The first trip: A test to see if full-timing in a 1976 twenty foot recreational vehicle, was really what I had dreamed of for so many years.

I left my possessions with my closest friends Pat and Audrey and planned on spending at least a year traveling. It was both scary and exciting!

Relying totally upon one's self is a hell of a challenge.

I dislike goodbyes, and couldn't sleep anyhow, so I left in the middle of the night.
I saw my dear friend Audrey watching out the kitchen window as I pulled out.I have known her since 1955 and she knew I would leave that way, and this was her way of saying goodby and god speed.

I swept north toward San Francisco, stopping a couple times to look at the valley where I had spent so much of my adult life. When I had first come there in 1955, it was called the Valley of Heart's Delight. A valley of orchards and small towns scattered gently to the south of The City, San Francisco. In the 70's it grew and became known as the Santa Clara Valley, in the 80s it mushroomed into Silicon Valley ... a megapolis filling the valley from S.F. to San Jose and beyond. In the night, the valley "buzzed" like a hive of angry bees. It was no longer my home and I needed to find another way of life which didn't grind my soul down, and which I could afford on my somewhat meager assets.

I had dreamed of being able to travel to my heart's content for years. For the past few years I had seriously started buying things I would need on the road, copying vcr tapes, getting good flashlights etc., stocking up on leisure clothes, reading about recreational vehicles and camping in them. In many ways I was quite well prepared.

Now that I was actually on the road, I had to admit that I had a few thoughts about turning right back to the place I knew, where I had friends and contacts. And the sneaky "what ifs" would leave me feeling anxious and worried. There was only one way to find out how it would go...and that was TO GO. So I did.

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