Recognize, Adapt, and Overcome

Whenever I feel overwhelmed at all the circumstances which befall us Gary has a saying, "Recognize, Adapt and Overcome". Now when Gary gets overwhelmed at all his circumstances I say the same thing back to him. You might recall a couple of years ago we bought a camper trailer to take a vacation. Then medical bills, dental bills, car repair bills, taxes, insurance, and the like all came up and we never used that trailer. We bought it, Gary fixed what was wrong with it, and then we sold it, never taking even one trip in it. We did what we had to do at the time. Hence the 'recognize, adapt and overcome' motto.

A similar thing happened when we were in Florida. We bought a small aluminum boat and fixed it up, rebuilt the motor, sanded it and painted the boat and trailer, and never once put it in the water. We sold our home in Florida and had to sell the boat before we moved. Are you starting to see a pattern here. Our spirit never dies but we sometimes feel we've been put through the wringer too many times.

We've saved and saved hoping to get another camping trailer for this winter, hoping to take at least one vacation. Gary will soon be 70 and we can't help but think our traveling days may be numbered. Not to mention the fact we haven't taken any vacations in too many years. We took one when we lived in California and went to Baja. When we moved from California to Florida we were sort of on a vacation but moving isn't really a vacation. Then moving here to Georgia wasn't really a vacation either. So how many years is that. Let's see we lived in Springville for 5 years, moved to Florida and lived there for 3 years, and have now lived here for almost 4 years. Time is passing us by.

Recently we found two camper trailers in our meager price range. One in Savannah and one near Charlotte. Gary headed out to look at them. The one in Savannah had soft floors and the roof was really bad even though we asked them and they said it was fine. Gary left Savannah and inadvertently programmed his GPS for Monroe, GA instead of Monroe, NC and ended up five hours away from where he wanted to be the next day, for the one near Charlotte. When we spoke on the phone I had to tell Gary to 'recognize, adapt and overcome'.

When Gary got to Charlotte the guys selling the camper wanted to know if Gary had cash. Gary said no he didn't have cash and had to go to his bank, Thank goodness he was quick thinking. The trailer was stored in a remote location. Then his truck brakes went out and he had to get them repaired in Charlotte. When we bought the truck the dealer said the brakes were new, not. When Gary called me with his frustration about the brake problem, I had to say 'recognize, adapt and overcome' once again.The brake repair shop was really nice and even bought Gary lunch.

While Gary was dealing with all he had to; I was still searching ads for camper trailers hither thither and yon. Then I found one in Waynesville, NC. Gary left Charlotte yesterday afternoon with bumper to bumper traffic and he finally made it to Waynesville and looked at the camper trailer and he bought it. Hallelujah! After all the long hours traveling, truck repair bills, motel bills, and fuel, I hope we have enough money left to take a vacation soon. Please keep your fingers crossed it all works out for us. Photos are of the camper trailer we purchased. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

UPDATE:  I forgot about our vacation to New Hampshire, I guess I blocked it out since Gary's relatives there don't talk to us any longer.