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.  

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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.