Another time another place...

ORLDS APART...

Is how I feel today...I watch a lot of you tube it beats TV reruns and I am not really into Facebook or any of that so I learn alot from You tube when I need to repair something that Im not sure about I go to You tube and I have a channel of my own it's a mix up of DIY projects, and nature and travel videos...I have done some pretty hefty car repairs and put up videos on it...and some people have learned from me, so I consider it a community of sorts. 

I watch a lot of Canadians,,,most of them are Van Dwellers because Vanlife is something I have considered and actually done on extended periods.  If I lived up in Canada where you can still escape summer heat I may enjoy Van Dwelling full time.  I love my home and I've struggled to keep it so selling it to begin Van Life is not something I would consider, if I was 25 yes...but Im getting closer to the end of life and starting over AGAIN is not something I would relish. Part time yes for sure during three seasons at least. 

Some of the You tube vanlifers are city slickers and it shows sometimes when they are out in the back country but the only way to really learn is to experience it for  yourself.   You develop a routine and that is what makes van life work...in my opinion.  You figure out what works for you and you do it.  I've always had dogs with me when I travel as mentioned the one time I was able to get away without dogs was when my sis came in to stay with Mom and she agreed to keep all my dogs!! I was soooo thrilled.  An entire month of travel with no dogs...I slept in, I went to bed early, I hiked, I visited Museums, I didn't have to circle parking lots looking for shade, I didn't have to worry if it took too long for me to get in and out of a grocery store on a resupply run, I was able to actually sit in my chair in camp and watch a sunset.  NO dogs barking when I went to the bathroom.....THIS was the most free feeling I had witnessed in such a long time..

I traveled from SC where I live down to Florida...across the pan handle, down the Gulf Coast of TX and then into the Lower Rio Grande Valley...beach van camping, birding, hiking, relaxing even took a swim in the ocean...then to the Rio Grand Valley I visited all the "World Birding Centers" dogs are not allowed, its hot and tiring lots of walking etc, and no camping unless you want an RV park I didn't so I got a very nice motel room for 3 nights with a pool...it was great to take a cool swim at night after a long day of hiking, birding, and driving in the crazy traffic they have there, without having to walk dogs on tired achy feet. 

I headed West into the hot dry desert stopped at a State Park and took a ranger guided tour of a canyon to a place where natives had lived in a huge alcove and left all sorts of cool rock art, and then I headed South to Big Bend.   Even tho I did this in Spring it was warm too warm for dogs in a van with no  shore power.  From there I drove north into New Mexico and went to Roswell toured museums, went to a movie theater, and visited Carlsbad Caverns, toured the caverns, more van camping days  in the Guadalupe mountains and then finally I turned back toward east and home...

BOY that was a fun trip...I did have a time line so had to get back by a certain date...and then my sis told me, NO Way she'd baby sit Casey again...lol he had a way of stirring up the peace and quiet of an evening with his constant loop of going in and out in his nocturnal way.  It was part of his dementia as old age had taken away his once bright mind and replaced it with weird compulsions. 

Casey and I spent up to 40 days on one trip traveling and van camping all around the USA and Canada.  I have spent 24 day trips with all 3 dogs and 19 day trips with all 3 dogs, and countless short trips with all 3, and a couple weeks with the girls when they were younger...we would hike mountain trails to waterfalls. It makes me sad to recall how quick and able we all were, now Casey is gone 18 month ago, and the girls have slowed so much and are facing huge challenges, and I am not too spry either...

Comparing life then to life now....well it's World's Apart. And then there was the trip when I took Mom with all her Senior AIDES, and 3 dogs across country of course we had to stay in Motels, because Mom could not do van camping, so when we would arrive I had to get us registered, get her into the room then bring in the dogs, then her oxygen machine,  potty chair, walker, and then all our luggage, the food and gear for the 3 dogs, and then I had to go find a close by take out spot to get us some dinner to bring back it was a 4 ring circus for sure...BUT I would do again if I could.

One trip I took her and my elderly aunt Jean up to stay a week with their elderly brother in Indiana....so I had only the girls then it was 2 big dogs, 2 elderly ladies, and all their stuff...LOL and my aunt Jean always questioning me on which roads I was taking, and when we arrived I had to cook and clean for all 3 of them and then walk my dogs 3 or 4 times a day because uncle had no fence around his yard...
I was, to be quite honest, exhausted,  but so happy to give those three siblings that week together in their older years...Mom was 89, her brother was 80, and her sister was 74 and I loved hearing them laugh and tell their stories, while I cooked them 3 meals a day...I did get help with with the prep and the dishes, so they pitched in when they could.

So all those memories came back to me today when I was fitting Floss with some legs "stockings" that I hope will help give her some support on  those back legs.
I remembered chasing her through the corn field by Uncle Frank's  house and she was running full out...she was on the scent of a raccoon or something...

Worlds Apart...