Whew-eee, it is hot. And humid.
We knew that this summer travel would bring us to some of the warmest parts of the country, during which we assumed that we would be comfortable. After all, Vanda has a wonderfully effective air conditioner, and we are be able to plug in to shore power at nearly all of our campgrounds to run the AC without concern of draining down the batteries, as running the AC takes a lot of power. Not to mention, we like hot weather.
Did I mention that it is hot and humid in America’s South?!
As many of you know, I need for our home on wheels to be a clean and tidy space but the hot weather presents a conundrum for me — getting all sweaty, putting on sunscreen (and bug repellent but only if absolutely necessary) — then coming inside the van is … difficult for me. While we can discuss my fastidiousness some other time, suffice it to say that the front “living room” of the van is the acceptable hangout in that sweaty, sunscreen-y, bug-sprayed circumstance, whereas the bed is totally off limits. That makes perfect sense, right?
From the beginning of our vanlife, a rule was established that the bed was a dedicated clean space, to be enjoyed after a shower and only if we were wearing clean clothes (or no clothes, depending on the time of day). I do have a “napping” sheet, which is folded a certain way so that the side facing the bed is always clean, which allows me to lie on the other side of the sheet for a nap–this is only during cooler weather however. The napping sheet doesn’t work if sweat, sunscreen, and/or bug repellent is in the equation. Yep, I am uptight, but we already know that, and yep, this system totally works for me. John merely humors me on this.
We are learning as we go, acknowledging that navigating the heat and humidity is not quite as easeful as we had imagined it to be. Just after sunrise, the temperature is upwards of 85 degrees. For the first few days out, we would have a bike ride or a hike, or both if we were lucky, followed by a shower so we could hang out (anywhere) in the van. Soon though, we saw this as a limitation, because once we were clean and fresh-feeling, we were less inclined to go outside in the humid heat again. We did a lot of reading, some writing, a nap or two was enjoyed, and yes friends, I watched a few videos. We discovered that going forward this is just not going to work. Our new strategy, begun yesterday, is to immerse ourselves in the great outdoors, taking on all that entails, and just stay with it all day long. Even through dinner! To no one’s surprise, I have, in the past, showered before cooking dinner. Of course. Who wouldn’t? Last eve however, I cooked us a scrumptious dinner [grilled asparagus, mushroom stroganoff, and a salad, if you must know] BEFORE showering! Look at me, adapting! Needless to say, we stayed in the Vanda’s living room before, during, and just after dinner…
After dinner, we went for a walk on the long boardwalk through the huge, luscious wetlands here in camp. It was “cooler” but still in the 80s. The breeze coming off the water was divine, and we did see a pair of Least Bitterns, a rare sighting. Then…it was shower time.
By 9 PM, the sun was set and although the temp was still in the 80s, there was a lovely breeze. We turned off the AC and opened the side screen door, the front windows–both of which are screened–and the back doors to allow for the breeze to flow. We do close the back door when we go to sleep, as so much is stored back there in the garage that we do not want critters to mess around with our stuff, but we slept all night with the breeze blowing in. I sleep under the vent, which was blowing outside air on me all night long. It was not cool but it was not too hot, either. We slept well.
This morning, while still fresh and with the air conditioner back on, I made a pear cobbler before sunrise, we walked again on the extensive boardwalk wetlands at sunrise, then ran two loads of laundry in the air-conditioned trailer they have set up in the campground, happy to return to Vanda’s air-conditioned space, in between loads. John is out making photos of flowers. Here is my view from my chair in Vanda’s living room:
We are now in our bathing suits, I am writing this blog post and John is looking at his photos, before we go for a bike ride. The temp is 86 degrees at 10 AM. We are sitting outside, because, hey we are camping! After our ride, we’ll stay cool by repeatedly showering in the beach shower, then sitting in our camp chairs in the shade of the awning. This low-key, slow pace is quite different for us, but it is also quite soothing for the soul.
