Reaching That Fork in the Road

Home on the Beach — Galveston Island

Today, I’m thoroughly enjoying the first Saturday Nico has had off in about a year or so.  Yes…we’ve somehow fallen back into a life of being ‘wage slaves’!  –Not what we had planned when we moved to the island.  Somewhere, we took a wrong turn, and…here we are.  Stuck in the mud…again!

So we’re once again standing at a fork in the road that will lead us to ‘the rest of our lives’.  –I rewind to 2010; back when we sold everything (save a few personal items that went to storage), bought our 71 VW Camper Van ‘Peniki’, and stepped out of the rat race.

Those were the times we cherish, to this day!  We wonder how did we get burdened down again, with bills, too much stuff.  Even though we no longer keep a storage, and live in less than 200 sq.ft of space.  I know we live small by most folks’ need for ‘necessities’.  I still feel we are ‘trapped’ in an endless…useless cycle of monotony.

On one hand, we have to earn a living.  The earnings from which go to endless expenses that get us nowhere.  The time I spend throughout the day is for Baby, teaching her…guiding her, cooking breakfast…lunch…dinner, cleaning, and a ton of piddle-y things that seemingly go unnoticed…for the most part.  Time with Baby and Hubby, is the best part of my day.  Though it isn’t always time well-enough spent.

My meaning of this, you ask?  Well, often times we’ll be side by side with someone, in the same room, the same dwelling, but we are not engaged with them.  We are all doing our own thing.  –Like right now…this very moment:  I sit writing, Baby is watching cartoons, and Nico is putting his time-in piddling around outside.  We are not together, but we are still so close.

Which brings me back to our vagabond days in Peniki.  We were so close in many ways–watching the world passing by at 55 mph, as we sat gazing (holding hands…Nico and I)…talking about everything we wanted to do and the things we had already done, the miles we’d covered.  I’d look back at our babyyounger then, and she’d be sleeping or looking around at everything that needed to be discovered.  –And, all was right with where we were, where we were headed.

Back then, if anyone had asked if I’d like to be anywhere else, I’d have truthfully, and quickly, answered “No.  This is where I’ve always wanted to be!  –On the road to discovery, bumping down the highway from place to place, seeing new faces, and experiencing new adventures.  My family by my side.”

These days, if someone were to ask the same question, I would undoubtedly have my answer as-to which fork in the road we should take.  Getting there, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter.  The secret of life is that one thing, something different for everyone (from City Slickers).  It’s so simple, yet…it is so very difficult (to paraphrase a passage in Caroline Myss’ Anatomy of the Spirit).  The fork we should choose in our road, I know, will be a very bumpy one.  The journey begins today.

Many Blessings & .V..

GVR

Beach Bum Scribblings

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Have Hippie Van…Will Travel

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Beach Bums

So we’ve become a couple’o beach bums!  It isn’t hard to do here on Galveston Island.  Time has just flown by since that first month we were here; struggling harder than we’d ever thought we would.  But the worst part of that first month was relinqushing to the RV Campground; as full of amenities as it was!  That ‘one week’ we stayed there cost almost as much as we’re paying a month in our current spot.  Never mind the fact that it had two pools, and hot tub, miniature golf, showers, laundry facilities, breakfast buffet…and the whole nine-yards–an RV park is always overcrowded, and well…an RV Park.  We do not care for them one little bit!

So, there we were, at Jamaica Beach RV ‘Resort’ and Campground; enjoying the finer side of roughing it…if you will.  We’d spent nearly two weeks camping–really camping–on the beach…and enjoying it immensely (minus a few little set back and situations I don’t care to mention).  Either way, we knew we had to head back to some version of civilization, if for no other reason than to stop turning heads of unknowing passersby who seemed to take an interest in our camping rig on the sand and the fact that we have a little’n.  People who think they know what we’re all about really do piss me off!  I wanted to throw sand in their eyes at times!  Free country?  Yeah…whatever you think!  I care not to fool myself on that one. 

Needless to say, we were ‘pressured’ into the crowded comforts of JBRVP (Jamaica Beach RV Park), and set about catching up on laundry…and taking nightly dips in the hot tub.  I have to admit that the fact that we could ride our bikes just across the highway to Seven Seas Market was an added bonus.  I just love that little store!  It was the best discovery on the west end of the island–for us anyway.

