On the Road, Paul Goldberg Blog

Things Forgotten

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After the obvious notion that our age has slowed us down just a bit and we don’t have to be “doing” every minute of the day comes the rest of the stuff.

As I was making plans with a friend for a get together in Cleveland, he reminded me that Pesach (Passover) was that night – oops. I guess we will be enjoying that in a campground someplace. Someplace then became a question.  I had forgotten that we were entering the Northeast a land where camping is very seasonal and the season starts either April 15 or May 1. Most of the places near Cleveland that I tried do not open until May 1. The one that is opening April 15 has only 7 sites and is fully booked. 

There is no reason to stop in Cleveland if our friends are not available so we will move on to Erie PA. I don’t think we have ever stopped there. It is a KOA, not our preferred venue, but mid week while schools are open it seems safe. This puts us within a short day to Rochester if we choose to do that. 

After some more working with my trip planing software and the phone I have gotten way ahead of myself and have booked almost all the stops we need for the rest of the trip. I just added a side trip to Fallingwater, the FLWright house. Its only 176 miles out of the way. We have promised ourselves a stop there many times but never had the time. We just made the time.

Another thing I forgot. This planning takes time, especially booking reservations, something we seldom have done. Also I needed to debug the windshield and front of the coach after 2,000 of driving. 

Tomorrow We will join a bunch of Kansas City Cornellians for a Gangsta Tour of Kansas City. Our friends, the Lustigs, are both Cornellians and they invited us. Another thing I forgot, Look up Brown Clubs as we travel.

On the Road, Paul Goldberg Blog

US 54 a New Addiction

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If you have read these messages you know we get “into” highways, that’s US highways, not interstates. As we left Las Cruces on US 70 we eventually transitioned to US 54. Typically US highways run N/S or E/W For some reason when they laid out US 54 which is designated E/W (even number) they actually ran it NE from Las Cruces, that is on a diagonal. 

It was fun as we traveled across NM on that diagonal for 3 nights. The road traversed many grades as we climbed to the High Plains.  Then today we crossed from NM to TX and then on into OK across the Panhandle to KS where we spent the night at Mid-America Air Museum, our third time stopping there. Today we continued on US 54 which eventually merged with US 400 into Wichita KS. Tomorrow we will bid farewell to US 54 and get on I 35 to KC. I could post a boo to taking the Interstate,  but there really is no better route to get us there for a get together with Dianne and Marty, friends from sometime in the 70’s 

Even more than our addiction to highways is our addiction to keeping up with friends from forever ago. We will stop to see a college roomate, Lee, who we actually have known almost as long as we have known each other (first grade) and a friend from Rochester who moved away to FL many years ago and recently moved to Cleveland so we can visit. Visits in FL required a trip to a state we choose not to enter. That has nothing to do with politics!!! It is flat, crowded and humid.

I’ll report on highways and friends as we go.

On the Road, Paul Goldberg Blog

Merrily we Roll Along

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The coach was in and out of the shop in about 4 hours. We hit the road – again. As we began the long climb the engine temperature stayed right where we hoped and we crested the grade to Chiriaco Summit where we paused for lunch. With a fuel stop in Quartzsite we pulled into our favorite piece of desert, Hi Jolly, where we set up for the night.  In the morning it was a simple matter to pull in the slides, retract the levelers and keep on moving.

Mid afternoon we stopped at South Forty RV Ranch and did nothing but a bit of shopping while we took a down time. Other than missing our Tucson friends we were back on the schedule I had laid out months ago. The next day brought us into Las Cruces NM and Hacienda RV Ranch which is our new go to place in Las Cruces since Siesta has closed to short term stays. Assorted reactions to medicines resulted in our staying in Friday night with Miriam DG who had flown in from Los Angeles. Saturday was not very Shabbat like as we crammed in some touring of the area so Miriam could get an idea of what Las Cruces is like. 

