Tuesday, November 1, 2011

It's Hard To Get Away

Not being able to go anywhere or do anything is primarily self inflicted.
We did it to ourselves. Just to leave for a day takes careful planning at least two weeks ahead of time. By the time we finally leave, we are already wanting to come back.

It's nobody's fault we decided to have a high maintenance place. It would be easier to do as all the others and not have the things that need constant care. Some call that freedom. One guy I talked to this weekend said they up and leave twice a month. He said it was their down time. I pictured them as apartment dwellers and just leaving the complex is an adventure. 

For us dropping everything and leave has been non existent for the past twenty years.
I guess I can call it maturity, growing up, responsible adult, life or whatever words you want to put into it, but I miss the days where all the wife and I had to do was say lets go and off we went.

  We were looking for a place to go swimming once years ago and every place we went was crowded. We needed more room. We were looking for our own private little area, but every place in North Texas was packed so much you could not see the water from all the people.
By night fall we were eight and a half hours away at the Gulf Of Mexico with nothing more than the clothes on our backs. We finally found a spot big enough to swim in.  Those were some good times.

Last weekend our 40 hour camping trip took two weeks to plan. Before we left we were already exhausted.  All we were taking were the bags already packed, but it still took that long to plan every detail and to educate the neighbors on what, when and how to be feed, water, let out and put up.
Then there was the home security issue. It took three days to burglar proof the house and after all that work my efforts would still only keep the honest people out.

Other than a quick run into town, the days of jumping in the truck and disappearing for the weekend are long gone for us. Maybe one day after the kids are all gone and the animal phase has run it's course, all we will own in a motor home and not be tied down to anything.              

16 comments:

  1. I do understand. It's like us and our travel trailer. I love to tow and camp, but here in Florida if you want to use the parks it takes a three month advance reservation, and then it all on computer and you take your chances with the site. What a pain. If we just up and leave I must, of course, close my business, which cost, then we're spending - double cost, and the business I lose, triple cost...lose lose all around. Maybe when I get old....er.

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  2. I would like to think that Old-er is a very long time away.
    I understand about the cost. Camping used to be cheap and the way we did last weekend was cheap, but rough. It has almost got to the point where organize camping is for the wealthy, just like hunting has become.

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  3. Yes, it's hard to "get away" but look what you learned this past weekend. You are sooo much further ahead than the sheeple.

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  4. Thanks Matt and yes there was a lot of knowledge gained.

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  5. MDR - i understand. and second what Matt said. but i gotta tell ya - you need to start saving for that RV/motor home. it sounds like you have a wandering spirit. and if you have one you can always come and visit us.

    me - i hate having to drive down to the community centre (1km away - .6miles). i love not leaving our land. i will never travel again. there is nothing out there that i want to see that is better than what i see everyday. plus, ya gotta wear clothes when you travel. and i prefer to remain un-clothed here at the Manor - bahahahah!

    get an RV. then you can visit your daughter, other family, us and whoever else you want to visit. and everyday you will have the ability to just take off!

    your friend,
    kymber

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  6. Thanks for the advise Kymber. The one reason I want to get out and about is because I have never really seen anything other than right here where I was born and raised. In my whole adult life I have only took one vacation outside of a couple of hours from the house.

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  7. With all of our animals, it IS hard to leave. But the way I look at it, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

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  8. I agree SFG. There is no place like home (say that three times), but home does cause the feelings of being stuck in a rut after a while. To leave for a whole week would be unheard of but just for a weekend should not be that hard.

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  9. I agree with kymber. We love being here and the life we are living. That being said it is a challenge when we want to head back up to the DFW Metroplex to visit family and friends. Our goal is to get everything where it can take care of itself pretty much for at least two day.

    I have been fortunate enough to have seen quite a bit. Not as much as some but more than others. I am also blessed to be surounded by some of the most beautiful country I think in Texas.

    Uncertain, Texas is abt 1 1/2 hours away. It is on Caddo Lake which is the ONLY natural made lake in Texas. I always feel like I am in a National Geographic movie when I go there.

    I support you in traveling. I have seen some wonderful things. Some that fit right in with homesteading. Like the Pioneer House in Fredricksburg, Texas that has an awesome root cellar. I want one!

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  10. G - Caddo lake is fantastic. I spent my 10 year anniversary there in a camper with 13 other people.
    The boat tour was great.

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  11. We have a saying in our family, "close enough to walk" and we try to stick with that. I am from the Northwest and hubby is Georgian, we traveled in the military and also followed youngest son around the country when he played college football. Now we are perfectly happy to stay home. I've seen enough and nothing is better than what we have here on the farm!
    Hunting is good here MDR!
    Shar

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  12. Shar - With the way things are in the world today, it is a good idea to stay within walking distance. I wished I could work closer to home. As it is now I am about two days walk from the house.

    As far as hunting, where I am in Texas there are really no places to hunt deer unless you have a large section of land or have a lease a couple of hours away. Leases here run about $2000 to $5000 a gun per year. That is why I do not deer hunt anymore.

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  13. Wow! That is alot of money! Thankfully we have enough land to insure a good deer harvest every year (for now anyway)!
    Shar

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  15. I am just returning from a trip with my friend. My first ever girl trip at the ripe age of 47. Saw the beautiful fall colors of the Ozark Mountains in AR.. my home state. Had not been back in over 15 yrs! The honeyman stayed behind because someone has to be here for the animals! Pretty much impossible for us both to leave. Usually its me that stays behind. This was a first. Point being, yep it takes major planning for a trip when you have animals that rely on you!

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  16. Texan - Like I said, we do it to ourselves but it is still nice to get away every once in a while.
    I am glad you got to go this time. It sounded fun.

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