May 2013:
Work grind was in full force as making up hours and preparing for summer hours as the military began a cycle of concern with layoffs, furloughs, and financial collapse. Our contracts were in danger as well, or so it seemed, at times. It was good I was contemplating future career progressions and evolutions, where to go, where to be, and how to raise Cian. We wouldn’t have anymore training holidays coming up until July, so work would be Monday to friday every week with normal weekends off. We had to make the weekends count, so our last 3 day weekend with holidays/training days off – we went for a jaunt down towards Florida, investigating port of calls along the way in areas we could operate Pirate Relief.
Driving along North Florida, we investigated port opportunities in Suwannee, St. Mark’s, Tallahassee, Wakulla, Wacissa, Appalachicola, St. George Island, Charleston, and Savannah. None of them struck us as viable locations for what our dreams weaved. We were also having second-thoughts on the Pirate ship deal – recent revisions made it sound like they wanted all the money upfront except for $7,000 upon delivery. Talking it over with my family – cousin, brother, and uncle – learning a bit about ship building and aspects, we really started to think this was a bad idea. Not finding the proper port also made us think twice. We enjoyed a river boat cruise at the stomping grounds of Tarzan and the Creature from the Black Lagoon, stumbling our way into a cinqo de’ mayo celebration at Wakulla Springs. We stayed in Appalachicola and checked out the area. If we had to decide on Florida, it would of been Appalachicola’s or St. Mark’s port.
Exploring the beaches and rivers, hunting for ports, and the swamps. Back to technogypsie cooking out of the back of the van. A wonderful day on the beach with Cian on the white sands of St. George Island. Then onwards to Tallahassee to visit some friends and extended family before making our long trip back up to South Carolina as I had to get back to work.
Work, play with baby, walk, sleep, feed, sleep, work, walk, eat, drink. Rinse and repeat during the work week. Cian turned two months old this month and very intrigued and interested in his surroundings, nature, and what his parents were up to. Healthy, happy, smiling, and loving. He didn’t cry much and since we incorporated co-sleeping instead of the crib, we had restful nights. Breastfeeding was going grand.
We celebrated Cian’s 2 month birthday at the Rosewood Crawfish Festival with friends from work. Enjoyed the seafood fest and the arts/crafts presented there. Crowded and fun. Good times was had by all. It was a beautiful month of May in South Carolina. Some parts of Rosewood and the city started growing on us. I set up a adult kiddie pool in the backyard and took my first soak for the summer.
In anticipation for the trek and move across the country, we purchased a small used RV for $3,000. Found a great deal from a guy who was diagnosed with vertigo and was no longer able to take it out. 100,000 miles but still a bit of life in her. We spent a good portion of the month fixing her up, outfitting her, and getting ready for our upcoming walk-a-bout especially since we dropped out of negotiations and contracts with the Gypsy Rose VI. On to better shores. The builder threw a hissy fit when we challenged the money up front request of his and showed his true spirt, thereby making us to want to cut the deal off. Our plan was now to leave next month doing festivals along the way, driving to New England and across America to find where to build our American nest.
We finally were starting to make some motion with our plans, lining up festivals we would attend, and hunting on zillo for houses we might look into buying. Cian was having a grand time every day during the walks and outings, I was consumed with fixing up the RV and wrapping up business in South Carolina.
We decided to take the RV for a test run on a weekend and drove it into the Appalachian mountains. down through Tennessee and to go to Elf Fest in Indiana to vend our wares and get The Tree Leaves’ Oracle back into festival operations. We made it to the Lothlorien Nature / Faerie Sanctuary in no time, and got settled in. It was a bit scary driving the RV down into the heart of the festival within tight curving forest trails, but it made it. Wasn’t really adaptable to sleep in the RV on a slope, but we made it work.
We weren’t able to park right next to our festival tent as other venders were already there, but we were only a few spaces down with the RV making setup not too difficult even with a baby. The Booth went up in no time and we were finally back in business. Hadn’t done the festival booth for quite some time. Sales were good, new friendships made, and it was great to be back in the Elf Base center of America.
It was the birthday celebration of 33 years of Elf events at Lothlorien. It was good to be back amongst festival family. This marked a big round-a-bout for me before embarking on my walk-a-bout that would take me back through all the places I had adventures at leading up to this point. It was a pretty good jolt to get me back into my spirituality and health consciousness again as well. Cian loved it. Everyone loved Cian. He made quite a few fans and friends. The faerie decor, circles, and lights were especially awe inspiring to him.
Even though the event was under-attended and we got our fair share of weather, muck, and rain – we did alright, albeit just a tee bit over covering our expenses. Though if you add in the RV gas expenses, then we came a little shy of breaking even. Cian though was in the best spirits as he attended his first faerie festival, and his 2nd festival yet.
We did the may pole dance, hung out, ate organic food, got inspired by the radical self-sustainability Lothlorien had, and Cian was having a grand time. However since I still had work with the Army to attend to on Tuesday (monday being a holiday) we needed to get back on the road wanting to do some exploring along the length of the journey.
A farewell to Lothlorien and a drive through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina was on the map. There were some interesting sites yet to see.
We visited the birth place of Kentucky Fried Chicken and Colonel Sanders, The Secret Base of Oak Ridge, did some thrift shopping, and explored Appalachian culture. The engine light came on so we knew we had to get the RV checked out – luckily it was nothing and all was well and healthy with the home on wheels.
The rest of May was rest, recovery, planning, and preparations. Work, walks, play, making meals, rinse and repeat.
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