A Respite in Alabama

Just yesterday, we were basking in a brief window of relative Floridian winter warmth, enjoying temperatures of 58 degrees during the afternoon and a good dose of sun and sand. As the sun set, the temperature plummeted to 26 degrees overnight, and a strong wind of almost 25 mph---accompanied by freezing rain---shook our rig as we slept (or tried to).

With colder temperatures and strong winds forecast for the coast all weekend, we decided to retreat inland, heading to an RV park in Summerdale, Alabama, just 40 miles from Pensacola, Florida. As full-timers living in our RV, we're members of Escapees.com, an RV'ers co-op that provides discount RV parks, mail forwarding, and other services to full-timers. (Our legal address is actually at an Escapees park in Livingston, Texas, and that's where all of our mail now goes, so please email us for our address if you don't have it, and keep those cards and letters coming!)

So, we are now encamped at our first Escapees park, taking advantage of having a clubhouse where we can play pool and ping pong, watch movies, talk with other Escapees, and enjoy having an alternative place to hang out during this cold snap.

Staying at a campground in really cold weather can feel somewhat claustrophobic when there's nowhere else to go and the cold winds are howling, so being here relieves that concern, allowing us some breathing room and the ability to spend some healthy hours apart in a warm and comfortable space! (Tina is not allowed in the clubhouse, so we'll take turns and sometimes leave her alone in the rig, poor old girl.)

For now, our plan is to remain here at "Rainbow Plantation" for the weekend, catching up on emails, writing and phone calls, meditating, reading, playing pool and ping pong, and planning for the next leg of our adventure. On Monday, we'll have an oil change and lube for the ol' "Rigatina" (formerly known as "Scottie La Blanca"), and then head to the Alabama coast or northwest Florida coast for what promises to be a week of plentiful sun and temperatures in the 50s and perhaps 60s. Imagine that! Following our week on the coast, we'll then begin heading west through Alabama and Mississippi towards Louisiana, where we hope to visit some of Mary's extended family in New Orleans before our entry into Texas (which will become our legal state of residence forthwith).

In terms of our search for intentional community, our outreach to communities in Florida has not been terribly fruitful, perhaps due to the recent holiday season. Three communities have indeed responded to our inquiries, but two of them are still in the forming stage and are not yet up and running, and the other---the Kashi Ashram in Sebastian----was, alas, too far south for us to make the trek. We are now focusing our sights on intentional communities in Texas, and will soon begin reaching out to the ones that have piqued our interest (of which there are many).

We would love to post more videos for your enjoyment over the next few days, and it remains to be seen if we have the bandwidth to do so. Please know it's our clear intention to fully entertain you with our audiovisual antics, but sometimes technology does not cooperate with our intentions! (If you're just tuning in to our adventure, welcome, and know that there are some recently posted videos available for your viewing pleasure!)

Until next time, be well, be happy, and please do keep in touch!