So…there we were, set up at JBRV…and wouldn’t you know thatBaby screamed and cried about just about everything…almost every night we were there.  I can just imagine what our RV neighbors might have thought!   But I really don’t care…quite honestly!  I know it sounded pretty bad from the outside, but they didn’t know what bad ‘growing pains’ Baby was having on the inside of our little van-home. 

We had been dealing with such sleepless nights for several years…on and off.  Baby would sleep soundly most of the time, but then it would hit; the growing pains…kicking, screaming, and crying, night after night for about a week.  It just happened to be bad timing for us, when we stayed at JBRV.  But we made it through, and so did Baby.  She grew, but we didn’t sleep much at all that week. 

Most folks might think she was crying because we were all cramped into our little rig, but that wasn’t even close to being the case.  We were all quite comfortable in Peniki, with the drive-away tent attached.  We were camped right next to the playground, which was next to the splash pad, which was next to the swimming pool and hot tub.  It was really ‘the life’ when it comes to camping and not living off the grid; as we’d hoped to be doing by this time.  We don’t like most people, so it goes.  People are shallow, fake, superficial, and prejudice; even in this day and age.  We like very few of the folks we meet.  But the majority really don’t deserve a second glance or the wasted breath…as far as we’re concerned. 

So, enough of that little confession…or opinion.  We were looking forward to getting the heck out of the concrete jungle of big rigs.  Camping…you said?  Hah!  People have all gone ‘soft’!  Few could survive without their flat screen TV’s, A/C or heat, golf carts (Really folks…?  If you’re not a senior citizen…or on a golf course, you look like a complete lazy ass idiot rolling around the RV park on a golf cart!  Sheesh!!)  But, hey…!  Whatever works for some, is just insanity to others.  But it sure does shed some light on why a lot of people are fat in this country.  : I

Either way, different strokes for different folks!  We were happy to end our stay at JBRV and be heading closer to Seawall, and to a place we hoped might soon be ‘our’ new place.  We’d set up a time to view a spot at a private RV lot in an out of the way area of the island.  Pulling out of Jamaica Beach that morning, we were hopeful we’d soon have a more permanent address.  It was just the calm before the storm.  Even if you think you have life planned; it never does turn out the way you thought. 

 

G Town — Week 1 In Photos

Crossing Texas In A VW Campervan

Lunching With My Chitlins at Hollywood and Vine in Glen Rose, Texas.

I guess when you have no where to be at any given time, you lose all track of the hours, days, weeks…months.  That’s pretty much how we had been until we drove back across the Texas state line.  Even if we did enjoy our drive on the biways of Tejas, we realized with each mile we came closer to home, that our journey would soon be ending and we’d once again be back in the rat-race.

Some years back, I finally realized that me and the rat race…don’t mix.  People are always in a hurry, they cut you off; even flip you off at times, and they really have no good reason to race to the finish line.  We’ll all have our day at the finish line.  I’m in no hurry to get there.  Which is why our old girl Peniki is the perfect mode of transportation for our little family.

I swear, that old VW can get around town just fine, but she has to go at her own speed.  Being a classic Volkswagen Westfalia, I’d like to think our van has earned seniority in mileage.  Either way, she got us back home…safe and sound.

So many miles we had traveled, and by the end of the day…we were pulling into Fort Worth.  I could hardly wait to see my kids, even though I was already missing the travel…and the next destination; knowing we’d no longer be spending our nights in Peniki.  I was sad for that.

It wasn’t long after our return that we settled back into the old routine, but our journey was still fresh on our minds.  We knew we would have to go again, but we didn’t know quite when.

Here we are, almost 2 years later, and the wanderlust is swelling up inside of us both, though we realize we have responsibilities and Baby is now older with a mind of her own.  It was so easy when she was in her playpen.  We could set up camp while she played safely in her space.

Now, she wanders everywhere and is like a little octopus with too many hands in too many things.  But, she comes by that honestly.  Nico and I are both exploring spirits with curious minds as well.  And there is still so much more to explore.

