I don’t know about you but my life seems to go along pretty stable (which is why I haven’t written in awhile) and then BAM! everything happens at once. That’s what happened this last weekend, so I thought I would share.

It all started with the need to move the RV. In the LA area all of the RV parks make you physically move out of the property for two days once you hit 6 months. This is to stop you from being able to legally claim resident status which is a protected class different from “occupant”. They told us upfront that this would be required but unfortunately ours fell on Labor Day weekend so months in advance I booked a site at Pinnacles National Park and took three days of vacation because we actually needed to move during the week.

Two reasons for the during the week move. I could only get reservations Weds-Fri, and more importantly since I have no idea what site we would be coming back to (if any) I wanted the extra time just in case. You may be wondering why I didn’t know the site, well this park does not tell you if you can come back, or what your new site will be until you are off property. Since I personally witnessed a pretty ugly confrontation regarding staying here where the police were called I get why they do it, but as someone with limited options of places to stay and a fulltime job it was incredibly stressful.

To relieve some of that stress Lee personally visited every other possibility (there weren’t many) in a 50 mile radius and in every one of them the wait lists were long, and because we have a 40 foot RV our options were nil. This really put the pressure on, but we knew as a last resort our home is on wheels and we could leave the area completely but we only would do that as a last resort.

To add to that my company went through a round of cuts and my boss was suddenly let go and replaced by someone I didn’t know. Under the best of circumstances getting a new boss is tough (especially explaining our lifestyle to them) and this was not the best of circumstances. My brain was in overdrive trying to grapple with my new set of circumstances and the move was looming. Normally I would ask for an extension, but we had already got one the month before when Lee was working out of town so we simply had to move. There is no laxity in these policies, for legal reasons.

Then my mouth started hurting. At first I just thought it was stress related, but the pain was pretty intense feeling like I had a raw nerve. Turns out I had a really tough cavity filled over a month ago and the dentist said I might eventually need a root canal. Unfortunately it got worse and worse and the weekend before we needed to leave I went to see the dentist. He called in a favor and got me with a specialist but that guy said he could only complete half of the job. Well I had no idea if I would be able to come back here at all and I wasn’t thrilled about going through it twice, so he managed to squeeze me in first thing the morning of our departure. Not great but I honestly didn’t know what else to do and although the procedure itself went OK driving 6 hours with a swollen face was not great.

We finally made it to the National Park though and although I am going to write a separate post on that experience something in me simply loosened. No light pollution, hardly any people, and a break from the oppressive heat we have been experiencing. Jack lit up with all the new smells and things to see and I simply relaxed for what felt like the first time in months.

I simply relaxed.

When Lee called the park and found out we would be allowed back in I would love to say that made me feel great, but instead I was filled with a mild sense of dread. I was relieved sure that we had an option, but I was also pretty sure I wouldn’t like our site. Our rig is on the big side for this particular park and there were limited spaces, but it is also not full so I was hoping they could put me towards the back where the road noise would be less.

When we returned we learned that our site was right in the front with my desk window facing the street. Even with double paned windows the road noise is pretty constant and the occasional siren or screeching car is pretty unpleasant. On the plus side it is a HUGE level site and we only have one neighbor. I will just have to get used to the road noise. Plus they gave us a nice 22% discount off the monthly rate for being a good customer which we appreciated so that helps keep the costs down a little.

Many of you who either know me or have read this blog for years are probably wondering why on earth are we doing this. The answer to that is simple. Lee is trying to see if he can fulfill a dream and I am trying to support him in that. It’s not his fault the strike has been going for over 100 days or there are such limited choices for places to stay in LA. More importantly as his wife I want to support his career aspirations just like he has supported mine in the past.

Yes, as we get older it feels like time is getting short, but it’s also true that this lifestyle (for us) has been a marathon and not a sprint. And on the plus side (and yes I always try to look on the plus side) I can go to the nice dentist I found and get the crown put in and hopefully I can get a membership spot at the ceramics place I have been going to.

No its not perfect and frankly this is not a place I would normally choose to be in but sometimes that’s just how it goes.

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