I gave up on a lot the last few years, including this blog. I’ve only recently realized that my life is my own. Fresh and new define much of my life’s landscape currently. So here we go with the updates. Tiggs is missing. No, I don’t wanna talk about it. Yes I put up flyers and called the shelters. I miss him terribly and feel awful about what happened. He disappeared from my Motel 6 room when I was in the hospital. I'm sure someone took him. . .but he's a cool cat, so I can't really blame them. I’ve adopted a bunny. Nova Blaze, the Foo. We’re getting to know each other and finding our way in bunny van life. I’ll be leaving the book of faces right after my birthday. So if you only have contact with me on Facebook and want to keep in touch, please check my contact me page for all my connection points. My social security was denied at the ALJ level. My next appeal has been submitted and could take 18-24 months to complete. Which means I’mma run out of credit card to live on. I’m looking at various means of support and options. What was else was I going to say? . . . Ways to support me...People are forever telling me I’m not alone and offering to help. So I’ve decided to give the everyone a chance to help me in the following ways.... 10. Social media support. Like, comment, share. You know the drill. [email protected] TT@damndirtyhippie etsy: Juju’s Daisy 9. Stigma Busting. The next time someone is talking about homeless, disabled and/or queer folx; think of me and check assumptions and judgement (yours and theirs). 8. Please refrain from offering to do things you aren't actually going to do. 7. Donate to my birthday fundraiser with Nomad Chapter. Peer Support has saved my life more than once this year. The work we do matters. I am trying to raise enough money for a Meeting Owl Pro. This equipment and technology will make the meeting I host on Monday nights a hybrid (in person and online) meeting to best serve our community in the safest way possible. Goal $1000. https://www.facebook.com/donate/2759037700981281/?fundraiser_source=external_url 6. Shop with me. Currently working on inventory. Etsy shop will have tie dye, crochet, kumihimo, masks, leashes, hackey sacks, rope, and whatever else I come up with. Give me a month or two to build up inventory. https://www.etsy.com/shop/JujusDaisy 5. Physical Support. I need hands on help with the following. I will be up and down the west coast this winter from Seattle to San Diego and Blythe. If you’re in these areas and can help out please know. *Carpentry-van rebuild needed. 2-3 days and power tools. *Solar-I think my awesome Nomad Chapter peers have this one figured out. *Unskilled labor, aka things I need another set of hands for. Solar shower is all I can think of. . . oh and attaching solar panel to roof properly. *Organization- After the van "re-build", help putting it all together. 4. Help with "stuff". The physical things bunny and I need. There's everything from dehydrated eggs and satin cord to carabiners and bunny toenail clippers on the list. I'm trying really hard to keep the mountain of credit card debt that I am accumulating as small as possible. . .so I put things on the list instead of ordering them. Many thanks to those who send gifts...even tho I picked most of it out myself, it still feels like my birthday every time I get a package. I’m in no way in favor of supporting amazon.... but that’s where my list is. There’s an option to buy elsewhere and tell the list you did so, I think. https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2TY0XLYQBM59P?ref_=wl_share 3. Ongoing support via Patreon. I'm setting up a Patreon account. I will be doing various, sporadic content on a variety of subjects, to include: Mental Health on the Road, Nomad Life, the Care and Keeping of Foo, Kumihimo, Zentangle, and whatever else strikes my fancy. patreon.com/allofJules 2. Cash. Money. Contact me for Venmo or PayPal info 1. Vote. nuff said? My comings and goingsI’m currently based in Seattle. With my last hospitalization, it became obvious my Oregon mental health team was way off the mark and more effective treatment is needed. So I moved residency to Washington and am taking advantage of their programs for my health and welfare. I’ll be visiting Josh briefly in Oregon on my way to San Diego in October. One of my favorite humans is getting married and I’ll be going down for the wedding, then meeting up with some nomad friends for caravaning and socially distant hugs. TBD how soon I’ll need to be back in Washington. Thank you!Thanks for reading all the way to the end. You rock like that!
I'll try to post again soon. Peace and safety, Jules
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I keep meaning to post an update, but my brain is all over the map as far as topics. So, I decided to share some of those topics/realities with you all today. I am going to share the cold, hard, and possibly boring truth of just what life has been like these past two months (since my craniotomy- August 3, 2017). Let's see if I actually get to ten. . .
