Escapees March-April 2019 Vol 40 Issue 5

we couldn’t take all that time off, but we did try to frontload as much work as possible to give ourselves more time to get into a vacation mindset. We didn’t want to make my mom sit inside all day with us or kick her out. It was a family trip, so we tried to be even better at balancing and taking time to explore. We had fun in Old Montreal checking out the shops, eating poutine and soft-serve ice cream. My mom and I left Brandon to sail on a bay in Lake Champlain, while we went and explored the local orchards. We all went on a search for the fall color in Vermont. When Brandon and I used to road-trip in our car to visit family or on vacations, we’d make stops at silly roadside attractions. We’ve gotten out of this practice while driving the RV but make more of an effort once we’re at our destination. We brought it back with my mom in tow and made a few unplanned stops as we made our way back to her house. After seeing that the Jell-O Gallery Museum was on our route, we knew we’d have to check it out, even in the pouring rain. We needed to stop for an overnight before Seneca Falls, so we spent time in Saratoga Springs, trying some of the public drinking springs and enjoying mineral baths. When we needed to rest for the night after leaving Seneca Falls, we realized that the hometown of Lucille Ball was only 30 minutes away. We couldn’t pass up a trip to the Lucy Desi Museum and the recreated sets of Desilu Studios! It was fun to make these kinds of stops even when trying to park an RV along the city roads. I’m sure we’ll be adding more roadside stops into our travels again. Overall, our cohabitating experience was a success! No one killed each other, and we had a lot of fun. We learned that three introvert adults can co-exist in a small space and enjoy it. The trip reminded us why we started the full-time traveling life in the first place and the joy we get sharing it with others. Now that we’ve completed this experiment and learned how to make the space work for everyone, more family vacations may be on the horizon.

and I don’t pick up many souvenirs anymore because we are living in our rig full-time. We’re not returning from a vacation where people expect to be delighted with trinkets and goodies from a destination. But, my mom needed that space for maple cookies and Christmas gifts and all the apples we picked. It made perfect sense to pick up these things as we went along, so I was grateful for the extra space for which I hadn’t accounted before the trip began. Since this is our everyday life, we’re always trying to balance work and play. It seems like work has won out lately, and we don’t explore as much as we did when we started. Since my mom would be with us for a few weeks,                       

                  

                                                

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   