Negative Opinions

Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you didn't listen to the negative opinions of others. I wonder. I mean some opinions can actually keep you from making decisions that carry serious consequences. But I'm talking about when your life is actually going right, and your systems are in place. Then someone, who sees things differently, says, "Oh no, you can't do that!" about whatever you are doing that is different than what they would do.

So many things in my life have been affected negatively because someone gave a negative opinion. I know I didn't have to follow their advice, or did I intentionally follow their advice. But just the suggestions starts working into your subconscious and you start doing things their way. It wasn't that they were wrong, but their "advice" was wrong for you. And pretty soon you are doing it their way and you have totally messed up what you were doing. And it is very hard to go back.

So as a people, we need to look at someone who is happy, truly happy, with what they are doing in their life, and leave them alone. I was going to write "unless they are hurting themselves or others", but if they are truly happy, they would not be doing that. They are probably just different.

So we need to just leave them alone about it. But that is just my "negative opinion."

FRUSTRATION

If you know my husband, you know my frustration. Thomas would like to get a house. Well, at least, we need to work out any problems that are affecting our travel.

I like living in the city. I like raising animals, especially small livestock. I like owning property. And I like traveling.

I don't like constantly not knowing what is going on. I told him before this started not to change his mind. We have been working almost three years getting ready for this time. I have given away or lost almost everything I owned. I gave up on my dreams. No, I changed my dreams. I have always wanted to travel, but, in additon to something else.

My husband changes his mind...alot. He is stressed right now about his parents. When they are feeling better, he will feel better. I just have to wait...and pray.

ON A DARK ROAD IN TEXAS

It didn't last long. You know, our we're-going-to-get-away-from-this-cold-weather trip. Thomas' mom has been in the hospital, and she doesn't show any signs of getting out soon. He felt bad that he was out of state, and he wanted to be there for her. So last night, we decided to come back to Oklahoma. I felt we needed to sit there in Wichita Falls until we knew for sure what we were doing, but we had put too much in the tank already. I knew we would need the gas, for an emergency, so I told him we would go back. We were spending a bit of it anyway driving around looking for wifi and laundromats. So after a very short nap, we hit the road.

I decided to take a different highway to Waurika. I was trying to shorten our mileage and gas consumption, so we took Highway 79 going north. I would have preferred the interstate, but there wasn't one out of town. It was a small, two lane road. After about 20 minutes, I saw flashing lights in my mirror. I was going about 10 miles under the speed limit, so I couldn't imagine why he was pulling me over. My main thought about being pulled over is always the dogs. Bengy had been crankier toward people parking next to us. The chis were acting more nervous. I think they had gotten use to staying in a house. Mom would keep them while we ran errands.

When he walked up to the window, I had my license ready. He said, "How many dogs do you have?" I told him the truth, and showed him the envelope with their papers. He asked where we were going, and told me that he pulled me over because my tag light was out. I told him we were going back to OKC (because of Thomas's sick mom) after spending some time in Wichita Falls. He asked for my license and car insurance. I kept pulling out the wrong papers, and started telling him where we got the van and more information than he probably needed. Anyway, we ran my license, and by the time he came back, I had found the insurance card. He just glanced at it, told me again why I needed to get my tag light fixed, and gave me a written warning. He assured me it wouldn't go on my record. I was glad I had the paper in case I got pulled over again, but then today was upset that I got one. I didn't feel I had done anything to get pulled over, and when we looked, Thomas tapped it and it came back on! He was very nice and I'm sure probably found the whole thing quite humorous.

I had thought about taking a nap before leaving town. I had thought about taking a different highway. But I didn't. So I did the what ifs, and didn't stop driving until I got to Waurika on the other side of the border. Thomas tapped the light, and then we drove to Ardmore. I was very tired, but I didn't want to sleep until I got to the Flying J.

