Weather, Exhaustion, and a Hard Pivot West #NomadLife #VanLife

Well, I finally met up with my friend Sandra down on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and it feels so good to finally be traveling together. She left to meet up in Edisto Beach, South Carolina to come with me on this adventure we're taking together out to Quartzsite and almost from the start it's been one weather system after another chasing us across the map. Before I get too far into our travel update I want to share a quick little story because this morning Sandra was talking about how she's been wanting a nice cowboy style hat just something classic, practical and fun to wear out here on the road. On my way down to Florida from the Flamingos Taking Flight meetup I stopped at the pilot truck stop off I-95 in Brunswick, Georgia. While I was there I noticed a couple of black leather cowboy style hats on a rack for sale. One of them had a small issue it was missing the hat band so I struck up a conversation with the manager Mike and I asked him if he'd be willing to let me have that hat in exchange for a little free promotion right here on my channel. So Mike and I we ended up chatting had a great conversation super nice guy and you know what Mike said yes absolutely that would be great. So Mike if you're watching this I want you to know I'm keeping my promise when Sandra mentioned that she was looking for a hat well I gave her the one that you gave me and you know what she's ecstatic about it it fits her perfectly it couldn't have gone to a better person. Thank you Mike and hey to anyone who's out there traveling on I-95 if you need to stop for gas take a bathroom break grab a coffee stretch your legs a little bit please consider stopping at the pilot off I-95 in Brunswick, Georgia say hi to Mike and let them know that Casey sent you. Now back to the road story as you know I had to leave the Florida Panhandle the weather was just ugly intense rain flooding non-stop bad weather when I met up with Sandra we thought if we headed west things would improve but nope that's not what happened that same bad weather pattern followed us straight into Texas. We actually had plans to head down to the Texas coast and we were going to spend a few days down there and enjoy the beach before heading west and it was something we were really looking forward to but then a low pressure system formed right off the coast exactly where we were going to be camping. We're talking thunderstorms heavy rain and gusting winds up to 30 miles per hour and we both looked at each other and said nope not happening and you know sometimes the smartest decision is the simplest one and safety always comes first so instead of forcing it we hightailed it west and north completely changed our plans and we ended up finding ourselves in a really nice little campground it's quiet it's peaceful and it's just what we needed. We're going to be camped here for the next few days and we actually have friends coming to join us so we're going to have our own little meetup down here with four nomads who are all out on the road exploring and adventuring just like we are. It was really cold this morning though we woke up to 26 degrees which definitely makes you think twice before stepping outside but the good news is the sun is shining there's no rain after everything we've been through everything we've been dealing with sunshine feels like a gift the weather's going to warm up as the week goes on and that gives us a chance to slow down and explore this part of Texas and to do a few things that we'd like to do before continuing west. This trip has been about taking it easy we're not racing from place to place we're listening to our bodies paying attention to the weather and stopping when we need to that's one of the biggest lessons life on the road teaches you. Sometimes slowing down is the best decision you can make. We did stop at a Cracker Barrel about an hour out of Houston. We ended up leaving around nine o'clock in the morning heading toward this new destination and to be honest with you I personally was running on very little rest and that's just how it goes sometimes. Weather, noise, traffic, mechanical issues like the furnace breaking down in Florida that was not planned not part of the bingo card but hey that's life on the road you handle what comes up and you keep on moving and you keep on moving forward. Right now though we are both incredibly grateful to be where we are we really needed a break both of us I haven't been feeling well Sandra she's road weary and this place feels like a good landing spot for a few days and having friends coming to join us makes it even better we're going to cook good food we're going to tell good stories and burn good wood and just enjoy being together. From here we'll continue west most likely toward New Mexico but nothing's set in stone we might see something that catches our interest and decide to stop for a day or two that freedom is one of the best parts of this lifestyle. Before I get into channel updates I would like to ask if you haven't already please hit the subscribe button and click the bell for notifications and now for some good news I am officially sponsored by Opus who is quickly becoming a major player in the power station world. I'll be doing a real world hands-on review of one of their large power stations and I plan to put it through its paces. I purchased it with my own money so you know it's going to be an honest and unbiased review. We're really going to put it to the big test we're going to hook up just about everything I can think of and we're really going to see just exactly what this thing can do in real life conditions. I'll keep you posted and let you know when that review is coming up. Also I want to give a huge thank you to my friends at Van Life in Pearl Mississippi they're honest they stand behind their work and they do great work so if you're ever in Pearl and you need work done on a Class A, Class B, Class C trucks, vans, cars they do it all and they also sell vans new and used plus accessories. They do oil changes, tires, the works and when you call be sure to call for Brian or Erin. And while I'm talking about Pearl Mississippi I have to tell you about another place that I absolutely love. I never miss going to Bonnie Sue's Coffee Cafe whenever I'm in Pearl. That place is a true gem. The atmosphere is warm, it's welcoming, friendly and the coffee is amazing. When you walk in it just feels good to be there. Whenever I stop in I always order a chai latte and it is consistently one of the best I've ever had. It's creamy, it's flavorful and it's comforting. Erin the office manager at Van Life and I will go there sit for a while, laugh, cut up, enjoy some really good coffee together. It's a really nice way to unwind and relax. If you're ever in Pearl and you're looking for a great cup of coffee, delicious pastry and a place that feels warm and welcoming I highly recommend stopping by Bonnie Sue's. Say hi to Tasha. As for what else is going on I'm continuing to work on sponsorships. I'll be opening up a merchandise store soon with t-shirts, coffee mugs, trucker hats, bumper stickers and anything else I can think of that you might like and once that's launched I'll let you know. Right now Sandra is going to show us a couple of Van Life ideas we can use when we're out on the road. It was time for me to defrost my freezer and it's cold outside so I went ahead and unloaded everything, put it in a bag, set it outside where it'd stay cold, got my freezer defrosted. Of course you have to wipe down stuff so I was using all my towels and everything to do that and my handy dandy clothesline in here is awesome. I just hook it from one end to the other and what is that a bungee cord? It's just a bungee cord with clips on it you can get these online or I mean I think I got this one at Amazon and then I've got my little heater blowing on it so it'll dry it real quick. What a great idea that is. Yeah and I did get a shower this morning and this is using this is one of these towels I got it off Amazon and it's called Olympia Fit and I like it because it's got this where you can hang it outside the shower and it's kind of like a chamois cloth and it dries so quickly so this morning when I got my shower I immediately when I got back hung this up so it could be drying and these are just shelf liners from my fridge and so you put those in your fridge? Yeah. What are those made out of? Well they've got I'm not really sure but they got like a little rubber things on the bottom to keep stuff from sliding around. What a great idea. Yeah I really like it. You'll have to send me the links. Yeah and if you spill something then it goes on this and these are just washable so it kind of keeps your fridge from getting too big of a mess. Well you have this all dialed in. But right now I am in drive mode because we're going to town and so I've literally got all my crap either on the floor or on the bed. Okay. And my two cats as well they're like mama are we we're driving again. Well Sandra thank you so much for sharing I listen I'm sorry I know I came in here unannounced like this but that's okay we are this you know what this is real life baby this is real life this is how we're doing it and we're doing it all the way out to Quartzsite aren't we? Yes. Awesome. See you at the Q.