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Well, it’s been just about a week since Sheila and I moved out of our apartment but we haven’t quite been living in my Subaru that whole time. I had grand plans to spend the next few months in my apartment and get really prepared for car living, but things didn’t really go according to plan. So we moved out on the 16th and my plan was to stay with my little sister for a couple of weeks while I got my shit together. We spent one night there and I knew it wouldn’t work for that long.
She has a dog and 3 small kids plus her husband and I both work from home. So obviously it was a bit chaotic. Sheila had been pretty stressed the last couple of weeks since I was packing and getting rid of stuff and moving things to storage. I knew moving into a new space would be stressful for her and sure enough, she was pretty on edge.
We certainly could have made it work but I felt bad disrupting her house so much. I do everything I can to provide Sheila with environments that don’t make her anxious and I knew she’d struggle to settle there, which would make it hard for me to relax or get work done. So we ended up staying in a motel for a few nights.
Our first night in the motel was rough too. Again, she was still on edge so every door slam and person stomping around upstairs startled her. Needless to say, neither of us slept much that night.
The next day we drove out to the desert near the Superstition Mountains. My other sister was boondocking with her family there and I knew that would be a much better place for Sheila to decompress. I spent the day working outside in the quiet desert and she played and wrestled with her dog cousins until they all passed out. That night we both were able to relax in the motel and got a pretty good night’s sleep!
We ended up spending 3 nights in the motel which was perfect. We both caught up on some sleep and relaxed a bit after a couple of crazy busy weeks. After leaving the motel we headed back to the desert for the night. We planned on having a birthday party for one of my nieces on Sunday so I boarded Sheila Saturday and picked her up Sunday after the party. I always miss her when she’s gone but she loves the lady at the boarding facility and it is way less stressful for her than a party with 3 dogs, 5 kids under 5, and 7 adults.
So Sunday afternoon I picked her up and we headed back to the desert! And we’ve been here since. It’s really nice to hang out with my sister and her family and Sheila gets to play with her dog cousins as much as she wants. And working outside with an amazing desert view isn’t too shabby.
I’ve been working on getting my Subie set up for full-time living and I have some exciting things coming in the next week or so! My rooftop tent is ordered, I have a new camp chair/loveseat (that Sheila will love) coming, and a new camp table so I can easily cook.
Overall, things are going as smoothly as I could hope for now. I’m so excited to really get established and see what comes next!