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Archive for the ‘The Random and Unexpected’ Category

Our Hall of Fame of Wonderful People

24 Aug

The Stratton Free Library in Swanzey, NHWe’ve been fortunate enough to see some pretty incredible sights while on our Airstream journey.  Sometimes, I look at our pictures and continue to be amazed at the places we’ve been.  For several places, however, it is not just the scenery that makes the memory so special.  Oftentimes, the wonderful memories are of the people we met while there.  We refer to our “Hall of Fame” often as we recall these individuals that have touched and inspired our lives.

We had the pleasure of meeting some truly awesome people while we lived in New Hampshire and Vermont this summer. Excluding our campground owners, of course, we felt incredibly welcomed into the community. I’ve highlighted a few of those individuals in previous entries (Yep, that includes you, Frank!) and I’d like to take an opportunity to highlight another person that overwhelmed us with her generosity.

When we first settled into our campground, one of the first things we did was visit the local library (which was just minutes from our campground.)  It was a tiny but beautiful historic building and we were both anxious to check it out.  I love libraries. Sometimes (okay, daily)  I wonder why I did not go to graduate school for library science. It’s a field that would fit me perfectly. I’m quiet (except when in labor), I love research, I love books.  See? Perfectly! But, I didn’t go that route for unknown reasons and it baffles me often. Ah, but I will not digress into the discussion of “The career path Lani should have taken….”

Showing Emerson all the great books.

So, Chris and I visited the Stratton Free Library soon after we settled in the area. Since we weren’t residents, I knew we couldn’t qualify for a library card but I thought I’d ask the librarian anyway. It seemed such a shame to be this close to a library for several months and not be able to take advantage of its services.  I explained our situation to Carol, the librarian, and she immediately emailed the Board of Trustees to see if we could be granted a temporary card.  She saw no problem with it but had to get permission from the Board.

We returned a few days later (this little library is only open 3 days a week) and Carol informed us that we could have a library card. Yippee! We took full advantage of it. We checked out books and movies and enjoyed our conversations with Carol throughout our time there.

Of course, when the baby came along my time for reading suddenly disappeared but we continued to visit the library to check out movies. We were proud to introduce Emerson to Carol and happy that this friendly little library would be the site for Emerson’s first library visit!

Carol, Emerson, and Chris

On one of my last trips to the library, I was returning a movie (embarrassingly, it was overdue…maybe I should rethink being a librarian?), and Carol had a gift for Emerson. In a small bag was a book about animals that was perfect for a baby, a beautifully knitted washcloth, and a personalized letter to Emerson on the library’s letterhead telling of her first visit to the library.  I almost cried. My daughter’s first library visit has been documented by the librarian in a beautifully written letter. How awesome is that?

So, Carol the librarian rocks.  We went back for a visit after we had left the campground and regretfully informed Carol that we were no longer in the area. We took some pictures, said our goodbyes, and thanked Carol once again for being so awesome and making us feel so welcomed.  While I have no intentions of returning to the campground (and the owners probably wouldn’t let me back on the property), I do look forward to returning to the library when Emerson is older and sharing with her the fond memories.

Thanks, Carol!

 
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Posted in The Random and Unexpected, Wonderful People Hall of Fame

 

Crazy Is as Crazy Does…

30 Apr

Let's Go Hokies!

Our snowbird winter is officially over.  We left Georgia to begin our trek north, making an important stop in Virginia.  Of course, you’ve already read about our stop at Everett and Missy’s farm in Hillsville, Virginia.  After that brief stop, we made our way to Blacksburg, Virginia, our former home.  It was a very short visit but we were able to catch up with a few friends, eat at our favorite local restaurants, and make a necessary stop at our storage unit.

We had plans of staying at the local Wal-Mart since we arrived so late into town but when we drove into downtown Blacksburg, it was as though the town expected our arrival.  There was a parking spot right in front of our old house which was IN downtown.  So, we parked there.  For the night.  (Take that, crazy landlord!)  It was our first attempt at urban stealth camping, a new term we recently learned.  I half expected to get a knock on the door during the night saying we couldn’t park there, especially since the police station is one block away.  We were, however, apparently discreet enough (meaning that  I wasn’t out in my bathrobe “Cousin Eddie Style” emptying the “sh*tter” into the sewer line).  So, we had a lovely night of uninterrupted sleep and were convenient to my favorite breakfast place, Gillies, for the next morning.

These are the things that were clearly vital to our existence the day we stopped by the storage unit.

After breakfast, we did a quick drive around campus and took pictures of our shiny home in Hokie land. And, then we were off to our storage unit.  A task neither of us looked forward to.

