FreeAtLast
Member
Hello Bob and fellow members.
I've been poking around this site for probably two years or more as my wife and I had hoped to travel in whatever kind of little RV or camper that we could afford once I retired. But a year ago, my wife was in and out of the hospital with severe abdominal pains. After several months of testing and surgery for a ruptured gall bladder, we got the news that no one wants to hear - inoperable pancreatic cancer. That was in March and I became her caregiver, with the help of hospice, until her passing in early July. In April, friends set up a fundraiser for us to rent a small RV for a week and in May we went to Niagara Falls which had been her choice for our first stop. It was just under 1000 miles round trip for us. For a week, we could pretend that we were travelling together like we had always planned. We spent two nights at an RV campsite and the rest in WalMart lots. She needed lots of meds by then and we couldn't have done it without having the bed and bathroom of the RV.
So now that it's just me, I have changed my focus to converting a cargo van and have been busy watching YouTube vids and reading posts here and Bob's excellent blog entries. I've located a 2000 GMC 3500 work van with the 6.5 liter GM/Detroit Diesel turbo diesel. The van is not a high top and it's not the long wheelbase extended van, but we all have to start somewhere and I think this is going to be my starting point. If it turns out that I need more room, this drivetrain will certainly be able to handle it.
2015 was a tough year, but it is now behind us. I've learned to use grief as a transformative force, as we are never the same person after losing a loved one that we were before. I'm looking forward to whatever 2016 has in store, learning some new skills and creating a new me. I am so grateful that this community exists and continues to share its collective knowledge so generously. Thank you, thank you all.
FreeAtLast (maybe not quite yet, but soon!)
I've been poking around this site for probably two years or more as my wife and I had hoped to travel in whatever kind of little RV or camper that we could afford once I retired. But a year ago, my wife was in and out of the hospital with severe abdominal pains. After several months of testing and surgery for a ruptured gall bladder, we got the news that no one wants to hear - inoperable pancreatic cancer. That was in March and I became her caregiver, with the help of hospice, until her passing in early July. In April, friends set up a fundraiser for us to rent a small RV for a week and in May we went to Niagara Falls which had been her choice for our first stop. It was just under 1000 miles round trip for us. For a week, we could pretend that we were travelling together like we had always planned. We spent two nights at an RV campsite and the rest in WalMart lots. She needed lots of meds by then and we couldn't have done it without having the bed and bathroom of the RV.
So now that it's just me, I have changed my focus to converting a cargo van and have been busy watching YouTube vids and reading posts here and Bob's excellent blog entries. I've located a 2000 GMC 3500 work van with the 6.5 liter GM/Detroit Diesel turbo diesel. The van is not a high top and it's not the long wheelbase extended van, but we all have to start somewhere and I think this is going to be my starting point. If it turns out that I need more room, this drivetrain will certainly be able to handle it.
2015 was a tough year, but it is now behind us. I've learned to use grief as a transformative force, as we are never the same person after losing a loved one that we were before. I'm looking forward to whatever 2016 has in store, learning some new skills and creating a new me. I am so grateful that this community exists and continues to share its collective knowledge so generously. Thank you, thank you all.
FreeAtLast (maybe not quite yet, but soon!)
