Eastern Utah
EMAIL ME AT: mgypsy97 at aol dot com

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Get out the maps!

I'm probably being a bit premature, but I got all my maps and trip plans out this evening for a boost to my enthusiasm. Maps never seem to fail me, and yeah, I know Streets & Trips, Mapquest, Google Maps, and whatever are just fine and dandy. But I like to lie back on the couch, head propped up with pillows, and unfold my beautiful wonderful paper maps, following my possible route across the country. Let's see, I could turn off here, take this byway and drive over to here, etc, etc, etc. After a while I set the maps down, folded my arms and got comfortable, closed my eyes, and I was soon dreaming my trip!

I have boxes all over the house, and have so many more to pack. The chaos kind of gets to me, and I remember getting rid of my stuff from the house in NC and packing up a "few" things to put into storage. I didn't think I would ever see daylight with that move, and I feel the same way right now. But I know it will all come together, and I can live with the clutter and the mess for a couple more weeks. This morning I spent several hours shredding paper, but the big plastic tub with file folders still feels as heavy as it did before I started. I would like to reprint something I received from my brother today, and I think you will enjoy it as well.

THE SHREDDER

A young engineer was leaving the office at 5:45 p.m. when he found the CEO standing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand. "Listen," said the CEO, "this is a very sensitive and important document, and my secretary is not here. Can you make this thing work?"

"Certainly," said the young engineer. He turned on the machine, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button. "Excellent, excellent!" said the CEO as his paper disappeared inside the machine, "I just need one copy."

Lesson: Never, ever assume that your boss knows what he's doing.


With every page I fed into my shredder I thought about this story, and wondered if I might ever need any of it again. Much of it consisted of statements from Blue Cross regarding what they were billed, what Medicare paid, and then another to tell me what they ended up paying. I could wallpaper a whole house every year with the papers they send me. I usually don't care for e-statements, at least from my bank, but I would sure prefer e-statements from Blue Cross. At least Medicare does it more sensibly and sends a summary every few months rather than all those individual papers. Can it be that the Government actually does something more efficiently and cost effective than a private company?

Hey, how did I get on that soap box when I'm in such a good and hopeful mood!

I think I'll wander over to Les Schwab tomorrow to see what it will cost me to have new tires put on the front on my truck. I replaced the duallies a couple of years ago and they are in good shape, but if I'm going to have to drive across the country I think I want new tires on the front. I'll see if I get any nibbles on the ad to sell both truck and camper, but if I don't have anything serious after a week's time I will have to plan for using it. What else can I do, although I want to throw up every time I look at the door to the propane tank! I'm just shy of 92k miles on my truck and I probably need to have something done, but it's running just beautifully and I think I'll just leave well enough alone.

After I posted the above, I was studying a website that features free and low cost camping. I was intrigued that there are many locations in Maryland - a lot of them are BJ's Warehouse parking lots. For those of you who hang around in the west exclusively, BJ's Warehouse is a membership store such as Costco or Sam's. If I lived in the east where they are fairly prevalent I would get a membership. But my question is has anyone ever stayed in one of their lots? I always hear about people stopping at Walmart, but would like to know how BJ's is for an overnight stop. They also have locations in New York but those aren't listed, so maybe there is a state reg that prevents overnight stays of RVs in store parking lots.

Also, FWIW, there are quite a few free camping places in Virginia, many going back to the days of the CCC. So while there might not be great expanses of BLM land, there is govt land to camp on at no or low cost.

13 comments:

  1. I am sure if you pay a little more at camping world or other RV dealers they would handle the propane tank for you. Or just ask a gentleman and he would help you and yes there are still several of us out there.

    Even ask another strong woman they are everywhere anymore. Its just another one of life's little challenges and not the end of your independence.

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  2. Is the propane tank your only reason for not liking your camper? I guess I need to go back and read more of your older posts.
    But I had to laugh at your mention of shreading I did that yesterday also. I am getting ready to leave for the beautiful White Mountains of AZ for the summer. I don't remeber going through all this last year.
    Well I hope you enjoy your trip across the country. And yes you find so many helpful folks in the campingworld. Don't be afraid to ask.

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  3. Please ask someone to help you with those stupid propane tanks. I know if Jim was anywhere around he would love to be able to help. Most guys want something to do rather than just sit all the time. Sure am looking forward to reading about your journey east.

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  4. I am getting SO excited for you to hit the road and have new adventures. (just as we are coming off our 7 week vacation to head home)

    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

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  5. I am getting SO excited for you to hit the road and have new adventures. (just as we are coming off our 7 week vacation to head home)

    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

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  6. I can tell I'm getting itchy to move on soon, as I've had the paper maps out several afternoons trying to make up my mind how I'll get to Indiana next month. :)

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  7. Way to go, Gypsy. Your getting excited about your trip. This is the Gypsy we know and love. You go girl....

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  8. Refresh my memory, where did you say your destination is going to be? You will probably head out use I-40 if you are going to N.C. or I-80 if you are going to PA.

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  9. If paper maps get you excited, that is definitely the way to go!

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  10. I have Blue Cross Blue Shield of IL and all of my statements are online, they do not send emails. I log onto their website and all of the statements for doctors, hospitals, etc are there to view or print, but I never print them.

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  11. Maybe you can get your son or son in law to fill your LP tank before you leave. You could also look at getting a small LP cook stove that uses the one pound cans. I see they have just about everything that uses those,even grills like pancake grills. Then use electric when you can. You prob. won't need heat, if you do, use your Buddy heater. I am so excited for you. Wish I was planning a trip too! So tired of wandering around boxes and more boxes!

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  12. My first choice when planning a trip or our next move is always my trusty Atlas's. Much prefer paper trip planning when I can easily see the larger map in front of me rather than on a smaller computer screen. I do use Map Quest for figuring out mileages & directions sometimes but enjoy picking out my own routes on paper where I can easily see the overall picture.

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  13. You and my wife Sue are so much alike when it comes to traveling. She just loves maps!

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