Getting packed was of course the first challenge! I did have tubs of items that I have been collecting for a few years (this was always a dream of ours) that had to be sorted out (will I REALLY use this??) keeping in mind the small spaces I was working with. I made a big portion of the formal living room at Lynn’s into a staging area and went through all of the boxes, bins, etc we had stored in the garage first. I actually donated a full carload to Goodwill as part of the process, which surprised me a little as I had tried to be fairly brutal with the sorting during our move. Still, there were many items that already didn’t seem relevant to our new life, either RV or Florida.
This is the sorting in progress. It looks chaotic, but I had a pretty good system going through the whole process.
Once I knew WHAT was going, I had to work on HOW it was going to all fit. I solved the biggest issues with a system of cubbie/cube boxes. It just so happens that five of them will JUST FIT in the cabinets above our dinette. Using a small notepad I wrote a master list of what went into each (numbered) box. There was “outdoor equipment,” “games,” “extra storage” and two that were more misc. than themed. It was pretty amazing how much fit into these cubbie bins! For clothes Joe and I used laundry baskets that fit under our bed, and the boys used large, clear tubs that fit at the end of their bunk. We hung a few things in the closet space, which we also ended up putting a set of plastic drawers in.
The kitchen was a bit challenging, since I wanted to take many spices and baking supplies. My favorite thing is that I was able to use some wire baskets that Lynn was getting rid of and stick them down behind the sink and stove with some gel tape. Everything fit and was ready to roll! I also stuck down a soap dispenser at the edge of the sink, and a light-weight trivet that was my grandmother’s onto a cabinet door. I wasn’t so sure it would stay, but it’s still there seven weeks later! What was a struggle was figuring out the best solution for food storage and our basic kitchen supplies. It did take several weeks to work the kinks out, but some wire stand-alone shelves and a couple new tubs later I finally got it mostly workable. The goal was not to have to unload everything to get the one thing I wanted, and we are pretty much there. Still have to do a bit of shuffling, but the most common things are very accessible.
On the first day we *thought* we would get moving early enough to go to the Busch Gardens water park, Adventure Islands. The reality was that we left loading our new bike rack until that morning and we weren’t the smoothest at it. Plus there were some last-minute decisions et cetera, et cetera and….those who know us well know the chaos that is our departures! This was even more so, knowing we would be gone on such an extended trip. We got some first-day pictures in, a group-shot with Grandma, and we were off!
Once we hit the road, we knew we were just too tired to do a water park, then drive another hour and set up camp. So we did the Liddy thing…we went to Cracker Barrel! We polished off a huge breakfast and then went up to the Tillis Hill campground in the Citrus Wildlife Management area. This was a perfect first stop for our big trip, as it was the first place we went camping when we got our RV! We even had the very same site–number 17. It is definitely not fancy, but we enjoy the quiet, the nature trails, and the fire pit! This time our site had a visitor–a ginger cat that was very friendly (see her hiding in the woods?). She made us contemplate fitting a pet into our plans and small space, but ultimately she stayed in her woodland home.
We did get to the water park the next day (we have anual passes, so it was no big deal to change our tickets), and on the way we stopped at the MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry) in Tampa to get membership passes. This was strategic–they have an eight-person family pass and are members of ASTC (Association of Science and Technology Centers), and they gave me a great discount as a homeschool teacher. As you will see later, we use it a lot! The boys and I explored for about 40 minutes and then we were off to the water park. We didn’t bring our phones into the water park, but I will leave you with some fun optical illusions from the MOSI.
