The why we chose

hello friends,
When I look back six years to the beginning of our journey I know my short term goal was to get out of the rut we were in and simply do something! Our careers we over, our children had busy families of their own, we lived in virtually two rooms of our 8 room house, our yard work was absolutely no fun anymore and all the things we thought might fill the big hole in our lives were not doing the job! I was beginning to be a real self-absorbed pitiful Pearl! I knew I needed a change....Paul was dealing with his paradigm change much better and was actually ok with the way things were. Travel has always been my passion...so my thoughts turned to a long road trip. After much thought and deliberation....cost/size/must-have features/upkeep/towability/and COST....I decided on a Casita Freedom deluxe! We bought a Nissan Pathfinder as our tow vehicle drove to Rice, Texas and picked MiniPearl up on Valentine Day 2012! We leased our house for two years, moved everything to a huge storage unit and hit the road....for that long road trip .... which turned into a move to Kansas City, selling our house and living in a one bedroom apartment on the eighth floor overlooking the Country Club Plaza! Oh! The places you’ll go!
I thought I had become a minimalist but that was a joke. I still was shopping...my happy place! For four years we didn’t do much traveling and that was ok, but I was dealing with my relationship with things and the realization that those things were really holding me hostage! Plus I was spending too much money on stuff, plane and simple. I wanted to be free of the weight of those things!
We still had MiniPearl and Willy Nelson (out Nissan)....this time our adventure would be full-time with perhaps a five year duration. No large storage unit...we’d only keep what would fit in the very smallest and cheapest. We held a 6 day estate sale, and  the remainder of our stuff cleaned out and picked up for a meager $300. That was hard to watch....all that stuff meant something to me, it had value way beyond $300....but now it was gone for good....I have to admit I had a melt-down.
Maybe this has been way too long...sorry. On one hand I’m pretty sure most quit reading at the first sentence, but if you stuck it out to right here perhaps you’ll see my story is one of victory with a happy ending! Kind of like Bilbo letting go of “the Ring”.....I let go of my stuff so I could have adventure!

TTFN,

CATHY

Wintering

Hello friends,
We have spent all of the new year in the Sonoran desert of Arizona. Quartzsite for a little over 6 weeks and now we’re outside Yuma near the Army Proving grounds on BLM land. This entire time we’ve been “off grid”....which means no electric, sewer or water! To achieve the ability to be off the grid and live for free costs quite a bit! Anything solar is pricy...then there’s batteries to choose, oh don’t forget a blue boy .... what’s a blue boy? It’s a totable, portable for hauling your grey and black water to a dump station. As for drinking water...most folks buy theirs. We’ve had a 90 watt portable solar suitcase-type set-up for several years. It works very well for us and keeps our rig up and running. This trip we added a 100 watt Goal Zero Nomad, a light, foldable solar panel which has been awesome for keeping our also new Goal Zero Yetti 400  charged. As for batteries, we have a new AGM. For now we only have room for one battery, many folks carry more. We bought a new, smaller blue boy and use a moving dolly to haul it behind our car to the dump station. We bought a Berkey Water filtering system for our drinking/cooking water and have been very pleased. 
So far we have spent $600+ for the 100 watt panel, $400+ for the Yetti, $300 for the AGM battery, $225 for the blue boy, and $200+ for the Berkey!
We paid $180 to stay at the LTVA sites in Arizona and California ....that’s Long Term Visitor Area. For that we get access to a dump station, potable water and trash bins. Good from October-April.
We will probably stay on LTVA BLM land into March hoping to recoup some of our original out-lay of funds...we also plan on staying on as much free spots as possible.
That’s WINTERING in Arizona desert regions...our way....There are other ways to winter but this is what we chose and in my next blog I’ll tell you some of the reasons why we chose this style.

TTFN,

CATHY

A Presidential Library

Hello Friends,
Today our goal was to visit the George W. Bush Library in Dallas on the campus of SMU.
So far we have been to the Truman, Eisenhower, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Nixon, Jackson, Washington, Jefferson and now George W. Bush libraries  or homes. All were excellent and worth the visit. I was a bit surprised at the security to enter the Bush library.

Here's proof! We enjoyed an excellent lunch in their restaurant and made the drive back to Melissa, TX. Where we were camped.
Sunday we had a double treat as we were able to join long-time friends, Chuck and Kathy Vance, at their church, Stonebriar Community Church where Paston Chuck Swindoll preaches! Afterwards we had a long leisurely lunch with lots of catching up talk!
Monday had us heading to Waco! More of that later!
TTFN,
Cathy

Today we took the cure!

