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| Our furbaby loved the big yard to roam in |
My sis-n-law had graciously offered us her driveway to park our
monstrosity. I call it that only because 32 ft. of a white house on wheels
parked next to your garage can be a little daunting if you’re not used to it. When
we are slid out we take up double the space of an older model with no slides. Most
people still think of these only when you mention a camper, they are completely
unaware even to this day of slides on campers. These almost double your floor space;
this really helps with the full grown Labrador.
Parking in her
driveway gave us an opportunity to do two things. One was to spend some much
needed time with our families only 45 minutes south of us in Alabama. Reason #2
was to save some money on rent for a short little while. After a week of
troubles, trial and a few triumphs we were glad to be here with a loaded baked
potato from our local BBQ joint. The next few days were playing and spending
time with the two of the newest niece and nephew of the family. The hubby and I even got to see our moms for
a short visit; I had one friend drive all the way up and spend the afternoon
with me. Believe it or not it is really hard to convince people to drive 0-45
min to see you after you’ve went halfway across the country. Staying this close
to the family and working in town for the summer just so we could spend some
time with them was our plan; we’ll see how well this one actually works out.
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| David Crockett State Park, TN |
The truth about our
hometown and most of the surrounding towns, they were poor towns; they just
didn’t have the industry and jobs like many of the towns we had been in. We
ended up spending the summer scraping and scrounging to get by, very thankful
the sis-n-law was nice enough to let us stay there. It was a total of ten weeks
that we were parked beside her house hooked up to a 15 amp circuit just trying
to stay cool in the humid Southern summer.
The hubby landed a temporary job which allowed us to move into
an RV park just down the road and get the rig hooked up to the full 30 amps. We
struggled to stay cool here but thankfully the owners were retired A/C guys who
just happened to have a few rooftop A/Cs lying around. It didn’t take long for
the hubby to start scheming on a plan to trade tools or something for an A/C;
we had been dealing with only a window unit for far too long. After being there
for almost a month the owner told us that if his A/C would fit, he would bless
us with it for free. This was an absolute huge blessing to us since we needed
it so badly; he said that since he had been blessed with so much in his life
that he would pay it forward. We count our blessings, big and small, every day
in this house.
We were slowly
sinking here but then again, can you put a price on being able to spend time
with the family? It was time to start planning our next stop and job in a
bigger city soon enough though. The hubby had applied for a security badge for
a job in Memphis, TN; still close enough to see the family for weekend visits.
We moved closer in to town for the last week of our stay in Alabama, by Wheeler
Dam. It was a beautiful small park make for smaller rigs. While backing the rig
in the hubby got it in a pinch. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to hearing the
sound of fiberglass crunching as it tears a hole into our home on wheels. Yep,
add another repair to the to-do list, but tape will work for now (as I write
this, it is 9 months later and the tape is still holding).
Here the lil one got
to spend some much needed time with both brothers together. Oh how the lil
brain expanded with all the lessons they taught. There are certain things in a child’s
life that only siblings can teach them; being tough, the world doesn’t revolve
around them only, and that the world isn’t fair come to mind first. As parents
you try and try but these are some of the lessons only older siblings get to
do. The experimented with fire and ants, how long a marshmallow will burn
before it plummets into the fire along with just talking and enjoying their
time together. I think the most fun was had when the brothers were teaching the
lil one how to throw/catch a football. I think they got a kick out of being
able to actually throw the ball at the baby and not be yelled at. They are old
enough now to know how much force is needed but at the same time make it only
sting if the catch is missed; something only big brothers can do.
Time flew by while
here, it was time to go much too soon. Leaving family and my son is one of the
hardest things to do, but knowing our little family couldn’t survive there
keeps pulling me away. I am counting the blessings of technology that allows us
all to stay in touch and share moments that would otherwise be missed by many. We
had a set of extra hands to help on this trip as my oldest was going on the
road with us for a while. A few tears and hugs to all who came to see us off
and we were ready to embark on the next leg of our journey. The hubby and I decided
on another leap of faith---move on to Memphis while waiting on the security
badge for the job there. All else fails it was a bigger city with more money
which usually means more jobs.
Until next time……
There’s no other love like the love for a brother. There’s no
other love like the love from a brother. ~Terri Guillemets
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