In April I was home doing several craft projects like doing my twining weaving bags of different colors and sizes and doing lots of baking to share with others. I decided to leave on another trip in my camper van in May so I was getting things together for my trip. I had the camper van washed and waxed, and checked by the mechanics and had work done to brake lines, etc. I do my best to make sure everything is in working order. One of my friends asked me when was the last time I took a trip and didn’t have any mechanical or other issues happen? I couldn’t remember, it has been a while. However, any time something was an issue I was able to get it fixed or resolved, sometimes I had to drive a while for the fix, other times I could get it fixed where I was. I have always been safe during the process, for which I am really grateful. I brought lots of the inspirational smiles I make and gave them away as I traveled. People seem to really like them.
I left on May 11th and drove through several states including South Carolina where I stopped to see one of my fire chief friends in New Prospect, SC and then on to Kingsport, Tennessee where I spent about a week visiting with friends. Then I drove through other cities in Tennessee, to Arkansas and into Missouri to visit other friends for a week. In Missouri, it did rain and was cooler weather which was nice. All my travels were safe, and when I got to my friends house in Missouri I pulled on the grassy area near the street and didn’t realize the grass was muddy and got one of my rear tires stuck in the mud. I went across the street and saw the people had a tractor and they were kind and came and gently pulled me out of the muddy grass. I found a level spot on the side of the house where the grass was more solid. It did rain for a few days and thankfully I was able to not get stuck in the soft wet grass, I almost thought I was stuck when I went to leave on Monday, but thankfully I was able to carefully to get off the grass onto the pavement. There were two feral cats on the back porch of my friends house and one of them had four tiny kittens. I loved them and wanted to take one but knew I didn’t need one.
Then I had to stop at a few RV repair places to get my camper van checked because the check fridge light came on intermittently which meant my fridge was not working. One place I was led to wasn’t able to work on changing the regulator which they thought was the problem, I found another dealer about 90 minutes away that was able to move and replace the regulator and while I was there I had them service the rooftop air conditioner to keep it running well.
After a little time in Arkansas to get repairs done, I drove on back roads to Madray Springs, Georgia to visit my fire fighter friends there that I have known and stayed in touch for the past 13 years. I was on back roads and tried to find somewhere level to park for the night and couldn’t find anywhere and pulled into a parking lot to turn around on some narrow streets and the pavement into the parking lot had a deep dip and it seems I bent the bottom of my back step. It still works but is bent a bit. Also, when I started on the trip and turned the water on in my little bathroom I noticed water on the floor. At the first RV place I stopped at in Arkansas I told them and they found that a fitting in the outdoor shower had a crack in it so they replaced it and it seems to have solved the problem. It was nice to not have any leaks, my friend Bruce at home spent a lot of time working on fixing the leaks when we determined where they were. Last two years on my trips, and a few years before that also, I know there were leaks and I was soaking up water with towels which was not fun, especially at night or when I was stopped. I am so glad and grateful the leak was fixed.
The Georgia firefighters and their families are so special to me. I parked behind the fire station and was told to make myself at home. I love their shower it has great water pressure. When I arrived at the station one of the volunteer fire fighters came and welcomed me and bought me a dozen eggs from his chickens. They had a fire training meeting a few days after I got there and one of my friends from about an hour east of where I was came to see me and we had lunch together and I had her get me some groceries so I could make a meatball and pasta dinner for the fire fighters for their meeting. They are so nice to me and I wanted to do something special for them.
A few days after I was there the County Fire Chief stopped by the fire station and presented me with a beautiful plaque thanking me for all I do for the local fire departments in Wayne County and he gave me some Count fire department decals which the Madray Springs fire chief put on my camper van beneath the one from Madray Springs that has been there for about ten years. I told the assistant chief that I needed to get an oil change and he said he could do it for me. I didn’t expect that, but I know these are the most special men. The bulletin board in the day room still has the newspaper articles and pictures from 13 years ago when I first bought them fire gear and equipment. They built and put two trailers around locally with signs for people to put their aluminum cans in it so they can be recycled and the money is used to buy items needed for the fire department.