The Emotional Roller Coaster I've always been an emotional gal, just ask my mother. ;) It is true, I wear my heart on my sleeve and am an "external processor". I have never been afraid to cry (or laugh!). To some folks, this makes me "emotional". However, emotional has a whole new meaning these days. I might burst into tears at any given moment for unknown (non-existent) reasons. Just yesterday I was quietly crying in the car on the way home from errands with my family. I was glad the radio was on and no one noticed. Crying freaks people out. It's not that my family doesn't care, and at least they "get it" more than most people. . .but still it's hard for even the people closest to me to comprehend. It makes people feel uncomfortable. You should see the looks I get at the grocery store when I sit and cry while waiting for my SO to manage the checkout alone (some days it's way too much for me to bear). What's up with the crying? I think it's the fact that Gertrude was in my emotional center. It could also be the fact that my life is totally upside down and feels out of control at times. . .or perchance the fact that it will take my brain two years to recover from being invaded. Whatever the reason, the crying is just part of my days now. So if you see me crying, try not to make me feel worse because I am making you uncomfortable. (pro tip: Don't try to fix it. You can't.) I Suck at Getting Stuff Done I started this blog post on October 8th. The editor was locking up and not letting me upload pictures. So I decided to avoid the frustrations and do it "later". . . we're now at ten days later and counting. . .maybe I will finish it today. Same goes for most things. I have these intentions and ideas, but the fatigue and fog make me want to crawl under the covers. I suppose crawling under the covers is "fine" and "to be expected", I just wish I didn't stay under there so much. Financial Ruin Oh boy, my favorite topic. . .money (not). I haven't worked since the middle of July. I have over $20,000 in medical bills. I have no disability coverage. The YouCaring fund that friends and strangers have been donating to is helping. This has enabled me to cover the little things, like my phone bill and food. Receiving donations from people who I know scrape to get by themselves has been humbling. I truly appreciate the help, as much as I hate being in the position to need it. My bus is for sale. My car may be next. Update: I am now working "up to half-time" from home (25 hours so far this month). This should help. I'm Hungry Food. Food is a lot of work. Especially with food sensitivities and allergies. It's exhausting. One meal after another. They just keep happening. It is very hard to make good choices when I don't have the energy to cook. Currently I am trying to come up with items to prep on good days and then be able to eat with little/no effort on those days when I just can't. {I. Just. Can't. That feels like my mantra lately}. Sometimes I have enough energy and focus to do quite a bit of cooking and prepping at once, I hope to continue to find ways to take advantage of my energy when it's available. Currently I am learning to use my dehydrator to make meals that I can re-hydrate as needed, (Previously my dehydrator was pretty much just used for kale chips and beef jerky - don't judge). I am also considering taking up Sous Vide cooking, as this method can easily be used to make-ahead and makes zero mess on the day it's actually cooked. Stay tuned. This past weekend, my square dance club brought me a bunch of food. It has helped me not only have things to eat this week, but also to stay encouraged and get creative in the kitchen. So far, I am not eating anywhere near as well as I would like, but I am making progress. This is a super emotional one for me. I am a foodie. I love to cook and eat well. I spent the last couple of years getting in the best shape of my life. . . and now my go to meal is canned tamales! People (mostly) Don't Care Listen, I know I have a few real cheer leaders, a handful of angels and a supportive family. I am blessed beyond measure and that is a fact. HOWEVER, another fact is that more people DIDN'T do what they said they would do than those who did. . . (and the vast majority neither said nor did anything). As an abandoned child with mommy issues, this is a hard one for me. I take it personally when people don't do what they say they will do. . .this is a pet peeve on your average sunny day in April. . . after brain surgery, it's devastating. Does it matter? Why bother saying this? Are you trying to make people feel bad? No. I am really am not. But please people, do what you say you will do. Here's the thing though. . . just as people let me down and disappointed me (and in a couple of cases, left me hanging with real issues), people also touched me with their kind hearts and caring acts.
