We've moved! Finally and successfully, we have left Peace River In Wauchula, FL. After 57 days, in a campground we should have only been in for 21 days, we departed for an RV resort only an hour away to the west. "Why only an hour?", you ask. We did it for the kids. Because we were stationary for so long, we figured it would be low stress to keep our travel time down to an hour, to slowly re-introduce them to fun of traveling down bumpy roads. Then we stayed for a short time and moved 3 hours North. They seem to be acclimating well again as we sit perched on the Gulf of Mexico. We are but mere feet away from the shores of this salty water basin. Sunsets are cool. The breezes are cool. Everything is cool.
We hope you all are cool, too; healthy and safe during this crazy Corona-mania time. We have missed our friends and family. So, we are trying to get this adventure back on track to get within hugging distance of our hometown. We also have new friends that we look forward to running into as we travel. Part of our journey includes meeting people and making new friends on the road and we did just that during our extended stay in Wauchula. Unfortunately, not all people we meet are friendly or friend worthy, and that's where we are going today in this blog.
We have met a variety of people along this journey and being confined to a park for nearly two months offered a front row seat to some of the behaviors and practices of humans thrown into an unusual situation. Naturally, we are judgmental and unless you are aware of this unflattering quality, we humans begin to make false assumptions or inaccurate perceptions of our temporary neighbors. Take us for instance. Other campers may see us as somewhat isolated in our lives and therefore, no fun to be around. They fail to see the details, or even consider that details exist, to contradict their unfounded opinion. I recently saw a photo of a family. It looked professionally shot and had all the elements of the perfect picture. The smiles. The closeness. The bright colors. All of these elements came together and illustrated a beautiful family. "That is the happiest family I have ever seen. What a lucky family they are." Perfection, though, is hard to come by. Below the surface of their smiles and tucked neatly out of view of the lens lay the details; some sad, some mundane. Some details trivial, but having a lasting impact. All of these unseen imperfections colliding with one another off-camera can explain so much but tend to be guarded and difficult to see beyond the big, bright smiles. So while someone may seem hostile or reserved in one moment, consider the possibility that there are unseen details that can lead you to be wrong about a person.
For the most part, our acquaintances have been pleasant and conversations have been enjoyable. There are Canadians that have made us laugh and the southern comfort of Mike and Violet is hard to let go of. Being around the staff of Peace River made some of them seem like cousins we never knew we had. As I had mentioned some of the people we meet can be a little much. Loud and bossy across the way we steered clear of. She was nice and inviting on the surface, but boy she could turn on a newbie camper pretty fast. As stated, there are unseen details, so we were cordial and exchanged pleasantries. Another one of our neighbors was new to the RV scene, REALLY new. The, "I forgot to read the manual and it just blew out the window", kind of new. A nice neighbor that I was happy to help out occasionally. However, Tez warned me several times that my "benefit of the doubt" was about to bite me in the azz. As our departure date drew near, the need for help from our neighbor became more frequent. All things considered, we have met nice folks and have stories to tell. Though we can't wait to get to traveling again, our well distanced social interactions have made our stalled journey a little more manageable.
As I finish writing this, the pandemic has taken a back seat to cultural and racial unrest. I will have to get back to you all later this month.
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