OT: JPT... LarryLDN Check in

[LarryLDN]

530 days later... just re-read my posts.. not much has changed except my current podiatrist insisted on $400 shoe inserts & we retired the Arizona brace. Otherwise, still plodding along :)

[agate]

Glad to hear from you! Sounds as if you're still happily living in the RV.

MS has us for the long haul, and this forum is still here.

I'm familiar with the pricey shoe inserts. My podiatrist prescribes new ones every year for me. They help but they do look and act a lot like the Dr. Scholl's insoles you can buy in any supermarket for a couple of dollars.

I understand they're not the same at all. They're supposedly "custom-molded" and very special.

Hope you'll continue doing well. If plodding works, by all means plod on.

[stillstANNding]

Hi Larry! Tell us about the RV-ing. Where have you been staying for the winter?

Wishing you well,
ANN

[LarryLDN]

New ones every year? I got 2 of them... $400 & $300... that's pricy for annuals! She didn't say I'd have to replace them that much! I haven't seen her since I got back to town. I figure I'll see her before I head out again. These are supposedly to help with neuromas which I had 2 years ago (in my right foot)... the brace was getting old (for my left foot) so she suggested trying these. Had to get 2 pairs though, one for my outdoor shoes & 1 for indoor.

and Time just flies by.

Glad to hear from you! Sounds as if you're still happily living in the RV.

MS has us for the long haul, and this forum is still here.

I'm familiar with the pricey shoe inserts. My podiatrist prescribes new ones every year for me. They help but they do look and act a lot like the Dr. Scholl's insoles you can buy in any supermarket for a couple of dollars.

I understand they're not the same at all. They're supposedly "custom-molded" and very special.

Hope you'll continue doing well. If plodding works, by all means plod on.

[LarryLDN]

I live in Ft Myers, south west Florida has awesome sunsets. I'm 10 miles from Fort Myers Beach and go there for sunsets when the time/weather lines up.

I leave in the Spring & make sure to be back in Florida (still 200+ miles north of Ft Myers) by the 1st week of November & I get down here to home after Thanksgiving/1st week of December.

In 2014 I was on the road 7 months and 45 states (missed WI, MI & VT), in 2015 also 7 months, and 22 states including WI, MI & VT. I left later each year but got back around the same time.

My main goal/commitment since 2014 has been to see my original neuro office on Staten Island once a year.

It would be nice to have a travel companion but it's awesome to be able to go it alone. Scary at times though.

In 2014, 15, 17 & 18 I had my old Magellan E500 track my trips. The blue lines are pretty much exactly where I was. There's one stray blue line that crosses MI & PA... I guess it got messed up when the satellites weren't fully set yet.

2014&15


2017&18

2014 we drove in a blizzard & 2018 was totally changed by this fierce couple, Florence and Michael. Never know what to expect once I'm thousands of miles away. I was on my way back south to NC when Florence had me go west & then on the way back from it, Michael had me make another 180. Got to see way more than I originally planned. But most of my trips were changed from original. plans

Hi Larry! Tell us about the RV-ing. Where have you been staying for the winter?

Wishing you well,
ANN

[stillstANNding]

Thanks, Larry, I find it fascinating. I like the idea of traveling like a turtle w your house on your back. I’ve just started to follow some YouTube RVers like Carolyn Caravan.

Best to you,
ANN

[Virginia]

Hi Larry, looks like you are clearly seeing some parts of the country. That is a good thing. I hope you stay safe on the roads. I wonder how long you plan to do this. Tracking where you have been was very interesting.

Hope you continue to have a good time.

[LarryLDN]

I grew in to it. In 2009 I rented RVs for 7 1 week trips to go to Bluegrass Festivals in the NY/NJ/PA/CT area. When I moved to Florida in 2010 I figured I'd not be going to those festivals anymore. But then in 2011 a friend's son was getting married up in Lake George (NY) & I got the idea to rent an RV & go! Unfortunately, the best laid plans, and all that... the RV rental had some mechanical issues & I was delayed twice. I never made it up to the wedding (& it rained & rained up that way), so I ended up in Gettysburg instead the weekend of their annual festival. So the RV changed my plans but I had a much better time LOL

Then I rented again in 2012 for a short trip (renting is expensive!) and really got the bug in 2013 when I took a 53 day trip, got back & rented for a 25 day trip right after. But I couldn't keep renting. Much longer story short, I bought an RV in December (2013) so 2014&15 were 7+ month trips, & the last 3 I left later but pretty much got home the same time.

I guess MS & LDN let me live my RV Dreams. When married we rented a few times in the 80s & 90s... 97 was the last... I imagined travelling with my wife once we retired if we could.. but career & children were priorities making it an impossible dream... especially after the MS got the better of me shortly after 97...

So I am living my dream.. just not how ever imagined.

The last few years I've been 'boon-docking' with my generator in Walmart lots or Cabelas, safe rest areas, Cracker Barrels... I really like the Walmarts but more and more are no longer allowing it. I have Apps that help so much though! Like RVParky that shows where they are & if they allow it.

I'm having a GFI electrical issue suddenly & my friend replaced the GFI & now it don't work at all. Hopefully he wired it wrong. Will find out next week, I hope.