I Don't Care It took me a minute to remember why this was on my list (a good reason not to wait 10 days to finish something). Maybe "I don't care" is an overstatement, or a mis-statement. More accurately (but less of a headline): I now choose to care about only the things that actually matter AND that I can do something about, and to let people do what people do (unless you are my minor child, really EVERYTHING you do is up to you and not me. . so you do you, I'll be over here wondering what's for lunch). Seriously. Need to prioritize your life? Need to get a reality check about the "small stuff"? Have someone call you and say that you need emergency brain surgery! That will shift your thinking on a dime! (I didn't actually get 'emergency' surgery, but that is initially what they said - it ended up being a few weeks before the surgery). Suddenly the nonsense just dropped like a hot rock. Spelling is Hard Spelling is hard, so is math. Cognitive deficits for a magna cum laude graduate who barely studied in college. . . humbling. Frustrating. It's getting better. I have been working with an amazing Speech Therapist and building my skills back. Still, even during this blog post, I have: typed know when I meant no, tried to spell encourage with an i and wondered why spell check said it was wrong. These are little issues. The bigger ones are concentration and focus. I do good to focus on one thing at a time, so if we are talking and I start looking at you like you're a two-headed alien chances are you changed subjects and lost me. . . or I somehow derailed myself and am totally lost. What's for lunch? ;) I'm Tired In fact, I am too tired to write this section. :P I'm Sick of Hearing: At Least It's Not Cancer Am I glad I don't have cancer? Fuck yes. Does people saying things like this further dismiss what anyone with an invisible illness is going thru? Also fuck yes. It's not a competition. Struggles are struggles and long term illness is a big suck fest of struggles. Please don't get out the tape measure. . .;) #nuffsaid Progress Isn't Permanent
Oh, this is the hardest one for me. Some days I can manage to do normal things (like cook for hours, or go to RenFest with my family with only a few challenges). Other days, I am lucky to let the chickens out and find the remote. I tell people I am doing the brain surgery cha-cha. That's really what it's like. Two steps forward, one step back, two steps forward, uh, I forgot what's next, let's nap! I guess I hoped for a sort of upward trajectory where one day's progress would be built upon the next day. . then ba-da-bing. . I am back to my old self in no time. HA!! I have come to learn that challenging days and overwhelming obstacles come without rhyme or reason. It behooves me to take it as it comes and be gentle with myself. I am not sure how that is going to play out at the office. . . and honestly sometimes it doesn't even play very well at home. . . but it is. For instance, yesterday and the day before I had an absurdly hard time trying to make a medical appointment. While it is true that the woman on the other end of the phone is bad at her job, it is also true that I NEED to make that appointment. I will persevere. But not today. Today I am content to leave it on my to-do list. I'll get back to it. Tomorrow. Or next week. And that's okay. If you have hung in this far, thanks for listening to my ranting and rambling. . . . and brain surgery randomness! May your day bring what you need, I had been sick for months (migraines, fatigue, weird infections, brain fog, crazy short attention span, bizarre emotions, etc.) when an 8-day migraine and subsequent ice-pick headaches finally meant that it was time for an MRI. July 7th. That's the day my world changed. I had barely left the MRI place when an on-call radiologist called me to tell me the big news. Brain. Tumor. I am sure other words were said, but those two are the only ones that mattered. Brain. Tumor. Well, fuck. Life was just getting really good. I want to do a few things with this post:
The Ramble Okay, as everyone seems to love to say, "it is what it is" (what does that even mean, anyway?) So, now what? Among other things, brain surgery. Yep, they are going to crack my skull open to evict Gertrude on Thursday (August 3rd @ 10:30). Apart from being able to make jokes about the hole in my head. . . it's basically a big suck fest. It seems that no one really knows what will happen. When they start cutting on the old grey matter. . .well, shit happens. So, I could be back at work before the Halloween candy goes on clearance. . .or. . .well, any number of icky possibilities. So much unknown. So much complete loss of "control". (yes, I saw Days of Thunder. I know that control is an illusion). Gertrude is a 4*3cm meningioma, or at least that is the assumption. We won't really know what she is until pathology tells us. Thursday morning I will start my day with another MRI. This one will entail having spots on my head shaved and "cheerios" glued to my head. I guess it's some kind of brain surgery GPS system. I hope it works better than my TomTom. At 10:30 I will go into surgery. They will cut a flap of skin on the right side of my head, remove a piece of skull, and well. . .evict Gertrude. The whole thing is supposed to take 4-6 hours. But they won't really know until they get in there. It depends on how feisty this Gerty bitch is. Hopefully, she is simple and cooperative . . . and comes right out. Next I will be in recovery for an hour or two, then moved to ICU for 24 hours. The average hospital stay for this type of surgery is 4-7 days, but again. . they