Trippin' with Susan Straley

 Life is full. I am getting back into biking with friends, sometimes 30-40 miles.  Between that and preparing meals and taking care of "stuff".  A bike day is all used up. I have set up my kitchen table/sink out in the screen tent.  It's a great place to chop veggies and dine.  I get my exercise going in and out of the trailer a dozen times getting things, putting things back.     The neighbors at the RV park were having Happy Hour out in their front yard one day watching me and marveling on my ability to go up and down so many times as I had to go in and out of Lilac.   That particular evening I was more busy because I was getting ready to have some friends from Windermere (my house neighborhood) over for snacks and Pizza.   Setting out chairs and tables and dishes.    Another thing that fills my life and time is my part-time job. I am working part-time helping out my friend, Jean. Sometimes there is no work, and then there is stuff that keeps me busy for a few days.  I

 Do you remember that commercial for the children's toy.  They were little people figures with a rounded bottom instead of legs and feet.  The bottom was weighted so the person-figure would pop back upright if you pushed it over. Well, sometimes people wobble.  I wobble a lot.  Not physically, (due to yoga practice, my balance is pretty good at 68), but decision-wise, I weeble and wobble all over the place. But before I get into all that, I want to wish you all a wonderful holiday season.  Whether you are sad or happy, excited or in dread, may you find yourself surrounded by blessings and experience moments that bring smiles and awe. Let's get you up to date on where I am today. Last Christmas, due to COVID, I didn't have our traditional holiday pot-luck with friends.  And though I missed the fun gathering and seeing folks, I had a great time with my friends, Regis and Cindy.  We did a lot of birding and a little biking and kayaking over on the East coast of Florida near Ti

 Hello, I am glad I went to Jean's to help her with the paperwork.  She appreciated my efforts and she paid me!  There will be more work coming once I am back home. And the frosting on the cake was that I had fun spending time with her and Keith and meeting some of her friends,  The campground that I was going to stay at rejected me because I didn't have a "certified RV" sticker on my trailer.  So I plugged in and put up my portable sink in Jean's driveway.  It worked out well for me, Jean and Keith were very hospitable, and, as far as I know, no neighbors complained. I worry that my winter RV park might have some similar policy that requires the "RV Certified" thing.  I don't think so, though, because my friend is staying there in a re-modeled van. I left Jean's before the sun rose on Monday and crossed the border into Florida by late afternoon.  I saw scrub woodlands, it got hot out, I got bit by no-see-ums, and stung by fire ants.  I thought b

Greetings from Mississippi, "Wait.... what? You are in Mississippi?" you may ask. Yes, I am. Last I wrote you I had a wonderful plan.  After riding the New River Trail in Virginia, I would attend a Sisters On The Fly (SOTF) event on the border of Virginia and Kentucky.  Then to the Virginia Creeper Trail starting at Whitetop Mountain, then I would make my way to Myrtle Beach and then meet up with friends to ride Jekyll Island.   A great plan with some great places to visit and some friend time too. And I was living the plan.  I was at Breaks International State Park with the some Sisters.  Then I got a call from my friend Jean in Mississippi.  She just got a bunch more clients and was asking if I could come help her with all the paperwork involved. She treats trauma victims with a special treatment called EMDR.  And she is good at it and helps people.  What better task is there for me? The timing was perfect because I was just thinking that I was done being a tourist.  I have