Week One

Our first week of RV life is complete and overall I would say it was a success! 

We brought too much. We purged. We put stuff away.  Realized it was too much and purged again.  And I think there is still more to let go.  

We are learning to work with the propain furnace, wooops used a tank in 24 hours.  We brought in an oil heater to supplement.  We shrink wrapped some windows.  Most of the camper has an insulated sub floor, which is great for keeping toes warm, but those other spots need reinforced with rugs, thank you Amazon!  There are drafts, but dont worry family, we are nice and toasty!

Cooking is going well enough.  I am a stove top cooker and it as taken me some window opening and fans to figure out how not to set the smoke detector off, but the family has been eating well.  The oven, I haven't been as successful with.  It smelled funny, so I turned it off.  It turns our there is definitely something wrong with it.  Good thing I am not a big baker.  Family don't worry, we have smoke, CO2 and propain detectors!

The laundry, toilet and 6 gallon shower?  Well let's save that for it's own story another time. 

The pets have adjust well.  Mingus has been less of a challenge then I expected. They love the smells of the forest, Mingus is a budding scatologist  (however his methods of study are a little unorthodox). Nimbus seems happy too.  He has only offered himself to the cold and coyotes twice.  What is it with cats and coyotes?  Do they not get they will be eaten!

The kids. Aren't kids remarkable? Resilient, brave, and adventurous?  The other day driving in the city, I saw a pan handler.  She was sitting on the exit,  holding a sign, and a young child.  The child was bundled well and snuggled up in a way that suggested sleep.  I have feelings and words I wish I could have with this women, BUT my point is that here is a child who by my standards, was not living anything resembling his best life and yet he snuggled close to what he had and let go, relaxed into all that was his and was able to sleep.   Kids are amazing.

 E spent the weeks leading up to our transition obsessed with "space" and "size".  L was far more concerned with the living arrangements of her 200 stuffies (including the 6 foot teddy), the bucket load of little "things", and the 50 pounds of landscaping rocks she had "collected".  A didn't want to move, didnt want to leave his house.  In fact, after our first night in the camper we ran to do a curbside pick up and he asked "Are we going home now?"  And when I pulled up to the camper, his heart broke and he had some really really big feelings about this life change.

Yet here we are at the end of week 1 and the children are blissfully happy!  Our yard is phenomenal!  The country, with its trees and wonders to be explored, has no brick walls.  There is also very limited internet, and library dvds are not the most reliable.  Statistics, politics, and COVID have no home here. 

I am feeling blessed beyond measure to be able to offer my children a chance to be wild!