really don't know. Some people go home in two days, some stay for weeks. The Update I have been on leave from my day job for a couple of weeks now. I really don't know when (if) I will be able to return to work. I have also stopped coaching clients and working on my WellCoaches certification for now. I want to thank all my practice clients who have been so gracious and supportive. I look forward to getting back to coaching and to work. Hopefully we will know more of a timeline post-eviction. In a non-Gertrude related twist of fate, my ex-husband and I had just started seeing each other again the same week I was diagnosed. We were trying to date casually and not jump right back in to living together, but between my care, school for the ginger, and finances. . . we decided the best course of action was for me to give up my apartment and for the ginger and I to move in with him full time. It has been loads of work, both physical and emotional. With the help of a couple of friends (thanks Jenn & Laura!!) and some professional movers, we got moved this past Thursday. The house is in an upheaval, and the garage is absolute chaos, but we're getting there. I am getting used to country life. . . things like when a fox interrupted my morning pages and coffee by eating some chickens. . .yeah, that never happened in the city. It's quiet and peaceful out here. Probably a very good choice for recovery, not that my upstairs neighbor stomping around won't be missed. My days are spent unpacking and cooking, between naps. I never realized how exhausting one little tumor could be, but I get worn out (& distracted) FAST. How to Help / The Details As I mentioned, surgery is this Thursday, August 3rd at Menorah in Overland Park, KS. I will be in ICU the first 24-hours or so after surgery. Once I am released to a regular room on the surgery floor, I will be allowed to have visitors. Mark Bryant will be the point of contact for status updates and questions. If you need his phone number, please IM or text me and I will send it to you. Okay, so now is the part where I ask for what I need. . .not my strong suit, so bear with me. Food - this is a big concern for me. I have oodles of newly diagnosed food sensitivities that were found during the what-is-wrong-with-me phase of finding our friend Gertrude. Even before the discovery of these sensitivities, I am in the habit of spending a great deal of time, energy and money to feed myself whole, healthy food (Paleo). So, the thought of how to eat or how to have other people feeding me is a source of anxiety. Things I can't have: Gluten MSG Suclarose Eggs Peanuts Beta-Casein (dairy protein - in pretty much all dairy products except butter) Goat's Milk Seaweed Sesame Ginger Cashews Coconut (incl coconut oil) Buckwheat Kidney Beans Yeast White Potato The amazing women at Bulk It have offered to put together meals for me while I am in the hospital. Call them or stop by and they will fix something up for me (smoothies, kumboocha, tamales, fresh juice, salad bar, etc.). Nancy, Sarah & the whole Bulk It crew will handle the details of feeding me well. The types of things that they will send are things that will keep well, so don't feel like it needs to be a meal time in order to be of benefit. I promise that anything they prepare for me WILL GET EATEN. While I am in the hospital, they can even make deliveries for people who are out of town. (we haven't worked out the details of who may be able to bring me things from the city once I am back home - stay tuned). A meal train has been set up for once I am home (estimated August 10th). Please bear in mind that Mark, the ginger & my caregivers will need to eat too. They eat pretty much anything, so if you want to bring something and all of my restrictions are beyond your scope, feel free to bring something 'normal' for them. Just make sure it's labeled as such. Find the details of the meal train here. Money - Money is obviously a concern. I will be out of work for at least 2-3 months, possibly more. I will have thousands of dollars in medical and related expenses. If you are able to make a cash donation to help offset these expenses, please visit my You Caring page. At this writing, $410 dollars has been raised. Thank you all so much! I know that most of us don't have an extra pile of money laying around to help someone else out, so it humbles me and warms my heart to see so many people making sacrifices of their own needs for me. Physical Help - If cooking or donating are not your thing but you still want to help, here are a few things that we could use help with. If any of these things are something you would be interested in doing, please send me an email via the contact page, Facebook, or by text.
Love & Hugs! My kitchen scares me. . . . and not for the reason you may think. No, I am not afraid of the pressure cooker, nor of trying new recipes or using spices. To my knowledge, there are no spiders. I am pretty adept at finding my way around the kitchen. So, what is so scary? As you'll know from previous posts, I "kon-maried" my house over the last year or so and then sold the place and moved into an apartment. I drastically reduced my. . .well, my everything. My kitchen has been purged of the useless, the less-than-ideal, the i-can-do-that-with-this. Yet I still struggle to deal with all the STUFF in my new, smaller kitchen in the apartment. True, it's about half the size of my kitchen in the house I just sold. . . but, it's WAY bigger. . . .like triple the size. . . of the kitchen that I will end up with on Vera Louise. I have made some realizations in the two months since moving.
