Category Archives: travel plans

Fall is upon us as another season comes to a close.

 

The days of summer seem to be gone now. The temperatures have changed once again. The leaves are starting to change colors. Farmers are picking corn and beans hoping for a good plentiful harvest. Last fall when arriving in Texas, seeing green corn was weird in December. Not that it should be but it just was to me being from Illinois where the corn has long been harvested by then.  It truly amazes me how fast the summer sped by again. We gain knowledge over the years but time just keeps gaining speed so it seems.

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As I reflect of this camping season, so many things have changed. I did enjoy seeing the campers which I enjoyed visiting with last year. I did miss the ones who never came to camp this year. I do wonder what happened to them? Did they move or did something change in their life that camping was no longer a priority or perhaps ……

Now we come into the Columbus day weekend, the last hurrah for most. They come to camp and then winterize their units. I feel sorry in a way for them because they only have snow along with the coldness of mother winter to look forward to now. With the brief glimpse of spring way on the horizon. When they can get out again to enjoy the wonderfulness of camping again.  While they are planning their weekend and returning the camper into a sleeping mode. I am trip planning and scoping out new campgrounds to explore. The thought of warm weather and another enjoyable winter without the threat of snow and the coldness that Illinois bring upon us during the season called winter. I am thankful for the lifestyle I have chosen.

As the time winds down to I leave IL the project list is still long. I guess it’s time to re-prioritize the list. I know what has to be done and I know what I want to be done.  I realize that some projects will get pushed to the bottom of the list. I am okay with that.  I am looking forward to my yearly visit with friends. Friends and family are important even tho sometimes we just take that for granted.

It is a cloudy gloomy day which has been filled with rain. I am expecting a delivery from UPS with some of the things needed for projects. Chloe is asleep on her usual place the couch.

Reflection is good sometimes, it helps us remember what is important in life.

So there we have it! Another day closer to wrapping up another season in the campground.

Take care and have a great day!

 

Richard


 

 

Our (Loose) Plans for Now

Richard and I try to remain flexible on the road, but we do like to make some sort of rough road map for at least the next couple of weeks or so. But these are not set in stone. Things change: weather, health, constitution, roads, the budget, etc.

Being able to be flexible is one of the most important skills I think full-timers can have. It’s not necessarily my strong suit, because I am a planner at heart, but it is a skill I would like to develop. I knew this lifestyle would help in that development. I’ve recently (like in the past year) adopted a more optimistic attitude.

“It will work out,” comes to my lips now without even having to try, because I know from experience that it will. Will it always work out the way I planned? No. Will it always work out the way I’d prefer? No. But life continues, and it does work itself out.

I didn’t always have this attitude. It was something I had to work to gain. I faked it for a long time before it became instinct. When something seemed challenging, or in danger of “not working out” I forced myself to take a breath, and say,

It will work out.

And low and behold! It worked out. Often better than I’d wanted, or in a way totally unexpected than I’d planned. But because I had accepted that life works out, one way or another, I didn’t find it unbearable when it worked out in a, shall we say, less pleasant fashion then I’d planned.

Are things always hunky-dory? Nope. But without a doubt, even when things worked out not so well, things still worked out. The key for me was taking away the unspoken valuation on the phrase, “it will work out.” Before, I attached a positive value to the phrase. So when I said, “I hope this works out,” what I really was saying “I hope this works out to my advantage.”
Our friend from RVillage, Peter, expresses a similar concept in his blog, Life Unscripted:

I suspect we all say things we mean in part, but don’t mean absolutely. There is a portion of travel I tire of; there is a flavor in hazelnut that I dislike; I don’t like the tingling sensation I get in my fingers when I’m in extreme cold. — We all say we don’t like things with an emphasis on specific characteristics.

And I think these characteristic valuations go unspoken but not unexpected.

Now I merely say, “It will work out,” secure in the knowledge that life will work out one way or the other, ether to my advantage or not. But one thing is certain, life goes on, and life going on isn’t anything that I can’t stand, since if I’m alive, I’m clearly standing life.

So, here’s the (loose) schedule for our next few days:

Travel Data

  • Traveled 240 miles in 5.1 hours from Fort Payne, MS to Marion, MS
  • Used 26.4 gallons of diesel at an average of 9 mpg
  • Cost of one night (averaged between one night with Passport America discount applied and one night with FMCA discount applied) at Benchmark Coach and RV Park $26 (averaged, with tax)