Sunday, after a brief family Zoom and lunch with Leorah and Stu we headed out for a Sefardi concert at Temple Beth El. We met up with Leora and Stu again at the Temple. We had decided to double down on music so as 6 PM approached we ventured into Double Eagle Restaurant on Mesilla Square for a perfomrance of Cammerata Del Sol  string quartet founded in part by their daughter Amalia who is a splendid violinist. We said goodbye to Leorah and to Amalia who is off to a program in Israel this summer. 

We drove back to the coach where Miriam packed up almost everything in preparation for a shuttle pickup at 7 AM. Later that morning we rolled out for what is planned to be the shortest day of the trip, 90 mile to Tularosa Winery, a Harvest Host stop in Tularosa. I’ ll let you look it up on Google Maps for yourself if you are so inclined.

During the course of these days, Dan called a few times trying to catch us with a minute to talk. He finally caught us and got to tell his news, they have just bought 240 acres of good farm land on the otherside of the Blue Ridge from their current location. They have a long route to go to get from farm land to house and facilities for the horses. It will be fun for us to watch. I’m sure there will be a nice RV pad if we are still able to handle the coach.

Three days of nonstop rolling should have us in Kansas City area by the 12th. I am still attending various board meetings for Jojoba Hills as we keep rolling along. 

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People Plan

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You know the rest. Redlands Truck and RV told us the coolant reservoir was showing cracks and could fail soon. Having had problems with coolant in the past we chose to have them change it. About 90 miles East on the 10 (we were still in California) I started getting low coolant and check engine notices. We were on a long climb with no functional shoulder – construction – so I elected to push on, better to suffer repairable engine damage than risk getting rearended. Eventually the engine made the decision for me and began to shut down. How fun is it to lose power steering in traffic at 35 mph? I was able to get on to the 3/4 width lane shoulder leaving some of the coach out in traffic. The engine restarted and eventually we made our way to a safe stopping place out of traffic.

Since I don’t carry a gallon of coolant, the tech we spoke with suggested water and return to the shop for repair. We carry water in our fresh water tank, the only issue was getting it to the back of the coach and into the reservoir which has scant space above it to add fluid without a hose and a pump (Pictures are on Facebook). My Uncle Rube might have added some other creative pieces but I am pretty proud of what I did.

We made it back to the shop and they were working on the coach at 7 AM. I will update that report in a later post. 

We are well and busy redoing our schedule. Still planning on Las Crucis Friday afternoon.  The good news we had breakfast at Carolyn’s again. The wait staff welcomed us back and asked what happened to our planned travel.

Other than the call from grandson Azriel to tell us that he and Stacy are married!!! the rest of the day was uneventful.

 

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Vamping

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I admit I am waking in the middle of the night worrying about traveling across the country again. As I think back, I realize this is not something new. Every time we close to actual departure I obsess  at 4 AM when I should be asleep. This has resulted in several calls to various suppliers to confirm that I do have what I need that they provide. It results in my trying out various systems to be sure they are working. For the last couple of days we were using our onboard water pump to empty the freshwater tank so I could refill with fresh, freshwater. 

So far all systems are go!

After I wrote that the water pump quit working in the middle of a load of laundry. Westwind, our favorite mobile tech just left with some of our money and we now have a functioning water pump for the trip.

The key systems that we cannot try out are ourselves. It has been two years since we traveled cross country. We have allowed 30 days for the trip and we know it can be done in 11. There will be plenty of time to stop and rest. We are looking forward to many stops to visit friends as we go. For the most part we will be stopping at places we have stopped in the past. The roads are roads we have driven at least once. It is hard to travel from the southwest to the northeast 22 times and find routes we haven’t taken at least once.

My local activities still keep me involved. I am no longer president, I willingly relinquished that post when a wonderful alternative presented herself. I remain a member at large until next February. I have taken on working with two important committees as their Liaison; Insurance and Road Repair. I know somethingabout the first and am rapidly learning about the latter. 

I’ll post this now and prepare to write more as we go.

Jojoba Hills, Paul Goldberg Blog

Getting Ready to Roll

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We have been staying put in Jojoba Hills far too long. We got back from Rochester last October and haven’t left for travel beyond San Diego and Los Angeles since. I’ve been knocking the rust off my travel planning software and beating up other travel links to put together a busy period starting April 1 (actually March 31, but April 1 sounds much better).

