He thought RVers were nice folks who sat around too much, and that the so-called RV Dream Lifestyle consisted mostly of dreaming of the next potluck.
I don't know how he got that idea, but he did. Also he wasn't too handy with maintaining his motorhome.
He has been diagnosed with the Thin Man syndrome, and it appears terminal. You know the type--gnarly, wiry old guys who refuse to blimp out in middle age or even old age, like a decent person should. For awhile there, we had a de facto support group for RVing men who suffered that affliction. Women seem to be mercifully free of it.
And that was another problem he had--he was single. Boys will be boys and he hoped to meet a woman who had a vestige of a feminine figure. Apparently hugging the honeys at four o'clock circle--that tribal gathering of wide body chairs--did not inspire him.
So he moved to Tucson, joined a large hiking club, and went on a couple hikes per week. Eventually he met such a woman and moved into a pile of sticks and bricks. So goeth the way of all flesh.
We used to have friendly arguments about the pro's and con's of RVing versus local-yokelism. He made his decision and I'm happy that it has worked out pretty well for him.
After a couple years of solitary boondocking and RV travel I got a little lonely and started acting like a seasonal resident at a couple towns where I rode with the local bicycle clubs. It worked pretty well.
How well does something have to work before we pronounce it a success? Samuel Johnson, one of the great quotables of history, once said something like, "As I get older, I am willing to call a man a good man on easier terms." I think that applies to situations as well as people.
But not too easy. Eventually impersonating a townie got to me: always doing things the rat-racer's, working-slug's way. Camping in town at an Elk's Lodge or RV park was expensive and poor quality, especially for a dog owner.
My value system about time, money and mortality was different than the massenMensch in cities. They used to dismiss the full time RV lifestyle with a condescending smirk--I was their licensed lunatic, you know. I never real told them my opinion of their lifestyle. Why bother--they outnumbered me. After a few years of this schizophrenic existence I went back to solitary RV boondocking.
I'm glad that I get a chance to see my old buddy once per year when I'm in the Tucson area. It's too bad we don't overlap more, but at least things have worked out pretty well for both of us.