Sunday morning they made breakfast for whoever came to the station. On my way to the fire station the check fridge light came on again and the guys gave me the name of someone who has a RV dealership in Jesup, Georgia and I called him and he gave me the name of a mobile repair man. I called and connected with him and he came out the next Tuesday and of course we could not get the check fridge light to come in, even unplugging the camper from electric and trying different ways to see if the light would come on with no success. The repair man said it seems everything is working well and intermittent problems are hard to detect what the problem is,, especially when the light was not on when he was there. I offered to pay him for the service call and he would not take my money, so I gave him a hug and thanked him with gratitude.
The night before I left to drive towards home I was invited to the fire chiefs house for dinner and I taught his wife how to make a loaf of sandwich bread. She has been making some sourdough bread which takes a bit of time, so I made some regular bread that doesn’t take as long. We had lots of rain almost daily while I was in Missouri, Arkansas, and also Georgia. It was strange weather in Georgia. It would rain, then the sun would come out, and it would rain again, sometimes with the sun out. It was warmer there than in Missouri. One night in Missouri I was cold, and I have warm clothes and blankets but didn’t want to dig them out of the compartment under the sofa. I remembered that I have several of the silver emergency blankets that are like foil, and I remembered that many years ago in Utah when I was cold I used it over me to keep warm, and so I got it out of the cabinet and opened it and pulled it over me over my blanket and it kept me really ward. It’s the same silver foil type material that is on the sun protectors for the car windows.
I drove home safely and the fridge worked all the way home, which was good but while in Georgia I ate almost everything that was in the fridge in case it didn’t work I would not lose much food.
I was able to weave a few bags while I was away and gifted a few to friends on my trip, along with bookmarks I paint. When I was in Missouri I wove a bag for an elderly man I visited who is now in Hospice and he uses a walker and carries his cell phone, so I made a small cell phone bag that I have made for me and many others so he could put his phone in it and put it around his neck and he really likes it and he told me on the phone after I got home that he uses it all the time to keep his phone in so it’s handy for him even when he is sitting in his chair. I made it in his favorite colors and I love that it is helping him to have his phone handy.
Inspirational smiles I have made and given away are a big hit. I give them out everywhere and often give baggies of them to people so they can share them with others. I have made 40,000 of them in the past 2 and a half years. Before I left home on my trip I ordered stickers to make about 10,000 more of them because I knew I didn’t have many left and thought I would give the rest of them away on my trip. The company I bought the wood circles from was out of stock and when I got home I saw they had 6,000 circles so I ordered those, and will watch when they get more in stock to order about 12,000 more. I ordered more stickers too so I plan on making about 18,000 to 20,000 more to distribute and send to friends around the country. I will have lots of the stickers and hopefully can get more wood circles from the company I like using because they have the best price and bags of 1,000 circles.
When I packed for my trip, I brought clothes for different temperatures and supplies and clothes to be away for about four months. However, while I was away about 3 weeks I got a call from an ElliQ representative telling me they are going to be in my county filming people that have ElliQ for their promotional info and asked if I would be willing to be interviewed and recorded. I told them I would be glad to do so. I love ElliQ it’s an AI device that keeps me active and has lots of features that are informative and educational. So, I came home earlier than I planned to record a video, also the city library where I live has art classes in June and July that I signed up for. So, I came home earlier than I planned and have thought about maybe leaving in August on another trip somewhere, not sure where yet, maybe back to Georgia which is about 420 miles north of where I live and the 2nd weekend in November is the Native Rhythms Festival that I go to every year. It’s a Native American Flute Festival in Wickham Park in Melbourne, Florida. I love that event and have been going for many years. Two years ago one of the workshops was on twining which is an old Native American weaving technique and I loved the workshop and now make lots of bags in different sizes and colors. I even entered a few of them in the art competition last year and will probable do so again this year.
That’s about it for now.