Today I cleaned the shafts on the hydraulic leveling jacks to see if they would retract and extend. This operation is very necessary for us to be able to move as we learned when they failed as we tried to evacuate during the Highland Fire. While I was at it I retracted the hydraulic  slides for further proof of operation. All is good! Of course this entailed my getting down under the coach, flat on my side to do the work. The hard part was getting back up. 

I have booked a spot for routine service on the coach on April 1 – hence leaving on March 31 to be ready for early morning service work. If all goes well we will roll out of Redlands CA no later than April 2.  This should put us in Las Cruces NM on April 4 or 5. We will plan to stay a couple of nights to visit. Other stops we are considering are Kansas City if we can connect with the Lustigs, Indianapolis – if Terry is there, Columbus OH to see Lee an on to Rochester.

May is so full I am tired just thinking about it. We plan to be 4 nights in Boston around Cali Berbeco’s Bat Mitzvah. Then back to Rochester for Josh’s graduation from UR a Gala for the RPO on the 18th then on to Providence for my 60th Reunion from Brown.

Then back to Rochester where we will have some time to pack our bags for a 60th Anniversary trip to United Kingdom where we expect to be joined by our boys for the celebration at the Lygon Arms in Broadway, just up the road from Stratford on Avon. We stayed there on our honeymoon and have been looking forward to a return for 60 years. When we return to Rochester we have no further plans, yet.

opinion, Paul Goldberg Blog

Not a Travel Post

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I have not written and posted a travel post for some time. We have not left Jojoba Hills other than our trip to Salt Lake City since we returned last Fall.  My activities have been almost entirely involved with the operations of Jojoba Hills SKP Resort as its president. This is boring to most people and frankly not pertinent to being “On the Move”.

I have been following the news rather more closely than some might consider healthy. In particular the news from Israel and the surrounding areas. Some personal background, Carol and I attended a Reform Synagogue from Kindergarten on.  That is where we met. Rather unusual for the Reform Movement in the 40’s and 50’s Temple B’rith Kodesh (hereafter TBK) was strongly Zionist as were my parents. Carol and I have visited Israel many times since our first in 1971. I am convinced that regardless of the current politics there the Jewish world needs a Jewish place to retreat to the next time the world community agrees to let some monster try to eliminate us once again.

In 1948, after the United Nations agreed to create a two state solution, the Arab world went to war to prevent the creation of the State of Israel. Somehow Israel prevailed over the massive war power of the Arabs and created the state. The Arab world was left with 700,000 refugees, most of whom were gathered into Refugee Camps and UNWRA (United Nations Works and Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees) was created to care for those refugees. In my years running various organizations I have learned one major thing, the first job of any organization leader is to ensure the survival of the organization. If the refugees were permitted to create new lives in new lands among their Arab brethren, there would be no need for UNWRA. There would not now be over 5 million Palestinians  with a large portion of them living in Refugee Camps that date back to 1948. 

Where else in the world have refugees been held in camps  for so long? Why is the UN continuing to govern and supply these camps with funds from the US Government and Western Europe. The Arab world apparently wants them to be as a force to remind the rest of the world that Israel is the bad guy. To be a festering wound. And most of all so that UNWRA has a reason to exist to live off the funds provided by the US and Western Europe. 

If the resources used to maintain these camps had been used to provide resettlement, there would be Palestinian Arabs living fruitful lives throughout the area. If the assets and intellectual resources Hamas has put into building massive fortifications and a major war machine had been put into developing Gaza into anything else it could be a vibrant community with tourism and other industries feeding the people. 

I have empathy for the people of Gaza, they needed to turn on Hamas and take over the government for their own benefit. I fear it is way too late for that. 

I am not addressing Israel’s position. If you are bullied from all sides for 70 years your response is likely to be seen as inappropriate.

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Travel Interruptus Continues

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We have mostly been in the apartment for the past month. Carol has  not been feeling well and is not comfortable going anyplace. Some friends have come by for a visit and Josh has been a regular presence. Rohma has been with her family so we haven’t seen as much of her as we would like. 

