Sunned In

It's been over a week of very hot, humid weather during our current stay here at Kelly's RV Park in White Springs, Florida. Would like to say that we have continued to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the historic Suwanee River, but by mid-morning it's just too frigging hot to be outside for any length of time. We're not alone in suffering through this because I am hearing via friends on Facebook of similar conditions in the Carolinas. Nice to know others are sharing the same malaise that comes with these conditions, but it doesn't take away the feeling of being in a state of cabin-fever. We spend most of our days inside, with the air-conditioning cranked to high, and emerge around 5 P.M. for a little time outdoors.

Down here that is known as being Sunned In; it's the Northern equivalent of being Snowed In, but still consists of the same feelings of being cooped-up too long inside because of atmospheric limitations upon the aging human body. Call me a wimp. I know there were days before A/C when people lived here, worked here, carried on happy, productive lives and never complained about the heat. Good for them. I'm proud of those old Florida Crackers and the mark they left on society, but give me cool air anytime over sweating my hiney off all day.

When I first moved to South Florida over ten years ago all of the locals warned me about being Sunned In. Of course, being from the the frigid climes of Northern Indiana, I couldn't get enough of the sun. For the first time in years I was bone-deep warm, tanned like a Caribbean native and basking in the glory of the tropical atmosphere. "Watch out", they said, "the sun down here will strip the hide off an alligator." Right, I thought, and continued to bask in the heat like a Sunday roast awaiting the family gathering after a rousing sermon. At the time, I really didn't care and wasn't paying attention to the good advise.

Then about a year later I did pay attention. I looked upon the elderly people in the grocery store who, in the midst of August heat, wore hats, long-sleeved shirts and jeans and covered their already cancerous noses in heavy sunscreen lotion or nose guards. I began to feel the draining effects upon my body of constant sun exposure. I began paying attention to the daily UV index reports and really began to understand that the sun, down here, has to be respected.

The problem down here is not with the heat and humidity, it's with the UV levels. Once you cross the border into Florida there is a rapid increase of the sun's intensity. Most days, during the summer months, the UV index is 10+; that translates to less than 8 minutes burn-time on the human skin. For about three months out of the year this area will "Strip the hide off an alligator." I know. Been there. Felt it, and decided it was better in the long-run to be Sunned In rather than become a poster-child for the American Cancer Society.

It was always a source of great amusement for Deb & I when we managed the resort in Hollywood, FL to deal with people from the Northern states who decided to book stays during June, July, August and September. Our pool and sun-deck were on the roof with no real escape from the elements. Yet, they would come to the front-desk on scorching days and say things like, "Wow, why is it so HOT here!"

At first we tried to do the professional thing and assure them it would cool by sundown. And then, after being tired of idiots who decided to book cheaper rooms, cheaper flights and didn't realize they were traveling to the sub-tropics in Summer (yes folks, that means closer to the equator and more heat in case you were asleep in Biology class) we got clever with our responses: Little snide remarks like, "Oh, I forgot to put the protective bubble over the roof this morning". Or, "I'm sorry sir, the broiler setting for the roof wasn't supposed to go on until after you left". Sometimes they got the sarcasm and other times the sun had already fried their brains beyond caring.

So for now we will stay Sunned In, enjoy the blessings of that marvelous invention called the air-conditioner and avoid the direct sun. Stay cool, stay happy and we'll update you later on our journey.

copyright 2009-2010 Lane A Geyer
photos by Deb

A Wonderful Year

On the first of this month, Deb and I celebrated our one-year anniversary of being full-time RVers. In looking back on how many places we have been and all the wonderful things we have experienced (see previous posts), it's amazing how fast the time passed. It seems like it was just yesterday that we departed Hollywood, FL with no previous experience in this lifestyle and no set goals except to enjoy whatever the journey brought our way. So far, the journey has been nothing short of incredible.

During our extended stay in Taylors, SC over the past Winter, we began referring to our first year on the road as the East Coast Tour 2009. We slowly made our way North from S. Florida until our stop in the Boston, MA area in late September. From there we headed West into Indiana and then back South until our current stay here in White Springs, FL. Overall, we travelled through fifteen states and stayed at fifteen different places in less than ten months. As I've shared in the previous posts, the things we have seen and the people we met brought us unexpected blessings beyond compare. If someone were to ask me how I would describe the past 365 days, there's only one phrase that comes to mind - "Wow, what an awesome ride!"

Along the way we have also learned many things about the full-time RV lifestyle and about each other. We now see we were naive when we first set out about travel times, cooking in a smaller kitchen and not thoroughly researching the truths about some of the places we stayed. We have learned that less really can mean more and have always kept to the advise we were given of taking something out if something new comes into our house-on-wheels. We have adapted to constantly being around each other in a small space and have learned it really is true in this lifestyle that you can't just simply love each other, you really have to like each other.

Perhaps the most important thing we learned is to slow down. We kept up a very hectic pace for most of last year in order to spend time with our children, my grandson, my parents and be as far South as possible before cold weather arrived. During some of that time, the pace wore us out and took away opportunities to really get to better know the places and local people where we stayed. Although our time in Taylors was longer than anticipated due to my mother's heart problems, it provided a blessing in keeping us in one place long enough to realize that we don't have to go everywhere and see everything as soon as possible. We have the rest of our lives to continue this journey, so why push the pace and miss out on so much along the way?

In keeping with the spirit of slowing down, we have decided to call this next stage in our journey the Year Of Doing Nothing 2010. Of course, we will be doing the basic, daily routines that are required, but have decided to make no definite plans on travel until we feel like moving on. We'll go where we want, only when we want and do nothing about living by definitive routes or timetables. If we find a really nice place like Kelly's RV Park here in White Springs, we'll stay to enjoy the area and people until we both agree we're ready for a change. This slower pace may not be suitable to other full-time Rvers, but for right now it's working for us.

The only sure thing I do know is that I can't wait to see what this next year brings our way!

copyright 2009-2010 Lane A Geyer
photos by Deb