Trip to South Carolina

One full day of packing, cleaning and loading, immediately followed by a second day of traveling for 12 hours, my family has finally made it to South Carolina in a little town near Greenville.

We will be living in our camper on my grandparents’ property as a temporary residence until we can get a house. This means close quarters for several months including winter, most likely.

Because we will be here indefinitely, our packing had to accommodate varying temperatures and entertainment/office supplies. Interestingly we were able to fit five wardrobe boxes full of warm and cool weather clothes, computer equipment, camera equipment, books, food, and other miscellaneous items; in addition to garden tools, a small air compressor, small steamer, a chipper/shredder, and my brother’s wheelchair into the bed of the truck.

Jonathan

Mom pulls out bread and food to make sandwiches for lunch.

Mom makes sandwiches for lunch.

As you might imagine the truck was very full, even in the cab where any bit of available space was utilized for personal bags, food, blankets, etc., which had to be accessible because we always eat homemade sandwiches while traveling.

Once we got here, most of this was moved into the camper with the exception of the tools which were placed outside in available covered spaces.

Temporary shelter from the rain while we unpacked the truck.

Unfortunately, some unexpected steady rains began about halfway into our road trip and continued until after we were all asleep that night which required some last minute creative thinking for unloading the truck. So we took advantage of a 32 foot tarp we packed, and made a temporary “roof.”




Once we get everything unloaded we decided to wait to start organizing. After all, we were exhausted from the previous 48 hours of work that was put in to moving down here. Of course, things were a little cramped for the night, but we managed to make walkways for getting through from one side to the other.

However, we are sacrificing the convenience of the space our 2400 sq. ft. house gave us for a camper as our temporary home. This means that storage space is limited and the beds are smaller.

In fact, here is my complaint about the beds…

My bed

The extra shelf that is actually an extra bed.

In the last 4 years I have had three different beds to sleep on that I called my own. In 2005 I left my double sized mattress for a dorm twin sized extended mattress. In May, I left that dorm mattress and went home to, well, another twin mattress. However, this bed was more comfortable because I did not have a cold, brick wall staring me in the face making me feel cramped. This week, I have left the twin mattress in Delaware for a stiff camper bunk bed which, as you could guess by now is a twin mattress. I have a cold window in my face and about 12 inches of room for my knees to my feet because of the extra shelf that sits above the bed.

On the flip side, despite the cramped spaces and inconveniences, we are doing what we think God wants us to do. And I cannot help but believe this is true because I have finally felt some peace that has not existed in a while. This trip went smoother than any trips that we’ve taken as a family in a long time, and we had more stuff this time than ever before. There was very little tension and we managed to get over the bumps that we encountered.

And even though I fought this trip, personally, I no longer have any tension about it. The only thing I am going to work hard at is finding a job and beginning to get my feet on the ground and live my own life. Not because I am trying to get away from my parents like I have wanted to for the last several years, but because I need to as an adult and individual.