This is my RV just after being washed & waxed in November.

Thanks, Larry, I find it fascinating. I like the idea of traveling like a turtle w your house on your back. I’ve just started to follow some YouTube RVers like Carolyn Caravan.

Best to you,
ANN

[LarryLDN]

In 2014&15 I was to 3 of the 4 extremes (NW, NE, SE), Neah Bay (NWW) & Blane (NWN) WA, Houlton (NEE), Madawaska (NEN) & Lubec ME & Key West. I find when I'm out on the road most people are decent, at least the ones I've interacted with. Maybe I avoided the horrible areas but there were some nights & places I didn't feel safe but luckily made it thru them.

Most of my Problems are either the RV issues or my MS & physical issues. Most of my external battles are weather related. I've been in some scary ones. In 2017 I Was even crashed into, on the Grand Island (NY) bridge, 2 miles from my destination that night. Found a chiro there the next day & saw him last year when I passed thru.

I have chiropractors I see all over. 4 in 5 areas in Florida, 1 in GA, NC, GI NY, LI NY, SI NY & NJ and I found one in Rapid City SD in 2014. So 11 in all. I see my neuro once a year but I go chiropractor hopping on my way up north & back.

As for traveling alone in my RV I hope to do it as long as I can, my friend & I customized my RV quite a bit & it now has over 57500 miles on it. With all the tweeks I now have 2 TVs, a TiVo, router & Jetpack. My cell, laptop, an iPad & just got a samsung tablet when up in Delaware. I just got 2 new coach batteries & I have 2 inverters that powers all my electronics.


I didn't bring that GPS for tracking in 2016, I figured I had them in 2014 & 15 for the big trips. But then on my way out in 2017 I grabbed it & also in 2018. It tells me exactly where I am, how fast I'm moving & the elevation. It's great how it goes on Google Earth for the blue line path..

I share my trips on Twitter & Tumblr. I take way too many pics. I also have an old Droid cell on my dash, I have it record all driving. I don't know if they'll ever be watched again but when I can't drive anymore I may review my travels.

I also still geocache. Between 2014&2015 I found geocaches in the of lower 48 states & also New Brunswick.

Thanks

Hi Larry, looks like you are clearly seeing some parts of the country. That is a good thing. I hope you stay safe on the roads. I wonder how long you plan to do this. Tracking where you have been was very interesting.

Hope you continue to have a good time.

[Virginia]

After my brother's first wife died, he remarried and for a few (not many, like you) years they traveled in a motor home. It was very big and hard to drive and harder to get a parking place for it than yours. They live in S.C., but would go to Montana and many other places and maybe park in a motor home site and stay for 2 to 4 weeks. They had to haul a car or some other vehicle on the back of the motor home which made it even larger. My brother got kind of tired of driving it and finally they bought a house in a community in Florida that was for people with motor homes. They did that for a couple of years and then moved to a place just outside of Hilton Head, SC. They have been there and settled in for a number of years. They said they lost a lot of money on the motorhome, but enjoyed it for awhile. I remember it having a queen size bed, a nice shower, a nice kitchen with modern stuff in it. But even though they had a stove to cook on, if they ate at home they mostly grilled out.

My brother was tired of it before his wife because he had to do all the driving and it was long. They would come through where I live in Raleigh, NC a couple of times a year and since they would only stay a couple of nights they would try to find a Walmart or a place like you were talking about to park it. They met lots of people and had a good time, but it was time for them to give it up.

[agate]

Special thanks to LarryLDN for putting a link to the BrainTalk boards on his homepage!

[LarryLDN]

I just got access to update those pages again, 2011 was the last time I was able to

Special thanks to LarryLDN for putting a link to the BrainTalk boards on his homepage!

[LarryLDN]

It was getting very expensive to rent & with nothing but pictures after. I'm not sure if it's not been just as expensive to own, but I sure get 7 months for the cost of just weeks renting. Then again, when things break, while renting, I only have to spend the time on the road getting it fixed, They pay.

But I've been enjoying my journey each year & one thing for sure, I couldn't do what I do any other way. Can't fly, rent cars & hotels by comparison. Not with my schedule & issues.

As long as I am alone I'll do it as long as I can. But it's getting tougher & tougher for sure.

After my brother's
.... They met lots of people and had a good time, but it was time for them to give it up.

[Virginia]

Larry, I hope you can continue to travel for as long as you want. It certainly is a good way to see our beautiful country.

[LarryLDN]

Larry, I hope you can continue to travel for as long as you want. It certainly is a good way to see our beautiful country.

Haven't been here since 4/19 apparently. May-Sep 2019 I had a few bad months but recovered enough to get in my RV & get out for 2 months. Before I headed out I had a few sonograms & ultrasounds to find out current issues, nothing major but "aging related".

So I headed out in mid September & I got home 11/30/19. Had I known the world would be shut down a few months later, I would have stayed away longer. And Except for a few days back this February, to get my generator tuned & to get the RV waxed, its been grounded. Who knows if or when I'll be able to travel again.


Since 3/11/20 I've basically been home except for 4-6 hours each week, usually Wednesdays, for my chiro & grocery shopping. TIME just marches on. I can't believe it's October already!

Hope all is well here.

And so it goes...