Well, our time is almost up in TN for a while. We will be leaving in a couple of weeks and treking back to MS for a few weeks to visit family and cross some things off of the to do list. We are then heading south and moving to Florida for the rest of the winter. We will be living on the Suwannee River south of Tallahassee. In March, we will be coming back to TN. As a matter of fact, our hearts were kind of gripped when the reality hit us it is time to start getting ready to leave. We all have had such a great time these past six months and the thought of leaving really kind of hurts in a sense. BUT, the fact we are going to live in FL a few months is not that disappointing! We will not be doing any camphosting, just living in an RV resort/park. Our friends have told us we will have plenty to explore within a few hours of where we will be. So, despite our moment of sadness about leaving, we do look forward to new things!
We have all fallen in love with this way of life. While our original plan was to do this for at least a year, we all want to keep on indefinitely. So, in an effort to do that, we have tried really hard to live off the income we have been making (which is not to much over the poverty level might I add). When people are considering living mobile that is always the big question--income and expenses. I'll write about this in a future in case you wonder how you can make it work.
Here are some of our adventures and visitors since my last post:
The day after our Turtletown hiking adventure, we surprised the boys with a trip. They had no clue. Johnny had them help with some tasks at the campground while I packed their bags and loaded the car. When we were a mile away, we blindfolded them until we arrived.
We stayed a couple of nights at the Great Wolf Lodge in LaGrange, GA. They were excited and ready to hit the water!
They had 2 slides that the whole family could ride together. We have a few videos that are pretty hilarious to watch of us all going down.
This thing...you get in and you just drop. You can watch the video and see.
When we got in from Georgia, our friends Ted and A.M. came to visit. They brought Jackson a full body wetsuit in preparation for our Florida adventures and to keep him a little warmer on their snorkeling adventures in the river!
Saturday evening we visited the new Asian restaurant in Ducktown. They had a band and dancing. Our crew were the only ones brave enough to dance! All those folks sitting around...they wanted to!
It was fun! As a matter of fact, when we got in that night Jackson told me he thought it was the funnest night he had ever had! Imagine that! He was a little hesitant, timid at first but we all encouraged him not to worry about the people around him--just enjoy himself and have fun! And he did! Doesn't it feel good when you conquer things like that? John Gannon heard him say this and was completely appalled. He could never get over that awkward 12 year oldness and enjoy himself! I made him dance a with me a little but he was about to die! Look at these smiles!
And by the way...just in case there are some of you out there that don't know...I CANNOT DANCE. I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO RHYTHM. It still doesn't stop us! Who is going to care? Those people sitting at the tables? Ted and AM on the other hand, they have skills! They learned their moves from a dance instructor friend. Johnny and I may need to catch a few lessons!
When the dancing was over, we caught the sunset at Boyd's Gap on the way home.
The boys cooked our meal colonial style one night. One day, they had to season the pot by oiling it and putting it in the fire.
For the meal, John cut up some kindling.
Jackson arranged all the wood and they got the fire started.
Jackson prepared and mixed all the ingredients, and we put it on the fire to cook.
Jackson would stir it to keep it from scorching.
John would remove it from the fire each time for us.
John scripted his first Chicken and Bull short movie. They videoed it one day.
The Smyrl's (Johnny's brother and family stopped by for a quick visit.
The boys and I learned about bats during Bat Week at the Whitewater Center. They had a few stations set up for them to do things. Did you know that a bat can eat up to 600 mosquitos in an hour!! We need to be luring more of them to MS!
Curtis and Molly came up for a visit.
This past Friday we dressed up to entertain the Chimpanzees at a Chimpanzee Sanctuary near where we are living. The chimps like looking at people who are dressed or look differently. The Chimp Project takes chimpanzees from a lab in LA that used them for research and allows them to live the rest of their lives in the sanctuary. Chimp research for biomedical use was stopped in 2015. The Chimp Project is only opened to the public a few times a year and they do not lure the animals to come out, etc.
Prior to it being a Chimp Sanctuary, it was a gorilla refuge!
Here was our tour guide.
This is the trailer they use to transport the chimps from LA to GA. There are 200 more that are awaiting placement at the sanctuary but they haven't finished enough areas to house them.
The outdoor sanctuary is enclosed by a huge concrete wall with electrical wiring. It reminded me of something from Jurassic Park.
The wall has some windows and we were able to see some in one part of the habitat.
They have heated and cooled housing as well. When it is their day to go outside, they choose if they want to go out our not. They can't let them all go out because of territory issues.
Jackson's football team made it to the playoffs! This was the first time their team has made it in over 10 years! However, they won't be going to the championship game, they got beat. It was a good season.
After the football game, they went to a Halloween party that a group of moms hosted.
Today, we biked around 20 miles on trails in Chattanooga and had fun playing along the way!
I loved rolling down hills when I was a kid. Now, it hurts. I did this down a mountain with John Gannon when he was smaller. I thought I was not going to be able to get up. It hurts now!
Check out Jackson--in the air!
Johnny got to play too!
We are so thankful for the opportunity to have time to enjoy each other during this phase in our life. It is a gift that I will be forever grateful for. Time...we only have an allotted amount. Use it wisely.
Live a Meaningful Life!
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