Our first two nights in the van on March 22 and March 27 were really enjoyable. It was a great opportunity to get familiar with it a bit. We used Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome to find a place to park both nights.

On June 23, 2023 my life changed drastically, though I didn’t know it at the time. That day my wife of 32 years had a stroke. She died on October 5, 2023. I reflected on my life with her and my life as a widower of 57. To make matters more complex I now had to deal with my father in law who had suffered a stroke not long before my wife died. His wife and son were already dead. He had no one else left to turn to. He died on November 30, 2023. When he died, it was truly like my life  of 32 years was gone, I had spent a lot of time with my wife and her family in Central Pennsylvania. Standing in the cemetery while looking at the plot where my father in law would be buried along with some of my wife’s ashes, I felt a complete sense of loss. Fast forward to October, 2024 when I bought a van that I would be living in with a wonderful woman named Susan who I met in May, 2024.