About a week before leaving Memphis I had called Pecan Park, the
old park we were in previously in Jacksonville, and made reservations. I was
very site specific as we still had friends living there that knew our personalities
well enough to help us select a site. Our arrival date had changed by one day
and I called to make sure this would be okay and confirmed our site with them
again. I had done everything needed to be done to ensure we knew where we were
going within the park in case of a late/early arrival. There is nothing worse
than driving for 20 hours, spending 2 hours setting up, only to find out you
have to go thru the process all over again and move to different site.. if you’ve
followed us this far, you know how good our luck can be but also how bad it can
be. You guessed it, when we went to pay in the office after arriving early and
setting up, they informed us the site had been reserved and paid for the
previous week; we would have to move. If only I hadn’t listened to the girl in
the office upon making the reservations, she assured me the site would be
available without my paying for it before hand.
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| Glad to be back at the beach |
These ladies in the
office made my blood boil at this moment. I was running on empty and now these
people, whom I had talked to twice about this specific site, were telling us we
had to move to another site. Apparently she has never lived or camped in a
fifth wheel with the way she was telling us that it was ‘ONLY’ one site over,
telling us it shouldn’t be too hard to move it over just one site. I quickly
informed her that if we loaded the rig back onto the truck that we could damn
well move it anywhere, including to another RV park. They got lucky that day in
them being the only one that wasn’t a 55+ only park and close to Jax, FL. The
one north of Jax didn’t have ½ of the amenities, we really had no choice but to
push ourselves for a few more hours and move the rig.
Almost as soon as we
got settled the hubby had to go out of town to work in South Carolina. This was
only to be a short job; until he got there. As it happens in the construction
field, this job lasted longer than originally planned. The lil one and I
planned a trip to see him and spend a weekend with him. I planned and cooked
extra meals to freeze in individual servings if only to bring him a piece of
home to him while he is away.
The hotel he was in happened to be next to a
Celebration Station, this helped with keeping the lil one occupied. We spent an
afternoon riding go-karts, water boats and playing video games for tickets.
These three days went way too quickly, knowing that he was going to have home
cooked meals in the weeks to come made leaving a little easier.
It wouldn’t be long
and all of us would be back together, I was already missing my oldest; he moved
out as soon as we hit town. With Halloween just around the corner I had plenty
to keep my mind busy, the lil one was going as our very own Hermione Granger
this year. Of course this meant trips to the thrift stores and some crafting by
me. Amazingly we walked down the aisle in one of my favorite stores and hanging
there waiting just for us was the Gryffindor robe. Soon we had found a dress to
chop and altar into the skirt, a new white shirt and shoes to match; the only
thing left was to make the beaded handbag.
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| the beaded handbag we crafted |
The lil one demanded
to have curly hair just like Hermione’s, this was another trip to the thrift
store for a curling iron. This made the most drastic change in appearances I have
seen in a while. With the hubby still out of town we were left to celebrate
this holiday almost alone. Thankfully we were in Jacksonvile where we knew
people, I quickly found someone to trick or treat with us. With flashlights,
trick or treat bags and good conversation, we were off to cast spells on any
unlucky bystander who happened into our path. The candy bags were overflowing
after this haunting night.
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| Happy Halloween! |
We also visited one
of the parking lot carnivals while here, these seem to be everywhere in the
fall down here. The lil one is getting big enough to ride some of the rides
alone, this gave my friend and I time to talk with no interruptions. We all
tossed quarters on the colored squares, betting that the mouse would run into
our color to win a prize. The lil one learned here that if you gamble you had
might as well be throwing your money out the window, a good lesson if you ask
me.
It wasn’t long before
the hubby was home again. His first words in the door was “I’ve got good news
and I’ve got bad news”. The experience of living with him for almost ten years
now has taught me that these few words can be life changing when he speaks
them. I held my breathe as I asked what the ‘good’ news was. It ended up his
being offered a position with the company, the bad was that the next job was in
Virginia. There was no question on if we were taking the rig or not. After
being without him for the last 5 weeks, him having to live in a hotel room;
there was no question in us making this trip with him. It also only took us a
few hours to decide that if we could make it happen, we would celebrate the lil
one’s birthday trip this year (a little early) as Universal Studios before
heading north. Soon we were on the phones working out the details and packing
our bags for a three day fun filled trip to Orlando, FL.
Until next time….
Where thou art — that — is Home. ~Emily Dickinson
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