Posted January 20, 2020 – Narrated by Carmen
Can’t slow down, not for the weather
Won’t back down, I know it gets better
Too far now, if I can keep it together
Won’t turn now for just a little
bump in the road
– from Bump in the Road by Jonny Lang, from his grammy award album Turn Around
We’ve grown up since we began Living in Beauty.
From our first starry-eyed blog post in January 2016, we’ve learned that “home” is a concept that can mean anything from a ballgame, to a cooking style, to a place of origin or a military base and even a camping spot in a vineyard. We always kinda knew that, but it’s good to clear up any doubts.
Travel changes chihuahuas and their people – people for the better, chihuahua’s not so much.
From the universal chihuahua position where every incidence, encounter and object is a red-alert situation our security specialist, Pico de Gallo, has conditioned us to be responsive to All The Dangers, imminent or otherwise.
Well, he’s right. Life is a precarious situation.
Eventually, something’s gonna get us. So Pico keeps us ready for everything, except a nap.
When we began exercising our freedom to roam, we knew there would be bumps in the road, and we count on those unexpected set-backs, road blocks and detours to lead us somewhere amazing.
No matter what the road serves up, as long as we are traveling at our own pace then, at night, we can slip between the sheets of our comfy bed and thank the stars for a good day and look forward to the next.
But what we have not learned is how to keep our own pace even though we know precisely what that is. Jim’s 4-3-2 is the revolutionary theory for an active mobile lifestyle, but achieving it for more than a couple of months at a time is the challenge.
Our 2019 pace was so far off that we’re still feeling the G’s.
Weather, climate events, national holidays, social gatherings and seasonal campground closures top the list of the on-going disrupting forces that cracked the whip and collapsed our easy-going full-timing masterplan.
Around Thanksgiving, just before we completed The Cannonball Crawl, we thought we had mononucleosis. We weren’t exactly sick, but we felt whiny and lethargic. It took way too much caffeine to get our day going, and way too much ibuprofen to get through the day, and way too much cabernet to get to sleep.
We were pitiful.
All Jim wanted for Christmas was a shot of cortisone in his shoulder and all I wanted was for my teeth to stop hurting.
So, during our Thanksgiving break in Arizona, Jim booked appointments with the wonderful Dr. Laura Petrovich in Coronado – his new Medicare doc. After a thorough look-see, we were alerted to a bit of high-cholesterol and slightly elevated blood pressure – but nothing serious.
We came to the conclusion that we are just clinically pooped.
So, we made a pact to ease up on the eggs, eat more oatmeal, swear off caffeine again, take a cleansing break from alcohol and just slow down for some serious self-care.
But first, we had to accomplish the To Do List.
Then, Jim knocked off some important rig upgrades.
And then – just because we’re maniacs for self-punishment – we gave Beauty her bi-annual four-day spa-treatment complete with rejuvenating facial and mani-pedi.
Well, it was Christmas, so visiting with family and friends lightened the burden of those knuckle-gashing, knee scraping days and made a memorable San Diego holiday season.
Chris & Dawn Redo, Samantha & Jim Pascarella & Jim and Carmen Beaubeaux
Christmas Eve dinner at the Pascarella’s
On our last full day in San Diego, Dr. Audette at Town Center Dental Group in Chula Vista (where we’ve been happy patients for over thirty years) fitted me with Invisilign braces. Since childhood, I have resisted dentist’s pleas to straighten my teeth, but at last the cows came home and my stray teeth will be nicely stabled.
So, now we’re in therapy. Desert therapy.
Crooked plants help me to get my head on straight. There’s nothing like a good heart-to-heart with a creosote or manzanita to see the situation in a better light.
Truth is, we shouldn’t be here.
We’d planned to winter in Baja. We should be in Valle de Guadalupe right now. But, two days before we were to cross the border, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City contacted us with a dire warning of “heightened Middle-East tensions and security risks of U.S. citizens abroad.” They said we should “keep a low profile and stay alert in locations frequented by tourists.”
I cut my teeth on military chain-link, so the tone of this alert carried the weight of a certain chihuahua’s alarm – deadly sincere yet overzealous.
But, how are two very, very white people pulling a shiny silver Airstream supposed to “keep a low profile” when even Minnesotans give us double-takes? And, surely, as bloggers go, LIB would be small pickins for a retaliation project.
