Lovely April and early May

I am very happy to report that we made the right decision to stay in Florida through March this year before we started our trek northbound.  Last year we found Raleigh to be chillier than we expected when we arrived in late February (and it was apparently even colder this year), but aside from the pollen clouds, being here in April and May is fantastic. We have enjoyed lovely temperatures and great visits with our local family and friends.

We also took a week in late April (via airplane) to meet my Dad and Sheila in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico for a nice week of visiting, walks on the resort/beach, and dinners outdoors with lovely sunsets. We have several Mexico locations we can use with this resort company we have a timeshare with and this is now one of our favorites. We didn't even venture off the resort the whole time other than to pick up groceries the local Walmart, so it was definitely a lazy week.

The four of us enjoying dinner out

A picture from the balcony of our room looking at the resort

Once we got back to Raleigh we threw ourselves into getting Max ready for the next travel segment that commences in a week -- our trip over the mountains through Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio toward our month-long touring destination of Michigan and its upper peninsula.  As it was about time for some regular "outside" maintenance, Max got a bath, sun protectant on all of his exposed plastic/rubber parts, awning seams sealed, and some roof edge sealant replaced.  Needless to say, we now both have sore muscles and a headfull of pollen exposure.  All that is left is to put silicon the rubber seals inside all of the basement doors which keeps them supple, but this is easier to do when the "slides" are in so we don't knock our heads as much.

Jeffrey washing Max's roof

For those of you interested in some of the challenges of a mobile lifestyle, we have continued to expand the level of "services" that this area of the country can provide us when we pass through.  We connected with the area's Freightliner service center so we could get some replacement clips for our front week hubcaps.  We have learned that they seem to have a lifespan of 2-3 years before failure but are super-cheap and easy to swap out.  The alternative is to buy a new not-cheap hubcap.

We also needed some vinyl seam sealer and met up with a local craftsman who does all sorts of awning and upholstery work.  Thankfully we don't need his services there yet, just his connections to the distributor of the seam sealer product.  He knows a guy who has an RV mobile repair business which, while we hope never to need it, it is nice to have this contact "just in case".

Max's needs aside, the biggest personal "wins" were that we established a dentist who can do our mid-year cleanings as well as a great local place to do shoe work.  For those of you that don't know, I have a leg length discrepancy that requires me to get all of my right shoe soles "lifted" half an inch. It can be hard to find a place that does it right so it will last... and for the right price too.  As a result, I don't buy new shoes often, but when an old important pair fails, I don't want to have to wait to get back to Austin TX or Boynton Beach FL (my other two shoe service centers) to replace them.

Well, cross your fingers that we make it over our first mountain range with no issues (other than a sore foot from me using my non-existent passenger brake pedal)!

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