Enjoying out Time in the Bay Area!

How many of you have gone back to your high school reunion, or traveled back to a home state after moving away?  I’m sure many of you have! Have you ever heard of the saying, “you can never go back home?” What the heck does that mean? That things will never be the same?  The same as what?  When you were a kid?  Well DUH!!!  Of course, it will not be the same.  You are not the same person you were as a child (at least I hope not).

We were excited about coming back to the Bay Area.  Even though we were only gone for 5 months.  We sold our home, said good-byes, and took off.  Actually, we didn’t get a chance to say good-bye to a lot of our friends because of how quickly everything happened. Jerry retired on June 15, and we left CA on June 18th.  Wam, Bam, thank you ma’am!  Didn’t give Jerry a chance to freak out about being retired, no sir.  We were on a mission!!! 

When we left, I knew we were coming back in November and that we would be able to see our friends and family and say a proper good-bye the next time we leave.  I will say, this time will be even more difficult as we have no idea when we will be back.  I will be flying back for my nephew Mikey’s graduation from grad school in May;  but as a couple with our RV, we really have no idea when we’ll be back. This time next year we will be living it up in the eastern half of the country, as we will be “wintering” in Florida next year.  It seems a right of passage for a full-time RVer to “winter” in Florida at least once.  We shall see how that goes in 2022, but, I digress…

We have had a great time seeing our friends and family so far.  The great thing is we are staying until Dec 28th in Pleasanton.  We need that time to make sure we see everyone we can before we take off.  And, of course, celebrate the holidays with our families. 

It’s very interesting when you only have a certain amount of time, you make sure you see as many people as possible. We will need a “vacation” from this trip. We are beyond busy daily. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. It’s so great to show off our RV. We are giving daily tours. I just love seeing people’s faces when they first enter our new home. It’s priceless. If you haven’t seen the RV Tour YouTube, click here if you aren’t in the area for a live tour. You’re Welcome! Seeing everyone we didn’t get a chance to see before we left has meant so much to us.

This past week, I made sure we had no plans on Wednesday for a catch-up day and believe it or not, another purge day!! Yes, we are still trying to get rid of some weight (the RV, I mean). Whenever we are in an area of over 2 weeks, we both go through our “stuff” and really ask ourselves, “do I need this?” Trust me this is ongoing for all RVers. We are selling more of Jerry’s tools, and donating clothing, kitchen stuff, etc. It’s a never-ending project. This week alone we donated 3 full garbage bags of multiple items from every room in the RV!

When we left, we just didn’t know what we would need.  Trust me, we still don’t.  As I said, an ongoing process for sure.  Did I really need the paella pan?  I think NOT!  I’ve been carrying that around for 5 months now.  Not once did I make paella.  That pan was pretty darn heavy!!  How many hydro flex bottles does one need?  Yep, gave a couple of those away as well. 

I have a saying when it comes to the kitchen.  “How many spatulas does a person need?”  I try to look at everything as a “spatula”.  How many hoodies or t-shirts do we need?   You get the idea.  No, it’s not easy, but a must when living in a 500+ sq foot home.  As I say to Jerry EVERY SINGLE day, every single thing MUST have its place.  No more just taking off your shoes and leaving them in the living room.  No more leaving dirty laundry anywhere, or baseball caps on the table.  It’s a daily struggle for one of us (NOT ME Ha Ha). 

We have loved being back and eating in our favorite restaurants.  We have made a list of where we want to eat or what food we want to enjoy before we take off again.  Trust me, we have enjoyed many so far and look forward to many more. 

Yes, familiarity is a joy, but so is the excitement of the next adventure.  As of right now, I am enjoying the familiarity and will continue to do that for the next 3 weeks.

Just one more…..awesome grocery store with all the foods I love!