Escaping The Black Hole

We have heard it several times. 

"We're going to stay home this winter, to take care of ...."  With only one exception in our experience, the fellow full-timer who uttered that phrase, never moved their rig again. It can happen without realizing it is going to happen. 

We uttered that same phrase in the fall of 2021. For a number of reasons, we just felt we needed to be present in Iowa. It helped that our daughter and son-in-law very generously offered us housing, so we didn't have to ride out an Iowa winter in the RV. We knew we were in danger of falling into that black hole that develops around people who need to take a break, but we did it, none the less. 

I quit blogging and looking back, I realize it was the perfect time to be sharing my thoughts about what was happening. The reality is we settled into a routine of living in a household with our daughter's busy family and two grade school aged grandsons. We were there for Christmas with all the kids and saw friends we normally wouldn't see in the winter. I took a job serving in one of our favorite restaurants, conveniently located 5 minutes from 'home' and met new friends there that are now in my heart forever. It was a mild winter, by Iowa standards and we had a chance to be present with the family and take a much-needed break from the Full -time lifestyle. My daughter mentioned one night early in the winter, that maybe we should just plan to 'take a break' every five years or so. 

Sledding with the Grandkids

I have to admit, the Black Hole that sucks many from the full-time lifestyle did taunt us.

Winter passed.  We savored every minute of our 18 months in Iowa. But, along about September we were both itching to get away and migrate south.

We arranged to return to Llano Grande, where we were work camping the year Covid happened during the winter of 2019/2020. 

Flash forward... and we are back at Llano Grande. We are spending time with good friends in the RGV (Rio Grande Valley to you gringos) 

As I write tonight, I am full of emotions I can't quite process. I have written over the years about our first friends from this lifestyle, John and Cathy. 16 months ago, John was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer and has undergone surgery and treatments associated with an aggressive disease. We chose to come here to be close to them.  In our minds we couldn't be anywhere else. We have grown close to them over the years and feel as close to them as we do people we have known for decades. It is the connection that RV volunteers forge that is only understood by those of us who are in that lifestyle They have travelled to Iowa and met our friends and family. Our Iowa peeps ask about them all the time because they have met them, had dinner with them with us and socialized with them when they have visited Iowa.

Just like last winter, when we stayed in Iowa, tonight I know we are where we are supposed to be this winter. We will work for the park the hours we need to barter for our site. I secured a serving job to keep me busy and give me the extra money that I like. Most of all, we are here to support John and Cathy in any way they need us.  My emotions are all over the place. 

Breakfast ride with the Llano group

We have hooked up with the motorcycle club here and gone on one ride with them. It's a good group and we look forward to riding with them through the winter. I have the State Park right next door with good birding whenever I need to take a break from the world. If that doesn't do the job, Texas is a plethora of wide-open lonely roads. A long motorcycle ride is always good for the soul. Here in the park, we are back in the company of work campers we met and liked from last time. We are far from Iowa but very much in our second home with winter family. 

Simply put, we know we are where we are supposed to be right now. We don't know what lies ahead for our dear friend. For that matter, none of us knows what tomorrow will bring. We wake up each day with hope and a loose plan for our future and greet each day as the blessing that it is. 

Until Next Time....

It's Good To Be Home

It's So Good To Be Home.  I look at this oil painting my daughter and her husband painted together one evening, several years ago. It hangs on the wall in their workout room. It is often a focal point when I am doing my yoga balance work and it is in my line of vision when I am on my back doing floor work. I've seen it in their home for years but this winter, especially today, resonated deep within me. 

When my brother-in-law got the devastating diagnosis of small cell lung cancer last summer the scenario, we have always talked about moved to our foreminds. That is the scenario of what would keep us home in Iowa during the winter. Our daughter was quick to tell us that they had talked as a family and offered to make space for us in their home if we decided to stay. The summer went along, treatments were endured by Steve and other bad news came into our lives. A good friend from our RV life in Colorado also receiving a cancer diagnosis, followed by aggressive treatment. Others in our lives experiencing decline in their senior years. 

Champ sensed my angst and 5 days before our planned departure opened up the dialogue with me about staying here. As we talked it became apparent, the thought of having to stay and made me want to stay. It's hard to explain, but I believe all full timers go through this occasionally. Some push the feelings down, some come off the road for a period of time and in our case, we decided to take a break. 

We talked to Kelsy and JP, they talked with the kids, and it was decided we would stay this winter.

I found a job serving 3 nights a week in a restaurant nearby that I love to dine at. The money is good, and the crew is professional. I'm basking in the opportunity to spend time with the kids through the holiday season. We are present for things that we have missed over the past 6 years. 

