Author Archives: Bob Kelly

Fourth of July

Today, July 4, 2024, is the Fiftieth Anniversary of my first Fourth of July with the Florham Park Police Department.

I had the choice to be in Florham Park and do something memorable for the Fiftieth Anniversary, but I’ve moved on in the last twenty four years and decided to go to Oklahoma and have a quiet day, removed from the past.

Things were different back then. Honestly, if you asked me where the time went, I would be hard pressed to tell. Many wonderful things have happened in that interval. I certainly am not the person I was then, but it seems like a flash of lightning and here we are, fifty years later. My first day on the department was July 1, a Monday. I don’t recall having a uniform issued to me that day, but I do recall Lt Frank Einloth attempting to educate Bob Hauptman, Bernie Wysocki and me on what it was to be a Florham Park Policeman. Continue reading

The Road to Albuquerque and Independence

I’m not sure where the summer went. It was challenging on a number of levels, but good things happened. When I left New Jersey to head out to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, (scheduled for October 1), on Friday, September 16, I wasn’t really prepared either mentally or organizationally. When I left NJ, the RV had been cleaned (floors cabinets polished, carpet shampooed) and most of the cabinets had been examined and those things I haven’t used in a while were removed. The vibe at leaving was that not everything was as organized as I wanted, or that there wasn’t a state of being that I was comfortable with. Continue reading

Wyoming, Thermopolis and the Blog

The most difficult part of writing is allocating the time to actually sit down and write. Initially, Louise motivated me to take the time. She loved to see me sit down and write a post.  She would do dishes, straighten up the RV, read a book, or just go to bed while I wrote. It was the whipped cream and the cherry on the sundae. Now that I spend much of my time traveling alone, at the end of the day, I’m tired. When I do travel with someone or caravan with friends, I like to spend the evening enjoying their company. I tell people that I’ve been too busy having fun to write. It’s true, but as I refine my traveling, I tend to spend the hour or two to other things. I recently replaced the 1990’s TV with a smart TV. I enjoy it after a long day, but it’s a time suck. Not writing is a bad habit I’m determined to shake. I enjoy writing. I’ve been told I’m good at it, and it helps me re-live my travels.

Continue reading

RV, Travel, Friends and Observations on Love.

I’ve been traveling since December, just before New Years 2021, with the intention to recreate as much of a magical 2020 as I could. Last year, there were a number of great rallies scheduled for people who have the same type of RV as I do. It was my goal to be at them all. In the attempt, I visited twenty five states and traveled about 22,000 miles. I started in January, and by the time everyone was sitting up in March and actually taking notice of Covid, I’d attended the first three rallies;  Quartzsite, AZ, in January, Paso Robles, CA in February, and Tallahassee, FL in March. Everything came to a shuddering halt in March. Thereafter, all the rallies were canceled. Continue reading