Sunday, May 29, 2011

Yesterday I had the opportunity to spend the entire day with just my baby and my bestie. We started out at the beach, then went for coffee, then we went back to her place to eat an amazing dinner that her hubby cooked for us, then a nice long walk with the dog. What a wonderful day. I was so grateful that Gary was willing to stay home with five kids so I could go off and enjoy my day. I simply adore the opportunities this lifestyle affords.

Today my bestie and her hubby and two of her kiddos came here to the campsite to visit. We grilled and ate yummy food, the kids rode bikes and did whatever it is that boys do, we played a competitive game of mini golf and just really enjoyed the company. Now we are packing up in anticipation of getting an early start in the morning (insert laughter here!).

My bestie and I have previously gone years without being able to visit in person and now I’ve had several visits in just a short time! What a wonderful life!

Friday, May 27, 2011

I’m having trouble accepting that it’s Friday! This week has just flown by with us being so busy. In fact I’m having trouble slowing down; my mind is racing. We are in the sweetest campground for the next four days. There are maybe 15 campers here, including us, and I don’t think many are occupied. I expect that there will be some more coming in today as it’s the start of Memorial Day Weekend and there is a dinner planned for tonight, but even if the place fills to capacity there are only 80 or so spots.

There is no free cable, no free wi-fi. We are “camping”. I hope that I can settle my mind so I can absorb and appreciate this wonderful experience. I need to soak in the peace!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

We have just arrived in South Carolina! Finally! We were not sure that Florida was going to let us go. Back in November we arrived in Florida expecting to spend a month, and six months later we were still there.

Today was a really long day. I was ready to stop and sleep any place I could find a place to park, but Gary really wanted to push on, so push on we did, and now of course I’m glad for his sage advice because in the morning there will be no driving! Hooray!

There is so much that I need to write about, but I don’t even know where to begin. I guess I won’t even try to get caught up, but instead I will make a conscious effort to be in the present.

This week as we were attempting to leave Tampa to head towards Orlando we received a text from some friends asking us to meet them there. They were available to be there the exact days that we were! It was a kick in the butt to get out of Tampa, and it was such a wonderful time of peaceful reconnection between the two families before we all head off in different directions.

I know that I overuse the word, but everything is just so amazing. I’m in awe so often by just how ordered the chaos is. I love watching how everything unfolds, how even simple things are so important, and the way things work out better than I could have even hoped for. It’s just amazing!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Still here at Lazy Days. This weekend it feels like time is moving very slowly as we are just in a waiting period.

Tomorrow we will make a run to the grocery to make sure that Gary and the kids are well stocked in preparation for my leaving on Tuesday. I’m excited that I’m going to get to visit with three girlfriends on my trek to bring back our van.

I’ve been thinking recently about people and how I fit in; how we fit in. We recently had the pleasure of spending some time with a real live “dirty hippie” the other night. He spoke about our fellow RV park residents, referring to them as “capitalist pigs”. It was kind of an aha moment for me. Up until that point, I have felt like we pretty much fit in wherever we are. Sure, we haven’t found anyone just like us, but everyone seems to have something that we can relate to, including this dirty hippie. When he made the disparaging remark it really occurred to me how different we are from everyone. We aren’t dirty hippies, we aren’t capitalist pigs, and yet, everywhere we go we do find some way to connect. That is what is different on the road, and that is what makes it so nice. When there is something that we don’t agree upon, it’s okay to just focus on the things we do agree on.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Another neat thing that happened was the solution that materialized after we ran into a snafu when Robbin went to get the new tires. The place we had planned on wouldn’t take my credit card over the phone, so we then planned to have Robbin pay for it herself and we would reimburse her. Then they didn’t have the tires in stock. We called around to every place we could think of and they either didn’t have the tires or couldn’t fit her in until next week. While I was on the phone with the gentleman from the Uhaul shop were we were arranging a tow dolly rental, I again took a deep breath and asked the Universe to guide me to figure this out. Jim and Robbin were on a tight schedule and if everything didn’t go exactly as planned they wouldn’t be able to take the van. So here I am on the phone and I feel a nudging that this man can help. I had a mental battle with myself about asking him for help, but I finally found a way to fit it into the conversation and I asked if he had any suggestions for us. He named a place that I didn’t even know existed. I gave them a call and not only could they fit her in immediately, their price beat everyone else by a significant amount!

The plan is for me to fly to North Carolina with the baby (who is quickly becoming a toddler!) and drive the van the rest of the way to Florida. Then we will transfer all our crap and move in to our new home!

The dealership where we purchased has been just wonderful to us. I’m so happy that we were able to do business with LazyDays; they are just amazing!

Before I forget, another neat thing recently is that we were sidetracked from our travel plans by this trailer purchase. We came here hoping to find a larger motor home, and we were just about ready to leave when we fell for the trailer. Had we not purchased the trailer, we would have been in the path of some pretty nasty weather

Friday, April 29, 2011

The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity. I don’t even know where to begin!

For starters we traded in our beloved Class C motor home for a travel trailer. My pride is taking a hit at giving up the motor home, but we are so excited to have something brand new, space for everyone to sleep comfortably, and a vehicle to get to the grocery store!

We have been fairly stressed out lately trying to get everything together for the purchase; I swear, it’s easier to close on a house than it is to buy a travel trailer! Anyhow, I’ve been consciously letting go and asking the Universe to guide me and the results have been astonishing. The way things have been working out have been greater that we could have planned for, even if we tried. For starters, we needed to get the van from Maine to Florida. We could send someone from here to get it, but it needed to be road worthy first. Our good friends Jim and Robbin were in the very city where the van was located, and Robbin had some free time, so she was able to pick it up, register it, get it stickered and have new tires installed. They then offered to transport it to North Carolina for us. What a stroke of divine luck that they happened to be there this week?

Monday, April 25, 2011

Today we checked into LazyDays Rally Park Campground, another one of our favorite places. Our camping neighbor came over today and told us, “We have something WAY BETTER than television; Your family!” At least he had the guts to admit it to our faces! Most people just ogle us from afar!

This park has always been great. As I’ve mentioned before, they serve us breakfast and lunch and have drinks available for free all day long. The hot tub is always open so we can go after the kids are in bed, and the proximity to the pool is such that you can soak and watch the kids swim at the same time. We didn’t think they could improve upon things here, but they did! Since we were here last they put in a motor home themed restaurant! Gary and I were able to go over for a drink tonight with a walkie-talkie in hand. We plan to take the kids there tomorrow night for dinner.