Living now in Northwestern New Mexico

Well, 2009 has certainly been a year of surprises.

Started the year out trying to sell this little truck and ended up keeping it and getting the camper shell for it and making it into a cool little traveling mobile. I was all ready to start exploring the state parks in the Ark-La-Miss-Tex area.

But then in June I decided to heed my friend's wishes and move in with her and be roommates in a big ole log cabin in northern Tennessee . . . so I decide - OK - me & Lil Sporty will just have fun exploring everything within an 8 hour radius of Nashville - which would have been a whole lot of things to see and do . . . but . . .

In September, my roommate gets a job offer to come back to her home state of New Mexico and since I was having no luck getting a job in Clarksville (too many Army wives from Ft. Campbell competing for all the secretarial jobs), I decided why not go with her to New Mexico . . . it's a place I've always wanted to live and it's the Mecca of All Things Camping . . . sooooo

Here I sit 3 weeks post cross-country Move. I landed a GREAT job within days of being here, my friend now understands the wonders and joys of RV ownership and can't wait to own her own little home on wheels (which means I will have all the fun of helping her figure out what's she got without having to experience the pain of buying and maintaining it!!) and I've already been out exploring what this little town has to offer . . . and it's been alot!!! Been on two birdwatching walks along the Animas River and gotten lots of great photos, gone to several area museums, fairs, flea markets, etc. and can't wait until we get the chance to branch out to all the wonderful canyons and historical monuments of the Four Corners region. We both have our weekends off so there's no telling where we will go first. The choices are endless: Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Durango Colorado train rides (something i've always wanted to do!), Shiprock, eventually even the Grand Canyon which is only 4 hours away.

So yes, it's hard to believe that this time last year I was just daydreaming about RVing and working seasonal jobs in the resorts out west and today I am actually in a place that will allow me to make those daydreams real!!!!

If I don't update this blog for awhile, you can always see what's happening at http://momcat02.blogspot.com/ I renamed that blog. It used to be "Momcat's Musings", but now since I am no longer just musing about things, I changed the name to the more appropriate "The Adventures of Momcat!"

Here's some pics of where I am now:
The ShipRock (above) and roast mutton, green chilies on fry bread (below)
This is a beautiful office complex that I drive by every day. The colors of the adobe buildings and the fall color plantings are breathtaking!!!
The Animas River
You might think that New Mexico is nothing but desert, sand and cactus but nothing could be further from the truth here in northwestern NM. The Fall Magic is unbelievable around here!


hmmmm . . . what have we here?!
potential future yard art!

YIKES! so far I have not found out what this mutant hornet/scorpion/wasp thing is:
The group I went birdwatching with:
Living in Louisiana, I could never get a good photo of a Great Blue Heron. I come out west and viola!

Just a little something to remember later on:

The advantages of a truck camper over an RV

http://www.truckcampermagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=871&Itemid=34

Two Months Later . . .

The Only Constant is Change.

I have had a very interesting time in Clarksville, Tennessee. Thankfully I have remembered to enjoy my time off from working while at the same time looking for THE JOB. It hasn't always been an easy balance by no means as I am quick to stress over how I will pay my bills. But I was able to work a fun, quirky out of my normal relm of things kind of job which was just enough to keep me going and still gave me plenty of time to chill.

But I just had to ask myself and The Universe: Why isn't the job piece of this puzzle falling into place here in Clarksville, TN?

I even for a brief time thought that I was about to work the most fabulous and perfect new job EVER that would have made it soooo easy to go exploring the region's beautiful natural history & geography!!! I even made it Facebook official. But for some reason I just couldn't DECLARE it on my blog.

Fast forward a week later - that job is long forgotten and another couple ones have been surrendered to not meant to happen. AND ALL FOR GOOD REASON!!!! I am about 95% sure that by October 4, which will be exactly TEN YEARS TO THE DAY that I first touched New Mexican soil - i will be waking up in whatever our new temporary digs will be - making out the day's plan for the next level of my life!!!

So yes. On one hand - it's hard to believe. But on the other it all makes perfect sense.

