It’s been just over four months since we returned to our house in Connecticut. As I write this, I’m mindful of the fact that I just called this dwelling our “house,” not our “home.” Ever since our last trip, we have not felt like this is really “home” anymore, it’s just a house where we spend time between trips in our rolling home. It’s interesting how quickly that happened.

We started missing the road about 3 to 4 weeks after returning. It’s interesting how quickly that happened, too!

For those who don’t know, we sold “The Beast,” our 2001 Georgie Boy Landau and bought a much newer 2012 Monaco LaPalma. The Beast was a good introductory lesson into RVing, how to buy an RV (and how NOT to buy an RV), the RV lifestyle, and how to fix a broken RV. We took a hit on the sale, but the guy who bought it is a mechanic who was able to rebuild the transmission and he was happy with his purchase. We, likewise, are very happy to have found the Monaco! It’s a very good brand, and has a lot of great features that The Beast did not like heating pads under the waste tanks to prevent freezing, a convection oven, comfy recliners and two TV’s that actually work. It’s four feet shorter than The Beast, but loaded with storage space inside and out. We are really looking forward to having a little more comfort on this trip, as well as less down time for repairs! I have dubbed her Princess Grace of Monaco! (Bob is still searching for a more creative name.)

Tomorrow, we leave the suddenly cold and more tax-laden state of Connecticut for warmer states. We’ll meander down the eastern seaboard as we make our way to Florida for the winter. We enjoyed visiting friends in Florida during our few weeks there last year and decided to give it a try for the entire winter. Spending the winter in Florida requires an early commitment as snowbirds book their sites a good year in advance, and if you wait too long you won’t find a site. We booked our sites in April and May and found many parks were already reserved to capacity for the winter months. We are reserved through February. By March, we’ll begin meandering back to Connecticut.

So it begins! T minus 24 hours and counting!