More Joanna

Joanna pleasantly surprises me. She approaches my picnic table, where I am working on my puzzle, and sits down! My first visitor!

This means she sees my truck, knows what is painted on it, and still is not concerned about being seen sitting with me - in fact, she's sought me out!

She tells me she worked for the railroad 30 plus years, before retiring, and had to drive a truck on occasion that was as big or bigger then mine.

And she could do it!

She tells me this to compensate for her earlier admission that she can’t drive their rig: one of those new 4 door pickup trucks, shiney red, towing maybe a 20 foot rv.

I find out she is the oldest of 5 children, and her marriage is her (and his) 2^nd. He has 4 children by his previous marriage, and she doesn’t want to leave anything to those kids – or her siblings.

She talks about selling everything before they die, or get too old to use it. I’m not sure when she retired but I imagine not very long ago.

She says they had to wait to live this life on the road, and his kids should work to earn things for themselves and wait until they’ve saved enough too.

I’m still afraid to ask her who she’s voting for, so I don’t. She not from Alabama but from Indiana, so maybe….

Her husband worked in the steel mill in Indiana for 30 some years, as she worked the railroad. He’s getting frail and she’s worried he’s not going to be able to camp much longer, something she loves.

And her brother, who moved in with them so he could mind the house and the dogs they leave behind on their trips, had a stroke several months ago, so they can’t depend on him anymore.

I tell her maybe she’ll need to leave the two of them home together while she takes off. Her eyes sparkle and she grins so widely at the idea.

She says she’ll need to find a place to practice backing up the rv – I suggest walmart! And we both laugh!