Gray Nomads

Kev and I took one of our customary exploration drives this past weekend. Headed for one of the many National Parks around here. Bumped into quite a few Gray Nomads there at Warren . Gray nomads—the Winnebago set by a different name—are everywhere. And a bit different.

First, you don’t see too many Winnebagos or other very large RVs around here. More like, trailer campers or pop-top campers they call caravans. The obligatory canvas front porch awning appears regardless of what anyone anywhere drives. I am sure they all have portable gas burner stoves,but we are still jostling with sausage & potato armed seniors for the free grills in the park. And not so senior at that. A lot of these folks simply aren’t old. Gary & Diane are probably in their early 50s. Couldn’t wait for their kids to finally get out of the house so they could drive around the country for four months. Four months?!! Takes quite a bit of seniority in North America to get four weeks of vacation. I found myself caught between pure envy ("Gee whiz, you lucky dogs!") and the Puritan/Protestant Work Ethic ("Get back to work, slack butt!")

Native son Kev is amused by my vexed reaction. This is the kind of life he is familiar with and aspires to. Come to think of it, Kev’s parents didn’t even wait until their kids were out of high school before taking off on long holidays without them. I always thought it was because they are from Liverpool England …or because they had six sons!
As I don’t plan on going gray, I may as well start nomading now. See you…whenever.