Winter is Here

Today here in lovely OH, the fall is now effectively over. Its snowing outside. I woke up to saying goodbye to the green grass. Yesterday and the day before were so pretty. Its now white and fluffy with the grass disappearing. This is my last winter for a while. YAY!

I am leaving a little sooner than planned and will be attending school in AZ as I want to finish up my degree. I love what I do but its time for a change. I have been saying that the entire time but hadn't thought of a concrete plan and this works. Plus I want to get back to the west coast and this is a way to slowly integrate. AND I started with this college back in 2005 and never got a chance to finish my BS but I don't have to pay an application fee or get new transcripts as they have my old file. I only have to take one class in person for funding so that leaves me some options. I have been been here for 4 years in this area so its time to continue on. I will figure out what I want to do after this point.

Its funny my dad went to the west coast and I was born there and he moved back for family. Things were always different he said. I went in the USAF and when I came home, its been different. I haven't felt tied to here nor like this is home. Its been an odd homecoming. I will miss some things here but I can visit, thats the nice thing with a home on wheels. I am going to be driving and living in my mini van for a few months and see how that goes. Then I will adjust as needed. In the mean time I am going to continue saving, planning and getting all the repairs done on the van as I can so it will be road trip roadworthy.

I lived in AZ for 9 months previously and it was a great experience and I look forward to seeing it again. I will also be getting an overhead container for the van, a roof rack and hitch set up for when/if I get a trailer. I won't be storing anything here as I don't want to pay for storage and I don't want family/friends to move and I am out that stuff. It gets cold at night so I will have all the uses I had before. I plan on leaving April 1 to the 15th, somewhere in there, I need to be in AZ by May 10 to have 2 weeks to get settled. I want to go slow and enjoy the trip.

I also found a day sitter to watch the felines while I attend school so they can stay with me the rest of the time meaning 90 percent of the time, which is what I have been looking for. I am hoping to find a place to park nearby as well or a campground to stay so I can focus on studies.

I am half way through the paperwork for the school, now the repairs on the van, getting the cats shots updated, and then planning the trip. After that, getting settled in a parking spot with hookups for an AC and establishing a system. It all seems so much easier when housing isn't such an issue. If I get a trailer, which I will likely do as I plan to stay at a campground or pay someone, as I have the funding to do so, then I am good to go. We will see how much funds I have left and how much rent the parking space will be before I make such an investment and the gas mileage difference will make towing a trailer a pain. I still want the livin lite trailer as I would prefer pre done facilities but light enough to haul with the mini van.