We arrived at our storage unit and as with the previous visit could not for the life of us remember which unit number we were but knew it’s location.  That doesn’t help when a) the office isn’t open; and, b) you need your unit number for the code to have the gate open.  Thankfully (and, then again, not so much), a small gate was open and anyone could gain access via foot.  So, we parked and walked to our unit.  We opened our unit door and did the usual 10-minute stare at a bunch of crap mixed in with a few valuable items.  In the end, we dropped a few more things off into the unit and collected a few items as well.  What was so important that we needed from our storage unit?  A maternity shirt (my one and only), Chris’ ripstick (???), Chris’ swimming flippers (???), a rope, a bottle of glass cleaner, a tuner (because that’s clearly the reason our ukulele songs sound so terrible), and a small stand for our ukulele music. See? Necessary items, right? Right.

The lunatic asylum, as it was known back in the day.

We said our goodbyes to Blacksburg and made our way to Staunton, Virginia (Pronounced “Stanton”) to see family.  Chris’ sister and her husband live in a really nice (and brand new) condo within walking distance to the wonderful town of Staunton, birthplace of Woodrow Wilson and the Statler Brothers.  Their condo is in a former mental hospital/jail.  The hospital’s campus (dating back to 1828) consists of many buildings and only a few have been renovated.  The remaining buildings are abandoned and creepy.

This instantly became the coolest and creepiest overnight parking spot for us to date.  Sure, there have been some sketchy campgrounds and Wal-Mart parking lots but nothing compares to the grounds of a former mental hospital-turned-jail whose long history includes a hospital director who was a firm believer in eugenics, a period of serving as a children’s aslyum, and it’s time as a medium-security correctional facility.  Did I mention the old cemetery in the back that is full of unmarked graves?  Yeah.  There’s that, too.

A graveyard full of unmarked graves.

We walked around the grounds and learned about the future renovations. Chris and his brother-in-law were immediately drawn to the open window and doors of some of the abandoned buildings.  While my sister-in-law and I hesitantly followed.   <Cue scary movie music now.> While the guys explored more thoroughly, we just took a few quick peeks in some of the rooms.  The buildings were fascinating and creepy.  It felt too much like a setting for a scary movie; and, in hindsight, we broke EVERY scary movie rule:

1) We split up (and a number of times said, “I’ll be right back.”) At one point, the girls left the guys and then the guys split up to find us. Classic scary movie stuff and a definite no-no.

2) Chris walked into a room that was significantly colder than the rest of the building even after Ty warned him he should NEVER do that.

3) We even had our token black guy (my brother-in-law), you know, the one who gets killed first, as he reminded us, should this adventure follow a scary movie script.  Despite that fact, he was still eager to take the lead on more than one occasion.  What a guy!

Come on in! Stay awhile...

4) Lastly, and most obvious, we walked into an old abandoned mental hospital.  Seriously, have we lost our minds?

Thankfully, we survived. It was a highly entertaining and interesting day.  After a somewhat peaceful night’s sleep (with the exception of the random screams we heard–totally kidding), we were off to find a local campground so we could spend more time in this great town.

We spent the rest of the week at Shenandoah Valley Campground in Verona, Virginia.  We had a lovely stay.  A river runs along the campground and in the summer months they offer tubing.  The park was a former KOA so it had some nice amenities.  And, the staff was always friendly and helpful.

We made a few more visits to downtown Staunton during the week, eating at some wonderful local restaurants that serve food from local farms.  We had delicious gelato and I’m totally sorry I didn’t make a second or third trip back to the gelato place.  And, we went to a free screening of the movie, “Fresh” which features a local (and well-known) farmer, Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm.  In fact, his son was a speaker after the film. If you’ve read Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma or watched “Food, Inc.” then you are probably familiar with Mr. Salatin and his farm.  ”Fresh” was a great film and I highly recommend it.

All in all, our time in Blacksburg and Staunton was productive, a little bit crazy and a lot of fun!

 
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Posted in Airstream Living, Campgrounds, The Random and Unexpected

 

Our Farm Dream Continues. Ee I Ee I Oh.

12 Apr

I’m really far behind on blog entries…again.  I have so many photos (and even a video) to share of our last few days at Rainbow Springs State Park in Florida.  Did I mention I love that park?  If not, let me just say that I really, REALLY, love that park.  We had a blast and I will write all about our last few days…but not right now.

I also need to write about my week in Atlanta, my trip to Stone Mountain Park, my day at Six Flags, and my night in downtown ATL.  But, I won’t do that right now either.

Instead, I have to share a story with you about a detour we took on our way to Blacksburg, Virginia on Saturday.  I have to do it now…it just can’t wait.

