15 Feb On the road again, can’t wait to get on the road again
On the road again…
Interesting and mixed emotions as we prepare to hit the road again. We had such a great time enjoying the holiday’s with our family and friends. Whether it was here at the beach where we now call “home” and being able to love and focus on our kids, or making a few trips back to NJ to celebrate wonderful life moments, special birthdays, bat mitzvah’s, or just traveling for doctor appointments. For me, these times to be with my people, are a salve to my spirit. Even if you don’t know me that well, it’s pretty obvious once you meet me, that I am a people person. It’s a problem sometimes. Truthfully. 🙂 Mostly when you are preparing to take off and travel. This time, for some more time than last. Needed to prep myself and Dave for how annoyingly huggy I may be and for this outing, he maybe my only target. He’s promised to be more than willing to take one for the team.
Emma and Sara meeting some new friends
Dave and his girls
Christmas Craft Night
Driving or being a passenger for that matter isn’t my favorite activity. Whoa right, for someone now spending an abundance of time in a truck, driving across the country. What’s beautiful for me is that I am experiencing a peace like never before. Grateful! Philippians 4:7.
Our stop on this leg leads us back to a Walmart in Greensboro NC for our first overnight. Our goal is to get to Texas by way of New Orleans as quick as possible. Sometimes Walmart’s just allow for super easy rest. Although it was really really chilly, we kept warm enough to enjoy watching night one of the Olympics. (till the generator decided to shut off temporarily :()
Walmart co-campers
Little Clifford works well as a glare saver!
Dave is quite the sleuth and has much more patience than I these days with technology, and found an organization we have joined called harvesthosts.com, where either farms, vineyards, breweries and even museums throughout the US and Canada, allow you to stay at their location overnight if you are a self-contained RV (meaning you don’t need any services like water or electric or sewer). This turned out to be a sweet option for us day 2. A vineyard in Alabama, where upon arrival our host, treated us to a wine tasting and some enjoyable conversation. Once the vineyard closed for the evening, the place quite literally was ours. Camping in our rig, next to the grapevines, was a simple joy for us both. The fee for this overnight was a nice bottle of white muscadine wine. Our budget question for ourselves, does that charge go for campgrounds or alcohol/beer? Hmmm we can’t quite agree on that one yet.
Vineyard Camping
Was surprised to feel kind of sad to leave this slice of peace. But traveling is what we need to get done. We pushed through Alabama, Mississippi and then our next stop in Louisiana. This day is a rainy one. Heavy at times. But the new relaxed Dave isn’t in a hurry to get through NYC traffic, so slow and steady he safely moves us on. Funny little thing (not so much for Dave, but I got a little laugh) is that with a lull in the rain we decided to pull into a rest area that has a dump station. Just as Dave get’s going with the hoses to connect, the heaven’s let loose. Man was the guy soaked to the core. Truly could have been a scene from Robin Williams movie RV, about his adventures driving an RV for the first time. I nominate him for something.
If you read some of our early posts, we made this huge life decision partly to quench a desire to see the country and partly to allow Dave to find a reprieve from the stresses of his career. When I look over at him, driving this large camper like a a seasoned professional, with a big ol smile on his face, I can see that joy his soul was thirsting for. Even though this drives my clan crazy to hear…It’s All Good!
We have ended up at Fountainebleu State Park, on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain, just across from New Orleans. We probably should have vetted this date a bit more, because until our friend Megan reminded us that we would be in NOLA during Mardi Gras, we hadn’t even given this time of year a thought. The rain was relentless, no cooking outside, so off to Old Rail Brewery it was for good burgers and grits. We are fed and sleepy and the rain keeps comings. So off to bed it is.
For Us, It’s Not Abad Day 🙂