Chapter One

How did this all begin, you ask?  Well here's the story.  Early Summer, 2013

To put it simply.....our kids are all grown and gone, empty nesters I think it's called, and the kids are now spread out all over the country.  Yes, we miss them all a bunch!  It was nice having at least some of them here in town for years which gave us so much family time, especially on weekends! We had a studio in the house so music was prevalent on many occasions.  Family dinners were popular, sometimes with more people than the house could hold!  Occasional visits from the out of town kids was special...life was good! But things suddenly changed! Within a month, those who were here moved! Some to San Francisco, some moved to Castle Rock Colorado.  That was very difficult, especially for Jackie .....

At that time, we were still both employed, or at least committed 5 days a week in some form or another. Being retired from the airlines, we are privileged to travel any where in the world at reduced or no cost, which helped considerably, but we were still living in our 2000 sq ft home of 11 years, with a huge yard, swimming pool, fruit trees, rose garden, etc., so you can imagine what we did on the weekends.

When we did travel to visit family, it was generally for only a couple of days.  Our family was always gracious with invites!  Our family is large and spread out, making it difficult to visit every one.  We felt like there was just not enough quality time with any one of them.  And because of distance, we would only see those family members once or twice a year.  You have to admit, that's pretty pathetic.  Especially when we're talkin grand kids .... impossible to be involved in their lives this way!

Well after hearing me complain one too many times about not seeing the kids, my wonderful lil wife pops up with an idea as to how to resolve it.  "Sell everything and buy a Bus", she says.
Are you kidding me ????  We've worked hard to get to this point in our lives, a home with a pool, in Arizona, 3 Corvettes, everything we need, the ideal set up for retirement.  But then there's the fact our kids are in California, Colorado, Wisconsin and on and on... and they are what's most important!  I could not, at that moment wrap my mind around the bus idea! 

Then she says "we can go to each area, stay 2 or 3 months at each place and be able to spend real time, and still be home every nite.  I still didn't get it!!!

Days later, Jackie advises me there is a guy in Tucson AZ who would like to trade his motor home for a house in the Phoenix area.  OMG!!  She's Serious!!  She then showed me pictures of the bus, but it still wasn't computing.  Could something like this be possible?  But wait, there's still this issue of selling everything, moving into a space the size of a small apartment ....
Thank God there was no way to make a deal like that work, but there was still that burning idea in Jackie's mind we could make this work  .... some how.

My problems were as follows  Not having a place to call home .... and I really didn't want to get rid of the cars ... yeah I know ... it's just stuff, but it took a minute to get over that.  Secondly, reducing the size of our living space.  Are you kidding me ???  I loved our home, but all the work it involved, the upkeep, etc., if you know what I mean.  I'm certainly not getting any younger and the work becomes more difficult over time.  Understand, this idea came up almost every day after that initial outburst.  

Resolution ?????   Stay tuned ...................