Salt water to Salt Springs

Monday, April 18

We’re still parked in our friends’ front yard. The corner shower unit was finally delivered last Saturday so we (as in Ronnie) can now begin the installation process. I’m praying it goes smooth from start to finish. Meanwhile, I’m doing small things to occupy my time such as gophering for Ronnie when necessary, painting or helping to unpack some of the fun boxes – craft and sewing stuff! In between I’ve been cross-stitching, crocheting another baby blanket and reading. What I really should be doing, however, is concentrating on making healthy meals for us. We’ve been eating out more so than usual and I can certainly feel the difference in my energy levels throughout the day and can see it in my waistline, ugh.

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Last Wednesday the four of us went to Ormond Beach.

Believe it or not, that was the first time I had ever been to that beach even though I’ve lived in Florida most of my life.

It wasn’t crowded and we were able to drive right onto the beach and set up our chairs.

We watched a fella set up a couple of fishing poles…

Watched as planes flew over with banners streaming behind them…

We ate our picnic lunch while basking (more like baking!) in the sun and enjoyed the sights and sounds all around us.

A couple hours later we felt ‘baked’ to a crisp so we headed a few miles down A1A to Port Orange and a favorite restaurant – Aunt Catfish’s.

I used to come here with my Mom & Dad during my teenage years when we stayed at a condo in nearby Ponce Inlet for a week each summer. It was here that I had my first taste of Cheese Grits and consumed numerous Cinnamon Buns both available at the all-you-can-eat Fixin’s Bar.

Aunt Catfish’s is on the Halifax River if you ever want to check it out…

It was nice to eat there again and reminisce about the good ‘ol days spent at the beach as a youth!

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The resident Sandhill Cranes have been busy raising their baby…

It’s amazing how quickly this young’un is growing.

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One night Ronnie and I decided to go for a drive and check out a nearby restaurant on Lake Weir. The place was packed with a thirty minute wait. A cell phone was also necessary to get your name on the waiting list. (They call you when your table is available.). As is typical for us, we left the cell phone in the car so we decided to find another place to eat. We headed south towards Clermont, the town we lived in after we were married. We found another restaurant on the water – Lilly’s on the Lake.

It looked promising especially when we were seated on the screened in back deck overlooking the water…

However, that’s where anything remotely promising went by the wayside. The atmosphere was great, the food was decent but our server was not. It felt as though we were pulling teeth to get waited on, get our food and even get our check. I was exhausted by the time we left. We did enjoy watching the happenings at the water’s edge which occupied our time while we endlessly waited for our entrees to arrive. We also reminisced about all the fun we had on those same waters with our boat.

Wednesday, April 27

We have been at our new destination for a couple days now and we are LOVIN’ it!!! We arrived at Salt Springs Campground Monday morning. I’ll post more later but here’s a peak at the chilly swimming hole in the campground…

… and a close up of one of the beautiful springs…

The water is crystal clear and a constant 72 degrees which, for this gal, is beyond chilly. I did manage to get two thirds of the way in yesterday but couldn’t psyche myself up to get the rest of the way in. Ronnie, however, went for it and enjoyed watching the blue crabs that were hanging out at the opening of the spring.

The rest of the time we’ve been here we’ve enjoyed sitting outside watching the plethora of squirrels running around as well as watching and listening to woodpeckers checking for food on the abundance of trees. We even watched a hawk fly from one campsite to another seemingly unconcerned about the humans around it. We’ve enjoyed evening walks around the campground and relishing in the fact that we don’t have anything to do.

LizzieBelle has done more wandering around and sniffing than she’s done in years. She’s also awake more and wants to be outside with us. It does my heart good to see her being so active in her senior years.

More than two months after we sold and drove away from the farm our traveling days have begun and we are thrilled to literally go wherever the road takes us.

A trip to the beach and back again for more renovations and a birthday!

Tuesday, April 5

Over the past few days I’ve been getting messages and emails from several of y’all wanting to know our whereabouts and what we’re up to and even though I’ve answered those messages and emails (finally!) I reckon it’s high time I sit down and write a blog post to fill the rest of y’all in. wink!

We are still parked in our friends front yard and are still doing some renovations to their house for them. The first (and currently only) bathroom is finally finished. I don’t have a good before photo because the vanity was demoed before I even grabbed my camera but trust me, it was dated and far too big for the space so it had to go and by the time I thought to take a photo half the walls were gone. So here’s the best before photos I have…

… and here’s a couple of after shots…

The changes made were a new toilet and pedestal sink, new walls, and a lowered dropped ceiling with added light fixture. The changes created a bathroom that feels larger than it actually is. The homeowners love it so it’s a win-win.

We also put new waterproof laminate flooring in the master bedroom…

The doorway near the upper right corner in the above photo will be the second/master bathroom. We laid the same waterproof floor in there today. As I used to say at the farm – bit by bit we’re getting things done.

Last week we took a few days off for doctor’s appointments. First up was LizzieBelle. She needed a refill for her blood pressure medicine and she needed her one year checkup after her diagnosis of CHF the beginning of last year. We found a vet nearby and they were able to work her in sooner rather than later thanks to a cancelation. The doc was impressed with the sound and function of her heart despite her CHF. We were thrilled to hear that! She also got a steroid shot to help her with her allergies. Florida has not been kind to her since we’ve arrived but the shot has helped tremendously. Everyone at the vet office was surprised at how well she’s doing for being almost 15 years of human age. Yay LizzieBelle!

The second appointment was for Ronnie later in the week. He needed some refills for his meds as well and we also wanted to get a fresh pair of eyes on his heart condition. We found a doctor but I have to say they’re all the same. It seems all they want to do is prescribe medication which, in my opinion, are just bandaids for most chronic conditions rather than getting to the root of the problem and possibly eliminating it all together. We weren’t looking for new medications just refills for the ones he’s already taking but we politely listened then went home and researched said new medication. Anyway, he is scheduled for some tests the early part of May. Maybe after the tests we’ll have a second opinion and maybe a possible procedure in line. Meanwhile, it looks like I need to do my own research on root causes of his condition then learn about ways to improve/repair with more natural solutions and remedies. I almost don’t like the word remedies. It seems to be associated with old-fashioned wives tales and weird concoctions these days however I really don’t care. I will always choose a natural remedy first over a synthetic. That’s just me. What I would really love to find is a doctor that practices both western and holistic medicine because western medicine does have its place but I’d rather exhaust all types of natural sources first. Wouldn’t that be nice?! Anyway, I digress.

Later that same day we celebrated his birthday with a few family members which was the first time in probably ten years that we’ve been able to do so.

We celebrated with pizza from Piesano’s in Ocala and a Carvel ice cream cake. I also made a Greek salad and dressing to go with the pizza. Yummy! I’m just so happy that we’ve celebrated another year.

We took another day off over the weekend and drove to the east coast and to the nearest beach. At first we drove to the historic part of St. Augustine where we spent our honeymoon but holy moly was it crowded.

crossing the intracoastal waterway into historic St. Augustine

When we couldn’t find a place to park we decided to forego walking around the town and drove to the beach. We walked only a short way along the beach but smelling the salty air and feeling the warm sun and cool breeze on our skin was refreshing and wonderful!

We worked up an appetite so we drove along A1A looking for a seafood restaurant on the water. They’re not as easy to find as one would think. We made it to Flagler Beach and stopped at Martin’s Restaurant & Lounge for a not-so-healthy lunch/supper…

… but the price was right on these plates so that’s what we went with. It was yummy! Afterwards we walked across the street and I took a few more photos…

We took the scenic route home having thoroughly enjoyed the day.

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In between doctor’s visits, renovations, and days off I’ve been working on the baby blanket and I managed to finish it.

I used a soft velvet yarn and it’s oh-so cuddly. I’ll be making more blankets using velvet because they just feel so nice. Now that I’m finished with the blanket I’m back to working on the last motif of my Christmas bell pull cross stitch piece.

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We are enjoying our time in Florida however we will be here much longer than originally anticipated due to Ronnie’s upcoming tests. I have to say that none of the travel plans we’ve made since starting out on this venture have come to fruition so I reckon we’ll just wing it. We do need to be back up in Kentucky by the end of May so we’re already cutting it close. Looks like we’ll have to travel the east coast another time. It’s a good thing we’re flexible!

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We’ve seen some rather large moths around here…

This one was on the light pole just outside our camper. It was huge! I want to say it’s in the Polyphemus family because of the ‘eye’ on the wings but I haven’t been able to identify it with any images on Google. Anyone have any idea?

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I reckon that’s about it for now. I hope y’all are well and thank you so much for being such faithful followers of our follies!

Till next time friends 🙂

Renovations – wait, what?

Thursday, March 24

Howdy folks! It’s been a while since my last blog post. We’ve had several family members wondering about our whereabouts these days and one sweet reader even messaged us on Facebook to see if all was OK. All week I’ve been wanting (needing) to take the time to sit down and write a post and since people were starting to wonder about us what better time to do it then on this rainy, muggy day.

We left Lake Yale a few weeks ago and drove a whopping 30 minutes or so to our next location – the front yard of some friends who had just purchased a house on a lake in the Ocala National Forest.

It’s a peaceful area and the view from the back porch and deck are serene.

Besides hanging out and catching up our main reason for being here is to help them with some renovation projects. The main project is adding a master bath with a built in closet however, the first order of business was to change the toilet in the existing bath to a taller toilet and to remove the vanity that was dated and too large for the space which made the already small bathroom even more challenging to get into. So… our first order of business was to demo the vanity (which was done before I could even grab my camera!) and to install the new toilet.

With the installation of the taller and elongated toilet there was very little room left for sitting (or standing) to do one’s business. There was also the fact that once the vanity was removed we had to come up with a solution for the bare floor since a pedestal sink was going in rather than a vanity. Ronnie figured while he was at it he would demo the dated paneling to make way for new paneling that matches existing paneling in the house and lower the ceiling which allowed for a flush mount light (where there originally was none) which, overall, makes for a cozier, well-lit bathroom.

So, what started out as a few simple changes quickly escalated into something more. Don’t they usually?! We’re getting close on finishing up the changes in the first (and only at the moment) bathroom then we’ll wrap our heads around the new bathroom.

While Ronnie made a mess of the first bathroom, hahaha!, I did some painting in the master bedroom, the foyer, and the bottom kitchen cabinets.

The master bedroom was adorned with paintable wallpaper so it went from a sea foam greenish blue color (above bright green carpet, oh my!) to gray…

The gray turned out really nice. The bright green carpet is gone and will be replaced with waterproof laminate in both the bedroom and the master bath. The chosen flooring is going to coordinate nicely with the wall color.

Our friends are living in the house during the renovations and are primarily living out of boxes so we hope to have the first bathroom finished and the master bedroom put together hopefully as soon as next week. We did manage to get most of the kitchen stuffs unpacked and put away so that we could eat cuz ya’ll know we love to eat!

Speaking of eating, we have taken every opportunity to savor all the fresh seafood we can get our hands on. So good! However, we’ve also eaten at some mighty tasty Italian and Greek restaurants that had the best Greek salad and salad dressing. I managed to find a recipe for the dressing so tonight we’re having my version of a Greek salad – thinly sliced lettuce and lean ham, kalamata olives, tomatoes and feta cheese drizzled with the salad dressing I made this morning which is basically red wine vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, dijon mustard, minced garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Easy peasy. You can find the recipe I used HERE. Ronnie will bake some chicken to go with the salad. MMmm good!

Now back to the story… I know those of you that followed along on our farm journey and renovations are thinking exactly what we’re thinking – ‘I thought they sold the farm to get away from renovations and upkeep’ – and you’re right! We did do exactly that but we are at it one more time for our friends’ sake. We’re looking at it as a mission trip and we’re all being blessed in different ways for it.

While here we’re also working on getting another opinion on Ronnie’s current cardiovascular situation. I know we’re both curious to see what the doctor has to say and praying for a simple solution.

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There are several sandhill cranes in the area and these two (the one on the left is sitting on the nest) just had a youngun’ and are waiting on a second to hatch (according to the next door neighbor)…

Hopefully it will hatch soon and they’ll both be safe from the grunting gator I hear in the middle of the night when taking LizzieBelle out. Yep, just when we finally stopped looking for alligators in every body of water in Kentucky it’s time to keep an eye out once again.

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In between reno projects I’ve been cross stitching. I finished the second motif on the Christmas Bell Pull…

This one kicked my hind end. Maybe I was more tired than I thought when working on it because I think I ripped out as many stitches as I was able to leave. Anyway, it’s done and I love it! Two down,

… one to go. However, I will postpone starting on the third motif as I have been commissioned to crochet a gender neutral baby blanket. I’ll be going to Hobby Lobby this weekend to get the yarn I need and will begin work on it immediately. Stopping midway through a cross stitch piece is no problem but re-starting it is difficult for me so I’ll wait to start on it after I’m finished with the blanket. I usually like to have a couple projects going at one time but lately I’ve been focused on finishing up the many cross stitch pieces I inherited from my Mom. Ones that she had started and never finished as well as ones that I had started and put down for one reason or the other. Having limited space in a 30 foot travel trailer is also a catalyst for only doing one project at a time. At any rate, bit by bit these UFO’s (UnFinished Objects in quilting terminology) are getting worked on one stitch at a time and I’m never at a loss for something to do during the moments we have to chill.

So, that’s what we’ve been up to. Not a lot of chilling, definitely no traveling but we’re certainly enjoying the eats! Also, we are both well and thankful for a place to park until the gas prices become more reasonable. And, hopefully we’ll get some good news medically speaking. My next post should have some finished renovation projects for you and maybe even a finished baby blanket.

Stay happy and well my friends and thanks so much for reading!

Hangin’ out at Lake Yale

Saturday, March 5

Today is the first day since arriving at the campground that we’ve had to simply lounge around and do as we please. The day after we arrived we awoke to a gorgeous sunrise…

After coffee and a quick breakfast we headed not quite an hour away to Ocala where my family lives to spend the day with them and to celebrate an early 95th birthday. My dear ol’ Dad will celebrate 95 years of a life well lived the end of April. Since son and daughters, grand and some great grands were all in town we decided to celebrate this amazing man with a little (OK a LOT) of pizza and cake. Happy early 95th birthday Dad! You are loved beyond words!!!

The following day a friend and fellow quilt retreater booked an extra night at the retreat and we spent the afternoon catching up and making sandwiches for the first day of retreat the next day. Once retreat started I was at the auditorium where we were set up to sew to our hearts content no later than 8:15 in the morning and I was walking back home well after nine o’clock (and after our normal bedtime!)

During the retreat I sewed a total of 12 pillowcases for charity;

… helped prepare supper for our Thursday night wrap-up party; cut up a lot of scraps of fabric; and finally, on the last day, I managed to put all those scrap pieces into a quilt block.

There are nine 6 1/2 inch blocks sewn together which makes a large block totaling eighteen inches. Once several more of these blocks are made and sewn together I’ll have a good size quilt made up entirely of leftover, or scraps, of fabric.

I was completely exhausted by the end of the retreat but it is always so much fun and it felt good to have the sewing machine out again. I also got to see people I haven’t seen in years. Attending next years retreat is up in the air as these wanderers don’t know where we’ll be!

Lake Yale Baptist Conference Center is such a beautiful venue. There is a campground, motel rooms, auditoriums, conference rooms, a cafeteria, and a pool all nestled in a park-like setting. The South Camp is where I attended many summer camps as a kid…

Ronnie sent the drone up today for a bit…

and captured a different angle of the South Camp…

Shortly after the drone took flight the wind picked up and sent the drone crashing into a tree and landing upside down with two broken propellers. It took us a while to find the drone but it is OK and we have extra propellers so all is well.

Meanwhile I wandered around with my camera snapping a few photos around the lake…

After the drone mishap we came back in to get a few things done. It was time to bottle the wine we’ve been toting around from place to place.

We weren’t sure how it would turn out since it had been jostled around while driving and in various temperature settings but after filling the brown bottles a bit too full we each poured a sample taste and it was pretty good – like a Pink Moscato, sweet and tart. The bottles are lightly capped for the next couple days and will be capped before pulling out on Tuesday. It’s going to be nice to not have a gallon jug o’ wine at my feet when we travel to our next destination this time.

Speaking of our next destination, I am glad we don’t have far to go with gas prices soaring into the clouds. We are heading to our friends new-to-them place where we will be their construction consultants as they begin some renovation projects. It will be nice to spend some more time with them and to help them bring their ideas to fruition.

Yesterday we met some Kentucky friends (who snow bird in Florida for the winter) for supper. We introduced them to Miz Kathi’s Cotillion…

It’s a deliciously, wonderful cafe & sweetery in Wildwood. After a scrumptious salad the menfolk had the catfish dinner and we ladies had meatloaf and chopped steak. All came with sides of smashed potatoes and collard greens. Yummo!!! If you’re ever in the area stop in and grab a bite to eat.

We have two more days at the campground before heading to our friends new place. We were going to go to Universal Studios to see the rest of Hogwart’s and all things Harry Potter that we didn’t see the last time we were there but with the price of admission and the price of gas we decided to forego the trip to Universal and put the money towards other destinations and places we haven’t seen before.

A whole lotta nothing, kinda nice!

Tuesday, February 22

Since my last post it has been a whirlwind of nothing in particular and it has been pure joy. We have relaxed and gone swimming in the pool; we spent Sunday with family going to their church then enjoying a nice meal in the afternoon; we’ve played games and watched movies; we’ve roasted in the camper on two very hot days for this time of the year; Ronnie’s wet a hook in the canal and I’ve cross-stitched. Today we did a few errands and picked up a couple things to contribute to this evenings’ supper. I’ve wandered around taking a photo here and there and last Saturday we were serenaded all.day.long by this guy (or gal)…

… a Limpkin that was either hollerin’ for a young’n or a mate. Either way it was not a very pleasant sound. I can’t tell whether this is a male or female as they are similar in color but it was directly across the canal up in the trees just a hollerin’ away. Actually it was more like screaming. Thankfully, by the next day it either found what it wanted or had moved on. I love birds but this bird’s call simply was not the least bit pleasant.

As I’ve wandered around I was reminded of the plethora of lizards in Florida constantly scurrying around.

This one, however, was very curious and was not bothered in the least by me standing nearby with a camera pointing at its face. He almost seems to be asking me ‘Whatcha doing lady?’

Last night was our second night attending Bingo Night in the park where Ronnie’s Mom lives and guess what? I bingoed!!!

It was lucky game number 13 and we had to get a 7 – 11. I won $32, woohoo!!!

Thursday, February 24

On Tuesday we needed to get some items in the mail so we headed to the tiny town of Alva to find the post office. Just before we reached the post office we drove over the Caloosa River and quickly found ourselves dreaming about life on this river. After we took care of business we drove up and down the streets checking out the area. It was a nice area and one that we could imagine ourselves living in if it weren’t so dad-blamed hot in the summer.

Wednesday was a day of golf for Ronnie and his brother and some friends of his. I did my own type of relaxing by spending the day cross stitching. I had Thieves in the diffuser and some mello tunes playing on the iPod. In the evening we all relaxed and watched ‘Undercover Grandpa’ before calling it a day. I needed a day like today. I’m still getting used to life outside the farm – meaning being around people and all – so today allowed me to regroup and rest and ready myself to be around people again and having to attend events. If I am to be perfectly honest I am not much of a people or an event person. Hopefully as we travel to and fro and immerse ourselves into our surroundings I will become a better people and event person. One can always hope, right?! This, however, is more my style…

Today I wanted to find a book store. I had donated a Crock Pot and a rice cooker when we sold the farm and bought an Instant Pot in order to save room in the camper. I used the Instant Pot the other day to make rice and it worked great! Delicious rice in half the time. Since we’ve been traveling, visiting, and trying to eat up leftovers we have not been eating as healthy as we should and shame on us. Eating healthy MUST be a priority no matter what. It doesn’t mean we can’t consume unhealthy morsels every now and then but we must do better at being intentional with our diet for our own health’s sake. If you know me then you know I’m a firm believer that you are what you eat and that food is the body’s fuel. If you don’t feed it good nutrition then there may be consequences and those consequences are different for every individual so why not just give it good nutrition rather than risk suffering.

That being said, I wanted to find a cookbook (or three) with Instant Pot recipes. I think the Instant Pot will allow us to have home cooked, healthy meals with a lot less mess and easy clean up. I simply love the ease of cookbooks and with the sketchy availability of Internet while we’re traveling I wanted to have a cookbook on hand so that we could use the Instant Pot at any given time even without Internet. (You know, all those recipes that get pinned on Pinterest but without Internet are useless?!). So, we drove into Ft. Myers to find a book store. We came across a Books-A-Million where I was fortunate to find three cookbooks at a reasonable price …

I used a $25 gift card I received for Christmas and added another $5 in cash and got all three books. Each book has lots of great recipes and I can make adjustments to any of them to make a healthier version if necessary.

On our way there we drove through the historic part of town. What a great, happening place! All the downtown shops were open, there were lots people milling about at the restaurants and shops and the little snippets of water we would see every now and then were icing on the cake. We also spotted a Joe’s Crab Shack so after I had my books we stopped there on the way back and filled our bellies with some delicious seafood. The view wasn’t so bad either…

We sat there soaking in the views and reminiscing about the boats we’ve had throughout the years and laughed at how our 32′ boat we used to have would look small amongst these yachts. Big boat or small boat we sure do love the water!

Tonight is Bingo Night again. Our last chance at playing and hopefully winning. It’s also our last night of spending time with the family as well. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our time here but time has run out. Tomorrow morning we are buttoning up the camper, battening the hatches and pulling out. We’re heading about four hours north to the central Florida area. This time tomorrow we’ll be set up in a campground at the retreat center where my upcoming quilt retreat will be held. We’re both very excited to be starting another adventure!

Surviving the drive

Sunday, February 13

Today was spent in the truck. Eight hours to be exact. This morning we enjoyed our coffee in Sweetwater, TN, ate a yummy breakfast of some of our farm fresh eggs we hoarded and brought with us and some seed bread toast. After that it was time to batten the hatches and button up the camper. We were on the road by 10 o’clock.

Around noon we were approaching Atlanta. Since everyone seemed to be heading around Atlanta on 285 we opted to go straight through. I mean, it’s Sunday so we thought the odds were pretty good that we’d get through without too much trouble.

Up ahead four lanes on the right were closed which caused a bit of a backup prior to but after that it was fairly smooth sailing. I’m just glad Ronnie was driving. The amount of traffic entering the interstate from the ramps and the lane changers were setting me on edge. Then there’s this…

… buildings sitting on top of each other …

… jam-packed with no breathing room. I just can’t. I literally feel my blood pressure rising just at the sight. It’s hard to believe I grew up in Orlando and the city never bothered me. Now I can’t stand being anywhere near a city with all the people and traffic and fast pace and especially such a large one as Atlanta. Hats off to the people that live there. Or in any big city. I sure couldn’t!

As we were about to exit the city-scape I saw the sign for the Varsity…

I’ve eaten there one time in my life as a teenager. The youth choir from First Baptist Church Orlando went on a mission trip and we stopped and ate at the Varsity. I remember being a bit overwhelmed when we walked in but it was a fun place. Here’s what they have to say on their website … “The Varsity in downtown Atlanta is our original, world famous location. This enormous restaurant sits on 2 city blocks and can accommodate 800 diners inside. Opened in 1928, this store quickly gained the reputation of being “the world’s largest drive in”. At The Varsity Atlanta we are dedicated to living up to our slogan “The FUN place to eat!”” I don’t think I would even want to try and find it now or even attempt to go in with possibly 800 diners inside, ha!

Once we were on the other side of Atlanta we breathed a sigh of relief and continued on our way stopping every three hours or so for fuel. Mercy, towing a house behind you gets pretty expensive.

I had my first Buc-ees experience. Oh.my.heavens. I walked into the store and stopped and stood there like a deer in the headlights and stared (I’m sure with my mouth gaped open) at all the people and the extreme massiveness of the store. I looked to the left, looked to the right and could hardly see the ends of the building. It was massive. The first order of business, however, was to find the bathrooms. Luckily they were almost straight back with plenty of stalls. With that out of the way I looked around in the general area I was in and was immediately overwhelmed. We decided it was too busy to stop and shop so we got back in the truck and moved on. It was a pretty cool place but my goodness was it overwhelming for this ol’ gal who had hardly left the farm the past seven years, teehee.

Today’s drive was nice and smooth. We drove a total of eight hours and stopped in Lake City, FL. LizzieBelle was a trooper right up until the last hour. She knew it was approaching two hours PAST her supper hour and she was not having any more of it. Since we had reached our goal for the day we found a campground for the night rather than staying in a rest stop or Walmart parking lot. The first thing I did after the slide out was in place was fix her supper. She was a happy camper after eating and is currently curled up in her bed sound asleep.

We are chilling the rest of the evening and I’m pretty sure we’ll call it an early night tonight. Why is driving so exhausting!

Monday, February 14

Happy Valentine’s Day!!! We arrived at our destination safe and sound a little after noon. We’re parked in the yard of some family members for the next two weeks.

We are ready to simply unwind and see what each day brings. We do have some lose ends to tie up but otherwise we’re going to try and adjust to having fewer responsibilities and learning to relax more.

With scenery such as this I think we’ll certainly adjust!

However, I think that’s going to be much easier for one of us than the other. Can you guess who, ha? I’m adjusting better than I thought I would but then again, I’m still working on getting the camper better organized for tiny space living so that occupies some of my time and brain cells.

As I write this blog post I am sitting by the pool watching Ronnie cast his line into the canal. Yup, I believe he’s adjusting just fine, hahaha!

It took LizzieBelle a couple days to get used to her new surrounding and routine but she’s got the hang of it now and is quite content that ‘Mom & Dad’ are never far away. She may be blind and deaf but she’s such a trooper!

On Wednesday the boys worked on a little project for the camper…

… retrofitting a cargo carrier for our camper. We wanted one that attached to the bumper but all we could find was one that slid into a hitch. Since we don’t have a hitch at the back of the camper they modified the hitch plate and now it attaches to the bumper.

They did a great job and yet it wasn’t without some bloodshed…

Can you see it smeared on the camper? sigh. Thankfully it wasn’t anything but a slight prick of the skin.

Now we can move some things that we don’t use very often into a box or tote and store it on the cargo carrier and free up some space in the camper.

Speaking of… I guess I’d better get to it!

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!!!