Feels Like Family

One of the things I was concerned about when we were first planning to "hit the road" was loss of community. I was afraid wanderers wouldn't have ongoing relationships and conversations over the back fence, or the sense of belonging to a group such as a synagog or neighborhood. When trouble came, who would come alongside to comfort, pray and lend aid? Would "the road" be a lonely place?

We learned early on that there was nothing to worry about. Not far into our journey into the full-timing world, we had one breakdown after another and were feeling truly discouraged. We ended up parked in front of service bay doors at Freightliner in Grand Junction, CO. For TEN DAYS! Long, hot and expensive days. But the shop had wifi and we belonged to several online groups, one was for Safari owners. We kept in touch. These people are awesome. One couple was nearby traveling in their four-wheeler. They made a special detour to stop by for a visit. Something about that visit from nice people we never met before taught me a valuable lesson. If you share and reach out, others will, too.

Wild Duck and Piper came to visit us at Freightliner in Grand Junction, CO

Richard and I drove truck on and off for several years and we both know well the brotherhood that exists among truck drivers. And we have owned a number of varied RVs throughout our marriage but didn't really travel far in them so we didn't recognize the bond of fellow RVers right away. 

Whether is's in the campground or on the highway or stranded in a repair shop somewhere, the sense of community among RVers and campers of all stripes is strong... just as the bond among people of faith is strong.

Walking out our faith is an important part of our lives, and since we are Messianic Believers, neither Christians nor Rabbinical Jews,  finding fellow believers can be a challenge. However, in most places where we've spent time, there has been a body of like believers, albeit sometimes small. Interestingly enough, we still keep in touch with those we have met all along the way. Facebook is really a good tool for that.

We are still in touch with the sweet people of Kol HaMashiach in Lake City, FL. Note Richard in the back row, blue shirt.

We moved out of Kissimmee South RV Resort May 31 where we had been parked since April, 2016 while Richard went back to work for Disney World so we could pay off some debt and get ready to travel again without so many breakdowns. 

Some of the friendly crew at Kissimmee South RV Resort

Richard will be working until the end of August, but we quit renting RV space when we bought an used upgraded Thousand Trails Campground membership. The expedited everything and we had one day notice that we could move to a TT Resort rent free. The crew at Kissimmee South were gracious and so sweet, waiving the notice requirement for long term renters. I still go play Bingo with them.

The internet is a fantastic way to keep in touch, as I said above, but it gets harder all the time to achieve coverage in campgrounds and mobile hotspot from your phone is limited and costly. More on that later. Meanwhile, I have a medical procedure Wednesday morning and will try to post soon thereafter about how to take care of medical needs on the road.

We'll be roaming all over and I'm just now creating a map showing all our free campgrounds and beginning to add friends and relatives we want to visit. Can't wait to take off!

All our campgrounds/resorts and just starting to add some of our possible destinations.