“Arriving at each new city,
the traveler finds again a past of his
that he did now know he had:
the foreignness of what you no longer are
or no longer possess
lies in wait for you in foreign,
unpossessed places.”
– Italo Calvino
The roadway across the Grenada dam is 2.6 miles long but the drive across it is as if you have travelled back in time. I’m not talking about living without amenities. I’m talking about the way new cities, new places can at times do more to center you — put you back in touch with who you are — than coming back to your own home town. We’ve been traveling for a while; now is a good time to catch our breath. No visitors on the horizon, no rush of scheduled departures, we’re sort of treading water here and it’s nice.
So the question comes to mind…. can a plan be ‘just living?’
The Winter is Decided Upon
Whenever we finally leave this place our next 5+ months are decided upon. We’ll spend a week in and around Galveston/Houston, another week at the Matagorda Bay Nature Park, and then 4 months home-basing from Palmdale RV park in San Benito, TX. Before our reservation in Galveston on Nov 17th we have almost a month and we’re going to spend most of it here at North Abutment Campground.
We are going to tackle a myriad of little projects I’ve put off for months; little things like shredding papers we no longer need, catching up on budgets and spreadsheets, you know — those things that we all do in our lives that aren’t all that interesting to anyone — including ourselves. I’ve been putting them off — I hate routine chores — but I’m finally going to force myself to get around to them while we are parked in a nice, relaxing place.
I’ll do some reading. I might tackle a couple RV DIY projects. But mostly I want to get caught up with those little insignificant things that make life easier and ‘normal.’
Our Zojirushi Bread Machine
I have gotten back to baking bread again. Our friend Debbie had brought a loaf of what she called 5 Minute Artisan Bread when we were in Shelbyville. She sent along the recipe this weekend and it’s almost the same as the recipe I use in our Zojirushi bread machine. This thing gives us the best bread of any bread machine we’ve had and I love it. I had gotten lazy while on the Forest and just bought bread but I am so happy to have the time to be making our own all over again.
I also want to take time to re-sanitize our water system while we are here. You know, drain it, add chlorine bleach to a proscribed concentration, allow the water to set several hours, and then flush and re-fill.
And of course there is that job of getting out and scrubbing off the bugs that we’ve accumulated. And replacing those wiper blades that I have been procrastinating about. All those little chores that go with RV’ing and don’t get talked about very much.
I may not be talking about earth shattering things but that’s the nice part about an Unscripted Life — life doesn’t have to be exciting. It can simply be LIFE.
Thanks for stopping by and I’ll talk with you tomorrow.
Embrace Serendipity 
Well, when you said you were going south for the winter, you meant it! That should be an interesting area to spend the winter months. We love South Padre and would love to spend more time exploring the more remote areas of Padre Island someday, both the north and south ends. I have a bucket list destination at the national seashore near Corpus Christi sometime, too. I’m sure it is hard to get in a spot there in the winter months, since they do not take reservations. Love Galveston! One of my best friends lives close by and have enjoyed many great visits to that area from childhood days to present times. Love taking the Bolivar Ferry anytime, too. She and I made a memorable drive on the Bolivar peninsula a year after Hurricane Ike, and it is something I will never forget, as the whole area was almost obliterated afterward. Hope you and Peg enjoy your time there.
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Yup — we sure did mean it!
A couple friends recommended the RV park but a contributing factor was that it’s sort of in the center of that RV’ing world. With easy access to Laguna Atascosa NWR, and Padre Island, and the cities, and other NWR’s along the Rio Grande. A good place from which to reconnoiter.
I really don’t know if I’ll go crazy in one place without a gig for 4 months — but we’ll find out.
Peg has family in Houston and Galveston, so our time there will be nice for both reasons — family and RV’ing.
Peg is NOT keen on Corpus Christi — too many cars and airplanes and noise for her but we’ll check it out too. > >
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You can just search for Padre Island National Seashore for all the available camping areas, if you get to the area later and are interested in checking it out. Malaquite Campground is the most popular one, but there are other primitive camping areas that are open to RVs, too. Some require camping and driving on the sand, which is often packed for such purposes. I think Malaquite is 30 or 40 miles from town. We tent camped in this area in our younger years, and it is a great memory for us today.
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Good suggestions, however this one time we are going to see whether we can stand being in a regular RV park for an extended period of time. I have no idea how this is going to work but we have a decent rate and it’s something we want to try. We may never do it again, or we may decide we love it — (I doubt that) — but we want to try ti.
I have heard about Malaquite. You have been there? and like it?
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Yes, years ago with our trusty tent. All of Padre Island is gorgeous, both the north and south ends. Was thinking this might be an interesting stop for you and Peg as you drive south to your final spot for the season, if you are interested when you go through that area. Have only been in summer months, but I suspect it will not be any less populated in the winter months. Still, there is so much beauty to see and enjoy at Padre, no matter where you are on the island. The further you get from the more populated areas at either end, the more iconic and serene it is. Definitely worth doing a bit of research on Padre before you get to that area, in case you want to spend a day or two at the north end. Sounds like you will have lots of time to check out the busy sound end.
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After replying I got to thinking and I realize that we have been there — but only as visitors. 5 years ago we took a trip as far south as S. Padre Island just after Turkey Day. We stopped at Corpus Christi and at the National Seashore and drove out to the area designated for camping. I don’t have a clear recollection of that, but I know we’ve been. We will have time to check it out for sure.
The trip down is already programmed from Galveston to Palmdale — we’ll drive to Matagorda in one day, and then from Matagorda to Palmdale in one day — a little longer trip but it just worked out that way with dates and such.
I don’t know all that much about S. Tex. It’s so popular with RV’ers but I don’t know whether it will be a fit for us. Only trying it will tell. Same with FL — I’d like to winter THERE one year — just to see what it’s like — but I doubt I would want to settle there even as a 6 month on 6 month off deal. We’ll see.
But having time to just BE there is what we need on both accounts. Same with the Tucson Area and Quartzite — need to spend some time — whether 4 or 5 months has yet to be seen.
But now that we are on OUR kind of schedule — we’ll have that time. 🙂
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