Recently, I had to say goodbye to a friend of the last 31 years. We spent a lot of time together during that period, and I very much enjoyed his company. No, he didn’t die, I sold him. Now don’t get all upset, my friend was my 1992 Chevy pickup turned µRV/Camper. The above is the very last picture I took of him as he was leaving the parking lot of my RetCom.

I will miss him greatly, but it was time. I did manage to get in about 15,000 miles with him in the past 2 years, traveling around the country. A book that I first read at an early age, and have re-read many times was John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie – In Search Of America, was instrumental in turning the truck into a camper. I read that book as a young teenager and dreamed that one day I would travel around America as Steinbeck did, and indeed I made that happen.

Before he was a µRV/Camper, he was a commuter truck, then later a custom furniture delivery truck. The conversion to a camper took almost ten years. I got a lot of use out of him, but it was time to let him go. Of course, I have a story about that.

I recently came across a term “Elder Orphan”. It means a person in the senior years who has no one to help him (I will use “him” as this story is primarily about me) during the final years. No children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, or even very close friends. It is up to him to make all the decisions for the rest of his life. One of those decisions is when to take up residence at a RetCom (retirement community). Another top item is when to take away the driver’s license. Those are difficult things to do for the caregiver, and even more difficult if you have to make them for yourself.

Now getting back to the original story, I took a couple of trips this Spring in my µRV of about 1500 miles each. The first one was to see my younger brother, who I have been estranged from me for longer than I care to remember. The other was one last trip through Iowa. The first trip was a valuable one in that I finally forgave him for some of the stupid things he did in our youth. Putting that behind me was critical to my life right now. I had just lost my older brother last year, so I realized that time was short for a reconciliation with my younger brother, who is himself, facing some serious health.

These trips were quite a challenge due to some health issues. Among other things, my kidneys just can’t take the bumpy roads anymore, especially in a 30+ year old truck. Maxing out on Tylenol just didn’t help much. So, I realized that it was time to give up camping and long miles on the road.

I will keep my Chevy Sonic for short trips and daily errands for a while yet, but the decision to give up long extended trips was the wise thing to do, and I am kinda proud that I made it myself.