T Minus 3.5

 

That’s 3.5 days until we roll through the gates here for the last time.  Dave is off on a prolonged bike ride this lovely Sunday, and I’m good with that.  He is winding up his cycling here in New Jersey; I told him to take as long as he wanted, stop by the little café where he likes to get a coffee and just really savor the ride.  His busy time preparing us to leave starts tomorrow.  He gets to do the “fun” stuff including torqueing the wheels, checking tire pressures, greasing wheel bearings, unhooking the sewer (PVC line) connection on Wednesday and so forth.  Wednesday will be busy, as we’ll hitch up the truck and 5er, too.  I’m hoping he has a blast on his ride today! 

Meanwhile, I’m doing our laundry for the last time here.  Our washer/dryer will leave Tuesday and should be at the site in South Carolina by next weekend.  I also continue to stow some things . . . our log tongs, being one of the items.

We found this item in a funky resale shop in . . . Florence, South Carolina, during our two-month gig there in September 2010.  They have gotten quite the workout since that time, being very handy for our campfires.  Interesting that they will be returning to Florence with us.  We had our last campfire here last night, and it was a good one.

Bringing in some warmth and good vibes through the chakras in my feet last night

Amazing how when you’re in one spot for so long stuff is everywhere . . . tongs on the rock by the fire pit, work boots in the office, there’s the outside garden hose that needs to be put away (check), beer glasses (inside a cabinet in the RV, naturally) wrapped and stowed for travel (check), etc..  Whew!

For several evenings lately, we have been visited by Toad.  Toad was out again last night, keeping a very still vigil by one of our ground lights for over three hours.  I think Toad was  waiting for bugs, i.e. evening meal . . . 

Hunting or meditating?  Or both?

Part of the symbolism of Toad in Native American views is the bringing of inner strength medicine.  That’s totally cool and very welcome, as I will be summoning up my inner strength persona during our trip South.  Thank you, Great Spirit, for sending Toad my way during this time of transition.

Oh yeah, Mole is busy again already this year.  The ground right next to the pavement in front of our RV is squishy/gives way a bit, and one can see the trails – upended earth – where Mole is burrowing around underground.  Mole is getting an early start; we didn’t see that until well into Winter last year when there was snow on the ground. 

Steak Bridies for dinner tonight

The meat is in the slow cooker and still has a bit to go, but bridies are on the menu tonight.  This is a Scottish treat and should be even more yummy this evening because we actually have a bottle (well, part of one) of HP Sauce.  Yay!

I think I’m pretty much done with outside stuff today, as it is fairly warm and quite humid.  Tomorrow should be cooler by about ten degrees and more pleasant after a cold front rolls through later this evening.

Well, at least with this move I have something to blog about these days.  I really appreciate you taking time to visit with me here!

Thanks for stopping by!

Winding Down in New Jersey

 

Our time here is certainly coming to a close.  We are less than a week away from pulling out and heading to South Carolina.

Dave is out on the bike right now, so I have some quiet time to get a blog post done.  Although I have done a gazillion things, there are still those “getting close to departure day” tasks that need completing.

Yesterday was a washout, as I really was not feeling well.  Amazing how I can feel so bad one day and then pretty fantastic the next.  I’ve been taking advantage of today by going to Walmart for a few groceries and a new drinking water hose and then to Maggie’s vet for food, her meds and her records.   I’m taking my office plants, and have found a box that they will fit in perfectly for the trip down.  They’ll be going in the bed of the truck.  I may even wash the truck once Dave gets home.  Thank goodness it’s King Ranch Chicken leftovers tonight. 

Gosh, I hope I feel this good the days we are traveling . . .

We aren’t sure if we are allowed to have campfires at the new facility and we won’t be taking our fire ring with us; therefore, we are having our last campfires this weekend, including one last night.  Working night shift at our new location may, or may not, be conducive to campfires.  There’s another good excuse to indulge this weekend.  Like we need an excuse.

Remember the photo of Dave splitting wood from the other day?  Here’s the result!

Dave is also indulging in a few brewskies this weekend as, again, our new lifestyle and hours just don’t fit well with a few beers on the weekends.  Well, I imagine he might be able to fit in a couple every once in a while . . . but certainly not like here.  In other words, we’re playing these last weekend evenings here.

Our washer and dryer will leave out of here Tuesday and should be at the SC facility by next weekend.  I’ll do my best to have us totally caught up before they head on down South.  Our boss here is coming out Tuesday to take us to lunch!  I cannot say enough good things about Tony.  As Dave says, he is a true gentleman.  He’s done what he can – and that goes above and beyond – to enable us to perform our duties here and to make our life here as comfortable as possible, and we greatly appreciate all his efforts.  We will not be reporting directly to him in our position in SC, and I will miss interacting with him.  It is a total pleasure working with him.