Hot Springs is a marvel of nature...an awesome production of pristine water flowing through tons of rock over thousands of years to produce the most delicious mineral water on the planet! People have been coming to this area to enjoy the benefits of the water for thousands of years....Americans for over a hundred years. We decided to partake of the traditional bath experience in a bathhouse that is over 100 years old using all original equipment. Men head into their area on the first floor...ladies go up the elevator to their area on the second floor. I wish I could show you...but no pictures are allowed. You strip...are sheathed in a large sheet and head to the huge marble tub filled with 100 degree mineral water. An attendant makes you comfortable then turns on the whirlpool ...a very antiquated contraption, but does the job admirably. You soak for 30 blissful minutes...then the attendant exfoliates your legs and back with a loofa and you are ushered onto a table where hot cloths await. You're wrapped in the hot towels and a cool cloth is wrapped on your face! After 15 or so minutes you're then steamed in a cabinet....only 3 minutes for me....then finally you get the needles shower to rinse! I also had a lovely message. Let me tell you....a wonderful treat!

Selfie in the dressing room

The dressing room

That's all I could show...you'll have to make the trip to Hot Springs to see for yourself!

Tomorrow we head to Dallas!

TTFN,

Cathy

185118

Hello friends,
That is our mileage as we left Kansas City to begin our journey! Actually...we began months ago...and have worked very hard for the past couple of months to prepare....but...leaving ... that's a very big step. Our adventure will end when we decide to stop...that's about all I know for now. There's so much to see and do that I can't begin to list even for a bucket! We are back at Hot Springs National Park. We felt like we deserved the royal treatment and tomorrow we go for the "cure"!
I decided I would keep track of the National Parks we visit this time around...although we have been to quite a few already...there will be repeats I'm sure!

Tomorrow ...THE BATHS
TTFN,
Cathy

The struggle is real....

Hello friends!
We're beginning our sixth day of estate sale crazy! I now know why people opt to stay put in their large homes filled to the brim with "stuff".  Talk about painful...on many levels. We've spent hours, no days, hauling, sorting, hauling, grouping, pricing stuff! When the dust settles we hope to rid ourselves of almost everything we've acquired....almost. We've moved 60 boxes into a 5X10 storage unit and there it will remain until we claim it after our travels are finished!

Our living room

O

 Our kitchen

Soon it will all be gone....for better or worse...we are on our way!

TTFN,

Cathy

Welcome to our sale!

We're Back!

A New Day

Hello friends! Three years since my last post....time flies! And howdy!!! For several reasons, which I won't enumerate, we have decided to dramatically downsize and hit the road again! Our lease is up on Halloween and we will be leaving the apartment life behind! Where to begin....we're even more aware of the swiftly passing of time....talk about biological timeclock, whew....we have bucket lists full of places to see and adventures to have...when we started way back in 2012, YouTube was no big deal. Blogs were where it was happening. Blogs required very little technical ability, very little equipment, and although semi-sophisticated, most anyone could achieve respectable success. Enter the world of VLOGS and YouTube ....a true minefield of equipment, technology, click bait, monetizing and astronomical numbers! I have to admit that I enjoy watching YouTube and I have learned that there are some vlogs I adore and many that bore and a few I abhor! I am learning what I would do...if I vloged, and what I would try never  to do!

So we have a good camera ....check A GoPro....check An iMac ....check. iPhone.....check and iPad...check. Ready to go! Not so fast....the GoPro is still confusing, the Cannon camera has too many bells and whistles and the iMac is also on a learning curve.  Once we get on the move my plan is to get serious and learn how to operate this stuff!

For now, our lives are focused on five catagories: 1) store 2) sell 3) take 4) donate 5) trash

No photo...but here's a feeble attempt at a video.

New mods to our Casita. https://youtu.be/kQhFMU9fFTI

TTFN,

Cathy

SOLD!

105 Arrowhead Way is no longer our address.

 Weird feeling. We are very happy, but also a bit nostalgic as another chapter of our lives closes....However, we are opening a new chapter full of travels and adventure, so...here we go!

August 2014 will be full of beginnings

Our daughter Amy will marry Tommy Porter!

Our daughter Sarah will move into her very own apartment to be shared with her children!

Our granddaughter Izabella will begin her senior year of High School

Our grandson Zion will begin 8th grade, his last year of middle school.

Paul begins Medicare (?)

I begin planning our trip to Europe! (2015)

Paul gets ready for his first trip on a Zip Line!

Guess you can teach an old dog new tricks!

TTFN,

Cathy

CATCHING UP....AGAIN

December2013

Christmas in Missouri

Amy visited and made our holiday very special!

In January we lost our dear sweet Fiona.  We miss her every day.

In March we celebrated Mother's 87th Birthday!

Paul helped with the Brookside neighborhood St. Patricks Day parade

Amy visited again! Had such a good time!

April...the Plaza is getting so pretty!

Got the camper out in April

Enjoyed a good visit/camp with our Canadian friends Brian and Marla

Shared a fun week of camping and exploring the Smokey Mountain area with good friends Mike and Barbara Parker

Met, once again, Amy's fiancé Tommy Porter

Worked hard on our house in North Carolina so we could sell it

Grandson Zion headed back to K.C. With us for a bit of a summer vacay

Celebrated Independence 

Zion caught a whopper!

