Dragging a horse and a mule.

Brenda: “I'm dragging today.”

Me: “You're a dragon today? ROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!”

Brenda: “Ha, ha (said with sarcasm). For real, I'm dragging and I'm a little bit hoarse.”

Me: “You're dragging a horse? That's got to be tough. No wonder you're tired.”

Brenda: “Ha, ha (said with more sarcasm).”

Me: “Come to think of it, I'm sort of tired today too.”

Brenda: “That's because I drugged your meal.”

Me: “Why would you drug my mule? I didn't even know I had a mule. Since you are already dragging a horse, do you want to drag my mule too?”

Brenda: “Ha, ha (even more sarcasm). This is getting old.”

Me: “I'm not that old. I'm only 41. And I look pretty darn good for 41. You are one lucky girl.”

Brenda: “Oh, for crying out loud!”

Me: “Don't cry out loud. You're dragging a horse and a mule. You don't want to scare them.”

Brenda: “Give it a rest already!”

Me: “Resting sounds like a good idea. How about a nap?”

Brenda: “If you don't stop, I'm going to kill you.”

Me: “If you killed me, you would be way too lonely. Maybe not though, you are dragging a horse and a mule. They would keep you company. But they wouldn't be near as fun as me. Did I tell you how lucky you are?”

Brenda: “That's it! I'm going to punch you in the throat and then I'm going to kill you.”

Me: “Didn't I tell you how lucky you are today? You get to live with me in a tiny home on wheels down by the river and we get to spend every minute together. This is great.” (we are currently staying in Monroe, Washington, down by the Skykomish river in our RV at a RV park waiting for some more family medical stuff to happen).

Brenda: “Yeah, it's really great. This is just what every girl dreams of (the sarcasm is getting thick). The only way it could get any better is if we were living in a van down by the river.”

Yep, she is one lucky girl. We get to spend just about every waking minute together, we get to live in a tiny home on wheels, and we get to live down by the river (temporarily). Pretty fun stuff. It's so fun that we have to come up with ways to entertain ourselves, like the verbal exchange above. It's usually only entertaining for one of us. The other one of us wants to punch the entertaining one in the throat and then kill them.

The RV lifestyle is a great way to live if you are traveling. There are new adventures and sights to see around every bend in the road. If you are staying put and living in a RV, it's really not ideal. It's more reminiscent of the trailer park lifestyle that's on every TV show and movie that you've ever seen (we are actually in a beautiful place that just happens to be next to the river with mountains as the backdrop. Brenda would be mortified if she knew you thought we were living in a trailer park...although I think it is sort of trailer park-esque). And yes, we are waiting for a tornado, a sink hole, or a giant hail storm to take us out (because that's what happens in trailer parks). Not only are we a magnet for a natural disaster, it's an itty-bitty-teeny-weeny space. There is no room to stretch out or to move around. It's almost like a prison. Ok, a prison is a bit dramatic, but still, it is a bit cramped and it feels like we are captive. And unlike if we were in prison, we don't have cable TV, orange jump suits, riots, or a good gym. Bummer. The good news is that I don't have to worry about dropping the soap...so maybe it's nothing like being in prison.

The RV was never meant to be a home for us. It was just supposed to be a place to sleep at night while we were roaming around the country seeing the sites. We never planned on sitting in one place for long enough to feel like we were actually living in it. It was supposed to be a mode of travel and nothing more. We've been pretty good at seeing everything we wanted to see in an area and then moving on to the next. We've generally been out and about during the day, hiking, exploring, and causing general mayhem, so that when we got back to our home on wheels at night, we were so exhausted that the itty-bitty-teeny-weeny space didn't bother us. We would fall right to sleep and dream about the excitement that waited for us the next day.