Today I have a rare day alone in the house. The kids are in school, Kelsy and Jp went to work, and Champ went up to the farm to do a small project in the motorhome that is easier done when it is vacant, as it is now. 

Steve is responding well to treatments these days; John is in Colorado fighting the good fight and we are close enough we have thought semi seriously about taking a road trip out to see them when he is strong enough. Kelsy and I have a weekend trip planned to Milwaukee next weekend to take in the Van Gogh Immersive Exhibit and we were able to spend Hunter's 10th birthday celebrations with him in person instead of a video call. I have spent more time with my sister the past months than I have in the last several years combined. Many other 'firsts in several years' are on the horizon. 

We are missing some superficial things, like warm weather, the long-anticipated job with the refuge in the Keys and our planned motorcycle riding in the Smokey Mountains this fall.  But those things will be there next winter unless the oceans rise suddenly, and the Keys become the new Atlantis. I jest but the fact is none of us knows what tomorrow, let alone next winter will bring. I am starting to look at options for next winter and where we may plan to go. 

It happened this morning. I was near the end of my yoga practice. Liquid Mind blared from the JBL speaker in the corner of the room, and I was completely immersed in my practice. My mind was, well liquid, so to speak. I opened my eyes and found my line if vision cast directly on the canvas. Home is a fluid state for us, but Iowa represents home, our kids represent home. As I released a long exhale, I felt the most complete sense of calm looking at those words." It's So Good To Be Home" 

Until Next Time...

Staying Put

 

 

Yesterday the day brought steady rain and 46 degrees. My least favorite brand of weather, and I’m from Iowa!  I will take snow and below freezing temperatures any day over ice water falling from the sky. For the past 5 years ice water rain has signaled one of two things. It is time to hit the southbound ramp of the Interstate, or we came home too early. This year as I look out the window at the miserable day, I have to tell myself, the worst is yet to come.

The number one rule of living a full time RV lifestyle is flexibility and adaptability. Okay that’s two rules. The past two months have revealed a number of ‘signs’ that we needed to think seriously about our plans to go to Florida this winter.

After a lot of hand wringing and considerable over thinking on my part, Champ and I had a long talk one evening a couple of weeks ago and agreed we ‘could’ go south but we shouldn’t this year. Our daughter Kelsy had offered us quarters in her finished basement several weeks ago when the writing began to appear on the wall. We took her up on her offer and pulled the plug on our long-anticipated winter plans to go to south Florida.

Once the decision was made the stress began to leave my body and I started sleeping at night again. A sure sign that we made the right decision. I was quite touched when many of our RV friends around the country began to call and text to be sure we were okay. Facebook posts being what they are my revelation in my news feed left out all the details. It was nice to know that our vagabond friends are thinking about us as much as we think about them.

Buster in Texas  2017

Now my mind is focused on all the good things that will come from being home. We will be in our daughter’s home with two of our grade school aged grandsons. We will watch kids big and small blow out their birthday candles in person rather than on our phone screens. There are friends whose birthdays we normally miss that we will get to celebrate with. Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years will all be celebrated in jeans and sweaters with likely frightful weather outside instead of on our RV pad patio in shorts and t-shirts with Citronella torches burning. And we definitely won’t hear the sound of crickets chirping as we walk or drive around looking at Christmas light displays.

In the meantime, we have rebooked our Anniversary cruise that was scuttled by the ever present ‘C’ word. You know which one. (Hint- it isn’t cancer) I have found a job serving in one of my favorite restaurants, conveniently located just about a 5-minute drive from my daughter’s house. Champ will eventually have a list of little projects either at our daughter’s place or my friend’s house or here at the farm helping Randy this winter.

Speaking of my friend, one of the toughest things to figure out was what to do with my beloved Buster. 18 lbs. of lovable yet timid tabby cat. Kelsy has 2 adult cats and a Husky. All very nice animals, but my poor Buster is so used to a quiet, almost boring existence with us. I had to laugh when I realized we are the ‘old people’ that some cats live with. My good friend, whose house is as quiet as mine has agreed to foster him in her home with her cat.

Buster soaking up some love from Joyce in his winter home

Today we will introduce him to her home and her cat Penelope. He will be stressed but not as much as being introduced to 2 new cats and a dog. We will spend the weekend packing and for the first time since owning the motorhome, winterize it. We are so thankful to have the opportunity we do. We have known many who have remained in Iowa in their RV’s and fought freezing water lines and all the other misery of trying to stay in an RV in the winter in a cold climate. We are very fortunate.

