January 29 – February 10, 2022

I just realized that i never posted this,, and have been too busy to post for quite some time. I will post an update soon!

Saturday/Sunday January 29-30, 2022

It was an administrative weekend at the hotel. It was rather chilly, with temps at night well below zero, and in the single digits during the days.

I decided not to vac the van while it was so cold. I’ll have to do that in warmer weather. I suppose you have never tried to vac your house when it was in the single digits inside, but you have to work really hard sometimes because stuff is frozen to the carpets, some of which are small pieces of ice brought in on your shoes over the past few days.

But I made my decision on my next adventure by mid afternoon Saturday. I could not scare up any work on such short notice. and it is just too cold and expensive to sit up here all week, just so I can do the only job available to me. It’s on Wednesday, and is either a one day job, or maybe a day and a half. The best I can hope for is that I can earn enough from the job to cover most of the hotel costs to keep me here to do it. Bad business decision.

So I checked out, and after church I talked with my friend for a bit, and headed south! Once I got into Missouri, the weather was much warmer, and I had planned to stop at a truck stop there, because the nighttime temps would be 20°, and I’d be able to sleep in my van. I got there at about 8, made a quick supper, and went to bed.

Monday – Saturday, January 31 – February 5, 2022

I was up at 6, took a free shower there, cooked some eggs and sausage for breakfast, and was on my way. Where am I going? Oh, I have a plan alright! I’m heading to my friend’s house in TN. You know, the one who bought a 73 acre cattle farm so he and his family can homestead there. He has not sold his current home in MA, so the place is still empty, and I am welcome to stay whenever I can get there to search for property. Yes, Annalou is at the RV in NC, and would love to be here with me, but has an elder care job popping, and needs the work. It is the first job she will have gotten since last spring, when she stopped all jobs for elders who had received any of the inoculations. We had become uncomfortable with her working so closely with those people, because of the shedding, which could possibly make her quite sick. This one is for two women, neither of which has had the shots, or intend to.

I spent the week in property search mode. Listings, foreclosures, auctions, tax sales, driving around looking, and searching the ownership records. There are many large parcels of land around here. I met with my Real Estate Agent in her office, and she will be contacting property owners nearby to see if any would be willing to sell me a tiny piece. I just need about 5 acres. Thursday and Friday it rained hard, so I did bookwork, made phone calls, and searched online. Here are some property views I took in the area.

I finally talked to dispatch on Thursday, and he admitted that there was not much work for me this week (which by now I already knew!!), and would let me know Friday morning (tomorrow) what I could expect for next week. No call, but I was busy all day concentrating on one piece I thought might work. I measured the building site to be sure I could get my greenhouses in there, how many trees I’d need to take down. tracked the sun to be sure I would own any of the trees I’d have to cut, planned where our little house would be, the chickens, the RV, and the driveway. After talking it over with Annalou, I just might put in an offer on this one!

But after I sat down, and began to add up what it would cost to clear the trees for the greenhouse(s), driveway, and the RV pad, I decided it was over budget, and did not make the offer.

I had a crown fall off my tooth one morning, so went to a dentist to have it put back on. He said there were problems with the foundation, and now the crown had a chip in it. He has the crowns made off site, and would not have my new one for 3 weeks, So, he put the old one on temporarily, and I will have to find another dentist. I was able to cook my own meals there in the house,

get drone shots to my friend of his property, his son’s new property along the Buffalo River,

and check on things there on his farm.

Sunday, February 6, 2022

What a day! Listen to this! I did a search last night, and saw that down here in the boonies, not too many churches even have websites. And if they do, many don’t even list the service times, much less, have a bio on the Pastor or their basic mission or beliefs. So it was just a guess, but I decided on a church in the next town, and began the drive. I was just 2 miles from that church when I passed by a Penticostal church, and felt the Lord telling me to turn around. So I did, and saw that people were arriving, so it had not started yet. I parked and walked in. Such a friendly church! I have learned out here on the road that every church has a personality, which is most often similar to that of the Pastor.

At least 10 people came up to greet me, and since I was 20 minutes early for service, we talked for a bit. Looking for property? How big? What king? Where? The Pastor is a part time Realtor, and this guy is a contractor, and this guy knows where all the campgrounds are.. . . . .

