Here We Go Again!

Our two weeks in Gettysburg are coming to an end.  It’s been quite a whirlwind, and we definitely needed our two rest days (Friday and Saturday) to take a mental health break.  The training courses didn’t go exactly the way we expected……….

The first week was the RV maintenance portion of the two courses.  Tim had previously taken the online version of it and passed the test, thus ensuring his placement in the RV inspector course for week two.  It was extremely helpful, in that all the areas he viewed in the online course could now be better digested as a hands-on learning experience.  This was all pretty much as we expected it to go.  The unexpected portion was the fact that the wives were expected to participate each day for the first two hours.   That portion was devoted to developing a business, and learning how to run it – something we are quite well-versed in doing after 14 years in our past life.  Nevertheless, it was helpful to hear a lot of it over again in order to re-energize my somewhat jaded perspective from before.

We also had a bit of socializing with the others, gathering for a couple of potluck suppers with the folks running the maintenance course.  Super nice people, and I’m very glad to have had the opportunity to meet them, as well as chat with some of the other participants and their wives.  We also invited another couple over for a campfire one evening, and had lots to chat about.

Tim had been the only person to sign up for the RV inspector course (because he had pre-qualified for it by passing the online test), but there was a very huge push to get others to commit to taking the course.   There are very few (400) RV inspectors throughout the country, and so many more are needed.  The organization that we are now affiliated with, NRVIA, has been approached by FEMA to start inspecting trailers in Florida that are destined for Key West initially, and there just aren’t enough folks to handle the volume of trailers involved.  (More on this later)  By week’s end, eight more fellows passed the test and signed up for the second week.  Some of the other guys are planning on taking the advanced training in the next few weeks at another location, so that’s adding a few more available to head to Florida when the time comes.

So, now we arrive at week two.  Again, things did not happen the way we expected.  The wives were to be involved in the training as well, because in order to have the inspections go smoothly, thoroughly, and more quickly, we are needed to do the interior inspecting of the rigs.  And, quite naturally, my first thought was, “He’s doing it to me again!”  (Tim “sucked” me into inspecting and operations for him with our previous business, even though it just was not my cup of tea.  Here we go again!)  It’s not as bad as that, but my thoughts about slinking into a life of leisurely retirement are now somewhat off kilter.  

Because we were working with a smaller group, it was much easier to get to know the other ladies in the group.  We are going to try to get together with a few couples at the Tampa RV show in January, so future plans were definitely made amongst us.  Another couple will be wintering not far from us, so we will be able to catch up with them from time to time as well.  All things considered, it was nice to finally be able to make connections with people that have otherwise eluded us since we hit the road.  We look forward to meeting up with them again sometime in the future.

Graduation was on Thursday, and everyone but us left on Friday. As they were late signing up, the campground was already booked up for the holiday weekend, so they had to vacate.  We booked our campsite months ago, so we were going to be here for the full two weeks.  It’s been nice to have the extra time to decompress from it all.  We’ll be making our way to Florida a couple weeks, and then we sit tight and wait to hear about the FEMA work.  In the meantime, we can get started on finding leads to inspect on our own.  Once that all takes place, we should be set for a comfortable income “cushion” in our semi-retirement.

Friday and Saturday, being our break days, we managed to venture forth and see some of the sights in Gettysburg we missed when we passed through here in May.  It has all been very sobering to take in the vast expanse of land involved in the battles, and envision the sheer numbers of men who fought and died.  It’s so hard to take in, and even though it seems like we’ve seen so much here, we’ve barely seen anything.  Perhaps we’ll pass this way again so we can see more of the evil that  took place those three days in July, 1863.

I should add that Tim decided to take a walk this morning, traveling along a path near Crawford Road, going toward Devil’s Den.  At one point, he said he felt a chill come over him, and then it passed.  He didn’t think much of it until later.  After we walked through the National Cemetery and then up to Cemetery Ridge, we walked back toward town and passed by a tourist shop devoted to Ghost Tours and Tales in Gettysburg.  I mentioned that most likely there were many lost souls who couldn’t move on, so no doubt there were a great deal of ghosts/apparitions around.  That’s when he told me about what happened to him.  He’s not one to believe in paranormal activity or “ooo-eee-ooo-eee” stuff (as he calls it), but he may just have been a little more convinced today.

We’re off to Ohio tomorrow, on our way to Howe, Indiana to have our repair work taken care of at the factory.  We’ll have a few nights in a hotel so the kitties won’t be stressed out by having to stay in the truck all day while the rig is worked on.  We’ll have an indoor pool, so I guess this qualifies as a mini-vacation?  I’ll take it!

Sing it, Ray!