Panic! Can We Do This?

 

The renter moved this past weekend.  Decided to go take a peak at our future home and came away shell-shocked!   It’s not that it was left in a bad state.  It’s just the reality of what must be done.  It’s got me wondering if we have it left in us?

I know we can make it into a lovely place to live….a place to call home in between all our ramblings.  But are we too old and too tired to make it happen?  Would it just be easier to take the house off the market and enjoy the results of all the cleaning, updating and the beautiful blooming yard?

This is the back yard of our future home.

This is our present backyard.

And we will have three closets in our future place, of which, currently, one has no doors.

The move has felt so right until today.  After returning home, I found myself just sitting, dumbstruck, with the reality of what we are doing.  I look at all the popular tiny houses and say, of course we can move into 900 plus square feet.  But??  Can we handle doing it?  The actual move?

Painting must be done before we can put down new floors.  And a major redo from the driveway must be performed as there is mud everywhere.  Not sure what kind of professional is needed to fix the mud problem?

We can do it…just having a temporary breakdown today.

Need to get into the new trailer and Escape for a few days!

Speaking of the Escape.  We are working on finding the right weight distribution hitch and a tranny cooler and monitor for the Tacoma’s transmission temps.  Just about got everything else ready to go.

The house showings have dropped off this week.  None in the past 3 days.

The daylilies have started blooming….these aren’t current photos but the flowers look the same as a few years ago.

After rereading this post….thought I should explain for newcomers that we are downsizing from a medium size house to one side of a duplex that we own.

And back to using Windows Live Writer.

Looking For Balance, Love in the Rally

 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Apologies for waiting so long to post…..there’s no good excuse, except the continuing emotional rollercoaster of downsizing.

Not wanting to reenter the world of depression, we start working on the basement soon after returning from the Townsend rally.

There’s another room to the right where most of my energy is being spent.  It’s almost empty of my possessions….can’t say the same for the hubby!  Thus the roller coaster.  On this particular morning, don’t know if we will be able to sell the house.  Is it worth going through all the conflict?  When trying to push (him), our relationship suffers.  Life is too short!

I’m trying to remember how to live, happily, in a house, in a town, in the same place.  Trying to reconnect with people I enjoy and it’s challenging after being away so long!  Taking more effort than available.  Looking for balance between the travel world full of bloggers and fiberglass rallies  and the home world with family and old friends.  Must also find a way to balance the downsizing work with exercise and socializing.  This hermit stuff is not working for me!

Subject change…….

Townsend 2014

It’s a rainy Tuesday when we arrive at the Townsend/ Great Smokies KOA.  We enter a pull though and don’t unhitch.  Our 4 night stay on the river starts tomorrow. 

Pleasantly surprised that many good friends are already here.  Find a whole row of old friends with new trailers, some moving to Escapes, some to more traditional S. O. B.’s, (some other brand).  One of our favorite couples arrived 4 nights ago! We walk, frequently stopping to chat and catch up with our buddies.

And the rally begins……non-stop visiting and eating for 4 days!  

We are getting braver with the Dutch oven, preparing a breakfast casserole for the morning pot luck.  Black Forest dump cake is a success the following night.  (Notice, below, the bottom spoon scrapings.)

Our site on the river

The Little River

Difficult to describe a rally….it’s all about the energy of the people….their love for each other and their trailers.  Going to parade just a few of our friends…..

This is our third rally in six months and I find myself enjoying the events more and more.  Each one better than the last.  This time I feel so much love in my heart….are the people here more loving?  Or have I changed and can accept the love that was already there?  Whatever!  Loving the feeling of being loved!

There are 64, maybe more, trailers here.  Many friends are not in the pictures as it is Saturday before I remember the blog and the need for documentation.

A few trailers:

Kentucky Burro

Most of the campers, as usual, are Casitas….from the old to the new.

The high spot of the rally is always the Saturday night pot luck.  Hungry folk wait patiently for their turn.

