What brought us to this point

The idea to undertake an extensive tour throughout North America evolved since 2004. At that time Susan and Willem began to realize that the reality of retirement cannot be escaped.  However, as immigrants to the USA some 20 years before and not having overcome the consequences of putting two kids through college and grad school, it had an air of remoteness about it.

Another consideration was respiratory problems that Susan had developed, which suggested that leaving the North East in favor of a drier and more moderate climate could be beneficial. But whereto? We did not know the USA particularly well, having utilized discretionary income to keep Herine and Hans in touch with our relatives in South Africa;  also for Susan to visit aging parents sporadically.

What bugged us was the issue of not knowing the country we've emigrated to and not having had much opportunity to do something about it, which stirred the thought of finding out, while addressing a possible resettlement matter in a rational and factually sound manner. Hence the seed for extensive fact finding plus exploratory endeavor took hold. But how does one do something really comprehensive in an affordable way? When we were youngsters we enjoyed short and unsophisticated camping outings and even during a post-doctoral stint in the US and Europe in the early 70's, it was the only affordable means of getting to see and experience unusual things. But those were the days before we had children. Those times and circumstances seem unrelated to what one would consider feasible now.

Long cold winter nights were conducive to generating and exploring ideas about an extensive tour and it became clear that if we were to start out from State College, Pennsylvania and stick more or less to the border of the US with some detours into New Mexico, northern Arizona, Utah, Nevada and Canada, one could get around in a year, progressing at about 250 miles a week on average.  Furthermore, if one were to start out in November, extreme climate conditions could in principle be obviated. It appeared that some upscale camping would be called for, ultimately resulting in us attending our first of many RV shows in the spring of 2004. In order to justify the capital outlay for a suitable truck and 5th wheel trailer we were looking for travel partners amongst relatives and friends and by 2008 college friends from the 60's in South Africa,  Marthinus (Fickie) and Stella Fick were almost unstoppably enthusiastic about participating.

Our paths first crossed in the physics department at Potchefstroom University in 1964, when Willem was a grad student and Fickie a freshman. The photographs below are from airplane experiments on cosmic rays in 1966 in which Willem and Fickie participated. 

Shown left to right: Hannes van der Walt, Sarel Venter, Gert Scholtz, Hannes Steyn, Daan Joubert, Koos Maree, Cobus van der Walt, Piet König, Nic Vreken, Pieter Stoker, Fickie Fick, Hennie Alberts, Willem Coetzee

 Shown left to right: Hannes, Willem, Pieter, Cobus, Hannes, Koos, Daan, Nic, Jan Schutte, Hennie, Pieter, Sarel, Fickie, Gert

Susan and Stella's acquaintance stems from the same time and the four of us resonated very well. Susan was studying music and Stella was in the business school, with an emphasis on math and statistics. Fickie ultimately became a solid state physicist specializing in synthetic diamonds, Stella pursued a career as a mathematics teacher and Susan the same in music and art history. Willem was later employed in nuclear physics at the South African Atomic Energy Board, before transitioning into biophysics in the 70's in the US.

Being all retired by the end of June, 2013, Fickie and Stella arrived in the US on July 17 to help finalize preparations. Willem had  meanwhile acquired a GMC Sierra 2500HD truck and a Rockwood Ultralite 8281 5th wheel trailer, indistinguishable from the Flagstaff 8528BHSS. Fully prepped and ready to go, this is what we would call home for the next year plus: http://www.cheyennecampingcenter.com/value_leaders/FS8528BHSS Also attached are a PortaBote (see google) to the side and two bicycles to the back, which round off the assembly.

As for our itinnarary, take a look at  'where we're going', to the right, above. Doing so section by section and enlarging the map affords better detail.