Marsia's Diary

I love Serendipity as a name for your RV. It is one of my favourite words in the whole universe :beating:
I am going to really enjoy hearing about your adventures.
I keep forgetting to tell you we sold Betsy about 2 months after buying her. She was very impractical, uncomfortable, too small, difficult to drive......& just not for us.
 
Thanks LaMa, Cate, and Vic! Yesterday was cut short because K really needed practice with her band, so we had to be back in the early evening. So we went to a lovely little botanical garden and to a spot where camping is nearly free by the beach to see if it was a potential for next trip. And then we visited J's old college town and had a nice drink at a cafe with a lovely enclosed courtyard full of flowering vines and sculptures like bronze metal vines growing amongst the trumpet flowers. The van really drives smoothly and nicely for such a big thing, but I am still so tired because I did most of the driving so J could navigate - I probably drove at least 5 hours a day. Plus driving a new huge vehicle in all new places was just tiring. I didn't sleep much the night we camped out because I was snoring, so J kept shaking me awake so he could sleep, so I kept being exhausted and snoring even more. We plan to switch things up so I don't sleep in the same bed as he does because he usually keeps me awake half the night, but this time I kept him awake, too! Oh, and we also saw J's friend from college who used to live in Hawaii and I met them while there. They are really happy and adventurous. He built his own racing sail boat from scratch and takes it out a lot on the open ocean.

So today I am brain dead, because I normally sleep very well, so when I don't, I get rather blue and out of sorts. So I am doing wash and making gravy with some chicken hearts and gizzards and I'll make barbecue ribs and yams tonight. I don't have low cal veggies in the house, so I'll go shopping for lots tomorrow. And thank goodness I am back down 3 pounds, so my weight gain was not as awful as I thought. I need to start doing walks - will start tomorrow. Maybe I should get a new wetsuit top and go swim every day. I love swimming in the ocean and haven't done that in ages. I think I could actually make that a habit. So tomorrow maybe I'll go see about wetsuit tops!
 
I love Serendipity as a name for your RV. It is one of my favourite words in the whole universe :beating:
I am going to really enjoy hearing about your adventures.
I keep forgetting to tell you we sold Betsy about 2 months after buying her. She was very impractical, uncomfortable, too small, difficult to drive......& just not for us.
I looked up "serendipity" - coined by Horace Walpole (1717-92) in a letter to Horace Mann (dated Jan. 28); he said he formed it from the Persian fairy tale "The Three Princes of Serendip," whose heroes "were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of." The name is from Serendip, an old name for Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), from Arabic Sarandib, from Sanskrit Simhaladvipa "Dwelling-Place-of-Lions Island."

Sorry Betsy didn't work out. We had similar issues - the small affordable vans were so tiny and hard to use, but the big ones were so expensive. We got a used one, but it still cost way more than we wanted to pay, but it's going to be a really wonderful splurge anyway!

I am really looking forward to hearing about my adventures, too! I am so ready to go explore new places!
Serendipity is a great name! Might the internet offer instruction videos for some of the stuff that's giving you trouble? Your trip sounds magical so far!
I looked and did find a bunch of helpful stuff. Phew! It was a really lovely short trip, and hopefully a harbinger of things to come!!
 
Taking small trips until you are well used to your RV sounds like a good plan. Driving 5 hours a day sounds like way too long to me. You must be exhausted. I get very down if I am really tired & have to protect against it.
I love that you are really looking forward to your adventures xo
 
lovely enclosed courtyard full of flowering vines and sculptures like bronze metal vines growing amongst the trumpet flowers.
I would've loved to see that!
I looked up "serendipity" - coined by Horace Walpole (1717-92) in a letter to Horace Mann (dated Jan. 28); he said he formed it from the Persian fairy tale "The Three Princes of Serendip," whose heroes "were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of."
I didn't know that and it makes the word even better.
 
Thanks Cate and LaMa! I did it - I started measuring food today and calorie counting! I feel really happy and positive. I am rested now and looking forward to everything we're planning. A friend of the family is thinking of a second citizenship in Thailand, one of the very top places on my bucket list, so if he goes to explore there, maybe we can tag along. I'm planning on picking K up and doing some running and yoga on the beach today after school. It's sunny and nippy out, so should be nice if we wear jackets. I hope to get the house nice today because our contractor will be here to fix a leak under the kitchen sink tomorrow. And I'd like to pick up at least some salad greens. I think I'll make lentils for dinner in the instant pot so I don't have to spend much time cooking because I'd like to spend time figuring out the rv some too, today hopefully.

Wow, just getting out of town for a day and a half makes me enthused about life again! So better!!
 
Thanks! We went to the beach and jogged barefoot for about 20 minutes. We're both sore now, but wow does that feel better getting some cardio. Just ate my orange for dessert and now am just below calories for the day. I was too low, so I had seconds of lentils and brown rice. It's nice to be pleasantly stuffed with good for me foods but still under calories. Good start to calorie counting.