I am absolutely sure that as the winter goes along things will unfold that will affirm our decision to stay present here. After a year hiatus from a southern climate, I’m sure we will be more than ready to get back into our routine next winter. But for now, we are in Iowa and happy about it.

Until Next Time

 

The Melancholy of Late Summer

It is September 2nd. On this day Champ’s oldest grandson turns 30. We all remember turning 30 ourselves, assuming one has passed that benchmark and remember how old we felt. Time zooms by then, suddenly, your grandkids are that old. Summer is the same way. The season flies by so quickly each year. Our summer was filled with a steady stream of grandkids visiting, a weekend motorcycle trip that covered 700 miles and two memorable vacations. The first with the kids and their families in June and most recently our long-anticipated trip to Maine to spend time with friends we met in Florida three winters ago and get a personalized tour of their home state.

The view from Burwell's Deck

The Maine Coast from Acadia National  Park

Champ and I with our friends and hosts Chuck and Julie

 Today was my day to mourn the passing of yet another summer season. I have done it each year as long as I can remember. It is the day I clean out the garden. For 5 summers, it has involved taking down the container garden on my pad at Saylorville Lake. This year it is once again a vegetable garden in the ground, here at our son’s place where we have made a summer home. In past years my late summer feelings have been a blend of relief that the extreme heat and humidity have passed, joy of the upcoming fall season and the warm earthy colors that go along with it and the dread of the winter coming. These days that ladder of those emotions is the dread of leaving the kids for the winter. 

 The weather was perfect. 70 degrees and cloudy. Jeans and a t-shirt allowed the hard work of cleaning out plants and taking down fencing to whiz by without really breaking a sweat. It was downright pleasant outside today for physical work. I filled a 5-gallon bucket with the last of the tomatoes, peppers and zucchini musing about who I would give them to and thought about the upcoming winter. My mind was buzzing with the familiar excitement of going to a warm climate and the anticipation of a job we have had lined up for a couple of years on the Keys. Both thoughts were interwoven with the sadness of missing winter birthdays, Christmas and going several months having to settle for face time and being deprived of hugs and the smell of a grandchild’s hair when they lean into me.

 Today like everyday the past 5 weeks all of my thoughts are laced with the angst of worry about my brother-in-law and a good friend who are both in the thick of a war with cancer. Even my therapeutic yard work provided no escape from those thoughts. 

 As I pulled the giant tomato plants from the ground and cut down the 12’ tall sunflower stalks I smile at the miracle that is watching a garden grow. A tiny seed in May turns into a giant plant capable of producing more food than we can eat ourselves in a matter of weeks. It never ceases to amaze me. I think that is the gardener nerd in me.

All ready for fall tilling

Fall flowers tall and beautiful

 My summer job is winding down in perfect time for all the fall activities and preparations to fly south with the birds. My work schedule at the Produce Market has settled down from 30-35 hours a week to 10-15. Like the mild weather the schedule is a relief. As I look out over the cleared garden plot, I am imagining next year already. The tilled area will be a little larger and the variety of vegetables will be a little different. I am getting ready to dive into the fall planting of grass seed and two new pollinator areas that will lie under the winter bed of snow and germinate while we are gone.

 For now, I  am taking a deep cleansing breath this afternoon, to prepare my mind and my heart for how quickly the next 7 weeks will slip away.

Until next time…

When Your Vision Becomes Reality

 

The decision to end our tenure with Saylorville Lake was a tough one. We love so many things about the place.  Afterall, it is where we met 20 years ago and where our story began. We loved all our years camping there and would never trade a second of the four summer seasons we lived and volunteered there.

It’s nice when a vision comes to life and that is what has happened this summer. Many discussions with our oldest son last year led to us building a full-service pad on his acreage 40 miles north of Des Moines. A nephew dug the septic field for us and our other son ran the service for our 50-amp pedestal. The concrete was already here. But the infrastructure was just the bare bones of our vision. The real vision was being more connected to the family in the northern counties and an opportunity to spend more time with grandkids who previously looked on us like virtual strangers. They now come in the motorhome and know where to find a juice box and snack rather than having to be reminded of who we are the 1 or 2 times a summer we see them.  The kids in the southern counties have more contact with their north Iowa relatives because of our location and the grade school aged cousins are becoming quick friends.

Part of my butterfly gardens getting established

I stumbled into an awesome part time job, just 4 miles away working for a local produce / flower/ Iowa produce market. The owner and his family are incredible and the local clientele are sprinkled with old neighbors and acquaintances that make the average workday feel like old home day. It is Iowa nice in its true form.

