Little needed to live happy

March 23 - April 3, 2014 (12 days)

Lums Pond State Park - Bear, DE
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CONTENTS

RV LIFE

BROWSING THE WWW

HOUSE HUNTING

PETS

BOOK REVIEWS

RESTAURANT REVIEW

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RV LIFE:
We are currently in Bear, DE. Yeah!...Not! But it IS better than the desert or Texas.Lums Pond State Park has large, spread out sites, with large shade trees, an open field and a huge pond. My idea of comfort.
We have been in three different sites so far at this park. There are only 8 sites with electric, none with water or sewer. We weren't able to make reservations very far ahead, because of not knowing our schedule because of our engine trouble in Texas and looking at property in Tennessee. We were only able to book for 12 days. The weekends fill up here from Spring through Fall.
In those 12 days, Scott has been busy helping his family clear out the family home of 50+ years & visiting his parents in an independent living apartment (Mom) and assisted living (Dad). I have been glued to the computer cleaning up records, taking on more responsibility for the English Setter Rescue.Yes, more responsibility! But the good news, it is mainly computer work, not people work. It has been very time consuming, actually like a real job but I can set my own hours.
Nearing the end of our 12 days, I knew the family home was not ready to be abandoned yet. I suggested to Scott that we should stay longer. He agreed, but where to go??? There really is very little in the way of RV parks in this area of DE/NJ. There is a 2 week limit here at Lums Pond State Park. Hmmm, maybe...if I reserve the next two weeks under my account (reserve America) and not Scott's, we can get away with staying longer, IF there are any open spots.
Turns out, the 2 week limit is only from Memorial Day thru Labor Day. Found one site available with electric for the time we need except for the weekend, of course! So we decide to reserve a no utilities site for the weekend and then the electric site for 10 days.
Boondocking is not for me. It seems every time we try to boondock, it is overcast and cold. The RV heater sucks up battery power quickly and is inefficient. I do not like being cold in my home.
And yes, our weekend boondocking was not fun...for me. I don't like having to think which outlet is wired for solar power/battery or what lights and appliances I can run at the same time. This RV is my home, I'm not "camping". I'm spoiled by having to space heaters available to make the RV toasty warm on a dreary, rainy day. We have the Mr Buddy or something like that propane heater, but it uses up the little propane bottles within a few hours.
Now Scott on the other hand, was very happy with our two day boondocking experience. Everything worked as it should. He did a great job installing the solar panels and wiring. He also wired the generator, so he doesn't have to take it out of the bed of the truck to run to the RV. I'm happy for him. I did let him know i don't enjoy boondocking, but if he want's to do it again, I can put up with it.
Electric! The little things that make me happy. Prior to our weekend boondocking, I was wishing we had water and sewer, but after boondocking, I'm THRILLED to just have electric again!
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BROWSING THE WWW:
Wow! The World has survived without my blogging regularly.
Wow! My family has survived without my blogging regularly.
Wow! Fellow RV'rs, crafters, readers have survived without my blogging regularly.
Wow! I have survived without blogging regularly.
Things have calmed down once again in my life. My stress level is lowered, yet I'm still quite depressed, but I can now "hide" that fact and function again.
Life has gone on all around me.
Susan from Beluga's Excellent Adventure has left Florida is moving North.
Carla from Cozy Be Gone is getting ready to head out from their Winter stay in Alabama. She has become quite the blogger with info on what to do, where to go, RV mods, etc.
Marikay from Merikay's Dream is no longer parked in their driveway. They closed on their house recently in California. She is officially a full timer, although they really have been for a couple of months, just not traveling yet.
These are the 3 main blogs I keep up with.
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HOUSE HUNTING:
We still have the itch to settle down into a house again. I am very concerned about the commitment again. We will be heading to Tennessee vis West Virginia next. There is lots of real estate available in Tennessee. Especially, since we are open to looking at houses throughout the state, although we prefer the Eastern, mountainous area. I hope that I have learned my lesson about collecting "stuff", just because we will have the space. Living in a RV proves how little we really need to be happy. I still remember purging our NJ house of the things we've had and not used for 20 years, just because it was there was room and it was out of the way. Now with emptying the in-law's house, again, the things we keep for "memories" yet they are stored in the attic or basement and never to be looked at again, until moving. Suddenly all those "precious" items that were saved are no longer precious! We're told to just throw them out or donate. My greatest lesson learned is that we don't need much to be happy.
I keep thinking what it is that wants me to have a house again and be stuck in one spot.
1) I was not unhappy just staying home instead of going on vacation. As long as I find my sweet spot to relax, I am happy in the same place day in and day out.
2) I want a bigger kitchen.
3) I want room to foster dogs.
4) I want a fenced yard for the dogs to be able to run.
That's about it. I've traveled plenty. I've seen many places I never expected to. I am ready to settle and if anyone wants to visit, that's fine. They can come to me instead of me going to them. I'm glad we have experienced full time RV'ing and will continue if the almost perfect home and property don't appear.
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PETS:
Devin has been having a blast at Lums Pond State Park. Because it is practically empty, except for weekends, I've been walking him with a 25' lead. He loves running and bouncing around. Grabbing sticks and giving them to me. He has great recall while on the long lead. He doesn't pull on the lead and he returns periodically for a fly by to check in with me. Now if he would only do that off leash also. Devin has also been able to take regular quick dips in the pond that is really a decent sized lake.
And of course, Devin is known for enjoying the little luxury of comfy chairs.
I visited a dog rescue friend recently & of course I took our two Setters. Lynne has a fenced in back yard which Devin would really enjoy. After some running around and sniffing her two Setters, Devin settled down.