Spent some good time at Bass Pro

That about sums up our life so far....Waiting on the house to sell, then, hopefully more adventures!

TTFN, 

Cathy

Ten Sleep, WY.

I don't have any pictures to share. We were driving through the Big Horn Mountains heading east. The road was good, but we were in a mountain range, so the drive was intense. This part of Wyoming is breathtakingly beautiful, but we could not stop to take photos....when we came to the valley of green grassy farms with shade trees, rambling streams, beautiful ranches and farms....well it was perfect. I told Paul that I could live HERE...in Ten Sleep!
Tally Ho,
Cathy

Ok, I couldn't resist this photo.....We miss our friend Fiona!

Apology time

Friends, we have been off the road living in Kansas City, Missouri since Halloween. KC is my home town, but I never thought I would live here again and it certainly wasn't in our plans to go off the road so soon...but....life has a way of changing all our best laid plans.
My parents live here and we both (Paul &I) felt the need to be closer and more available. They are very independent, but you never know. We were able to get an apartment in their building, which, by the way is very very nice, so almost over night everything changed.
Our apartment is just 850 Sq. Ft....a whole lot bigger than the Casita, but much smaller than the home we moved out of....so we had to "simplify" big time. We've been here just 2 1/2 months and we both love the area, have found a wonderful church and it is so nice to see family...but we miss our NC friends and family too. We also miss the road.
One thing is certain...CHANGE happens.....

 

 

View from our balcony. You can Google Country Club Plaza to see our neighborhood.
So, I am sorry for keeping you in the dark...this has been a bit overwhelming on several levels. But here we are and we are happy to be here! Mini Pearl is in climate controlled storage and we will be having more adventures, you can count on that.
Tally ho,
Cathy

Living LARGE in a small space

Most, if not all of you know we have been living in our Casita since May of 2012. Most of you also know that our total square footage is approximately 98 Sq. Feet! We have one drawer, one closet for two people and a bossy westie. Our refrigerator is 4 cubic ft. Which also contains a small freezer compartment...big enough for several pints of Ben and Jerry's. Fortunately, our "TV" or tow vehicle is a stretch Nissan Pathfinder which we pack out pretty heavily😊. Paul has 3 cupboards in the camper for his clothing. The cupboards are all around 3 sides of MiniPearl. There are a total of 4 other cupboards which house food, canned goods, coffee and tea and dishes. The one drawer has knives, forks, spoons and miscellaneous cutlery...ie:  Can opener, cork screw etc. I have a crock full of spoons , spatulas and tongs and a magnetic knife holder also.

That's my new tea cozy from Maine above...

 

 

That's an old metal tray which has tons of souvenir magnets sticking to it

 

 

This is a new erasable magnet board I bought at Target to hold more of our magnets. We enjoy looking at them and marveling at all the places we have been!

 

 

This is our one closet....oh my goodness.... we sure can cram a ton of stuff in here. Talk about living LARGE. Found these three drawer cloth cabinets at Target. Finally, I have an easy way to access my clothes. One drawer for undies, one for pajamas, two for tops and two for bottoms....I feel luxurious!!!

And yes, that is tp, also houses our TV, DVD player and misc storage along with the first aid kit.

No, I am not ready to stop our journey....I am loving it!

Tally ho,

Cathy

 

 

THAT'S A WHOLE LOTTA CORN....

We have been traveling through America's heartland.....OHIO.....INDIANA......ILLINOIS.......and IOWA.

HERE'S

 

This could be a photo of any of these states! Never saw so much corn!!!

But wait....there's more...

 

 

 

 

 

America must be full of corn. Literally.

We did see other interesting, uplifting and edifying along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul's boyhood home in Vandalia, Ohio

 

 

Picnic with family

 

 

more family fun

 

 

And more FAMILY! Hooray!!!

 

We had a great time in Dayton and made some very good memories. Thanks to all our Lafferty family we love you all.

We stopped for three days in Indianapolis area.

 

 

 

Stopped to see yet another covered bridge.

 

 

amazing!

 

We were number one on the list for this housing.....

Now, they are privately owned, still beautiful though. Fort Benjamin Harrison is no longer. We visited it as an Indiana state park. Very nice.

 

 

Next we headed west to Springfield, Illinois to rub shoulders with the Lincoln family!

YOU MUST VISIT THE LINCOLN MUSEUM....have seen none to compare. What a wonderful time we had. 5 Stars

 

 

Paul got to hob nob with generals McClellan (L) and Grant but they offered him no refreshment....

 

 

Another must see is the Lincoln tomb

 

 

stunning

 

 

 

 

 

"Now he belongs to the ages"

 

 

We are in Iowa. Amana colonies and German cooking....out of this world. Paul sure did enjoy his wurst!

 

Tally ho,

Cathy