The Year of Anticipation 2023!

2023 was a year of anticipation. Carly Simon song just runs through my mind. I keep anticipated how right my next trip would be and how quickly I could restart my travels. But it was a year of just starting and a BIG stop sign would come up! These good old days weren’t so good.

January 2023

January was a month of waiting around and hoping that the doctors would come up with something. A family member was losing weight and was sick and needed someone around. I used my time to get my Etsy shops together as they will be my new income. My newest shop is my Christmas Shop and other Holiday Items, then I have three others: Vintage Items, Fairies Dollhouse Miniature Lighthouses, and Dolls plus Stuffed Animals. Purchases are appreciated as they allow me to travel and do neat stuff for my post! But also give you great things for your collection or for gifts!

February 2023

February was a month of still waiting for the doctors but I also decide to upgrade from the minivan to a Dodge Sprinter! It was a steal of a deal at $12,500 but it also came with a few issues. Any time something is a steal, you have a few issues that you will have to fix. First, tires and brakes…lol Almost every used vehicle needs this!

Plus a big hole that needed to be plugged up. The guy that started this fix disappeared and then came back after about a month. It was a friend of a friend. Great deal but not when you have to wait that long to get it completed! This was in March and April so I am getting ahead of myself!

But I bought it in the south and I have a PA address as I have a home base in the state but taking care of a family member in Georgia. So, I was doing a quick trip to get it registered around my family members doctors appointments and someone else being around to take care of them. I figured that a few days in Gettysburg was just what I needed. Plus I love Gettysburg but not so much in the summer heat.

The fighting was during the summer in the Civil War. The smells must absolute horrific for the soldiers and residents all those years ago. I was there for the reenactment one summer and the smells of the people around during that time were not so hot. We have showers and deodorant now days! I can’t even say that I smelled that great with 100 plus days and no breeze. I didn’t stay in Gettysburg for long that summer just a day or two.

Going back was going to being great, i.e. a weekend trip and a break in the weather with no snow and temps that only need a nice coat. I did the run from Atlanta to Gettysburg for a long weekend and to register the vehicle on Monday. It was a nice break from the sick rooms, i.e. a family member in December 2022 had an operation in PA and the race to the other family member on Christmas Eve 2022 who was sick in Georgia.

Yeah, when you don’t have work or children in school, you forget those holiday weekends. Lol, showing up at the place to register the Sprinter was open but I did not have the paper that had my change of address. The DMV was not open on Mondays and they had Tuesday off for the holiday, if I remember correctly.

Just an extra day at Gettysburg. No big deal. But my drivers license needed to be updated for my birthday on that year. Cool. I could do it then. Now, I told the person what I was doing, i.e. registering my new van. But it takes 10 days or more to get the ID in the mail. You can’t register a vehicle without that! A wasted trip! The guy should have said something. I could have just got the change of address part. Got the vehicle registered and then came back the same day for a new license. All those jokes about the DMV come true for me and usually do, lol.

Note: if you live in a big city, drive out to the country for things that you need to do at the DMV. The line is so much smaller! It actually takes more time waiting for the people to talk about whos getting married, died, had a baby then the line does. They are also so much more helpful as they have time on their hands unlike those that have a 100 people in line who are all up in the staffs face and being rude.

But on the way back, the brakes started to make a sound so it was getting new tires and brakes before heading back. The joy of a new used vehicle.

March 2023

At some point, the doctors finally found the issue and were able to correct the problem. But a bit of weight gain was needed before I wanted to head out. Plus they had a driveway for building out the Sprinter.

My Driver’s License came in and it was back up to PA to register the Sprinter. It went well. Like 30 minutes and a small trip to the Outer Banks. I got to see the Elizabeth Gardens. I love that place too. Just enough to keep my spirits up. The gardens were pretty but I need to go back in the spring and fall. In the winter, you can tell that they will be breathtaking shortly but most of the flowers have yet to come out. During the Christmas season, they have a wonderful light show. The gardens also welcome dogs so Olive Oil got to walk through them as well and she loved it!