Several more police cars passed us, and one even followed us, but we didn't get stopped again. I am use to being followed, and they drive real close, but I just maintain my speed and don't panic. They usually get bored and quit following, especially if I am going under the speed limit. I noticed the Texas officer was reading the side of the van when he walked up. I think we were getting attention looking like a church driving around late on a Friday night.

The temps were going into the single digits last night, so I didn't want to stop for long. I slept for a couple hours at the FJ, then since I got out to go to the restroom, I decided to go on. Bad idea. I was sleepy, so I stopped in Pauls Valley. I pulled into a McDonalds and pulled a blanket over my head. Thomas had the phone, so I didn't know what time it was. It seemed like half an hour later, Bengy let out a warning bark, so I woke up and looked in my side mirror. A man was getting into his car, and I had the impression that he might have approached the van. I left. As soon as I got on the highway, I started getting sleepy again. I was drinking bottles of water to try to stay awake. I made it to Purcell and pulled into Walmart. I pulled the blanket over my head again and tried to get comfortable. My shoulder was really bothering me by then. When I woke again, the sun was coming up. I would only start the van if I was driving, so I left again. I had not had much sleep in 3 days, so I was still having problems staying awake. I drank another bottle of water, but it wasn't helping much. By Norman, I was waking Thomas up again to keep me awake. We made it to Mom's by 9am. After taking the dogs in, she made me a cup of hot tea, and I fell asleep sitting on her couch.

CHILLIN

It seems the latest topic on everyone's mind has been the weather. It's not raining, snowing, ice, or any of those usually nasty things. It's just cold! And this was when Thomas and I decided to take off on our trip.

Well, the plan was to get in a warmer climate. Don't snowbirds usually go south for the winter?

We were planning to meet up with similar 'birds in Quartzsite, Yuma, or The Slabs. For the uninformed, those are meetups for people who want to travel out of cold weather. They can become overnight cities with tens of thousands of people all there for the same purpose-to be warm and meet with friends. Now, I have not been to any of them yet, but I have read alot about them. They seem like a lot of fun; the weather is nice; but like any city, you still have to exercise caution. They have even had people take walks in the desert and not come back. But the same thing happens on cruises, and people don't quit taking cruises.

But, I digress. Living in a van has many advantages, but also several disadvantages. The biggest one I would say is the weather. In hot weather, you can open the doors and allow a breeze to blow through. The top of the van even provides shade. It is like sitting on your covered porch. But in the winter, you either need some type of added heater (such as a trucker's heater), or you can wind up spending your travel money on heating your van. I will usually wait to run mine. That's what blankets and sleeping bags are for.

We did very well last winter in the Windstar. But we ran the engine alot to heat the van. This van seems to hold the heat better. And with the sun shining in, we have not had to run the van today, even though it is in the 20s. Keep warm!

Wichita Falls

Ardmore was chilly, dark, and 40 felt like 10. The winds were very high. We were running the heater, and I decided this trip that if I am going to use the gas for heating, I will drive. So we left yesterday evening.

Now I prefer interstate driving, but I also believe in saving money. It was going to take us a lot more miles to go down to Dallas and then go west. That would mean a longer time, even if I was spending the same money each day. But I'm not. The cold was coming. And I wanted to be somewhere warmer. Now I know it is still cold here, but it is not as cold as the central part of Oklahoma. And with the sun today, I am not running the heater.

My travel plan is just drive up to 50 miles a day. That is only 70 dollars a week in gas money. I spent that much in OKC and even more driving to Macomb. I use to spend 140/week in gas, and one month was 1000 dollars! So if I am spending the same amount: why not go and enjoy myself? But....with the cold we are not doing much sightseeing, and I have spent most of the first week's allowance now.

Both of our moms are missing us, and one dear friend is vocalizing her concern for our lunacy, but this is something we have wanted to do for a long time. I like Wichita Falls, but I noticed I like bigger towns. I'm not really a country girl; I just "slept" in the country. I was never home!