Seattle and the Northwest have been what I have considered to be home forever. Being that we've been here forever, it's sort of gotten old. Yeah, I know, I know...It's beautiful here. It's a great city. We've just seen and done about everything there is to see and do here. We've had nearly 40 years to do it. We set out on this adventure to see and do new things and those new things aren't here. Besides the fact that we've been there and done that, the weather has been cold and/or rainy so it's hard to get up the motivation to go on another hike that we've already done 12 times before. The traffic in the area is utter insanity, so getting up the desire to drive across town to try out a new restaurant or listen to some live music is almost impossible. And most of our friends and family have to go to the dreaded “W” word all day (work) so we are stuck with each other...all day long (as much as I know you probably don't believe it, we do enjoy each others company...even in our tiny home on wheels...all day long).

We aren't very good at sitting idle. I always thought that I could be retired and just hang out and be happy about it. Not the case. It's hard to sit around all day and not be a productive member of society. When we are roaming around the country seeing the sites, the thought of work would make me cringe. I couldn't imagine wasting my time working when there was so much cool stuff to see out there. But when we are hanging around the area waiting for some things to happen, work seems to make sense. It not only occupies time, puts some bucks in your pocket, and gives some social interaction, but it gives a sense of purpose to your day. Being a productive member of society is a good thing. Since we knew we were going to have to be around the area for a month or two, I almost broke down and got a temporary job just to keep busy and feel like I was productive. Don't worry though, I came to my senses and stopped that nonsense before it happened. Brenda would have been way to lonely without me around to pester her...all day long.

It's not like we have just been sitting around at the trailer park...I mean beautiful RV park down by the river. We have been getting out and exploring more of the area and we've been visiting with family and friends (the fun stuff), we've been working on the boat and getting it ready for our upcoming little sail to Mexico and beyond (the productive stuff), and we've been dealing with some family medical issues (the necessary stuff). If you take out the fun stuff, the productive stuff, and the necessary stuff, I would have to honestly tell you that we've been somewhat bored. As a kid, my Mom used to say “only boring people get bored.” Call us what you will.

I think the big thing that is contributing to our boredom is the fact that we still feel like there is way more out there in the world to see and do and we aren't currently seeing or doing it. We are sitting idle at a trailer park in Monroe...I mean a beautiful RV park down by the river (it really is a great spot). I guess it's not the fact that we are staying at a RV park in Monroe, it's the fact that we are back in the area that we left 19 months ago, and we left with the intention of seeing the world. We had no plans to come back for as long as we've been here. So now that we've been back for nearly 8 weeks, it almost makes it feel as if we never left. It's almost like we are still waiting for our adventure to happen even though we've had a year and a half of traveling under our belt.

This may sound like I am complaining about being in the area. I guess I sort of am. But having said that, I am at the same time happy that we are able to be here. We are pretty lucky because we have no place that we need to be. We can help out where we are needed and when we are needed. Family is definitely more important than having our boat anchored next to a tropical island, soaking up the sun while sipping fruity drinks (there was actually no sarcasm in that last statement...for real...no sarcasm).

But don't you fret because our boredom will soon be turned around. We have a few more days of doctors appointments to deal with next week and then it will back to waiting for more stuff to happen. We've gotten all the work done on the boat that can be done right now, the new mast has been measured and ordered, and now it's more waiting for about 4-5 months for the mast to be made and shipped. Since we have lots more waiting to do, we've decided to take our waiting game to another state. We have figured that we can wait for this stuff to happen in Bend, Oregon as well as we can in Seattle, and we'll be close enough to Seattle to jump back up here when needed. Mt Bachelor has officially opened and what better way to wait than with skis strapped to our feet. We've got some good friends down there that we are excited to catch up with, there are mountains that are begging to be climbed, and the best part of all, traffic is non-existent (compared to Seattle anyway).   

We spotted this spotted owl on a hike near Monroe today.

Brenda on the top of Lord Hill.

It's hard to look tough when you are wearing neon and spandex but somehow I pulled it off on this little ride around Birch Bay.

The view of Mt Baker from our stay in Birch Bay.