EDITOR’S NOTE: After a brief hiatus, “Ramblin’ Road” columnist Phyllis McCrossin has decided to resume writing her column for Townbroadcast and writing her blog. The following is her first installment of the continuing adventures of her and husband King.

by Phyllis McCrossin

It’s been awhile. But I’m back. Never say never, right?

There are a thousand excuses for my break … I thought I was going to retire from writing, the WIFI in the trailer is spotty, King had some health issues, I’m lazy… Take your pick.

Suffice it to say, I’m back, and I’m going to try to be more disciplined in my writing/blogging.

King and I are entering our seventh year on the road. Who would have thought we’d last this long?

The summer started out quietly enough. We got settled into the routine at Kal-Haven Outpost in South Haven.This is our fifth summer here. King started helping out with lawn maintenance four years ago and three years ago I started  working in the campground store. 

So our summers have basically been a melding of work, golf, putter around the trailer on days off, more work, more golf, more puttering. But things changed a little this summer. I suppose some might say it was life altering, but we don’t look at it that way. It was simply a disruption in our routine.

In June King had some health issues that put him in the hospital for a few days. It could have been serious, but it was taken care of and after a lengthy recovery he’s doing well.

We both got Covid at the end of July, which kind of knocked the wind out of our sails … four years with no sickness and we thought we were invincible. We aren’t.

We will get our next booster, along with the recommended flu shot and RSV shot before we leave in October. We had always planned on it.

And now life is returning to our normal routines.

So the summer season in Michigan is winding down. After Labor Day, things at the campground slow down. Weekends are still busy and I still enjoy sitting in my trailer watching the kids ride their bicycles around the campground – it’s a celebration of one last weekend of freedom I suppose. But there is a finality in the air. We are back to watching the grandchildren at their school sporting events during the week and Saturday afternoons finds King watching college football. I put chili in the slow cooker to simmer all day and we have chili and homemade bread in the evening. To be honest, I’m not certain King is all that fond of chili, but he’s stuck with my family tradition.

After the last golf scramble in October – a Halloween open – we will be heading out for California. The trailer needs new shoes (tires) before we leave and we need to have the truck tires rotated, oil changed, brakes checked and anything else we can think of checked.

We’d like to make it past Oklahoma this year before our first breakdown. OK, actually we’d like to make it to California and back without a breakdown. That’s our goal. 

I’m starting to get the trailer ready for the trip too. Believe it or not, our 262 square feet of space can become overrun with  “stuff.” I’ve been busy unstuffing, cleaning floors and rearranging. I’m always looking for ways to make what we have more easily accessible. I hate having to move five items to get to the one item I need. I also have to start getting cupboards arranged so that when we are flying down the highway or bouncing over potholes we don’t lose our precious cargo.

One becomes complacent when stationary for any length of time. So now cupboard latches have to be checked, bungie cords installed inside cupboards to hold things in place and I’m starting to weed out canned goods that I never used. (Apparently for a few weeks this summer I craved hummus).

I also washed the outside of the trailer the other day. The campground was fairly empty and I realized we hadn’t washed the trailer in a long, long, long time – if ever. I have to admit, I am quite pleased with the cleanliness. Who knew a little soap and water could make that much of a difference?

It’s still an interesting life. Over the summer I learned that some family members wonder how we can live this way. To me it seems perfectly natural. We live this way because this is what we want to do.

There is no secret disaster that forced us to give up what others consider a “normal” life. It’s just the desire to have some fun – our way – and enjoy what’s left of life doing as we please. And this is what we please. We are very much aware that this can’t last forever and at some point we will have to live a more conventional lifestyle. But until that time, we will enjoy what we have.

So, life goes on. We manage the hiccups and bumps along the way, and get ready to continue with our  adventure.

Be kind. Enjoy life. Don’t kick sand in the sandbox. Vote in November.