I was told the other day by the Holland Police Chief that there were a few of the CERT items in my bag that I could keep.  One of those is my CERT cap, so I swung by the police department this morning to pick up those items.  I do wear baseball-type caps now and then, and may be doing so more frequently in our new situation.  The CERT cap is a nice memento.  Cheers for that HPD!

Last night was a late one for us, as we were watching live streaming on BBC of the Scottish independence referendum voting event as results were coming in.  Mixed emotions on that one . . . while my heart cheered for Scotland to gain her independence, my head was voting “No.”  Like so many Scottish citizens being interviewed, my concerns were what independence would mean for Dave’s pensions, the currency – what currency would be used and how it would stand up in value in the international market – and so forth.  I suppose those viewpoints come with age. . . At any rate, it was certainly quite interesting, rather exciting and history in the making, so we enjoyed the live stream coverage.

Okay, Dave is back from his ride.  Think I’ll go see what I can get done!

Thanks for stopping by!

Winding Down in New Jersey

 

Our time here is certainly coming to a close.  We are less than a week away from pulling out and heading to South Carolina.

Dave is out on the bike right now, so I have some quiet time to get a blog post done.  Although I have done a gazillion things, there are still those “getting close to departure day” tasks that need completing.

Yesterday was a washout, as I really was not feeling well.  Amazing how I can feel so bad one day and then pretty fantastic the next.  I’ve been taking advantage of today by going to Walmart for a few groceries and a new drinking water hose and then to Maggie’s vet for food, her meds and her records.   I’m taking my office plants, and have found a box that they will fit in perfectly for the trip down.  They’ll be going in the bed of the truck.  I may even wash the truck once Dave gets home.  Thank goodness it’s King Ranch Chicken leftovers tonight. 

Gosh, I hope I feel this good the days we are traveling . . .

We aren’t sure if we are allowed to have campfires at the new facility and we won’t be taking our fire ring with us; therefore, we are having our last campfires this weekend, including one last night.  Working night shift at our new location may, or may not, be conducive to campfires.  There’s another good excuse to indulge this weekend.  Like we need an excuse.

Remember the photo of Dave splitting wood from the other day?  Here’s the result!

Dave is also indulging in a few brewskies this weekend as, again, our new lifestyle and hours just don’t fit well with a few beers on the weekends.  Well, I imagine he might be able to fit in a couple every once in a while . . . but certainly not like here.  In other words, we’re playing these last weekend evenings here.

Our washer and dryer will leave out of here Tuesday and should be at the SC facility by next weekend.  I’ll do my best to have us totally caught up before they head on down South.  Our boss here is coming out Tuesday to take us to lunch!  I cannot say enough good things about Tony.  As Dave says, he is a true gentleman.  He’s done what he can – and that goes above and beyond – to enable us to perform our duties here and to make our life here as comfortable as possible, and we greatly appreciate all his efforts.  We will not be reporting directly to him in our position in SC, and I will miss interacting with him.  It is a total pleasure working with him.

I was told the other day by the Holland Police Chief that there were a few of the CERT items in my bag that I could keep.  One of those is my CERT cap, so I swung by the police department this morning to pick up those items.  I do wear baseball-type caps now and then, and may be doing so more frequently in our new situation.  The CERT cap is a nice memento.  Cheers for that HPD!

Last night was a late one for us, as we were watching live streaming on BBC of the Scottish independence referendum voting event as results were coming in.  Mixed emotions on that one . . . while my heart cheered for Scotland to gain her independence, my head was voting “No.”  Like so many Scottish citizens being interviewed, my concerns were what independence would mean for Dave’s pensions, the currency – what currency would be used and how it would stand up in value in the international market – and so forth.  I suppose those viewpoints come with age. . . At any rate, it was certainly quite interesting, rather exciting and history in the making, so we enjoyed the live stream coverage.

Okay, Dave is back from his ride.  Think I’ll go see what I can get done!

Thanks for stopping by!

We’re Short . . .

 

One week tomorrow and we should be rolling through the gate headed south.  Well, actually west and then south.   I am both excited and a wee bit apprehensive. 

I keep going over in my mind what else I can cull from what is in our RV.  We have more stuff (there’s that word again . . . “stuff,” which means everything from clothes to houseplants, to small dorm-size refrigerator . . . such a catch-all word, “stuff.)  On the lighter side (pun intended), during our time here we have disposed of things here such as satellite dish and its accoutrements, sleeper sofa (with weight of 250 pounds per its specs; it was one heavy piece of furniture, I tell ya), one bicycle, articles of clothing (added some though, like insulated overalls and heavier jackets due to the harsh winters here), and so on. 

Again, I’m glad we upgraded from E-rated tires to a G-rated set, and I’m going nowhere near a CAT scale on this trip!

When we were actively traveling back in 2010/2011, we weighed in about 500 pounds under our max.  Dave says I’m obsessed with the rig’s weight, but I just want us to make this trip safely.

