Sat, April 3,2010; Life as a turtle
It is my first night of sleeping in my new (to me) 23ft Trai lite motorhome at the KOA campground in Anderson,SC. I have sold my 3 bedroom, 2 bath home on Lake Hartwell after living there since 2004 and have given away all my possessions to kids, my friend Martha’s church group for women who have to leave their home due to violence, and to the HOU thrift store.
I have been thinking about and planning this time for at least 5 years. My kids rightfully accuse me of constantly living in “future think” and I know that this is an alcoholic tendency. To be focused only on how life will be once this “phase” or hardship, or relationship is past, that life will be OK once this changes/happens. BUT, I have also always really enjoyed anticipating future events; the planning and arranging and fantasizing about it are often much of the enjoyment, and sometimes more fun than the event itself! So now it is time to “Just Do it” and to savor the day to day reality of being actually retired and completely on my own with no possessions to possess me. I also know that this decision was made consciously, not in reaction to some trauma or event that happened “to me” as has usually been my MO in life. Following the “no guts/no glory” impulsive response mode that frequently sabotaged any real thought-through plan I might have responded to.
First I discover that RV life has its own set of challenges and arrangements: physically everything has to have its place, a very small space, and be in its place for moving anywhere. The water has to be filled and the waste tanks emptied; the belongings, what’s left of them, have to be stored in under the dinette seats and sofa bins that have to be uncovered every time you need something. I must have rearranged and repacked these bins 10 times to get them organized . I’ll need probably a year to really get a handle on the 23ft living space I now call home.
So far, I am comfortable and loving the small view out my windows, the breeze at night, and even the walks around parks with the dog, seeing how other travelers live. Huge RV rigs around me, some with lights strung from their canopies and outdoor rugs set out for their “patio” area; some are “fulltimers”, some are working in the area and stay for several weeks or months. The campground neighbors are as social or non as you wish. I have talked with a few who gave me great tips on where to travel, for instance to the Bahia Honda SP in the FL keys where I was lucky enough to snag a campsite for 5/31-6/1, just in time. I also had as my 6th campsite neighbor a woman, Mary Hencken, who pulled in with RV painted with herself holding gigantic Bass and the “Womens’ Bass Tournament” ad on her very streamlined boat and RV. She was entered in the w/e Bass tournament on Lake Hartwell and hopes to get into the top 20, although there are very few women now and the economy has eliminated the womens’ tour. I’m rooting for her.
I stayed at the Anderson KOA for one month, getting myself and Dori the dog acclimated and finishing up my work as a hospice nurse. For the time leading up to my announced retirement date, I was scared, happy, excited, and sad, from minute to minute and for many hours at night. On April 20th, my coworkers gave the best party of my life at the Golden Corral; good food, laughing all evening, and wonderful going away gifts. It was very hard to leave them on Friday, April 23rd and I was sad all afternoon. Waking up the next morning at the unheard of hour of 7:25 made me realize that I could possibly get used to this retirement program.
Sat, May 1st:
I drove to Atlanta where I ended up leaving Dudley, the cat. He hated being in a cat carrier and also the motorhome, would come in at night only for a few minutes to eat and then went crazy to get back out again. The morning I was to leave Atlanta he was very gone so I had to leave him. Nick relays to me that he is around the neighborhood, must come back to their deck to eat at night or is being fed by someone, but so far he has not been grabbed by the coyotes around there or decided to come in the house.
On the Road: Georgia
Monday, May 3rd:
I drove to Tybee Island outside of Savannah for my first week staying at an RV park, Rivers End, just a few blocks from the Tybee Is. lighthouse and the beach. Walking along the ocean in the sand is such a pleasure. One day I strolled between 2 groups of resting birds; at least 400-500 of them. One group of “Skimmers” very long black seabirds with big orange beaks, the bottom one larger than the top to skim the water for food, and the other side of me was filled with “Forster Terns”, white with black heads. They kept pivoting on the sand as I walked between the groups and I was aware that they were chattering more to each other as I tried to be very inconspicuous and polite in passing them…I kept thinking about Alfred Hitchcock!
I keep meeting such interesting people in the wandering life. A woman came over to talk with me in my campsite. Sandra is an OT who lives with her husband and 2 kids in college in a small town on the coast of Maine. They were very friendly and wanted my impressions on RV living so far; they even gave me their card and invited me to stay in their driveway anytime.
I also met Tim, the trucker by his walking over to introduce himself. He was a little, dapper man; reminded me of the now very famous jockey who won last year’s Kentucky Derby on the Filly “Mind that Bird” and had just won this years derby again. Tim had a sparkling blue rig with no load and set up his tent with Christmas lights around it, then BBQed on the built-in gas range he had welded to his truck. He told me since his rig could travel in snow that his route in the winter was from Newark, NJ to Milwaukee and then in the summer he went from his home in Corpus Christi where he said he spends about 6 days a year of “ beachtime” to Florida and back, all year.
