From Panicked to Peaceful

It’s begun! We are off!  

The send-off party Sunday afternoon was a great success. Countless friends and family came, some of whom we hadn’t seen for 10 years or more.  From our kids to dragon boat to gospel choir to book club to neighbors – they all came!  Holy City is a perfect place for gathering.  Amazing beer, awesome food and a chill atmosphere –no party needs more!  Guests were treated to their first beer compliments of the brewery and the party lasted until closing time – well after the 6pm official end of the party itself!  If it wasn’t enough to have near 100 personal friends all in one place, watching them make friends with each other brings me as much joy as seeing them myself.  I have to say, I can’t imagine anyone is blessed with more amazing friends than I!!!

After the rousing event, we spent our second night ever in the RV in the Holy City parking lot!  Does the irony escape anyone?  Yup – the only night we ever previously spent “onboard” was the night we bought it in Indianapolis and drove it home.  It had no water (and thus no bathroom facility), a broken generator and a/c (this was JULY!), was in serious need of cleaning and we slept in a Cracker Barrel parking lot!!  Our newly refurbished “home” at Holy City was luxurious in comparison!

Morning dawns at Holy City - the day after

And today dawned calm.  We got moving early and by 10 were on the road with all errands run, the car parked for the duration, a final house check and full gas and propane tanks.  We even had a chance to pass out a few beers in the process – Half Calf coffee milk stout of course since it was still morning!  (wink!)  ONWARD!

And then I check my email.  Simple enough.  What could go wrong?  Other than our guesthouse caretaker deciding she changed her mind and was turning tail and running…nothing else!  Without getting into specifics – this is a BIG deal.  And we were on the road!  We were thankful to have to make a stop to pick up some items from my dearest friend Patricia on the highway outside Hilton Head and we shared lunch (on the side of the road - RV’s are really cool!) and commiserated on the complexities at hand. 

That's what good friends are for!

With some good advice, some creative thinking and some trust in the universe we decided to carry on.  And we’re rollin’ on down the highway!  (thanks, Derrick for sending the music file!)  We made 545 relatively uneventful miles today and pulled into Falling Waters State Park in the Florida panhandle 5 minutes before closing time.  We have a peaceful spot in a beautiful park on a post thunderstorm night … and life IS good and the universe IS good and onward we will go!