Abby's First Outing

We did a totally Shaffer thing this week. We took a half-renovated, totally winterized RV out for a day trip! We have no bed. We have no couch. We have no bathroom door. We only have about 1/5 of the cabinet doors reinstalled. Can't use the water. Doesn't that seem like a great time for a trial run?

Tuesday was our first day off in ten days, and we'd been planning for weeks to head back toward the Kokomo area to accomplish several things!

One of them was to pick up all our Christmas decorations, which have been in storage at my parents' house since we moved. Of all the years for me to be separated from my Christmas decor, I picked the one year it became socially acceptable to decorate for Christmas in OCTOBER! I've been shaking my head about that for weeks now. 

Alas, my Christmas collection has grown so much over the years that we couldn't fit it all in our car - or even our car and truck, if we happened to both drive. So yes. It is true that we took an RV to my parents' house for the express purpose of picking up our Christmas decor all in one trip. That is an embarrassing but true fact. 

So we got up super early on Tuesday, got ready, and climbed into Abby for our first trip in her together! 

I gotta tell you - she really is comfy to ride in - especially considering she's not new. The chairs in the cab are super cozy. I had my blanket with me for extra coziness, and I had the best time eating my yogurt and drinking my coffee while Ryan drove us down the road!

We had a gorgeous day to travel, and we were so thankful.

We did hit a traffic jam about halfway to my parents' house. We finally discovered that there was an oversized load entourage up ahead and the traffic kept jamming behind it. It wouldn't be a Shaffer road trip without a traffic jam! 

We made it to my parents' house, loaded up all the Christmas stuff and then helped them a bit with some stuff on their phones. (Ryan is their IT guy.) They took us to lunch, which was most delicious!!

We saw a couple of Ryan's family members and then look who we saw!!!

SHE REMEMBERED ME!!!!!!!!!! I have so missed this girl. 

By the time we were done in Kokomo and headed home, it was super late, but we had a safe and uneventful trip home.

But I tell you all this to say the following observations about a day in our Shafferland Shuttle - even in its mostly gutted state:

* One thing I have always lamented on road trips is the lack of a personal bathroom. And it cracked me up that I sat right there IN MY OWN RV and still had no bathroom - partially because of the aforementioned winterization and partially because of the also aforementioned missing door. But I can see how absolutely delightful and convenient it will be in just a few months to head out for the day and have my own bathroom!! 

* We did have some waiting time between appointments and decided it will be equally lovely to have a bedroom with a bed in it soon - because it would have been super to catch a nap during that waiting time. I have everything all picked out to make that the coziest bed ever. You know...soon.

* When we travel in her and have things to take with us, especially in cold or bad weather, it's nice to have room to gather up all the things BEFORE exiting the vehicle, rather than standing outside, reaching into the middle to get everything organized. 

* Large vehicles = unending white noise while in motion. I was in the happiest of all the places. 

* Abby makes a great hangout spot - even in a parking lot. I was thinking that I should be sure to just leave a few games in there permanently so we can play while we wait or pass time. You know - if we're not napping. 

So that was our first outing in Abby! Other than railroad tracks (oh my SOUL!) she was a nice, smooth ride, and we are so so so excited to finish our work on her and go have some adventures!