On The Road- #116

We departed Monday, September 29th. To friends and family we were not able to get together with before heading south again - our time home was shorter than usual and I apologize for not reaching out. But here’s a thought (and invitation) come visit us on the Gulf Coast!

Today, Wednesday, October 1st, we’ll be slightly more than halfway to Bay St Louis, stopping later today in Knoxville, TN. We will arrive at our destination on Friday. 

It’s been an uneventful trip so far. Sounds a bit boring but always a positive. Basically just driving and overnighting in a hotel. While it is much easier driving without pulling the trailer and our gas mileage is about 6-7 mpg better, I do miss some of the good perks of having our house with us.

Sometimes, we encounter fun things while driving down the road that just make us smile. 

As we drive from state to state, I am reminded of all the different areas we have stayed and visited over the past 4 years. While I am glad on this trip to “just get there”, I do miss taking our time and exploring a little along the way. It is difficult to do having Minnie with us. We’ve been sneaking her into the hotels. She’s very good but has been a little vocal in the mornings so we’ve had to sneak her out and put her in the truck, while we have breakfast and check out. She’s pretty chill while driving. 

             Minnie after a hard day driving.

Driving

We’ve been staying at Tru Hotels. They are part of Hilton, one of their newer brands. I highly recommend if you’ve never stayed. I brought food with us; usually I prepare pbj sandwiches for lunch on the road at rest stops, although today I made bagels with cream cheese from the breakfast buffet. Tonight, we’ll be having soup or tuna salad for dinner. We keep it very simple. After 6+hours on the road, we just want to relax. Little cats can get anxious in new surroundings so we don’t like to leave her. 

Charlie and I both started wearing compression socks during really long travel. While we’ve never had any circulation problems to date, we figure better safe then sorry. So many days in a row, so many hours.  However, we do have various aches and pains from traveling and sitting so long. We’re getting to be a pair of old coots. At any rate, it won’t be long now! Gulf Coast see you soon!

Nothing Stays The Same - #115

It’s 3 a.m. and I can’t fall back to sleep. We received some surprising and disappointing news today. Our campground in Bay St Louis has been sold. 

We really like ( former) owners Lea and Randy, the wonderful way they ran the park, their knowledge of the area and of camping, RVs, and the “lifestyle”. They know what makes for a great campground and really enhanced our time at the park. Our biggest concern now  is “ the unknown”. Though I’m sure things will be relatively the same for a while, the new owners, from my understanding, have no RVing experience and are new to the area relocating from California.  This leaves us with a lot of uncertainty, questions.  

-what changes will be made?  -will the price increase?  -will storage still be offered?  - will there still be activities? 

So, the first change we have been forced to make is now to drive our truck down south instead of my car. Not tragic, but I really was so happy and looking forward to taking my car and now…  we need to have the ability to move our trailer.  

I’m obviously overthinking about all the what ifs; they are keeping me awake. 

On the other hand, everything could work out great. I guess I just need a backup plan to access my comfort zone.  

I realize nothing in life stays the same. I talked about change in my very first blog entry years ago. I guess I prefer change on my terms though, when it’s been my decision, when it’s going in a direction I want and not unexpected. 

I thought I handled change pretty well but I’m having a hard time reconciling this. Again, overthinking or perhaps mourning the possible changes to come as well.  I feel sad. I want to stamp my feet like a little kid and scream “NO”!  And I’m usually one who looks at the positive in the future; I just feel a bit off balance. 

I think I need to get out and do something positive and constructive. Today I’ll get out there and start cleaning the truck. Luckily, it’s not too bad and we just went through the capped bed the other day.  I think that will help. On the upside, we’ll definitely have more room for the stuff we’re bringing down.  It will work fine. I also switched my car service appointment to bring the truck in, instead.  

It will all work out, I’m sure! I feel a little better.  

It’s That Time Of Year Again - #114

The forecast for the first 10 days of September in Massachusetts look spectacular! The cooler ( mid-70’s) temps are much more conducive to outdoor activities. So gradually, I’ve been spending time cleaning my car. Next week it goes in for service; today I replaced the windshield wipers and fluid. I’ve cleaned all the vinyl with Armorall and swept, vacuumed the carpets in the hatch and back seat; still have to do the front. That’ll be another day. I am excited that we are driving my little car to Mississippi this year and glad to have a vehicle we can now take additional passengers in the back seat! 

We will be heading down south to Bay St. Louis MS in 22 days. We are leaving earlier than usual for a couple of reasons. Mainly, it’s to participate in Cruisin’ the Coast ( classic car event than spans a week beginning 10/5 this year). The second is to see how our trailer faired spending the summer down south in heat and humidity. We have some service needed we put off until our return, including replacing our awning. We are also excited about our new site location at the end of a side row - closest to all the amenities. We’ll have a lot more space now, too! 

I’ve already mapped out our driving route; about 5-6 hours per day on the road. This is usually enough for us and Minnie; it will be 5 days of driving. We’ll be staying overnight in Hilton Tru Hotels along the way. I fell in love with the Tru brand since our first experience. They are funky, contemporary hotels; very reasonably priced, include breakfast, Wi-Fi, allow pets and have a variety of fun amenities. While each one is slightly different, all are decorated like an IKEA display room - so what could be more fun! 