So again I am packing. Shaving down my possessions to one more lighter level. One more step closer to being able to travel lighter and lighter. Thankfully it won't be as hard as the last time. I just got to take what's absolutely necessary and put the rest in storage for the time being. I started today and my bedroom is already done. and I have a TO DO LIST for the rest all mapped out.

The plan at this point is to haul out of here on October 1 heading to a point not exactly clear but will be one of two places in New Mexico!!!! Once we get there, we plan to stay at an RV campground for about a week or so to give us a chance to look around at the housing and make a good decision. Then Monica starts her job and I again start the job hunt. Which I know will be so much better than this go round because THERE I am meant to stay and work!!! and explore. and create. and live.

The DREAM is being realized!!

It is so cool how things have converged in spirit and energy to enable me to propel into my dream!!!

In September 2008, after being driven mad by working in a windowless cube, I started visualizing and/or dreaming (whatever you want to call it) about getting a job where I could travel and work seasonally in resorts/national park areas. This was a satisfying outlet for the rage in me that was building because I could not see the outside world where day turns to afternoon and the seasons change. I get so depressed if not close to a window. When my boss said we were moving to a new building and then informed me there was no window, I had warned him that this would happen. He just laughed. But I know my past work history . . . after a period of windowless existence, I get depressed and spring out of that place at the first opportunity. So he can't say I didn't warn him.

Anyway . . . to assuage and quiet the storms in my heart, I spent recreational time online searching all about seasonal jobs and what it would take to buy, own, maintain, drive my own RV - oh! this provided many hours of stress relief.

Fast forward to the beginning of this blog - when I posted "FOR SALE - FORD RANGER TRUCK" in January of this year. Well, the regular reader will know I didn't sell the Little Truck - La Troca Bebe - and she became the first piece of my puzzle!!

I had already decided a big RV was not for me!! and after finding that most awesome of websites: cheaprvliving.com - i had so many ideas for making my own Micro-mobile motel room. Oh what fun it would be to miniaturize camping stuff to fit the back of my truck!!

In March, I started visualizing what it feels like to have a camper on the back of the truck as I would drive along the road. By the end of that month, I had found the perfect camper top for the back of the bed of La Troca Bebe. I was set!!!

Instead of running away and working seasonally, my new goal was to take weekend trips to the sights and wonders within a day's drive of Northeast Louisiana. I was going to go on Birding Trails through out South Louisiana and trace the ancient Native American sites through out the ArkLaMiss area.

I got as far as Natchez and South Mississippi before a BIG TURN OF EVENTS TOOK OVER!!!

On May 21, my great friend who I have been friends with all the way back to our 20's called and said "I've found it." with IT being the most awesome wooded retreat-like place that we have always talked about - a place where we could co-exist and live and create and do and be!!

Fast forward to today!!! I'm sitting here in my lil basement artist studio/living space in the beautiful woods of Tennessee blogging on my blog . . . the windowless cube a distant memory!

I love how that happened!!! Thank you God for knowing the desires of my heart!

So with that all said, I will not be posting to this blog for awhile . . . at least until that next camping trip to the Smoky Mountains or the Great Lakes or maybe to Cumberland Falls. But in the meantime, if you want to know what is happening next, just save www.momcat02@blogspot.com to your Favorites - that's where you can check in for the latest pics of this awesome awesome place we live in (I just moved in on this past Sunday July 11 so my place is a work in progress) or you can see the latest music/art/spirit/yoga/nature fun thing that we doing at the moment!!!! Yippeeee!

Here's What's UP!!!!!

