Say you quit your job and could go anywhere you wanted. How long would it take you to get to the beach? Two days? That’s the way Tracy and I feel, normally. But of course last March when we quit wasn’t normal in any way. So here we are, in late October, and we finally […]
Author: Shelly
Former nomad, currently adjusting.
Beer on the Bayou
Or: The only place in this country where your brewery taproom bartender responds cheerfully, “How do you say in English? Live in that parking lot there!” Quick, Colorful Drive across Louisiana This is the first time in Louisiana for both of us, and, within the first few minutes of driving east right above I10, we […]
Where to Next?
Now that we’ve accomplished all we’ve been needing to get done in Texas since we first started out—HURRAH!—what’s next? Well, we have about a month before we need to be in Florida for our appointment at the Tampa Airstream dealer where we hope they’ll fix the awning. (More on our Florida plans, below). I’d been […]
Texas, the Big Caricature
A friend told me that Texans are caricatures of themselves, and they don’t even know it. We keep saying that over and over here. It’s brilliant. What does this caricature look like? Texans: don’t wave. Not even when their arm is resting on the truck door as they’re passing you slowly down a narrow dirt […]
How Would You Rather Die—and Tamales!
We’ve had just two adventures outside the campground here in Livingston, and they both make decent stories. First, the Tamales You guys know that original Star Trek episode when the tiny alien guy insists that Kirk and his landing party drink with him before he’ll fess up to all the trouble he’s caused them? He […]
In Defense of Weirdos Like Us
While I walk Banjo in the early mornings (and then walk myself in the afternoons), I’ve been thinking more about the people here in this strangest of campgrounds at the Escapees national headquarters. I’ve broken them down into these categories to the best of my seven-days-here knowledge. Temporary Campers Many people in the campsites that […]
Seven Months: What I’ve Learned about Living in a Small Space
Yep, we’ve been in the Airstream for seven months now. We’ve been stuck in one campground for two of those, and for the rest we’ve traveled up and down the Midwest. I’ve learned so much about how to enjoy daily life outside, how to help hitch the trailer more efficiently, how to dump tanks, all kinds […]
Oh Lord, I’m Stuck in Lodi, Again.
I’m stuck in Livingston, not Lodi (that’s from a CCR song, if it didn’t ring a bell for you). This morning we had to re-up our camping site for seven more days because we don’t know how long it will take for the truck to get fixed. Let’s see. What will we do for seven […]
We’re on the “Group W” Bench
We’ve just reserved a campsite for Thanksgiving, which calls to mind all the times I’ve driven to the family dinner with Alice’s Restaurant playing on the car stereo—in four-part harmony. If you’ve somehow never heard this long rambling delirious wonderful song about resistance, listen to it now. Gettin’ more injections, inspections, detections, neglections …. and […]
Infiltrating the RV Full-timers’ Cult Compound
Man, this Escapees RV park (it’s called Rainbow’s End) is very, very strange to me. It is definitely an isolated bubble, a world all its own. Campsite Types There are 495 sites on the compound, and I think I can categorize them like this: regular camping spots (but close together and pretty crappy: here is […]
