April 30, 2018- A Survivor and her Spirit

Today was the day I have been waiting on for over 20 years! I bought my first RV!

She is a 2014 Itasca 31 footer. She has 28,000 miles. She is in great condition. 

Her name is SPIRIT! How fitting! A breast cancer Survivor and her SPIRIT! 

She has two slides, a bunkhouse, a sleeper above the cab and a bedroom in the back. Here are some pictures of the inside at time of purchase. 

I have found exactly the layout I am looking for. Of course, if you know me and my love for decorating, she will be painted on the inside and some minor upgrades before we begin our journey. I want her to feel like home! 

This has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. After cancer, you learn to embrace life and learn how precious time is. Time is truly priceless. And good health is also priceless. 

As we were leaving the dealership, Dreams by the Allman Brothers Band came on the radio. I knew then Dad was smiling down on this decision. ABB was his favorite band and we grew up listening to them. 

“Just one more mornin’, I had to wake up with the blues, pulled myself out of bed, and put on my walking shoes. And went up on the mountain to see what I could see…”

I was smiling and singing Dreams loudly as we drove away with SPIRIT. 

I am wanting to see the world with my mom and Abby, my 9 year old shih tzu. Both have been with me through breast cancer in 2015-16 and the death of my Dad in 2011. If you don’t know me, I had breast cancer stage 3 three years ago. It was a tough battle. 8 rounds of chemo, 33 rounds of radiation. Losing my hair, being sick, having a hysterectomy after that… you get the message. The lesson here is to enjoy life and be grateful for health and happiness and family. And thank God for all his blessings. 

I am spending the next couple of weeks organizing and getting things ready for the first camping weekend. We are going to camp close to home so we can make sure everything works on RV and we practice learning how to use everything on it. There are a lot of things to learn! 

I am also learning how to blog. This is my first one! I am looking forward to taking many scenic pictures and traveling to some cool places. I hope to write and photo all the places I go and share my RV adventures with you. This blog will be a work in progress until I learn everything about blogging as well. I hope you will follow all of our adventures of the open road and seeing new places. I am making a list of places I want to see… Colorado, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Redwood Forest, Maine, Connecticut, etc… So many places to see! 

A little about me…. I am 46 years old, single with no kids but have 10 dogs at home! I am a Christian and love photography as a hobby. I also love to cook and eat! (I will be posting food pics as well on this journey). I am a mental health therapist and a dog rescuer. Both jobs can be difficult and stressful at times. But I love doing both. I have been a therapist for 18 years. And I founded Meals on Wheels for Helena West Helena Dogs around 8 years ago. It is a 501c3. You can find us on Facebook. This is a true passion and I also feel it is a calling to do this type of work. There will be trips in Spirit transporting dogs to forever homes during the year as well. I will blog about those dogs when we travel with them. 

But I will be taking breaks during the year from work and rescue work and traveling in SPIRIT with my dog and my mom to enjoy travel and adventures. 

SO.. stay tuned… I am getting SPIRIT ready for her first trip! It will be a local trip to either Bear Creek in Marianna Arkansas or Horseshoe Lake near West Memphis Arkansas.  The next blog will be about our first adventure! I am so excited that we are almost ready for traveling. 

This HAPPY CAMPER AND HER DOG are READY for the RV LIFE!

xoxo,

Leslie and Abby