It was a tough call, but we packed our Mexico maps away for another winter and veered our rig toward more familiar SoCal digs.
But – due to this bad case of the mid-sixties – we’re kinda grateful.
From the beginning, we knew LIB would be an active lifestyle, but man we’re beat. As Scotty might say, “I’ve given her all she’s got Cap’n and I canna giver no more!” But we all know how the story goes … The lights begin to flicker, the languishing ship sputters signs of life as the impulse engines begin to hum and, at last, full warp.
Sure, quitting has crossed our minds.
Younger full-timers who reach this moment usually stop for a friggin’ break – and that’s great because most of them can start up again someday. But if we stop now chances are that our freedom to roam may not be possible in our future, even if health allows.
Anyway, something out there, maybe the collective unconscious, tells us to keep moving.
But walloped as we are, this bump in the road isn’t nearly as bad as the one we had thirty years ago when we were selling our house and business, moving and working new jobs, going to night school and having surgery and raising a homeschooled child all at the same time.
They say old age isn’t for sissies, but youth isn’t either.
We’re not stopping.
This is just a rough patch in our adaptation to mobile life. More seasoned full-timers might advise us to do the math and pull back on the throttle for those northern escapades. No need to quit. Just coast for a spell.
Whoa. There’s wisdom in that.
Our manifesto for 2020 is, Recalibrate: 4-3-2 or bust.
Meanwhile, we’re chill in this posh desert retreat where …
we throw a hummer party every day …
and mend our bones in the hot mineral springs where aches and pains melt like the orange creamsicle sun behind the mountains, and coyotes preen their pipes in a moonlight serenade, and Pico reminds us to heed All The Dangers.
Awo0O0ooo!
Live long and prosper.
If you want to see our exact route, click here.
*photos in this post (unless otherwise noted) were taken and copyrighted by Living In Beauty.
Cool post! And I love what you’ve done with Beauty!
Thank you. We are very fortunate to have a great resource in San Diego. All American Upholstery constructed our first couch which still looked fantastic thirty years later when we replaced it. Pat is a native San Diegan and SDSU alumni. His dad, Pete, ran the shop before him. We highly recommend All American Upholstery.
Safe and Happy Travels!
Rest and relax!!!
We will, Barbara. Thank you. xoxo
Safe and Happy Travels,
Carmen & Jim
Wonderful post…I’m looking forward to hearing more from you… Arlene
Hey Arlene. Thank you so much. We’re looking forward to hearing more from you, too! xoxo
Safe and Happy Travels!
Carmen & Jim
Can you disclose where in California you’re wintering? Several photos make it looks like a good choice.
Hey David. Thanks for asking. We’re sending you an email with the details.
Safe and Happy Travels!
LIB
Well said, especially the “bad case of the mid-60’s.” I didn’t know it had a name, but I remember having it on my 66th birthday. OK, I’m 67 now, but it was a wonderful and surprising wake-up call to slow down, stop doing so much international travel, and stop waiting to buy the RV in a few years. Three months later, we bought our first RV, of course, an Airstream. We can travel, visiting the great state and national parks, PLUS visit family, but not stay with them. (Sure, we go to their houses and take long, hot showers, but we sleep in our own bed, at night.
Hey Mary Kay,
My sister, Deborah BSN, told me that (haha) and has little sympathy. Self-care is the base station for healthcare. We get that now. If you don’t feel good when you’re doing what you’re doing, then it’s time to try something else.
Travel has a lot to do with where you are. Due to the fact that we have family in San Diego and that we know where everything is, we’re always base-camped in San Diego even though we don’t own property there anymore. But San Diego is not well centered in the continent for land travel. Yet, we feel it’s too late to change our home-base considering the average human life-span. That’s why we save so much of our TO DO list for San Diego.
RV travel is The Best for visits to family. It’s wonderful to be near, but have your own bed and coffee making acoutrement in hand. But in California there are so many rules about RVs in driveways and visible from the street.
Thank you for being us, Mary Kay!
Live Long and Prosper and Safe and Happy Travels!
LIB
So an update on our Costco travels. After 5 years of full time living in the RV and traveling for building stores we were EXHAUSTED. Even with regular maintenance the RV was too. Our last road job we spent six months outside of Detroit in a bad winter. It worn us down.