The worship service was excellent, and just what I needed. Even the drummer was really good! (Boy, would I love to sit in sometime with these guys!) The message was just for me – about the guy who discovered the treasure in the field, hid it, and then bought the whole field! LOL But he brought out the much deeper points that apply to us all.

After service, the Pastor came over to greet me, and he and his wife took me out to lunch. We had a great time getting to know each other. That is how you feel the heartbeat of a church! They had to go to visiting hours at a funeral home, so I went on the seach for properties.

I visited several, and then decided to go straight back for their evening prayer and service at 5:45. Excellent time of prayer for me, and another excellent worship service and message! THEN, a bunch of them went out for Mexican food together, and at least 5 different people invited me to join them. So off I went! It was after 10 PM by the time I returned home to the farm. WOW! What a great day!

Monday, February 7, 2022

I called the trucking company owner, since dispatch is not communicating with me, and found that the entire month is slow, due to weather, construction delays, and schedule changes. So we decided that they will just call me back for the busy March and April ahead. As a result, I decided to book it to NC to see Annnalou before she leaves Wednesday to take my sister down to a Florida prayer convention, stay to help her friend at the flower shop on Valentines Day, and visit Sara at Citra. That possible job she had lined up didn’t work out as planned, so she is home today and tomorrow. I packed up, and headed out by 10 AM, and 488 miles later, I was at the RV just after supper.

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Annalou packed, and made me some more Keto Granola to take with me on the road. It’s nice and warm down here, and I began to make a list of things I can do on my van and the RV while I’m here. Of course, I have already begun making connections with Brokers in order to find work for the rest of the month, but no leads so far. By late in the day, I realized after looking at my list, that I could easily stay busy until the end of the month, even if I didn’t find work. A friend of mine called, and he told me I should just take some time off, and enjoy it! What does that even mean? How do you even do that? Sounds good, but I actually don’t know how! Just look at my list!

I need to wash the RV, do some maintenance on it, repair a broken emergency light on my van, re-program two others, have the rear damaged glass wrap replaced, get the bumper replaced, have the tires rotated, replace the batteries in the van and RV, repair my front brush guard, and want to get some drone shots for the guy building the campground where we used to stay. I also need that crown replaced on my tooth. My new glasses, which were sent to AZ too late for me to pick up, need to be sent here in time for me to pick up before I leave the area. The body work alone could take several weeks for them to tear down, order parts, wait a week or so for parts, and put them on. I really don’t have time to get work! (And of course, no time to relax – whatever that means! LOL)

Wednesday, January 9, 2022

As Annalou was getting ready to leave, we came up with a new plan. She will leave this morning, pick up my sister, and take her down to FLorida as planned. I’ll chace around and get everything I need in motion, and drive down tomorrow for a visit with everyone there, and come back with her Wednesday, That’s relaxing, right?

So here is what I accomplished. I got the tires rotated, then found an auto body place that thinks they can actually get the repairs done by the end of the month. They need info from the insurance company, and will order parts, which hopefully will come soon after I get back from Florida. Lara found a cancellation at her office for tomorrow, so I will have my crown replaced there before I drive down. My glasses were sent from Arizona to Charlotte, and I can pick them up tomorrow, and I got several other errands done. Since I’ll be down there in Florida with my van, I called the company there that has done all my wraps, and knowing my schedule, they were willing to squeeze me in to have the door wrap replacrd Tuesday afternoon – so I know it will be done right! Then I came back and spent almost 2 hours washing the RV. It is worse than any other RV I have owned, and I am ashamed of it!

It was very hard work, but I was able to get most of it off. I will wash it again after I get back, and spend more time on it then.

1. 

Whew! Just like sliding in safe to second base, I got it all done, so now I can work on insurance stuff in the morning, get auto parts ordered, call the bank about an issue, catch up on this blog, pick up my new glasses, go to the dentist, have supper with Lara and Jeremy, then drive half way to Florida, and stay in my van at a truck stop.

Oh, the campground here notified me that we have to be off our site before April 8, because from that point on, all their sites are booked for the summer. So, the adventure continues! Where do we go next??