The Reality of the Situation 2/23/19 - Out West Sister Trip!

I have found that when I am experiencing stress I tend to clean whatever dwelling I am inhabiting. I thought this was a habit for just a sticks and brick home. You know a stress reliever for individuals with high pressure jobs, someone with lots of bills for their material things, or some one that has committed to attend 45 family and friend events in one week to ensure everyone is happy. Also, all of those things describe me. (so no shaming anyone) We all have to do what we have to do. The fact is...I have cleaned this RV almost every day of the current trip. And it would look spotless if it wasn't for all the mud, gravel, and lady bugs all 4 of us keep dragging in. (Chibi, Charlie, Cass, & Me)

This leg of the journey is a sister trip, FYI. My youngest sister Cassi, Cass, Cassadidi has joined me for about 30 days give or take some. Our goal was to see the great out west, desert, national parks, and end up back south in Alabama by Gulf Shores. Let me just tell you...this trip has been full of the unexpected; unforeseen weather, dust storms, RV repairs, crying, and praying. You know I'm always going to be real with you and this is no exception. Yesterday was our 10th day and the first day we saw sun and 0% precipitation. I think we were so excited we were delusional and didn't know what to do with ourselves. Thank goodness we found an awesome place to stay in Imperial, CA called Sunbeam RV Resort and let me just say this place is impressive. They let us book 7 hours before we arrived and escorted us to our spot. Which was funny but nice because this place is huge! The rigs here range from a small airstream, to Class C's (like us) to 30 ft 5th wheels, mobile homes, and what looks like literally homes with patios, deck fans, and fountains! At night this place looks like Christmas with all the lights on the palm trees. They have a heated pool, hot tub, and community room that we have checked out. The showers also aren't bad! It was so nice to stretch our legs, clean off, and make spaghetti last night. This morning we are sitting on our concrete patio drinking coffee, watching the Navel Base Jets practice formation, & soaking up the sun! 

The beginning of our trip has been very difficult and frustrating but I truly believe that every thing happens for a reason and we have learned from every activity. For example, this morning; I've already found a screw on the floor that belonged to the microwave and screwed it back in place before the thing gets loose and rumbles around and found out the living room blinds were broke.(where the dogs sleep, they probably hit it while they were making 7 circles to sit in the same spot they just left) So, I spent a couple of moments trying to screw the blinds back in while Chibi slapped me with her bear paws so I would pet her and Charlie whined because I was closer to Chibi than her...hellooooo I wasn't even trying to touch Chibi, she was touching me so don't get jealous because she puts the effort in. Charlie is sooooo jealous. Well, do to the location of the screw to the blinds I finally got frustrated and said to my self, be innovative. So I super glued so mother flickers to the wall . (insert laughing crying face but kind of like real crying?) All I wanted to do this morning was get up, drink my coffee, and sit outside. But, life had other plans for me and you know what, that is okay. All of these items are training me to look at obstacles and stress in a different way. And maybe you don't need to stress at all. Like, no matter what type of life you live there will always be speed humps, potholes, and straight up hurricanes. 

I think something that is interesting with myself or recent generations is that we all advertise this perfect Social Media life or we strive to have the perfect Instagram life. Like, my days are only full of smiles, easy roads, palm trees, flat stomachs, and an effortlessly clean RV. Yeah right. That is not what my 'life' is like at all. And there is no soft focus pink filter over my eyes. You know what I did to get that clean RV? I took everything off the counter, threw it on my messy bed (its almost impossible to make a bed look pretty in the RV)wiped the counter off, removed all the dogs poop bags and dog treats, lit a candle, and took 7 photos until I got the one I liked. Then, I said #rvlife. Girl...please. Why do we do this? I guess it is fun to have an image or a brand. And I think it is okay! No judgement. I think what gets dangerous is when we start to think our actual lives have to be like an Instagram story or else we are failures. I guess that is why I try t one as honest and realistic on my blog posts. If you looked at Instagram you would think, 'Dang, this woman is just floating from place to place only crying tears of joy and living this glamorous life.' In reality I am living an amazing life because I choose to believe that and make it amazing in my own unique way. And my type of amazing life may be different than your idea of an amazing life. But, I also can drive up to 500 miles in one day, arrive in the dark at a boon docking area, fill up my black tank and have to drive an hour out of the way to empty it, and end up yelling at the dogs because they brought mud into our house...again. But, this is my life and I love it. I promise you I will now how to rebuild a Class C motor home by the time this year is over! This journey is showing me what I am really capable of and how fast I can learn and adapt. 

I encourage everyone to do something once in your life that scares you, do a scary little thing once a week, take a moment a day to think of something that makes you nervous. Get use to being uncomfortable and breaking society norms. This planet is so small and there are billions of humans so why do the same thing as every else. Most of us only have 90 years or so...when you go down a paved road that is well worn...you know where that leads. Why not take the road less traveled and experience your 90 years a different way?