We gave our notice at the end of the job; which was not accepted and new positions were created. We went home to Kansas City. The Montana went to storage for 18 months.
We dusted it off for one more project in September. Then sent it to graze in Florida without us! At Christmas Danny decided he was done with winters ANYWHERE and we traded the semi going down the road for a new 28′ unit.
I went through all your blogs, and mid February we are heading to All About Relaxing in Mobile to see my cousin, Scotty Mccreery in concert there. Then we are heading to Ho-Hum after the concert, and then onto ChassahowItzka. This will be the FIRST time we have ever vacationed in an RV! Crazy after owning one for seven years!
We are looking forward to our Florida travels. It sounds like maybe the 4-3-2 rule needs expanded for longer then two weeks to regenerate.
Safe travels, and thanks for the campground reviews.
Sherri
Sherri,
We have been thinking about you for a long time. How wonderful to hear from you – and that you are still working for Costco in Kansas City. Yay!
I think we told you that our family goes way back to Price Club history. Jim’s sister Delores Carter worked more than 25 years for Costco and they bent over backwards to give her work where she wanted just to keep her. Great company.
How are the kitties? We’ve often told our California friends who scorn this lifestyle that it’s a way to travel with your cats.That changes their tune.
So you’ve chosen the LOST COAST. I wish we could be there with you. Since we were there it was hit badly by a hurricane. I’m sure it is recovering now. If you like oysters you’re in one of the best places in the US besides Laguna Madre in Texas. We loved Ho-Hum. Just real Florida – like it felt when I was a kid. Chill. Cycling and walking from the highway at Ho-Hum is a problem but pack your bikes and go have fun.
Chassahowitzka is absolutely the place we would most like to live if only we could permanently trust the drinking water in Florida. Enjoy the magnificent weather and do try the backwater family-owned restaurants.
We LOVE Scott McCreery! https://embed.vevo.com/?isrc=USQX91900751&partnerId=346c2586-d3f8-4b75-ba0d-398fdb6e4c08&partnerAdCode=
And, we love Mobile Bay and everything ON Mobile Bay. It’s an area that I feel is a big up and coming thing. Mobile Bay and Fairhope have laid low long enough.
We’re so happy that you like the campground reviews. They don’t get a lot of internet love but we think they provide a much needed service.
We must meet up, okay?
Safe and Happy Travels!
Carmen & Jim
Jim and Carmen, the renovation look’s great! My old 30’er looks as good or better than when we first met nearly 4 years ago…time flies when we’re having fun, doesn’t it? Jacquie and I hope that y’all may be coming our way sometime in early 2020…..look’s like we may be selling our 34’er sometime this spring….maybe ya’ll need more room?
Larry and Jacquie
It is sad to hear you might be selling this beautiful trailer.
You two inspire me! 1200+ consecutive days on the road is nothing short of amazing!
You inspire us David Titley. For months we’ve been talking about how we would love to interview you for a blog about weather, climate change and the nomadic lifestyle. It’s especially on our minds right now since we’re in flash-flood country where, over the years we’ve been caught twice in that situation. We’re always looking to skies and wondering what David would say…?
Safe and Happy Travels to you and Kathy.
LIB
I’m so happy it’s not as bad as I thought. I knew there was a problem and the fact it’s self imposed and solvable is the best news! Enjoy you soaks.
Hey Linda,
Yes, it’s not a real problem, just an equation. We are figuring it out.
Thank you for being with us xoxo
Safe and Happy Travels!
LIB
Carmen, Nice post! On more than one year’s travels we “ran outta gas” before the end of the year and simply stopped awhile to regenerate. Sometimes it’s the miles, sometimes the activities, sometimes a force of nature (like Lyme disease in 2018). We deal with it and plan again.
Dreamstreamr,
Lyme disease! Yes,I had been wondering about that since we were in New England where Lyme is so prominent. I hope you have recovered from the Lyme disease. My dad had a run-in with MRSA from a tic bite, and was victorious but no Lyme. Mississippi is the only place Pico had a tic take hold. We were very cautious to cover our limbs in New England and we don’t think we had a hitchhiker.
I think it’s just the force of nature that got us. Too much stimulus in too little time. Travel is like a drug addiction. The science of moderation is vital.
Thank you for being with us Dreamstremr,
Safe and Happy Travels!
