Nov 6 - One year on the road

6,636 miles

6 states

Oceans, Rivers and Lakes

Mountains and Valleys

1,000,000 Awesome Views

I left my house in Illinois on Sunday, November 6th, 2011. One day later than planned due to a minor incident with the right outside mirror on the RV.

My first night was at an RV park in Southern Illinois, I was planning to stay just one night.  I ended up staying for 4 nights to decompress from the craziness of emptying and selling my house and getting rid of a ton of stuff.  While I was sitting beside the lake relaxing, the buyers of the house signed the paperwork on Tuesday November 8th.

I was now officially without a home address. I would become a Texas resident at the end of November when I stayed at the Escapees Ranch in Livingston, TX for several weeks.

On this journey, I have traveled through IL, MO, AR, TX, NM, CO. I camped in driveways in Arkansas, Texas and Colorado.  I spent the winter at the beach, and then drove north to visit with my daughter and son-in-law near Denver before starting my first workamping job on April 11th at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.

I enjoy finding places to stay overnight that are near a small town or at State Parks that have a lot of walking/hiking trails. I do not tow a car.  I did not want to constantly be jumping in the car to drive from here to there.  I did enough of that when I was living in Illinois.  I wanted to stay put when I parked the RV. I prefer to explore on foot or on a bike.  It's easy to stop along the way to pick up groceries and to visit attractions.

I am sure there are times when a car would be handy, but I have not felt an overwhelming desire to have one, yet.

I have found several small cities with a "trolley" or bus system that will take me where I want to go.  Many of these are free or they charge a nominal fee.

Some of these cities are: Eureka Springs, AR - Port Aransas, TX (Mustang Island) - Corpus Christi, TX - South Padre Island and Port Isabelle, TX.  At Mesa Verde they have an employee shuttle to take employees to town for groceries, movies, etc. and they also scheduled outing to other cities.

There were several small towns where I could walk/bike from the RV park to grocery stores, libraries, etc. - Rockport, TX - Port Lavaca, TX - Palacios, TX - Cortez, CO - Goliad, TX.

My favorite town, so far, to get around easily is Rockport, Texas. I could walk or bike for hours at a time around the entire town and along the beaches.

Eventually, I would like to do some dry camping/boondocking - camping without electric and water hookups.  In order to do this, I will need to upgrade my refrigerator and at some point install some solar panels. There are many state and federal forest service campsites that do not have electric hookups.  There are thousands of acres of BLM land that are free to camp on. The scenery at these locations will be better than some of the commercial "RV Resorts" that I have stayed at. 

I am really happy with the RV that I purchased.

  It is the perfect size for me.

There are a few changes I would like to make inside, but nothing that is necessary, just things I want to do.  It would be nice to have a desk, instead of the typical dinette that is added to most RV's.

I have never used the awning, I feel it is too much trouble to open and close. I would like to replace it with an automatic awning someday, just push a button to open and close.

While traveling, there are some "bumps in the road".....the weather, road construction, noisy neighbors, crowded RV sites - but its all temporary and nothing that really bothers me. I can park for the night, close the shades and easily "shut out" the rest of the world. I am an easy-going person and it takes a lot to get me really upset or frustrated. I am good at "tuning out" distractions and noises.

I have met a lot of people and I have enjoyed my job at Mesa Verde.  This week I will be starting a volunteer position at a National Wildlife Refuge, only 25 minutes from my daughter's house. And I am looking forward to a finding new job for next summer.

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3 years ago, my life changed suddenly.  We never know what tomorrow will bring.

Some of the things that were on my life list of dreams and goals are happening, but it is not what I expected my life to be. That does not mean I am unhappy with this lifestyle, just that I never planned for the possibility of living alone.

I feel we need to take advantage of all that life has to offer. I am visiting so many places, and meeting a lot of people, and totally looking forward to more adventures.

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So, that's it, my first year on this journey.  I still have many, many more places I want to visit. And my biggest dream of all is to spend a lot of time in Alaska.  

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When I started this blog, I had a list of things to accomplish and checked them all off the list.

The only items to put on a "TO DO" list right now are:

Spend several months or longer in Alaska

Take a cruise anywhere (on a small ship)

maybe a Tall Ship on the east coast

Visit Iceland

I would like to visit all 50 states eventually, I have not traveled on an airplane since 1976.  I could take a cruise to Hawaii - or maybe even fly - and there are several volunteer opportunities in Hawaii, or maybe a temporary job to help keep the cost down. Of course, I would have to leave the RV behind if I decide to go to Hawaii.

 Anything is possible

I have not put a deadline on these goals, because I am living life

 "one day at a time".

Charlie's Pasture Nature Preserve

The history of Charlie's Pasture
The Port Aransas Nature Preserve at Charlie's Pasture encompasses 1,217 acres. Charlie Buhan was born on Mustang Island on Sept. 6, 1906.  His father, Matteo Bujan, settled on this island in 1885.  Charlie had a herd of about 250 cattle that ran on the island for many years until the law required cattle to be fenced in.  The land he leased from the State of Texas extended from the current Charlie's Pasture pier to the end of the island at East Flats.  He moved his cattle onto the lease land and built stock pens across from the pier.  Charlie's Pasture was also the place where, as far back as the 1950's, island youngsters hung out or spent many a night camping out under the stars.  Charlie's Pasture is a major part of the local heritage on Mustang Island. In May 2002, the City began an effort to preserve this section of natural habitat, enlisting the talents and ideas of many local residents and area agencies.  The Port Aransas Nature Preserve at Charlie's Pasture is truly a gift for future generations - a sense of history, a study of habitat and an appreciation of nature at its best.

Saturday was a long walking day for me. I started out in the morning at the Community Center Health Fair, picked up a free pedometer from the Walgreen's table. My blood pressure, sugar and oxygen levels all checked out good. Still not happy with my weight or body mass index, but I'm working on that. I read that walking 5,000 steps a day is considered sedentary, you must walk at least 10,000 steps a day to be considered "active". I walked over 13,000 steps on Saturday.

The Nature Preserve is along the Shipping Channel. After I left the health fair, I walked along Port Street and around the fishing docks to get to the preserve. There are several walking and biking paths through the Nature Preserve, some are dirt paths, but mostly you are on boardwalks built over the wetlands area.  The area was very dry with a few ponds here and there. I'm assuming that since I was walking on boardwalks at least a foot above the ground, that there may be times when this area is flooded.  I thought I would have a chance to see a lot of birds in this area, I only saw a few.  It's either too early in the season or it's because of the drought.  After walking over 4 miles, I took a break at a picnic area near the shore and watched the big cargo ships and sailboats.  I still needed to walk back to an area where I could catch the bus back to the RV park.  I walked at least 2 more miles through the Nature Preserve and back through town to the bus stop.

I figure this is a good way to get in shape for hiking. I want to do some hiking in the National Parks. I've applied for Workamping jobs at Mesa Verde National Park and a RV park near Rocky Mountain National Park. I need to meet up with some workamping hiking partners.

Does anyone know of any hiking groups that travel in RV's?

A Walk

I really feel better and have more energy if I can be outside.

I think that the lack of sunshine and fresh air

has a negative effect on us.

Dreaming of Sunshine and Summer

I was able to get outside

for a walk earlier today

the temp was 55 and overcast.

May 1, 2010 Starved Rock State Park Utica, IL

But then the weather

turned on me

and now it is raining

and we may get snow.