*Live The Life You Love*

Family Road Trip — Mississippi through Louisiana to Texas

 

Camping Along The Natchez Trace Parkway

Rocky Springs Campground, Miss

Sunday Mornings at the Club…

It’s a beautiful Autumn morning here at the Sailing Club; I’ve been walking along the shore admiring all of nature’s bounty in the trees…filled with pinecones just waiting to fall; the shrubs brimming with berries of red…purple…blue. 

I’ve already polished off my first cup o’ joe…and I’m hankering for another.  Little Blanca, our bratty schnauzer, didn’t mind me sharing my cold tamale with her; we both like ’em that way. 

I hear another dog—not qute as content as my little dog laying quietly beside my chair—barking off in the distance…over across the cove.  I feel the breeze brushing my hair, the sun on my face.  I hear the wind rustling the leaves on the half-bare trees, the waves lapping ashore.  And all is right in my world. 

Nico and Baby sleep soundly inside our old camper van, though I know I don’t have much longer to be alone with my thoughts.  I think I hear a rustling inside…baby is now waking.  My morning is fast-turning into day.  I sigh a farewell to peaceful morning. 

Blessings to all this Sunday. 

.V..

 

Key West Road Trip — The Journey Home

{Journal Entry}

DAY 4:

‘Pulled out of St. Joseph’s Peninsula at around 1:30 or so, headed West on Scenic 98 to 71 North.  We’re planning to visit the Southern Tip of Georgia before we head home on El Camino 84 to Texas 287.  That’s the plan anyway.

*Update*

We ended up at a rest stop off of Interstate Highway 65 at 1 AM in the morning.  Ugh!  ‘Drove all night, but we didn’t want to pay the $$$ on a room for just a few hours of sleep.  So…after stopping numerous times at various motels–and trekking out to the ONLY (what seemed like it) National Forest in Alabama, we settle for a nice…much safer, rest stop.  It was the best choice, and one we should’ve made much earlier in the evening. 

*What I Learned*  Sleeping at rest stops isn’t half as bad as I suspected.  Guess it pays to listen to Nico sometimes; as much as I hate to admit it.  lol

The Beaches of St. Joe Peninsula

~ VIDEO ~

 

 

Westfalias & Hippie Chicks: Van’s New Tiki Curtains

 

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New Tiki Curtains in Westfalia

A Westfalia Renovation

New Look for Peniki

Redecorating our Vintage Westfalia

I finally finished the van curtains a few weeks back; ‘just now getting around to writing about it though.  So are the days of a Nomad trying to prep for more travels.
If I had my way, we’d live in a different state every MONTH. I really can’t describe this wandering feeling that tends to overcome me when the warm winds begin to blow. Actually (correction), it comes w/o notice, but it is so intense that I can’t possibly ignore it; like a gravitational pull in another direction.
Either way…I’ll be happy to wake up each morning to the new van curtains I designed/sewed just recently. It felt good to create something of such use to us and our privacy/happiness/comfort when we are on the road or camping-out in our Westy.
‘Just a little longer. I can hardly contain my excitement. We’ll soon be seeing the sun rise/set from where ever we land.
Happy Travels to all! ‘Livin the dream!!! Because, life’s too short not to.

Travels in a Volkswagen Westfalia: New Braunfels Road Trip

At the Hard Rock Cafe on Riverwalk San Antonio

Nico’s Birthday on San Antonio Riverwalk

Before Blanca

Me at Guadalupe River

 

  

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 September 8^th 2010:

 Nico is 41 today, and, so far, his birthday is starting out better than mine did yesterday.  No matter, I guess my day ended pretty well.  So…today we plan on walking to Market Center first, then to the River Walk to find some excitement: restaurants, waterfalls, cool refreshment; filming all the while with our Zoom recorder I bought off of Ebay.  It’s great for video, though we’re not sure about recording our music on it just yet. 

 We finally found the tourist-loop of the River Walk and decided to hang out at The Hard Rock Cafe for a bit; Nico’s choice.  I filmed a short clip of our time there.  About an hour…’two beers for Nico…one beer for me’ later, we headed back to the hotel to ready for our cook-out at Chris’s later that night.  I  wish we could have strolled along the river for a while longer.  I’ve always loved the river walk in SA, minus the bad smells in some spots.  I swear—one strip under one of the bridges smelled like raw sewage.  Not good!  Oh well, you take the good with the bad.  Right?