Settled into the Lynn's comfy chair.

And then we've been  clearing out the in-law's house. We don't want to leave the dogs in the RV if they can be with us. So sure enough, Devin settles in nicely while we work.

Ahhh, leather, nice!

And then of course, "Home is where you park it". Devin always settles in his blue chair at each site we stay at.

Ahhh, just right. (Lums Pond in the background))

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AUDIO BOOK REVIEW:

The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I listened to the audio version. Oh when will this end? I tried, but after many hours just had to end my own torture of listening to this book. The killer is definitely a sicko, but the story just rambled on and on. I couldn't figure out who was who and dreaded trying to finish.
BOOK REVIEW: (Kindle edition)

Soul of Flame by Rebecca Ethington
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This series continues to keep me obsessed. This is the 4th in the 5 book series. Joslyn learns her strengths & how to use them.  Joslyn learns how to deal with love interests Ryland and Ilyan. Her hatred for Edmund grows. The book is leading up to the battle of good vs. evil.
I am still in awe of the imagination of these fantasy/paranormal writers.

Coming Home by Laurie Breton
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I'm so glad this was free.
At 57 yrs old, I just don't have the patience for an 18 year old girl getting married, (at least she wasn't pregnant), and then after knowing someone for a short time, decide to marry the other. That's a fickle 18 yr old for you. No mention of how she broke the news to her ex fiance.
And then she and her wanna be rock star hubby start having problems. Gee, I couldn't see that coming. Relationships developed so quickly that I felt like I was reading an abridged version of the book. I did not finish.
I have been enjoying Young Adult books, but this one is more teenage, NON adult genre.
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RESTAURANT REVIEW:
It's been a while since I've reviewed a restaurant. We haven't been eating out much.
Italian Kitchen - Pennsville, NJ

Our rating 3.5 out of 5
We've ordered take out a number of times from here.
They have an excellent pumpkin cake roll with cream cheese filling.
Their chef's salad is huge and full of all the goodies a chef's salad should have.
I was expecting the garlic sticks to be typical "Olive Garden" type which I'm not impressed by. These garlic sticks aren't very garlicky, but they taste homemade. A deliciously seasoned dough that I just can't enough of.
Chicken and Italian Strombolis were: full of meat and cheese. Yum.
I was disappointed in their pasta dinner though. Very plain tomato sauce and over cooked pasta.
The pizza was also just ok. Probably the best in Pennsville, NJ, but that is not saying much.