Today was to have been special since Dan and his family were flying in for the weekend. However they woke up with cold symptoms and chose to keep them to themselves and not share. They are rescheduling for next weekend. Rohma and Josh will be coming over to spend some time with us and have dinner. 

This is not my usual newsy post, just a simple report of what’s happening. 

That was 3 weeks ago.  Where did the time go? They did come in the following weekend . There were 4 of them plus Josh and Rohma for a total of 8 for meals in the apartment. But then our friend Leora from Las Cruces came in for her Brighton High Reunion and joined our gang for Friday night dinner in the apartment! As we settled down from that Pricilla Douglas our former neighbor from East Avenue arrived on Saturday for a planned visit and we had planned to have her join us for dinner so again we were 9 for dinner. We have done 13 in the motorhome a time or two so 9 in the apartment felt spacious for us. 

Since that visit we have been getting out more and not just for medical appointments for both of us, although there have been plenty of those. We have the luggage out to prepare for departure on Tuesday afternoon. and we are getting ready for Yom Kippur. I have been blowing shofar at every service for the holidays that it is called for and for a group in a senior living setting who gather regularly. 

Although we have no plans to give up our RV lifestyle we have moved up Plan B and put down a deposit for an existing facility as well as the new one that isn’t under construction yet. That is the future. For now I have 18 months left in my current term as Board member at Jojoba Hills SKP Resort. This gives me plenty to keep me busy between Bridge games. Carol is looking forward to her projects. She has another building renovation project to lead.

Paul Goldberg Blog

Travel Interruptus

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We never made it out of Rochester! Storms along the East Coast disrupted our flight plans and we were not prepared to deal with the ensuing chaos. It became clear we would not be able to join our planned river cruise any time soon. United offered us a flight to DC the next day with no onward connection to Nice, so we elected to stay in Rochester. That is where we are now. 

We have spent time with our grandson and will get to see some people here sooner than we had planned. This is not the first time in our travels that this has happened. The East Coast weather can wreak havoc on long planned flight schedules.

I got to participate in our Coop Board Meeting today, on Zoom. 

I’ll plan to post our activities a bit more often than I might have from France.

France, Paul Goldberg Blog

Traveling, Again

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It has been a confusing few days. We flew to Rochester leaving GeeWhiz in California and almost immediately drove to Hamilton, ON for Aunt Dorothy’s 100th birthday. While we were staying at Marilyn Foreman’s place (cousin) I started looking at the calendar for our trip to France OOOPS! We are flying out of Rochester on Monday not Tuesday as I thought all along. We have time and we have adjusted and we will be ready with everything, including far too many medications for youngsters like us. 

Aunt Dorothy has never liked to celebrate her birthday, she contends it is bad luck. My comment when she said that was what would bad luck look like, a 110th birthday party? The families were the Caplans, her parents side and many of the cousins; the Cohen’s her husband’s (Uncle Mel) and friends from the building where she has lived for many years. The families are so big and spread out that it turned out the caterer is a cousin. Dorothy, aka Dodo to the American family, enjoyed her party as much as everyone else. 

We drove back to Rochester determined to avoid the Thruway. On the way to Hamilton we let the GPS decide and we drove a route neither Carol nor I remember taking. For those who know western NY we took 31 which is a fairly direct route so long as you want to pass through every town between here and there. We returned taking 104 which is similar but a bit further north. Both are far more interesting than any Interstate which is clearly faster and more direct. I think it may have cost us 15 minutes on a 2 1/2 hour drive. The only reason I think we never took 31 is because it never occurred to us. 

I am not sure how I will be able to post on this trip. My tablet does not permit me to use the email group I am using to send this out. You have the option of figuring out how to subscribe so WordPress will notify you when I post, or just keeping an eye on Facebook where I will post links to this blog and maybe even the entire output. I know, some of us hate FB and won’t ever open it, I don’t blame you, but for some purposes it really is the best way to share. Of course the grandkids almost never use it anymore. 

After the trip I will send out links to anything I might have had to say. 

 

Seeing the World/Seeing North America