Everett and Missy on their farm. Unfortunately, it was already dark by the time we grabbed our camera.

So, I read blogs.  A lot of blogs.  Some I peruse periodically while others I read almost daily.  And, then, there are those special blogs.  They are the ones I read and I feel an instant connection to the blogger.  The ones on which I excitedly  introduce myself in a comment or through their contact information.  This is the case with the blog,  Living a Simple Life.

The blog is written by Everett (coincidentally, a name that has been on our short list of potential baby boy names for several months now.)and Missy, a young couple from Colorado who just purchased an old farm in Virginia.  About a month ago, I left a comment on their blog to introduce myself and explain that Chris and I had a similar dream.  When Chris and I decided to move to Blacksburg, Virginia we did so with the dream of buying farm land.  We even placed an offer on 10 acres.  When that didn’t work out, we found another property and spent hours exploring the land and the house, discussing the possibilities, and researching everything about farming…since we had no experience whatsoever.  Things just weren’t falling into place with that plan…that whole “we-know-nothing-about-farming” didn’t help matters.  But, the dream lives on for us and someday perhaps it will all happen.

For now we enjoy reading Everett and Missy’s blog and I highly recommend it if you are interested in following a young couple as they experience the farm life. They offer great book reviews for  homesteading resources and now that they have arrived at the farm, we get to read about their dream becoming a reality.

I offer that entire lengthy explanation and introduction for a reason.  As we were driving into southwestern Virginia on our way to Blacksburg, I decided to check up on Missy and Everett’s blog to see how things were progressing.  Their latest blog entry talked about how much stuff they had to do and the list was quite long and a bit frightening.  Not five minutes after I finished reading this entry (to myself), Chris says, “Hey! Let’s go find the property that Everett and his wife bought.  I’d like to see where they are living the dream.”

I know Chris well.  He has what I call DBS (Dropper-By Syndrome).  He has no issues about dropping by people’s homes unannounced.  I can’t do this.  At all.  I’m fabulous at driving by but I refuse to show up at a person’s home unexpectedly.  I knew if I told Chris their address, he’d knock on the door.  He’s not capable of just driving by.  So, I tried really hard to persuade him to just keep driving.  My efforts failed. Then, I read the blog entry to him that told of how busy they were thinking that might persuade him.  Instead, when I read the long list to him, his only response was, “Ooh, that sounds like fun!”  (He was serious.)

Next thing I knew, we were on the road to the farm.  It was an incredibly beautiful drive and we both enjoyed the scenery immensely. I highly recommend checking out southwestern Virginia as it is a really beautiful place.  Suddenly, our GPS lady said in her usual not-so-friendly tone, “You have arrived.” And, there, standing outside of their wonderful farmhouse, were Everett and Missy working on one of their many projects.

I gripped the door handle hoping Chris wasn’t going to slow down.  But, like I said, Chris just isn’t capable of a drive-by.  Nope, instead he rolled down his window and said, “Hey! Are you Everett?” Classy.

Looking confused, Everett affirmed his identity and Chris went on to explain that we read their blog and we were just passing through the area when we decided to take a detour to see their land.  (Does this make us look like stalkers?)  After our explanation, Everett remained in disbelief stating, “You’re kidding, right?”  No.  We weren’t.

Missy took this photo of us as we were on our tour. I hope she doesn't mind that I'm stealing her photo.

They were incredibly kind and even invited us to park our Airstream and take a tour of the land.  They showed us the different buildings on the property (the spring house, the chicken coop, etc.) and then even showed us their home.  As we walked around with them, the turkeys, chickens and guinea fowl roamed the land. It was all so picturesque.  Everett and Missy shared their plans with us, including their desire to build cabins to allow for farmstays.  I’d like to reserve my spot now, please!  The land is beautiful and they are a super cool couple.

I’m still trying to recover from just showing up at someone’s house unannounced but I must say I’m so glad we did. It was a wonderful stop on our journey.  Chris could have stayed for hours and talked. (He’s good at that. He’s always the last one to leave parties because he can’t stop talking.)  But, we knew how busy they were, it was getting late, and we had to get back on the road.  We had a great visit and really enjoyed meeting Everett and Missy and we thank them for a) not being terrified of two complete strangers who just show up unexpectedly; and, b) making us feel so welcome and giving us a tour of their beautiful land.  We look forward to our future farmstay! Thanks Everett and Missy!!! You two have inspired us to keep our farm dream alive.  And, who knows…we may end up back in Virginia!

 
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Posted in The Random and Unexpected

 

Oh Strawberries, How We Adore Thee…

10 Mar

Oh, Strawberries...how I adore thee...