Join me in what I hope will be an inspiring journey, as I try various minimalist approaches and work at ways to reduce not only the STUFF in my kitchen, but also my TIME spent there (and at the store!). One look at my Instagram account and you can tell I am a foodie. I love the variety, tastes, textures, aromas. . . I love food. Eating the same thing for several days in a row works for me, as long as it's a good meal, like African Chicken Stew with Spaghetti Squash or Butternut Cottage Pie. But even cooking these staples meals once a week causes a tornado of dirty dishes and clean-up. I eat a (mostly) Paleo menu, with the occasional 21 Day Sugar Detox or Whole30 thrown in for good measure and course correcting. All three of these are typically labor intensive ways of eating. I will not utilize conveniences/packaged food that is not within my eating values So, I need to figure out how to be more efficient, do more with less, and develop SIMPLE meal plans. Follow this blog, category: Minimalist Foodie, as I undertake this exciting and scary journey. Upcoming Topics:
Let's get cooking, So I did it. I started the 21 Day Sugar Detox on Monday. This is probably the fifth or sixth time I have done this detox since I first tried it in 2012. I love this detox because it helps me reboot my expectations and cravings around food. Between some personal goings-on and moving, I lost track of my eating goals. I am not fully back in the swing of weekly cook-ups since moving into the apartment. I have learned that when I start to veer off course, it's time for a detox. I like to get ahead of any impending long-term changes in habits before they become problems. The teenager left for her dad's on Monday. So I figured now is the perfect time to get the 21 days in. . . and have time to finish before July 4th weekend. I'll admit, I haven't planned very well this week, but I have managed to keep it between the navigational beacons. There have been more salads consumed than I cared for. . .and butter chicken for breakfast once. ;) But I am happy to say I have stayed on track. I plan to spend some time this weekend preparing for next week. Here's a little of this week's fare. To see more, check me out on Instagram. Last night I need something different. . .a bit of a treat without getting too crazy. I opted to concoct an apple "pie". I tried finding something inspiring on Pinterest and failed. So, I created this one. I even thought ahead and wrote down what I put in it so that I could share it here. ;) The instructions are really simple:
I hope you enjoy it! I sure did. And I have two jars ready-made for the weekend. ;)
Please let me know if you try it. bon appetit, It must have been 17 or 18 years ago, when I first discovered The Artist's Way. My girlfriend at the time was always super-supportive of my creative adventures and probably bought me the book. I remember doing the Morning Pages faithfully for ages, and have still done them off & on over the years. I don't think I ever actually did the rest of the course. Life got in the way. This would have been about the time that my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer. That season of life would prove all-encompassing, and the trajectory my life would take the the coming years didn't involve a lot of self-exploration. . .well, until I ended up on a beach in Africa with a journal in my hand, but that wasn't so much an organized journey as a random outpouring and reaction to life and love in another hemisphere. Two decades later, I find myself in a position to do it again. I bought the book for myself and a friend around New Year's. When I started reading and realized what a time commitment this course is, I decided to wait to start until I passed my written exam for WellCoaches. I mean, how much can one person do, right? I guess it goes without saying, I PASSED MY TEST. So, here we go. One of the main tenets of the Artist's Way are weekly Artist's Dates. In their simplest form, Artist's Dates are weekly appointments with your inner artist to explore, spend time (alone!) with your creative self, and possibly try something new. I had my first Artist's Date this past Sunday. I walked from my apartment to a nearby park for a hike, with my camera. It's funny, I grew up on a trail, with a camera hanging around my neck. . .following my dad, I even went to photography school for a while. . . but I hadn't taken much more than selfies and instagram basics until I bought myself a new camera for Christmas this past year. Now I am enjoying getting to view the world through a lens again. This "first date" was a bit awkward at times (as Julia Cameron would put it, my blurts came bubbling out: who do you think you are? no one cares what you see? you missed your chance to be really good at this? you can't even think of what to write on your blog. blah, blah), but also inspiring. I look forward to the next twelve weeks of Artist's Dates. I won't share them all with you, but I will provide regular updates in my journey. I have been doing the other main component of The Artist's Way, Morning Pages, for a week or so now. I transitioned from my normal Miracle Morning to the Morning Pages for the summer. Once I finish this course, I will integrate the two in some Jules-fashion. Look for more on Morning Pages in an upcoming post.
