I wish I would have written sooner.

This year has been THE adventure to say the least.  I started off the year in Florida, quitting my job of 11 years to go "On the road" with my boyfriend, our dog and our new to us RV.  The RV ended up in the shop and we ended up in the Ocala woods.  We had a fabulous gathering this year, and thank goodness for that wonderful experience because we will not be going back this year because there was a forest fire and we feel that the forest needs time to heal.  After Ocala and the RV repairs, we actually left.  And then we broke down again and thought we would never actually leave, but we did.  Stopped in Georgia to visit some friends, stopped in North Carolina to pick up someone else, stopped in Tennessee to pick up another person, broke down in Oklahoma for a week, ran out of gas in Texas, had a nervous breakdown in New Mexico, contemplated stabbing someone in Nevada and finally made it to California.  We stayed in spot for a few weeks with and old friend, but I felt super isolated and we really had nothing to do and had depleted all of our funds.  We took a chance and moved across the state where we ended up staying until December when we had the RV towed again, and that brings us to where we are now.  There were a few weeks in June/July that we went to Montana for the National Rainbow Gathering, and now we are staying in a lovely little cottage with a beautiful view of Knocti and Clear Lake. We have two rooms with two kitchens, two bathrooms, two TV's and it's just about wonderful.  There are six of us here and two dogs and it's fabulous.  I know some people were/are shocked at how I have been living without modern conveniences like heat, running water and in a large communal group, but I think they are just jealous because I get to be free.

Days weren't always great.  There were fights, arguments, complications, waffling, and rude, selfish, demanding people.  The summer was really stupid hot and the winter was miserably cold.  I did miss temperature controlled indoor spaces.  It was a challenge to earn enough money to just provide for our basic needs, but we have been able to provide for ourselves and others.  I tried very hard to ensure the happiness of others, as it seemed as though it was in my job description for the year, but I feel like I have neglected my own happiness in this.  Some people may say something clever here like, "You should really stop and take care of yourself," or, "You didn't really have to do everything for everyone."  However, I have found that I can truly only be happy when the others around me are happy.  I am a sponge.  I have learned that when the people I am around are upset or angry I can't really handle it, in my own head, so I do everything I can to help them and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.  At any rate, this year has been a learning experience.
Some things I have learned...
Everything will work out
Effective communication is the most important thing in the world
To ask for help when I need it
Drunk Mark and sober Heather don't really get along
Don't share a small house with six dogs
I am truly a housie at heart.  I like not having to put on boots and two jackets to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night
My car takes a beating and keeps on ticking... with some repairs of course
Being a flatlander makes it really scary to drive out here
I'm really not a big fan of jam bands
I still don't like Kombucha, coconut water or Chai.
I should have put more things in storage for when we return to Florida
Who my true friends really are
and plenty more, but my back hurts from sitting in this weird position while using the computer so I will add more later.


The time that we have spent in

Road Ready?

Not quite...

Hopefully by today our RV will be up and running, rather than sitting in Mark's parent's driveway.  I've had so many people ask me if I was counting down the days, so here goes.  Today I have 4 days left of work, 4 days until we head to council in Ocala National Forest, 10 days until some of my favorite people arrive and 12 days until we roll out to Disney.  Of course, after Disney we head to Ocala Seed Camp and then we pretty much stay in the woods until the end of February.  After that, back to Tampa Bay for a minute to wrap up some things, then we begin our trek west.  I have been dying to say that I am moving back to California ever since I moved away from there in 1996.  Wow... Did you really ever think I would do this?  Of course you did.  Yea yea, I know I am NOT supposed to talk to the reader; I teach my kids that all the time, but this is different, I am not telling a story, I am telling YOU about my life. 

Our RV is a 34' 1988 Pace Arrow.  Yup, she's a beast.  Hopefully today is the day she drives.  I know there will always be improvements we want to make, but seriously, how are we supposed to do a trial run to council when she won't even move out of the driveway?  It's all good, the gas tank is getting cleaned out today and put back on, and that should do it.  Cross your fingers for us.

So much to do, so little time.  I should really be getting all of this paperwork completed, however, one can only do the same thing for so long until ones eyes try to fall out. 


Anyway, I don't know if any of this has really sunk in or not, because I am excited, but it all just seems normal to me. 

The day of days...

Saturday morning we strangely woke up early. We had no more than 4 hours of sleep the last few nights, but we were ready to go. I don't know what happened, but I was sick. I got glutened somewhere, but I just don't know where. After I got it together, we went to Cuyahoga Falls Metroparks to see the Brandywine Falls. This just happens to be the site where my friend works. It was beautiful. My fear of heights was however, getting the best of me.

We also stopped at the ski lift, because how funny is it to see a ski lift in the middle of summer? Yes, this is us pretending to ski. I know, I know... dorks.

After the Parks we went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Downtown Cleveland.

The traveling exhibit was Women Who Rock. We also got to go into Johnny Cash's tour bus. That was pretty cool. They also had Lady Gaga's Raw Meat Dress. That was actually pretty gross. It looked like bloody human flesh. Apparently, it had been taken, immediately after she wore it, to a taxidermist. it was dipped in some chemicals to preserve it.

After the Rock Hall we went to the Cleveland Indians game at Progressive Field. I was excited to see what the gluten free offerings would be. I was able to eat dinner, which was good since we were starving. Here is what I found...

Party time, excellent!!!

This was party night. Stacey and Sean invited a bunch of friends and family over for a mid-summer night's party. This is always a good time including a lot of laughs. We ordered pizza from Tommy's pizza and chicken. This is, by far, my favorite of the gluten free pizza. If you ever make it to Strongsville, Ohio, you don't want to miss this.