While we got our trusty old RV ready to take its final trip across the U.S., we also were able to spend some time with old friends who took care of it in our absence at their home in New Hampshire.

We’d known Jeanne and her daughter Kiaya for nearly 30 years; we were part of the same community of homeschoolers in Burbank, California. Later they moved to Northern California, and then farther south in California, and Texas, and then Massachusetts. We caught up with them at some time or other in all of those locations except the San Diego area; and now here they were back at Jeanne’s roots in New Hampshire. Kiaya is now married with a son, and they all live together in the house that overlooked our RV in our absence abroad.

We paid them for their trouble in taking care of our baby, and reimbursed them for some expenses relating to it. (Including registration, inspection, and new shocks required to pass the inspection.) A few days earlier, we’d already attempted to send them a payment of a thousand dollars via PayPal. But somehow, we… um… managed to send it to the wrong account. Frantically, we contacted the owner of that account, but never received a response after several messages to them. We also contacted PayPal, who said they’d look into it — but things didn’t look promising, because they have a no-refunds policy.

Ultimately it occurred to us that perhaps the best approach was to go through our bank — because only about half the payment had come from our PayPal account, and the rest had been drawn from our bank account. So once the bank agreed to refund its half, PayPal was left holding the bag for that part of it, and finally agreed to cancel the transaction, refunding the balance to us. Phew!

Kimball Jenkins House

During our visit with our friends, we took an outing to the Kimball Jenkins House in Concord, an art school, gallery, museum and performance space housed in a fabulous estate dating back a couple of centuries– construction on it began in 1790 with additions and upgrades occurring for 100 years or so.

We walked through the art classrooms and studios in what was originally a carriage house. Art classes here are offered for all ages and backgrounds, and the school strives to serve as richly varied a clientele as possible. Kimball Jenkins proudly declares itself a practitioner of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility at a time when such words are being widely ridiculed and even vilified. They do active outreach to a number of marginalized communities. At least one class has been taught partly in Farsi!

And then on into the main gallery in the former mansion itself. This is an astounding venue that gives the impression of just having fallen into place organically over a period of many years — which in fact is what apparently happened. There are bare beams in the rafters and walls of some of the upper rooms, giving an even more historic flavor to the setup. It also contributes to the venue’s character that the design is often irregular, as if right angles had been considered taboo.

It really rewards your attention if you notice the details, such as the baroque ornamentation on hinges, in a location that can be easily overlooked. One cabinet had newspaper pages dating from 1917, looking as if they’d just been casually tossed inside to await being placed under an easel to catch paint drips. The air of mystery and enticement in this house is so thick that you expect to stumble upon an undiscovered room at any moment.

The Kimball Jenkins estate hosts many kinds of artistic events from dance performances to film screenings. It’s also a popular location for weddings; not only is the mansion itself ideal, but the grounds with gardens and a majestic old tree provide the perfect outdoor complement to the architecture.

Before leaving New Hampshire, we unloaded as many things as we could from our trailer, which still left far too many things to dispose of before we could sell the trailer. A great deal of it is fabric — or theatrical pieces made of fabric for use in our shows — which Kiaya might make use of. She’s started a business of of her own, called DIY Craft and Thrift — which as the name implies is sort of a thrift store for craftspeople, where they can buy un-new yarn, fabric and other supplies. There are also work spaces for artists, who can sell their creations there. We’re quite impressed with what Kiaya has brought to life.

Beginning The Last RV Trek Across the USA

And so, once we’d unloaded as much of our materials on her as she could stand, we said our goodbyes and left New Hampshire, heading out again in our beloved old RV for one last roadtrip before moving back to Cambodia and points beyond.

4/9-13/2023