Yes, I helped make a kid. Considering that Steph's birthday is in March, that moment may have happened on Father's Day all those years ago. TMI? It's what I do.
Some thoughts on being a Dad: best achievement of my life. We didn't just make a person, we made a good person. We nurtured her through those early years. Encouraged her through childhood and adolescence. Protected her. Probably more than she knows. No doubt was a big ol' pain in her ass; often.
And now we have come full circle: from raising her in our home, to her going off to college, to moving back home, then getting married and moving away. And, she gave us a son in her husband, Dan. And now we are together (somewhat) in a bit of that compound she had imagined. Truly, the only reason we would move to the desert.
In spite of what many say, I enjoyed those adolescent years - not just watching her become a real person, but seeing that personality and moral sense develop.
So, on this one day of the year, my part in all of this is acknowledged. Celebrated. But, I celebrate it in my own way every day. And right beside me in this journey is that pretty Blonde that played a far bigger part in this fatherhood thing.
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We put off loading and prepping the Roadtrek until today because of the heat. Yes, we knew today was going to be the hottest day this week (supposed to get to 114º), but the two previous days were hot, as well. While the lithium batteries can run the air conditioning, with this kind of heat, that van is still a "metal box"... we off loaded and prepped things (fresh water tanks are being sanitized), and will load it up after the sun goes down. This will be our longest trip to date with this conveyance.
We thought nothing of going out for months in our previous RVs - this Class B has far less storage inside, no exterior storage compartments. No, this is not a surprise to us; our other RVs have always been acquired for "a purpose," and we used them accordingly. The purpose for this one is: sightseeing along the way; fitting almost anywhere there's a normal parking space; off-grid use (even though I expect we will still use campgrounds and RV parks most of the time); and the van being comfortable for Murphy (mostly in terms of climate control) when we aren't in there with him.
We have insulated window covers all around. That said, no RV is at its best when the weather gets extremely hot or cold. We tried leaving the a/c running while plugged into a 20 amp circuit in the garage... it popped the circuit (nothing else on that one). It really needs a 30 amp circuit to handle the heat and the length of that electrical cable run.
Checking weather for the next 10 days along our route, it is going to be warm until we get to higher elevation in Wyoming. A week from today, the high there is only supposed to be 58º, with a low of 32º. Most of the rest of the time, the highs will be in the upper 70s to low 80s, lows in the 40s. Won't be much need for air conditioning there... which means our batteries won't get a workout. But, pretty much all the way there and back, we'll be dealing with the summer heat. Our tentative plan is to overnight at higher elevations along the way, if that works out for our convenience. No reservations along the way, so we'll wing it. Considering our size and the comfortable driving, we can cover as many miles as we choose to on any particular day. Previously, when towing or double-towing, we went easy on the miles per day.
Today, coming up on noon, it is already 108º.
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Last night, Murphy and Dicha sharing some patio space...
Dicha is now about twice the size (weight) as Murphy. I wouldn't call it a "best buddies" situation, but they can be in the same space without Murphy getting hissy or Dicha jumping with excitement.
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And back to today. Well, this morning. Dan is home from his trip to Mexico; the 4 of us went out for breakfast. It gave us the chance to hear about Dan's trip and have a meal together on Father's Day. I was involved in the "where" decision - nothing says special occasion like Waffle House. There is a very nice one about 25 minutes east of us (Steph likes to say, "Everything is a half hour away - just different directions"). Laveen is still developing - more retail and restaurants are coming.
What makes a Waffle House nice? Thanks for asking. This one is pretty new. Very clean. A bit bigger than most we've been in, so the staff has room to move around at the grill and behind the counter. The staff is all friendly - they seemed to know a lot of the patrons coming in this morning. The food was good. The waitress very attentive. And when we left, three of the employees said, "Thanks for coming in!" and one of them said, "See you tomorrow!" Good business.
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