 So…there we were, using the GPS…again, for directions to Chris’s.  This time it actually took us to the right destination.  I say…  “It’s about time!”  After several wrong turns and one wrong address, we were there: hungry, thirsty, and ready to relax.  And so…we did!

 One meal of barbecue chicken, with all the fixin’s, and a few drinks later, the guys broke out the guitars and we all succumbed to our passion: music.  Nico and Chris played for a while and I listened, enjoying every minute of seeing two old friends catch up; picking up right where they’d seemed to left off.  Then…I chimed in; singing a song that Nico and I wrote a few years back.  It was a lot of fun.  But, soon, it was time to head back to our hotel-home. 

 We knew we had another busy day ahead of us, since we’d already decided to head back to the river walk for a longer, more leisurely tour.  We would also be filming again for a video I’ve been planning for one of our songs.  I am also working my way towards documenting our travels in the Westy, though I find juggling the baby while navigating on our road trips a full time job in and of itself; never mind trying to enter filming into that equation.  I guess time will tell.

If only we could have known what surprise we’d find when we arrived back at our room.  I guess we should have known better than to leave Blanca, our little schnauzer, all alone in the room.  But, at the time, we really had no choice; since she was ‘on her monthly’…in diapers…and couldn’t go along with us because Chris’s dogs are male and so on…and so forth.  Either way, we thought we were doing the right thing at the time, and felt Blanca would be fine since she’d been alright with it earlier that day when we’d gone to the river walk.  But…she wasn’t, not this time around.  She’d torn through the bathroom door, which was brand new…though made only of paperboard, and also nibbled on the corner of the other door.  Needless to say, we’d be paying for the damages.

 *What I Learned By This Little ‘Event*:

-Leave the dog at the pet-sitters

-Get your dog ‘fixed’ asap—don’t put it off ‘til you have to diaper the little brat

-It is better (in case you can’t leave your pet behind or at a sitters) to leave your little K9 in your van-home, where she/he is familiar with the surroundings, than to shell-out travel money for damages to hotel rooms.  Ugh!!!

-Pay for the damages and become a very welcomed, and trusted, guest at your fave hotel           

 

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September 7^th 2010:

 Just as we feared, the weather made a turn for the worst this morning.  Happy Birthday to me!  Instead of just a drizzle, the rain is pouring and we have to evacuate the river…before we’ve even had a chance to set up our drive-away tent.  ‘Satisfaction of knowing how it will serve us in our travels eludes me still.  Dammit!

 We talked to the campground host before we left; his name is Marty…he loves our van.  He told us of how his parents traveled with him in their VW Van, back when they moved from South Carolina to Texas.  It makes us a lot of fast-friends; this old Westy.  She’s a definite ice-breaker when it comes to conversation with strangers and making friends.  Still, we had to evacuate the river because, according to Marty, the camp-site we’d chosen would soon be under water.  So…we packed up…again, and headed out.  To where, we had no idea!

 The wind was gusting so swiftly we could barely keep Peniki on the road, and the rain made visibility less than safe, so we decided to stop a while…in a Taco Cabana parking lot, of all places.  Hence the reason one should always pack a lunch and plenty of food.  It doesn’t hurt to make a plan B when it comes to your destination as well.  On any trip, long or short, Mother Nature is the real driver and we are only passengers.  Anyone who knows Texas weather knows how flaky it is at any-given time of year. 

 So…there we were, contemplating plan B.  A few stormy hours later, we headed south to San Antonio.  The river walk was our next stop.  Nico phoned his best friend to let him know we were in town, and we all made plans for drinks later that evening.  The welcoming sign of our favorite ‘pet-friendly’ hotel, Motel 6, was a grand site after such a day.  The trendy contemporary décor of our remodeled room was the icing on the cake, a hot shower…even more of a treat.  We commenced to cleaning ourselves up for our soon-to-arrive guest.  It had been too many years since Nico had seen his oldest friend Chris, though they still keep in touch on a regular basis.

 The weather cooperated enough for us all to take a stroll to the river walk, about a mile or so away.  We never did find the touristy part of the Riverwalk, so we gave up…from exhaustion, and headed back to the hotel.  Following the GPS was the last thing we should’ve done, since it took us so far out of the way that we ended up in a ‘not so safe’ part of SA.  No blame on anyone, but next time we went out touring, we carried a map and our compass.  So much for technology!

