Lucky August and Coconut

The heat and humidity almost got me. It's a rough time of year for me.

August in the south.

Pure 100% coconut water has been my daily rescue. This year I am determined to avoid heat stroke. Last summer it knocked me off my rocker for quite a while.

Although today while walking, I had to rest at a nearby bench. My faithful doggy climbed up in my lap to comfort me. Usually it's the other way around, but I was grateful to have him in my arms. If anything went wrong, that is how they would find us. I had water with us, but no coconut water. When we finally made it back home, I drank the life giving coconut water and oh my gosh. I now feel like a new person.

Almost.

Looks like I picked the wrong Franklin. I though the one east of us would be the first named.

I guess they should have asked me first...

2017 has been wildly exciting. So far I have lived in my rig in 3 campgrounds.

But I did a side trip in late April  with a friend in their van camper to the Florida Keys where I toured a good bit on my bicycle as well as breaking camp often to tour in their van. Indeed my friend had spent some of his college summers working in the Florida Keys so he was happy to revisit his old haunts.

We didn't realize doggies would not be allowed at all beaches, so we had to travel some to find ones where we were welcome. In other cases, poor doggie had to wait alone in the van with a generator and AC to keep him cool. Such a waste of fuel, but Florida has strange dog-o-phobic laws.

It was hard on me to store my rig. I had slept in my bunk every night for over 7 years!

Campers are banned in many parking places in the Keys, but we took our chances since it was a van. I felt like a teenager again!

As a teen in the 70's  I saw a good bit of SC and NC in an old van belonging to a crazy friend. He threw a mattress, a cooler and bucket in the back, then hung up some curtains his mom made for him and called it a camper. Oh and the 70's shag carpet. Can't forget that! We only did day trips, nothing overnight. But even in those days, I needed to rest up when the going got tough. My friend was a heavy drinker, I didn't drink at all. He wasn't my date, but he would get drunk and sleep in his van in other people's driveways. There was always 3-4-5 of us going somewhere in his van on the weekends including the drive in theaters, which are no longer around.

Back to the present... or back to the spring!

Ironically I chose their RV for them, picking it out before they even saw it! So when they invited me to go to the Keys in their new to them camper, I packed up my doggy, a small backpack and hopped aboard with my bicycle! No need to ask me twice. When first invited, my first question was sort of a statement... "As long as my bicycle can go!"

We spent a whole day concocting a bike rack out back to hold both our bicycles. We also took my 3 gallon water purifier so we wouldn't have to keep buying water. Good thing we took it, the water was awful and it took hours for the purifier to work through that, but it was so worth it and saved us a bundle of money.

The dog required a lot of accouterments, it was embarrassing to pack him up, what with toys, pillow, bed, towel, rug, blankie, dry food, wet food, water purifier, spare vest, tags, vet records. Sheesh.

We found a few outdoor restaurants that let the little doggy hang out under the table with a water bowl while we dined. He was surprisingly on his best behavior as if he knew this was a special treat requiring him to be a good doggy.

For the time being, I have cancelled my future reservations until I see what happens next.

I have a lot of patching up to do. My electric bicycle broke and I surely didn't need that inconvenience. The rig and my old body both need a lot of attention and repair parts.

So we chose a happy spot to set up long term camping, and well here we are.

Happy!