Thanksgiving In An RV Park

Life is GOOD! I woke up alive, the sun came up and it's Friday already.

The RV park here had a potluck Thanksgiving feast. The owner of the park works super hard hosting potluck every  Sunday at 5pm. Thanksgiving potluck was hosted by the owner at 4pm instead of 5. She cooked this huge turkey and side dishes too to kick-start the potluck. Her family comes to the park bringing more food and joins in on Sundays and of course for Thanksgiving too.

The RV park campers and semi-residents brought dishes too. Thanksgiving had a sign up sheet, I didn't sign up, I was too disorganized and my body hasn't been cooperating with my spirit lately. The spirit is strong, the body is weak. I don't want to commit to something and then be a no-show. I like to keep my word.

The Sunday potlucks don't have a signup sheet, you just show up with food and enjoy but the owner always cooks a  mountain of food and provides picnic supplies or you can bring your own plate and utensils. It's a fun event! We sit at round tables of 8 each. I get to listen to different folks each week, learning about their life and travels.

I try to go every Sunday and take a huge pot of food to share, sometimes two pots. I usually have to make several trips because it's very hard for me to carry much of anything, but I am hoping for drastic improvement.

The RV park owner asked me about Thanksgiving potluck, so I told her, I would make a surprise and come Thanksgiving but later I was seriously worried about this commitment. I felt like dog poop, but I made a huge crockpot of shrimp and yellow grits with bacon, cheese, corn and garlic. I figured there wouldn't be any duplicates of THAT dish.  I could at least send my food over, even if I wasn't able to attend and eat.

Then I realized the crockpot was too heavy.  Some days everything is too heavy. That crockpot felt like a 100 pounds.

Good grief.

I managed to stuff it into a great big cloth shopping bag (with a big rubber band holding the lid on tight) then lug it over early and plug it in on warm setting. I had to stop a few times resting, set the pot down, rest, pick it up and walk some more. I know... I probably could have asked for help, but I hate to bother anybody. I just wanted to get that dish there and go home to collapse in bed.

If I had THOUGHT about it, I probably could have rigged it up on my bicycle like I did one year, I actually rode my bicycle to a potluck with my crockpot strapped to the back of the bicycle. Sometimes on Sunday I fit my smaller crockpot in the front bicycle basket and ride it over, but I had cooked in the big crockpot. A couple of Sundays I had company that carried the pots over for me. PHEW!

But now I have a different bicycle and I scratched up my paint job on the old bicycle doing that with the crockpot because I didn't rig it up right, and well, I forgot to plan ahead and set it up properly on my new bicycle to ride it over in time. Riding a bicycle with a big hot crockpot of food may not sound like the safest thing to do, but it's kind of fun and last time I wasn't injured. Maybe I just couldn't think straight. Sheesh...

Yesterday, I got the crockpot there, by using the long straps on the cloth shopping bag to carry it without getting burned,  plugged it in and left. Back at my motorhome I was still feeling lousy but had to take the doggy out. He was having an off day too. He threw up! Poor thing. He normally has a sturdy stomach and he doesn't eat weird stuff. So no idea why he was sickly too. We both sickly, good grief. Such nonsense we don't need. We use a water purifier for drinking and cooking. Not that my pooch cooks, but I serve him purified water in his inside and outside water dish. Doggy ate his usual food lately, so no idea why he was having a rough time too. Maybe he was being sympathetic to my problems?

As 4pm approached, I wasn't sure I could make it back to potluck to eat, but I finally decided to go anyhow. I am glad I did. I was super shocked that when I walked in, a couple said "Oh we saved you a seat at our table!"  All round tables are for 8. I was super flattered. WOW. A saved seat! Made me feel super duper special. I felt so grateful and humbled.

I figured if I felt too awful, I could just excuse myself and bolt for the exit. I did that one week, I suddenly had a problem and I just said "excuse me" and vanished in an instant. Later when I was feeling a bit sturdier, I went back to apologize. The dinner was long over but a few folks were hanging around cleaning up and the owner, bless her heart, had washed my crockpot! I was very apologetic and thanked her profusely. She was really worried about my hasty exit, wondering if I was OK. WOW! Such caring folks here. I am blessed in oh so many ways.

I sat there grinning, pretending I felt WONDERFUL. No need to tell them I felt awful, scared I might have to bolt at any moment. I raved about the beautiful day, the recent decorations the owner and her family worked hard at putting up all day. When it was time to fetch food, I raved about it all. Nothing weird happened and dinner was AWESOME!

I had just a smidgen of turkey but I piled on a tiny spoonful of all the veggies and salads and then in a fit of frivolity,  I figured I better sample some of the deserts. Oh my gosh. I am so glad I went, it was quite fun and the conversation was lively. My body decided to behave long enough for me to smile and enjoy a wonderful meal with fabulous people.

Awesome!

One day recently I needed to order Harley's dog food from Amazon. They were out of the 7 pound bag I usually buy of Newmans Organic, so I ordered the 12.5 pound bag. That's a 6-7 month supply for my 6.6 pound mutt who does eat a lot for such a little guy. I prefer the 7 pound size because my motorhome is so tiny and severely limited on storage space. But he needed food, so I had to settle for the bigger bag. He loves this stuff, and usually he is pretty darn healthy.

Harley used to eat super cheap dog food, times were tough and we were both scraping by on a wing and a prayer. One day years ago, a super wonderful angel sent Harley a gift of  Newmans Organic food and WOW. His health improved, his fur grew out and he loved the stuff! I figure the healthier I try to keep him, the less chance of vet visits. 

Recently the 12.5 pound bag was delivered to the RV Park office and I couldn't carry the box, I was feeling pretty weak. But then a light bulb came on in my silly head. Eureka!  I rode my bicycle over, tore open the box, hauled the empty box to the dumpster, then came back and stuffed the huge bag of dog food in my bicycle basket and rode home again. If you've been reading my blog, then you know I have an electric assist kit on my bicycle in case I am too weak to pedal, but mostly I do pedal trying to get stronger. 

Life is GOOF.