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Exo's Exposé

Exo's Exposé

Looking for somewhere to hide in the Forum, no offense to anyone, I'm just kinda used to my own space - it feels safer to me. I often feel like I'm 'butting in' on other threads, I want to say something but it isn't 'in-line' with the current flow of conversation.

It rained here yesterday, dogs & cats weren't falling from the sky, but the grounds wet, there's puddles in my driveway & it's soooooooo sooooooo much cooler 😄 Guru Google even promises more!! After this weird wet stuff stopped dropping from above, I took the dogs for their walk, I do this almost every afternoon, but after a storm with close lightning strikes, my main purpose is to check the fence is still upright everywhere. I'm happy to announce it was all in tip-top shape 🙂 I noticed new puddle spots all the way around, I was sad that some trees had to be pushed over for the fence line, but the dip of their absence looks quite beautiful with a drop of moisture shimmering within. When I had completed the usual circuit I by-passed returning into the house-yard & wandered through to the dam. I think I may have been a little rain-drunk, I was hoping to see water in it, there wasn't any. I even went & stood in the very center of it's base, I think I was expecting to sink in mud - I didn't; but the cracks are gone . . . & they were huge. So if the Guru comes through with it's promise, there may yet be a puddle for my Staffy to play in 😉

I've decided to leave my camping trip to the beach for another week, rain wouldn't stop me - it rarely rains 24 hrs a day, but storms have - they often have devastingly strong winds that can break off & pick up reasonably heavy objects, that become dangerous ammunition. I've been emailing with the owners of this place, I'll still be in the off-peak season if I leave it another week - though I worry being so close to the Easter holiday, there's a more likely chance of more people. I keep telling myself I've just got to 'get over' that, that that would be all part of the experience - but I know I'm lying to myself. I picked this spot mainly because of the dog-friendly off-lead beach, but also because on the satelite view of Google maps I could see that there's no towns around it. It's one of the most isolated camping parks I've seen {that's within 5 hours of home, well - maybe just a little more}. It also admits it has old amenities, I saw negitive feedback about the place for those reasons - I think if you want to go to a resort . . . that's where you go - not to a place that describes itself as a rustic, old fashioned bush camping park 😉

Missing you Mazy Loads of love & support @Mazarita

1141 replies

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In response to: Exo's Exposé

Re: Exo's Exposé

hugs and love @Exoplanet

In response to: Exo's Exposé

Re: Exo's Exposé

My little fluffball really needs a bath and a haircut too @Exoplanet The vet thinks it is the longest she has seen his hair - she called him her shaggy little fella last week when she saw him lol It is probably the longest I have grown his hair but he looks so cute that I don't want to cut it too short - and he doesn't like me trimming around his tail and bottom so he needs his chew bone to distract him. Maybe this weekend I can give him his haircut.

In response to: Re: Exo's Exposé

Re: Exo's Exposé

Lots of love & hugs to you too @Shaz51

@Zoe7 , my little fluffball is a different dog each season 🙂 I let the hair on his torso grow during Winter & he becomes a scraggy shaggy little fella, I shave him completely for Summer & he becomes a 1/2 size, sleek, velvet little fella, I leave the hair across his shoulders & chest during the inbetween months & he becomes a shawled, vogue little fella - & he has lots of other disguises, shapes & sizes throughout the year 😄 I've never thought of giving him a chew treat while clipping, he is understandably especially
sensitive about having his bottom tidied up . . . I'm going to try that! Thanks for the tip

It's not as cool this morning, I didn't put the Staffies gown on last night & yet he wasn't in bed with me when I woke; I did pull the sheet up though. Anyhow, none of that matters . . . I'm going to the beach 😄 The puppies have had their flea, tick & worm treatment for the month, I made a special trip to go & get it. I hit the grocery shop while I was there, thought I'd grab a couple of things like a can a beans . . . a small shopping trolley full later I returned home & packed the food stuff for the trip 😉 I also took the washing off the line, so I have most of the clothes & linen ready to pack. My phone alarm went off this morning to tell me it's time to start packing :), shame it's a little warm, I tend to want to sit & do nothing when it is, but I have a time limit {which I'm not very good at}, I have the weekend to pack & be ready, I leave Monday morning 🙂 Anxiety is really starting to kick-in, the blur is beginning. How dare I try & get out & strive for some pleasant enjoyment - what do I think I'm doing - what right do I have for this? None . . . just as I have no reason not to. Perhaps I need the puppies to use as an excuse, I want to give them something different to think about, so they don't get bored - especially the Staffy. The American Stafforshire Terrier is a very, very energentic breed, with an awful lot of strength & power to get bored with. If I have to tell myself this trip is a way to stop him developing destructive behaviour patterns, then that's what I'll do. I paid in full when I booked, I think that was on purpose; I'd read through the fine print on the camp sites page, you can only get a refund if you cancel 2 weeks before the due date - I booked a week before. I'm intending to pack the roof rack today, I'll still have one case & the crate that I put in the back, for last minute stuff & it'll give me a chance to see how the load up top travels when I go & get fuel tomorrow. Sometimes I hate my brain, camping somewhere new is my favourite thing, I particularly like the packing & yet I feel a sense of dread, I feel pressured - noone is forcing me, that feeling is coming from my own brain. I wonder if people realize how difficult it is to 'get over yourself', it's an involuntary electro-chemical reaction going on in your brain - I wonder if they think you do it deliberately?
Better finish this, perhaps look through some previous camp spot photos, try & change the electro-chemical mix & push it along a more positive path? I know I want to do this, I also know I'm going to go through this.