One of the reasons the pot luck is so appealing…..this is made in a Dutch oven!

The music begins after dinner.

And it is over!  Time for goodbyes and plans to meet again!

We decide to spend another night in the Smokies as a few friends are heading to Elkmont campground.

Another night of tale swapping fun.

Finding wildflowers along the river at Elkmont.

Celandine poppy

Showy orchid

Large white trillium

The weather forecast is ominous with several days of storms, possibly tornados, coming.  We are anxious to get home but a trip to Cherokee, NC is necessary. The Tacoma pulls the Chatta-Egg up and over Newfound Gap, elevation 5,046, without a problem.

Happy Holiday RV Park has had a few changes with a new pizza and breakfast addition.  We check out the covered pavilion and central fire pit.  Discuss some details with the manager and everything is good.  The 2014 Cherokee rally is just 5 months away!

 

Flame azalea in Cherokee

Sunsets Continued……

 

Saguaro Lake Marina

…….

By Wednesday David is feeling a bit better.  We decide to explore other campgrounds in the A. J. area starting with Usery Mountain Park, a Maricopa County campground.  The park is  beautiful with mountains and hiking trails but it did not have the Superstition Mountain…..not interested in relocating.  From Usery we head to Tonto National Forest where many campgrounds are closed due to budget cuts.

Saguaro Lake Marina is our turn around point.  We sip ice tea on a patio overlooking blue lake, blue sky.

No alternative camps located, we return to our bit of real estate under the majestic rocks.

Valentine’s Day is approaching….we decide to do something that we never do while camping….go to a movie! 

The Flixster app locates our show in Mesa and we enjoy an afternoon with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.  Say whatever you will…August Osage County will make you appreciate your family! 

After splurging on fish tacos we head back to Lost Dutchman.

Saturday is a family visit day.  It’s only 37 miles from Apache Junction to David’s daughter’s home.  Lovely visit with a great meal at a Mile High restaurant.

It’s a holiday weekend, it’s hot and there are people everywhere!!!  Every hour or so I contemplate leaving for a remote campsite almost 100 miles away.  But the conveniences of Apache Junction with supermarkets, restaurants, electric outlets at Burger King and Fry's  and the mysterious mountain win out and we stay put!

The pain is still there, David reports, but it is tolerable.  We decide to hike the Treasure Loop Trail, a 2 1/2 mile trek with 500’ gain.  This is his first excursion up into the mountain.  The views are similar to the Siphon Draw hike.

Starting two hours earlier than the last hike, we are able to stay in the shade of the mountain for most of the climb. 

The rocks below are called the “Praying Hands”.  There is a trail but we opted out this year.

After six days in one spot, we move to another site…..(it was time to dump our tanks!)

While setting up, David comes inside and says he thinks “Bar Harbor” is next door!  Remember when we met the couple from Maine while scaling Dome Rock a few weeks ago?  They had a powered parachute that flew over the Casita gathering at Quartzsite.  This shot was taken on Glenda’s phone during one of the flights.

It was Mike and Jackie!……and we had a great time visiting….David got a promise of a flight someday in the future!

Then another strange fiberglass coincidence occurred!  Within a few hours two 19’ Escapes pull in, one on each side of our trailer.  The couple to our left are from Washington state and I go over for a chat.  They live close to the Chilliwack Escape factory…I tell them about seeing all the trailers leave the Osoyoos rally last June as we entered BC, heading for Alaska.  Suddenly Sue excitedly asks if we went to the Osoyoos visitor center?  Pausing, I think and nod affirmatively.  She says that they met us there!  I barely remember speaking to an Escape couple….but there is something to be said for our strong Tennessee mountain dialect.  They remembered us from our accent!

Sue and Dave

Our time in the desert is about over….just a few more days.  We are thinking a lot about next year…and spending more time here.

Finishing with a few more sunsets…………..