Labor Day was the perfect day to clean out the back of our truck. It can get intolerably hot in the capped bed on a sunny summer day- today was nicely overcast and we went through the few items we transferred to my car to take with us and found yet another bag of clothes and things I thought I left in Mississippi. ( I knew I took them home!!) That is now done! I also finished cleaning the inside of my car. No doubt, it will still get dirty over the next few weeks but it should be easier to keep up now. 

This past week, Charlie has a checkup for kidney stones, Minnie had her checkup with a new vet up our way. I had follow up bloodwork for my Babesiosis to see where I stand. The last few days I have felt particularly good.  I haven’t talked about this previously but I was apparently bitten by a black tick a couple of months ago and contracted a parasitic disease. My main symptom was crushing fatigue. I’m actually doing pretty well considering how it affects a lot of people.  

                               ————

Fast forward several days - we all checked out fine! All my bloodwork was good including a glucose test I saw my doctor had included which was 97! Now we probably just need flu shots and we’re good to go!

Today is a rainy Sunday. Feels like it hasn’t rained like this in a very long time! I am enjoying sitting in my chair, sipping my morning coffee and listening to the rain through an opened window. Maybe today is a good day to go through my closets and pull out stuff I’m taking to Mississippi. 

Summer Family Adventure - #113

It is now Labor Day weekend, the official end to the summer vacation season; how did it go by so fast? 

We ended our summer with a wonderful family trip. It had been years since my immediate family were all together; not easy when we’re separated by an ocean. We planned this adventure a year ago; the time always seems so far off but then it arrives…passes - but leaves wonderful memories! 

Originally, we had discussed visiting an island - but quite frankly, I’ve had enough of those.  I do love the ocean, but I get my fill during our time in Mississippi and even at home when we visit Plymouth.  But, I hadn’t visited any of the northwest states or National Parks in that area - so we decided on Yellowstone. I heard a lot of great things about Bozeman, Montana, too. And so it was decided! 

We arranged to meet up at the Bozeman Airport on Saturday 8/16; Charlie, me, Brooke, Rakib and the kids on our flight from Boston; Holly and Greg from Paris via an overnight stop in Seattle, since Paris does not fly into Bozeman. We picked up our spacious and comfortable 15 passenger van and the eight of us, along with lots of luggage, headed to our Air B&B house in Big Sky.  

If you’ve never been to this corner of Montana, it is absolutely stunning! 360 degree views of mountains, lakes. The population is small, houses are spaced far apart, roads are great and traffic is null. The air is sweet but the higher elevation of 6-9000 feet we experienced can be a little taxing especially when your norm is sea level. For people who love the outdoors and still young enough to participate, this is a great place to live! The downside is the cost.  Even though there is no sales tax, it is very expensive. And winters are laden with snow - but if you are a skier - I guess that’s a good thing!

We ate at several restaurants and had great meals - the best hamburgers, barbecue! At our rental house, we prepared our breakfast and lunch daily; one night we broiled hot dogs for dinner.  

Our activities included ATVing ( which I did not do as little Wally could not participate so he and I hung out), lots of hiking, archery, shopping and taking in that glorious scenery! Our house also had a hot tub and was extremely comfortable with four bedrooms and 4-1/2 bathrooms.

                                  Lone Peak 

After our 5 day stint in Big Sky, we headed to West Yellowstone for our 3 night stay at Parade Rest Guest Ranch. We rented two log cabins and arranged for the all inclusive package - which provided for all meals at the dining hall, cookout, hayride and horseback riding. The whole family rode - though at different times.  

We arrived Wednesday 8/20 which happened to be Wally’s 6th birthday. With dinner that evening, the ranch provided a delicious homemade birthday cake to celebrate! 

Well in advance of our trip, I hired a private guide to take us through Yellowstone.  This was the best money I ever spent! Amy was fantastic - extremely knowledgeable, passionate, kind and caring. She met us at 9 am at the ranch; we took off in our van to the “Park”. Yellowstone National Park is amazing! The unique geological features, wildlife, people communing with nature including an eventual E.L.E* percolating below- it is a truly spiritual experience! The ranch packed us lunch and water to go in a cooler which we munched on while waiting for Old Faithful to blow! We visited geysers, hot springs, mud springs, lakes, waterfalls, canyons  - endless beauty! Definitely a once in a lifetime event! We returned to Parade Ranch after 6 pm just in time for dinner- it had been a full day!

                            Old Faithful 

Horseback riding at the park was fun! I was so impressed with Deena and Wally’s ability to ride with no fear! They did great!

We also enjoyed a cookout one evening which included a hayride for some of us ( others went riding) and entertainment. We really had a great time at the ranch!

Eventually it was back to Bozeman for an overnight near the airport and then we all went our separate ways the following day - the six of us to Boston; Holly and Greg back to Seattle and then Paris. They really had some major travel and time changes.  

So what’s in store for next year? Well- we’re thinking about meeting up in France! Hopefully we can make that happen! 

*E.L.E - Referencing movie Deep Impact.