Alison Vail of Gridwood, Alaska, is one of those women who is impressive. The retired elementary school teacher of math and science is, at 60, in her latest career as a fitness trainer. To keep in shape, she goes back country skiing, swims, hikes, bikes, and does yoga, pilates and resistance training …
However, why I’m really impressed with Alison is because of the events surrounding an epic RV trip she undertook in 2007. (I first met Alison earlier this year at the Valley of Fire State Park north of Las Vegas. She and her partner, Dave Perea, were touring the southwest in a rented Apollo class C motorhome. For more on that trip, click here.)
During a brief conversation, she told me about a 2007 RV trip she took with her former husband, Pat Vail, who passed in March 2010 from complications due to Parkinson disease. Her story is one of personal and emotional strength.
I asked her to write about it for Women RVers.com. Click here to read how she undertook a 10,000-mile trip in a 21-foot Rialta motorhome with her husband who was mostly confined to using a wheel chair and still loved to fish.
Photo: Alison Vail bicycling in Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park. (Julianne G. Crane)