It was lovely during the week but the campsites are very close together and for the w/e, Fri-Sunday, noisy, drunk, and totally disrespectful people kept us awake most of the night. I might have a Youtube video show up of myself appearing out of the darkness as the “wicked witch” of the campground to chew out some partying kids or redneck drunks since I did that 3 times in one night!
Nick came with George and CeliaAnne on Friday the 7th which really gave me a Mothers Day gift. They did jump right into the evening ocean tide and we walked on the town pier in the morning. It is always so nice to be with my son and grandkids; they are terrific people and so good to me. It is such a privilege and joy to be a grandmother.
So far, I have managed the driving, the backing up and the logistics of RV living, been serenely happy by myself on the Atlantic coast with just Dori and “Luna-C”, the RV name selected from the 30 odd submitted by my coworkers. I will look for a chance to get a vinyl name sticker to put up on the back of the motorhome, along with the National Park stickers I collect along the way and the US map that I can fill in for each state I visit.
Moving slowly away from my compulsive need to control the future and those around me and the stress of trying to manage every detail of life; I am definitely unwinding and beginning to “turn it over” as they say in AA. God, or whatever you choose to call your higher power, has blessed me so faithfully in my life and my connections with such wonderful people. I need only to acknowledge and appreciate every day what a perfect universe we have been given and that I cherish each day in it.
Driving through Savannah on Sunday morning after spending the evening having dinner with Nick and the kids along the waterfront was perfect. My fabulous Garmin that Brett and Nick gave me took me past a couple of the squares and by Forsyth Park, a gorgeous area with a Sandpoint style band tent and all the church folks gathered in their finery having picnics and playing on the grass.
Sunday, May 9th
Crooked River SP campground in St Mary’s GA is spacious, quiet and beautiful, the trees and undergrowth of palms keeps the campsites completely private. There was a group of kids from a Friends school in NC occupying about 30 tents in the center of the grounds but they were very polite and quiet. Stayed there for 4 nights and read at least 2 books, something I have been too tired for the last 5-6 years. I drove into St Mary’s, a pretty little town much like Pentwater, MI on Wed to take the ferry to Cumberland Island. There were about 20 of us going over at 1145 and I had chosen to come back at 2:45 since Dori was left at a groomer until 4pm. I’m sorry I spent an hour on the guided tour around the Carnegie ruins, it was all information that I could have read about and I didn’t have time to roam around on my own and see the beach. I did get up close to the wild horses on the island and really loved walking down the crushed shell road that evidently has shark teeth and many whole shells in it, all under the 400-500yr old Oaks with Spanish moss flowing from them…it was very beautiful. Coming back we had about 120 kids from the “Heritage” school in Lilburn, outside Atlanta aboard. One girl told me that she knows kids from Artios, Isabel’s school.
The wildlife that I saw in Georgia was: Jelly Fish (many), Ghost Crabs and Fiddler Crabs, Black Skimmer birds and Forster Terns, Snowy Egrets, Pelicans, and Dolphins, Armadilloes, Cardinals and a baby deer.
Florida
Thursday, May 14th
I arrived at St Augustine. I took A1A hwy down into Florida and it was such a drive, East of Jacksonville past the “JAX” beaches and along the miles of incredible, mostly Spanish style mansions along the coast, with elaborate landscaping and the gorgeous Atlantic beaches. Such wealth! The Anastasia SP campground is right in town and on the coast; sites are lush and on loops that are paved with one way driving to keep it safe for kids walking and riding bikes. I walked down each morning to get online at “ Island Joe”s” and then could spend time on the lovely beach with some pretty wild waves and riptides coming into that area of the Atlantic coast. The “Coquina” loop was walking or biking distance from the beach. It was a very relaxing 3 days, reading and walking, eating whatever and whenever I feel like and hanging out with Dori who is becoming a great traveler, doesn’t seem to get excited around many other dogs and is just curious about the wildlife.
Sunday, May 16th;
Tomoka SP, Ormond Beach. Driving into the park under a very long road covered with huge, old cottonwoods and Oak trees hanging with moss and keeping the whole area in shade. The campsites are all surrounded by beautiful old trees and palms, the undergrowth is Saw Palmetto fronds always rustling in the breeze and full of pink wild blooms. Really a gorgeous place.
Wildlife seen in the State Park; dozens of big (at least 2-3inches) brown- striped very fuzzy caterpillars crawling vigorously toward the trees everywhere….must be some awesome butterflies arriving soon!
