Busy as Bees

Over the past two weeks, we’ve been as busy as bees.

We’ve visited with cousins

Worn ourselves out at a strawberry festival

Worked my new business

Celebrated Mother’s Day

Experienced our (actually their) first dock swim of the season

Explored local parks almost daily

Taken a family business trip to Macon for Spider Chalk–and let the kids get their feet wet at Amerson River Park

Bought our first RV

Taken multiple trips to Atlanta to knock out procedures and doctor’s visits before hitting the road

Enjoyed lake days with friends

The past two weeks, I feel like we’ve (or I’ve) been running full-throttle as we try to prepare for our upcoming RV trip. There are so many small details that I have to take care of before we hit the road, and though I’ve made a lot of progress, some things just take time.

This weekend, an RV service center will transfer the fifth wheel hitch from the seller’s truck to James’ truck. I also just finalized RV insurance and will take care of registration at the DMV later this week. I’ve set aside two big boxes of stuff to pack for the RV–kitchen stuff, linens, etc–so that once the hitch and electrical hookup is installed, we can start the packing process.

So the big question is, when do we leave? We have the RV parked at a storage facility and have paid through the end of June. Of course, I anticipate we’ll be on the road weeks before then, but it’s so hard to pinpoint. Besides RV registration, the main hold up is James’ business. Spider Chalk business is picking up steam and we are working all hours of the day to keep up with demand. Some days, this means bottling liquid chalk during nap time and labeling bottles at night after the kids are in bed, which makes for long, tiring yet productive days.

Apart from fulfilling current orders (including large wholesale orders), we will ship a ton of product to a fulfillment center before we hit the road. This way, business will continue as usual as we travel around in our RV and James will focus on the business side instead of shipping. When we come back to town to visit in the fall and around Christmastime, we’ll likely take advantage of grandparent babysitters and spend some time restocking the fulfillment center with more product so that we can continue on our trip.

My personal goal for launching is T-minus three weeks. If we work our tails off, we can get it done. Of course, as we’re trying to get Spider Chalk in good shape for our departure, there are also many other variables to consider, including three active needy little ones. We are doing our best to balance everything, prioritize needs and entertain the kids. I take the kids to a park almost every day, which is great for keeping them active, but it means less time at the Lake House getting things done. Of course, this is the predicament of mom life anywhere you call home. Most days, we never get it all done!

Next week after the hitch is installed, we plan to take a short overnight trip to Don Carter State Park, only 10 minutes from where the RV is stored. It will give James a chance to tow the RV and get a good feel for it, help us figure out how long it takes for set up and pack up, determine how to organize the kitchen area, get a jump start on sleeping arrangements for the kids, etc. We will likely take at least one overnight trip to nearby RV parks each week until we hit the road.

So, I’m continuing to go full-throttle, knowing that in less than a month (fingers crossed!), we’ll be on the road exploring.