LIB
We are doing the exact same thing except FL is home for us:-) Taking a break and regrouping. We miss the road everyday but it sure is doing our souls good to be still in FL. We’ve learned so much on the road about ourselves and happiness. Listening to that inner voice is so important:-) Enjoy the desert and we can’t wait to see blogs about your “at home” relaxation and adventures. Hoping all medical issues are going well. Xoxo -The McMillan’s
Hey Christina and Benjamin,
So happy to hear you are at your home-port in Florida. We agree, the road is an education, a guru, a life-coach.
Thank you for your concern. You know all about the hazards – but we feel safe where we are with our family and friends over the Laguna Mountains. Still, the SoCal desert is one of the most remote places we have been. There are almost no services. It’s a grocery, Wifi, vet, RX … desert. But there are thousands of Canadians and Washingtonians and Oregonians here. It’s the true chill crowd. Very much like Big Bend.
Okay. You two rest up and get out there again whenever you can, and when you do,
Safe and Happy Travels!
xoxo
Carmen and Jim
Totally get it. We came to many of the same conclusions this week.
Hey Shawna,
Do tell. I hope your health is not the problem.
xoxo,
LIB
Jim and Carmen, Debbie and I have admired your stamina since we first met you, was it three years ago. The most we’ve ever stayed on the road, in Diva, has been 4 moths. We were exhausted when we came nome and needed a month to recover. We were so happy to have our Earth-home, attached to a foundation, attached to bedrock, and spinning with the rest of the planet.
You have been running a 3 year plus marathon and stayed in first place, in our book. the whole time. Enjoy your well deserved break. I predict you’ll be doing the old 4-3-2 before 2020 ends. Will we see you in Loveland this summer?
Frank
Hey Frank,
You guys seem to always be on the road. Even though I know you have your beautiful home, we always think of you living in Diva (LID).
I guess we over-did it – from entering New England in July to November. We had fun and love what we’re doing but our lifestyle really is dependent on good health. So we’re taking care of that now. In fact, even if I had a house in San Diego to recover in, I would still drive the two hours into the desert to heal.
All is well with the crooked trees.
xoxo,
Carmen
Jim and Carmen, thanks for sharing these great narratives and pictures of your travels and adventures! When this post started out, I thought you were going to tell us something bad had happened to Pico de Gallo. Glad he is OK! But sorry you are not feeling well yourselves and hope you can take it easy for a while and rejuvenate! The upholstery work you had done in Beauty looks great! You guys are our full timing heroes and an inspiration. It was great meeting you at Jackson Center last spring at Alumapalooza. Hope we can link up at some point when Sue and I are back on the road.
Hey Steve,
Of course we remember you and Sue. Was Alumapalooza only last Spring? Wow. Seems like ages ago. Jim and I would love to meet up with you two sometime. If you think we’re nearby, feel free to email us.
So sorry to give you the impression of bad news.I will try to be more careful about how I title posts. It’s not nice to scare folks. The last two months of 2019 were like a race or something. It was insane. We broke every rule and we’re suffering the consequences … and if relaxing in a spa-like luxury RV resort beneath the palms is “a consequence” we’ll accept that.
You are so funny … Pico is fine. He had a bit of tummy trouble here in the desert but thank goodness he got through it okay because it’s an hour drive to a vet. We don’t know what he ate but we’re watching him closer to make sure he doesn’t nosh on coyote poop … or become coyote poop. That would be a nightmare. We’re surrounded by coyotes here day and night, but they don’t seem interested in dogs. Still, we keep him close.
We love the new upholstery, too. Very pleased with all. San Diego is known for high quality inexpensive upholsterers, and All American does outstanding work for the right price.
Great to hear from you, Steve. Best to Sue as well. Thank you for being with us.
Safe and Happy Travels!
LIB
We spend 3-4 months sitting still every winter for the past six years of full-timing. It’s important I think
Hey Elizabeth!!!
We hear ya. We are just sort of skidding toward home on that very wise full-timing point of view.
xoxo
Safe and Happy Travels!
LIB
Set a 4-5 month winter playground reservation now for next year. You really gotta get on the books early for an extended winter rest. We’ve stayed at and loved Key West, Arizona, California, and Los Barriles.
