Ernie, the 19-year-old motorhome that carried us around America in 2021, hasn’t seen a public highway since we returned from Ohio in July of last year. Since then he’s been resting on a campsite in Harrison.
That changed this morning.
Deb and I drove over to the campground, said heartfelt farewells to our longtime hosts, fired up Ernie’s big diesel and rolled back the way we’d come. I piloted the bus, with Deb following in the Silverado.
We refueled in Bellefonte ($4.199), then continued east on US 62.
It’s been a long time since I could say that I truly enjoyed spending time behind the wheel of this motorhome. Honestly, since we left the road I haven’t missed it. Ernie is a spectacularly competent coach and has performed flawlessly under my hand, but I’ll confess that driving a 16-ton house-on-wheels just isn’t my thing.
Today’s trip went smoothly, however — perfect weather, good roads, agreeable traffic. Fifty-five miles after leaving the campground, we pulled the bus into a gated, secure storage facility near Mountain Home.
This is where Ernie will live, 20 miles away, until he’s sold. For now he sits outdoors, with the possibility of covered storage later. The move was purely financial — we’ll save hundreds of dollars each month.
We were so efficient at moving and re-settling the motorhome today that we had time afterward to grab drive-thru and enjoy it at the park in Cotter, gas-up the Silverado ($3.299) and do curbside pickup at the Flippin Walmart. We even made it to the state revenue office in Yellville to renew our license plates a day before they expired.
We arrived back on The Mountain five hours after setting out for Harrison this morning, damned proud of how productive we’d been. If only for a moment, we didn’t feel anything tugging at us.
That’s a good place to be.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB