Tuesday, December 11, 2012

6 Months!

Hello to all!  We have been "on the road" for six whole months officially.  We left NC on June 10th and headed north spending time in DC area, NYC area, Boston burbs, Bar Harbor/Acadia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York state, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama....*whew*.  We have had a blast (great 60s expression!).  Time has certainly flown and altho my blogging has been at best, sporadic, please know I have a ton of great info and experiences to share and I will share, promise!  We watched "Christmas Story" the other night (just one of our many Christmas rituals....) and were reminded how long it use to take to finally "get" to Christmas...but now seems like poof, it is here and gone!  That is what time on the road is like too.  When we first started Paul would say, "We will go 6 months and then see how we feel about it...", then he would admit to a year and now....well we know a year will not be close to enough time to fit in all we want to do and see.  That is the first realization we have come to after 6 months out.

 
The day we left NC
 
 
The second thing we realize is we miss our family!  Whether it is our grown kids and our grands in NC, or my folks, sister and cousins in the KC area or Paul's family scattered all over....well, we miss the connections and being around the ones who are so dear to us!
 
 
Our grandson Zion
 
 
Next realization:  We are so fortunate to be able to have this "adventure" !  We cannot begin to explain how amazed we are at being able to travel as we do, believe me when I say we never take this opportunity for granted and altho we miss folks and a "normal" life....well, living our way-un-normal life is so exciting and educational...Usually, as folks age their world becomes smaller (happens to most of us), but we are trying to keep our world wide open and expanding....at least for a while and then, when the time comes, we will have lots of photos, videos and blog posts to remind us of a time when we were foot loose and fancy free!

 
 
Claudia standing outside her 5th wheel with Bella, her pug, after their first night in a Walmart Parking lot!

 
 Here we are in MiniPearl at Walmart too!
 
Another thing we have learned is to be flexible.....we do have to work at this, but when we do, we are both alot happier :-).  I finally dropped a whole container of vegetable soup on the floor of  Mini.  Luckily, it was not alot of liquid and we had it cleaned up pronto.  We bump into each other frequently as this is a small rig, but, we still agree it is the best choice for our situation and we have learned we can live very well inside our little "egg".
 
We use the elec. kettle daily and the food processor, not so much....but could not do without either.  As for the iron...well, haven't used it since Boston!  We have had summer clothes on until we hit KC, then got out the winter stuff only to break into the summer again when we hit Alabama.  Glad we brought for both seasons.  We have really used our travel duffel bags, they hold alot and don't take up much room.  We bought a coleman ice-less cooler that runs on a 12 volt with a converter to DC and love it!  has enlarged my refrigerator storage and that is something I have really had a hard time adjusting to....4 cu ft of refrigeration is dismally small, but I try to shorten my list, really I do!  Practice is making me better, that is for sure!  Our Nissan Pathfinder is a true champ and the best choice for a tow vehicle....we have lots of room for storage in there.
 

 
 
Our set up in Alabama...we do travel with quite a bit still after much parring down.....the tent is our garage where we store our bedding during the day, our Coleman elec. cooler, and the big boxes out of the back of our Nissan.  The ground is super sandy here and full of tiny mean ants....not my favorite location, but all in all, a great place for the month!
 
 
Statue:  The Pioneer Mother
 
I so admire those amazing brave pioneers who forged a country from the wilderness with such courage and tenacity.  Paul and I are enjoying our journey in our own way!
 
Two days in a row!  hooray and Tally ho,
Cathy



2 comments:

  1. I hope they aren't fireants! There weren't any when we were there last year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Brian, The ants are everywhere. They say it has been super dry here and that may be why there are so many. Don't know if they are the fire variety,but might very well be. The beach is fabulous and the folks are very friendly. They have us packed in tho and there are plenty of spots to choose from, don't know why. All in all, we are still very pleased with this area and are so thankful for your recommendation, it was a good one!

      Delete