Blogs, random thoughts, travel

  • Maiden Voyage

    by Dave McAda
    We threw together a bed frame that attached to the van walls.  It sounded pretty simple in my head.  Not going to lie, it took about four hours to get it up and secure enough to toss a memory foam mattress on it.  A few days later we made our first overnighter.
    Posted in Van Life

  • Preparing the Van

    by Dave McAda
    As the day would end and we crawled into bed, we would try to recap what we learned and achieved that day.  One day was decidedly depressing when all we came up with was a failed attempt to hold thin slats in place with Neodymium magnets.
    Posted in Van Life

  • Driving the Van

    by Dave McAda
    We were coming home with a van that day no matter what.  I don’t know if the salesman realized that or not but we did!  
    Posted in Van Life

  • Van Life

    by Dave McAda
    One day I’m sitting in my house planning how to survive on what’s left in the pantry and three rolls of toilet paper during a pandemic and the next I’m driving a 2016 cargo van home from the used car lot.
    Posted in Van Life

  • Life Goes On

    by Dave McAda

    I did something this week that turned out to be more difficult than I thought it would be.  In fact, I wasn't even thinking when I first started.

    I took our dog Annie to the veterinarian for an appointment.

    Posted in Life, Retirement

  • The Worst Thing is Never the Last Thing

    by Dave McAda

    My father, William (Bill) McAda, passed away on Monday, April 27, 2020. 

    Due to Coronavirus restrictions we could not gather as a family and I was unable to give this eulogy so I have adapted it slightly for those who would like to read more about my father.

  • My Dog doesn’t understand Social Distancing

    by Dave McAda
    The most success I have getting away from her is that sometimes she is so frantic to FIND me that she can’t SEE me!  She can literally look right at me and keep running, trying to find where I might be hiding.
    Posted in Covid-19, Pets, Retirement

  • Retirement - Oh Rats!

    by Dave McAda
    The next week I took the car to the great guys at Travelers Rest Auto Repair where I sheepishly described the past weekend’s events and the fact that I had packets of rat poison clipped to the frame of the car.  They just smiled.  They’ve seen it before evidently.
    Posted in Retirement

  • Retirement - the First 90 Days

    by Dave McAda
    I learned the valuable lesson that a grocery LIST is merely a suggestion and a starting point.  In my desire for ultimate efficiency, I had always found it prudent to make the list in the order of the aisles from back to front and procure only what is on the list.  Turns out, this is NOT how you are supposed to shop. 
    Posted in Retirement

  • Traveling Cross Country, the 'Easy' Hikes

    by Dave McAda
    That one hour credit in my college Orienteering class was going to pay off 38 years later! 

  • Traveling Cross Country, the Car

    by Dave McAda

      We forced our car through thousands of desert miles from there.  It was attacked by bees in the Mohave Desert, searched for trailheads on gravel roads in Saguaro National Park, saw its share of roadkill in New Mexico, and took to the gypsum roadways when the asphalt played out in White Sands National Monument.  The ultimate sacrifice came in Big Bend National Park in Texas. 

  • Traveling Cross Country, Smells and High Speed Chases

    by Dave McAda
    She will tell you she is a city girl and not cut out for the smells and adventures we encountered.  And I’ve obviously grown soft!