Alumapalooza, Airstream Rally to Mecca

We are going to Alumapalooza. Ya, that's right, MECCA for the Airstreamer. It's held every year on the grounds of the Airstream factory in Jackson Center, Ohio and when I heard that (saw, actually, I think, on the interweb) I booked us in immediately. It will be our second Airstream Rally. I can hardly wait to go and am going to have to UNpack the Airstream a little before we do. Our FIRST Airstream Rally, was this past December. At Christmas, we dragged our beloved tin can, the Heirs'Dream, full of labradors to Florida so our co-owned dog could visit his summer parents. After, we headed south to Key West and stayed in the SugarLoaf Key KOA for New Years.On the way there, our little tow vehicle's air conditioner blew just 1 mile after we saw this sign!

I wouldn't let the poor dogs out for fear of losing one to a crocodile. Johnny (the brilliant one) watched the sunset from the door of the trailer.

Once we arrived at SugarLoaf KOA, WHATTA WHATTA blast we had! I even met a cute Rocket Scientist to set up with my sister. Lucky for him I'm a Newlywed!!!!! We visited friends who were also wintering south of Canada in Fort Meyers and then we attended the CanOpener2012 which is held near Santa Rosa Beach at TopSail Hill State Park and it was AHmazing; the park AND the Rally. The beaches there are white sugar sand and I just loved that the locals call it the Redneck Rivierra.

We are going back to do it all over again this Christmas. The most valuable thing I learned was: when staying in State Parks, be sure to have Breakfast with the Ranger (organized by the CanOpener peeps and soooooo appreciated) or take the Tour with the Ranger. I learned tons that I'll never forget. (Oh yeah, it's a tie for Most Valuable thing I Learned; I also learned "Be careful what you dance around in, 'cause it could end up on YouTube as a PROMO video" 30 more sleeps til we leave for Ohio!

wher-er-er-er-errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre is Spring?

I haven't written anything because we haven't been anywhere! beCAUSE life has been getting in the way! Having said that, our life is pretty awesome (snow on the Airstream in the driveway notwithstanding) because we are Newlyweds (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) and we have three beautiful, squishy, loving, cute and funny labradors greet us every morning and hang on our every move throughout every day. (especially Rick's at about 5pm LST-LabradorStandardTime, which is almost always 4:20-4:30 and/or anytime he moves a dish on the counter that he feeds them from) We feed Raw Species Appropriate and so it is indistinguishable by them from any of our food, since they also eat....uh, food. Sorry, but it just kills me that people think dogs should eat dogfood and that it comes in a bag processed and stamped DogFood. I shall spare you a rant about that; if you're interested, my professional blog once I go full-time will be at www.CanineHealthBasics.blogspot.com. It's up; just sparse. The other AMAZING part of our lives, is my husband's family: 2 sons and a wonderful daughter-in-law and our unbelievably gifted, hilarious, intelligent, naturally athletic, cute, loving, multi-talented and multi-tasking, extremely witty, well-behaved, DREAM child, Oliver. I'm not blood-related so all of those superlatives are completely objective, although I have to say, that he has developped an inordinate command of the energy of charm, so I could be under a spell! Here is his proud and happy mug upon completion of his Easter Basket at his sculpting class! Helllllooooooo! Gifted! I told you. :-) Jojo (Nanny)

The Past Meets The Future

When the Past Meets the Future, the traffic is a NIGHTMARE!

    My husband and I took the Airstream/Heirs'Dream/DogHairstream to my hometown to size up my father's estate. (He passed away Jan/10 and left me a little money with which I purchased my half of the AS and Rick inherited a bit 'o cash from his cousin who was like a father to him; hence the Heirs'Dream handle) 

    My father also left a Mobile Home Park, which I was having a little trouble letting go of. Of late, I saw myself parking restored vintage trailers there and running a Shady Dell (www.theshadydell.com) or Starlite Classic Campground (www.starliteclassiccampground.com) or even a "Live like TrailerTrash/The Trailer Park Boys Theme Park".  I could do it, I tells ya', and make it fun....especially the shopping for vintage stuff.

     The thing that was tugging at my sensibilities though, was the Dream; the Heirs'Dream of travelling full-time (eventually) or part-time, sooner rather than later with Rick and the Labradors. I want to make a giant Sun of a map with many rays representing places we go and friends we visit with the hub being our home in Toronto and our children and grandson.

    On the way there, an accident caused us to be rerouted so that we had to drive past this sign.  If this were a book or a movie analysis, this sign and it's bi-line would be called foreshadowing.

     It was, however, the picture of our beautiful, vintage and simultaneously futuristic-looking trailer,  against the ruin that is now my father's  estate that burst me into the realization that I must let go of this past in order to move into my future. My father, who loved to travel and loved trailers didn't leave as much as he wanted to leave, but he did leave me a dream that I'm well on my way to fulfilling. Happy Trails, Dad.

Blue Skyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy zzzzz shinin' on meeeeeeeeeeeeeee, Blue Sky zzzzzz.....

Breaking Blogger's BLOCK

So, I've spent days putting together my new blog, adding photos, buttons and researching other sites, and then days pondering what to write.
Finally, I figured out that the psychological principle of dissonance was mixed up in there somehow. The harder you work for something, the more it means to you and therefore I expected that every post had to be stellar, inspirational diamond words of profound import and well.....we all know, that ain't gonna happen, so I decided to just tell you that.
Rivetting, I know.
Joj