Do RVs dream?
It sits out there in the driveway with the season's first snow flurries dusting its windshield as the last of the leaves fall from the trees.
Inside the RV, there's the faint but sweet smell of the antifreeze I ran through the plumbing last week. The doors to the refrigerator and the freezer are open to air out. The food and coffee in the storage cupboards are emptied. Only a RV Lifestyle sweatshirt and a light weight nylon jacket hang in the once crowded wardrobe.
My wide-brimmed hat with the pins and buttons collected from national parks and scenic attractions hangs by its neck string behind the driver's seat, waiting, seemingly, to be put on and to begin another trip.
It's so cold you can see your breath when you step inside.
Our dog, who loves the RV Lifestyle, guards and patrols the RV like a treasure. Sometimes he lies down on the driveway, right outside the sliding door. If it's going anyplace, he seems to be saying, it's taking him.
The RV is ready for the cold Michigan winter.
It would shiver if it could.
Inside our sticks and bricks house is a calendar now filled with planned trips for the coming year. But first comes the slowest travel time of the year, the weeks leading up to the New Year.
So right now, it sits parked and – am I imagining this?- looking lonesome and forlorn.
Do RVs dream?
Silly question, I know. But we do imbue them with personalities, naming them, referring to them by gender-specific pronouns. We look at them and think of the places we've been, the places we will visit. They represent freedom, adventure, the excitement of pulling out, and the call of the open road.
They sure make us dream, don't they?
Soon, loyal RV…. soon.
Wish it was me!
ROADTREK’N
working on getting in one and finding my soul on the road , I think I left it on the road many yrs ago when I was younger …. I miss it so much
Some day I’ll find one I can afford.
I’m with you Frances…. Wanting a shot gun rider/companion to hit the road with….
When we adopted our RV – we immediately fell in love with her! She has a name and we talk to her all the time. She makes our dreams come true….
Wish I had a buddy to ride shoot gun and I would be on the road and gone.
I really enjoyed reading this piece. It was a thoughtful and warm “calm after the storm” musing of the kind that many of us can relate too. These are the kind of thoughts that slowly percolate in ones’ mind sitting alone in an RV parked in ones’ own driveway.
Am I the only one who talks to their RV? They do have different personalities and I think of mine as a old friend who has been a constant companion on my many travels.
I’m dreaming of my future RV dreaming
nice but very concerned about safety issues …
Loved my sunraider.
One day i get one .
I still need a bathroom
like
!nice
What a great story, Mike! Yes, they dream. And our seems to know the way to California wine county all by itself. Fortunately in AZ we don’t have to winterize much, so I just use a little vodka in the fresh water tank. Makes de-winterizing much more fun!
Do you or your readers have experience with southern RV Treks even after winterizing your water system? Seems the RV should do fine if the trip is flexible enough to avoid icy path on the way to warmer destinations. And if winterizing is as easy as you describe, this could be redone before arrival back in the great white north…
I think I’ll go sit in my Trek for a while and keep her company.
You have said it perfectly-exactly what those of us in the colder climates are thinking. While Jim is at work, Hailey and I like to go out and sit inside Ruby at least once a week and pretend we are on the road….soon
You are an excellent writer, Mike Wendland. You capture the feeling perfectly.
Our dog does the same thing as your dog… she guards our RV like a prize bone and can’t figure out why we’re just letting it sit in the drive way instead of taking her for a trip!
Wonderful story that perfectly captures the feeling of those of us in the great white north where we are snowbound till spring.