Time Change?

Once upon a time, the first few days of Standard Time messed with my head. I could count on it every year. On that annual Sunday morning I would relish my "extra hour" of sleep. Or sometimes I would get up at what my body thought was the normal time and save my extra hour for a nap that afternoon. Then, like turned back clockwork, the sun would set much too soon and I faced that perennial toughest week of work, when afternoons would stretch out for what seemed like forever and I would find myself driving home in the dark.

Ugh.

This year is different. Way different. These days I'm pretty much getting up and going to bed when I feel like it. And, I'm noticing that I tend to get up with the sun and begin to kick back and relax as it sets. This week that translates to waking up and winding down an hour earlier than last. But, with no schedule dictating that I have to be anywhere at a certain time, I must confess that I find myself asking: Did the time change?

Of course Mother Nature is giving us all kinds of clues that the seasons are changing. The falling leaves, cooler temperatures and shorter days are reminders that we are rapidly approaching our first Winter in our 300 square foot home. (And, that may explain our yearning for a bigger one!) The reality is our time to enjoy the sunshine in the great outdoors will be limited for awhile. With a stretch of long evenings ahead of us I look forward to spending more time in our cozy rolling home. After all, there are books to read, movies to watch, a sewing machine that has sat idle and a growing stash of quilt fabric. Best of all, KU Basketball starts in just 10 days!

We love this time of year!

Another Fun Day with Gypsy

What a difference a day makes! This same campground where we were packed in like sardines on Halloween is now at about one-quarter of capacity. After yesterday afternoon's exodus we have lots of breathing room. And, the views! From our "Imax window" we can see the Swannanoa River, which runs through the KOA, and the hills of Western North Carolina. They call them mountains here, but whatever you call them they are beautiful. We are thrilled to finally have a taste of Fall! The colors are past their peak, but they are still stunning. And the chill in the air is a delight, especially after the heat and humidity we experienced on the coast. We're thrilled to be able to stay awhile.

We spent the morning being, well, lazy. We were busy, though. I finished a recap of our day in Savannah with ease. (Again, what a difference a day makes!) By midday we were ready to get out and enjoy the day. We hooked up with Gypsy, who treated us to a fine pizza lunch and then joined us for an afternoon of RV shopping.

The drive to Tom Johnson Camping in Marion was scenic. We climbed to the Eastern Continental Divide (I must confess I didn't know there was such a thing!) and soaked in the autumn vista of rolling hills (er, mountains) carpeted in the colors of the season against a clear blue sky. It was beautiful.

The visit to Tom Johnson Camping in Marion was fun and informative. Our salesman Bobby was helpful and had a good time with us. He showed us around the Class As Paul and I came to see and took us through a line of fine looking Class Cs for Gypsy to peruse. Bobby has Paul and me doing some serious thinking about a potential purchase. Who knows how things will work out? But, it was sure great to have a fellow fulltimer along for our shopping trip. We're so grateful to Gypsy for taking the time to come with us and sharing her perspective...and lunch, too!

Well, after today's outing, Paul and I have a few things to discuss. So, I'll close. If anything develops, we'll certainly let you know.

Our Damn Blog

After a fun night of about a billion trick-or-treaters - so many we ran out of candy - we have had the best day here in Swannanoa.

Have I mentioned before how much I love the day after a travel day? (Uh, yeah. About 100 times!)

The day started with two cats thinking it was time for breakfast at 5:00. (They don't have a clue about standard time.) For our breakfast, we met up with Gypsy, who is staying just a couple of miles down the road, and headed out to the Huddle House in nearby Black Mountain. Gypsy called Swannanoa home for five years, so it was great to see this area through the eyes of a former local. We even drove up in the hills to see her former homestead. It's a gorgeous place with amazing views. It was a special treat to see it. This is the fourth time we've seen Gypsy in less than a year. We seem to be traveling in similar "orbits" with her, and it's always fun to see her. We hope she enjoys her three weeks in this beautiful spot she calls home.

