Life in the fast lane

When Susan and I decided that we’d take a try at motorhome living (which hasn’t started quite yet), we chose not to renew our apartment lease, because we knew we’d move out within four months.

When we were given an eviction notice (because we didn’t have a lease, despite our having chosen the rent-by-the-month option that had been listed by the complex as an available choice), we decided to spend the interim period in the extended-stay hotel where we’d awaited the finalization of our house sale.

When we found there were no ground-floor rooms available, we accepted one on the third floor because there was a handy elevator. And that worked out fine.

Then the elevator broke down.

And, two weeks later, it’s still broken.

This was a bit of an inconvenience for me, but Susan has substantial mobility limitations. Going down two flights was a labor for her; coming back up — especially after having spent a day teaching clinical — was pretty much at the edge of her endurance.

The current desk manager saw her efforts one day and took pity on us. One or two ground-floor rooms had come available, and we were offered our choice. Susan told me she could tough it out for the next month, because she recognized 1) I would be the one moving everything, and 2) without an elevator, I’d be making trips down the stairs carrying whatever I could. I really thought about staying … but, ultimately, there was no telling how long any elevator repair would take (it’s 21 years old, there are parts that are hard to replace), and I decided it would be better to already be downstairs by the time it came for us to move out of the hotel entirely.

I spent an entire day carrying things downstairs. One armload at a time. Seriously, nine straight hours, with only a break for lunch. By the end of the day, my feet were so sore I could barely stand.

But now we’re there. And in less than a month, we’ll be ready to start RV life.

We’ll either really, really like it, or will discover very quickly that the idea was a total disaster.

Look forward to finding out.