The Sheep's Engine is Rumbling!

We are on the move! We have left Palm Springs and are waiting for a bit more frost to thaw before heading towards the Ozarks of Northwest Arkansas for a week or so and then... the Black Hills of South Dakota!!!!

We are SO happy to announce we have accepted a job from this May to October, just outside of Hill City, South Dakota! We have never visited this state, my closest is Wyoming and Steve's is Colorado. We were contacted by the owner, and after a phone interview, hired to help run his small RV park and nearby marina on Lake Sheridan. The town has an interesting history, and used to be known as "a town with a church on each end and a mile of Hell in between."

I know some of you are thinking..."Man, South Dakota is FAR." ...So are we.

We have decided to break up the trip into three legs so make it a bit easier and plan on only traveling around 200 miles per day. Everything in RV life seems to take about four times as long as we imagine, so leaving ample travel time is key to our sanity.

We have already completed the first leg of our journey, about 500 miles, back to Tallahassee. This is where we will be camped out on my dad's property for a week or two. We need to see our friends and family before we leave for a few years, and we will also have a couple of small projects to tackle while we are able to have covered parking and access to tools.

We stopped in Cape Coral and St. Petersburg on the trip up to visit friends. We had our fill of delicious ice cream when we stayed at Ice SSSScreaming in Cape Coral. It is owned by a good friend of ours, you should stop in if you are ever in the area. Robert's RV Park, where we stayed in St. Pete was much less delicious, but it was nice to meet some other RVers.

Our two night home in Cape Coral, Fl.  Boondocking behind Mike's Ice Cream Shop.

Taking the Sheep over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. A detour I highly recommend.

Robert's RV Park in St. Petersburg, FL.

So good to be back under the trees. -Roberts RV Park

Around the beginning of April we will leave Tallahassee for Northwest Arkansas, where I have some family. This second leg of the journey will be about 900 miles. Again we will take it easy on the drive up, stopping frequently at Walmart's or other free camping destinations. We are also thinking on staying a night or two in Holly Springs, Mississippi where there is a nearby campground, Wall Doxey State Park. The town itself is known for its antebellum houses and Southern charm.

After a couple of weeks in Arkansas, around the end of April, we plan to begin heading to South Dakota. This leg of the trip will be the longest, at almost 1000 miles. At this point I haven't looked at much that lies en route, but we are keeping our ears open for can't miss stops along the way. We will see how things pan out. We like to live by chance a little and just see what fate brings us. It is usually pretty awesome.

Maybe I will post our route, and if anyone knows of anything we can't miss along the way they can let us know!

Peace and Love,

Nicole and Steve

Steampunk Day or Attack of the Glitter Fairy

Today we gave the Sheep a bath and washed our car, the Blueberry. But yesterday...

Sir Stephen Hierro del Fuego and Countess Cola

Yesterday we went to the Florida Renaissance Festival in Deerfield Beach. The theme for the weekend was Steampunk and Time Travelers. We had so much fun! It was held in Quiet Waters Park. The park has lots of trees, paved paths and a lake, which they launched rocks into from trebuchets and catapults. Pretty cool.

About five minutes into our exploration, a Mardi Gras masked, purple winged fairy addresses Sir Stephen...

 "My good sir, you MUST let me kiss your beautiful lady!" the fairy coos.

We inch closer, game for a little fun. Sir Stephen replies, "By all means, please do!"

We have no idea what is about to happen.

She beckons me closer. This is the moment I notice the wand in her hand. She directs it to her palm, circles it not once, not twice, but five times, dumping out a mound of gold and silver glitter that would make a drag queen blush.

She looks at me and says "Close your eyes my sweet, and let me deliver my kiss."

Oh no. I'm too far in, there's no turning back. I lower my lids, lift my head and hope for the best. I feel the glitter fly...or rather, stick. I open my eyes, gaze down, and observe that my entire chest is now coated in blinding, sparkly fairy dust.

Thanks.

Even as I write this, I look like an overzealous third grader's art project gone horribly wrong. Also, we will never get the glitter out of the RV.

But...

They also had naughty, lewd jokes by Iris and Rose which were hilarious. They had tons and tons of great vendors, selling lovely costumes and jewelry. We saw beautiful, yet sturdy wings for sale. The artist/creator listed a great many activities he had participated in while wearing the wings - including sky diving - and claimed they stayed intact.

We also got to see a glassblowing demonstration! I now get to check that off of my bucket list.

They had pubs serving beer and cider. Steve had the beer, I had the cider.

And, surprise...we only took one picture at the event itself, the one at the top. I think we were  having too much fun checking out all the cool stuff to think about taking pictures. I wish I had some of the glassblower and the other Steampunk outfits, especially this skirt a  lovely lady I met standing in line for the bathroom had created out of curtains.

I also wish I had taken more detailed shots of our own outfits, they were pretty neat. Steve made the guns out of all kinds of materials, candlesticks, car parts, light bulbs, etc., as well as holsters for our belts. I made my bustle skirt out of an old dress and created my little antlers out of scraps of wire. Also my necklace is a petrified shark tooth my friend gave me years ago. I even crocheted a small pouch which I used as a purse!

I love this picture :)

Antlers!

I love to play dress up and create all kinds of costumes. I think I am even beginning to convert Steve. We are hoping to attend another Steampunk themed event, much smaller this time, up North if we can make it in time.

Peace and Love,

Nicole

P.S. I would like to thank everyone for all of the enthusiasm, kind thoughts and words of encouragement we received from the grand unveiling of our blog. We are excited to share our adventures with each and everyone of you and it means so much to us to have interested and caring souls accompany us on our journey. We also look forward to finding many more kindred spirits who are participating in our newly adopted lifestyle!