It's hard to believe that after our everything-you-can-serve-for-breakfast-in-the-south-heaped-on-a-plate at Huddle House we could even think about food, but Paul planned ahead and got a pot of chili going for later. With the crockpot simmering and absolutely nothing on our agenda, I decided to tackle our other blog.

Bullwinkle's Travels is woefully out of date. We've just been so busy it's been hard to keep up. I am long overdue for entries about Charleston, Savannah and Hilton Head. Heck, I realized I never wrote a thing about our stay in Denver back in August. Geez!

It's amazing how effortlessly words jump on the screen on this blog. Seems I'm never at a loss for words here. But, that other blog is more work. There are pictures and descriptions and the energy it takes to make it interesting. And, now we have readers asking us to tell them about our Savannah-in-one-day excursion. If I could only manage to capture it all on that damn blog!

With our faithful readers in mind, I locked myself in the bedroom and made a declaration that I wouldn't come out until the other blog was caught up. I sorted through pictures and information and managed to publish a post about our day in Charleston. That took two hours! Then, I decided to rant about it over here. That took about 10 minutes. (See how this works?) Now it's cocktail hour. So, it's time to bust out of this little bedroom and prepare to have some very tasty chili. Our tales of Hilton Head and Savannah will be saved for another day.

My lesson here is to write the posts on the day of, or day after at the latest. With an adventure fresh in our memory, the writing is much easier and posts come together much faster. Yes, I'll give that a shot. Maybe tomorrow.

Have It Your Way

It was household duty day at our house. After all that fun in Hilton Head, we were in desperate need of some time to clean the place up and do some laundry. So, that's exactly what we did today. Then, because it was sunny and 75 degrees, we went straight to the beach.

Yes, it was a very good day.

As the sun sets here along the South Carolina coast, we're taking notice of the many different types of rigs that are here. There's a couple from Quebec in an old no-slide Rexall AirBus across the road. A couple of sites away there's one of those nifty Hi-Lo trailers that pops up to twice its height. There are one or two 40-foot diesel pushers in the place that we've gawked at as we've passed by. And, we just met a lovely couple from North Carolina that are traveling in a Born Free Class C. They wanted to know what we thought of our Winnebago as they are close to a deal on a Journey. We've seen several fivers come in of different shapes and sizes. And, heck, there are even a few folks here in tents. Such is life in a campground. Yep, it's a real mixed bag.

The thing about being in a campground in the middle of the week in October is that most of the people you see are fulltimers of one sort or another or extended travelers. And, we're noticing that these good folks travel in all kinds of packages. And, that reminds us that there are many ways to approach this lifestyle of ours.

When we were soaking up every piece of data we could about what it was to be a fulltimer, we found ourselves looking for "the right answers." What kind of rig should we buy? Where should we travel? What campgrounds should we go to? After all, we were the first to admit we didn't know a damn thing. So, we were eager to hear from "the experts", and that would be any and all who were down this path before us.

What we quickly discovered is that, as much as we wanted to find one right answer, there simply isn't such a thing. There are as many ways to fulltime as there are fulltimers. There are folks who sell the house and those who don't. Some get a storage place, others don't. Some buy a motorhome. Some buy a fiver. Some buy new. Some buy used. The combinations are limitless.

There are those who would like you to believe that the only way to fulltime is to sell your house and all of your belongings, buy the biggest fiver you can afford and pull it with the biggest diesel with duallies you can find, camp in COE spots with the "it factor" for a month at a time and workcamp along the way.

Dear readers, we want you to know that is just one of many ways to approach this lifestyle. It's like when you pull into Burger King and order lunch or dinner. You really can have it your way.

After all, four months ago we loaded up a 32-foot Class A gasser and called it home. And, from the very beginning, we knew we'd want a bigger one. And, in a couple of months we'll probably have it. We have a 7x7 foot cube of stuff we're paying to store every month and someday we'll probably come to conclusion we don't need any of it. But, as we said before, it was what we needed to do at the time. We have no plans to workcamp anytime soon. But, hey, we might give it a try somewhere down the road if we feel like it.

So, sports fans, that's OUR way. We don't expect or recommend that anyone else try this at home. But, hey it works for us.