Funny . . . here I am a girl concerned about weight and it’s not my personal weight but that of my RV and truck combo.  Ha!  I am so my father’s daughter.

Hoping the Appalachian and Shenandoah Mountains will be kind to us.  Hoping my Dad will watch over us from that big campground in the sky . . .

Reviewing our route and its stages today, I realized I miscalculated the mileage of our first day out.  I thought it was right around 200 miles. 

Well . . .

It is actually about 280.  Ruh-roh.  I remembered that I was unable to find a campground close to the interstate at about 200 miles when planning the route, the first being a ways on down the road a bit.  Hence, the 280-odd miles for that stage. 

We also have one toll plaza to go through just as we enter Pennsylvania.  Well, I had to get us through it coming here, so I can get us through going out.  Nice and slow.  I’ll just use the far right-hand lane like the “big dogs” (semis) do.

It’s gonna be a long first day back in the saddle for this gal.  No big deal, I guess.  We’ll just take our time as usual.  I stop about every 1.5 hours to take a break, and we’ll be stopping perhaps more frequently to check the torque on the RV wheels, since we just put new tires on.  If we land safe and sound, I’ll be happy.  I bet I’ll sleep well that night.

June 2013, “exercising” the rig – Yep, I tow that baby

The most mileage we have done in one day was back in 2010, heading into Cherokee, NC, and that ended up being 350+.  It was dark by the time we hit mountains in the area, my first experience in mountains, and tunnels.  Oh yeah.  Tunnels after dark.  Oh boy.  Trippy.

The good news is our first day will be the longest in mileage, and there are only two more travel days until we get a nice layover in South Carolina prior to arriving at the facility and going on duty.  I have built some flexibility to our travel schedule in case we want to stay an extra night between here and South Carolina to rest or in case of nasty weather.

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There was activity here today with company folks on-site, so I didn’t get a whole lot done.  Did manage to stow a few more things in the rig, so I am making progress. 

Our last weekend here is coming up, and we plan on having as many campfires as we can squeeze in.  With that in mind, Dave got busy this morning and split some wood.

Does my Scotsman rock or what?

I’d like to fire up the grill at least one day over the weekend, too.  We’ll see how that goes in between working on preparing us for departure.  Of course, my meal planning is thrown back a day; today’s cooking plans where dust in the wind due to the activity here. 

My goal is to complete all my preparation tasks (excluding the absolute last-minute things) no later than Monday, so I have a couple of days to chill out and rest a bit.  I’m getting there. 

We’ll hitch up on Wednesday and Dave will disconnect our sewer and water connections, leaving us connected to shore power only.  This will leave less to do the next day before rolling out of here.

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Guess I’d better wrap this up and think about heading to bed soon.  Catch ya later!

Thanks for stopping by!

Counting Down . . .

 

Today began our last full calendar week here. 

Susan over at Travel Bug asked when we will be in South Carolina.  Susan, we will roll into the facility in Florence, SC, on October 1, and take over the duties that evening from the guard currently on site.  We’re leaving here on the 25th of September, allowing us leeway for bad weather, with the last few spent at Bass Lake Campground in Dillon, SC.  That’s just under 40 miles from the facility.  That’ll give us time for some R&R, laundry, gathering provisions, testing our macerator, etc.  We’ve stayed at Bass Lake before, so it should be a pleasant layover.

The company is shipping our washer and dryer with one of the trucks going to the SC facility; this could happen this week or next.  With that in mind (and since it was time to do laundry anyway), today was spent catching up the washing.  Not only our clothes, but linens and Maggie’s blankets, sweaters, etc.  I should get some advance notice of when the W/D will be leaving, but I’ll try to keep things caught up as much as possible from here on out with loads every couple of days.

While Dave mowed today, I also tackled loading some of our plastic bins back in the basement and a few other things to get us ready to get out of here, including some personal paperwork.  Oh yeah, well, there were a couple of business things to do, too.

My office is looking rather bare, having been pretty much stripped of “me” at this point.  I sure have enjoyed this job. 

That being said, I am now looking forward to a change in scenery, duties and lifestyle (night shift).  We both remember impressive night skies in South Carolina and lovely sunrises.  An open sky will be welcome after spending almost four years in a valley, virtually in a forest. 

I will, however, miss seeing Eagle soar overhead as I did earlier today, so close those white tail feathers  and white head were positively vibrant.

A Praying Mantis was hanging out on the office porch railing for five days, then taking its leave of us sometime this afternoon.  Every day, PM would catch some morning rays in the sunshine and then move into the shade of the porch awning in the warmer afternoons.  So cool to have PM watching, head turning, keeping track of me if I were on the porch.  Native American beliefs say Praying Mantis brings medicine of patience, peace and stillness; that’s such a gift right now as I hustle and bustle getting us ready to depart. 

There was apparently quite a bit of praying going on, and I’m okay with that, too.

It’s been a busy day, so I’ll say good-night.

Thanks for stopping by!