Anyway, we left Ardmore, and because we were heading west, I went down a "red road." This is the name for the roads marked in red on a map. I don't want to do that again, but I will have to when we leave here, because there are not any interstates. We are rethinking where we are going, but we may stay here a few days because of the gas usage. We stopped in Waurika last night, and I did not have cell coverage. But I did find wifi! I sent messages to different ones in case we disappeared.

The sun feels good. Safe travels!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

We're so excited! We are on the road again.

Finishing up our trip to Kansas, Mom's ride didn't work out, so we took her home. We had to do it in a day, because she needed to get back to work. We were going to take it slow, to stretch out our gas money, but she paid for the gas. We got back to OKC, two weeks to the day after leaving.

And then, we sat there. We had several doctors' appointments, a friend's party, and Christmas, all in Shawnee. We had postponed the first appointment until we got back, moved up the 2nd one, then had to wait till the 31st for the 3rd. In the meantime, we missed having Christmas with children because of the Big Oklahoma Blizzard of 2009. There's a link on Facebook for those who survived. Me? I stayed indoors. I have always hated winter, so if I don't have to go out, I won't. Thomas had to take care of Bengy, our Lab mix. He was the only dog not allowed in the house. We put him in the van when he started getting wet. We tried to set him up a shelter, but he would not go in it. He has never liked dog houses, and he would rather stand in the rain. So we put him in the van, and he was a lot happier. This is the male dog that we have tried to give away. My mom didn't like him, until she met him, but now she says he is a good dog. Here is a couple of his earlier photos. He would love to have a fenced backyard, but we can't find anyone to take him. He is not use to strangers, so he growls at people.

Anyway, after trying twice at home base to get everything taken care of, we were off! Mom tried to get us to stay longer because of the frigid temps, but I was concerned about Thomas and Bengy staying outside without heat. We can't afford to just run the van, though we have anyway. We went to the house to check on it, and Thomas found more stuff he thought we needed before they take the house. But our storage is full, so now we have a bed frame, end boards, and a small table in the van, until we can find someone to take them. This place is still a mess, and I can't get to my bedroom until we find a thrift store to take them. Oh, well, maybe by the time we are in New Mexico, I'll be done.

Right now, we are in Ardmore. We can stay at a truck stop, or I can drive farther tonight. The only way we can do this is if we travel an average of 50 miles a day. This will be a slow trip compared to the last one. But we are headed in the direction of California. Say a prayer for us!

THANKSGIVING

When we got to Kansas, I was exhausted. I slept 2 hours a night for 2 days, and about 4 hours a day for 3 days. So I actually got 2 nights sleep for 5 days. I looked awful. When we picked up TJ's family, I seemed fine. But after that, my eyes started running, and by the time I got to Kansas, I looked like I had pink eye. And I looked like I was twice my age! I kept telling everyone, I think it is just an allergic reaction. I blamed TJ. I told him the last time I had that problem he was around, then I didn't have a problem while they were gone. Well, it turned out that it was just exhaustion. It took two days for my face to finally come back to normal. I finally got some rest. And I got to spend alot of time with my grandbaby. Everytime I went into the house, they handed me the baby. Which was fine. I took advantage of the next week and spent time with my family. I took them to my brother's house. It was the first time I got to see his house. He had about 15 rooms! It was like two houses in one and a big finished basement. It was huge. We had a very good time while there. It was great to park in the backyard. On Wednesday, my mom and the other grandmother arrived. We had a good dinner and visit. The next few days, Thomas and I explored the southern suburbs of KC. I was looking for Super Walmart's. We went to Overland Park. It was a nice, modern city, but an old Walmart. I didn't find a Super while I was there. We were trying to save on gas too. We didn't have a lot left. I wanted to go back to OK thru Branson, Missouri and Eureka Springs, Arkansas, but I wasn't sure I had the gas for it. I even thought about going thru Talequah. We took a side trip to Lawrence to see my aunt; and discovered HULU. We watched the old Tremors episodes. It was like watching a marathon. And each day we said we were leaving the next day.