I even got some of the rv stuff figured out. And also J called the dealer and got a mini lesson. It turns out the guys who gave. us the orientation class were new and some of what they told us wasn't right. Add to that that we've never even seen the controls for an RV before, and no wonder we were confused! I'm going to keep plugging along at the videos I found because they are really informative and are helping me understand the RV systems a lot better. Thank goodness for the internet!
 
It's great that you had such a good first day of counting calories again. I had to do the same thing last night & had some yoghurt & fruit. I'm glad you are learning more about the bells & whistles in your RV. You will have so much fun as you have it at the right age. Jogging barefoot on the sand for 20 mins? Go, you!
 
Thank goodness for the internet indeed! And it's always good to get confirmation that you're not the one who's being stupid :)
Hi Lama! I think we have a steep learning curve with the rv. There are little solar panels, a little generator, shore power (meaning you can plug into an electric outlet in a camp site), and the vehicle running can charge things - and some things require more power than anything but shore power or the generator - oh, and there is an inverter to change electrical voltage. Some things need to be turned off while driving, some things need to be turned off to fill the rv propane tanks so we don't blow up, and then there is dumping grey and black water. So I think we'll be a little intimidated for a while, and won't use things until we've watched a bunch of videos and wrote notes for ourselves.
It's great that you had such a good first day of counting calories again. I had to do the same thing last night & had some yoghurt & fruit. I'm glad you are learning more about the bells & whistles in your RV. You will have so much fun as you have it at the right age. Jogging barefoot on the sand for 20 mins? Go, you!
Thanks Cate! Jogging on the beach felt really good! It's so nice how counting calories is really not that hard once you start. I did have to eat a lot of fruit yesterday to curb my snack-y feelings, but stayed under calories. We just did yoga last night, but we are getting better at it so we are sore after only 20 minutes to a half hour. Yesterday zipped by, and I got stuff accomplished, but not anything like I wanted to. It's ok because exercising is making me feel so much better, if I actually just get that done, it's good enough.

Today I went to our local federal government office, which I called yesterday to make sure of hours, and it was closed and dark. Another confused lady who was also told they were open was trying to get her passport back from them as she needs it to travel. Our federal government is such a mess. Since I was downtown anyway, I stopped in the bookstore and got a lovely book on small container gardening with all sorts of helpful info, some of which I tried to put in my gardening journal, but you have to leaf through so many pages to find all the topics just to plant one crop. So the book is really nice. I have too many books I started and want to finish though, so I need to read like crazy and catch up. Feeling happy about things in general. Another pound dropped last night. 2 pounds to go to be back to low weight.
 
I remember family vacations in a camper van in the late 80s/early 90s and there was a lot to remember even then. I'm sure all the extra options have just made it more complex but I have full faith in you ability to get used to it all.
 
Thanks LaMa. I think we'll figure it out slowly but surely. And if not, J's friend has a similar model, so we'll probably go bribe him with dinner to help us figure out the scary stuff like refilling the propane. I bet you have great memories in your family camper van! Would love to hear some!!
 
Your RV does sound like it has lots of bells & whistles, but I'm sure you'll work it out. You're a smart cookie. I think I would have a little notebook in the glove box, rather than trying to find things in a manual or online. It's a pity Rob isn't around as he would be getting used to his camper now & he's an engineer. I'm sure he would be helpful. I miss him.
When is your next adventure?
 
We never had our own but we rented one for a week or two maybe four times? They were some of our best trips :beating:
Cate, I really hope that Rob is out there touring the world in his van and just doesn´t have the time to visit the forum.
 
Hi LaMa and Cate. I think the notebook is a really good idea. I am going to do a little binder with charts for when to service the different things like the generator, batteries, etc. and keep good notes on procedures.

I hope Rob is doing well, too. I wish we had his email and could check in on him!

I made delicious butter chicken (Indian dish with loads of good for you spices) last night. I am really feeling better getting good exercise that releases stress. It's beautiful today, but we need to stay home because our contractor is fixing a trellis so the rv fits under it and it can go next to the house where it can plug in and J can use it as an office. Also the gardener guy is fixing S's fence and we are helping with the laser level so that we can get the fence in a straight line on the property line. Hopefully by spring the entire yard will be fenced in and we can do a nice garden everywhere.

We're planning on traveling a lot this summer, so I may plant lots of late fall crops and perennial herbs. Anyway, we'll probably go take a walk at the ocean after we finish up here. Hope everyone's having a great weekend!
 
I hope Rob is doing well, too. I wish we had his email and could check in on him!
I have it & have emailed him, but not heard back 😢 I do hope he's ok. I haven't given up.
our contractor is fixing a trellis so the rv fits under it and it can go next to the house where it can plug in and J can use it as an office.
That is a wonderful idea, so long as it doesn't start to feel like his workplace & not as much fun.
Getting a fenced yard will be excellent. Things are really coming together for you :grouphug:
 
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