April and May 2023

This was all about getting weight on my family member and building out the van which was taken over by men. Unfortunately, we you get men involved in a project, you find that you are pushed out of the way. Or at least I am. I didn’t have the energy to push for what I wanted. March and April was mainly sitting and waiting for a friend of a friend to fix a hole in the back of the van that you could see the street and was rather large. Of course, I used some fix a hole foam to make sure that it was waterproof for the start of the travels to PA. Not perfect but it worked for a short time fix.

Planning and buying stuff but not being able to work on it because I had to wait for the hole to be fixed. It was anticipation of leaving that was making me crazy. But just a few more days. Yeah, that turned in to May. But I did go to the Renaissance Festival!

I also had to get rid of the minivan which was easy as I was giving it to a family member. So, up to PA to drop it off and Olive Oil which was way sooner then I would have liked but she does summer camp in PA so that she does not overheat as Pugs do in the summertime. I don’t recommend short snot dogs for vanlife. It is just to hot for us but unbearable these days for them as well!

I took the train back to Atlanta. I taken the train before and it was fun. This was not. Something is different about the travel these days. Of course, my computer screen broke with a line down the middle of it. It is not touch screen and more. But I never like that anyway, lol.

The train had a 5 hour layover in DC. It sucks that they don’t keep your stuff at the train station any more. But 5 hours was a long time to enjoy DC and see my favorite places. So, cool.

Then it was back to Atlanta to pack and get on the road. Yeah, that did not happen. I was not even that far away and I was back at my family members house. Something was wrong with the van. The part took 3 weeks to get. You would think that it was expensive but it was a 15 dollar part.

June 2023

It was waiting on a part! Just waiting! But since I was waiting, I might as well get the Max Fan! Take the good with the bad and make lemonade. I am doing upgrades to my van as the money comes in…lol. The part comes in and I leave again.

Yeah, the van refuses to go more than 45 mile an hour and I limp back to the house on the same day. The part that I had been waiting for was put on incorrectly. The joy of small issues.

July 2023

I finally am out of here! My anticipation is over! I head for the hills because it is so hot! And stop at Lake Winfield Scott and spend a few days and then Vogel State Park. I pay for 2 nights like I am so excited to be on the road. On the second day, I go into town to see a museum. It does not open at 10am like it should but oh well. I got a good walk and I am going to head back to Vogel for the evening. It was a very cool state park and I wanted to walk around the lake again. Or a different hike!

I get into the van so excited from having hash browns. It is just a wonderful day. Then the van just does not want to turn when I start to leave the parking lot. Hood up and looking, not that I know what I am doing! But a really sweet local guy told me that the T-something belt was broke. (I am so glad that Baby went to summer camp early!) Between getting a tow truck and calling all the auto machines around, I finally found one that could take the van and did not have a 4 week wait list.

Getting to the mechanics place, he called for the part. But they could not get it in that day. My relative had to come get me about 2 1/2 hours away. It took about a week to get back. Needless to say, I was feeling dejected but happy about the possibilities of only a week delay. I was headed to the Blue Ridge Parkway slowly as the heat in Atlanta was bad and the mountains were cool. But I also waited a few days because of some storm that was on the way in. It brought a lot of trees down!

Got the van back and to the Parkway! Freedom! I got to see a bear my first night out. I stayed at the Federal Park for a few nights and then went to town to send out my packages. But the van was making a sound. So, I limped back to Atlanta. It was the part that came loose again or something. It was fixed again.

August 2023

A quick trip to Savannah to make sure everything is working correctly. Then few weeks or so because it is just too hot to leave the air conditioning. Then I am off again to PA to get Olive Oil, the Pug, AKA Baby. Nothing really happens, I am just enjoying being on the road again!

Me and Olive Oil hit Jesse Owens state park for a few days. But it is just too hot and the mosquitos are so bad just before dark that you have to hide inside to avoid them. Then up to Wisconsin were we stay a few days but the heat got so bad that we ran to Michigan. Baby, AKA, was overheating badly. I could not find a hotel that took dogs but then I did not have time to look as she was not having a good day.

