Baby Malanah

I love it when the unexpected is this fun!  

Our big road trip + finally feeling settled + tyrannical travel restrictions = Rekindled Desire for a Motorhome.

Damon embarked on an epic coast to coast search for a 19ft Airstream Interstate. Most dealers have an 8 - 10 month waiting list. After about a week, he struck Gold at a dealership in Tampa! We could pick it up a few days after Christmas!  

He excitedly lined up all of the preparation pieces!  

We rented a car and left on the 27th.  It was so exciting!  We drove about 1/2 of the distance, shared some KFC chicken strips for dinner, and stayed the night in a hotel :)

The next morning we finished the drive and went to the bank to gather the down payment.  Damon can't wait until he can do this transaction in Bitcoin.  Free from the fiat currency system..... but for now,  we waited..... and jumped through hoops....  until we could take out our own money ;)

Damon jumping in here: it took 3 levels of authority and 15 minutes to get our money. The teller couldn't do it, called his supervisor over. The supervisor couldn't do it, had to get the branch manager. It's our freaking money, give us the money! We think the money in our bank account is ours. Actually it's not. We are at the mercy of the institutions and government to access the money in the bank accounts. It can be frozen at any time (I saw this first hand in 1986 when I was in Brasil, they froze everyone's bank accounts for 3 months and people couldn't access their money), it is stolen away from us by money printing (this is happening every day and more rapidly now, the money stored in the bank is melting away every day). So that's why Mitzi said I can't wait to do transactions like this in Bitcoin someday. No middleman, no centralized authority. No need for permission. I really can't wait :) Ok, rant over for now haha.

We returned the rental car and an Uber driver dropped us off at the Airstream dealership.  

The town we completed all the of prep work in was called Brandon, Florida.  I loved their town sign.  If you knew Brandon he often said, "Make it a Great Day!"

Oh Jonesey..... the intersections of life are just so interesting at times.  I smiled through teary eyes and thought about you.  I shared this picture with our girls and our extended family.  I'm so thankful for good memories and the gift of living again and creating new chapters.  

When we got to the dealership we discovered all of the paperwork was drawn up with me as the owner and Damon as the co-signer.  We had a little laugh:)  

They handed over the keys and offered to take our picture.  (This is my second favorite picture from our trip.)

And then they took us back to see her!  This is my FAVORITE picture!  Look at this kid and his smile :).  More tears and more smiles from me.  I'm so happy he has a motorhome again!

We get a quick "how too" lesson inside and out, and then they park it out under a big beautiful tree with dreamy Spanish moss.

We load in some essentials we had brought from our home and started playing with all the accoutrements.

We unhooked and drove her into Brandon for some dinner.  As Damon drives I chat with one of my girls from the back seat :)

Damon is so excited that she fits in a normal parking space!

And then we head back to the dealership to sleep our first night :)

Damon tries out a few work spots.  I make the bed.  And we have our first sleep over in a parking lot :)

I make Damon some breakfast the next morning, and then we get on the road!

Damon finds us a spot at Griffin State Park.  It is Beautiful!  There is a live oak on the property that is between 300 - 500 years old.  It is amazing to stand next to!

The section of the lake we are on is an inlet called Dead River.  It is black and beautiful and 100% reflective.  I love the Spanish Moss.

I suggest an Italian place for dinner.  Ummmmm good service..... not so good food, but it was still fun :)

Damon here again: the reason for the picture with the Italian money in the frame is to remember that ALL fiat money (money deemed to have value because a government declares it has value, not because work was done to create it) eventually dies. Over the last 200 years fiat currency from all around the world has lasted an average of 26 years. They can put this old italian money on the wall because it literally has no value anymore. The dollar will eventually have no value as well. Bitcoin fixes this :)

When we made it back we wanted to shower but were a bit unsure of how to run the water heater and the tank capacity and such.  We thought we should probably tackle that in the day light.... so I boiled some water and told Damon of the luxuries of bathing this way while camping.  He laughed.

I'm a "rough it" type of camper.  DJ is not.  

Tonight there is a nice campfire smell in the air!  I said to Damon, "Oh, I've always wanted to go camping with you."

He laughed and said, "You are getting what you've always wanted..... My Way" ;)

We had a good laugh....

We enjoy another day here at Griffin State park.

Damon picks a Mexican place for dinner.  It is superb!  The grilled pineapple is so unique and so delicious!

It was all delicious! It was also clean and decorated darling.

We decided to head to an RV park right on the Gulf next.  It had great reviews and we looked forward to staying near the water.  When we pulled into our spot it looked beautiful out the back.  

And then we started to glance around..... and take in the sights and smells.  

Damon needed to take a rest so he laid down for a bit.  Tiffany passed away 7 years ago on this evening.  Damon had picked this location because he was desirous of sleeping in a peaceful place.

When he got up from his rest he said, "How about a Hilton in Tallahassee tonight."

"You Got It!"    

Downtown Tallahassee has some beautiful old buildings.  We had hoped to dine in an old Library, but there were no available reservations.  

So we ended up at Tropical Smoothie and enjoyed a New Years Eve dining experience in the van :)

It was a wonderful first trip!  We can't wait to take her out again!

It's been a wonderful 2021 full of family times, moving and living in Florida times, travel times, and together times. We are very grateful for this wonderful life we've built and share together.