We love strawberries.  In fact, I can’t stress enough how much we love strawberries.  Plain strawberries, sugar-coated strawberries, chocolate-covered strawberries, whipped cream-covered strawberries, strawberry smoothies, strawberry shortcake, strawberry lemonade, and even, strawberry gum.  (I type this list while doing my best impersonation of Bubba from Forrest Gump.  I recommend you do the same.) Earlier this year during one of our visits to Tampa, the Florida Strawberry Festival was mentioned in conversation.  Chris and I, realizing that we would be spending a significant amount of time in Florida this winter, became very excited and checked online to see when said festival would be occuring.  Skip ahead two months and we have completely forgotten about the festival…until this past weekend thanks to divine intervention.

The Strawberry Festival in Plant City, Florida

We left Jacksonville not knowing where we were headed next. Typical.  Would we go to the Ft. Lauderdale area or to Tampa to see Chris’ family?  Hmmmm….  Once we got on the road we learned it was Bike Week and lots of campgrounds along the eastern coast of Florida were completely booked.  Not that we don’t appreciate motorcycles, but we weren’t in the mood for a lengthy campground search. And traffic, both bikes and cars, was…well…icky.  So, we began our trek to Tampa.  Along the way, I just happened to look up and see a billboard advertising strawberries at one of the local markets which just happened to cause me to search once again for the strawberry festival.  Oh my goodness…you guys! You’ll never believe it.  The strawberry festival in Plant City is happening RIGHT NOW.   And, even better, Plant City is on the way to Tampa. Guess where we’re going!?!?

A well-balanced meal of Krispy Kreme Donut Burgers topped with Cheese and Bacon. This isn't quite what we were expecting at the Strawberry Festival.

By the time we arrived, it was getting pretty late in the day and traffic getting to the festival was still pretty crazy. I was almost ready to give up but when you are pulling a travel trailer, turning around on a crowded, narrow street is not an option.  Luckily, we found a parking lot.  It cost $15 to park for the remaining hours of the festival.  But, guess what?  It’s also a campground! Oh the joy of always having your home with you! So, we were able to park overnight for $20 and were within a few hundred yards of the festival entrance.  Brilliant.

We both had visions of a gigantic Farmers’ Market environment, complete with Pick-Your-Own-Strawberries fields and strawberries galore.  I was thinking Willy Wonka and the Strawberry Factory or a layout similar to the one from my Strawberry Shortcake gameboard from when I was in kindergarten.  Chris apparently had visions of St. Pauli girls walking around with platters of strawberries.  Whatever.  We were both completely wrong. Not entirely disappointed but just completely wrong.

Don't forget appetizers and drinks to go with your Krispy Kreme burger.

Instead of being greeted with the sweet scent of strawberries, we entered the festival to the smells of funnel cakes and cow manure. It was more of a county fair complete with carnival rides, overpriced games that few can truly win, a livestock arena and the most absurd fried foods one could possibly imagine. It was also a quality people watching experience.  We wandered around watching kids excitedly line up for a ride that would most likely have me throwing up instantly. We were quite entertained by the number of people trying to win a goldfish or two.  And, we were amused by the types of food offered.  Sure, we are used to the typical funnel cakes and huge bags of cotton candy.  But, we both saw a booth advertising some foods that we have never seen before and that also frightened us.  Feel like dining at the local county fair?  Why not start off your gourmet meal with an appetizer of deep fried butter (yes, that’s right…fried butter).  Then, after that first course, go grab yourself a Krispy Kreme Donut Burger and uh…don’t forget to add the cheese and bacon.  Top it all off with some dessert of deep fried oreos and wash it down with some deep fried pepsi and you’ve got yourself a true county fair meal.  Um…yum?

Every strawberry festival needs to have a pig race, right?

I’m not sure if this was a strawberry festival or fried foods festival.  It’s a toss up.  (Oddly enough, I didn’t see any fried strawberries.) We did enjoy some time checking out the cows and chickens in the livestock arena as well as enjoying a good ole-fashioned pig race.  Who wouldn’t want to spend their Saturday night cheering on “Dustin Hogman” of the Swine Speedsters as he raced around the track to the sounds of screaming kids? It was a highly entertaining night.  But, where were the strawberries?

Our very own strawberry shortcake.

At long last, we found a hall that contained strawberries.  I saw chocolate-covered strawberries, fresh strawberries, and strawberry shakes. But, we happily settled on the  ”Make Your Own Strawberry Shortcake” Booth where we loaded a bowl with cake, strawberries and tons of whipped cream.  It was definitely satisfying.  With bellies full of strawberries, we walked the few hundred yards back to our happy aluminum home and slept peacefully through the night with vision of strawberries dancing in our heads.  The next morning upon our departure from Plant City, we stopped at a great produce stand and bought a wonderful 1/2 flat of strawberries, freshly picked from a nearby strawberry field.  Best. Strawberries. Ever.

