Starrs Aboard

Love at First Sight? Yeah……No!

Ed was SO excited.

And I really, really didn’t want to take that excitement away from him.

But honestly?

It wasn’t what I was hoping for.

Because of work, I couldn’t go with him to Florida to look at the motorhome before he bought it. Had I been there?

I would have NEVER bought it.

There. I said it.

I didn’t like the layout. The inside felt MUCH smaller than our fifth wheel, which I absolutely loved. I didn’t like the cherry cabinets, and the cabinets themselves were tiny. And the seating? Horrible.

We had two wonderful recliners in our fifth wheel.

This thing had one chair and a very uncomfortable loveseat.

I did like the shower. So there was that.

Unfortunately, there was a skylight directly above it that allowed the morning sun, or any parking lot light we happened to park under, to shine directly into my eyes.

So much for the shower.

Then there was the mattress. It was a Sleep Number, which sounded great…except there was no pump and it was only half inflated.

Almost every window was fogged.

And then I rode in the passenger seat.

Oh. My. God.

I was scared to death.

There I was, barreling down the highway in this enormous motorhome with what appeared to be nothing but a dashboard separating me from the car in front of us.

Ed thought this was great.

I was mentally reviewing our life insurance policies.

Mechanically, though, the motorhome was sound. And Ed assured me that everything else that needed fixing, he could fix.

And there was plenty to fix.

But my husband is a wonderful man, and I could see how excited he was. I wasn’t about to take that away from him.

Besides, it wasn’t like we were going to LIVE in it.

It was for weekends.

I could deal with it for weekends.

So while Ed started tackling his very long list of projects, I decided I might as well start making the place usable.

I gathered up a stack of towels and carried them out to our new motorhome. I walked toward the bedroom, towels in my arms, completely forgetting about one very important feature I hadn’t gotten used to yet.

The stupid little two-inch step over the motor.

I missed it.

Completely.

Down I went!

I got up, mostly annoyed with myself for missing a stupid little step. My wrist hurt, but I could move it, so obviously it was fine.

I’m a nurse. I know these things.

At the time I was 59 years old. Falls happen.

This one was on me.

I decided to consider it a bone density test.

I took some Advil and went to bed.

Then I woke up in the middle of the night with a THROBBING wrist.

Okay. Maybe it wasn’t fine.

I called off work, waited for urgent care to open, and went in.

Remember that bone density test?

I failed it.

My wrist was broken.

They put me in a brace, and three weeks later I started physical therapy.

So let’s recap.

I didn’t like the layout.

I didn’t like the cabinets.

I didn’t like the furniture.

I didn’t like the windows.

I was terrified of the passenger seat.

And now the thing had broken my wrist.

Our relationship was off to an excellent start.

But I was determined to make it work.

We actually started spending nights in the motorhome while it was sitting right in our own driveway. If we were eventually going to travel in this thing, we needed to figure out how to make it comfortable.

And little by little, something started happening.

Ed started fixing it.

And fixing it.

And fixing it.

He took it to Indiana to have the guts of the refrigerator replaced. He added new shelves. He figured out the gauges. He tackled electrical problems and leaks. He installed new speakers. He painted what needed painting and polished what needed polishing.

He spends HOURS out there…

Our daughter even got involved and made us a cover for that skylight over the shower, so I no longer get awakened at dawn by a beam of sunlight directly in my face.

And in a few weeks, Ed and the motorhome are headed back to Florida to have the fogged windows replaced.

All of them.

We’re still trying to figure out the seating situation. I haven’t magically learned to love that chair and loveseat.

But we bought a new mattress that is honestly more comfortable than the bed in our house.

The surround sound Ed installed makes watching TV feel like we’re sitting in a movie theater.

And riding down the road?

I’ve figured that out too.

I just don’t look up.

Problem solved.

And somewhere along the way, the strangest thing happened.

We started sleeping in it almost every weekend.

Not at a campground.

Not in the mountains.

In our driveway.

We have it plugged into the house, so we’re basically paying to air-condition a giant tin can sitting a few feet from our perfectly good air-conditioned home.

Today it was 97 degrees outside and I’m pretty sure it was at least 120 inside the motorhome before we turned on the air.

Our electric bill is killing me.

But someday soon, we won’t be sitting in a Kentucky driveway trying to air-condition a tin can in 97-degree heat.

We’ll have wheels.

If it’s 97 degrees, we’ll go somewhere cooler.

If it’s cold, we’ll head somewhere warmer.

And that motorhome I would have NEVER bought?

The one I didn’t like…

The one that broke my wrist during our first week together…

It’s slowly becoming home.

I’m still not sure I’d call it love at first sight.

Actually, I’m positive I wouldn’t.

But maybe some of the best relationships just take a little work.

And apparently, in our case, a LOT of work.