Social Distancing in an RV – Chapter 6
Monday, April 13 – Day 29 at the Farm
This week begins a Fulltime Families “Rally in Your Rig” event. We missed the morning kickoff but we did the afternoon scavenger hunt and farm themed it! Here is what was on the list and the collage photos under it is our finds on the farm (in no particular order).
- Something the same color as your shirt.
- An item with a date on it.
- Something about half the size of your shoe.
- Your favorite snack.
- An unconventional item that can hold water.
- A picture of an animal.
- An item that starts with the letter M.
- Something from your bedtime routine.
- Something with similar weight to a feather.
- An item that smells fresh.
- Something you can recycle.
- Something taller than you.
- A group of items that contains the same number as you have members in your family.
- A book.
- Something that has a campground name on it.
- Something with a Fulltime Families logo on it.
- An item that came from a National Park.
- A printed family photo.
- Something that is purple.
- An item that would sink in a pool.
Tuesday, April 14 – Day 30 at the Farm
Today started with Ella crashing her bike on the way to the barn. We patched her knee up and she spent the morning on the couch. Chip gave us a lesson on beehives and we assembled the stater wax into the supers (the boxes that hold the racks). Lots of cool things we want to learn about bees. Tricia and Augusta (with some Liam) planted the remaining tomatoes and squash.
Later, Chris smashed his finger while hooking the tiller to the small John Deere. I patched him up too – although it looked like it was on the verge of needing more professional attention than I could give. We’ll see how it fares as nobody has any desire to go near urgent care currently.
We’ve started talking about making plans for after the farm. Kinda hard to do without knowing how this all will play out over the next year.
Wednesday April 15th – Day 31 at the Farm
I worked on the ’95 Toyota farm truck today. Tricia and Augusta picked up fallen limbs around the farm from the storm on Sunday. The kids went with Chris to run traps.
Cooler today, but the peppers and squash are already fruiting. Amazing how much faster vegetables grow here than in Michigan.
Thursday April 16th – Day 32 at the Farm
I spent the day rewiring a portion of the breaker panel on the bunkhouse to support a 30A receptacle for the RV. We’ve been working off of 15A for the last month and it’s doable with the solar and lithium battery assist – but it sure is a lot easier not having to manage power as closely. If we’re still here as it gets hotter this will help out a lot!
The kids worked on projects and Tricia and Augusta planted vegetable seedlings in the adjacent field.
Pasta and movie night! Jungle Book was the movie.
Friday April 17 – Day 33 at the Farm
This morning Liam ran traps with Chris. Ella, Tricia, and I helped capture a swarm of bees. We learned that occasionally bee colonies will “swarm” when they get too large. Essentially, they split into two colonies by sending out the old queen. Some of the hive goes with the old queen and the rest stay with the new queen. The bees that leave with the old queen send out scouts looking for a new home and the rest will form a swarm to protect the queen while they await the scouts return.
We were able to capture the swarm into an empty hive by smoking the bees and sweeping them into an empty super. Learn more about how and why bees swarm here.
We also had a bonfire (OK- we burned a huge brush pile) behind the pond in celebration of VK’s birthday.
Saturday April 18 – Day 34 at the Farm
Today we did some laundry, sighted in the .22 Ruger, and grilled/fried chicken, rabbit, and potatoes for dinner. Can’t beat that.
Sunday April 19 – Day 35 at the Farm
Big storms rolled through again today washing out our Sunday. We spent a few hours in the afternoon and evening watching the radar closely as we were under a tornado watch. Living in an RV makes us much more aware of potentially damaging weather.
Lots of discussion today between Tricia and I trying to figure out what our next steps will be.
In many ways we feel fortunate to be mobile during this pandemic. We feel so lucky to have landed at such a great place to lock-down at for the time being and have multiple different directions we can go (both literally and figuratively) when we do decide to leave the farm.
On the other hand, we lament that our adventure as we know it will not be the same if we choose to continue on. The visitor centers, museums, festivals, and fulltime-families rallies look like they will be mostly shut down for the duration. These were our experiences that we set out for. The National Parks gave us dots on the map to connect. Will these be an option? If they do open up will they be over-run by lockdown weary Americans? Will we want to be there?
The alternative of “going “back” isn’t a straightforward option. Back to what? Schools are closed. Businesses are shuttered. What we left doesn’t currently exist. Strange times these are.