My dear friend of way back stewardess days in New York, “Zeke” as we call her lives in Ormond Beach, retired there with her husband Howard about 14 years ago. She came out to the campground and we were so happy to see each other.We sat around after a tour of “Luna” and then she took me to the “Fairchild Oak”, a 2,000 year old tree that is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. It has withstood hurricanes, floods, fires, wars and MAN. Amazing, and it is so majestic and powerful to stand under. We then went to their home which is absolutely lovely, comfortable and beautiful with such color and style, lots of light and art.
Zeke and Howard took me to the Boston Fishhouse in New Smyrna Beach for a terrific seafood dinner in a very nice atmosphere, license plates from all over the USA. Couldn’t make room for Key Lime pie…YET.
Thursday, May20th:
Drove South on Hwy 95 toward Jupiter Inlet and stayed at the Dickenson SP campground on Hobe sound. It was a big let down after the previous lovely places but it was only about 4 miles from Jupiter Island and Colony where the richest concentration of property in the US huddles. Climbed up the lighthouse, only about 146 steps to get to the top above almost sea level land with many Seminole mounds in the area. The museum was fun with lots of history of the native and military groups that have occupied this area for at least 2,000 years. Saw Perry Como’s old home and looked over to the properties of Greg Norman and Tiger Woods. The villages are really beautiful and the tall draw bridges between islands and waterways are spectacular. The Atlantic down here gets bluer and with much bigger waves…surfing for real now.
Sunday, May 23rd
I have now been retired for one month! And I have now driven 1075 miles on my trek.
Onward to the Everglades. At the Entrance gate I was excited to finally buy my “Golden Eagle Senior Pass” for all National Parks. The cute girl at the gate asked me what has taken me so long and I explained that I just retired and this is the first Natn’l Park I’ve been in since. She told me that often people drive to the park on their 62nd birthday just to get their pass and she sings Happy Birthday to them! It costs $10.00 and gets me half price camping at any Natn’l Park, for about $8…terrific deal. The Long Key campground was mostly closed off and there were only about 10 camping groups there. I drove down to the lowest point of the park, Flamingo Key campground and it too was mostly empty and the visitor center and Marina had lots of damage still from a hurricane in 2005. I did see an alligator, about 9 feet long, swimming around the marina. The Everglades have the most amazing views of what is a crucial ecological area and habitat for many species, now only about 1/5th of its original area but well kept now for migrating birds, including bald eagles and so many that come to rest on their journeys. It was fascinating to learn about the plants and animal life in the “sea of grass”, and the wooden walkways with overlooks lead out to Mahogany “hammocks” and acres of dried algae fields that supports incredible life. Waited on the road for a big Tortoise, about a foot long with a smooth brown shell and big strong head and legs. Camping here was with no services so I experimented with using the generator and keeping track of the water tank level.
Wed. May 26th
I drove down hwy 1 to Key Largo and did get a campsite at John Pennekamp SP with nice sites and a walk through the woods to the swimming beach and marina. This would be the place to snorkel or scuba dive and for boating. It’s been very nice to spend this past month along the Atlantic, the sea is very turquoise here and warm. I walked every day to swim on the beach which did not get crowded at all until Memorial day, the 31st. One evening walking Dori along the shore we stood about 5 feet from a Great White Heron, standing about 3 ft tall on the wall looking at us. Very beautiful bird. I had a great breakfast at the Conch House café, an old house converted to a restaurant.
Monday, May 31st Memorial Day
Today I arrived at Bahia Honda SP campground, just in the middle of the Florida Keys and a fabulous little strip of sandy land. If I go to the beach area on one side of the campground I am swimming in the Gulf of Mexico; if I go to the beach on the other side I am in the Atlantic! Wonderful sand beach but the water is very warm and salty, pale aqua, green and shallow for a long way off the shore. This is the area for boating and fishing.
I have spent too much money in May; campgrounds have cost from 20.00/night to $43 at the Keys. I needed to get the brake light on the RV fixed and I’ve splurged on food and gifts. Will try to economize in June, less on camping, more on gas to get me out to CA.
Thursday, June 3rd
I am staying at the Koreshan SP/Historical site just South of Ft Myers. Reading the history of the religious group that formed a commune here in the middle 1800s made me think of the David Koresh group that were all killed in Texas, but the ranger assured me that they were not related…UhHuh? It’s now so hot from 9am until the middle of the night that I cannot sit outside unless at a beach or in the water. Dori likes to lie under the picnic table, panting away, she does not like the air conditioning, but I need it even to sleep. I really appreciate having the ceiling vent fan but here and now it’s not enough to keep the temp under 90 in the RV. I will try to stay with Meg and Emily at their condo in Ft Mayers, the Sanibel Harbor Resort for a few days.
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