We try to recharge with 3-4week stays near family but are always itching to roll. Love your 4-3-2. The hardest part for us will be knowing when and where to settle. We don’t want to wait too long.
Hey Anne,
How long have you been on the road?
When and where to settle are huge questions for us too. Jim and I are very different. The dream for me would be to have a place in Taos, NM for Summer and Autumn and a place in Anza-Borrego, CA for Winter-Spring. Jim likes cities and medium sized towns, as do I, but which one or two we would settle down in is a huge, open question that we’ve been thinking more about lately. We have a fall-back place in San Diego for just in case something really bad happens, but it’s not ideal on many levels.
Part of our journey this year is to check out some small California college towns that we’ve been thinking about. We plan to visit at least three and really give them some thought.
So good to hear from you, Anne. Thank you for being with us.
Safe and Happy Travels!
LIB
Sounds like we are contemplating the same questions. I never thought figuring out how and where to stop would be the most difficult. We are heading east from NM (after Anza Borrego and Vegas) to Ohio (Alumapalooza), Nova Scotia, New England and the following the coast back around in 2020. We’ve been on the road almost 2 years. It’s been a great way to slip into retirement and we are so at home in this AS but know this fulltime life is not the last chapter. Hope to meet you both some day.
Hey Anne,
We’re reaching out through Facebook. Hopefully, we can get together soon.
LIB
When I fulltimed, I spent the first years constantly on the move, driving 100 miles a day max. No long driving days, a tired driver is a dangerous driver. When piloting 16,000# I didn’t want to wind up wrecking my home and hurting my animals. Since I only drove from 10 am to lunchtime, I didn’t get pooped. The first year I put almost 40,000 miles on my truck. When I started FT I had two horses and a donkey, since I’m not one to dump my animals I boarded them in Florida, and brought my two dogs and two cats with me on the road…. then I started going to Florida in the winters, and staying on the farm where the horses were. After about 10 years, the horses and donkey were gone, I still went to Florida, but also spent a winter in Fallbrook, CA. My point, every year I came off the road for a while. I had seen pretty much everything I wanted to in the lower 48, while fuel got more and more expensive, I started staying places that I loved for a month, instead of a few days. That saved $$ for fuel and made campgrounds cheaper. Then I would spend two months, or even three someplace. I have to say I miss it, my trailer is my happy place. I have learned that I don’t really enjoy camping, as much as traveling with my home and dogs. If that makes sense.
Hey Hunter,
Wow. Your travel story is epic. I would love to read the book.
Yes, we could almost cut our expenses in half with month-long stays – and someday we will do that. I’m really intrigued with your idea of staying for one month each in twelve places that you love (at the perfect time of year of course). It’s an intriguing idea. With just a little more research I think we could make that list. In fact, we will make it a goal to achieve that list. A very wise idea …12 places.
Hunter, the story of your animal family is so beautiful. I don’t know what we will do when Pico goes to College. We love to travel with a dog. It just won’t be the same.
Thank you so much for being with us. xoxo
Safe and Happy Travels!
LIB
Love reading your blog posts and all the pictures. And, I totally get it. The planning is what I don’t like, but in a 43′ MH with a tow vehicle, we have to plan. We’ve only been full time since June 1, 2019 (although we did a 6 month trial run in 2018). We typically were traveling a week at a time, but then stayed a month in Fairhope – and I agree with you – we fell in love with that city! When we stayed that month it helped us realize we want to slow down our travels and stay at places longer. We’re now in Naples Florida for the winter and will be here a total of four months. To me, that seems like heaven. 🙂
Hey Brenda!
Congratulations for eight months of successful full-timing! You did it right, easing out.
Everyone has different needs – and ours may change someday – but for now we feel lucky that we can get by as small as we are, and we’re getting lighter all the time. We hate to plan – and being able to fit in anywhere helps. So far, we’ve only failed twice to fit in a space.
Oh, settling down in Fairhope would be a real possibility for us. Did you visit Ocean Springs, MS?
https://livinginbeauty.net/2019/01/28/places-we-remember/
One complaint we have about settling down is that the housing is just too large and traditional for us in most of the places we like. We’re hoping to find a condo or townhouse somewhere that appeals to us. Sadly, the kind of development we’re interested in is rare. But, if we can’t find what we want, we’ll just keep living in Beauty somewhere.