The weather has been perfect for motorcycle seat time. We took a weekend trip with a group of people, most of whom Champ has known for decades and some new friends made last year on a similar trip. We covered a little over 700 miles of Southern Iowa towns and made a lot of great memories as often happens on such trips. I ride my bike to work most days and evening rides are frequent.

Champ and I on the last day of the June trip

A stop on a day ride with the kids

The coolest thing for us this summer is, our daughter and family entered the RV world by purchasing their first camper. We have camped with the one time so far and are looking forward to another weekend soon.  

Kids at a picnic table. Pretty normal in our world

Kelsy and JP 1st Camping trip with their new camper

We basked in our bubble of joy until about 4 weeks ago. There are sobering reminders of how fragile this life is and how vulnerable full time RV’rs are to what goes on inside our bodies.  Within 4 weeks, we lost one our cats who succumbed to old age. We feel fortunate that we are here and had a place to bury her.  The next day we received news that my brother-in-law has an aggressive form of Lung Cancer. He is currently undergoing chemo and radiation to the extent his body can tolerate it. A few days ago, we got word from a couple in our RV life that we have become close friends with over the years, that he has Pancreatic Cancer.  Another RV friend is being treated for Cancer that has come back in another part of his body. My Father is declining because of Lewy Body Dementia as well.  Suddenly, our plans for the winter are tentative. There are times when one must draw a line between choosing what we want to do and being separated for a time from our friends and family to do it and knowing that you need to set those desires aside and be present to those who need you.

Annie's grave site along the fence line where she liked to lay

Champ on the right supporting Steve while he goes through chemo and radiation

We are looking forward to our trip to Maine in a couple of weeks. Each day we look for the joy in our lives. Watching the young kids play together, watching the butterflies and bumblebees cover my pollinator habits that are growing bring me great joy. Knowing we made the right decision to come to our son’s property for the summers bring us all joy. Amidst the trials that life has handed to people around us, who we love deeply, we will do what our hearts tell us to do in the coming months. Like most of RV life the plan is fluid.

Until next time…

The World Wide Web

 

It has been a busy summer so far and it is only June 14th! We just returned from a memorable vacation to the Black Hills with a family group of 16 including two of our three kids, four of our grandkids and our son-in-law’s family. We rented a big house outside of Deadwood and spent a week exploring the area. The weather was perfect, everyone had a good time and got along well all week. I couldn’t have dreamt of a better vacation.

The whole gang at Mr. Rushmore

Arrival time at the "cabin" 

During the trip we had a chance to go spend part of day with Russ and Nancy Barnes.  They are fellow RV Volunteers like us that we met through other RV friends several years ago. Although we have never worked with them other good friends of ours have worked with them and we have been able to get to know them when we visited our friends. Social media has helped us stay connected with them.  They gave us a guided tour of the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery where they are working this summer in Spearfish SD, then took us to their favorite local restaurant for lunch.  While we were visiting with them, I starting thinking about all the times we meet up with people we have met on the road and the vision of a huge web with connecting points all over the country formed in my mind. We will intersect with many people over the course of the next few months, all of whom, we have met through our full time RV lifestyle.

With Russ and Nancy at their site

Later this week, a couple we were down the street from two winters ago in Mercedes TX will be staying at Saylorville for 5 days. Our conversations with them that winter revealed that despite their extensive travels they had never spent any time in Iowa. It is not all that uncommon, despite Interstates 80 and 35 intersecting in Des Moines many people simply go around thinking there is nothing here worth seeing. Since we started this in 2016, we have had three couples come to Iowa at our encouragement and all were pleasantly surprised at how beautiful Iowa is in the summer and how much there is to see.

We will make our, one year delayed, trip out to Maine in August to see Chuck and Julie who we became good friends with, in Florida three winters ago. Their neighbors are a couple, that Julie introduced me to through Facebook who are birders that I had a chance to do some birding with, the year we were in Mercedes. Not only will we get to see Maine but will get to spend time with them and let them show us their home turf. 

On our way to Florida this fall we will stop and see Barb and John who we also met in Florida and likely stop in the Florida panhandle to see former Volunteer Village friends who are working in the area. The world is wide, but the web is woven ever more tightly the more we move about during the winter. The country is becoming less a place that seems unfamiliar and more a path of places where we look forward to meeting ‘on-the-road’ friends and getting private tours of the areas they call home or are working at the time. Next February we will be on the receiving end when our good friends John and Cathy come to Florida for a month to take some much-needed time off from work camping and visit us in the Keys. We will have been there three months by then and will know the lay of the land. I am hopeful that when we depart around the first of March we may even travel together up the East Coast for a couple of weeks as we make our way back to Iowa and they head toward their summer gig.