There are people who would gasp that we're traveling in a short little gasser. There are others that would say we can't really call ourselves fulltimers because we have some of our stuff stored in a box somewhere. Others would say we've screwed up because we're already shopping for a new rig. To that, we give a great big "WHATEVER!"

The point of this ramble is that there is no one right (or wrong) way to approach this fulltiming gig. What is most important, above all else, is that you make it work for you.

If your life long dream is to travel the country on a bicycle with a tent on your back, for goodness sake, please proceed! Whatever your dream, the most important thing is to make it yours. And, to anyone who gasps at your choices you can join us in a great big - say it with me now - WHATEVER!

Keeping Up

We're enjoying a rare quiet morning here on beautiful Hilton Head Island. Seems we've been on the go since we arrived. And, we thought this was one of those "laid back" places!

It is for most, but not for us. The primary purpose of this stop is to visit with Paul's uncle and aunt. He's 92 and she's 88. And you know what? These folks are go, go, go! They took us on a day long "locals" tour of the island. Yes, he did all the driving! (And, he did great.) They sent us off to Savannah with instructions for how to see it all in a day. (It worked!) They treated us to a lovely dinner at a beautiful spot off the island with a cousin and her husband. (Again, he drove!) After an incredible brunch and then pizza dinner yesterday we came home in an absolute food coma.

See. It's hard keeping up with these two!

Yesterday's brunch presented a special challenge. We are in the South, after all. And, in this particular part of the South, that means ya'll dress for Sunday brunch. Ladies wear dresses, but nice slacks are fine. Gentlemen wear a jacket, of course. And, since this is a resort community no tie is required. When our gracious and very active hosts extended an invitation to brunch, our first concern was that we couldn't meet the dress code. After a quick mental scan of our collective wardrobe, we were pretty sure we could do it. After all, didn't Paul pack a sport coat? We could both visualize the same jacket stored under the sofa. So, confident that we could dress ourselves, we agreed to join them.

During a brief lull in our Saturday adventures, we took a moment to make sure we were all set to dress up on Sunday. I assembled an outfit around my one pair of nice slacks. Paul began to pull his ensemble together. We looked in the storage bin under the sofa and discovered that having a sport coat on board was a figment of our collective imagination. So, we explained the situation at dinner Saturday, and Paul's uncle graciously offered to open his closet. After all, they're family. And, they are about the same size.

Sunday morning we were up and moving early. (The cats were convinced it was a travel day!) We were comedy in motion! For two people who dressed in suits every weekday for 30 years, we have quickly become rusty at the fine art of getting up, dressed and out the door. I searched for socks that weren't white. And, Paul wrestled with his one and only button down collar. We weren't just having trouble keeping up with our relatives. Dressing up was a challenge, too.

With visions of Bloody Marys and Eggs Benedict dancing in our heads, we hopped our freshly dressed selves in the Jeep and were off to meet our hosts. Upon our arrival, the first order of business was to grab a jacket. Paul's uncle selected two for Paul to choose from. One of them was the same jacket we thought we had brought along! Same color, style, label and store. It was even the same size. We all got quite a chuckle out of that synchronistic selection. These fine gentlemen aren't just related: They have the same taste in clothes!

The conversation over brunch was the same as all the others the last few days: engaging and lots of fun. We've shared many family memories and filled in a few family history gaps for each other here and there. They are so curious about what we're up to. After all, they were always the "traveling" aunt and uncle. Today their travels are limited to on and around this lovely island. But, in their long, active lives they've covered the globe. And, they think the idea of traveling the continent with a moose and squirrel is "simply great". They've bookmarked Bullwinkle's blog and promised to follow our travels and live vicariously through them. We like that.

This lovely couple we love attribute their longevity to staying active. They gave us two simple words of advice: Keep Traveling.

We really like that!

What is "It"?

We just submitted reviews for our last five stops to rvparkreviews.com. The five completely different parks earned basically the same great rating. And, that has us thinking about the "it" factor.

