A Recovery Day

I was thinking today about the first trip we took across the US in our RV almost six years ago. We were supposed to report to our Mennonite Disaster Service work site in Louisiana the first of October. Because our church hosts the Washington State MCC sale, the Mennonite Country Auction, the first weekend in October, we made arrangements with MDS to leave right after the sale.

We drove pretty much straight through from Washington State, stopping at rest areas for four to five hours of sleep and an occasional hour's nap, then continuing on. I think we made it to the Diamond, Louisiana work site in just three days. I cannot even imagine trying to do that now!

Nowadays, a three hour drive is about all we like to do. That means we leave late enough in the morning to avoid the morning rush hour traffic and make it to our new site before the evening rush hour. It means we get set-up when it's still daylight and have a bit of time to relax before supper.

Then we usually use the next day as a recovery day, staying at home in Auntie Violet and just taking life easy. (Which for Forry means a couple of naps in his recliner and plenty of time with his Sudoku...) I may or may not catch up on the laundry, but I usually spend most of the day reading or knitting. If we're planning to go sight-seeing in an area, we usually plan that for the next day.

Neither Forry nor I are morning people, so this kind of schedule suits our retired life-style. Because we have been on the East Coast with the three hour time difference, we often end up watching Mariner's home Seattle Safeco Field baseball games starting at 10 PM at night. Depending how long the games last -- and whether they go to extra innings -- we may not get to bed before midnight or later.

Today was one of those recovery days.