Life's Waiting Room

Mark and I are still sitting in life's "waiting room." But we're getting closer to the day when we can get back on the road.

Boardwalk through a Georgia swamp

This week we finally received our settlement for our motorhome. It wasn't what we wanted, but it was what God has given us, so we are duly grateful. 

Mark has been hunting the RV Trader website for a replacement home since the day after our crash. We have seen a few dream motorhomes come and go-- many of which were sold moments after they were posted for sale and before we could make our initial inquiry. Currently we are looking at a couple possibilities, both of which are in Florida. Mark will be checking them out this coming week.

After having lived a year and a half in our thirty-eight foot Alfa, we came to a few conclusions about our next coach. 

First, Mark was adamant about sticking to the Alfa brand, now that he's familiar with how it runs, how to fix potential problems, and (not least of all) having a network of owners and repair shops to help us along the way. 

Secondly, we've decided to move up to the forty foot version. Every choice has both benefits and drawbacks. The benefits of the longer coach are that the washer/dryer is next to the refrigerator instead of in the bathroom; there is space to put in a dishwasher if we want one; it has an additional table space for use as a desk or for extra diners; and it has more storage in the bedroom. One little drawback is that there is no dividing door between the bedroom and the bathroom. But the shower is a bit larger and there's more bathroom storage. The only other real drawback is that it is longer and therefore more cumbersome to drive and park. 

As before, we have a budget to work with, which makes everything more difficult. After all, if money was no issue, we could get the motorhome of our dreams. Instead, we have to evaluate each unit based on the purchase price plus how much it will cost us to fix all the problems (there are always problems) and make any important updates. Our most important updates at the moment are non-carpet floors and a residential refrigerator. Most of the motorhomes we've looked at still have carpet, which traps dust and dirt, and that awful RV refrigerator, which is impossible to keep at a steady temperature.

On the bright side, the insurance company has agreed to pay all our hotel costs up until the day we move into our new motorhome. With that assurance, we are not pressured to buy the first thing we see just because of the cost of hotel lodging. 

The Hoffman family, with Olive in the lead

Our car will finally be ready to go this coming week. Mark will drive our borrowed SUV down to Key Largo and pick up our tow dolly, then back to Miami to get the car. On the way, he will check out those two motorhomes and (God willing) make an offer on one of them. I'm not going along, but then I've seen all the pictures and trust Mark to make the right decision based on what he sees when he looks at them close up.

If neither unit passes muster, we'll keep looking.

We've enjoyed our stay in Valdosta. Mark has had lots of time to bond with little Olive (she's still a bit wary of me). Last week, we took a family walk through a Georgia swamp. This week, Melanie and I were privileged to get a tour of Options Now, one of Valdosta's God-centered crisis pregnancy centers. What a wonderful and inspiring ministry they have, doing the work of the Lord by saving lives and teaching young women that God has a wonderful plan for each of us when we submit our will to His.

Also last week, Mark received a call from a staffing agency with a potential six-month contract at Target in Minneapolis. I suppose anything can happen this year. God is teaching us to trust Him. Sometimes its hard to hold back and wait on the Lord. But if we succeed in doing it, we know there are blessings in store...

"Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

This "downtime" has given us pause to consider the path God has for us. I wish determining God's will were less murky. It would be nice if The Path looked a little more like the one through the Georgia swamp-- with wire mesh and handrails. Clarity is not guaranteed. All we can do is be patient, hang on tight to the Hand of God instead of running ahead on our own power, and pray for guidance.

... We're still working on patience.

Pitcher Plant ... stay clear -- it's carnivorous!

Diversion on the Sea

Our suite at Candlewood

Being cooped up in a hotel room can make a person a little bit crazy. That's my excuse for saying "yes" to Mark's suggestion (I'm blaming him entirely).

There we were, sitting in our little hotel room, waiting for information from our insurance company. No word on the motorhome. No word on the car. Twiddling thumbs. Thinking about what to do next. 

Then, out of the blue, Mark says... "We should call our cruise 'planner' and see if there are any cheap last-minute cruises we could go on. It beats sitting in a hotel room." 

That logic is hard to argue with. After all, a cruise to nowhere would beat sitting in a hotel room. 

The fact that we had just returned from a cruise only three weeks before served to add a twinge of guilt, but certainly not enough to put the damper on looking. No harm in looking, you know. 

So Mark got on the phone to our Carnival agent who looked to see if there were any cruises with availability going out of any of the Florida ports in the next week or two. And there was nothing. Oh well, it was fun checking.

A little later on we got a call from our Carnival agent. An opening just came up for a three-day cruise to the Bahamas... leaving tomorrow! Carnival doesn't reduce prices anymore, of course. We should have said "no way...too expensive." But instead, we said, "Book it." 

It must have been the insanity.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

That was Wednesday, the 13th. 

We started packing up our room, and put together a small suitcase to take care of us for a weekend. The next day we headed to Port Canaveral, our departure point, hauling the trailer full of all our possessions behind us. Mark dropped me off at the terminal, parked in the oversize vehicle lot, and we headed up the escalator to check in. 

