April showers bring May flowers. Unless you live in Yellowstone. #rollingandwriting
April brought many changes for the every-day-hero and I and I had to travel home to help take care of my mother who fell and broke her hip. I am now back in Yellowstone and looking forward to sharing much about our life in the park. This place is amazing as are all of the national parks and treasures of our nation.
One of the things I'm asked about often is if it is hard to be far away from those I
love. Well, sure. I always miss someone. Here in the park I've met several people who have never been away from family for this length of time and worry about if something happens and they need to go home. I think my flight from Bozeman answers the questions they have. There is always a way to go back and if a road goes one direction it can go the other as well. When you live in an RV full time you begin to feel that things aren't so far away as they seem.
You can always go home. When I found out my mother had fallen I got the last seat on the first flight I could get. There is always a way.
I must admit though that my perspective might be skewed a little after living overseas for fifteen years. Still, we love this lifestyle, and even though we miss people we know we'll be back around to see them before the year is out.
Now that I'm back to Yellowstone, I've been enjoying some of the sights and sounds. There is still a good deal of snow in many places and they are calling or more this weekend. Although I have been getting out and about, even having a meet-up with author friends, I have spent most of my time getting caught up on work. The longer we live in the RV the more we adapt and find better ways of doing things. For example, this week I ordered a laptop stand that I can place over my lap and elevate my computer. Looking down at the screen too much is not good for my neck so I will adapt. Not only will I be able to sit in the recliner and write I can also put this stand on the countertop
and use it as a standing desk. Notice that I chose the one with the cup holder. I'll need my cup of tea to be productive. Every person is different so they need to find what works for them. Many RVers work on the road and there are a wide variety of items needed to make this possible. For now, I hope this will do it for me. https://amzn.to/3vM6K7P
Along with having to go home and make some minor modifications to my workspace, I'd like to remind folks of the importance of spare parts. This week the every-day-hero had to replace the thermostat on the hot water heater. This is not an easy job and is in a very tight space. He was able to get a thermostat at an RV dealer in Bozeman but he ordered another set in case this one ever goes bad. The items are tiny and take little room but make a big difference in our comfort. Keeping some spare items in the rig will help
keep you rolling if something goes wrong. It is always a balancing act on what to take and what to leave but think about those items that wear out quickly and consider having them on hand. It's hard to believe that these tiny items would mean our electric hot water couldn't work. Fortunately, we do have gas as well. This reminds me of the importance of redundancy. Even though our electric hot water wasn't working we had gas. This is why we bought small space heaters as well. At the moment two other RVs have one each of them because they are having heating issues. I hope we get them back soon.
These are just a few thoughts on #rollingandwriting. I'm focusing on the writing right now and have had two back-to-back releases. With everything happening it got a little crazy but I'm getting back on track now. I still love writing and though it is a huge job when you do pretty much all of it yourself, it is something that gives my heart joy and lets us keep moving forward with this life.
Looking at these pictures it is easy to tell why we want to keep doing what we do.
If you haven't seen the new books I'll post them below.