 What did we learn from all of this…?

*Carry a good map of the city and a compass.  A flashlight at night helps immensely too.

*Take plenty of extra cash, just in case your thrifty camping adventure has to be traded for an uptown excursion.

*Carry some mace in a strange city; especially if you’re a woman.        

*A shoulder tote or backpack always helps if you have to bring water and other items, such as baby necessities.

  

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September 6^th 2010:

‘Woke up late today, even though we swore we’d get up and get going down the road like early birds.  No matter—we are like the tortoise: slow as hell.  Still, we managed to make it out of Dallas before noon-ish.  We’d been spending some time with my oldest daughter Mia, there in the West End of Big D. 

 It had been a very enjoyable week for me, Mia, and Nixi.  ‘Not for Nico:  he’d been taking the six o’clock Dart Rail to the TRE train to Fort Worth, then The T bus to work; an all day journey that landed him back in Dallas no sooner than 9 PM each night.  I hated him being gone for the entire day…before sunrise ‘til post-sunset.  But we made it through the week…I spent some very valuable time with my Mia…and all systems were pointing to ‘go’ for our longest road-trip in Peniki to-date. 

 A bit nervous and excited all in one, we looked forward to a new adventure in our Westy.  Although we did a bit better in our preparations this time, our plans to head out early were steadily curbed.  But what can one expect from a couple of turtles.  After all, it is quite a task driving to storage for our camping gear, loading or unloading, gassing-up, ice…food…drinks…traffic until we are out of the city; it just seems to be one thing after another.  And, before we know it, we’ve spent half the day and almost $200 before we ever get going.  It sucks…yes.  But…it is the path we’ve chosen…for now.  I remain hopeful that we will find the place to set some roots.  Soon, perhaps…?  One never really knows. 

 So…there we were, finally losing the hub-bub…rat-race…congestion of the city, finally reaching the peacefulness of the path less traveled; a state highway after Labor Day, headed for New Braunfels.  My 42^nd birthday was the next day, Nico’s 41^st birthday would be the day after mine, and he had planned a river-camping trip for our big days.  I was excited because we were actually going to be able to set up our drive-away tent…more than two months after purchasing it on Ebay.  I’d been anticipating how much room we’d add to our tiny van-quarters.  Turns out…I was right!  But I’ll get to that eventually…in a future post.

 A long…slow time later—around 2 AM the next morning—we finally arrived at River Road on the Guadalupe River; a place Nico had visited more than 20 years prior and now wanted to share with me and little Nixi…Blanca too.  So, there we were; exhausted…road-weary, and it began to drizzle just before we fell in for some much-needed rest.  We could only hope that the next sunrise would bring a more enjoyable day on our first lengthy road trip.  A sunny, cloudless day for my birthday would be a welcoming surprise…no doubt.  If only that had happened…it would have been femmetastique!  But…as most of us know, life usually doesn’t turn out that way. 

 What did I learn from all of this? 

*Do all prep-work (storage, packing the van, food/drink purchases, gassing up, etc) the day before you’re set to leave. 

*Research, research, research the weather before you set your destination.

*If you’re slow-going (Peniki topped speeds of around 55 on level ground and 45 up hill), divide a trip of 300 or more miles into two trips of 150 miles…coming or going. 

*Buy Ice before you get out of the city, or you’ll be paying double…more than likely.

*Pack a weeks’ worth (no more, due to weight) of canned goods, dry goods, fruits and veggies; things you don’t have to keep cold…just in case.

*Make sandwiches before-hand and pack in a cold pack or cooler, so you won’t spend money on unhealthy fast-food.

*Pack plenty of water…no matter what.

*If you carry a portable potty, make sure it is very clean…first, then if there is room in your van or travel vehicle (and privacy), keep it inside where you can use it in case of emergencies.  **Not recommended for all travelers…believe me!**

*Try not to pack too much inside the van/RV/camper cabin so you can move around and be comfortable…and safe on the road.

*Always carry tools and a spare tire.  **We had a flat in the middle of ‘nowhere’ on the way back.**

*Relax…have fun…meet new people, but, don’t drink too much.  Too much of a good thing is usually…not.

Happy Travels!