By mid-July I will be living in the great State of Tennessee!!! and I have a very good chance at a job as a school secretary which means I will have time off in the summer to go exploring to my heart's content!!!!! Plus there will be plenty of 3 day weekends!!!!! Where I will be living, I will be just a day away from the Great Lakes and the Smoky Mountains. And just a little bit further away is the Carolina Atlantic coasts and the beautiful Adirondacks and New England and on the other side - the Badlands of the Dakotas!!!!!! Me and my little truck can see sooooo many new places now!!!!!! and when I'm not on the road, I get to live in a 200 year old log cabin on 5 beautiful wooded acres with seven springs tumbling down to the Cumberland River!!!!! And I will be shairing this with my best friend for the past 25 years who has always believed in me as an artist and who will be encouraging me to create, create, create!!!!! We've always talked about "one day" when we were finished with offspring obligations and have shed the deadweight men in our lives and can come together and create a place that will encourage and inspire other artists and musicians - in fact - we spent New Year's Eve together (online - she was in TN, I was in LA) talking about this very thing. And viola'!! 6 months later it has become a reality!!!!! Since that New Year's Eve night, everything has fell into place for her and for me in a miraculous and most spiritual way that would blow your minds if I had the time to list it all . . . the very first thing being how I acquired the Baby Truck in January and got the camper top in March! It has just snowballed from there.

I can't wait to see what happens next!

Wow Wow Wow

The times they are a-changin! Have the opportunity to change everything!!! More details later. For a hint: http://momcat02.blogspot.com/

Daydreamin . . . filling time.

Since I am in between adventures right now, I'm updating this blog to daydream and fill in the time . . . next opportunity to GO . . . weekend of May 16. Will be heading to Texarkana, Texas to see David participate in a triathlon. Bonus will be watching HireJoe (bike), Sylvia (run) and Autumn (swim) as a relay team in the race as well. Sooo . . . as I wait . . . i look at photos.

Here's how it looks as you are crawling in:
Here's how it looks when you are inside looking out:
Ok - so I had those two leaks and now after a couple of big rainstorms, it looks like I got those places sealed up. In the meantime, I took everything out of the camper to make sure the stuff that got wet dried properly. As I did, I took photos of the stuff in sections to help me later on in case I need a reminder (ha ha) of what goes back in.

First up, the bed roll and all that it encompasses. the main thing I wanted to make sure got dried out well.
Next - shelving/storage stuff:
and then all the other stuff. Not all that much junk actually, I am happy to report.
Of course, there are those two black crates - one is the Pantry and the other is the Appliance Garage. Yeah . . . but this is pretty much all that it takes to make the MMR (mobile motel room) - Hurray!!! Not really all that much stuff. I'm a light traveler - that's the goal.

Screen House!!!!

For Secretary's Day I received a Walmart Gift Card and I knew exactly what I wanted to get with it. A Screen House to add to my arsenal of camping stuff. Here is how it fits in with the camper:

A photo of the ever fabulous Coleman Kitchen:

And a space on the other side for my chair and I'm all set.

Of course, I will have to take extra precautions during the summer time when I set this up to make sure the bottom edges of the screen house are very close to the ground and maybe use that mosquito net to seal up the spaces around and under the truck. Otherwise mosquitoes will be coming in. If I can't do that properly, during the summer months, I'll just have to set the screen house up separately from the camper. But in Spring, Fall & Winter, this can be a nice arrangement to give me outside living space and kinda shield me from being so out in the open for other people to stare at me. Yuk.

A few additions . . .

I should have posted these photos a while back, but didn't have time. So today I will explain my super expensive curtain devices that will keep prying eyes from seeing what's in the back of my camper:

Ha! Ha! Yep . . . trash bags. I just used black duct tape and taped the trash bags up long ways across the windows, along with a couple of black shoe strings taped strategically along the way to use as tie-backs. They work perfectly and cost next to nothing.

Here's a pic of how I can use an Army-issued mosquito net to drape over the back of the camper when it is open. Air comes in but bugs stay out.
and I just had to put one more pic of the shelving unit that fits so perfectly in one corner. This gives so much accesible storage space and I use a couple of bungee cords to keep the drawers secure while the truck is moving.

Taking Care of Business

I was proud of myself today. I took the truck in and had the third brake light hooked up on the camper shell and then I found out what was the best stuff to seal those 2 leaks with. Then I went and bought it (clear silicon) and then sealed them up. Tomorrow after it's been 24 hours, I'm gonna test out the seals with the water hose. Sure hope I got the leaky places the first time and that they hold. Soggy covers are NOT for me EVER!

