SHAKEDOWN — ❤️

So, we are camping!

Jim and I packed up the new RV and literally headed across the street to Oscar Sherer State Park, for our first experience of living small on the land! Honestly, it’s not much different than living on our boat, except instead of dolphins and Manatee, there are raccoons, turtles, scrub-jay, and an attack, on me, of some sort of biting bee or fly!

Our new motorhome is very comfortable. I think Jim and I made a good choice, choosing this particular coach. It is roomy and has all the comforts of home. It has an enormous amount of storage! In fact, there is probably more storage space in the RV, then there is on the Happy Destiny. The closet space, drawer space, and kitchen cupboard space, is amazing, for a 31 foot unit. I have learned that we don’t need very much to be comfortable. Less is more. We have learned, by living on our boat, what we need in terms of “stuff”. We only need 3 cooking pans. We only need 4 dinner plates, 4 bowls, 4 forks, spoons and knives. We only need one paring knife and one, sharp, big knife. We only need two coffee cups, and 4 tumblers. We need a comfortable mattress, which we have in both places. We have to have two coffee pots! Jim likes his espresso machine, and I just need a 4 cup Mr. Coffee. We need an outside grill. We need comfortable reclining chairs and we need a TV. Now we’ve added 2 bikes, and I for one, need that! My bike is my car when Jim is out all day driving Uber/Lyft.

I stocked our RV with what we need, added a grocery trip, and off we went to the State Park. This is our space.

I have never been camping in an RV. I think when I was a little girl, I camped in a tent. I have memories of making “Stone Soup” with my Girl Scout Troop. Whatever the hell Stone Soup was! I remember something called a “ditty bag”, where you would store your eating utensils after washing them. Some sort of mesh bag that you would hang from a tree. I remember red bandanas, and skipping stones in a creek. I remember a campfire, and telling scary stories. I remember that it was fun.

glamp·ing/ˈɡlampiNG/

noun

a form of camping involving accommodation and facilities more luxurious than those associated with traditional camping."glamping is likely to satisfy any city slicker seeking a little refuge in nature—without foregoing any of life's luxuries"

Glamping. This is how Jim and I are doing this thing called Camping. After much research and comparing different recreational vehicles, we picked a Class C motorcoach. I did not want to tow anything. I wanted to be able to drive it myself and park it anywhere I wanted. I wanted something small. We ended up purchasing a 31 foot Coachman Leprechaun. It has all the bells and whistles, and it only has 14,000 miles on the Ford E-450 engine. I’m pretty sure the previous owners barely used it. It is in really great condition and so far, on our Shakedown trip, everything is working and there have been no surprises! It is very pretty. The inside is very roomy. There are two slide outs. One in the living are and one in the bedroom. When the slides are closed, there is still a lot of room to walk from the cab to the bedroom. The only imperfection in this whole unit is the dining settee, where the upholstery is kind of shoddy, but nothing that can’t be fixed, and even if it never gets fixed, we can live with it. The appliances are running perfectly! The convection/microwave has never been used. I mean never! It looks like it did the day it was installed in the factory. The refrigerator is amazing! The air conditioning works great, the hot water heater, is awesome! I love the toilet! Way better than the boat! We have a shower, which Jim says is a bit small, but he is a big guy. I fit fine in it. Luckily, I’m sure we will find, that most RV parks have bathhouses. I like bathhouses. You can use all their hot water, showers for as long as you want, and not worry about filling up the gray water tank so fast. We do have to watch our water consumption. On the boat we use city water and it just goes overboard. In an RV, the water goes into a holding tank which needs to be emptied. Outside, this vehicle offers us an entertainment center, which includes a great TV and stereo system. It’s just crazy! There is also a pullout camping table with a sink, and a small refrigerator-freezer! Jim bought a great bike hitch which supports our bikes perfectly!

Needless to say, I feel so blessed to be on this journey with Jim. We are real clear on the enormity of the gift. We are pleased with this purchase, and are looking forward to our 10 day road trip next month, as we Trudge The Road Of Happy Destiny towards Columbus, Mississippi.

Today, April 25, I Celebrate another year of sobriety! Hard to believe another year has passed, one day at a time! I’ve had the best, most exciting, unbelievable year of my life! All of the glory goes to my God. I know I do not do this by myself. I’ve gone through many changes this past year. I’ve grown in ways I never would have thought possible. For real, for real, I know, that without my sobriety, none of the joy and happiness I get to experience, would be possible. As always, I need to thank my sponsor Jennifer, who is my biggest cheerleader! She always makes me want to be a better person. I thank the tribe I met along our Loop, who always showed up to their meetings, so people like me-a traveler, could have a place to go and fellowship. I need to thank my homegroup, here in Florida, for making me feel welcome. My sobriety is wonderful, because of you all! And, to my husband, thank you so much for this past year! I’m so grateful that I get to be on this adventure with you. Never think, for one minute, that I take my recovery for granted. I’m real clear how important it is that I stay sober. Being in a recovery based marriage is really nice. Thanks for letting me be ME!

As you all can see, Life after the Loop is pretty darn good! It’s taken some time to get used to not being on the water everyday, but when I could finally put it into perspective, and get honest, I am on the water every day! I live on a boat, and the boat is in the water. I just don’t get to leave the marina very often! So, when I do get to go out for a day of boating, it is spectacular! We had one of those days yesterday! Jim and I helped our little friend Brandi, celebrate her 23rd birthday by taking her and her sister Stephanie out for a day cruise. It was a beautiful day. We went up the ICW to Sarasota and then high tailed it out to the Gulf of Mexico for the trip back home. We spent 5 hours on the water. We had snacks and a birthday cake! Stephanie and I jumped in the Gulf! It was awesome and refreshing! I love jumping off the boat into water! It’s the best ever!