When we completed our online check-in the day before, the instructions told us we would need either a passport or an "enhanced driver's license"-- you know, the new ones that let you get on an airplane without a passport. Some states have them, some don't. Mark thought that our Texas driver's licenses were the enhanced variety. I had planned to grab our passports out of the safe and take them along anyway, but... well, one of the problems with last-minute plans is not having enough time to carefully plan. The passports were forgotten (curiously, one of my recurring nightmares). 

The front line agent in the terminal kindly explained to us that Texas drivers' licenses were not enhanced (enhanced cards say "enhanced" right on the front), and we would need a birth certificate to go with the license or we would need a passport. 

Fortunately, all our possessions were back in the parking lot, so in short order we had our passports in hand and headed to the counter to check in.

Once at the counter, we began the extra scrutiny given to those lunatics who book a cruise 24 hours before the ship sails. "Did we go through security a second time?" they asked. "What are you talking about?" we answered. The agent's computer locked up. Another takes over. Agents are quietly murmuring back and forth, one leaves, comes back. Pictures are taken...we can go. No additional security check will be done. Well, that was interesting. Maybe booking last minute isn't as good an idea as we imagined.

The next little surprise waited for us at the cabin door-- two key cards; one for him, one for me. Only they had somebody else's name on them. Apparently Carnival has trouble with last minute changes too. Fortunately, one of them opened the cabin door for us, so we dropped our stuff in the room and headed straight to "Guest Services" to get our own Sign & Sail cards (key cards)... with our names on them. By this time Guest Services is closed because the crew is preparing for the "Safety Briefing." That's the grueling fifteen or twenty minute exercise required before every sailing, where all the passengers have to gather in their assigned Muster Station and learn about how to put on their life vest and disembark into lifeboats in the event of a catastrophe. Since I am now a "Platinum" level guest, I approached the special counter for those privileged guests and managed to snag an agent who was still scrounging around behind the desk. I briefly explained our problem, and she quickly, and graciously, provided us with new key cards (even though the desk was officially closed), while a bunch of other people stood around wondering why we got helped and they didn't. I expect she realized we would need them for the safety briefing, since they take "roll" with the key cards to make sure everyone participates.

Ocean view cabin on our "impulse" cruise

After the briefing was over, we were finally able to head up to the Lido Deck for some food, our first real meal of the day...only to discover all the buffets were closed. Lunch was over. They were prepping to put out the dinner food. Fortunately, the "Guy's Burger" hamburger joint was open, and we grabbed food there to tide us over until dinner time, which on this ship was 6:00.

It was a trying first day, but once we stumbled through all the unexpected issues and settled in, we had a mostly happy and peaceful weekend. 

Our only port of call was Nassau on Friday. Thursday and Saturday were sea days. But even on sea days, there is more to do on a ship than in a landlocked hotel room. We walked a lot, saw a couple comedy shows, and (as always) enjoyed the food that I didn't have to cook or clean up after. We discovered a little-used spot on the port side of the ship with comfortable seating and spent a lot of our time there, watching the ocean. In Nassau, we got off and walked around a bit. Mark wanted to look for a place with WiFi and check his emails, so we found a little cafe advertising two "Bahama Mamas" for the price of one, which sounded like a good idea... and we sat for a while.

Coming into Nassau. The lighthouse looks like a toy. It's not.

I still feel a little guilty for spending more than we should have just to get away and try to forget our troubles for a bit. But it was a mostly relaxing diversion. And, thanks to this short little cruise, I am now officially "Platinum" with Carnival...a status that comes with laundry service-- something Mark has been looking forward to for some time.

Just before we left on the cruise, we were notified that the insurance adjusters approved repair of our car. It seems the damage to the frame, if there was any, was not sufficient to "total" it. It should be ready for us sometime in the middle of March. 

Upon our return, we were notified that our RV was indeed "totaled." That was not a surprise. We have since received a settlement offer from our insurance company for "fair market" value, which we have not accepted. We learned that, even though Florida is a "no fault" state, we have the option to file a claim with the insurance company of the liable party. So that's what we're doing. We're seeking restitution, not fair market value. Once that runs its course, we'll let you know how it all turns out.

In the meantime, we are comfortably settled into Candlewood Suites, an extended-stay hotel in Valdosta, Georgia, which is the city where Mark's daughter, Melanie, and her family live. It's a much roomier place than the last one, and the price is about the same. For once, Mark gets to spend some time with his family. Most of the family we've visited with over the last year have been mine. It's certainly his turn, and he's thoroughly enjoying it.

We're hoping for a resolution on our insurance claim by the end of next week.

Until then...

The Disney ship docked next to us

"Snow White" on the movie screen.
(One of these days, I will take a Disney cruise.)

Our spacious "suite" at Candlewood

Candlewood suite kitchenette area. Not much different
than cooking in the RV...except it has a bigger fridge!