We had spent the summer in Massachusetts, staying at my sister and brother-in-law’s house. We had a great time there and were sad to leave, but on September 11, 2020, we made our way to our next destination: New York!

We decided New York was our next stop for another 2 month visit so we could spend quality time with my grandparents before leaving on the big road trip. We stayed at the Susquehanna Trail Campground in Oneonta, NY. It was a nice place to stay for our purpose of visiting family, but it was more like an RV park rather than a fun campground, where we would like to go for a vacation.

We thought going to NY was a good plan because not only do we get to spend this time with my grandparents before leaving, but we can also use this as a testing period for being away from home. 

While we stayed in Massachusetts, we were right down the street from our storage unit so we were able to put things in the unit that we didn’t want to take on the road and take things out of the unit if we decided we wanted it. Because we were so close, we took advantage of this opportunity, and were becoming reliant on how accessible our belongings were to us. When we head out of this area, they would no longer be easily accessible so we would have to determine how necessary the item is and figure out a plan if it were important. We must be mindful about what we keep in our RV because we don’t want to overcrowd our tiny home.

We definitely made good use of this practice run. We got a bunch of things squared away such as getting the key to our spare tire! We didn’t realize it was missing until mid-October. When the weather was getting chillier, the low tire pressure light came on, but the pressure in our tires was fine. We needed to check the spare tire pressure before we could reset the light in the truck, but when Ryan went to check it he realized it required a key to unlock it from underneath the truck. It’s a good thing we found that out before we got a flat!! 

We never received the key from the dealership that we bought the truck from, so we had to figure it out for ourselves. Luckily, we had Grandpa there to help us. He took me to a place that was able to check the type of key needed and then order it for us. We received the key 1 week before our trip! Grandpa saved the day!!

We really enjoyed our time in NY. Having this time with my grandparents was such a gift, I can’t even quite explain. I’ve always felt close with my grandparents because we see them several times a year, but seeing them every day for 2 months was very different than just the weekend visits. It allowed me to get to know them better and talk to them more. I never realized how chatty my grandpa could be! Ryan and I loved talking to him about the truck and camper, hunting, and politics. (Well, maybe we didn’t love talking about politics, but it sure was entertaining!)

We also enjoyed our time with Grandma. I always knew she was crazy, but being with her every day took that to a whole new level! I spent most of each day with her while Ryan stayed home, working. Every time I went over without Ryan, she would ask, “Where’s Ryan?” and every time I would give her the same answer, “He’s working.” In which, she would respond with, “Again! Does he have to work every day!?!” And I would say “Only the days he wants to have a job.”

My grandma and I spent a lot of time together while I was in NY. In the mornings, we would often watch Let’s Make a Deal, which was really fun to watch together. We would each make our own guesses as if we were the ones playing the game. She told me several time that I have to go on the show! She said if I go on the show, I need to have fun and play the game, don’t worry about the prizes. She always said that she would go for the Big Deal…unless she won a prize that she really wanted to keep.

In the afternoons, we watched Dr. Phil, Judge Judy and Dr. Oz. These might not have been my pick of TV shows to watch, but I enjoyed spending time with her and seeing how passionate she was when she talked about how stupid someone was during the show. That’s part of why she likes Judge Judy so much, she likes that Judge Judy will call someone out for lying or just being idiotic. 

While spending time in NY, I learned a very important thing about my grandmother. She is VERY particular. I was making her lunch one day and found out that I had messed it up. I was heating up left over chili, which she likes to eat with white rice. I put the rice in a bowl with the chili on top only to find out that the chili was supposed to go on the bottom with the rice on top! Who knew it made that big a difference! My grandpa said she likes to eat the plain white rice before it gets mixed in with the chili so I thought, “I guess that makes sense, whatever.” But once it was heated up and I gave her the bowl, she mixed it all together anyway! I just thought “this lady is nuts!” But she’s my grandma and I love her for all those weird attributes, even if she did pass some of those weird qualities to me!

Ryan also enjoyed being in NY during this time. He spent most of the days at the camper working, but he came over every night at 6:00 for dinner. Then we spent a couple more hours there, watching TV and talking. He and my Grandpa got along really well and were always talking about something. 

As for my Grandma, she had trained Ryan really quickly during our time here. He was conditioned to wash his hands the second he sets foot in her house. I tried to give him a hug when he came in one day and he dodged the hug saying “Sorry, gotta wash my hands before I touch anything!” and off he went to the bathroom. After a couple of weeks, he started saying how he just hears Grandma’s voice in his head, “WASH YOUR HANDS!” He loves Grandma, but she may have scarred him for life. Now he’ll always hear her voice when washing his hands.

We really loved having this time with Grandma and Grandpa. We are so blessed to have been able to spend so much quality time with them. 

Now we will always have these memories to cherish.