More photos from my trip to Natchez

Click here for more photos of the lil camper in action:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=240612&id=612625133&l=3104065f9a

First Real Trip in the Lil Truck Camper that Could!

I'm at Riverview RV Park which is situated right on the Mississippi River in Vidalia, Louisiana. Just across from the Bluffs of Natchez. Here's my first cup of coffee made in the little camper. This is my kitchen set up. You can cook a whole lot of things by using a George Foreman Grill and making hot water in the coffee maker.
I got here during a super downpour and I got wet getting in and out of the truck and back into the back of the camper. Plus there was a flash flood across my parking pad. With ankle deep water flowing under and around my truck, I did not feel it was the safest thing to plug in my extension cord. So when the rain slacked, I waded up to the RV Clubhouse and asked if I could move to higher ground. Since there were few people checking in on this rainy day, it was no problem. Once I got plugged in and set up inside the camper, I did not mind waiting out the rain, especially since I was able to get online!

It wasn't long before, the storm passed over and I was able to get out and walk over to the River. I enjoyed sitting there watching the mist roll in.
'tomorrow I will be going over to Natchez and will take a tour of 3 antibellum mansions. Then I'll do a fast drive thru St. Catherine's Creek Wildlife Refuge, which is what I had planned to do this afternoon, but the rain changed my plans. Tomorrow night will be spent at the State Park. Thankfully the forecast for both days is SUNNY!! I do now see a couple of spots that leak when it rains, so I will definitely have to get those fixed. But other than that, everything else in my camper has worked as I had expected and hoped for and it has been quite comfortable.

Prototype of Living Space in the camper

Time now to get busy!!!
Before . . . Thinking and measuring and designing . . .
Since I won't have any funds in the foreseeable future for getting a truck liner, but still NEED SOMETHING between my knees and those hard metal ridges in the bed, I came up with the idea of using a foam eggcrate thing and then covering it with a couple of Yoga mats. This makes it soft and easy to take out and clean. And bonus: the yoga mats are "sticky" meaning they will keep things from sliding around! I also had 2 shoe shelfs that I decided would be perfect to fit over the wheel hubs and make that space useable. I cut out one of them to fit it in against the wheel hub, but I left the other one as is and just use those "sticky" yoga blocks to make it level. That way I have the shelves at two different levels and the one that's not cut out to fit the hub still has a full second shelf.
Here is the "sitting area" with the bed rolled up and the Coleman Kitchen standing up against the tail gate.
Here is the bed rolled out. Look at how nicely I cut the shelf on the left to fit in next to the hub!!! The second shelf is also cut out in a half oval to allow the shelf to fit against the rounded hub. It's still usable for storing smaller items.
This is in travel mode with the black storage tubs brought down into the middle and the Coleman Kitchen laid down on it's side. There is still lots of room to tuck all the other stuff I will end up bringing into nooks and crannys but I will have to be careful not to junk it up. And I especially want to keep it where it will only take a couple of quick simple moves to take it from Travel Mode to sleeping/chillin mode. That way should I find the need to Stealth Park somewhere to get a cat nap while on the road or to sleep overnight, all i have to do is pop into the back, shuffle a few things around and I'm happy and as cozy as a clam!

On the way back home . . .

After a delight afternoon of speed sight seeing around Memphis (for photos of the interesting things I saw click: http://momcat02.blogspot.com/), I was back on the road again headed home.

Somewhere between Granada and Jackson, Mississippi, I started feeling sleepy. Usually I hate that feeling but this time, I was happy cuz it meant I could stop at the next rest stop and try out the back of my camper for taking little cat naps while on the road. Of course, I brought along some bedding for just this purpose. Aaahhhh quite comfy!
Now am I happy or what!!!!!!

Happy Trails to me!!!

Ta Da!!!!!! Introducing . . .

My New Truck Camper!!!!
And here's a photo of the guy I bought this camper shell from. Mr. Army Dude from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. Thanks so much, T.J.!!!!!