Life on the road - or not

Four months.

That’s how long we’ve been here in our new home.

This home without wheels.

Off the road.

From the RV into an apartment.

It was a big move.

A major shift in direction for us.

A change of venue - of a different sort.

Yes, we had discovered that we do indeed enjoy living on the road but it felt like it was time to put down roots again at least for awhile. To be able to get involved in long-term activities. To live without major deadlines every month.

Downsizing

This was a big move in another way - because it involves a big project.

One of our major reasons to settle down for a bit is so that we can “finish” at least Phase One of our downsizing. 

Yes, we had already moved out of the big house and had lived in tiny quarters for awhile. But… we had not really finished the sorting and pitching.  Ran out of time… or energy or motivation or focus or whatever. Consequently too many books and papers and keepsakes were still in bins and boxes which had to be moved from one storage shed to another. So this is the time for that. To finish that process.  That huge job that is almost done.

We did succeed in emptying out the storage unit less than a month after moving in to our apartment, but there are still things piled in corners and closets awaiting our sorting. AND there are still 15-20 boxes in our utility trailer. Gradually we are dealing with one box and then another. Things have been taken to Goodwill and to the dumpster. The shredder is kept consistently busy. Empty boxes have been passed off to people who need them. Much has been done but there is still much to do.

Kid care

We picked this location to be near two of the grands and close enough to the third to get there when needed. We are delighted to be able to see them all fairly often and to be able to give their moms a break now and then.

Cousin time is so fun and I'm thrilled to be able to join in the adventures!

Occupation

I never seem to find enough time to do all that I wish to do. We both have several projects occupying our time and our creative efforts. After investing many months to music last year, hubby’s focus is on photography and art this year - even involving grandkids in one big project. 

I am getting more serious than ever about my writing. I am enrolled in online courses, have discovered a writing group in the next town and am vigorously editing one of my NaNoWriMo projects that I wrote several years ago.

Living life - and loving life

After four months, we love it here and often talk that we might end up here for a long time. That we might enjoy having a home base. Our little town offers pretty much every fast food franchise known to man as well as several other eateries that we’ve barely begun to try. It is great fun being so close to a metropolitan area. One of our favorite places is the wonderful Flint Farmers’ Market - where we hope to begin spending more time.

Travel?

This settling in does not mean that we are done traveling. In fact, it kinda’ gives us more travel options.  Many spots across Michigan are accessible as day trips. Now that we have a little red car, we are planning to take lots of road trips. In fact, we just did - to New England to celebrate our 45th anniversary. And we still have our RV parked in our daughter’s yard where it provides a home away from home when we visit her. We will hitch that up occasionally for camping trips - like when we visit our friends working at the Big Sable Lighthouse north of Ludington in a few weeks.

...

So I guess you could say we’ve turned a corner. 

Changed direction a bit in our wanderings. 

So far we love this new trajectory.