Chance Meetings

It continues to amaze us how and where we meet people on this journey. Sometimes, we just happen to meet and get to know good people who are parked next door or close by. Other times, we meet people by design. They know people we know and we just happen to be staying in the same place. You know. It's just that kind of thing.

We're in the middle of planning a meetup with a couple of good folks who are parked not far from here. He drooled over our moose while it was still on the dealer's lot, and we have followed their blog as they've set out on their fulltime RVing adventures. We've exchanged emails and are eagerly planning to meet for lunch on Tuesday. We can't wait.

This afternoon, we were just hanging around doing our thing. I was inside figuring out what to do with my growing stash of crocheted granny squares, and Paul was outside working on his continued efforts to wax the moose. From inside, I heard a car pull up and a voice call out, "We like your Tour!" Knowing that Paul had his iPod plugged into his ears, I tried to attract his attention and let him know someone was wanting to talk to him. With ear buds pulled out of his ears, he walked up to the visiting Jeep and struck up a conversation. As soon as I could make a break from my project, I made my way outside. We were so happy to make the acquaintance of Mike and Mo, a very fun fulltime RVing couple who are about our age, own a Winnebago Tour 40TD just like ours and have a nifty Jeep Wrangler that's a lot like our Rocky.

These two fun folks were just passing through. They're parked a few hours away in a Georgia State Park and are visiting family nearby for the weekend. We stood outside and talked for we're not exactly sure how long. Paul says it was about 20 minutes. I say it was closer to an hour. But, as it is whenever we meet other fulltime RVers, the time flew by, many laughs were exchanged and the stories just kept coming. Turns out we have a lot in common. And, we're pretty sure we know a lot of the same people. That's the way it is in this nomadic lifestyle. Sometimes our world is pretty darn small. It's amazing.

After sharing stories and advice, we bid our new friends farewell. We look forward to seeing them somewhere down the road. Meanwhile, we have their blog address, and they have ours. (And, now they're the newest addition to our blog roll.) Yeah, first we gave them our card with the address to Bullwinkle's place. As we talked, it became obvious these good folks are just the kind of people we welcome to this here blog. So, we gave them the address to our "real blog". We hope they stop by to visit often. And, we're sure to do the same at their place.

Today's chance meeting was just one more example of how as much as the places we visit are amazing, the very best thing is the people we meet...everywhere we go. They're the best!

Haircuts and Facebook

Life continues to be quite comfortable here at Bella Terra. We're having great fun, mind you. There's just not much to blog about.

I'm reaching, but here are a couple of noteworthy topics.

I've written before about how much I've missed my hairstylist. Before we hit the road, I regularly visited the same stylist for nearly a decade. It didn't matter - cut, color, whatever - I trusted her implicitly. Over the past two-and-a-half years, I've sat in an assortment of chairs in various salons with stylists of cutting and listening skills that were as varied as the day is long.

When it comes to hair, there are two things I try to remember: Unfortunately, mine is short; and fortunately, it grows. Short hair is a challenge for your average stylist. It takes strategy, skill and courage to create something flattering with strands of hair that are just a few inches long. All that said, my hair grows. And, it grows fast. As a result, even the worst hair cut only lasts a couple of weeks. (Interestingly enough, a good hair cut will last much longer!) So, knowing that most stylists are intimidated by my short, yet fast-growing hair, I have managed to make my way across the country and back without any horrible disasters.

A couple of weeks ago, we were out and and about enjoying a day at the beach. We decided to drive across the state line to Florida to stock up on adult beverages. We were both in need of a haircut, so when we found ourselves in a parking lot in Pensacola between a liquor store and a Fantastic Sam's, we were on to something. Anytime you can take care of two errands in one stop, life is good!

Fantastic Sam's is one of the largest chains of franchise hair salons in the country. And, we had never been to one. So, quite understandably, we approached it with a bit of trepidation. No appointments are necessary, so we were welcomed with a smile. Within an hour, we were both freshly shampooed and cut by the same talented stylist. Unlike Great Clips, Super Cuts, or other budget salons, this woman was not pressured to finish with us in ten minutes or less. She took her time, which resulted in a couple of the best cuts we've had on the road. The cost of this stylish coiffure for two was $44, including tips. The value of discovering Fantastic Sam's: Priceless.

Now, to our second topic.

We are but two of the estimated 850 million users of Facebook. On its best days, the social networking site is a helpful place for us to connect with family and friends, share our travel plans and publish a photo a day (My latest silly idea.). To be perfectly honest, it's probably the biggest time waster we've ever known. Whatever the case, we've embraced this phenomenon and, right or wrong, become quite skilled users and learned a lot along the way. I'm pleased to report that, at long last, the many hours we've logged on this uber-popular site have provided some value to others.

One of the activities here at Bella Terra is a twice-a-week computer lab led by our neighbor and new friend Kim. I attended a class early in our stay in hopes of resolving a particularly pesky problem I'm having with iPhoto. I received some welcome advice for that issue. What was even more fun was the advice I was able to share with my classmates who had questions about Facebook. I came back for the next class and enabled (er, helped) one attendee log on to Facebook for the first time and answered more questions. Today, I made another appearance and provide yet more help. And, of course, I learned lots in the process. It was fun. For a few hours I was reminded how much I love working with adult learners. They are the best. Once upon a time, I dreamed I would be a teacher. Along the way, I had the great pleasure of doing some training here and there. It was better. And, I've missed it.

Of course, the idea of me sharing my "Facebook wisdom" (if there is such a thing) with others is a very scary thought! But, it's been fun.

So, now you know a bit of how our life has been since our last blog post. Between Haircuts and Facebook, how could it possibly be more fascinating?

Mastering a Fine Art

A headline on the cover of a recent Escapees magazine pretty much sums up what we've been up to. It's titled "The Fine Art of Doing Nothing." As we mark the completion of our third week here at Bella Terra, it seems we are well on our way to mastering this fine art.

We don't have a very good track record in this arena. Despite our best efforts of vowing to engage in some serious downtime as we approach an extended stay in one spot, we seem to find a way to quickly busy ourselves.

This time is different. Just as we settled into this lovely spot, we both fell victim to that big, bad bug that knocked us on our butts for a couple of weeks. The lingering cough has kept our activities limited. We're feeling better, but we're trying to keep these coughing attacks at home as much as possible. The weather has done its part in keeping our activities to a minimum, too. Steady rains, gusty winds, varying temps and humidity have made for less than ideal conditions for enjoying outdoor activities. But, the rain was much needed, and we weren't going anywhere anyway. So, we're not complaining.

In the last few days we have emerged from our fiberglass "cocoon" to go to the beach, get a little exercise, enjoy dinner out with new friends and participate in the park's Super Bowl Sunday chili cook-off. (Paul cooked up an awesome pot of chili that tied for second place!) We've spent our time inside catching up on chores that went neglected while we convalesced. We're thrilled to have the energy these days to clean the place. And, I'm proud to report that, after a cold drug-induced blogging marathon our travel blog, Bullwinkle's Travels is pretty much up to date!

Now that we're back up to speed, there's a growing list of things we're looking forward to accomplishing this week. While we tackle it, we'll do our best to maintain a healthy balance with our freshly minted skills in the fine art of doing nothing.

Wish us luck.