A new adventure awaits

WELCOME to Eat.Travel.Chill!!! We’re a couple fifty and sixty something year olds leaving life on the farm and heading for the open road pulling our home behind us. It’s been quite the journey to pare down a two story old farmhouse chock full of stuff into a thirty foot travel trailer but we did it. Although I’m quite sure we still have too much stuff. Throughout that whole process of sorting, trashing, donating, storing or moving into the trailer my motto was “we’re doin’ it” and here we are – finally doin’ it!

We spent yesterday morning scrambling to get the last of our still-too-much-stuff into the trailer; walking the farm pointing out all the plants and trees to the new owners; and giving animal care instructions before heading to the closing at 1 o’clock. We made it but barely. After the closing and a few other stops to take care of paperwork our new adventure began.

We’re slowly heading south so our first stop was a KOA Holiday campground in Tennessee.

We arrived early evening and managed to get setup just before dark. After that we plopped down in the chairs and stared at the piles of stuff we had shoved here and there for travel mode.

It looked like a couple hoarders had taken over the camper. sigh. The above photo reminds me of one of those hidden items games we like to play on our iPads. Can you find the flashlight, diffuser, bag, stool, slippers, bottle, cleaning bucket, glass table top? hahaha!

After filling the diffuser with Peace & Calming II, ignoring the mess and celebrating our first night in the camper with a glass of Riesling given to us from one of our Airbnb guests (the day we had an offer on the farm – New Year’s Eve) we decided we would stay another night if a space was available. We wanted to take some time to find more permanent spots for some of the stuff before moving on. Why in the world do we need so much stuff?! Maybe during our traveling days we’ll be able to pare some of it down even more. Wouldn’t that be nice! We also wanted a day to just rest and relax.

We all slept like babies – LizzieBelle included. As soon as we finished our coffee we walked to the office to see if we could book another night. Thankfully we could and we could even stay in the same spot. That being settled we started the process of finding more permanent spots for some of the things strewn about. We made some progress but there’s only so much counter space and storage so we called it quits for now.

At least part of the table can be seen and there’s a lot less stuff underneath the table. I even hung a bunch of little Command strips in the bedroom for my necklaces and got them hung up. I had wanted to hang the wooden jewelry holder I had made but I felt it was just too heavy so I went with the smaller strips for just the necklaces. My rings and earrings would go in little wooden boxes I have stored in my closet.

While in the office this morning we learned there was a Walmart and even a Rural King in town. Rural King, yay! Seeing as we went off and forgot to grab LizzieBelle’s can of dry food we needed to pick some up. After a hearty lunch at the local Dinner Bell restaurant we went to Walmart for some more Command strips to hang up the vacuum cleaner. They didn’t have her dog food so we went to Rural King where I was able to get it. She didn’t eat much yesterday or this morning but so much has been going on and even though she can’t see or hear I know she senses change and might be why she didn’t eat. She had me a little worried today but once I added some dry food and a bit of water to her wet food she gobbled it up this afternoon and is acting more normal, thank goodness. A few hours later she was even looking for her supper. It shouldn’t take her long to get used to her new surroundings and our new normal. She’s been such an easy-going dog. Good thing since we’re always up to something!

I spent part of the afternoon on the phone with Airbnb. We had a couple guests booked for April & May and in order to be able to cancel them and remain in good standing as Super Hosts we had to show proof that we sold the property that the rental cabin was on. Once I get notified that all is well I will delete the listing. Again, bittersweet.

Now that we’ve had this day to get a few more things taken care of and to recoup from that crazy busy last week at the farm reality is setting in. We feel as though we are now able to begin the next adventure with clearer heads and more rested bodies. Tomorrow we’ll drive a few more hours heading south. We’re doin’ it!!!