Naples is beautiful. We stayed at a small park there for about a week. The beaches were magnificent – more beautiful than any beach I’ve ever seen – in Hawaii or the Med. Just gorgeous. Enjoy your wonderful winter place making beautiful memories.
Thank you for being with us, Brenda,
Safe and Happy Travels!
LIB
No, I had not heard of Ocean Springs, MS. Just read your post about it, we’ll have to add that to our list. we actually thought about buying a lot in a motorcoach resort in Fairhope, but all the sites with views were bought already and we wanted a water view (it was just a little lake),but Fairhope is also very expensive for real estate. We eventually want to get a small condo or townhome also, so we can rent it you while we travel and then land there one day, but we need to find where we want to be, and like you, the right community etc.
I’d love to be smaller so we didn’t have to plan as much, but I also love all this space. 🙂
Ocean Springs is a lovely village – not as big as Fairhope – but it is an arts community and not far from New Orleans. We love the North Shore of Ponchartrain and are also rediscovering some wonderful places in Louisiana.
Great, great read. I’ve always felt health and opportunity are the two most valuable assets we possess, and yet they can be fleeting. The road life’s unknowables can be daunting…but they’re also what we love.
Hey Jeff,
Thank you so much. Your beautiful comment reminds me of Donne’s The Anniversary.
“All other things to their destruction draw,
Only our love hath no decay;
This no tomorrow hath, nor yesterday,
Running it never runs from us away,
But truly keeps his first, last, everlasting day.”
Health and opportunity are temporary gifts but love endures. The mysteries of the road life that we love will always be with us even when health and opportunity fail – but we need both to continue the road life.
It’s always wonderful to hear from you. xoxo
Safe and Happy Travels
– Carmen
“Love endures.” For me, it won’t be the grandeur of all the beautiful sights we’ve seen that I’ll remember last but those small moments we were driving down a country road and looking at each other, realizing we got to do exactly what we wanted to do more than anything else…together. That’s an incredibly fortunate condition. I think you live that. Best wishes to you.
Oh, you’re making me cry … I just love that image of you two. So beautiful.
xoxo,
Happy 2020!
Sitting in the desert ourselves….restoring health and wellbeing takes time and commitment. Hang in there. Three years in ourselves. Still love to wander, and a nice long rest is good too.
Hey Susan,
Thank you so much for the encouragement and wise words. And congratulations on 3 years of wandering. Good for you! Are you in the California desert?
Safe and Happy Travels!
LIB
We are so glad that both you guys and Beauty & The Beast have enjoyed a small over haul and will be returning to the 4-3-2 plan. We enjoy your pod cast and wish you the best on the next trip.
Happy New Year and may 2020 be good to all. 😁
Jeanne and Michael
Houston, TX
We met up with you in Marathon before your trip to Big Bend
Hey Jeanne and Michael,
Yes, we remember you!
Thank you so much for being with and for LISTENING! Woo-hoo! Very few LIB followers actually listen to the blog. When we started out, I had a few voice over clients I didn’t want to let go and I didn’t want to lose my audio recording and editing skills – so that’s why we integrated the podcast. But now, I keep it up because someday down the road when we’ve stopped traveling, it will be nice to listen as we scroll through the photos – kind of help us to experience LIB all over again. But the LIB blog is dependent on Jim’s awesome IT skills. It amazes me sometimes the places we are able to record and post from – like Big Bend where he had to drive up steep canyon roads holding the cell booster out of the window to find a signal strong enough to make a blog post.
Thank you, and a Happy 2020 to you, too. We must meet up sometime.
Safe and Happy Travels!
LIB
I think a lot of couples run into this starting out. Trying to see everything in a short period of time. That was never our goal. We stay in one place for 1-2 months, really get to know the area and then move on. Initially we just paid for a park but then we started to seriously consider workcamping. It gives us something to do, keeps us fit, we get to know other work campers and we still have plenty of time to explore the area. Our site is free for 24 hours or a bit more combined work. We can find workcamping jobs anywhere we want to go so this is our plan for the next few years. When we travel to the next site, never more than 4 hours or it gets to be stressful and we don’t enjoy the journey!