Mazy @Mazarita @outlander @Teej @Bunniekins @eth @Appleblossom @Faith-and-Hope

In response to: Re: Exo's Exposé

Re: Exo's Exposé

@CheerBear

In response to: Re: Exo's Exposé

Re: Exo's Exposé

Loving these stories @Exoplanet 😊 I think you're super brave to be venturing beyond the internal and external barriers that try to stand in the way of adventures!

You've got this! 🙂🐶🌈❤

In response to: Re: Exo's Exposé

Re: Exo's Exposé

@Exoplanet I agree 100% with what @CheerBear just said. I really miss my adventuring days and admire your get up and go spirit. You have every right!!

In response to: Re: Exo's Exposé

Re: Exo's Exposé

The roof rack bag is on the rack, it's packed to the hilt & secured like bedrock. I've decided to put one of the cases that I usually put up top, in the back of the car as it's really way to heavy for me to being grunting & groaning to get up there. I put the mattress & topper up top instead, it seems to have worked really well. The mattress is sooooo much lighter to be getting up & down. It has sprinkled with rain, maybe that's why it's noticably warmer, so I hope the bag is as weather proof as it says it is 😉 The weather site is predicting rain every day that I'll be there, but just rain . . not storms - I think walking along a sandy beach in light rain, just might be enjoyable 🙂 I've packed waaaaay too much as I always do & I haven't finished yet, it's usually the last-minute things that I stuff every crack & crevice with 🙂

I think I'm feeling a little better today, now that the roof rack is packed. I think it was a good idea not to put the heavy case up top, it's usually after doing that that I start questioning what I'm doing; feeling that I'm too old & broken for this type of camping. The rack bag makes packing up top soooo much easier, & logic does say 'I don't have a great spine & my joints are even worse - it makes more sense to put the lighter stuff up there, it still gives me more room in general'. Every time I do this I think of something else I'd like to get, I'd like to get a slightly higher foldable step ladder, the one I've got still requires me to actually climb on top of the roof racks to 'set things in place', my arms just aren't long enough; that's all well & good at home, but when it comes to unpacking & packing back up, in places where there are people - my goodness I feel self-concious!

I think I'll leave getting fuel until tomorrow, I think I've got the days mixed up a bit, to the point that I missed Star Trek last night - something I look forward to all week! Lucky it's on netflix & it'll still be there tonight 🙂 Today I'll go through my list, fill the water containers, start charging a few things up (overcast weather while I'm there might mean not much charging ability - though it's overcast here too & I'm trying not to use my main camp batteries . . . there's always the generator 😉 ). I might set-up the back of the car, leaving the case & crate accessible for the last-minute stuffings 🙂 I think I'm pretty organized, but I also think I'm forgetting something really important, the more I try to think though, the more muddled my mind gets!

Love to all that need or want it

Mazy @Mazarita @eth @CheerBear @Zoe7 @Shaz51 @Bunniekins @outlander @Teej @Sophia1 @everyoneIcan'tThinkOf {sorry my brain's getting fuzzled}

In response to: Re: Exo's Exposé

Re: Exo's Exposé

Hey @Exoplanet hope you have a fabulous trip. Is it a long drive to get there?

What I do is have a list that I keep in one of my bags that I reuse time and again that is very comprehensive. Maybe that would prevent your feeling that you've missed something.

In response to: Re: Exo's Exposé

Re: Exo's Exposé

My body is a bit sore, what do I expect when I'm climbing all over the car & heaving things around. But the main of the packing is done, so today I should be able to recoup a bit. It's about 5 hours drive @eth , coming back will be a little harder as I'll be packing up & then doing the drive {though I never pack up as neatly as I pack to go 😉 } When I look on a map it doesn't look that far, also whenever google maps says 5 I know I should read an hour or 2 more 😉 On a map it's just looks like I'm going straight across to the coast, my goal is to go down Australia a bit, but I'm thinking just getting to the coast will be cooler. Been back up around the 37/38 mark the past couple of days, feels hotter because the humidity's up which isn't the norm around here {& I think it's probably a good thing}. It's going to be a bathing day here today & I'm going to get take-aways when I get fuel this evening {don't want too many dishes to wash before I go}.

I have permanent lists eth & gear permanently packed, I just need to also make lists as I go - I actually think that's all part of the fun 🙂 This blur I go through, it's the only way I can do anything. I figure if I can't survive on literally a ute load of gear, well . . . I guess I don't! 😄 I think the scariest part is me 'getting over myself' & getting out there, it's like I can't accept that reality, that line has to blur for me to cross it. I'm already exhausted, I think I'll be quite the mess by the time I get back! The problem is the memory fades so quickly after I return, there is a part of me that thinks ' why do I bother, when it's such hard work?', another part of me answers fairly quickly 'because I want life to be more than just rotting in my backyard'.

Thinking of you Mazy @Mazarita

Love to all that need or want it

In response to: Re: Exo's Exposé

Re: Exo's Exposé

You sound extremely well organized @Exoplanet . Another thing to remember is that if you forget something it will probably be available not too far from where you are going. And I agree, life should definitely be more than that.

Hope you get some rest today so you're fresh for the drive. Sounds like you're going tomorrow. Have a wonderful time. I live vicariously through your adventures. And you give me hope that I'll be able to do likewise again at some time in the future. So thankyou!

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