To add to the issue, I forgot to close the Max Fan. I now have heat coming in and the air conditioner can’t do enough to fight it off as the vent is open and will not close. It was not a fun day at all but we make it to a Federal campgrounds in Michigan and stay for almost 2 weeks. We found a free campgrounds but the mastitos were so bad that we took a 10 minute walk and I could see them on her bottom and my legs were eaten up.

September 2023

We stayed put for almost 2 weeks because I realized it was Labor Day weekend. It was wonderful because the post office, food, laundromat, and gas were all at the same place not to far from the campgrounds. But the shower was 45 minutes away and one that was around the corner, I could not find. So, it was outdoor showers and washcloth wipe downs. I don’t mind but I really wanted a real shower with the summer heat.

As soon as the weekend was up, we moved up to Lake Gogebic State Park for a bit. We liked it here and stay for a bit. I guess I was just tired and emotional exhausted and the van did not sound right! But then we moved to Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. It is great. We are going around, hiking, and enjoying life. Then we go up this hill and the van does not want to work.

We got lucky and were able to turn around and coast down the hill. At the bottom of the hill, the van stops in the middle of the main road but lucky, it starts again. We limp back to the ranger station which is the only place that you have a phone signal and make some calls at 20 miles an hour with cars that are just rude as they can see the hazard lights on but mad that I am in their way. Of course it is Saturday! We get a hold of a place but they can’t see us until Tuesday. Ok.

But then the camping is full for the park. We found a place even closer to the Ranger station, i.e. basically around the corner, at a private campgrounds which is a bit more expensive but not by much. It also had a small shop with supplies and a beach across the street. Me and Olive Oil, AKA Baby, spend our days on the beach with warm days but not hot until we got to the appointment.

I was almost out of clean towels and clothes. Then we get to the mechanics as arranged. They think that it is at the transmission fluid is low. But get this, they can’t check it because they are not allowed to have a dipstick for it, i.e. corporate America will only allow them to be sold to authorized dealers. It cost over $100 for this information.

So, I start calling around and they can’t see us until Friday and it is over 30 minutes away. Thankfully, the campgrounds has a spot for us until then but the van is working again. So, another few days at the beach. Such a hard life! But we go to the store and laundromat after the mechanic and the van seems to be working well again and goes faster than 20 miles per hour unlike when it first did not want to go to the ranger station.

The next appointment at the dealership is over $100 to say that the transmission fluid is fine. But they don’t have an opening for at least four weeks and that is not to fix it but the find out the issue. So, it is limping back to Atlanta because my family member is having an operation in the middle of October and I don’t have 4 week. Yeah, I already said that I would be there for it!

I get back to Atlanta. Turns out that the van needs a new transmission and I have a wonderful mechanic that can do it and turns that around in less then a week. I love this guy!

October 2023

It is not worth leaving to have to come back. So, it is waiting and then helping out around the house and making sure to make meals and driving and grocery shopping. And having some cold that takes me out for a week.

November 2023

I leave Atlanta to PA for another family member to have an operation and be a helper. Only it gets cancelled due to staff checking the wrong box. But it takes them a week to reschedule it for late December. lol

But then it gets better, the family member in Atlanta has to go back to the hospital because the surgery had an issue and I am racing back to Atlanta while they are in the hospital to pick them up when they are released and help around the house. Then back to PA in December.

That has been my year. Anticipation of leaving only to have to go limp back to Atlanta or to help out. So, everyone is healthily but with all the traveling and the holidays, my coffers are down, i.e. low on money. I need to get the MaxFan fix or at least down so it is not raining on the inside of my van. Get my Etsy shops stocked and the inventory repacked.

I am hoping to leave before the end of January. Oh, and did I mention that my photos have all gone missing. The were on a hard drive that has nothing on it. Yeah, 2023 was not my year. It was just a year of anticipation of getting back on the road but a complete let down when I tried. 2024 really needs to be better…lol