Life is great!

Trying at type something daily in this for your read, but I will be posting my words just once or twice a week, not wanting to inundate you.

With these words I want to inspire you, to help you to live a better life. When you want to read past blog entrees, remember you can always go to:    https://kitsummers.com/blog/

What a wonderful trip is ahead. I am enjoying writing to you, yet, if you no longer want to receive, let me know and I will take you off the list.

Walmart provides free parking for campers and people who want to stay somewhere for the night in their vehicle. This is a scary corporation, but nice of them to allow people to stay the night in their parking lot.

We have stayed at a couple Walmarts so far.

The employees and people who frequent the store are a “different” set. But, we have all been customers at Walmart at one time or another. When I walk through the store I pass many people. Very few make eye contact, say “hi”, or are friendly.

People are so self-contained, it’s scary. As I walk around the store everyone is in their own little world, not friendly with anyone. I am just not seeing that in others in this store and much in the public, too. I am just not sensing any friendliness in so many people.

I try to be friendly and connect with everyone I can in a sociable way. I think that if everyone did this the world will be a better place. How about you? Which side are you on?

I do hope you are not one of these Walmart—people.

At least it is somewhere to park for the night, yes? But, I must say, I mentioned before that Tina gave her notice to quit and is finishing up this week before we start on the road. Get this, she works at—yes—Walmart!  She works in the back doing the accounting and control of merchandise. She likes what she does, but says that the political structure of this company is awful and higher ups are often unpleasant people. A few nights ago we stayed at a Walmart that had free wifi, a good thing.

You are wondering about connecting to the internet while traveling, yes? All McDonald’s have free wifi, as well and numerous locations all around the US (US—those letters remind me of something I just read. Many people call the United States “America”, but it is not. There is South America and Central America, too, don’t forget they are “America” as well. Or, as Dorothy calls our country, Amerikka, this dangerous country we reside in.) And, right now we are eating dinner at a place called “Wingman”, free wifi here. Starting to be more and more places everywhere with free wifi, a good thing.

Today I am off to Planet Fitness for a workout and a shower. Yes, that is just one way we keep from smelling too human. With my insurance the cost is only $10 a month and I can bring a guest (Tina!) each time for free. Nice to get a good workout in while on the road and a good shower at PF for only $5 each a month. There are PF gyms all around the US and most are open 24/7, so we can always be in shape and showered (how about you, are you in shape and showered?)

Also for showering, Tina sent away and we received a showerhead and hose that hooks up to any sink. So, we can also shower in the family/handicap single person restroom anywhere.  Eventually I will have a water container, water pump and shower head to use in the back of the van with the doors open. So, there is that way, too.

After a night at that Walmart, the next day was spent at another park. Nature is so fantastic; I like to spend as much time in nature as I can. You will read many more words of our wilderness experiences. More and more to the out of doors we go.

Let me tell you of some aspects of the van we live and travel in. I built a seat that is six feet in length. The top lifts by way of hinges and there is storage under. On the other side is a shorter version of the same, and I put in a mechanism that makes it into a tabletop that lifts so that we can sit on the other side and work or have meals on the tabletop.

The back rest for the seat lifts out to be placed between the seating/table area to make a full size bed. We have a memory foam mattress that is used for seating/backrest, and then this is then laid out to turn into our bed. This memory foam is very comfortable as a seat or a bed; we sleep well.

The kitchen area is in the back of the van. This can be accessed from the inside or the outside with the doors open wide (when you are using it from the outside.) As the doors are open, I installed a tabletop on each door that folds down to use in cooking. Cooking utensils and cookware are mounted on the doors and backside of the van. I had mentioned about having a water tank and pump for the shower water, this same nozzle will be used at the sink in the back for kitchen water.

You can walk from the front driving/seating area to the back easily. There is storage in each bed, and also in overhead cupboards that came with the van. Being a conversion van, it is a little wider than most vans. There is a skylight on each side, under the skylight I built a shelf that holds a one foot long planter, secured down; there are three.

In these planters we are growing much lettuce, spinach and cilantro. So, a moving vegetable garden travels with us. In the future we will be growing more and other things (the banana tree will look fabulous growing out of the top of the van.)

Solar power will be upcoming, along with a refrigerator and TV. So, all the comforts of any home I can think of. In fact, we are already more comfortable in this than any home we remember. The smaller you can make the “things” in your life, the better life will be, I have found.

I cut covers for each window out of Reflectix. Then, on the other side of each I used spray glue and glued on black cloth on each. The Reflectix reflects sun and heat, so when it is sunny hot that side goes out. Black attracts heat, so in cooler environments we put the black out. When these are on they totally block any light from coming into or going out of the van.

Last evening we were in another park environment, his time with a big salad and bottle of wine to share. By the end of the evening we were both quite happy and feeling good.

Through this I am seeing that each of us can change our life, anytime, into something that we like much better. As you might know, through my life I have had to change my life much, through accidents and various circumstances. If you do not like your life—make a change—make things better for yourself.

Tomorrow is Tina’s last day of work, and then we start our life together on the road. Today, once again, I was at a nice park, doing some more work on improving the van. I do hope we pass near you; I would love to see you and let you see our home on wheels. After the park I went to Planet Fitness to put in a good workout. Then I took a shower and I feel quite clean and refreshed right now.

Right now back at a McDonalds using their free wifi. Air conditioned, not many people, quite pleasant. Along with connecting to the internet, I can plug in a charge my electric things.

I am sure you have heard of how scary McDonald’s food is. We seldom partake. But, not fair of us, we do get a salad or something at times.

Had a mishap this evening. After picking up Tina from work to take her to an eye doctor appointment, which was soon after she got off. I was about to turn into the parking lot of the eye doc and watching cars coming toward me. I did not see there was a small island, which I drove over. Bounced the van pretty good, in fact, one of the planters with lettuce growing came down to the floor with a crash, yikes.

Tina knew of a carwash place that had a good vacuum, so off we went. It looked a mess, but the cleaning up went rather quickly. So, tomorrow I will replant and this time I will use a double secure system to hold things in so that will not happen again.

In my life, through various traumatic things, I have learned that recovery can be quick, and you can return to something even better than before. I have devised was in my mind to make the van better, and just see, once again, if something bad happens you can make it back—to an even better outlook on life.

I will write you soon again. How about you, will I hear from you?