It's been a year

October 25, 2013, we packed everything we owned into this truck & trailer and hit the road.

Frequently asked questions:

Any regrets about selling your home?

     NO! We had lived in our 5th wheel for several months at a time over a period of a couple of years. We had everything we needed with us and whenever we came back home we were overwhelmed with the amount of stuff we had acquired that we were living happily without.

Did you get rid of everything?

     Almost. We have a small storage unit which I intend to empty by Christmas.

Was it easy?

     NO, but it was do-able. I didn't want my kids to have to do it for me. Nobody has that kind of time or energy.

How did you do it?

     One item at a time. I went on-line where you can find anything, typed in "how to downsize into an rv" and got all kinds of help. I have found (voice of experience here) that I do not need to recreate the wheel; I'm not Captain Kirk - somebody has gone there, done that before me and I get to profit from their experience. There are four basic areas to consider: (1) Clothes and Shoes, (2) Kitchen and Household Items. (3) Files, Papers and Office Items and (4) Tools and Garage Items.

What was your first step?

     We bought a bigger trailer - 35' Jayco with lots of storage space. (The way Dick told it, I got a bad case of "trailer envy" when I saw the 5th wheel Joe and Ruby Orick were living in. It had three slides which made the interior like a reasonably sized apartment.) 

     We moved everything out of the old trailer and into the house and then only put into the new trailer what we wanted to keep forever. I thought I was ruthless until I ran into the couple who downsized to a camper! That's harsh.

What challenges have you faced?

• The hardest part of downsizing was family memorabilia and tools.
• Insurance companies don't like to insure people who randomly move about the country.
• The US Post Office doesn't care for that either so getting the mail was tricky.
• We did feel an increasing desire to have a "home base" with a street address so were intending to look around in Clackamas County for that when we returned "home" in July.
• Traveling without mod-cons (modern conveniences) can be a challenge: cell phone connections can be spotty, wi-fi weird, no dishwasher, laundromats

What about family and friends?
     Let me just say that my covenant relationship was with my husband. (Wither thou goest, etc.) We didn't have all the answers. We didn't even know all the questions. Any decision has challenges.

The bottom line: Any regrets?

     NO. It was a great year. I'm moving ahead in a way I never thought possible but I do not intend to be bogged down in the Slough of Despond. I'm living life in time until I'm reunited with my sweetheart in eternity.

October 10th

Today my dad would have celebrated his 96th birthday. He was a cool guy. His sense of humor and his quick wit is legendary in our family. He grew up in Illinois, graduated from Peoria High School, joined the CCCs, served in the U.S.Army in the Pacific in World War II. He was a member of Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International which we always called FiGaMiFy, and really a member of the Greatest Generation. My only regret is that he died too soon and my kids didn't get to know him.
     
He always could come up with names for things that were close enough that my brothers and I and a lot of time my mom too, thought he was right. I still identify them as black-bodied red birds instead of red-winged black birds. We just knew that he was pulling our legs though when he identified a pileated woodpecker. We didn't believe him for a long time on that one.
                                                

We went camping a lot when I was a kid. He taught me how to make a box trap so I could catch a chipmunk but was conspicuously absent when I finally caught one. He loved to go to the Metolius River, Allen Springs I think it was, so he could fish. Hunting was a big deal too. It was always deer hunting and I can remember studying my French in the car waiting for him while he was hunting up the Molalla River. Later on it was big camps in the Ochocos. Here's a picture from one of those camps.

He was a great dad.

Brain Freeze and Brain Fog

My dad, oldest of six boys, used to tell about the fun they had watching Uncle Paul eat ice cream because he would always pass out. Doesn't that sound like boy fun? They probably timed him and placed bets on who would be closest to the right time!

That's brain freeze. When a cold object touches the roof of your mouth, the blood vessels contract in response in an effort to prevent loss of body heat. It's like a bad headache. Apparently Uncle Paul was a slow learner or just liked the attention.

Brain fog is something entirely different. I'd never heard of it until I got it. It's also called Widow's Brain. It's a common thing, apparently, but who knew? That's why I'm telling you in my blog, my continuing quest to spread knowledge, bring enlightenment, and look on the bright side of life.

Widow’s brain is a real thing. It is a side effect of grief caused by your brain trying to protect you from the pain. I have learned that it affects all people who experience a traumatic loss. It can leave you helpless and confused during a time when it would be helpful to be in full control. It's a normal process of grief.  You are in survival mode and your brain is doing all the "intellect" functions,but anything to do with emotional thought is being blurred. It's sort of like a grief-induced amnesia.

It helps me understand why I get weepy at church, why I stand around wondering why I'm standing around, why I turned left the other day instead of going straight. I have to think through easy things that I never used to think about.