The "it" factor is a designation some RVers give to a campground or park that "has it all." A place that has "it" is a place you want to return to, tell your friends and write a glowing review about. It's purely subjective, of course. And, in our case, we're noticing that "it" changes, depending on what we're in the mood for.

In Monett, MO, were so pleased to find a previously unlisted park just three miles outside of town. With full hookups and smokin' hot wifi, we had everything we needed. The "it" factor for us in that place was that it was minutes away from family. Oh yeah, and we saw llamas and horses outside our window. Pretty cool.

Our original destination in Little Rock was a gravel parking lot downtown on the river in a not so hot neighborhood. Definitely no "it" factor for us. We followed the recommendation of a fellow fulltimer and made our way to Maumelle Park. The next four days we basically camped in the pouring rain. Yet, with a riverside site and peace and quiet just 20 minutes from downtown Little Rock, this place definitely had a very different "it" factor.

After our arduous travel day through ArkLaMiss, we probably would've found the "it" factor in a Walmart parking lot. Grand Gulf Military Park was so steeped in Civil War history that its battlefield, museum and historical buildings created enough "it" factor for us to make up for heat, humidity and a tornado.

After covering a few too many miles (325) on an uneventful travel day into Alabama we spent the next three days in a park that had everything we needed. Most importantly, it had strong 3G service, smoking hot wifi and a clear shot of the southern sky. We'd been technology deprived for so long that's what we wanted more than anything else. And, at South Montgomery RV Park that's exactly what they had to offer...for 20 bucks a night. Where others would see a treeless gravel lot with sparse grass next the interstate, we found our "it" factor...and a stray kitty, too!

Our park in middle Georgia had a lot to offer. This spacious, no frills kind of place gave us views of Georgia pines during the day and a star-filled sky at night. The "it" factor for us was that it was a quiet, comfortable place to kick back and relax for a few days before what would promise to be a busy week of family and exploring on the South Carolina coast.

Here in Hilton Head Island, we're in a 200-site resort on the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway. We're on a long, wide paved lot surrounded by palm trees and lush landscaping. Rocky even has his own little driveway. It's quite homey. Some folks might find this place a bit too commercial and closed-in, but for us the "it" factor is we're on the island, just 10 minutes from the family we've come to visit and we can bike to the ocean from here. Yes, it is just a little slice of paradise.

Six parks that are distinctively different, but on a given day they've had something to offer. And, the next time we pass through these parts we might find ourselves looking for places that have a different "it" factor. As we're learning, what "it" is depends on us: It's all about what we need, want and are in the mood for at any given time in any given place. And, "it" can be different for everybody. One RVer's noisy gravel lot can be another's haven, and vice versa.

That makes reading and writing park reviews a bit of challenge. With all of us appreciating different "it" factors, there's no right answer. But, there are a lot of wonderful parks for us all to check out and explore. And, everyone's perspective can be so helpful.

If you'd like to take a peek at our reviews of the places we've stayed, check them out. And, if you're already reviewing the places you park at rvparkreviews.com, thank you so much! We find this site to be the most helpful, thanks to you. If you're not writing reviews, we ask that you please give it a try. It's an easy way to make a valuable contribution to this wonderful community. And, we'll really appreciate it!

Hope Returns

As we were preparing to leave for an afternoon of sightseeing in Montgomery, guess who showed up?

Yes, our little stray survived the cold Alabama night and came wandering back to our site. We gave her a bit of food, which she devoured, snapped a picture or two and loaded her into one of our cat crates. We put a call into the Montgomery Humane Society to confirm that they would take her. Then, we were on our way.

Hope and Paul had become buddies. There was no doubt about it - they bonded. So, when it came time to surrender the furbaby she yelped louder and he got a bit choked up. I just kept telling myself that with two adult cats in our 300 square foot home on wheels we were at our limit! We signed the necessary papers and made a small donation to the cause.

It's supposed to be another cold one tonight. We're so happy that Hope is warm, dry and cared for. Here's hoping she is adopted soon to a wonderful family that will feel lucky to have her. We'll never know, of course. But, that's the way we're choosing to write this story: with a happy ending.

Tomorrow we're heading out for somewhere in Georgia. More then!