We Meet Boris and Natasha!

This past weekend we had the good fortune to meet fulltimers Paul and Mary, whose exploits appear in two of our must-read blogs, Bullwinkle’s Travels and The Great RV Escape.  These wonderfully friendly folks checked out of the work world at an enviably early point in their lives and are having a fine time traveling the country in their beautiful Winnebago Tour motor home, Bullwinkle, and their trusty Jeep toad, Rocky.  (We like it when people name their vehicles; it makes our own similar habit seem somehow less juvenile.)  

Paul, Mary and Sandy with Bullwinkle

It's always fun to meet fellow bloggers in person after having first become acquainted with them in their words and pictures. We've found that the first meeting in person is generally just a validation of what you think you know about them already and, therefore, something to anticipate with a degree of excitement.  It's much like meeting a personality you've watched on TV for a long time--but one who happens to have watched you, as well!  Because of this, it is a very short and easy step indeed from cyber friend to real friend. There was no awkwardness, just starting a live visit where the last blog entry ended, with the only new thing being the sound of our voices.


Like all the RV bloggers we've met, Paul and Mary are irresistibly nice people with great personalities and very quick wits. From their very well written blogs, we already knew much about their clandestine plans that led up to their retiring and becoming fulltimers.  They blogged about their retirement preparations for months in advance with cloak-and-dagger subterfuge, using the pseudonyms Boris and Natasha so their imminent departure from their small company would not be discovered.  They were key members of the staff, and the foreknowledge of their leaving would have caused all sorts of complications for them.  It was better, they thought, to give the customary notice for the sake of a smoother and shorter transition.  These episodes in their blog were among the most captivating of all we have read, as the expertly written journal was not unlike a good mystery novel that could only be read one chapter at a time. 


Once notice was given and their identity revealed, Paul and Mary launched on their adventure, and who would they run into but other blogger friends we have met like Ed and Marilyn and Gordon and Juanita, along with others we hope to meet as time goes by.  We were totally delighted when we received Paul and Mary's e-mail announcing their plans to visit the D/FW area; we quickly set a time to get together and visit. 

Paul, Mary and Sandy inside the "Moose"

We had a nice brunch at the Blue Mesa Cafe in Southlake and then took a quick tour of our neighborhood and the little house where we keep Phannie and Mae.  They were gracious in their comments, and we talked of perhaps getting together again in the summer, when we might be able finally to meet Sue and Doug and other bloggers we "almost" know.  That would be a hoot, for sure!

Paul makes some yummy selections at Blue Mesa's buffet

Mary and Sandy, doing a little "grazing"

We continue to marvel at the winsome nature of those we meet in the RV world--a winsomeness that is especially prevalent among RV bloggers.  I don't think I can remember encountering  any RVer who was anything but pleasant and helpful.  Well, I take that back...I do remember a certain lady in Kerrville who was gave us pause, but she was actually more eccentric than unpleasant.  You can read about her in this post from 2005, our first year of RV travel when we had a fifth wheel named Homer.  It is, by the way, a post I most enjoyed writing; I hope you enjoy reading it.  I describe this lady under the subheading, "Take-It-Easy RV Park in Kerrville."


After bidding goodbye to Paul and Mary, we fired up Phannie and drove the short distance up to McKinney in order to make good our appointment to have custom shades installed by MCD Innovations on Monday.  More on this adventure next time...