Preparing for Traveling North 2020

We have spent the week getting prepared for takeoff. Much different this year from any other in a myriad of ways. Butch is able to help within reason and I have done far more than I ever have before and I thank God that I am able to do it. So today is down to the last bits. We will be getting the last of it done- making sure everything in cupboards is secure and won't bounce around creating trouble, dumping the black and grey tanks for the last time, fueling up so we do not have to find fuel before our first stop, getting the car hooked up with Omar's help and moving to the holding area where we will be ready to pull out first thing in the morning.

We are a bit antsy as we always are at this point in the process. It rained last night for the first time all season and it appears to have rained a couple of inches. They are forecasting rain for today too but in checking out radar there doesn't seem to be anything imminent. Butch wants to get everything done before it does start raining. Me too! We are in an excellent place to do some thumb-twiddling and we have those 4 books, remember?

I purchased more groceries this year than I normally would because I will be cooking along the way and when we land in Jefferson. No big deal there. I can count on one hand, maybe two, the number of times we have eaten in a restaurant in the past year. And that was before the Covid-19 event. In a month, I will be coming up on the one year mark of my new way of eating and I am thinner than I have been since 1984. I feel great and so much more flexible. I have no trouble trimming my toenails.

So it is time to wrap this up and get on with the day. I will do my best to keep the blog up to date as we progress so stay tuned.

Quote from Rumi

"Whatever lifts the corners of your mouth, trust that." -Rumi

Plans

We are still planning on leaving here (South Texas) and heading for Iowa on Sunday, the 10th. The Pandemic has made nothing easy. I never thought I would say this but Texas is doing a much better job of handling it all than Iowa and that will require yet another adjustment on our part. We will continue to abide by social distancing and wear masks and gloves when appropriate. It is what has kept Texas safer than other places because, for the most part, people have been compliant. We will be sleeping and eating only in the motorhome, leaving our only other possible contact when fueling. Gloves, masks, and social distancing will be uppermost in our minds on those occasions. At most, there will be 3 fuel stops more likely 2.
Butch doesn't seem to think driving will be a problem. The only difficulty I foresee in that direction is finding a place to stop so he can stand up and move around some. He will need to do that more than he usually does.

Once we arrive in our own backyard we will self isolate for 14 days. We do have an appointment in Moscow Iowa to get our leveling legs repaired at the end of that time.

Butch has one more therapy session before we leave. I am assuming they will start up again when we get home.
Between the two of us, we have handled far more of the prep work than I would have been able to do a year ago. We have several chores yet that Omar will help us with on Saturday that involve some heavier lifting. The park has what they call a holding area where we can spend the last night all hooked up and ready to roll so early Sunday morning we will head out.

Till next time...

Book Bub

Since we are all spending much more time at home than in the past I thought I would see if you needed another standby of ours- Book Bub. I am listening to one book while I walk, reading another in the bathroom, and both of us listening to a third one when we can't get Netflix to come through because of heavy Internet use in the valley, and Butch is also reading one on his Kindle! This really didn't fully register with me until I wrote it down. Wow! We have 4 books going at the same time.

When you sign up for Book Bub they will send you some possible choices of books in your email. All are low cost and some are free. We are both members and Butch likes being able to get the free ones. I will spend $2 or $3 if the book review seems worthy of my attention. There isn't a fee for joining.

The last app of the day- SEEK was quite a hit with many of my readers so I thought I would share another favorite of mine.
You can find Book Bub here: bookbub.com/referral/f7212859381dd00e

App of the day

 App of the day

Seek by iNaturalist
This app is so cool! Next time you’re outside, simply open the app, point the camera at a plant, animal, bug, etc., and the app will identify and teach you things about that living object.

I took the advice of the above blurb I found in the RV newsletter, April 30th edition. I have been having a good time with it. Not only will it identify while you are looking at the plant, but I also pointed it at old pictures I had taken that were on my computer and it identified them as well.

Here is one I took this morning. Identified a Texas Wild Olive.

And this is a Golden Rain Tree