sorry the trip cut short. I hear you when it comes to back issues . My
> disc issues are somewhat reduced now, but what gets me in longer van trips
> is my right knee. Stiffens up and painful. Should get cruise control . I
> have to limit driving time to under 3 hr stretches to keep that in check.
>
> Gotta love old age …. No :-)
>
> Alistair
>
>
>
> > On Oct 17, 2021, at 2:32 PM, Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@sbcglobal.net>
> wrote:
> >
> >  I was Covid grouchy.  Hadn't traveled more than 60 miles away in 1.5
> years.  I decided October would be a splendid month to travel from San
> Diego to Florida.  To see a "real" rocket launch, and of course all the
> things along the way...at least whatever was open.  Had reservations and
> everything at a campsite called Jetty Park, apparently it's a jetty about 8
> miles away from launch pad at Cape Canaveral.
> > All went well.  Vanagon with Subie 2.2 performed flawlessly.  About 22
> MPG.  Picked up campgrounds along the way, much fun!  Well...I was in
> Arkansas....about 40 miles from Mississippi River...and then it started.
> Lower back pain.  I didn't know if it was Acute Sciatica or just strained
> lower back muscle.  It got bad.  Made the decision to cancel and turn back
> home, it was a difficult decision.  You know how it goes.  But when you are
> not having fun, and have to precisely calculate every reaching move, every
> twisting move...yeah, time to call it a day.
> > Funny....I used ALL of my equipment in Vanagon.  From Buddy Heater to
> 5000 BTU window mounted A/C unit.  Max elevation was 8600, Min elevation
> was -14.  Even with back pain, my full sized TinTop bed did the job, always
> slept well.  The next morning though, when things stiffened up, was another
> story.
> > Last day was 375 miles from Pichaco Peak State Park north of Tuscon to
> San Diego.
> > Back is resting, and feeling better.  Lots of smashed bugs and
> butterflies to wash off trusty Vanagon, and do a thorough cleanup job
> inside and out.  These are the things roadtrips are made of.  But, with
> total satisfaction, I will state that Vanagon is the way to go.  Only saw 1
> other...and we gave each other a thumbs up....he was from Washington,
> probably on this list.  Somewhere in western New Mexico.
>