Possum Kingdom

 "Focus on the journey, not the destination. 

Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it."

Greg Anderson

Not in a hurry to our destination, we decided to make it a better journey. So on our way to Dallas we took the back roads and when it just felt right we pulled up our maps and GPS'd our way, using freecampsites.net, to a free spot for the night at Possum Kingdom State Park.  The rugged, free sites were directly across from park-like pay sites.  I preferred our site, but loved the close access to the other.

We had few preconceptions or expectations of this place.  All we knew from our map descriptions is it was a reservoir created from part of the Brazos River and we could camp free (big part there).  As it turns out, we wished we had more time to spend in this kingdom. 

We found ourselves the solo campers in a beautiful little area overlooking the reservoir.

Deer were everywhere, with several sightings of mothers with their young. Cardinals, herons and vultures flew by...

...and once again we were happy to be in the green of nature.

The first evening we settled in and were treated to a beautiful sunset over the water. 

Turtles lined the sunny banks and cranes perched on tree limbs protruding from the water.  Reservoir levels were low and many homes overlooking the lake had docks that either had no water near them, or were so far above the waterline, they no longer served a purpose. 

That last step is a doozie.

The sandy shores were littered with hand-sized freshwater clam shells, perfect for my adventurous little girl to collect and explore.

Obligations cut our time there short,  but we thoroughly enjoyed a slice of Possum Kingdom.  I was only bummed I didn't actually see a possum!

A New House?

“This is my temporary home

It's not where I belong

Windows and rooms that I'm passing through

This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going

I'm not afraid because I know this is my 

Temporary home”
― Carrie Underwood, Play On

A comfy living room.

We've been 3 in a RV for a few years now.  There are a lot of positives and negatives to living in an RV.  One of the hardest things to deal with is temperature.  In the winter you can warm the inside, but it seems a bite of cold is always in the air and the floors are always freezing.  With John getting up at the wee hours, Zoey going to school before daylight, dealing with the occasional frozen pipes, sometimes as long as a week, and it seems we have 1-2 more winters here in Texas, we decided to find a warmer place to winter. 

The search was not wide and not far. We wanted to stay small and economical, so we found a nice single-wide mobile home for rent not one block away from us in our own mobile home park.  It's a nice 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom that has been recently repainted and new flooring installed.  It was for rent, but we contacted the owner and found he was willing to sell.  With a little give and take on the price we had ourselves  a contract for a new home.

You might be thinking: "But, I thought you didn't want to stay in Midland, Texas.  Why are you buying a home there?"  The answer comes down to comfort and money.

The comfort is a gimme.  We went from a few hundred square feet to 1100 sq/ft.  The day we looked at the house, Zoey ran from one end to the other, finally spreading her legs indoors.  Oddly, I found I had less storage and had to buy dressers and other storage to house all our stuff that had previously been so nicely housed in our RV built-ins.  Thank you Craigslist.

Zoey was still sleeping on her crib mattress, and although I received no complaints, she is getting big.  I could have fit a bigger mattress in her loft, but it would have eliminated a lot of  her space for toys; and as we all know, getting a kid to part with their toys only sparks their interest to prove how much they love that toy. Now Zoey has a full-size bed to spread out in and all the space she could ask for.

Yay! Laundry.

And best of all, I now have a washer and dryer, which is soooooo nice. That is one thing, I truly missed in the RV.  (Unfortunately, I still have to go to the laundromat about once a week for John's work clothes because they're too damaging, but no biggie.)

The money angle may seem odd.  After all, aren't mobile homes notoriously not great investments?  In an area where housing is a scarce commodity, our place could, and was known to, rent for anywhere from $1000-$2000/month depending on where the economy is holding.  That means when we leave we either have an income producer or an asset to sell.

So here we are moving out of the RV and into a mobile home.  Does this spell the end of 3inaRV?  Far from it.   With our wonderful travel trailer, we have many travels to come, some in and some out of the trailer. In our future we see a RV adventure of a lifetime, but we still have time and detail to work out, so stay tuned.

She Learned her ABC's and 123's

"All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten"

-Robert Fulghum

Kindergarten was a big year for my little girl.  She was so scared to start the year, but settled in, and began to love it. Starting math was a breeze after what I had taught her before school started, and reading has taken off, much to this mom's delight.

There were snacks every day, and we made sure to make ours cute and fun.

She survived the 100th day of school and even had her own fun poster for the parade.

For Dr. Suess day she refused to be something "weird" so she chose to be fox in sox, from Fox in Sox of course.

She even had a tail!

When field day rolled around, she wanted to know what it was.  From my experiences as a child I told her it's a great day of competitions like big kid field and track, with relays, dashes, distance runs, high and long jumps, and distance throwing.  I wasn't sure for her, but in my school there were first, second, and third place ribbons; but for if you didn't place you still got a participation ribbon and could be happy.  She was excited for the event, and hoped she might even place.

Boy was I wrong!  Either they do things different here or they had changed a bit since I was at field day.  There were several events such as stick horse races, little scooter riding, jump roping, parachute play, hurdles, and obstacle courses.  Not a single one was highly competitive, some not at all.  No prizes were given, and no ribbons.  I guess in the name of equality they chose to keep it more of an event day instead of a track and field day.  I personally enjoy a  bit of competition to encourage kids to try their best and learn to be gracious when loosing, but in this was not the case and I guess that's okay too.  She had so much fun with her friends, but was a little sad I had mentioned ribbons, and been a big fat liar.

Sometimes you get bucked off!!!

Her kindergarten class.

Then there was kindergarten graduation, an adorable ceremony  where kids get confused on their cues, sit in the wrong places, and parents gush over their first big accomplishment.

They even performed a few songs.

They sang, "We learned our ABC's and 123's, we learned to get along...now we're going to be a part of it, first grade, first grade." to the tune of New York New York by Frank Sinatra and also sang What a Beautiful World by Louis Armstrong.  Later when I sang it with her, she asked me if I had learned the lyrics to What a Beautiful World when I was in kindergarten also.

One of the biggest disappointments she's had this year was when she turned six this May.  On her birthday, she asks me if she has a loose tooth.  I check, and nothing is wiggling; so I ask if her tooth hurts.  She says, "The dentist said I would loose a tooth when I'm six."  I explained it was likely, but he was referring to sometime during the entire year she is six.  That was not her understanding and she feels jipped. I'll be sure to inform the dentist of his mistake.  :)

Now if she would just stop growing up!!!