Hey Ursula,
Your plan is wonderful and work camping is a fabulous solution for seasonal or full-time travel. We’ve been tempted. And yours is great travel philosophy. We’re still at the point where we don’t want to make plans that far ahead of time. Anything can happen to change our plans and we don’t want to let anyone down. At this point, it’s all about staying flexible. But, yes, If I were to stay in place for 2 months, I’d want to work, too. I’m hoping to get involved in some kind of release program for wild animals. I’ve made a few inquiries, but have not found the right project. But Jim did apply and was accepted for the parks system in The Keys for administrative work. But we changed plans because we needed to stay closer to home. But now that he’s on Medicare, who knows? It really opens doors for full-timers our age.
We are total believers in the four-hour rule – so important for us. Every single time we’ve broken it, we’ve suffered the consequences. Towing is stressful work!
Thanks so much for being with us, Ursula.
Safe and Happy Travels and Workcamping!
LIB
You frightened us. We are so thankful that you’re healthy. We head to Florida next month for about 6 weeks. It would be awesome to see you there sometime.
Oh no! We’re so sorry. We were just listening to and identifying with the Jonny Lang song, Hit A Bump In The Road. We would never intentionally try to scare you.
But I know what you mean – All The Dangers that can happen. We often think of people we’ve met on the road and haven’t seen or heard of for a long time. It’s scary business to Google them or give them a call …
We would LOVE to meet up with you just about anywhere.We hope to go to Florida again, but not this winter. Maybe next if Mexico doesn’t work out for us again. We still haven’t seen more than half of the Space Coast or Lake Okeechobee. We’s also like to go to Disney World again.
Have a wonderful time Steve and Kathy!
Safe and Happy Travels,
LIB
I totally hear you on how hard it is to stick with your rules. There’s always something to see or somewhere to be or a reservation you can or can’t get – that changes everything. It’s a lot harder than it seems. And, even if you were sticking with your rules, you’d still be putting on a lot of miles. Much more than most people do. It’s just a tough balance to strike. Therefore, the lengthy reset is perfect. Maybe the State Department did you a huge favor! A couple weeks in a familiar place that makes you feel healthy might be just the ticket.
I am also with you on the hesitation to come off the road. As much as we will be “able” to do it again, the question is, “will we?” That inertia thing is real, too. We already have friends who thought they were dropping to part time and then just never left home again. We’ll see. In the meantime, I think you are doing the exact right thing. Taking a break, being healthy, sitting still. Hopefully with a little sunshine mixed in, you’ll be good to go. And if you find a way to stick to that schedule, let me know!!
PS: Thanks for the link! It’s always nice to know we’re not alone in feeling the way we do about any given thing.Stay well!
Hey Laura!
It was great fun to read your hilarious post about Instagram campers. It gave me an idea for a provocative musical play about modern camping culture: STRIPPING TO THE NPS.
The desert break is going well. Jim is kind of bummed there are no breweries for a hundred miles in any direction. I told him that’s the point. Rest. Cleanse. Soak. No stress. I totally understand why so many people from the north come here every year for months. It’s truly glorious.
As far as stopping – just follow your instincts. All will be well.
Hugs to Thor.
Be well and prosper.
xoxo,
Carmen
You know you can always bunk with us for a spell if you need to “recalibrate”. I’ll put you to work making meals that are appropriate for a humorous (not the arm bone) diabetic and Jim can teach me the ins and outs of my Mac. I’ll put you in charge of the hummingbird feeders and Jim can help me install new AC registers and a shed for the outside unit. Added bonus — VO studio for you to use free and clear. The offer is open only for the next 15 years
Love and felicitations
The Other Jim
Hey Jim,
Thanks for the offer of your glorious home. But bunking with you and Sam would probably end our friendship beginning with our infamous Chihuahua who bites all of our friends without justification, and then of course my allergies, and then of course our Airstream sitting in your fabulous backyard. About the other stuff, let’s make plans to come by and knock off some of those IT chores.
What fun we had the other day in the desert with you and Sam! Let’s do it again soon.
xoxo,
Carmen
This is a wonderful post! I never had a chance to listen to your audio. What a delightful and fantastic podcast! Safe travel and be well.
Hey Jihong,
Wonderful to hear from you. We’ve been trying to keep up with your adventures. You are a remarkable lady and Airstreamer Extraordinaire.
We hope to meet up with you again soon. We’ll be on the West Coast for a while.
Safe and Happy Travels!
xoxo,
Carmen & Jim