Years run together and have become a continuous string of timeframes to look forward to as we cross paths with our like-feathered friends that are the full time RV community. I can’t imagine my life without having know many of the people we have met in the past five years.

Until Next Time…

Easter in New Mexico

Tomorrow we will pull up the jacks and start making our way back north and east toward Iowa. The bikes will likely stay in the truck the rest of the way home.  The past week has been a whole new level of riding for me and I’ve experienced things I never thought I would on a motorcycle. Champ has done it all many times but has enjoyed watching me experience this kind of riding for the first time.

Our short stay in southern New Mexico did not disappoint. I am glad we chose the Alamogordo area for this trip. I have so many other places in this beautiful state I want to see, but this was a tasty appetizer. We scheduled two full days here.

Basecamp in Alamogordo

Gambel's Quail behind the rig

View of the Sacramento Mountains from our site

Day 1 was spent at White Sands National Park. It was Easter Sunday. If you have not been there make it a point to go. It is such a unique area. The history and geology are fascinating and I always marvel that there are species that adapt to harsh climates like this. We hiked the trails and marveled at our surroundings. The interpretive signage throughout the park does a great job educating visitors about what they are seeing and what to look for.  To see about the park to to   https://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm

I was examining a grouping of tracks in the sand on a dune when a family with three kids, armed with their Jr. Ranger guidebooks approached. I encouraged them to come to where I was standing and pointed out the tracks. I just stood back and my heart smiled as they got out their guides and began to identify the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Darkling Beetle, Bleached Earless Lizard, and Merriam’s Kangaroo Rat tracks in the 10’ square area where I was standing. I love to see kids get excited about things like that. It once again reminded me how much I love interpretive work when I get to do it on our Volunteer gigs at the Wildlife Refuges and State Parks.

Champ in the Dunes

Families enjoying Easter Sunday

Taking a rest on the boardwalk

Soap Tree Yucca at the top of the dune

Blue=Merriam's Kangaroo rat Red= Darkling Beetle Green =Bleached Earless Lizard

                                       

The park manager lent us sleds and a brick of resin so we could do some sledding ourselves. Champ even managed a trip down the hill standing up on the sled. Sand surfing!

Families had their canopies, and some their campers dry docked in the big parking lots at the base of the dunes. The kids were sledding and playing on the dunes. Grills were going, music was playing and it was Easter at White Sands. How special is that?

Day 2 today was motorcycle day. The park host here is a cyclist as well as the neighbor next to us. They helped me choose a route that I would not have come up with on my own.  We headed north from the park and Caught US  70 East toward the Sacramento Mountains. The first stop was Inn of the Mountain Gods. Not for the inn or the Casino but the beautiful canyon ride that ended at the lake near the lodge. There we put on our heavy jackets and headed into the Lincoln National Forest for the 30-mile ride to Cloud Croft. It was at least as challenging as the Twisted Sisters routes last week but this was through pine forest with a 4000’ gain in elevation. We ascended to 8600’. The scenery was breathtaking. The sun shone bright and warm on my face, a strong scent of pine hung in the air and signs warning of free ranging cattle, elk and wild horses reminded me to stay alert. It was hard to absorb all the beauty that was around me. I just rode and basked. Toward the end of the route, we came around a corner to find 4 remarkable wild horses prancing about in the middle of the road. We slowed and Champ revved his engine to get their attention. Two of them reared and all four scampered off the side of the road down into the valley. It was stunning! I have never seen wild horses, let along up close and on the road! That was one I’ll remember when I’m 98 years old sitting around reliving things in my mind. After a tasty lunch at a Wild Game Restaurant on the way down the mountain I thought I had been dazzled enough for the day. I was wrong. As we descended into Alamogordo, I came around a corner and saw the White Sands on the horizon, that was worth the quick stop on the shoulder for a picture. The temperature was a full 20 degrees warmer once we returned to the flat lands.

Sierra Blanca from US 70

Inn of the Mountain God's Lake

Tunnel on the way down

View of Alamogordo on the descent ~ 6000 ' Elev

The descent White Sands on the horizon at the foot of the San Andreas Mts. 

The rest of the day will be getting ready to travel once again.  We will make a couple more stops before we put jacks down in our summer home in north central Iowa. The past week has been long anticipated and very enjoyable. The weather has been perfect and the people we have met have been just as warm and inviting as the sun that has shown everyday since we left Mathis. What more could a girl ask for?

Until Next Time…