INTO TENNESSEE

It seemed like I was going thru major metropolis during rush hour. We went thru Little Rock at lunch time, and Memphis at dinner. Little Rock was not bad at all, but Memphis was like riding a roller coaster. It was fast; it was curvy; and it was long. It was also dark. But the bridge over the Mississippi was beautiful.

We had stopped at a rest stop between LR and Memphis, but I didn't rest. We were trying to make Nashville by the end of the night, but I was just too wore out by 9pm, so we spent the night at a Sam's Club in Jackson. We were able to pull in among the rvs there. We put up window screens and settled for the night. We drove over 305 miles that day.

We were up and going at 730 the next morning. We drove thru a state park and stopped in Sugar Tree. It was alot of trees and hills, but I hadn't seen the big mountains that TJ had talked about. I drove thru Nashville, and it wasn't bad either. We stopped in Mt. Joliet at Dollar Tree, but pulled out soon after. But before we did, the lock broke on our side door. We have to work at it to unlock the door. I was concerned about anything happening. The van did great, but after it was over with, the armrest on the passenger side broke off. We are getting a lot of wear out of this van too.

We went thru Crossville and Knoxville, and wondered why most of the towns end in "ville." It just seemed unusual. We finally reached Sevierville about 11 that night. It was so good to see my family again after 2 months. My grandbaby had doubled his size. Our final day total was over 400 miles. We had to go get their belongings and pick up some other things. TJ wanted me to see Gatlinburg where he use to work, so I told him we would run thru it before leaving. It was very beautiful in the middle of the night. Thomas and I would like to go back next summer. It looked like an amusement park. TJ told us that bears run thru the town. I didn't see any bears, but the mountain leading up to Knoxville was a little scary at night. I would get dizzy if I tried to turn my head while I was driving. Anyway, I told them we could not spend the night because I didn't want the van to be too cold for the baby. So I decided to basically drive thru to Kansas. But first, we had three and a half states to go in between.

We drove thru Knoxville, Cookville, Clarksville, and Nashville. We did stop in Mt. Juliet, but I liked to point out all the "villes." Kentucky was a hundred mile trip thru a very dark road with few exits. We did stop one place to freshen up, but mainly everyone slept while I drove.

Finally, we made it to Illinois. We stopped at one really interesting truckstop. Illinois was scary. The roads were dark with no exits, except state park roads. I pulled off at one exit that had two gas stations that said, "Hunters welcome" and "Trucks NOT". Well, you get the idea. It was a little scary in the middle of the night. I said, "I don't think so." TJ told me later that he heard me. I mean, if they don't accept trucks, I'm not comfortable there. When I did find a truckstop, it was like a redneck truckstop. The bathroom stall was all ridged steel. It was like being in a room full of mirrows. Our last stop in Illinois was in Nashville at a McDonald's. It was 430 in the morning, and there were trucks (finally found my trucks) in the back parking lot. I took a little nap, then my daughter in law and I bought breakfast. And we hit the road again. We left by 630am, just in time to hit St. Louis at the 730 rush hour.

Ah, St. Louis... I don't know which was worse to go thru during rush hour: St. Louis or Memphis. I think St. Louis was scarier. We drove over 25 miles before we started to leave the city. We kept driving thru suburbs. Then I was driving back and forth looking for gas. On this trip, I had the hardest time finding gas stations at Walmart's. I found one Sam's Club that would sell me gas, and after Oklahoma, all the gas was ethanol. Very disappointed, but the van did alright with it. I tried to keep the tank over half full. By Missouri, I was going farther before stopping. I was trying to get there in a hurry. It took me from Monday afternoon to late Wednesday night to get to eastern Tennessee, but it didn't take two whole days to get to Kansas City. We were going thru Kansas City during (you guessed it) rush hour. Finally mileage for Friday was: 434 miles. The trip total was: 1,853 miles. Seven states in 5 days. I was exhausted.