A Rolling Reunion: Let's Meet in Mexico!

It's tough to think of a better rendezvous point for a reunion than the warm sands of the Sea of Cortez in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. It's here in the temperate shadow of a handsome grey Itasca Meridian that three sisters: Carol, Ruth and Elaine look comfortably at home in their aluminum folding armchairs.

Of course the conversation starts with the usual RV preliminaries of where you're from and what kind of rig you have. But, today's conversation quickly moves past all of that to a deeper conversation that only comes with the wisdom, laughter and the gentle reminder that some memories have speed bumps and unplanned curves. They've been childhood sweethearts, wives, mothers, wage earners and grandparents. And now, as Carol, who's the oldest, firmly interjects, "It's our turn."

For lives well lived and families raised, it is indeed their turn and clearly, along with their husbands, they're making the most of it. "While others might be sitting around in retirement, "We're not. I'm planning to be as active as I can, for as long as I can," smiles the middle sister, Ruth.

Their roots in motorhome travel echo a common theme. They all had fun experiences as young girls camping with their family and playing on the California beaches. Once older sister Carol married husband Dennie, the two younger ones still tagged along on adventures where the travel HQ was just a camper shell. That spirit of adventure and being outdoors has never left them.

Some years ago Elaine, the youngest, and her husband Jim joined his parents on a camping trip. Jim's folks took their Winnebago and they took their trailer. The weather was miserable as they pulled into the campground. In the cold, rain and then snow, Jim struggled to disconnect and level the trailer. He looked across to see his parents, comfortably set up, enjoying coffee in their Winnie and that was the moment that the, "we're getting a motorhome decision happened," laughs Elaine.

Now that all three sisters have motorhomes, the concept of mobile reunions is perfect as it combines a great time to reconnect and to share in some new adventures. Carol likes the flexible structure of traveling together as part of a Winnebago Outdoor Adventure tour. "There's plenty people around you if you need help," she explains. "And the schedule gives us plenty of time to do things on our own." "Like yesterday's trip where we went out to hunt for sand dollars," adds Elaine.

You'd be hard pressed to meet three more charming, pragmatic and down-to-earth women. They and their husbands have worked hard throughout their lives and you get a strong sense that their decision to buy a motorhome (several Winnebagos/Itascas in their collective case) was always carefully thought out. It's clear that in each of their households, buying a motorhome was a big economic decision. But it was a decision driven not only by economics, but by a much more human calculation. In their child rearing lives it provided an opportunity to take affordable vacations that, with great adventures and memories, have several of their adult children contemplating a motorhome in their future. It's a thought clearly relished by all three, to see the fun, experiences and special family times passed on to future generations.

And those up and coming generations may likely follow their folks with Winnebago made motorhomes, but for now "it's their turn" and Carol, Dennie, Ruth, Ken, Elaine and Jim are now happily on the retirement highway letting the good times roll.