I also joined a group Artist's Way class. We have our first meeting tomorrow night. It will be a group of 8 artists, working together and alone. I am super-jazzed about the chance to bounce off of other artists and come together for accountability and inspiration. So, what does your inner artist long to do? What creative pursuit has been on the back burner for way too long in your life? Will you dare to give it a try this week? Post a comment and let us know. Happy Creating, Hemlock Cliffs was the highlight of the trip (well, except for that whole buying a skoolie part!). We had a bit of a challenge navigating the gravel roads in Vera Louise, but with a little determination and an illegal parking spot, we made it to the trail head! There had been PLENTY of rain, so the forest was lush and the falls were, well. . .falling. We started at the "end" of the loop trail (read: went the opposite direction of the crowd) and had a mostly peaceful and quiet hike. There were people hanging around at each waterfall, of course, but mostly it was just us during our hike. . . well, except that woman who kept yelling at her kids and not letting us pass. . .but that was luckily limited to a few minutes at the end of the hike. We sat out on a double mission this day. We wanted to hike and see the falls (and start our training for some longer hikes that we are planning) as well as get some good pictures of Rose to give her grandmother for Mother's Day. (stopping in to visit her in Illinois would be our next stop, and put us there on Mother's Day). Otherwise, my budding photographer might not have let me use the camera. We took a leisurely pace, stopped to play, and took plenty of pictures. We had a little picnic lunch, err. . .snack, at the big fall. It was a great day! We had a magnificent hike and would recommend this spot to anyone passing through southern Indiana with a few hours on their hands. It is not far from I-64. It's an easy drive, unless you're in a bus that you just learned out to drive two days ago. ;)
Happy Hiking! I had the joy of participating in my second photo shoot with the Classic Car, Rat Rod & Pinup gang out in Ottawa. Ally Brand is a local model who organizes this event every year. She does a great job and her tireless efforts make her our favorite hostess-with-the-mostess. This event runs smoothly. Many people (models, photographers, car owners) donate their time and come together for a very special day. I didn't have my own photographer this year, but I did have the joy of working with a few great photographers who were on hand. Most of the pictures here are by Sandra Hubbell (the only current ones that aren't by Sandra in this post are the ones with Jezebel. I wanted to retake these shots to match up with last year's, so my daughter took them with my phone). I anticipate being able to add another post with image by other photographers once they share their pics. I set a lot of goals this past year to work towards this event. I lost weight, I re-invented my eyebrows with the ever-fabulous Elissa at the Glam Room. See my post from last summer on the eyebrow transition. I worked on my pinup wardrobe. I pumped a lot of iron and improved my body composition. I grew out my hair. In short, I worked to become a "better pinup model" this year than last. Note: this is not to imply that anyone else needs to lose weight or change one single thing about themselves. I am not out to shame anyone for who they are. . . I am only relaying my personal journey here. If you are big & beautiful and want to try pinup modeling, GO FOR IT! The world needs more women of every shape and size to embrace the wholeness of who they are and let their light shine. Please don't take my efforts as a statement on yours. They are not. Here are a couple of side-by-sides from 2016 and this year: I love this event, and look forward to participating again next year. I couldn't be happier with not only my personal transition, but with the way these images turned out. Thanks for following me.
Have a beautiful day, A week ago, my daughter (RosePetal) and I drove to Kentucky to pick up our new bus, Vera Louise. It was quite an adventure. We learned a few things along the way (more on that later) and had an amazing time. I must admit, I was a little (okay, a lot) nervous to be heading out to another state with my kid, to drive a vehicle that I had not yet seen/heard in person. . .but also a type of vehicle the likes of which I had never driven. The sellers picked us up at the car rental place and took us to Vera. We looked her over, got our lessons in solar panels (henceforth - The Solar System), composting toilets and air brakes and were on our way. On our way down the road two miles to our lovely campsite at Natural Bridge State Park. That first drive was super scary. It was raining. The roads were narrow and hilly (we were at the bottom of a gorge, after all). But, we made it and enjoyed getting to know our bus.
Once the fire was dealt with, we went on to Hoosier National Forest and hiked at Hemlock Cliffs. I will create a separate post about our hike. Then we stopped to spend some time with family. A couple of RosePetal's uncles gave Vera a good looking over. She meets with their approval. :)
Sunday was the hardest day. We (I) drove all the way from south central Illinois to Kansas. This was by far the longest drive, including two cities and Cubs V Cardinals traffic. There was the added fun of driving straight into the sun all afternoon. I did have to stop one time just to cool off and hydrate. It was a little nerve racking, but we made it home. I am one happy bus owner. RosePetal is already wanting to move in Vera full time. See you on the road, Jules #veralouise #buslife #manifestthat #visionboardlife |
Jules Warner - AuthorThanks for reading my ramblings. Archives
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