June 10 – 20 Recap – It’s Official: I’m Free.
Updated: Aug 3, 2020
June recap part 1 of 3. I thought I would share how June rolled out. Here are excerpts from my personal journal entries, starting with my last day on the job:
June 10: Today was my last official ‘working’ day. I am on vacation until July 1st. Only a few people knew of my departure, but I wanted it to be uneventful and quiet. I am still an employee until July 1st and I am not officially giving my resignation notice until June 22nd. (This is why I’ve been silent until today’s post)
June 12: Monster and I had a long talk today about my cats. We decided Freddie is too much of a flight risk to take on the road. He is a neutered 6-year-old male, but still hyper like a kitten. He’s always trying to get out, which is not at all safe on the road. Monster has his sister Holly, so we agreed it would be best for him to stay with her for at least a year.
My other cat (Basil) is a super mellow 7 years old and will do perfectly fine on the road. That said, I am not getting the fan or solar installed until November (when Jamie from Enigmatic Nomadics is planning another van build party). So, at least until November, Basil will be staying with Monster too. It doesn’t get as hot in San Diego, but it just isn’t safe to leave him in the van.
I hugged both kitties a little extra today. They didn’t seem to appreciate my need to hold, kiss, and squeeze them more than normal. Honestly, I think I annoyed them, but I felt a little better. Kinda.
June 13: Some final appointments were taken care of today. Getting Dr stuff and legal stuff completed before I leave.
June 14: Monster and I planned to load up and organize the van today, but by the time we finished with other obligatory errands, it was too darn hot. We plan to get up early tomorrow morning and knock it out before noon.
June 15: Got up early and spent a few hours loading up the van and organizing things. It is VERY full. Everything I own is in there now.
Wow. Let me repeat that: EVERYTHING I OWN IS IN THE VAN. My life is actually in this van. That’s pretty impressive coming from a book hoarder who collected rocks until three years ago.
At this point, it needs the kind of organizing that can only be done once I’m on the road, living out of it. Time to see what I really need and what I don’t. Nothing is locked down in its permanent place and some things I just gave up on for now. There are 6 plastic bins under the bed and everything else will work its way in, or work its way out of the van.
Here we go!
Everything is in. Now what?
June 17: My mechanic gave the van a clean bill of health today. Went to Costco for some final supplies and stopped by Home Depot to buy Reflectix for the windows.
June 18: Spent the afternoon with Chico and said my goodbyes. Patrick called while I was there and gave me all the encouragement and wonderful wishes I could possibly hope for. I adore these two men! I absolutely cherish their love and constant support.
Had a wonderful dinner with my ‘Tempe Tribe’ (much love to the Sharp and Diez de Medina families). I left feeling motivated and inspired. They have a magic way of lifting people up like that. When I moved to AZ 6 years ago and was introduced to a supervisor “John” at the office, I had no idea how much he (and his family) would end up meaning to me. (Big thanks to Dudley and Linda for the cast iron dutch oven and to Rob and Dawn for the oval marble ‘table’.)
June 19: Planned to leave today by noon, but nothing panned out. Ran into some unexpected snags while completing some final errands – hoping to leave by noon tomorrow.
On the upside, I managed to wash every article of clothing I own. On the downside, I haven’t cut the Reflectix to fit the windows yet.
June 20: Left today! Ran some errands with Monster before dropping them at work and saying goodbye. Filled the gas tank and used the fuel injector cleaner recommended by my mechanic. Didn’t get on the road until 2:03 PM.
It was 121 degrees by the time I got to Quartzsite, AZ around 4:30 PM. I stopped for ice and got the heck out of there.
The Imperial Sand Dunes in Glamis CA were incredible, but I didn’t stop. For some reason, I still thought I could get to San Diego by dark. Hahaha.
It was cooler and the sun was going down by the time I started up the mountain (Kumeyaay Hwy) that stood between me and my destination. It took over an hour to get up and over the mountain and it was beautiful! Well, until it got dark and I couldn’t really see anything. I likely missed some magnificent views.
I stopped in Del Mar and filled up with gas before going across the street to Denny’s for dinner. When I logged my fill up, I discovered I got 17.26 miles per gallon on this trip! My city driving (in Mesa/Tempe/Phoenix) over the past few months resulted in only 12.5 and 14.5 miles per gallon (depending and AC use). I LOVE 17.26!
When I got to Denny’s, I noticed the signs said ‘customer parking only’. Nothing about no overnight parking. Perfect! I ate, reached out to the people who were waiting to hear from me, checked my email, etc.
Less than 45 minutes later I headed to the van. I climbed right in the back and went to sleep. Day one down. Next!
More to come! Watch for 2 more blogs that will fill out the rest of the month of June.
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