[Want to check out Florida's Strawberry Festival? Go to http://www.flstrawberryfestival.com/ for more information.  The festival ends on March 14th!]

 
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Posted in The Random and Unexpected

 

Stuff.

17 Feb

We find ourselves currently in a lovely campground in Jacksonville, Florida and we will be here for a few weeks so I’ll have more to share about the campground later.  Today, however, I want to share a link to a project that my husband recently shared with me:  The Story of Stuff.   The site has a great 20-minute video about the accumulation of stuff and the environmental impact of the increased consumption rate.  I highly recommend checking out the site.  In addition to the video, they offer some interesting facts about consumption.  For example, did you know that “[t]he average U.S. person now consumes twice as much as they did 50 years ago?”  Or, that “[e]ach person in the United States makes 4 1/2 pounds of garbage a day? That is twice what we each made thirty years ago.”  Definitely check out the project.  It will give you something to think about the next time you find yourself out shopping.

So what, you may ask,  does this have to do with a youngish couple who travel around the country in their shiny aluminum home? A lot.  In order to live this lifestyle we had to eliminate a lot of our “stuff.”  I’ve talked about this in previous blogs and the page that explains “Our Crazy Plan.”  Getting rid of stuff responsibly isn’t easy…not nearly as easy as acquiring it.  And, our recent trip back to our storage unit was not exciting but rather depressing.  Upon opening the storage unit door, we saw just how much stuff we still own.  While this all seemed like important items nine months ago, today the majority of it is now categorized into the “get rid of ASAP” pile.

On March 1, we mark our nine-month anniversary of life on the road.  We both agree that we have seen some amazing sights, met some incredible people, and grown closer through the experience.  But, primarily we agree that getting rid of our belongings and living a simpler lifestyle has been the most powerful change.   Here’s my bullet list of things that have had a positive impact on our lifestyle, and more importantly, the environment:

  • We no longer walk out of Target with $100 worth of items that we don’t need.  (FYI:  My last blog was entitled “Attention Target Shoppers” and I would like for it to be known that my only purchases that night were Septic-safe toilet paper and some dark chocolate.  Obviously the toilet paper is a necessity…but I argue that so is the dark chocolate.)
  • We no longer buy too many groceries that sit in our pantry well beyond the expiration date.  In fact, we seem to buy more fresh foods and have learned to carefully plan our meals out in advance so as to avoid multiple trips to the store.
  • Our water consumption has decreased tremendously.  When you only have a 15 gallon gray water tank, you quickly learn how to use less water when washing dishes or brushing your teeth.  Showers are quick, even when they are in the campground’s bathrooms.  And, laundry…well I’m pretty cheap when it comes to using my quarters so laundry is only done once a week.  And, with less clothing in tow, we’ve learned that some things can be worn awhile before being considered “dirty.”
  • And, while some people will emphasize our use of gas to tow our home, in the end I would say we still live a much more energy-efficient lifestyle. One of our intentions in this adventure was specifically to live more simply and lighten our environmental impact.  Having to buy a tow vehicle was one of the most difficult decisions.  If we could tow with a Prius we would.  However, there are not many high-efficient fuel options for vehicles capable of towing our home.  In the end, we settled on our Ford F150 and despite the admittedly horrendous gas mileage of the vehicle, we are very conscience of this fact and suspect that we drive less than the average commuter as we spend most of our time enjoying the campground life and as little time as possible driving.
  • We live in 160 square feet so it takes little to heat and power our humble abode.  And, we grow tired of refilling our propane tanks so we are pretty stingy with our propane use.  Additionally, we recently began converting the few lights in our home to LED.
  • And…then there’s recycling.  Chris once got into a fight with his college roommate after the roommate threw out the recycling into the garbage.  Needless to say, it’s a topic near and dear to Chris’ heart.  Because we do not have the luxury of curbside recycling pickup and sadly, many campground do not offer recycling options, we find ourselves making trips to various community recycling centers.  But, I’ll save that for a separate blog entry as that experience is worth more than a bullet-point.

It’s been an incredible lifestyle change and one that will continue with us long after our Airstream journey comes to an end.  I enjoy life so much more without the clutter and junk.  Don’t get me wrong, traveling the country and seeing what we’ve seen is amazing but so is this new sense of freedom from being owned and defined by our stuff.

 
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Posted in Airstream Living, The Random and Unexpected

 
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