Case in point: I got gas the other day (thank God I didn't have to pump it myself or I'd have been up a creek) and when I was ready to go, the car wouldn't start. Tried everything. Another puzzle. Got out to look for help (excuse me, I can't start my brand new car that's full of fuel) - everyone's busy. Quick prayer (never fails), glanced back in the car and noticed that it was still in drive! The engine turned over just fine after I got it into park and I was on my way. Who knows what happened? Not me.

Is it my new normal? I don't like that. It's been better lately. It's really helped me to find out that other people have had the same experience. Have a great day.

Life goes on

I was nearly overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support that I received after Dick's unexpected passing August 2nd. I heard the phrases "words cannot express" "words fail" and "words are so inadequate" but I have made a decision to turn again to words to help me focus. I considered retitling my blog Lynn @ Large but can't do that yet.The time will come.

The words that have helped me the most this past two months, because two months ago was when Dick went into the hospital, have been the words of God. God has held me in his arms and scripture has truly become alive to me. It always comforts me and is the only thing that comes close to being adequate to meet my needs.

Just to write "I have made a decision" is huge for me right now. I know not to make any big decisions right now - wait a month, wait six months, wait a year, wait two years. I've heard it. No problem. Not making a decision is easy because it doesn't require anything of me. It's the little things like what's for dinner that are hard.  So deciding to write and then actually doing it ... I'm giving myself a pat on the back. Starting may give me the impetus to continue.

Living Life at Crane Hot Springs!

Sunset on Saturday, May 31st.

Currently we're living at Crystal Crane Hot Springs RV Park south of Burns, OR. The water was 102 degrees today. It comes out of the ground at 180 and the tower thing in the picture is for cooling it down. The pond is lined with spiky gravel and is pretty shallow, like a big bowl. My favorite way to enjoy the pool is to ride/float on a noodle. The hot water is awesome. 

They have cute little cabins that can be rented as well as tent camping, RV hook ups and even the teepee with a hot tub in the middle. The building on the right has private bathtubs. We met two couples from Denmark here two days ago! It amazes me. We are truly in the middle of nowhere and here are these great Danes! CCHSRV is well worth a trip.

In addition to soaking, floating, luxuriating in the hot water, there's all kinds of interesting birds, including yellow headed blackbirds, black bodied redbirds as my dad used to call 'em, burrowing owls, avocets, terns, egrets, etc., etc. Some lady yesterday tried to convince me that the bird we were watching was a sandhill crane but I think she was high on the sulphur fumes.

Interesting things I've learned here:
1. about the only thing that will get rid of sagebrush is watering it but everything else grows like crazy when it's watered.
2. When all the water starts out warm and you let the cold water faucet run to get it a little cooler, it just warms up.
3. Carp are taking over Malheur Lake and are affecting the bird life there. They muddy up the water and the birds can't feed. Apparently the birds are doing a fly-by! The solution they're trying is commercial fishing. They have a huge fishing boat on the lake; they're netting the carp and hauling them off in dump trucks to a fish fertilizer plant. Hopefully they'll knock the crap out of those carp! I think it's a smart approach to a nasty problem.

If you haven't got it, you'll find it at Quartzsite!

Quartzsite, AZ has the world's greatest collection of stuff that we've ever seen.We could have/should have hauled all our household possessions down here and set up shop.

The cattle skulls were $65 each
The longhorn horns were about $225

 Rifles, rocks,license plates, jewelry, dishes, clothes, antiques, collectibles, junque - all of it fun to browse through.

 This was a really cool teeter totter. You could even build your own because they had a pile of tractor seats available!

Wish we could get this one home for Markie.

From the Quartzsite website:
Quartzsite, Arizona, barely 18 miles east of the Colorado river, on I-10, may be the RV boondocking capital of the world. Quartzsite has become a mecca to visitors and exhibitors for rocks, gems, mineral specimens and fossils during the town’s famous two-month-long gem show and swap meet every January and February. From its humble beginnings the now-massive Quartzsite show has grown to RV-epic proportions with vendors offering everything under the Quartzsite sun.  http://www.ci.quartzsite.az.us/

Happy New Year! 

We're basking in the sunshine in Hope, Arizona awaiting New Year's festivities at Ramblin' Roads RV Park. They only go from 7 to 10, probably because this is a 55+ park!

This little community between Quartzite and Wickenburg is where we're hanging our hats for the winter. We returned yesterday from a Christmas trip to Vancouver where we filled up on grandkid love and are back to blue skies once again. 

We've made a dramatic change in our life style this year, selling our home of 25+ years, moving into our 5th wheel trailer and living life “at Large” for an as-yet-to-be determined period of time. 

We're looking forward to seeing the goodness of the Lord in 2014 and wish you and yours all the best.

Our campsite on Beyond Hope Road! What's beyond hope? The golf course!

 Trying to figure out how to take our picture

 Beautiful skies

 Fun in our ATV

 They grow cotton around here (Pima County Arizona)

 Lemons are almost ready to pick

Loved being with our grandsons.