There's no place like home

   There really is no place like home. 

   When Ray and I made the decision that I would become a traveling nurse, we had just an inkling of what all that would entail.  But knowing that it would mean leaving our home, we decided to bring our home with us.  We bought a 34 foot Fleetwood Bounder Motor home and gave away or sold most of our earthly possessions. We rented out our house to cover the cost of the mortgage and moved into the Bounder. 

   Our first campsite was in Herrin, in the same town as our house.    Four Seasons Campground was our RV pre-school.  That’s where we learned how to hook up and tear down the electric, the water and the sewer.  Ray learned how to use the leveler legs to stabilize the camper.  We made many trips back to the house as we figured out what we could and what we couldn’t live without.  We stayed there for 3 weeks.

  All we knew about my first nursing assignment was that it was to be in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas.  The plan was to go to Texas, set up the motor home, and get my Texas RN license.  And while waiting for the final word about at which hospital I would work, we would come back by car to Illinois for Christmas with our family.

    We left Herrin on Dec 12^th, 2015.  We drove just 25 miles down the road to Murphysboro, IL. and went to a family birthday party.  We spent the night hooked up at Mudline Lodging. The sunrise was stunning, and we took off with the optimism that comes with not knowing what lies ahead.  Within one mile, the navigation tablet died.   Besides losing the GPS, we lost our entire carefully planned itinerary.  We turned around, picked up a spare GPS and left again.  When we finally stopped in Benton, Arkansas, at the I-30 Travel Park, in the middle of thunderstorm, with wind gusts of 15-20 mph. Ray had wrestled that motor home for almost 9 hours.  We were wet, cold, exhausted and glad to crawl into our own bed.

    The next day, we crossed the state line into Texas and pulled into the Welcome Center.   The sun was bright, the air crisp and clear, and we were just plain giddy with excitement!  Ray got on his hands and knees and kissed the ground. Life was good!

   By 3 pm, we had been turned away from four RV parks because of no-vacancy.   We finally found a spot at “East Fork Park” an Army Corp of Engineers’ campground in Wylie,Tx.  There was water and electric hook up but no sewer and no internet.  And although we were grateful for a place to rest, this would not do for long-term set up. 

   I accepted a 13-week assignment at the Medical Center of Arlington.  We scouted around for campsites and found many within 30 miles of the hospital, but TreeTops quickly became our first choice.  Unfortunately, they had no long-term openings so we were put on a waiting list. 

  We moved the motor home to Dodge City RV park, near Mansfield, TX.  Ray had grown up watching “Gunsmoke” on TV with his grandfather, and living in Dodge City seemed to be a perfect fit.  But, basically,  it was a gravel parking lot for campers with maybe 20 feet between neighbors.  The few trees there, were barely taller than Ray is and the thought of summer without shade was not appealing.   Although Dodge City was only about 15 miles from the hospital, it took almost 30 minutes to get me to work, in traffic up to 4 lanes deep.  And since we were down to only one car, Ray was driving back and forth twice a day.

   Two weeks later, we got the call from TreeTops! We moved on Jan 9th.  We now have a concrete slab and a picnic table, a tree on both the east and west side of the camper, a privacy hedge on the lane side of the camper, and we are within walking distance to the laundry and shower house.  We are within 3 miles of my work, within 2 minutes of a super-Target (groceries) and within 3 minutes of Cooper avenue, the main drag in Arlington.   When we pull into our campground and onto our lane, it is amazingly quiet.  The closest neighbor on the west is across the lane and on the east is an empty lot that one day will be a Rec center, and beyond that is the pool!  We hear the birds sing all day long, and crickets chirp in the evening. The rose bushes are blooming in January. 

    We have pulled this motor home to 6 campgrounds, and it is here that I finally feel like I am home and I have come to realize that home isn’t just about 4 walls and a roof and the stuff inside.  Home is about the place where you feel safe and where you can relax and feel peace. It is the place you share with the one you love.

   I hope that wherever you are, wherever you roam, that when you lay your head on your pillow to sleep, that you have a place that you call home.

Reality is different than the dream

    In most everything, the reality of a thing is different than the dream of the thing.  The dream of the gypsy life was romantic and exciting, but when the rubber actually hit the road, it was stressful and challenging and scary.
    Even with months of researching and planning, our first trip was anything but smooth.  Ray and I felt like a pair of salmon, swimming upstream, being bashed on unforseen obstacles, making little headway despite constant struggle.
    A Marine corp saying became our motto: Adapt, Improvise, Overcome. My self-talk also included  "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.", "Turn the coin over and look at the other side." and "Look for the blessing in the cursing."   It was one thing to say these words once or even twice a day, but when a new situation happened 10-15 times in a day, it was hard to keep a positive attitude, and easy to start doubting the sanity of the whole adventure idea.
    Change is hard.  We had changed every facet of our lives with the turn of the key in the ignition of a motorhome.  Brushing teeth, cooking a meal, getting mail, paying bills, traffic... it all was different.  There was no relaxing in the familiar routines of living.
    And although Ray and I were together in this, I was lonely.  I missed "my peeps", my family, my co-workers, my friends.
    Our first Sunday in an new church, the sermon was from Proverbs 3:5,6 "Lean not on your own understanding.   In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Oh, what familiar words.  I started to relax into that sweet spot of being held in His hand.
    My first day in a new job, I arrived very early.  I started exploring and found the chapel, turned the Bible to my personal verse, Isaiah 41:10, and found it already ink marked.  Someone before me had found comfort in it.  "Do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will harden you to difficulties.  I will help you."  It was like a hug from a dear friend.